Dear readers,
as I promised I’m not going to stop sharing with you my thoughts and stories. Well, today (or more precisely, tonight) I’ve decided to talk a little bit about motivation. Being stuck with all those exams papers and deadlines during finals week, the only thing that keeps me alive and awake till 4 a.m. almost every night is the image of a mountain, fully covered with snow, white…untouched… just fascinating.
photos by Martin Radnev
This lovely picture harmonizes my body and soul that had been almost broken into pieces. The weekend is so close, kindly offering release from all those stress. At that moment, snowboarding is what motivates me. It does not matter if you are a professional or not, it does not matter even if it’s the same sport, just find something that you are passionate about and build from it your strong motivation.
Some people motivate themselves by measuring the time till the end of the finals, “Less than 12 hours till the one month freedom! That’s the motivation”, said Tsvetelina Zaharieva. However, this may not help if you cannot measure the hardship, how long the difficult period will last or the problems that you have… A real passion can be your inspiration in almost every situation. Snowboarding is the thought that kicks me out of bed each morning for the last 2 weeks. And it will continue so in many other situations.
Much more can be said, but I need to get back to my papers. Remember that there is nothing more satisfying than having a good rest after you finish a hard project (or finite math exam in my case :D). Work Hard, Party Harder! In life, the faster you learn to motivate yourself, the more successful you’ll be. That was for tonight, expect some fresh snowboard videos soon… Pray for snow and be happy! 🙂
Dear readers, this is my final post completing the 15-week assignment for my multimedia class this semester. However, I would like to inform you that this will not be the last publication on my blog. People often say that when something ends, it brings a new exciting beginning after it. Well, I am here, all waiting.
The first semester is almost over, but as for my journey it will never end as long as I am alive, because that is what happens with passions, you keep them in your heart forever. They guide you throughout your whole life and remain in your memories.
As I have said when my journey began, one of my greatest passions is snowboarding. This sport is something that needs to be visualized in order to be explained. That is why the editing/shooting skills gained during my multimedia class were so vital. The blog helped me to share the knowledge I have gained through the seasons and to spread the idea that snowboarding is an awesome sport. In my multimedia class I have learned how to shoot (a five-shot video) and edit my snowboard videos, and how to use the social media (Facebook and Twitter) to advertise my blog and reach even greater audience worldwide.
Furthermore, I already have some followers (Boris Marinov, Chanko Valev) who took into consideration my tips. They regularly read my posts and know are even more enthusiastic and prepared to explore the mountains in Bulgaria this winter season. The blog, the followers and the passion gave us the courage to establish a new club for winter sports at AUBG (Winter Junkies). By “us” I mean me and my boyfriend Rosen, whom I want to say great thanks for being right next to me in my project and for helping me collect a valuable content for the blog.
Finally, whit this post I would like to announce the official start of the winter season 2013-2014. More than half of the resorts in Bulgaria are now open and kindly welcome tourists. Once I finish with my final exams, readers might expect various wild videos and stories. In the future, I would like to create from my blog an independent snowboard medium in Bulgaria. It will offer various points of views and cover different events. Basically, it will keep track on what is happening in all Bulgarian resorts and will tell the wild stories of known and unknown snowboarders.
The video after this article presents an ordinary snowboard day from the sunrise to the night bar. It was recorded in “Osogovo Funpark” and in the first snowboard bar in Sofia (“Central Snowpark Maimunarnika”). Enjoy.
How far can you reach while being on that board? Well, it depends on your enthusiasm and preparation. For me, there is no such a limit. That was for today, Keep Calm and Snowboard ON!
It is December 3 and Bulgarian mountains are already covered with snow :))) Some people have already visited their favorite places and practiced favorite winter sports. Unfortunately, I am not one of them, yet. The good news is that, snowboarding is now available in urban environment . Opened on 29 November , Central Snow Park ” Maymunarnika “,in Sofia, Bulgaria will celebrate the official start of winter season 2013-2014 on December 7 with various surprises and free lessons. Maybe the most important part of the program is the premiere of the new short- documentary film “SnoWhere in Tirol”.
You can find some interesting facts about the idea and video creation process in one of my previous posts (“Snow Shop” Pray for Snow and be Happy).
