I sit at my home office chair with an extremely sore body and a bruised tailbone (I hope that’s all it is…), having just returned from our annual West Coast Hwa Rang Do® Academy TGT Snowboarding trip to Mammoth mountain.

(BTW, I also learned that Mammoth is an active volcano as well as a hot ski resort.)

We left Thursday evening to Mammoth Mountain and hit the slopes early Friday morning, under the leadership of Grandmaster Taejoon Lee.  Along with being one of the most incredible and talented martial artists in the world, he’s also a master snowboarder and loves shredding down double black diamonds with a warrior’s grin on his face.

Grandmaster Taejoon Lee (What? You expected an old guy?)

Anyone who goes snowboarding with Master Lee has one objective and one objective only – to conquer the mountain – no exceptions!

This was my 2nd time snowboarding and I’ve boarded enough to know that I am NOT a natural snowboarder. I have also boarded enough to know that, like many things worth doing, I don’t enjoy snowboarding… at all.

In fact, at times after taking some mean spills and tumbling down some of the tougher slopes in Mammoth, I was hating it.  Three days of boarding (falling on my ass) and trying to keep up with Master Lee and 20+ of his best students will quickly tear away at your body.

One of my many falls on the way down the mountain...

Most people would unstrap their board, turn in their gear, go back to the cabin, soak in the hot tub and give in to the mountain.

But there’s a stubbornness in me, which for some reason never allows me to give in to the pain I’m in – physical, mental or emotional.

With my knees, elbows, chest, back, butt and even my face bruised from the beating the mountain gave me… I couldn’t give up…

On the 2nd day of boarding after lunch, Master Lee told everyone in the group, “Ok. We all move as a group together.  Wherever I go, we ALL go!”.

Everyone in unison responds, “Yes, sir!”

I responded, “Yes, sir!” as well, although the prospect of following Master Lee to some of the more challenging parts of the mountain didn’t quite excite me, in the same way it excited some of the more experience boarders in the group.

Hwa Rang Do TGT Group... probably waiting for me.

That afternoon of boarding turned out being 4 straight hours of following Master Lee up the mountain, boarding down some steep and tough slopes, catching another lift, which went higher than the ones we took before… inching closer and closer to the top… my body becoming more bruised and beat up in the process.

At this point, I’m in survival mode. Saying very little, not complaining, just focusing on the challenge in front of me.

When reaching the top of one of the higher lifts, Master Lee points up and says, “Look! That’s the top of the mountain. It’s not much higher.  We can go there and take that slope down. It’s not much harder than what we’ve already done. What do you say?”

Everyone in unison responds, “Let’s do it!”

So we ride towards the gondola, which takes us to the top of the mountain.  I think at this point, I kinda zoned out and was in denial about what was happening.  Considering my skill level, I couldn’t see myself actually going to the top of the mountain and boarding down.

I didn’t believe that I could do it, therefore I couldn’t even imagine myself at the top. It’s an issue many of as deal with in the process of building a business or participating in any purposeful venture.

Without the proper leadership and having someone lead the way, it’s likely that many of the things we’ve accomplished in this life would have happened.  Such was the case on Saturday afternoon, as I followed Master Lee and the group onto the gondola ride to the top.

When I got to the top, I turned to Master Lee and asked him, “Is this really the top of the mountain?” He looked at me and smiled, “That’s right.”

We took a group picture at the top of the mountain, enjoyed the view and then proceeded to our final battle with the mountain – Cornice Bowl, a very steep black diamond run.

I was numb, in acceptance of my fate and ready to take on the challenge. As I walked near the edge to strap up and get ready… 2 powerful images were engrained into my mind…

The first was watching Master Lee jump of the edge on his board and let out a powerful and blood curling battle cry as he rode down.  And then I turned to a sign to the left that said, “Experts Only” with a picture of a black diamond – “Oh, crap!”

One by one, the others in the group went off the edge. I strapped in, sat at the edge and pushed myself off… (not giving myself enough time to think about it).

Hey! I'm snowboarding without falling! Yay!

I wouldn’t describe going down Cornice as “riding down”, as much as it was tumbling down.  Notable moments on the way down Cornice was running into 2 people, one of them Reynaldo Macias, (also his 2nd time boarding), and a girl who’s shoulder I bumped as a slid down. As I bumped her, I yelled “I’m sorry” with an echo effect (like in the cartoons), which must have been pretty comical since I slid by her so fast.

I regained some control and slid down on my butt as I watched a skier going down the same run I tumbled down, with his girlfriend riding piggie back on him, while he tore into the side of the mountain so effortlessly – I was in awe.

I got to the bottom of Cornice, relieved and excited.  It took me well over 30 minutes to get down the rest of the mountain, trying to keep up with the group, taking many more spills along the way with legs burning from me digging into the mountain with my board on the way down.

At one point I went down the wrong slope and I had to cross through a few trees to get back on the correct path. This delayed me quite a bit and I almost didn’t make it to the lift in time, which would take us back to the side of the mountain where our cabin was.

At the bottom, it was Master Lee waiting for me at the lift, trying to convince the lift operator to keep the lift going for a few more minutes. I made it just in time and rode the lift back with him — my body in pain, legs and back exhausted.

On the way up, I thanked Master Lee for waiting for me and taking me on the adventure of a lifetime, one I’m not sure I would have done on my own. He said, “I’m proud of you Ferny. You should be proud of yourself, too.”

I replied, “I am, sir”

At the top of the lift, the rest of the group was waiting and we took an “easy” run back down to where our cabin was…

We enjoyed the rest of the evening at the cabin, had a nice dinner, played games and I still had enough in me to mix cocktails for the adults.  It was a night of celebration.

Sunday I took it very easy, as my body just about had it. I took a couple of leisure runs and spent the rest of the day helping teach some of the children who came with us how to snowboard – oh, the irony. J

Later that night, after arriving back in LA, I overheard Master Lee talking to one of the 1st time snowboarders of the group.

He said, “Remember the lesson here… The goal is not to get to the bottom of the mountain. That is not the right thinking. It’s like life.  Stop worrying about the bad things – the falling or getting hurt. Focus on the enjoying yourself while riding and look forward to the good things. The goal should be to have fun, pushing yourself to make the most out of what the ride offers and to get better. Boarding is not about getting down the mountain. Living is not waiting to die.”

I’ve realized that he battle was not with the mountain after all… it was with myself.