I used to ski when I was really young (like 8-12), then I switched to snowboarding in junior high (grades 7-9 in my Canadian province). I've been snowboarding now for 20 years, and I still love it! The Rocky mountains are only a few hours drive from my city, so there's premium resorts close enough that I can do a day trip to the mountains. Also, there's 5 or 6 local hills in and around town since we're on the banks of a major river, so there's always somewhere to go riding. Probably helps that we usually have snow from Nov-Mar every year.