That was for today, my lovely readers… I hope to see many of you on Saturday 🙂
Exciting news folks, it is SNOWING!!! There’s already some snow coverage in the mountains. Osogovo Funpark just opened the new season this weekend. Soon other Bulgarian resorts will also be ready for the new winter season. You might be wondering why I am not there now, well I have papers due and the finals are also coming. However, you might expect a snowboarding video of my friends and me after the next weekend 🙂 For my blog post this week, I’ve prepared for you an interesting story about the foundation of one of the contemporary snowboard clubs in Bulgaria – Club Tandra.
Photographers and videographers: Martin Radnev, Petar Milev, Teodor Asenov, Lyuba Popova
Sport club “Tandra” was established in 2007 as a pretty local club in Blagoevgrad and Bansko. The name was creatively chosen from the names of two of the parents of the founders, Tanya and Drago. Although everything started from a small group of enthusiasts, the club had 20 members, actively participating in national competitions, for the season 2012-2013. Even more people are expected to join the crew this winter. Just for now, the new number is 25 participants with age range between 16 and 34. I would like to mention, that I am also part of the crew.
“Well, it is really difficult to say who the actual founders are. The founders are written only on documents. Basically, “Tandra” club started as a crew of friends, willing to spend their time skiing and snowboarding together.” said in an online interview the current manager of the club Petar Milev. Unfortunately, he is now outside the country, so I could not record a video with him.
The Trainer, as other members of the club call him, is really passionate about all winter sports. He explained, that he didn’t remember any concrete reason for establishing of the club. The basic ideas of his friends and him were to popularize snowboarding first in Blagoevgrad and the region and then in Bulgaria, to spread the zeal they have and to educate beginners, giving them the knowledge, the crew had gained through the years.
At the beginning, the members of “Tandra” were not interested in any competitions or national winter tournaments. They just wanted to have fun, skiing and snowboarding, finding breathtaking places that have never been ridden before. Now, the members regularly attend different competition or events for winter sports. Dimitar Naydenov won a silver medal in the National Border cross series in Borovets Resort, Bulgaria.
“Everyone who wants to join the club is welcome! Basically, you pay the annual membership fee and you are already in, there are no skills required. If you are passionate enough, you will learn everything,” said Petar.
As you have already seen in the video, today I’m going to show you one amazing place nestled in the center of Sofia and the girl who owns it. I spent the Saturday afternoon in her place called “Snow Shop” and we had an interesting conversation about her life, her shop and the passion about snowboarding and winter in general. Her mind is a colorful amalgam, her soul shines like a little star, and her heart is open to everyone.
photo by Martin Radnev
Beti has been running the shop for three years now. As she mentioned in the video, her main goal is to provide people with more than just clothing. She often gives them advices, helps them finding the clothes that will fit them best, and educates them about snowboarding. She promotes healthy eating and healthy lifestyle, because she believes, it is the key component for achieving ultimate happiness in life.
While we are still talking about helping and educating people, Beti also gave an important advice for those of you who haven’t chosen the right equipment yet. If one has to buy snowboard clothing, he or she would find useful her explanation:
“Well, it is really simple, but no one gets and I don’t know why. However, when I was a beginner, I also didn’t know this too. It is pretty much that you need to have three layers in your clothing: The first layer is a thermal shirt that creates heat while contacting your body. The second is a polar or hoodie that keeps the heat inside and the third one is the jacket that protects you from the weather conditions. Yes, the last one is making you look like an astronaut.” [laughs]
Each winter season she travels to Austria, together with her boyfriend Ico and their dog Morris. In her words it is the best place for winter sports. That is one of the reasons their film is called “SnoWhere in Tirol”. It is something like an independent non-for-profit documentary and is going to be released on December 22, 2013. We talked a lot about video shooting and editing, so decided to use a longer video for this week’s blog post. I hope you enjoyed it. I promise to write something about the premiere of the movie, but for now you might just watch the trailer here:
the process of editing “SnoWhere in Tirol”
Morris the dog 🙂
That was for today, see you next week and remember: pray for snow and be happy ^^
The premiere of the recently released Bulgarian snowboard film “Rise Up” achieved huge success. That is the main reason why Never Know Productions brings us the second screening of the film, which will be held tomorrow in “Mixtape 5”. It is one of the best clubs that keep Sofia alive at night.
