December 22nd, the first official day of winter. Almost any snowboarder you talk to has that day marked on the calendar, waiting for that chance to break out their snowboard and hit the local slope. For some Winter comes early, if you live in Alberta or British Columbia, where it starts snowing in October, and there is already a 80 ft base at an ACTUAL mountain. But, I cannot just step outside and head to Sunshine Mountain, instead us Ontario boarders are left with anthills like Blue Mountain and Mount St. Louis.
So every year, it feels like it takes Winter forever to get here. Eventually you start seeing kids getting desperate and going to the rinks and grabbing snow just to imagine themselves enjoying the season. I got the chance last year to attend a pre-winter snowboarding session with some friends at Centennial hill where a rail was set up so we could grind on it with our boards. Needless to say it took about 20 pick-up trucks of hockey rink snow just to get an alright base to slide on, in case we decided to bail. It feels like every year we are trying to speed up the process. Wearing our puffy snowboard jackets in spring, waxing our bases in the fall, or molding your boots year around for that perfect fit. Why cannot a huge indoor snowboard park that can survive the sweltering heat of the summer exist for all year around? Wait, there is one, in a shopping mall in DUBAI!!!!
However, in all of this, nothing can beat that first chair lift up to your local snowboard hill, with some buddies, a little bit of tunes, and that feeling of snow beneath your board. Snowboarding is just one of those things, that is the ultimate relaxation. I will take a vacation to go backcountry snowboarding over any beach in the world any day. If the winter was like last year, we are in for some good conditions. So snowboarders get your boards tuned, your goggles cleaned, and find those lost gloves, because it is shaping up to be yet another awesome winter.
Cheers,
Ben Belluz- Avid Snowboarder
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