Later in life, it’s common to look back on your 20s and ask yourself, “What did I really know back then?” Of course, most of us thought we knew it all. Yet the truth lies perhaps with Socrates, who said, “True knowledge exists in knowing you know nothing.”
But, with age comes wisdom. And at 23, fresh from completing a degree in political science at the University of Colorado, Amanda Cruz knew this: snowboarding was going to be part of her future. She wasn’t sure how, or even why. But in her twenty-third year she took up the sport and nearly a decade later is confident she found her calling.
Being outdoors was something that came natural to her. Born in Northern California near the Oregon border, she lived in the Pacific Northwest for the first five years of her life. Her parents, both Colorado natives, moved the family there for a change of scenery as part of her father’s work with the U.S. Forest Service.
Being on a snowboard, Amanda says, is like flying. [Cullen McHale photos]
A connection to nature is also in her DNA. Amanda is Pueblo-Cherokee. Generally, she identifies as Hispanic-Indigenous. But who she is — what she represents — is much more than a declaration in a bio. For Amanda, her blood is the currency she lives by.
“What I put into my teaching is helping people to be aware of, again, what they do,” she says. “I approach how Indigenous communities have been stewards of the land, from the very beginning and just reminding people that, you know, the sports, the activities that we do out in nature, where we recreate, that being able to preserve and pass that along and take care of the land and take care of each other, that is driving home the point for me in terms of Indigenous culture.”
Amanda was an active child, playing soccer and also being an accomplished dancer. She studied ballet, jazz, modern and hip hop.
“Dance, for me, took on various forms. They were all just areas for me that were an honest form of self-expression,” she says.
Her early years were also when she was first exposed to her heritage.
“I had an understanding of that, probably around age 7 to 9. When my family moved back to Colorado and I was first introduced to living in the state, there was a small community, right outside of Granby, that held gatherings, powwows. The events were actually several Indigenous people that lived, and still live in that area,” she says. “So that was kind of my first introduction into my own personal background. I didn't have a full understanding of it at the time.”
Amanda’s father is the primary source of her Indigenous heritage. The Pueblo peoples were traditionally located in the New Mexico area, and Amanda’s extended family has ties to that state, in addition to Colorado.
“I think it kind of cultivated for me post-high school, in college. Just being in that open-ended learning environment, it piqued my interest, not only learning about myself, but being surrounded by other people in a multicultural background, learning from their perspectives and stories.”
Attending college in Boulder might give those weak with temptation a reason to ditch classes and hit the slopes at nearby Eldora Mountain. But not Amanda. While she had done a little skiing in her earlier years, she really didn’t catch the bug for snow sports until she graduated. And even then, it took the right circle of friends to make it happen.
“College definitely took up, academics took up the bulk of my time, so it was hard to fit it in. Also, at the time, I couldn't necessarily afford it, so I really did have to work my way into the industry and build up.
“I had a group of friends that were into skiing and snowboarding that that kind of just piqued my interests again. And it gave me the curiosity to try out the sport. So, starting out, I think it was roughly when I turned 23, right after graduating that I took a bit of a break and a breather period from college.
“I decided to pick up the sport, little by little, starting out with renting equipment, given that I was with a group of friends at the time, they kind of took me, showed me around. It was really trial and error along the way.”
"It was really trial and error along the way," Amanda says of her snowboarding journey. [Brandon Hartley and Shannon Corsi photos]
Ironically, she didn’t take lessons. Rather, she preferred the hardscrabble approach — “experimentation and practice.” The instructor she is today looks back and sees the error in her decision-making.
“It was really just me trying to you figure it out along the way. I didn't necessarily have an understanding that progression is starting out small and working your way up, but I just kind of placed myself on the first run that I saw.”
At this point in her life, Amanda was prepping for law school. She worked at a local law firm, doing “basic legal admin. I was trying to find that career path and figure out if it was right for me. And snowboarding was an outlet.”
As she progressed on snow, something changed. Whether it was a shift in desire or passion, she isn’t sure. She just knew that snowboarding was beginning to consume her.
