New research by indoor snow destination, Chill Factore, has revealed almost a fifth (18%) of snowboarders would sacrifice their relationship for their love of snowboarding, and meet the man who did just that!

Chris Davies (40), from Winsford in Cheshire, who is a snowboarding instructor at Chill Factore, has been snowboarding for the past 21 years and has visited 36 resorts around the world. In 2012 Chris was due to marry his girlfriend of 4 years, when he cancelled his £10,000+ wedding following some serious cold feet.

Chris comments: “One of the main reasons for cancelling my wedding and ending the relationship was my love of snowboarding. Although my ex fiancée boarded, she didn’t want to go away every year and made it clear that she didn’t want me to carry on doing what I do.

“I was 7 years old when I went on my first snow holiday. It changed my life and I feel totally at home in the mountains in winter. It is where I am the happiest. I feel really low when I get back from my annual winter holiday, which takes me a long time to get over. When I got back from Mayrhofen in January, my 2018 snowboarding trip was booked within 7 days of being back!”

The research also revealed that snowboarders suffer from last run blues at the end of the ski season – as opposed to when the clocks go back in October, which traditionally triggers winter blues often referred to as SAD. Almost half (45%) admitted they felt sad on their last run of the season, with some even confessing to shedding a tear.

Lovers beware, over a quarter (29%) of snowboarders also confessed they would sacrifice their summer holiday to ensure they could go on their winter getaway, with a further 36% willing to do away with their bank balance.

Chris added: “I’m lucky enough to have met my match now. My fiancée Liz shares my passion for snowboarding, so much so that we have decided we don’t want children as we aren’t willing to give up our lifestyle or being able to go away every winter, snowboarding.”

If like Chris you’re currently feeling post-season blues with the end of peak season fast approaching, fear not, Chris has shared his top tips for anyone suffering this April.

Swap your EU lift pass for a free Chill Factore lift pass. Well first things first, of course, head to Chill Factore! We are offering anyone suffering with last run blues, an hour lift pass to use during May in exchange for their old EU lift pass

Head to the Southern Hemisphere. The ski season might be over here in Europe but world-class skiing resorts also litter the southern hemisphere with Chile, Argentina and even Australia boasting some serious slopes and they’ll have you covered from June through to October.

Mountainboarding. It’s simple really, snowboarding with wheels! Downhill mountainboarding has boomed in recent years and it’s not just downhill time trials; DH racing, slopestyle and even park freestyling are all commonplace and make mountainboarding a really versatile snowboarding substitute.

Hit the virtual slopes. For those of you who can’t even see out the day without at least a small hit of snowboard culture I’d recommend hitting some virtual slopes, there are a few really good videogames out there which capture what it means to explore the slopes and the snowboarding lifestyle.