Passions: When snowboarding through trees, remember to aim for the gaps

Life comes at you fast, as they say, but trees come at you faster

Snowboarding through trees is thrilling but you have to keep your wits about you

There was a time, about 20 years ago, when the thought of snowboarding through trees brought me out in a cold sweat. Then I met Jim McMahon, a snowboard guide and instructor who showed me the true path.

It was 2006, I was on a press trip to Whistler, and it was Jim’s job to introduce me to the various off-piste delights of Canada’s biggest and most celebrated ski area. We hiked perfectly pitched powder lines in the mighty Symphony Bowl area at the back of the resort, and Jim explained how to get the best out of the glorious, gemstone-themed runs that lie beneath the famous boot-pack known as Spanky’s Ladder.

What Jim really loved, though, was trees, the more tightly-spaced the better. I would’ve been more than happy to ride steep, obstacle-free powder all day, but Jim was having none of it. A keen banked slalom racer, he could weave his board at speed through the tiniest of spaces and he was determined to share his passion, whether I liked it or not.

My first few attempts ended badly, although in the moments before impact I at least became proficient at throwing my board out in front of me so that it hit bark before I did. The breakthrough eventually came when Jim simply said: “Don’t look at the trees, look at the gaps between the trees” – in retrospect, not just good snowboarding advice, but also good life advice. That was the moment it all clicked for me, and I’ve been drawn to trees ever since. Now, every ride in a chairlift or gondola is an opportunity to work out another possible line through a promising-looking section of forest.

Since my Trees 101 tutorials with Jim, I’ve pogo’d between pines in Austria, arced between aspens in Colorado, and sped through lichen-festooned silver birches in Sweden. So far – touch wood – I haven’t injured myself, although I was once on a cat-skiing trip in Canada with a guy who hit a tree so hard he ended up with a lump the size of a satsuma on his forehead. Best advert for helmets I’ve ever seen.

Sure, heading into the woods is partly about finding fresh snow, but mostly it’s about making quick decisions, with every run an endlessly variable high-speed logic puzzle. Life comes at you fast, as they say, but trees come at you faster.

Roger Cox is Arts Editor of The Scotsman​