I just finished a three-day booking with Emma from Atlanta. Emma is 7 years old and had never snowboarded before we met. She has spent the last several years skiing at Vail, and has reached the Mountain three status.

Basically, Mountain Three at Vail mountain means that she rips. Well, rips as much as any seven-year-old girl can. She can ride any chair lift herself on skis, cruise on greens and easy blues, and understands how to read the terrain.

For a little girl that already has found her independence on the mountain, to want to try snowboarding is very cool. I think that Dad being a snowboarder was motivation enough to make it happen.

Emma started out slowly, not know if she was regular footed or a goofy-footed rider. After twenty-five minutes of hands on training, she was skating and gliding down flat terrain with ease.

Over the next few days, we rode together, hand-in-hand. Progressing from the beginner area, and chairlift fifteen, we cruised the mountains easy green terrain. We spoke about how riding her horse “Little Dude” was a bit like snowboarding, and how if we thought about being in a rocking chair, our heel-side turns got easier.

I spoke with Emma’s Dad today. He called to say how Emma enjoyed her time snowboarding, that they would be back in January, and looked forward to seeing me and snowboarding again.

I can’t wait to hear about how “Little Dude” is, and if she taught him anything about snowboarding.