Do Hard Things With Experienced People
A note I wrote in my phone while doing my rookie with the Level 4 evaluator crew read:
“Doing hard things with experienced people is experience rich… and therefore optimal for growth, joy… gaining your own experience… memorable.”
At the time it was just a quick observation.
But the more I think about it, the more I realise how true it is.
Because some of the most valuable learning environments I’ve ever been in share a similar pattern.
They’re challenging.
The people around you are highly skilled.
And the whole experience becomes incredibly rich.
Riding With People Who Are Better Than You
You hear this all the time in snowboarding.
Someone says:
“I like riding with people who are better than me. It pushes me.”
And that instinct actually lines up really well with how learning works.
When you're surrounded by experienced riders, a few things happen naturally.
You see what’s possible.
You see how things are done.
And you get constant feedback — sometimes through conversation, sometimes just through watching.
The environment itself starts teaching you.
The Sweet Spot for Learning
Psychologists describe something called the Zone of Proximal Development.
It’s the space where learning tends to happen best.
Not when something is easy.
Not when something is impossible.
But when the task is challenging enough that you need guidance, examples, or support from someone more experienced.
That’s exactly what happens when you ride with stronger riders.
The task stretches you.
And the people around you help you navigate it.
Experience-Rich Environments
Doing hard things with experienced people creates what I think of as experience-rich environments.
These environments tend to have a few things in common:
• the challenge is real
• the skill level around you is high
• feedback is constant
• everyone is focused on getting better
Everything becomes a learning opportunity.
Watching someone ride a line.
Talking about what just happened on the chairlift.
Trying something just outside your comfort zone.
Even the small moments start stacking up.
Watching Is Learning Too
Another interesting part of riding with experienced people is simply watching them.
Snowboarding has always had a strong culture of learning this way.
A funny example of that shows up on The Bomb Hole podcast when they play “Name That Video Part.” They play a few seconds of a song and pro riders instantly know the video, the rider, and sometimes even the trick.
How?
Because they’ve watched those video parts over and over again.
They’re not just watching the trick — they’re absorbing the approach, the terrain, the timing, the body position, the style.
Their brain starts recognising patterns in how movement works.
That’s modelling in action.
The brain is incredibly good at learning through observation, especially when the person you’re watching is highly skilled.
The Difference Between Studying and Scrolling
It does make me wonder about something though.
Snowboard videos used to be watched repeatedly. A rider would see the same line or trick dozens of times in a video part.
Without realising it, you were studying it.
You noticed the speed into the jump.
You noticed when they popped.
You noticed how they moved through terrain.
Those little details started to build your understanding of movement.
Now we often consume riding through short clips — ten tricks in thirty seconds before scrolling to the next one.
It’s great for entertainment.
But it might not always give the brain enough time to absorb the subtle parts of movement that actually teach us something.
The nuance can get lost in the scroll… so maybe try out that screen record option?
Growth and Joy Aren’t Opposites
Sometimes people talk about challenge as if it’s separate from enjoyment.
But in my experience they’re often connected.
There’s something deeply satisfying about being in an environment where:
the task is difficult
the people around you are strong
and everyone is working toward improvement
It creates a kind of shared momentum.
And that’s where a lot of the joy in learning actually lives.
A Simple Idea
If you want to improve at something — snowboarding or anything else — one of the best environments you can place yourself in is simple:
Do hard things with experienced people.
The challenge stretches you.
The people around you guide you.
And the experience becomes rich enough that the learning sticks.
Those environments are often where the most growth happens.
And, if you’re lucky…
some of the most memorable moments too.
— Cam