The screening will be followed by an after party full of positive emotions, nice music and many many gifts for the new snowboard season. I’m definitely gonna be there, and so you should!!
Link for the event on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/251517008332185/
Today’s post is again for the purpose of my multimedia class. With every new week, every new post, every new technology that we use, we are getting more and more advanced in our “Blogging adventure”. Storyfy is a very useful app for every contemporary journalist. It helps making sense of what people post on social media and builds a new information network that will give people the social perspective on any event. In my case, it is the preparation for the new winter season. Check out what I’ve done so far 🙂
This is my first storify. As you can see, it is about snowboarding… While you’re waiting for the first snow, you might better save time and prepare all the needed equipment. Check out what others do.
Dear lovely readers, the fall break is over and we are much closer to the so desired winter season. As you have already learned from my video, people at AUBG started preparing their equipment, so that they will be ready to just grab the board and go when it starts snowing.
Due to the growing interest, Winter Junkies (the club that I explained you about in one of my previous posts) starts its recruiting campaign this week. The main event will be held on Nov. 14, 2013. “The main purpose of this event is to gather people who ride either ski or snowboard and to build a community that will share some winter experience,” said Rosen Stratkov, the President of Winter Junkies.
Apart from the recruiting campaign, I wanted to introduce to you one new passionate snowboarder who is a third year student at AUBG. He is quite inexperienced, yet eager to gain some skills in the field of this winter sport. I spent the Sunday morning with Boris Marinov, when he tried his new board for the first time on the lawn near Balkanski Academic Center.
“What inspired me: I consider myself a very adventurous child and the winter sports have always been interesting for me. Up to this point I didn’t have the opportunity to try this amazing sport but I believe it is never too late for nothing.” said Boris.
For the upcoming season, he plans to explore the resorts near Blagoevgrad – Bodrost and Bansko. During winter break, he will visit Uzana resort, an “astonishing place” near his hometown Gabrovo. At that place last year, he took his first basic lesson in snowboarding. Hopefully, he will become more experienced this season, accompanied again of his best friends.
Borchi, as friends call him, also plans to join the Winter Junkies club, in order to meet new people, who share similar interests. “First of all I expect to have a lot of fun. This is the purpose of sports in general: to gather people and to have good time.” He might attend some of the various workshops that the club will organize. Who knows, after that, he might become so experienced and adroit, that he will have to teach his friends during the winter break.
That was my post for today. If you have a desire for snowboarding, just as Borchi does, I encourage you to join the Winter Junkies and continue following my blog. Have a prosperous week. : )
Hello my lovely readers, the winter is approaching. You have already learned a little bit of the snowboarding history and also some basics about the sport. You will just need some equipment (something that we will discuss most probably in the next blog post) and you will be ready to explore the mountains and winter resorts, not only in Bulgaria, but also worldwide.
Now we are just waiting for the snow to come. The forecasts are promising, predicting a bunch of beautiful snowflakes very soon. In some of the mountains in my country there is already 20 to 60- centimeter snow coverage. Some people say the early snow predicts a really cold winter. October may become December, who knows… For now, I enjoy a lot the colorful amalgam and landscapes that the autumn presents to us and passionately wait for my first snowboarding trip of the year. Before I started snowboarding, I didn’t like autumn and winter seasons at all. They depressed me and reminded me that the summer is gone. Now each winter gives me new exciting emotions and adrenaline-filled memories, so I eagerly wait for it. Each shade of autumn, each fallen leaf reminds me how close I am to the so desirable emotion.
Today I wanted to show you that snowboarding is not my only passion. Of course you need to devote a lot of time to this sport, but you still might have many other hobbies. If I give you myself as an example, I have a keen interest in art, especially applied arts (I’m making handmade jewels, but that’s a theme for a whole new blog). I’ve been also participating in one dance formation for more than ten years. Last but not least, I love photography. As you can see, it also became one of my hobbies. It is really interesting and also useful for my blog.
