Spring Break on the Board

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Photo taken from Flickr by mike dunn.

t’s becoming that time again folks, and while most people are going to go somewhere tropical and warm to spend their spring break, die hard borders like us will seek colder temperatures and an elevation above sea level.

There are a number of sites offering great deals for spring break like SnowPak  and litopia. But act fast, a lot of offers are selling out quickly.

Spring might be one of my favorite times to ride, some days it’s warm enough to take much of your layers off and just ride in a t shirt in some parts of the country. Other’s you won’t need anything but your hoodie.

Now I know that the main focus of what I talk about is Northeastern focused, but hey, it’s spring break, why not take a trip somewhere? Some of the best spring skiing has been said to be out West, and while I’m super familiar with the West, the experts over at On The Snow are. They’ve done much of the work for you already on their spring break guide for those who prefer snow over sand. They put it best, stating, “the 31-day stretch is a profitable time for powder hounds on the lookout for some of the season’s best conditions. Ski resort base depths are usually at their best this late into the season and the holiday crowds of December and January are long gone.”

California seems to be the place of interest when it comes to spring snow. Holding four of the top five resorts in base depth; Mammoth Mountain, Squaw Valley, Donner Ski Ranch, and Sugar Bowl lead the pack. But coming in fifth is an unlikely candidate, and one I’ve even been to (and may have mentioned a few times before), Mont Tremblant in Quebec.

Base depths are the most important part of warm-weather riding. While the air temperatures are warming and there won’t be as much snowfall, a lower and upper base of 165”-235” like that at Mammoth Mountain in California will hold for the rest of the month for riders to enjoy.

Brands like Capita have even taken advantage of spring break by creating a whole line of boards dedicated to the occasion, and they’re a pretty sight if you ask me (someone buy me one please).

Another great thing about being a snowboarder in the spring is getting to take advantage of all the great sales going on.

Shops want to clear house to make room for spring and summer clothing, they don’t want it cluttered with big jackets, pants and boots, so you can typically find really good gear at a really great price this time of year. Check out The House or Evo, sale both are running killer sales right now.

What are your favorite things about snowboarding in the spring? Leave a comment down below if you’re just like me and prefer to be bombing a mountain than laying on the beach… or am I crazy?

Tremblant/Okemo Recap, 5 Things You Should Know When You Go

With the recent arctic like temperatures that came through most of the United States, snow makers were on full blast on much of the East Coast’s ski resorts, but warmer temperatures coming in the past couple of days could put a halt on some operations.

Places like Okemo, Loon and Killington, (all in the On The Snow Northeast Top Three) show no signs of stoppage for the winter though regardless of temperatures. With thick bases and plenty of snow already there, they should have no worries about it carrying over into another cold front.

I get into my latest trip up North and interview a buddy of mine about his latest trip to Okemo. Later on in this post I’ll give you some advice in FIVE TIPS that Zach and I came up with when planning your trip up north.

My latest trip was to Mont Tremblant in Quebec. I was up in Tremblant in early January and snowboarded the seventh through the ninth. Conditions varied throughout the days but we got to experience pretty much every trail and got to do a lot of great snowboarding we cant do at home here in Maryland.

First, I’ll start off by saying that on the first day that was THE COLDEST I have ever been. Something like negative 20 degrees with wind chill? I’m talking I got out of the gondola on the peak and my beard froze.

Anyway – this day there was a little bit of ice, clear skies but the trails were running very fast. We took this first day to explore the mountain the most, look over the maps and try a bunch of different trails from greens all the way to blacks.

 

The second day brought about half a foot of fresh snow, for me at least, this was my first time going through deep fresh powder. We did a lot of glade runs. I fell, a lot, and getting up out of 2 feet of powder in the woods isn’t hard, don’t believe me, try for yourself. The precipitation brought in TONS of fog and made visibility poor, it was tempting to ride without goggles but for the sake of our eyeballs we chose not to.

Fog carried over into our last day on the mountain and we really hit glades hard on this day. We found a really cool run with tons of natural jumps and drops and probably hit it 5 times in a row.

Coming back down into Vermont, Okemo seemed to have great conditions during this time as well. Zach Labbe, a Maryland native who has been snowboarding for around 5 years just got back. Conditions were “beautiful, picture perfect,” he said. They too got fresh snow on their second day there and much of the group embraced the powder runs to the fullest.

Like much of the east coast though, Okemo suffered from some ice as expected for cold temperatures in this part of the country. Wind was blowing however and made for some blown powder to cover much of the ice.

5 Things For Your Next Trip

1. LAYER –
   This is probably the most important one we could think of. I can’t stress enough how essential it is to stay not only warm, but DRY as well. I try to stay away from cotton as much as I can and usually stick with moisture wicking materials. A good base layer and mid-layer usually helps.
2. BRING A BOOT DRYER
   If you don’t have one – get one. Not many things are worse than wet boots.
3. BRING EXTRA CHAPSTICK
   The air is a lot more dry in the winter and the cold temperatures and wind definitely don’t help you in that category. Keeping an extra thing of chapstick in your jacket pocket isn’t a bad idea.
4. NOSE UP IN POWDER
   For myself and Zach, this was our first times going to a big mountain like Okemo or Tremblant and really our first time going through deep powder and glades. A good piece of advice is to shift your weight to your back foot and keep the nose of your board up when going through. This will allow you to float though and fall less, which is always good.
5. TRY NEW THINGS
   New mountains bring new opportunities, there will probably be a lot of features you aren’t used to, give them a shot!