Monthly Archives: January 2014

Sports: Snowboard Team, Without the Snow (Quarter 2 2013)

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The DHS Snowboard Team races multiple weekends through January and goes up to the Tahoe area for multiple Mondays throughout the month as well… but the snowboard season starts in the beginning of November, long before the snow they use to slide down slopes even arrives.  So what do the DHS boarders do for the first entire half of their season?

The majority of the boarders answered, with a bit of pain in their voices: Dryland.

“Dryland” is training at the stadium led by snowboard team coach Marcia Heller held on Mondays and Fridays before school starts.

Junior snowboarder Natalie Wheeler gets up at 5:30 in the morning to attend the 6:15 stadium training which includes running stairs, stretches, and balance exercises.

“It’s super annoying to get up so early… I’m always really tired,” said Wheeler.

The team starts with core and moves to different stations such as legs and lunging, and runing.  The practice is over at around 7:20, which gives the team a limited amount of time to rush to get ready for school in the locker room.

Friday, Dec. 13 is the team’s first “board day”, where the team members bring their boards to the turf in the early morning and “wiggle around,” trying to get a feel for their boards, a few for the very first time before they actually go to the snow.

On Sun. Dec. 15 the team will go up to the snow for the first time just to practice gates, which are the metal blockers boarders must maneuver around to a certain number of times to complete a race.

Although many snowboarders groan at the sound of the word ‘dryland’ because of its extra early mornings and difficult workouts, Wheeler ultimately believes the work is very necessary and worth is for the team in the long run.

“It’s certainly and good workout, I always feel like I’m getting stronger [and] much better at balancing.”