Joe DentonJoe Denton was a swamp guy. A Mississippi native, he began visiting Idaho to raft its rivers and fell in love with the state. “There’s snow on the ground in the wintertime and water in the rivers in the summertime,” he says. “I kind of describe it to my friends, that being a boater and being a snowboarder, I’ve learned to use the snow year-round.” Denton, 63, began snowboarding about 12 years ago. “The main reason I started snowboarding was because it looked like those kids were having a whole lot of fun that I thought I might be missing out on,” he says. “The other reason is that I think it kind of preserves my legs and my knees.”
Still, Denton enjoys hanging out with the younger set. “A lot of my friends are the age of my children,” he says. “My best friends are anywhere from 8-15 years younger than I am. It’s gotten to the point where having those guys around they take care of me a bit. And for an old man that’s good.”
Denton admits that he pushes himself, and hence is “wounded” occasionally. But come sunshine or storms, he’s still on the mountain. “Being in the mountains is the reason I live in Idaho,”
he says. I’m more alive here than I am anywhere else than
I know of.” |
The
only disadvantage from having switched from skiing? “Kind
of makes me a little mad because the seniors in snowboarding are
30 years old,” he says. “Seniors in skiing are 40, 50,
60 years old. So if I were to be in a competition, I’d be
competing against guys half my age.”
He
encourages others to take up snowboarding, but not to try it on
their own. “If you’re going to try it,” he says,
“I really think it’s important to take lessons first.
Don’t try and do it yourself. Cause the older you are the
more important the lessons are. Because it reduces the chances of
hurting yourself.”