For sophomore Gianlucca Gang, it was his brother who led him to take up snowboarding. Since both were already involved in skateboarding, snowboarding naturally felt like the next hobby they could enjoy.

Gang enjoys the many similarities snowboarding shares with skateboarding. However, something that differentiates the two is that with snowboarding “you’re not scared to get hurt, so you can get good at things pretty quickly,” he said. 

The transition into snowboarding happened fairly quickly for Gang. With one season already under his belt, Gang joined the team for the first time as a sophomore.

Since entering his high school season he has experienced some changes within his schedule. Once a week on Wednesdays, he leaves right before the beginning of sixth period to make the haul to the mountain.

“We have to be back on the buses by like 8:30,” Gang said, and the buses are dropped off at Cleveland High School, which is a further drive home for Gang. “It’s annoying when I have to come home late.”

Despite getting home late, going up to the mountain with other schools such as Cleveland High School and Lincoln High School rapidly became one of the best parts of the sport, Gang said. “I was excited to snowboard with the people I don’t [usually] really get to,” Gang said.

He enjoys the social aspect of the sport and likes that he has gained the opportunity to make connections with people from other schools throughout Portland. 

Originally, Gang was not interested in the end-of-year competitions, but he “got pushed to try them,” he said. During the race “I hit the first jump and just ate it,” he said. “That’s where I ended my career.”

As the season came to an end, Gang kept his goals in place. “I’ve recently been trying to get longer board slides on rails and maybe get a back three off of the jumps,” he said. “I hope to get progressively better and learn new things every time that I go up.”                                                                

Gang’s advice to incoming La Salle students is to “try new things,” and to “try to be a part of something.”