The Snowboard Guru

Hooray for More Powder

2005-02-27T22:07:00.000-07:00

Gee, despite my best intentions, I just have not been posting like I intended when I created this blog. And yes, as a recent comment to one of my blogs queried, I've been too busy surfing the powder to post.

It's really just been an outstanding year here in the Southwest. It sounds like gloating, but literally, every single weekend for the last six weeks, it has snowed on the weekend on cue. It's been crazy. I guess we've been getting all the stroms that normally direct themselves over to the Pacific Northwest (which I understand has really been hurting and is now in a drought). The folks that live up there shouldn't feel too bad . . . they normally get fat while we starve to death. Anyway, over the long term, things will balance out, so I'm enjoying what we have while we have it. You know the saying, "Make hay while the sun shines." Well, my own take on that is that you need to be making hay while the sun is'nt shining!

Anyway, my home hill, Sunrise, just has an awsome base. Well over 100 inches on top. The way things are going, it looks like the hill may be able to stay open into early April. A big improvement over last year, when the hill was forced to close in mid-March. So hey, skiing and and boarding in Arizona aren't that bad after all, huh?

Today I finished up by 30th day boarding this winter. With a little luck and commitment, I'm going to hit my goal of forty days for the season. Not bad for a guy with a full-time "real" job. Last year I ended the year with 36, and fell short largely because of the shortness of the season. Don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched, but things look good right now.

Some of the things I am wanting to discuss in some of my future posts include my take on snowboard magazines, how snowboarders are portrayed in the popular media, and gear. I have a few things to say about all these things, and although I may or may not be right, I hope to start some interesting dialogs.

Will post again soon.

The Snowboard Guru

Powder Day

2005-01-30T20:47:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post in order to note that today was pretty close to snowboard nirvana.

About ten inches of fresh powder fell at my home hill, Sunrise Park Resort. Although I had to work on the hill today (I do volunteer ski patrol on the mountain), I still managed to get in about ten free runs. At least nine of the ten were just spectacular.

I must mention at this point how much I love powder. I learned to snowboard about ten years ago when a friend of mine introduced me to the sport. Like all beginning snowboarders, I struggled for a few days before I figured it out. Once you have a feel for controlling your edges though, the learning curve is rapid. Anyway, I still remember the first time I figured out how to ride powder, and the feeling it gave me to simply be floating above the earth. For those in the know, all you can do is shake your head up and down knowingly, because from the point that happens snowboarding simply becomes an addiction. For those of you who don't, I simply must pity you.

Anyway, I was assigned to Apache Peak today and spent most of my time on Lupe's Rainbow, Geronimo, and Cartwheel Hill, which are the three black diamond runs on that mountain. Got first tracks on Lupe's Rainbow and Cartwheel Hill. How much better can life get?

The Snowboard Guru

What's This Blog About?

2005-01-24T21:36:00.000-07:00

So what's this blog about? Do I really think I have anything meaningful to say about myself or snowboarding?

Well, let me take those questions in order. In this blog, I plan to focus my discussion on snowboarding, snowboarders, skiers, the mountains, and I suppose anything else that happens to run across my mind.

The answer to the second question is probably a little tougher. It's probably a little arrogant for anyone to bother creating a blog. I mean, why should I believe that I have anything to say that is important enough for anyone else to listen to? Because I'm smarter? No. Because I'm a great snowboarder? Nope. Not bad, but there's a lot better than me out there. Because I'm good looking? Nope, that's certaintly not it.

I suppose, more than anything else, the reason I wanted to create this blog is because I love snowboarding and I love talking about it with anyone who will listen. That's it. Is'nt that qualification enough?

Now, am I a "guru" as the name of this blog implies? Webster's defines a guru as "a Hindu religious teacher and spritual advisor; any leading figure; a great teacher." Well, if you have to be Hindu to be a guru, I definitely don't qualify. However, for those of us "in the know," there is definitely a spiritual side to snowboarding. To the extent that anyone is inspired or learns anything from my ramblings, I suppose I am a guru. Besides, I thought the name sounded pretty cool.

So that's it for today, my very first posting. There's no sense in rushing to say too much too soon. There are plenty of topics to cover and plenty of days to cover them (at least so far as I know).

The Snowboard Guru