They are the type of friends who push each other to greatness in the classroom with the same enthusiasm while flying on snow.

Plymouth senior Jason Hyde and Rochester Hills senior Kyle Holderness are snowboarders who have practiced the craft of slicing through snow for years.

The two say their friendship is the biggest motivator to hit the powder with style.

“The encouragement is what makes us progress and why we get better,” Hyde said. “If you can push someone to do a back flip, then helping them with a cost analysis is a no-brainer.”

Freeze X Fest

Hyde and Holderness participated in this year’s Freeze X Fest last weekend and designed and installed the obstacles in the snowboard court.

The pair, along with other CMU students and Freeze X Fest employees, collaborated to put the course together.

“We worked on it for several hours and put up all the rails and did a bunch of grooming to the course, making it look nice,” Holderness said. “It was a group effort to see what everyone liked and we could visualize it.”

During Freeze X Fest, Holderness and Hyde participated in the Mighty Midwest Tour, where professional snowboarders helped amateurs practice their moves.

The duo said they had fun with the professionals, including Pat Milbery, Scott Stevens and Nick Visconti.

“It was awesome, (we) got to hang out and get to know them, they’re good teachers and able to help you along the way,” Holderness said.

Friendship

Hyde and Holderness have been snowboarding for about 10 years, though they met for the first time while in a class last year.

Hyde’s uncle took him skiing in third grade and he became hooked on snow sports.

“I saw guys on the hill using snowboards, and that was a lot more fun to me. Snowboarding was more of a challenge because it’s a whole balancing act,” Hyde said. “You’re sideways, it’s a completely different workout for your body.”

Hyde said he could tell Holderness was a snowboarder by the clothing he wore in class.

“If you go on a mountain today, you wouldn’t believe the colors. They’re bright and that reflects our personalities,” he said.

The duo travels regularly to snowboard — a lifestyle that is not easy on the pocketbook.

“You have to factor in gas, money, time, food, or the lack thereof,” Hyde said.

The boarder’s life

Holderness said, jokingly, the two are going to be broke by the end of the winter.

But it is worth the effort, they agreed.

“On a day of fresh snow (it’s) like your board is just floating through,” Holderness said. “It is one of the best feelings. A lot of people that ride skip school because it’s a fresh day of snow (and) you’re going out riding.”

Hyde said the hobby changes the whole way he views the world.

“A snowboarder would see a snow bank that someone else would see as one, too,” he said, “and the snowboarder would think of it as a jump or something creative.”

E-mail the author: Sherri Keaton