Go ahead- Snowboard like a girl

Marie Cleland Female Snowboarder

Go ahead- Snowboard like a girl

Words by Dawn Marie Fichera
Photo credit: Marie Cleland in Bulgaria, Damien Knowles

I never get tired of hearing how chicks snowboard like “girl” just before they are about to tear it up on the slopes putting their male counterparts to shame. Tough break, fellas. Getting to the point of shredding was half the battle for most of us girls. We all know what it’s like to be a beginner snowboarder, our bodies refuse to let us forget, but there is magic that happens when you move between stage one and stage two—not quite expert, yet past the beginners stage. Marie Cleland gives us her story.

A successful travel writer, Marie Cleland, New Zealand’s newest shredder to the scene with just about two years of serious experience may not be winning any Olympic gold medals this season, but she sure gets props for travelling and boarding in some of the most interesting places in the world. Marie has snowboarded in geographies that more seasoned pros can only dream of, a by-product of her central location no doubt, including coveted terrain in Morzine, New Zealand, Austria, Bulgaria, and France. I caught up to Marie to pick her brain and get some feedback on how the powder is treating her physically and emotionally. Oh—did I also mention this girl has “tried” ice-climbing? While she may not reside Stateside, she is definitely our type of riot girl.

How old are you?
29
Where are you from?
New Zealand.
Where do you live currently?
London, England.
Why did you start?
My boyfriend got me into it and we have friends that snowboard, so it made sense. And it seemed like a good challenge.
What inspires you to keep snowboarding?
The adrenaline rush.
Who or what was your inspiration to get out there to begin with?
My boyfriend—he had a season’s head start on me and seemed to be loving it.
Who taught/trained you?
After my first frustrating morning of continually falling over and trying to figure it out for myself I had a couple of lessons, which boosted my confidence and put the basic technique in my head—if I ever feel like I’m regressing, I have key words that I remember my instructor telling me and that enables me to correct my own technique.
Where have you snowboarded around the world?
New Zealand (Whakapapa and Turoa), Austria (Kirchburg), France (Morzine/Avoriaz), Bulgaria (Bansko) and on the Swiss border (where Avoriaz meets Les Crossets).
What were the best slopes? The worst?
The best: Avoriaz in France—carving up The Stash natural terrain park after a fresh dump of snow and then exploring off-piste in waist-deep powder, trying to keep my speed up as I wound my way through the trees.
The worst: The lower slopes of Turoa (Ruapehu, New Zealand) when there’s more hard-packed ice than snow.
What is the difference between East Coast and the rest of the snowboarding world?
Don’t know, but I’d like to find out! I’m yet to board in North America, but might be heading there in a year’s time.
What is the worst injury you ever got?
Have managed to avoid anything serious. Whiplash, sprained thumb, and some pretty impressive bruises, though embarrassingly, the most recent one (a big black bar under my knee) was caused by falling back onto the edge of my board to avoid hitting a skier who had alighted from the chairlift and decided to take a rest right in the exit path!
What is the most challenging run you have ever made?
I remember when I had just started learning, it was on Turoa and there was almost total whiteout because of a blizzard. It was good that it was snowing, because it meant there was going to be fresh powder, but at the time I was struggling to see the terrain and I remember thinking: “Any minute now I’m going to go careening down a hole or hit a bump and faceplant.”
Whom do you respect in your sport?
The guy who works with my boyfriend who is planning a mish to Kashmir, risking travelling in a war zone, because he’s heard that there’s a mountain there with pristine boarding. That’s commitment (or suicide).
What female do you respect in your sport?
Mainly the friends I have in the sport who are better than me and make me want to strive to improve. And any girl with the guts to keep pushing to the top.
What kind of music do you listen to on the slopes?
House or hip hop.
What sort of advice would you give other girls just starting out?
Keep at it. It sucks to begin with. It’s exhausting and can hurt a lot, but the rewards far outweigh the struggles.
Are you looking to get sponsored? Who is your dream sponsor?
No, I’m happy with my chosen career as a travel writer! But my dream sponsor would be Roxy.
Whose gear do you love?
Roxy
What is your board of choice?
I’ve only ever ridden a Rossignol, so I don’t know any different, but I know my next board will be a little longer to help get my speed up—and pretty!
What is the number one lesson you have learned so far?
When going through deep powder, lean back (so the tip of your board stays up instead of ploughing into the snow) and don’t slow down—that’s when you fall over and have to climb out, which feels like being a learner again and uses up as much effort.
What did you discover about yourself through snowboarding?
That I’m tougher than I thought.
Who encouraged you the most?
My boyfriend.
What was the best comment that anyone ever said to you about learning to snowboard?
It was when I got up the guts to take a narrow, tree-lined trail off-piste. Some other people had taken it and had fallen over and were sitting off to the side and I whizzed through, around a tight bend and back on-piste. And my boyfriend told me later that as I had done so, a girl off to the side had stood up so she could watch me as I rounded the corner and sped off. It wasn’t so much about learning to snowboard, but that comment made me feel like I had really progressed from being a learner.
In terms of technical advice: my instructor said always keep your knees wide, look where you want to go, when you want to turn onto your toe edge, angle your front toes down and your back toes up, and never tense up. Those are the basic golden rules I’ve followed and they work.
The worst comment anyone ever said to you?
Telling me off for snow-ploughing (instead of linking some turns) down a steep bit of terrain after I had slid out on the ice one too many times and I just wanted to get to the bottom in one piece.
What would you be doing for a thrill if you were not snowboarding?
Learning to freedive, galloping (on a horse) along a beach or tracking snow leopards in India.
What other adventure sports do you do?
None regularly, though I have tried ice-climbing (at 5,500m in the Peruvian Andes), which was awesome, and I’ve tried surfing, though that’s on hold while I’m living in London. Is horse riding an adventure sport? I guess it is when you’re galloping along a beach! Can’t get enough of that. My next challenge: ski joering, where you ski behind a horse, holding onto a harness.
What makes a girl cool?
Individuality.
Words of wisdom?
Having been a beginner, I know that it’s worth sticking at it to get to a level where you’re confident on and off-piste and wake up in the morning rearing to get up a mountain to lay first tracks after a dump of snow.