My first thought when I reached the Hebra region was that this cold, mountainous area sure did have a lot of mountains. My second, more exciting thought was that I was going take every opportunity to shield surf on these slopes.
As I made my trek through the frigid tundra and up the precarious peaks, I looked for decent spots to undo all my progress and slide back down the cliffs on my shield. Some of the hills were fine enough, but I knew there had to be a place that seemed built for surfing. I eventually found this suspected place northeast of the Hebra East Summit. Turns out, there’s a spot dedicated to the sport. Turns out, shield surfing is a sport.
At the top of the obvious surfing course I found a small, cozy cabin. Inside, I met Selmie. She was a bit blunt, but full of drive and energy, and wanted nothing more than to share her love of shield surfing. Selmie was very knowledgeable, to the point of annoying. Actually, she started to remind me of myself whenever I talk to anyone about Zelda. The game was making me take a good look at myself, and I don’t know how I feel about that.
Also, I was confused how Selmie seemingly built a cabin at the top of a mountain by herself, but chocked it up to her relatively insane will to live and breathe shield surfing.
Selmie taught me the basics of surfing. I thought the basics were “get on shield, go down.” Turns out, I was right, but it felt important to let this fictional character have her moment listen to all the details. She offered two courses, beginner and advanced, though advanced needed to be unlocked after the patronizing of the rookie course.
The beginner course was what I expected: just a fun, brief cruise down the summit to the destination Selmie chose. She began to time me, and the chipper “this is fun, so have fun now” music played the entire time as I shredded down through the Hebra Tundra and to a stone bridge that served as the end goal. As I went down, I soaked in the scenery — all of the region’s wintry splendor, the sound of the snow crushing beneath my shield, and the bright glow of the moon overhead. It was a peaceful experience in a game that often attempted to test my and Link’s resiliencies. I admit it, fun was had.
Once beginner class is over, and I showed her my indifference to the simplicity, Selmie offered to let me take on the advanced run.
It was a longer, more involved course that ended at the Sturnida Basin right before the Sturnida Secret Hot Springs. There were also more hazards, by which I mean a few more moose, wolves, and other animals tried to get in my way.
Also, Selmie timed me for this one as well, but there was actually a point to timing this course: Selmie was offering shields as prizes for completing the run within certain time limits. The faster I completed the course, the better the shield I received.
I cleared the advanced run, then I did it again. And again. And so on. Eventually she had no more shields to give me, so Selmie gave me cash rewards instead. After a certain point I felt like I was bullying her for money, so I hung up the shield, so to speak, and left Selmie to tell future aspiring surfers the legend of the guy who let gravity do most of the work for him.
