Vanessa Beucher 2016-10-20 04:53:02
MONA SERAJI AND SOMETHING GREATER
MONA SERAJI stands atop a 30-degree incline with more than 750 vertical feet between her and the bottom of Bruson Ski Area’s Grand Tsai face. Heavy and consistent snowfall has been the norm in the weeks leading up to the 2016 Freeride World Qualifiers in Verbier, Switzerland, and today is no different. Visibility is low, avalanche risk high. As Mona scopes out her line, a mixed feeling of excitement and nervousness takes its own ride down her surgically reconstructed spine. Not only is Mona the first Middle Easterner to compete in a Freeride World Qualifier, but she’s also the first Iranian woman ever to snowboard at this demanding level.
In the late ’90s, a then 18-year-old Mona bought her first snowboard, a Rossignol. The board featured an image of the Statue of Liberty, the iconic figure’s resolute face a fitting graphic for a strong-willed feminist like Mona.
When Mona started riding in the winter of 1998, skiers greatly outnumbered boarders in Iran, and she certainly couldn’t find any female confidantes to join her in learning to ride. Although Iranian women are not as restricted as some Western media outlets might lead you to believe, Mona’s decision to start snowboarding was avant-garde, to say the least. Undeterred by social norms, Mona took to riding with the guys at Dizin, one of Iran’s largest ski resorts, which is located in the Alborz Mountains near the capital city of Tehran. Mona says her male counterparts were encouraging from the get-go, and as her knowledge and prowess in snowboarding grew, so too did the respect she received from others on the mountain. After several years, Mona’s snowboarding had transitioned from hobby to lifestyle.
“I felt as if this important chapter in my existence wanted to evolve into something greater,” she says. “I like to think of myself as an ambitious person who’s looking to push things further, and felt that I had to make this second stage in my life as a snowboarder happen.”
In 2009, Mona applied to become an international instructor and, after a few rejected visa proposals, eventually found herself in Queenstown, New Zealand. During her six-week certification course Mona learned skills and techniques she was eager to bring back to Iranian riders. But Mona had another dream: earning a spot on the Freeride World Tour.
Mona started training for freeride competitions during the winter of 2013. This came to a halt when she suffered a compression fracture to her T12 vertebrae. The terrifying, painful ordeal required reconstructive surgery, and Mona feared her life as a competitive rider was over. Despite a few metal rods in her back, she was surfing off the south coast of Iran six months after surgery. The following winter she returned to the mountains, again training for the Freeride World Qualifiers.
Which brings us to January 2016. We’re now at the bottom of the Grand Tsai. Snow still falls, but the stress has eased. Mona has just finished fourth and she knows she’s accomplished more than what once seemed possible. She doesn’t sweat missing the podium, instead rejoicing in the knowledge that she’s set the bootpack for future generations of Iranian women in snowboarding.
“All the ladies out there should feel free to choose what they do in this beautiful life,” Mona says. “I would love if all women, those in Iran and all around the world, could feel they can take control of their lives and pursue their dreams—whatever those dreams may be.”
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