BlueB Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 What can I say - an EPIC day! What a way to close the season. I had only one group of kids to teach for one hour - the rest I was free to do my thing. It dumped about 15cm over night and carried on snowing right trough the day. I would say well over a foot during the day. In the morning, there were so few people that on steeper runs snow accumulated quicker than being tracked - fresh all the time! Now, the funny part was that I wanted to take my Hooger (pretty decent as an AM board), but then I realised that it was still set for the guy I had been teaching a while ago. Not wanting to waste time resetting, I just grabbed my Generics and went with it. On the stiff side for my weight, it felt like surfing on ironing board or closet door ;) It has quite a good nose shape, and it is stable at speed, so it was a real blast, so long as I rode on my rear foot and surfed the turns rather than trying to carve them. I had to keep it on steep and going really fast to stay afloat, but that’s where the fun was! Every now and again I would centralise the weight or try to load the nose (”bad” carving habits :D ) and the thing would submarine, launching me into forward flip, to the amusement of the people on the chair lift. On one run, my friend Lani wanted to do the trees, and I was stupid enough to get talked into it - totally scary, board that wants to turn big, with no speed to surf the turns or stay afloat, to stiff to wiggle it around... Well, that was it - I do not like tree riding anyhow - back to open steep runs and speed, speed, speed. By the afternoon, more people arrived to the mountain and I had my ski lesson with kids. After that, It was all bumped / chopped, but I still stayed right until closing time. And then, on the last run, the wind came up, snow stopped and sun came out! Good buy call to all the hard-core skiers/boarders who came to the mountain on the Easter Day, perfect end to a perfect day and one of the best seasons remembered at Cypress... It is a bit hearth breaking to see the mountain closed with 4.5 metres of snow left, but hey - sailing and fly-fishing are calling! I’ll probably do another day at Whistler later on, and then I’ll really hang my boards for the season... ........................................ Some thoughts: - A race board is perfectly rideable in fresh. Hard work and no room for mistake, but super fast and lots of fun. - I never was a powder junkie, but I might become one after few more days like today. Highly addictive stuff. - I’m probably going to look for a powder board or an AM board a bit wider and stiffer than Hooger... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crucible Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 Boris, Ready for Thursday nite carve sessions for 06-07? I met a cool carver on Grouse this weekend by the name of Doug Wong, he's interested in playing with us next year. My race boards are getting their storage wax jobs today- I'll still keep my rock boards and backcountry decks out and tuned for at least another month. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted April 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Hey George! Well done on recruiting another member for our "club"! Any good backcountry adventures recently? Gosh, I'm starting to understand your hunger for it, after Sunday's power... You might even talk me into it (in few years) ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted April 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Another weekend to play! Just heard it on the radio - confirmed from Cypress site: "Latest News from Cypress Mountain... THE DOWNHILL & CROSS COUNTRY AREAS ARE OPEN TODAY FROM 9AM TO 4PM. We have received 45 cm of fresh snow in the past couple of days and due to unprecedented April snow and ski conditions, we will be open for downhill skiing and riding on the EAGLE EXPRESS HIGH SPEED QUAD CHAIR next weekend April 22nd & 23rd. Cypress Mountain has already surpassed our record for the longest Winter Season and we still have metres of snow with excellent coverage on all the trails on Black Mountain. The downhill area will open Saturday April 22nd and Sunday April 23rd from 9:00am to 4:00pm with discounted tickets in effect: Adult $23.36, Youth $21.50, Senior $12.15 and Child $10.28. Downhill rentals will be available in the Rental Centre. As a special BONUS, all Cypress Mountain 2005/06 Winter Season Passes will be valid! Please Note: No lessons or Ski School Programs will be offered. THE RENTAL PORTION OF THE ALP PROGRAM WILL NOT BE VALID." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crucible Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 I'm going on a backcountry snowboarding trip this coming weekend, April 23rd. Me and two other guys will be going to do Needle peak, which is just before the toll booth on the Coquihalla Highway in Hope. Four and half hours of skinning on a splitboard or kicking steps on snowshoes will get you a fantastic 90 minute powder run, right back to the highway. The great thing about living in the lower mainland of BC is that these types of trips are doable within half an hour of downtown Vancouver. The Cypress traverse alone can be done in a day, and still leave you plenty of time for beers at the pub.... Gotta love it. About the only other places that I have experienced this convenient a level of backcountry access is in Salt Lake City, or La Grave. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crucible Posted April 22, 2006 Report Share Posted April 22, 2006 Boris, My backcountry trip got cancelled for this weekend - see you at Cypress tomorrow for the last day of the season? I'll be ther when the lift opens at 0900. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted April 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2006 Hey George! Yap, I'll be there. If with my Mrs, I probably will not make it at 9:00. If alone, I'll be there for the first chair ;) I rode today too, from 10:00 to about 14:30. Funny snow in the morning - frozen + death cookies on top of Eagle, and already slushy at the lover elevations. Later on it all turned into slush and soft bumps. Big crowd, too. There's a rummor they might reopen on next weekend, again. I saw few people on interesting rides today. One guy on a monoski, other one on a teleboard, and 2 unknown harbooters, but on freeride boards. And then the winner: a guy riding soft boots on a long asym board, goofy stance on regular asym !?! I talked to him, he knew the board was for other foot and plates (he's got them at home), but he's used to it as is and likes the shape... Ah, well, to everyone their own fun. One of the 2 hardooters was a real a..hole - kept bombing past the long lift line right to the staple-rails, and even pushing trough people in there. Probably dure to his giant stature and ugly face, no one complained, until I got my lifty and patrol budies to bust him. I hate when someone is puting bad light on hard booters - already too few of us... See you there. Boris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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