AUSTIN (KXAN) — From snowboarding across golf courses to sledding down streets, the people of Austin found every way under the sun to enjoy the record-breaking snowfall.
After more than six inches of snow covered Austin Sunday night, many Austinites took to the streets on Monday for some Texas-style winter sports. Some took the opportunity to break out their vacation sporting equipment, while others improvised with anything laying around the house.
The power outage in southwest Austin actually encouraged Alex Payne to get outside.
“There wasn’t anything else better to do,” Payne said. “Laptop was dead, no wifi, so I couldn’t do work. So, I thought the next best thing would be to get out here and try to go sledding or snowboarding.”
Payne, who recently moved to Texas, is no stranger to the slopes. He says he usually goes to Colorado, but today he used his snowboard to glide down the roads of Spyglass. However, Payne said anyone can be a snowboarder today with a little creativity.
“We even saw somebody with a trash bag trying to sled down it, and I think he was doing pretty successful,” Payne said.
University of Texas students Ethan Roy, Bella Crawford and Leah Martineau were among those that got creative with their snow days.
The trio of friends took advantage of canceled classes to go sledding in West Campus. They don’t own a real sled, so the group tested different make-shift sleds on the snowy hills.
“We brought our own cardboard boxes that we had from Amazon, and they did not work at all, and we don’t have sleds, so we found a construction sign,” Crawford said.
While outside, the group saw other people enjoying the snow day in similar ways. Crawford said she saw a group of “frat bros” pulling each other like water-skiers with extension cables and trucks.
In different parts of the city, other Austinites had similar ideas.

Crawford said she was surprised there were not more people out enjoying the snow, but the group of Longhorns did encounter other creatures.
“There’s lots of people with their dogs, and the dogs are so cute just discovering the snow,” Roy said.

Austin local Nicole Smith shared a video of a litter of labrador puppies prancing in the snow for the first time in their short lives, and Isabella the bulldog donned her red sweater for a walk in the snow.

Tabitha Rose took her dog Trigger, also known as “The Trig,” out for a game of fetch in the powder.
“This is Trigger’s very first time to see snow and he’s six years old, so he’s extremely excited about it,” Rose said.
Despite losing power, Rose said she and Trigger loved the cold weather and the chance to play in the snow.