Snowboarding While Deaf (DeafBlind)
I’ve been snowboarding for 9 years. When I first started snowboarding, I’d wear both my hearing aid & cochlear implant. But after time went on, I realized how painful it was for me to wear the cochlear implant with the helmet. I’d end up with a headache at the end of every day. Wearing just the hearing aid was fine, but I still didn’t have much clarity on what the sounds were! Then one day I had completely forgot to put my hearing aid on -- and honestly it wasn’t really all that much different for me.
A few years ago, I purchased a jersey that says “DEAF RIDER” on the back. (though I’ll need to purchase a new one that says DEAFBLIND RIDER) Even though I enjoy snowboarding, I still have this internal fear every time I go down the mountain. I’m one of those people that 100% talk to myself the ENTIRE time i’m going down the mountain. I’m terrified that someone is going to run into me or cut me off because I didn’t hear them or even see them!
Since I can’t hear much of anything and my vision is limited. I’m very guarded about when I want to go snowboarding. In the past, we’d always go up to our local mountain and hit the slopes first thing in the morning. Now that we travel to Snowshoe in West Virginia, we’ve adjusted our schedule to go during the week rather than on the weekend. We would work in the mornings, then take the afternoon off. It does mean we have to take time off, but for my sense of safety, it feels better to do this. Now I recognize that it is a privilege to be able to do this.
It’s actually kind of comical to have people be like “how can a deaf person snowboard?'“ The lift operators are always like how can you snowboard? I still have 2 feet… perfectly capable of doing this. I’m just dying to see what people’s reactions will be when I add on blind to my jersey. :)
This doesn’t mean I can avoid having anything happen to me. In fact, when we were there in February of 2022, I was kind of surprised by the sheer self-centeredness of people when they went down the mountain. Like I do not even really know why I’m surprised. The general rule of the mountain is that the person ahead of you has the right of way, but that doesn’t mean you can’t pass people. However, there have been PLENTY of close calls because I’d be turning, and then I realize someone is RIGHT THERE. I can’t hear or see them.
With that always on the back of my mind, we usually ride mostly the blue trails. Sometimes blacks (this is the east coast…our mountains aren’t as high as out west - I’m sure I’d be only on green trails out west.) We try to pick out quieter trails so that I don’t have to stress out about it. Regardless, I still have to give myself a pep talk the entire time I’m riding down the mountain!
If there are a lot of people, I will usually hang back and let the people go and cruise behind them. So I can just take it easy, however there are so many people out there that literally are like whatever and don’t give a shit about who’s around them. I’m constantly having to be extra aware of my surroundings so that I don’t get hurt. I also want to relax and have fun… but dealing with stupid self centered people all the time. It’s exhausting.
