Waiting around bored for hours with nothing to do is not something Junior Chris Goodell experiences often. As long as there’s snow and no schedule holding him back, Chris is on the slopes, filling every moment he can with snowboarding. Chris’s passion for snowboarding has firmly burrowed into his life ever since he was young and will only continue to tighten its grip in the future.
“Whenever I don’t work or have plans, I’m snowboarding,” Chris said. “Sometimes I’ll go straight from school and leave everything in my car. Sometimes I’ll leave my gloves on my engine so they’ll dry out. I snowboard a lot, so I’ll do most of my homework at the lodge. [Waiting to do my homework] doesn’t really reflect on my grades, though; I make sure to maintain pretty good grades.”
With snowboarding maintaining such a prominent spot in Chris’s life, he has had to adapt to fit his passion into his academics. While turning his lodge into a study hall, Chris also turned his classroom into a workshop. By taking his love for snowboarding and pairing it with his school time, Chris registered for FHC’s Board and Design class. By taking this class, Chris is able to make his own snowboard within school hours to use later.
“A bunch of my friends [snowboard], and I’ve just started making my own board,” Chris said. “I have a woodshop at home, and I also take a board-building class here. It’s a fun class, and you work at your own pace. I chose to take the class because I love snowboarding and want to use [the board] after I make it. I’m laying the rails and siding right now and creating the deck for it.”
Once Chris completes his board, he plans to use it at his go-to snowboarding location, Cannonsburg Ski Area. The proximity and park at Cannonsburg make it an appealing location for all snowboarders nearby, including Chris. Since he has been an avid snowboarder all his life, it’s reflected in both his skill and passion. While Chris has only started going snowboarding at Cannonsburg in the last few years, it doesn’t look like he’ll be leaving soon.
“I’ve been snowboarding all my life, but I just started going to Cannonsburg four or five years ago,” Chris said. “I snowboard at least twice a week. I snowboard at Cannonsburg because everything else is really far away, and Cannonsburg has the best park near us. I’m only like 25 minutes away, [and] it’s 100% worth the drive, since I’m usually there for hours.”
The park at Cannonsburg is one of the main reasons Chris goes so frequently, as snowboarding on the terrain is one of his favorite activities. The man-made jumps and rails create the perfect environment for Chris to perfect specific skills and tricks.
“I [go to the] park while snowboarding mostly,” Chris said. “I go to [the trail] Showtime a lot at Cannonsburg, and I like the rails. I would say I’m okay [and] pretty decent at snowboarding. I spend most of my time in parks. My best trick is probably a pretzel on a kink rail, then I hit a ‘360’ off of a waterfall.”
While Cannonsburg has become one of the places where Chris spends most of his time, it’s not all perfect. Since the park is open to the public, it’s hard to avoid foot traffic and snowboarders who might snowboard a little too close for comfort. Yet Chris still finds time to surround himself with great company while snowboarding, especially by bringing friends with him.
“Sometimes, all the little kids at the park with their ‘highlighter fits’ and ‘Jerrys’ are annoying,” Chris said. “But, I have a bunch of group chats that I’m a part of, so when I need someone to snowboard with, I text in those and usually someone’s free. I usually go with the same people; most of them go to [Forest Hills] Northern [High School] or have already graduated. Usually I go with my best friend, Conner, or guys I’ve met through him.”
Snowboarding with friends is one of Chris’ favorite parts of snowboarding and has played a role in how frequently he snowboards. While finding people to snowboard with might be easy for Chris, initially beginning the sport can be difficult. Without prior knowledge or gear, snowboarding can be challenging for those interested.
“Snowboarding is kind of an expensive sport, and it’s hard to learn at first,” Chris said. “Once you get into it a few times, it’s fun once you [can] start doing other stuff like park. The park is rails, boxes, [and] jumps.”
While snowboarding presents a learning curve, Chris has definitely conquered it. Chris is currently, and plans to continue, honing his skills, whether those be snowboarding down the mountain or hitting jumps in the park. Chris’s passion and skill for snowboarding are both aspects of his life that he is proud of; however, he doesn’t see it affecting his life career-wise.
“I’m not that good to take it anywhere professionally,” Chris said. “I have the passion for it, but I don’t want that for my actual career. I’ll definitely [snowboard] in college and after college, though.”
Snowboarding has become a monumental part of Chris’s life, taking up a role in both his academic and social life. He’s gained both physical and mental skills while growing a passion that will help propel him through life. While snowboarding might be just a winter hobby for some, Chris discovered much more than entertainment in snowboarding; he found his passion.
“Snowboarding has become a really big part of my life, and I really enjoy it,” Chris said. “It’s nice to be able to practice my skills and use snowboarding as a way de-stress.”
