Text : Stanimira Karadocheva
I started snowboarding in 2002 – I’m 30 years old now. I was riding with boys only, watching them jump and slide, so I started doing freestyle in my first season, too. We didn’t have a park at the beginning though so we were only hitting some pipes and building own kickers. Here in Sofia (Bulgaria), where I live, we have a mountain (called Vitosha) which is 20 minutes from the town. Imagine what a treasure that is! We used to have a small park there as well, where most of us started to progress.
Nowadays we have a lot of opportunities to ride. There are three big parks and a lot of free riding areas. A lot of professional snowboarders such as Marc Frank Montoya, Marc Swoboda, Basa Stevulova and many others were here to see the beauty of our country with their own eyes. Rene Eckert even made a movie for us called At Equilibrium. And I think the movie title says everything.
Despite there many opportunities here, there aren’t that many girls who ride. That was the main reason to create the “Wildberries Crew” – to inspire the girls to go riding! Tired of being the only girl in mostly boy’s crews, me and my friends are now trying to unite and make the girls shred together. We’ve held several free workshops for girls – in freestyle snowboarding, surfing, wakeboarding and many others – just to help them to find their new passion and meet new friends! I also started Longboard Girls Crew Bulgaria and we are trying to show the girls that even you`re in the town there are a lot of places you can shred and enjoy boarding.
I love the mountains and I love to ride. There I feel happiness and freedom.
I used to have a lot of injuries – cut meniscuses, broken ribs and vertebral, concussions and whatever else, but this did never stop me from snowboarding. I love the mountains and I love to ride. There I feel happiness and freedom. Riding with girls will bring me much more from both! So I hope I will see much more girls here “on board “!
My regular job is in a bank, but I’m trying to spend as much time as I can in the mountains. In 20 years, I hope, I’ll still be able to stand on my board and enjoying the ride!
All I want to say to the girls who were reading this is: Thank you for the time you spent on it, never stop to follow your dreams and smile as much as you can.
