What it Means to Ski the East
It's been an unseasonably warm winter in the Mid-Atlantic. While some people are enjoying it, snow sport enthusiasts are lamenting the slow start to the season. We fall somewhere in between.
On one hand, we were able to paddle more often this fall, which is always a win. On the other, it's been tough watching our local mountain keep consistent slope coverage and we're definitely missing some of our favorite trails that remain stubbornly closed.
Skiing (or shredding!) the east means flexibility and adaptability. It means keeping an open mind and finding the silver lining in each seemingly negative space.
Skiing (or shredding!) the east means handing out kudos to our local snowmakers for finding every opportunity to blow that sweet white stuff and applauding the park & pipe staff, the patrollers, the mountain ops folks, and so on for their creativity and enthusiasm.
We're making the most of the season by working regular uphill adventures into our weekends. Sure, the vertical feet might not be impressive, but it's an opportunity to see the mountain from a whole new perspective. And it's a great activity to do with friends, not to mention a pretty decent workout.
We know a lot of DCers who won't make the reasonably short trip to one of the local mountains and choose to save their edges for Colorado or Utah or Wyoming. To be clear, we think that's totally fine. But our preference is to make the most of what we have in our own backyard and we're constantly feeling grateful that this winter wonderland is so close. Hey, choose your own adventure!
Skiing (or shredding!) the east means finding the fun no matter what conditions throw at you. Paddle Monster coaches have a saying: "love the conditions." Well, on the east coast, we're given a lot of conditions in one weekend, heck, even one day. And as snowboarders, we have our own saying: "Every day is a powder day for a snowboarder." It's the same way we look at surfing. It doesn't matter the size of the wave but the stoke you get from it.
We guess what we’re saying is: No matter what, we still love our east coast conditions and we have a lot of stoke!
And we have a lot of gratitude that we get to partake in this sport so often and with so many fun people. Would we love to ride bigger mountains? Duh! And we do - about every other year we take trip out west. But just because our mountain is smaller doesn't make the activity any less enjoyable or special.
Next up in our shred the east adventures: an avalanche course this weekend with the National Ski Patrol! We'll be spending three days learning about snowpack, studying avalanche conditions, and practicing rescue and recovery techniques. We're excited to take this course together and to advance our comfort levels in taking more side and backcountry excursions. More on that later!
In the meantime, tell us what skiing (or shredding!) the east mean to you?