However, let’s get back to snowboarding. As I mentioned in the video it took me around a year to prepare myself and start snowboarding. You might think that after that one year all difficulties and problems ended, well you’re wrong. If you think it is too hard to find the necessary money for equipment, than wait to get on the board. The very first steps you will do, the first meters on the slope will most probably make you give up entirely. So try hard again and again. Whatever happens, believe in yourself and “…do not be afraid to try winter sports, it can be so much fun!” said Lora.
It is important to go snowboarding with friends or a tutor at least in the beginning of your “winter adventure” (believe me it will be an adventure for sure). People you go with will give you courage to move on and will help you in case you experience problems. Even if you’re already a highly adroit professional, I do not suggest you to go alone in the mountain. Take your friends… it is more entertaining and safer as well.
Hardly had I started improving my editing and blog-managing skills, when the middle of my multimedia assignment came. I enjoy working on this project a lot and I also promise to continue posting useful and interesting articles even when the course ends in December. Hopefully, the new posts will contain actual snowboard videos with tips and tricks. : )
Before I wish you a very productive midterm week, I wanted to emphasize on one last theme- Bulgarian girls (and in particular girls) in snowboarding: “However, for now they are pretty good for the Bulgarian level of snowboarding and they seem to learn pretty fast.” said Rosen. As a girl and a snowboarder I wanted to say, just give women a room and opportunity to try and encourage them. They might also have the passion and skills to become professionals. I look forward to see you after the fall break… and do not forget: “Keep calm and Snowboard ON” 🙂
“Whiteroom Daily”, part of maybe the most famous Bulgarian web site for snowboarding (whiteroom.info), posted on Oct.11.2013 that the well-known brand Burton had launched the third installment of Burton Snowboards’ 2013. “Burton presents [WOMEN] Snowboarding” is an online film project that gives the women of Burton’s talented team a room to show what amazing things they can do. Kelly Clark, Kimmy Fasani, Hannah Teter, Enni Rukajarvi, Arielle Gold, and Cilka Sadar work in a team and collectively produce a high quality example of snowboarding. They proved the world that women also have a place in the adrenaline-filled world of professional snowboarding. These six girls also made many men jealous of the level of professionalism they had achieved over the recent years. As a girl who actively practices this winter sport, I am really proud of what they did. But let see what other people think.
You can wathch “Burton presents [WOMEN] Snowboarding” here : http://www.snowboardermag.com/featured/burton-presents-women-snowboarding-2/#.Ulu8bBCAyxc
I decided to discuss the topic and the video with someone the readers are already familiar with. Rosen Stratkov has been proved to be part of the professional snowboarding here in Bulgaria. He thinks that women also have place in this field and their level of experience rises each new season. He admires the work of Burton’s team this year.” I really like the movie, these girls do their job amazingly!” said Rosen. He also said that the professional level of women here in Bulgaria is not as high but it is going in the right direction.
“Bulgarian girls are good in snowboarding, but compared to the girls internationally, they have a lot to learn. However, for now they are pretty good for the Bulgarian level of snowboarding and they seem to learn pretty fast.”
On the question if it would be harder for a girl to take up snowboarding, Rosen said at last:
“Well, it really depends on how a girl is physically prepared to start snowboarding, but it is not that hard for anyone. She just do not need to be afraid.”
There is a well-developing snowboard team for women also in Bulgaria. It is called “Wild Berries” and I might present it to you in some of my next posts. They might tell us from their perspective if it is easier for a girl to learn snowboarding, or the male beginners improve easily. Have a nice day and do not forget that winter is comming 🙂
photos by Martin Radnev
Some people motivate themselves by measuring the time till the end of the finals, “Less than 12 hours till the one month freedom! That’s the motivation”, said Tsvetelina Zaharieva. However, this may not help if you cannot measure the hardship, how long the difficult period will last or the problems that you have… A real passion can be your inspiration in almost every situation. Snowboarding is the thought that kicks me out of bed each morning for the last 2 weeks. And it will continue so in many other situations.
Much more can be said, but I need to get back to my papers. Remember that there is nothing more satisfying than having a good rest after you finish a hard project (or finite math exam in my case :D). Work Hard, Party Harder! In life, the faster you learn to motivate yourself, the more successful you’ll be. That was for tonight, expect some fresh snowboard videos soon… Pray for snow and be happy! 🙂
Snowboard ON 