The Luxury Of Loneliness - Mountainboarding on my own

The Luxury Of Loneliness - Mountainboarding on my own

I'm standing on top of Black Mountain at 703 metres high. Black Mountain is on the border between England and Wales and is the highest peak in Herefordshire, which is why I'm here. Well, actually it isn't. I'm here because I love being in places like this, but I also like to set myself challenges like mountainboarding the highest peak in every county in England to give myself excuses to come here. Herefordshire's highest peak is the fifth highest on the list, with North Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria above it. I'll get around to riding them one day soon too.

From where I'm standing I can see Offa's Dyke path, which runs 182 miles from Prestatyn in the north to Sedbury in the south. And as I look west, I can see more hills and valleys in Wales. Just looking at this landscape takes my breath away. The awe of being in places like this catches me every time I'm up in the hills and mountains, and I feel... actually I can't really describe how I feel, which is why I come up here. The summit of Black Mountain is unmarked and has a very shallow gradient which means I'll have to walk back down the east side before I find a steep enough slope to set off on but I just wanted to reach the top.

This morning I hiked up. I started early and followed the route I'd worked out weeks ago, checking it as I hiked and picking my line for the ride down. Even though I'm only an hour hike from the nearest house and can see people in the valley, I feel like I'm getting farther away from civilization and everything that comes with it. All the concerns, stresses and strains are long left behind. I come to places like this for the solitude, the freedom and indescribable feeling I get. Of course being in places like these has its risks, and mountain boarding in these places increases those risks. I'm aware of them and I accept them, and I take precautions to reduce the risks. One of the joys of being up here alone is that I have to be completely self-reliant. No one will be picking me up if something goes wrong. If I make a mistake, I have to accept the consequences. But the benefits far outweigh the risks.

Yesterday I prepared. I packed my rucksack with all the equipment I hope I won't need. I carry food and water, a first aid kit, tools, flares, and map & compass and charged my phone. I checked my board to make sure nothing will fall off when I'm riding. I looked over the map again and checked my route, learning it feature-by-feature and contour-by-contour. I ate plenty of carbohydrates and went to bed early so I could get up early and make the most of the daylight. The weather report said it is going to be cloudy but not raining. I dress in waterproofs just in case the weather changes, including a bright orange jacket so I (and by that I mean my body) can be seen more easily if someone does have to come looking for me.

Now it's time to go. I look down the path I walked up a little earlier. I tighten the straps on my rucksack, check my helmet is done up and step into my bindings. I roll in and quickly pick up speed. The only sounds are the wind, and the whir of my wheels. As my focus narrows I tune of out those noises and concentrate on my breathing. This helps me to stop thinking about what I have to do and leaves my body free to react to the terrain without any interference from my brain. All of that beautiful scenery disappears and all I see is the next few metres of the track in front of me. Mountain boarding is my kind of mediation. It's realisation through action. It brings about that perfect moment, the one in which everything suddenly makes sense because it's really all the same thing: me, the world, my job, my relationships. The chatter of it all goes silent, and it's just me out here in the world, free. I reach the bottom, out of breath and with a big grin on my face. This kind of riding requires a different mindset to my usual kind of freeriding. Instead of walk-a-bit, ride-a-bit, walk-a-bit, ride-a-bit, here it's walk-a-long-way, ride-a-long-way, go-home. I look up wishing I could ride it again but know that I shouldn't. I know it's time to go back to the car, get changed and go home. As I drag my board along the footpath to where I parked my car I think about the next mountain and how it'll feel to ride it and how much I love riding alone in the mountains.

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