The idea of "Hatahatahatahata" is quite simple:

Ride fast. Carve deep. And leave beautiful trails in the snow.

On top of that, there is whole lot of snowboarding philosophy, which can be generalized to cover all aspects of life. Most of what is below, was thought up during long chair-lift rides, in particular with Patryk - the Jedi snowboarder, master of applied snowboard philosophy.

"Abandon all expectations" - when you are going snowboarding, you have to have a clear mind. Make sure you are ready to feel the ride with every sense available (yes, even the smells are important). Before you will be able to prepare your senses for the ultimate ride, you have to ditch all your expectations. When you are expecting to turn or ride in a particular way, that predefines the way are are going to react to all the stimuli. Furthermore, you will try to force your snowboard to perform in a particular way, so that you expectations are fulfilled. And that is bound for disaster.

One of the key ingredients of free carving is that you have to set your snowboard free. Snowboards are very advanced pieces of machinery, but with unique souls. Only when you learn to give freedom to your board while riding, you'll suddenly realize that you are freeing yourself. And then your board will take you on a ride you'll never forget. Instead of forcing a turn, try to suggest a turn to your board. Your board's primary goal is to make you a happy man, so she will gladly, out of her free will, perform a turn. 

... i'll have a couple of beers in the evening and continue... more to come soon.

This page was last updated on 08-05-2006.