Wow. I'm simultaneously going for the longest reply delay and the most egregious thread bump in history. Sorry about both!
I found this when my mom googled me when I was visiting the parents recently. I'm sorry to report that I've lost the snowboarding faith through a combination of factors. Six or seven years ago I was already starting to get bored with riding the same mountains all the time, mainly Stowe, and was getting increasingly frustrated with the crowds that would make the mountain practically unrideable by 10am. It didn't help that the only board I ever wanted to ride was my Prior GS board, because I just wanted to go fast. Fast + GS turns + crowded slopes = Bad Idea.
Also, I got fed up with the culture of snowboarding (in a general sense; alpine snowboarding has always been its only saving grace). I work for JDK, Burton's design firm, so I get to see the bull$h!t from the inside out.
A number of years ago my primary riding buddy (the only one of my friends who rides alpine) lost access to cheap passes and couldn't afford to ride regularly anymore... and then we had a string of really pathetic winters (excruciatingly cold with very little snow), which was pretty much the nail in the coffin. My interests shifted to other things, and so did my budget. I did get out one day last winter, but as luck would have it I picked the one day the conditions really sucked. Figures.
So anyway, my focus has shifted to motorcycles, which are a lot cheaper once past the initial cost of purchasing the bike. $10 worth of gas gets me 150 miles worth of fun, I don't have to drive an hour just to get someplace to ride, there's a virtually infinite number of roads to explore, and the sensation of leaning the bike over in the curves is remarkably similar to carving on a snowboard. And there are no liftlines! And as it happens, Vermont is an even better motorcycling state than it is a snowboarding state.
That's not to say that I'm done with snowboarding. I've still got all my boards and have no intention of getting rid of any of them. I'm just taking an extended break from it. At some point I fully intend to get back into it, although I'm pretty sure I won't be doing it every day I don't have to work like I used to. I'm not 25 anymore. :)
It's cool to see that the ECES is still going strong and that it'll be in Stowe this year. Maybe I'll come out one day for it, although I'm so out of shape that I'd never be able to keep up with anyone!
Anyway, thanks for thinking of me, and hello to all my old rec.skiing.snowboard buddies!
--mark
