6 minute read
MOUNTAIN LIFER
RIDING FREE
Meet Hasina: Afghan snowboarder and Blue Mountain employee
words & photo :: Allison Kennedy Davies
When I pack up my car and head out the door to hit the slopes, I feel joy. But I’ve never stopped and truly considered how freeing that experience is. I’ve never given much thought to other women around the world being banned from sports. That is until I met 26-year-old Hasina Hussain Zada, a Blue Mountain Resort employee. Like many other Blue employees these days, she’s part of an increasingly diverse workforce. She’s quiet but once you get her talking, she’s willing to share her story. Hasina has only been in Canada for a few years, and her arrival was hastened by the advance of the Taliban in her home country of Afghanistan. Before she left, she and her friends had discovered a love of snowboarding, a sport new to her country. If anyone understands how valuable the freedom to ride is, it’s Hasina. Mountain Life: For starters, tell us where you’re from.
Hasina Zada: I’m originally from the central part of Afghanistan, about an hour from the capital, but most recently I was living in Kabul.
ML: Can you tell us how you ended up coming to Canada?
HZ: It’s a very long story. Last year, the Taliban came in and took over Afghanistan and we were forced to leave. On August 26 of 2021, I left Afghanistan and I went to Ukraine where I stayed for 26 days. The Government of Canada was providing urgent visas to Afghans wanting to come to Canada. Some people went to Qatar and then came to Canada. That was an easier route but instead we went to Ukraine first. I am so glad that we didn’t stay long in Ukraine because as you know things went badly there soon after. I came to Canada as soon as I got my visa. I stayed in Toronto for about two weeks and then I went to Southampton. Some friends asked if I would want to work at Blue Mountain. I said, “Sure, but I’d like to see it first.” So last October, I came to see Blue Mountain and I said, “Yes, I’d like to work here.” I applied for some jobs and luckily I got an interview for an administration job in the snow school. I did that last winter and enjoyed it. Since that was seasonal, I then applied to the purchasing department where I now work as a receiver. What inspired me to work in the industry was my love of the outdoors and the activities, sports and adventures that come with it.
ML: Before you came to Blue, you were involved with the Federation of Snowboarding in Afghanistan.
LEFT Hasina’s first time on a board, 2017. RIGHT The first meeting of the Afghanistan Snowboarding Federation. SUPPLIED BY HASINA ZADA
HZ: Back in 2017, snowboarding was a new sport in Afghanistan. My friend, Ahmad Romal Hayat, was a skateboarder and he had heard about snowboarding. He wanted to bring something new to our country so he established the Afghanistan Federation of Snowboarding. Before that nobody even knew what snowboarding was. I was invited to be on his team; there were seven of us in total, six males and one female (me). We became the first snowboarders in Afghanistan—making me the first and only female snowboarder at the time.
ML: Are there many opportunities to snowboard in Afghanistan?
HZ: Afghanistan is a very mountainous country but it’s not a safe place for girls to do sports. A nearby province, Bamiyan, was open-minded and they welcomed all sports and women were allowed to participate. If we wanted to go snowboarding, we had to travel. I snowboarded as much as I could for a year and a half. By 2019, we had more girls join our team and eventually there were five of us. It’s nothing like here in Canada where you can go snowboarding everywhere, anytime.
ML: What is the situation like now for your fellow snowboarders back in Afghanistan, particularly your female friends?
HZ: Since the Taliban came the situation has gotten worse. My female friends are banned from any sport, and my male friends don’t have the hope to continue right now.
ML: How do you feel about being able to snowboard, freely, as a woman here in Canada?
HZ: Finding the words to express my feelings is hard. I am thinking about the young girls back in Afghanistan who don’t have their freedom. I want to show, through snowboarding, that nothing can stop me. I will ride my snowboard for the freedom of girls in Afghanistan. I will encourage other Afghan females to ride with me and pave the road for those girls who can’t so that hopefully, one day, they can.
ML: Were you able to get out very much during those days?
HZ: Because we didn’t really have equipment and we had jobs and school, we’d go for three-day snowboarding trips and come back. ML: With snowboarding being such a new sport in Afghanistan, were you surprised how popular it was here?
we had 250 instructors. It was so surprising to me that we had that many people just to teach people how to ski and snowboard. It’s amazing to see.
ML: What do your friends and family in Afghanistan think about your hitting the slopes in Canada?
HZ: My friends are all gone from Afghanistan. They are mainly in Europe and the United States. They want to come to Canada, too. When I share pictures they really want to come try the slopes at Blue. My family knows that I love sports and they understand. I do miss them a lot.
ML: What is the community like working at Blue Mountain?
HZ: When I came to Blue Mountain, I didn’t know much about the country and the people. I was worried I would make mistakes and people would not like me. But when I started working and meeting people, they are such nice people in the snow school that I felt comfortable very quickly. It’s been the same in the purchasing department—the people here are very nice too.
ML: What are you looking forward to most this winter?
HZ: I’m so excited to have more snow. I’m looking forward to getting more time in snowboarding and I’d really like to learn more tricks and advanced riding. I want to learn more and more and improve as a rider.
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