Part I: Snowboarding at the Beach

Maris snowboards while Anaya tends to the beanie boos in our sand bowl snowboard resort

We are officially getting excited for snow! Last weekend, with visions of snowflakes dancing in our heads, we took Maris’ new Burton Riglet Snowboard out for a spin.  On the beach.

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A girl and her snowboard—ready to shred

I came across the Burton Riglet as I clicked around the web, wondering whether very young children (3- to 4-year olds) could learn to snowboard or you really had to start them on skis. Since Eben, Anaya, and I all snowboard, we want Maris to be able to join us as soon as possible. It turns out we are not alone. This post from Kids Can Ride has a good overview of the dilemma. Do little kids have the strength for it? The balance? Is it safe? Parents, instructors, and other people who really seemed to know what they were talking about swore by the Burton Riglet Snowboard.  I watched videos of extremely tiny people casually shredding after a couple of lessons.  Could almost-4-year-old Maris do that?  Let’s try it!  I bought a new 2014-2015 model at a discount for about $80, complete with the Riglet reel, an otherwise-pricey accessory that allows you to pull your young snowboarder along until she gets the hang of it.  We styled it as an early-birthday present to make the whole thing just that much more alluring.

The box sat in a bedroom for a few weeks, gathering interest, until the right moment came along to unveil the Riglet.  Last Sunday was the day.  The sun was shining bright in the sky.  Leaves were falling.  Apples were turning.  It felt like 70 degrees outside.  What better time to learn to snowboard?  The box was so small and light.  Could there really be a snowboard in there?  Yes!  The board itself is lightweight and sturdy-feeling with bright, happy colors.  Ours came with the Riglet reel pre-attached, though it seems you sometimes have to attach the reel yourself with a couple of screws that come with.  No big deal. 

Maris chasing the perfect ride

We packed the whole gang into the truck, Oliver included, with sand toys, a bucket of beanie boos, a surfboard, and a snowboard, and headed to our local beach.  As luck would have it, there were small, glassy waves peeling under a perfect blue sky.  Eben quickly put the surfboard to good use.  Even better, someone had already built us a “snow” park.  A deep hole with contoured dry sand looked like the perfect place to cruise the Riglet.  We started by smoothing our sand slopes with the edges of the board.  When our slopes were perfectly groomed, we put a few beanie boos on the board for a test spin.  They loved it!  Who’s next?

Maris looked at me skeptically and suggested we build a sandcastle.  Good idea, but do you want to try this really cool snowboard first?  Maris lay down on the board and asked me to tug her around.  Okay.  We did that for a while, until I coaxed her onto her feet.  Ride it like a skateboard!  Another skeptical look…  Finally, she agreed to ride around in a crouch holding the board’s tail.  And, for a few minutes, boom.  She was doing it!  She even launched herself into the sand bowl a few times before losing interest.

The idea is to start the kids off with just their feet on the board, no bindings, and play around for a while on the grass, sand, carpet, or snow. This gets them comfortable standing on the board and taking a few falls.  The next step is to attach bindings made especially for the Riglet and invest in a miniature-sized pair of snowboard boots.  We are very much on the first step.  Time will tell whether the Burton Riglet Snowboard translates from the sand to the snow, and from a tiny sand bowl to a real-live slope.  In the meantime, we’ll take the Riglet out whenever we get the chance, so that it feels familiar and fun when Maris is ready to try the real thing. 

10-year-old Anaya takes a spin on the Riglet

After an exciting day on the slopes, we built a sand ski lodge for the beanie boos and decorated it with strands of kelp and broken shells.  When the sun slipped behind the clouds, and the fog started to roll in, Maris took one more spin on the Riglet before we called it a day.

If you want to get your preschooler snowboarding with a lesson, our home resort, Northstar California Resort, starts kids as young as 3 in group snowboard lessons for 3- to 6-year olds, with 1 hour of snowboarding per a half-day and plenty of playtime. Nearby Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows has a snowboard program especially for 3- to 4-year olds, with full- and half-day programs incorporating a few hours of snowboarding per a half-day with lunch and playtime. Nearby Mt. Rose and Diamond Peak take a more traditional approach, starting kids snowboard lessons at age 7.

This is Part I in a series chronicling our preschooler Maris’s snowboarding journey. For Part II, click here. For Part III, click here.

To visit Happy Cabin during your trip to North Lake Tahoe / Tahoe Vista / Kings Beach, click here.