Dec 20

Dec 20 And You Thought All We Did Was SUP

‘Tis the season for DC SUP Couple to go a little dark. We doubt our followers notice too much but we thought it would be good to address why. And, if you did notice - wow, thanks for being so tuned it; sorry for being MIA.

This is the time of year we make a pretty sharp turn from paddling to snowboarding. But wait, isn’t opening day at the local mountains today, you ask? Well yes, it is, but there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that happens before then.

We’re both super involved with the Whitetail Ski Patrol (Scott as a member of the National Ski Patrol and instructor with WSP and Meredith, a non-member, running the fundraising store). For Scott, this means that when the mountain closes each season, he’s helping to train the newest batch of patrol recruits through their candidate class. That involves eight months of medical training, which includes trauma scenarios (e.g. dislocated shoulders and broken bones) and medical situations (e.g. cardiac arrests, diabetic incidents, and even overdoses). They also practice lift evacuations and low angle rescues some weekends. Then, in early December, they finish their training with a 5-hour practical exam. If they pass, they’re ready for a season of on-mountain training. Here, they learn the ins and outs of the mountain and how the patrol operates within in (e.g. how to open and close slopes, how to operate different vehicles, where things are stored, etc.). They also go through ski and toboggan training to learn how to ski and snowboard like a patroller and how to safely and appropriately operate sleds. That’s a lot.

For Meredith, it’s way less involved but still time consuming - setting up an online store, working with our super talented friend, Sean, to design custom order clothing, putting in orders for swag to sell. All proceeds benefit the Whitetail Ski Patrol. It’s a fun way to support this extended family of ours, but definitely adds to the general life workload.

All of this + cooler weather means we just don’t get out on the water as much as we’d like from October on. But, this year, we made it a point to do a little more paddling than we normally would. You may have seen (or participated in!) our Blue Paddle with East of Maui Annapolis. It was important to us to carve out time after the Thanksgiving holiday to hit the water. Giving folks a Black Friday alternative was a great reason to do it.

We also (finally) made it to East of Maui’s annual Santa Paddle this year. This is one we typically miss because the mountain is usually open and we’re on the slopes. While we were bummed Whitetail hadn’t opened yet, getting to spend time on the water with our paddling community (and Santa) was a pretty solid alternative.

So, now you know why we go a little dark this time of year. Opening day at Whitetail is today and you’re going to start seeing a lot of winter content coming your way. But, we promise to make it a point to paddle a little bit more this winter than we normally do, and to keep you plugged into our winter adventures, including a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to be a ski patroller and an upcoming avalanche class we’re taking together. More soon!