Saturday, December 22, 2012

Powder Surfing Stoke - Pick your Spot


OK, There’s a lot of really great things about powder surfing. 

One of them, is Picking your Spot.

Where the snow is, is where you want to be.

Right now, I’m going a little crazy.  They forecast 20cm and we got 5cm after all the rain that fell, then it froze solid.  But it’s been snowing all day.  The wind is up but not too much.  Just enough to place the snow in strategic spots.  The eddies are where we want to be.

I call up Steve.  I’m going to the mountain. He’s not in.  Fuck it.  I’m leaving right now while it’s still light out.  It’s 4:00 on Dec 22nd.  The second shortest day of the year.  It’s dark by the time I hit the road.  No matter.  The snow gets thicker, the snowbanks taller, and it’s stuck to the trees.  The wind is up.

First spot.  Lot’s of kids across the way, at the toboggan run.  It’s great to be here checking the snow conditions, but it’s not good, not safe, not surfy.  One run.  Gotta make the most of this time, head up the mountain.

It keeps feeling better.  I’m praying my spot is working.  Too many people in public areas, on the beaten path.  Part of me really doesn’t want other people to see my snurfer.  I don’t want people tracking out our hard discovered runs.  I post hole it through untracked fields of snow to avoid detection, sounds stupid, but it’s real.  I feel like it’s going to be worth it, in spite of the Styrofoam conditions I keep traversing.  The clearing is coming up.  As soon as I enter the zone I know that it’s not going to be What It Was the Last Time.  And that’s what it’s all about.  Just like surf with the direction and size of swell, the direction a strength of the wind.  The temperature, and the quality of snow, can turn a green dot into a black diamond, or the parking lot into a park.  Every session is different.  It’s a god send for me, and I love every second of it.  I manage 8 runs on the mountain, and check the stats at the spots that are just waiting for the Big Dump.  And we will ride.  So much fun.


Friday, December 7, 2012