There's definitely a freedom in flying at high speeds down a hill through fresh powder snow, the cold wind threatening your face with minor frostbite, and your feet strapped to a few sticks of wood. The exhilaration of fast, almost out of control turns, legs rammed up to your chin by hard packed moguls, and tree lines beckoning at the bottom of the trail as it curves around to spew it's passengers back to it's feeder lifts for a ride back to the top.

If you're like me and have skied for years then this is the ultimate thrill, and perhaps snowboarding seems like it's more for the younger crowd. I live in the south so don't get to ski that often and had thought about trying it, but didn't want to waste that few days of falling down while learning a new sport like snowboarding. Also, to tell the truth the idea made me a bit nervous.

A few years ago while vacationing in Canada we were lucky enough to have snow falling for several days. All day and all night the powder fell. I couldn't stand it. I had to know. Finally I relented and went out and bought myself a new snowboard.

We went straight out to the nearest hill. Ok, maybe a bit too big. I fell, I fell, I fell. It was just a bit unnerving to be going sideways. We packed it up and went to find a smaller hill. Still too big. Then I ended up on the smallest hill I could find and hung out with the young kids for a day.

After a day I started to get the hang of it. Then the next day went for a larger hill. With the bigger hill came the thrill. I started to feel the same excitement I felt when skiing. And there's an added freedom in snowboarding where you can ditch the poles and live with only one stick of wood strapped to your feet. I'm hooked.

There's a great snowboarding motivational poster that has the caption "The key to happiness is freedom and the key to freedom is courage." I'm glad I dug up at least enough courage to try this sport. It was so worth it.

-Phil Jones

Phil is a freelance writer and co-owner of http://www.artinspires.com who loves to snowboard.