Ode to Snow

Our sixth and final day exploring South Lake Tahoe and her surrounding resorts has come to an end. 5 resorts in 5 days has been an epic undertaking and one i could not have survived without my daily breakfast of Advil and a supersized coffee...not to mention an apres massage and hot tub mid week! We started and finished in Heavenly Valley, sister hill to Vail Resorts, Colorado where my first turns were carved into that massive mountain back in the Winter season of 03/04. Reminiscent of these bluebird days riding loops of the courdroy under Chair 2 in my lunch break, much of this week has taken me back onto the groomed packed powder that i became so familiar with on my first north american snow season.  Since this first experience in Colorado where i earned my keep selling alpine outerwear and coyote fur trimmed apres attire, i have been fortunate to consolidate big mountain riding and snowboarding the powder with another northern hemisphere season in Fernie, British Columbia in Canada Winter 06/07- Fernie is more of a local than a tourist hill, and the retail demand less boutique and more of the logo t-shirt "drop cliffs, not bombs" variety ;) In the years in, around and between, we have also toured Nisseko Hirafu in Japan, Cardrona and Treble Cone, New Zealand as well as the Eastern European resort of Jasna Chopok in Slovakia. Does Australia count?! ;)

Of course thesedays, i'm a little bit older, maybe a little bit wiser and tearing down icy terrain instills a little bit more fear than it used to...knowing the body doesn't bounce back quite what it did.  For this reason i now wear a helmet. most of the time... except if i want to wear the new beanie i just bought. For what i lack in snowboard skills, i like to think i make up for in credible attire thanks to the last six years working part-time snow retail and somewhat counter-intuitively spending all my meagre earnings on discounted gear ;)  I upgraded my snowboard in Fernie from a 144 Palmer fun board perfect for popping and park riding..if only i could back then.. to a more solid, stiffer 149 in a Forum Star.  This edition has skulls and butterflies in black and grey with a fluoro yellow/pink underside- and matches perfectly my pinstripe Burton Cartel bindings...known as the highest high back in the industry obviously chosen solely for matching qualities given my short stature and my calves likely now suffering daily for it.  This set up would probably look really bad-ass if it werent undermined by my dressing as a spearmint stick in matching mint top and bottom....every year there seems to be a colour or style as to what the best riders are wearing... a couple years ago i was sure it was yellow, then green.... definately one pieces.. but this year fluoro and massive oversized hoodies and ray bans is omnipresent.  Burton's wunderkind and Winter X and Olympic champion Shaun White's signature style of skinny jean pants and a leather jacket is probably the next big thing. and that scares me! 

In any case- back to this trip...on the second day we hit up Squaw Valley, site of the 1960 Winter Olympics and backdrop to backcountry terrain videos since then.  Conditions were steep smooth riding thanks to perfect grooming and optimal visibility and warm blue skies... some consolation for no fresh snow fall for the best part of a month and a reason not to get up quite so early until the sun had softened the hard packed ice overnight.  Unfortuantely off-piste was off the agenda due to icy conditions and a similar story was to be had  in Kirkwood which left us wondering "if only..." being privvy from the overhead gondola and chair lifts to the awesome tree glades and terrain we might have explored otherwise. Its times like these that the park rats come to the fore tearing loops of the terrain parks and going massive on the man-made kickers and rails which is certainly a sight to see from the chairs. 

Sierra and Northstar were the other resorts on the list and the drive took us into both the California and Nevada sides of the lake where the Stateline sees a fantastic juxtaposition of massive Casinos advertising $12.95 all-you-can-eat-buffets, various shows and the like ala Las Vegas or Reno against the backdrop of the beautiful natural wonders of the Lake and mountains. $3 bloody marys, specials on margaritas, all you can eat mexican feasts as well as your typical southern food of pulled pork sandwiches and sides of mac n'cheese is certainly a unique offering of riding a ski resort situated across two states and with a strong northern and central american influence and population.  The fact that in our riding buddies this week- one is in the midst of a 2 month dry-spell and the other is on an extreme elimination diet of only organic produce and no wheat/dairy etc.. has probably been something of a blessing in disguise off-setting the usual over-indulgence and hopefully the notorious 'tahoe ten' aka pounds you'll put on when living here...but surely that refers to over a winter not a week in winter?!!! my body is not so sure, however. That said we have certainly eaten well with more than a fair share of fresh sushi, gourmet burgers and steakhouses available in south lake tahoe- i promise the Off The Hook Sushi is not the only reason i decided to come back here after tasting it 7 years ago!! While not yet having been tempted by the all-you-can eat buffets, a night at the casinos was planned to fund my early retirement...or at the least pay for the trip...perhaps the mortgage... but i was left wanting with a $0.20 pokie voucher and two $1 chips remaining from blackjack where the strange Nevada rules did well to put me offside with some of the local players. Whoops. let's get out of here ;)

But for a grand finale  i am pleased to report that our final day on snow here at Heavenly was definately a "powder day".  Not quite up to the 2+ feet overnight typical of the area, up to ten inches fell during the night and it was coming in thick and fast much of the day.  This certainly allowed us to explore the trees and off-piste areas we had so desperately been longing for the rest of the week. While some of it could be likened to "champagne on ice" a fitting term to describe the fluffy top layer but with chunky chatter and hidden obstacles aka rocks underneath... it certainly gave bragging rights for first and fresh tracks and some clean lines through the trees. Well worth getting up that bit earlier for first chair.  It's these sort of days that certainly makes the pain of early starts, long drives, longer queues, windburn, bitter cold and bumps and bruises... today inflicted by out of control strangers...grrrr.....that little easier to endure ;)

And finally, in the next few days i am otherwise looking forward to checking out the big city lights of los angeles and seeing The Lakers play the Rockets tuesday night then dumping/storing the snowgear before heading into the mexico heat for two weeks of tanning and tequila.  In the meantime, tomorrow will see us driving further south east into California to Mammoth Mountain for one more day of riding and to break up the journey towards los angeles which if today's weather is anything to go by could be a bit hairy!!

But for now the glistening snowfall makes a mesmerising view from my window. There is really nothing like cosing up in the lodge with a hot chocolate by the log fire and then waking up to the clean crisp alpine air each morning.  I am convinced that the magic of a snowdusting and fairy lights at night can turn any mundane building and/or city into a beautiful winter wonderland.  From all of the villages i have visited and worked in, this is an experience and a memory that i treasure and a feeling/aroma/sensation that i think i will always miss but that i hope i can be instantly transported back to again on the next snow adventure......

Asta luego amigos xoxo