WAITING FOR NATURE
After three weeks of not snowboarding, I can only partially blame it on my canceled plans. What’s going on with the snow?
Here on the West Coast, we’ve had a tough snowboarding season so far. A late start to the snow, and even when it dumped a couple feet it still wasn’t enough to cover the rocks. Then came the cold front and more snow… but also more avalanches.
But for the past month, where has the snow been?
I feel like so much of my life these days is waiting for nature. Waiting for it to snow. Waiting for sun. Waiting for the right waves and tides and surf conditions.
Since I could run, most of my life has been spent playing basketball and field hockey throughout high school and university. Even activities like golf, waterpolo and ultimate frisbee that I enjoyed weren’t as reliant on nature as snowboarding or surfing.
These days in the absence of snow and the frigid waters and locked down budget, I’ve been turning to skating and learning to play hockey to fill the void. And I love it so far. And I’m going to keep doing it. But it’s just not the same.
There’s something about the wait that makes it so much better. Something about the wildness and randomness of nature that make snowboarding and surfing so exciting and different every time. I’ve found these sports so late in life but yet I feel like they’ve always been inside me and like I’ve been passionate about them forever.
And yet somehow I’ve become a huge nature snob! I should just get out there and snowboard and surf regardless of the conditions. Who cares if there’s no new snow! I could put on a bikini and go snowboarding like Tawcan and his friends did (skiing). Just enjoy the slush or the icy groomers. I could put on a wetsuit and brave the cold and still enjoy the crazy surf conditions right now.
Hm, somewhere along this post I’ve convinced myself to just get out there.
Instead of just waiting for Nature, I’ll go to Her!
Tags: basketball, field hockey, Nature, Snowboarding, Surfing, waiting, West Coast
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January 20th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Sooo.. Problem solved? hahaha. Come live on the east coast for a year and then you will be thankful the mountains are even open
January 20th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Yeah, I don’t know where I was going with this… except I hope it snows soon. But in the meantime I’ll try and get up the mountain and just have a good time instead of complaining
January 20th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Looks like you’ve come to a resolution within that post, that’s awesome
Skiing in a bikini, not a bad idea at all 
January 20th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Don’t think it has anything to do being a snob, wanting powder snow, more like being fed up. I have noted all local people around the skiresorts have the same attitude.
Hobbies you really enjoy, you shouldn’t do much, that allows a longer joy over the years.
January 20th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
high pressure has been sitting off the coast for about 2 weeks or however long it’s been. It’s been blocking any moisture from getting in. The pattern is about to change though
January 20th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
This wasn’t the first time I skied around topless. Back in May we were skiing in Whistler. The weather was so nice the males were skiing topless and the females were skiing in bikinis. All the tourists thought we were nuts and took lots pics of us. It was pretty funny seeing them fumbling for their cameras while riding the lift.
http://tawcan.smugmug.com/gallery/5105209_JoDcJ#308042849_eo8BU
On the bright side, the recent warm weather is helping out with snow stability.
January 20th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Come out and play in the snow Allie! We’re going up to Whistler this weekend though for WordPress and ski/ride on Sunday, but we’ll also be hitting Cypress on Tues/Wed as well as Sat/Sun (weather/work depending).
They say the cold is supposed to come in and get rid of the pressure system we currently have. They say wet snow on Saturday
January 20th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
The insane weather is making California warm. It didn’t help that we had the Santa Ana Winds as well. It made target shooting difficult when you see your rounds fly off.
January 20th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
I heard that it was 19 up on Cypress this past weekend (or at least late last week) while it was hovering around 5 Downtown. Not that you would catch me skiing (never tried), let alone galavanting in the snow in the bare skin (I may consider myself a polar bear.. but I’m not crazy enough).
January 20th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
Each season is different and this season is no exception. The snowpack has been questionable this year and I am also hoping that there will be much more snow in the very near future.
I doubt that you’re a ‘nature snob’…….you just want to enjoy the best conditions you can. Nothing wrong with that. When all you have is groomers….just make the best of it….work on technique, riding switch, carving etc.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:38 am
I would definitely agree that, sure, it’s not perfect ideal awesome conditions right now, but it’s still board-able; I had a blast up on Whistler last saturday despite it being hardpacked… And while it was warmer up near the peak, I wouldn’t say it was bare-skin warm (I recall it got up to 9 degrees at the peak)… And I doubt I’d ever go shirtless while boarding; it’d look like a Yeti was on the slopes, haha!
But then again, if it’s 19 degrees like Chris mentioned, I may find myself on the front page of the National Enquirer.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:08 am
The snow will come. The East usually jumps out to a quicker start each season anyway (it snowed in Vermont each of the four times I’ve been there so far), but I’m sure there’s enough out there to make a good day out of it. Maybe sessions in the park to work on that perfect rodeo-7? Haha.
I totally get what you mean though. I had the best season ever last year because the objective was to ‘chase the storm,’ but at the same time airfare killed us because we were always booking a week or two prior. Although it was nice going to Utah for fresh champagne powder, then two days later it being sunny and 15 degrees so we could ride around without shirts on lol. Patience and anticipation make it worth it in the end! [Similarly, waiting for LOST after all these months will make it all the better tonight!]
January 21st, 2009 at 6:50 am
It’s going to get better, if we hadn’t had this warm patch the snow would never have stabilised. Looks like the Avy risk is trending down ready for the next set of storms (maybe starting next Wednesday??)
January 22nd, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Hey Allie, just wanted to say I’ve been following the blog for awhile and it’s great! Keep up the good work!