“I was putting myself in the environment at the law firm to make sure whether or not I wanted to go to law school. I kind of used snowboarding as an outlet for when I was taking my ultimate exam. And I think that the more that I was busy picking up the practice and the sport, the more my interest in that developed and kind of shifted that direction.
“I never saw coaching as a potential career choice and couldn't even conceive that it was a career choice. So I think there was a certain point where the sport itself, it kind of hooked me more than skiing ever did. I think just the nature of the way that the movement is on a snowboard tilt, it felt so much more like flying to me than skiing.”
Amanda threw herself into the sport, taking jobs at Eldora Mountain working in retail to learn the industry. After a few years, she spoke with some of the instructors about the path to coaching, and decided to apply for a position as a snowboard instructor.
“There was just having that connection back to myself, a form of discipline, of therapy, of being able to be out in the wilderness, connecting back into nature and to the land. That all just resonated with me. It very much felt more like a symbiotic relationship.
Now, at 32 and nine years into this journey, Amanda can be reflective about her current career choice, and how her heritage fits that box. With the help of the non-profit Women of Winter, she was able to get certified by the Professional Ski Instructors of American-American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA-AASI), the premier credentialing enterprise in the country.
And in a polarizing political climate, she is a rabid advocate for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and Diversity, Education and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Not because she’s looking for handouts. Rather, she sees an opportunity to educate about things like disparity of opportunity, about the true owners of the land we share, and what is sacred to her people.
“I mean, this land, if you're wanting to be direct — the land in which you reside upon is stolen land. And if we're going to be able to dissolve that gatekeeping a little bit further, especially for communities that have been traditionally underrepresented in sports, I think for me, just having that connection back to nature, just not only does it benefit me for my physical and mental health, but actually, it gives me a deeper sense of my own heritage.”
In the Cruz household, there were frank conversations about what it means to be Indigenous, what they believe to be accurate and true representations, and how they can help others understand where they come from.
“We had a lot of conversations. In school, you’re given a textbook description that's not always accurate. So it really stemmed from confirmation through my parents and whether or not that history is 100 percent correct. Just in relation to my development as a person, they got me questioning the systems that we've been so heavily ingrained with.”
The terrain park allows Amanda freedom of expression on her board. [Sheryl Crawford photos]
On the daily, she’s on the mountain, teaching, interacting, embracing. I asked her how she works these topics into conversations.
“I definitely pick my spots. I certainly don’t bring it up with every student. It’s really only after a lesson if I feel fully comfortable with the student that I’ll maybe reveal a little about that. I think it’s more so in conversation outside of my teacher environment,” she says.
“It’s such a delicate topic that it’s difficult to know where to start or how to approach that subject. And for me, especially because I am Indigenous. I'm also mixed race. So I am between these two lines here and finding a balance. I have been approached by other people — BIPOC, non-BIPOC — that have from their experiences and viewpoints told me that ‘You're, what? Half and half? That you don't necessarily have a say. Or that you can get by in life without experiencing ridicule because you're of a mixed race background, that you have it easier than other people.’
“And that's just not the case. Like, that's just not the case. I've had people tell me, I'm not quote unquote, fully white and the opposite end of the spectrum that I am not Indigenous enough. So, you know, it's that push, that push and pull, having that diverse background
“But I feel like it does actually give me that voice, because I've experienced it firsthand. You know what it's like to navigate those two identities. Because of my heritage, I think that having these conversations, it's essential to be able to openly speak about this without fear of retaliation. Just having these conversations, they should be fluid.”
Through her involvement with Women of Winter — whose objective is to get more women and girls involved in snow sports — Amanda plans to continue her snowboard instructor credentialing. She’s also an avid yoga practitioner, something she picked up in high school and has carried with her since.
Amanda is teaching herself graphic design, and enjoys paddle boarding, long boarding and hiking. But when you speak with her, it’s clear where her passion lies. Education. Information. Finding ways to communicate a message that some simply don’t want to hear. It’s her own form of exploration.
“I’ve always valued education. I’m an avid reader. I’m always sucking up new information. Being able to question everything, to be analytical, a critical thinker — that, for me, is very much an aspect of who I am.”
Matthew Fults is author of the critically acclaimed and award-winning novel, The Scotland Project, available from your favorite bookseller.
