It has been many years now that I have been telling those who asked why I do the sports I do. I say to them that my two loves are wave sailing the many reef breaks along Maui's north shore, and snowboarding anywhere at all with good snow conditions. In my mind, snowboarding is the perfect compliment to wave sailing... toeside and heelside turns for the snowboard, bottom turn and off the lip for the wave board. With snowboarding I get to sometimes flail my arms about in the air as I slash the imaginary snowy 'lip' with a heelside slide. Wave sailing demands a much more disciplined approach, both in the pit and on the lip.
Retiring at age 53 has allowed these two sports to near fill my life, with all of the associated activities each demands: From equipment selection and acquisition to tuning for conditions - it all takes time, involves the talents and generosities of many others AND pays BIG dividends in health and fitness. On a clean air summer day I sometimes sneak out for a mountain bike ride, and on a windy wintry day I occasionally slide into the woods on my Atlas snowshoes - the latter to seek shelter from windchill unwelcome on the slopes. However these are 'different' sports to my mind.
When I find myself seeking that unthinking thoughtless flow drug state that many athletes crave: Only high speed carving snow boarding or the wild inhospitable environment found on an outer reef in 28 knots of wind can bring it on.
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