Reflections of a Board Sport Obsession

Sunday, January 15, 2006

First Day of Work

First Day of Work
I have not been riding much since our trip to Ellicottville. The weather in southern and central Ontario has been very warm and rainy. Not ideal conditions for snowboarding. This past weekend was my first time out since our trip to Ellicottville, and of course it had to be a work weekend. Last year I found out through my parents friends that I could get a free pass to a private ski resort in Collingwood if I volunteered four weekends out of the winter to be a gate judge during competitive ski races. So I decided to give it a shot. A year later I'm at it again; however, only for one day this weekend. When I got up on Saturday there was only one snowboard race with 42 racers so my boss let me ride for the day instead. This would have been great except conditions were very icy and hardly worth riding in, so I headed back home. On the Sunday conditions were great, but of course races ran until 3:30 pm with very little break in between. I guess serious riding will have to wait.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Ellicottville

Ellicottville, New York
When winter got off to a great start in Ontario during early December 2005 we thought it would be a great overall season like last year. So when a client of my girlfriends offered to let us stay at her Ellicottville chalet over the New Year we jumped at the opportunity. We left Toronto for Ellicottville late morning on December 30th, 2005. The drive from Toronto was very smooth. Even the boarder was easy, despite the 24 and twenty sixer in the back (acquired just minutes before at the Duty Free). We arrived in Ellicottville in about two and a half hours. Our friends Katie and Tyler met us down there later that evening. In the meantime Christine and I got a few hours of night riding at Holiday Valley Resort. This was the first time I had been to Holiday Valley. Other than the lift ticket prices I thought it was a great resort. It is way better than anything we have in Ontario. They have so many different runs, and many stay open at night. They have tree runs, a couple terrain parks (alright, but nothing special), tones of mellow runs, and many steeper runs for the skier in you. Overall I was very impressed with Ellicottville.

The next couple of days we rode with our friends Katie and Tyler at Holiday Valley. Both days were great. The first day the snow was a little sticky, due to the warmer conditions. Despite the conditions we had a great time exploring the resort and all it's different terrain. The second day we got out a bit later due to our New Year's celebrations on the Ellicottville strip (a great place with more bars per capita than any Canadian city that I know of). With better conditions and a fresh waxing the second day proved to be the best. We kept hitting the terrain park, and this one run with huge banks on the left side and a great drop off towards the end of the run. As our day was ending Tyler and I kept pushing the limits on the banked run, boardsliding, tail slashing, and charging the drop off. At one point I decided I was going to charge the drop off at full speed, despite the crowd gathered at its crest. I popped my tail and pulled a huge crooked cob, landing at least 20 feet from my take off. When I landed I just missed some lady wearing a red jacked who decided it was a good idea to ski across from one side of the run right to the other side of the run. After narrowly dodging her I was flying when I saw another skier below. I slowed down on my toe edge, but it was not enough. At a medium speed I clipped the skier and we both took a slide down the hill together. As we were sliding I kept saying, "I'm so sorry, I'm really sorry", to which she replied, "it's ok, it's ok". After I helped her up we had a laugh and I went on my way. Needless to say I did not charge that drop-off at full speed again that day.

With conditions at their peak Christine and I were looking forward to riding another couple of days together, as our friends Katie and Tyler were leaving before us. This never ended up happening. The rain that was plaguing Ontario had now made it's way down to New York just in time for Canadian tourist week at Holiday Valley, in which all lift tickets can be purchased with Canadian dollars at par. Instead we went shopping at the outlet mall around Buffalo (what a shit hole!). On January 3rd we arrived back in Toronto with mixed emotions. We really loved Ellicottville, but were really disappointed that it rained the last two days there. I think we'll try our luck over the March Break.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Friday, December 30, 2005

RAIN and MORE RAIN

Rain, Rain, and MORE RAIN!
The Toronto area has been hit with warm weather conditions and a ton of rain. Very little snowboarding going on. Leaving for Ellicottville to try our luck there.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Osler: Great Second Day Out

Osler: Great Second Day Out
I woke up at 7:00 am, got ready quick and picked up my friend Bill from his sister's in Richmond Hill. An hour and a half later we were at Osler. The last time I had ridden Osler was the last day of the 2004/2005 season with my friend Tyler. That last day was one of the best days of snowboarding ever, and I hope today would be the same; it was!
This was Bill's first time to Osler. Before this the only resort he had been to in Collingwood was Blue Mountain. I wanted to show Bill just how great Osler was. I think at the end of the day Bill realized it's potential. The majority of the runs were open. Only the Poplar runs and terrain park runs were closed.
Our first run of the day was on Rattler; my favorite run. I love this run because it has four bumps that progressively get bigger as you travel down the first portion of the run. Off each bump you can do a different trick, or pump through them to do a huge trick off the last bump. Both of us charged the hill, and continued to do so through-out the day.
We went down all the open runs and took a number of detours into the "closed" off runs. The closed off runs were some of the best. We went down one run between the terrain park and "Exhibition". The snow was amazing! The whole way down we were shin deep in power. Both of us were doing powder cuts like we were Travis Williams. This run was so quiet, so floaty, and so amazing Bill nicknamed it "Heaven". I couldn't have agreed more.
The highlights of the day had to be "Heaven" for sure. We also enjoyed "exhibition" a lot, because right in the middle of the run was a small cheese wedge that really booted you in the air. I was pulling some nice tweaked out melon grabs (crooked cobs) off it. Rattler as always was a hit. My best line on Rattler was a frontside 180 melon, to switch FS 180, to indy grab, to backside 360 with and Indy grab. Best of all was hanging out with my good friend Bill and having fun on the slopes with him. Overall another great day of snowboarding.

Bill (bottom) and I (top) at the base of Osler

Sunday, December 11, 2005

First Day Snowboarding

First Day Snowboarding
December 10th 2005 marked my first day snowboarding for the 2005/2006 season. It started off with me checking out the Horseshoe Valley website. Every year Horseshoe has this Atomic demo day where the lift passes are $15.00. So I noticed that they were having it this year on the tenth. I immediately told my friend Tyler who was more than willing to go.
The day started at 7:45 am with a phone call from Ty on my cell, which infact woke me up. From there I scrambled to get ready and meet Tyler downtown at his buddy Matt's house. Matt ended up comming with us and driving to Horseshoe (thanx Matt!). Once we got our lift tickets and got our gear in order we waited in line for the main lift to take us up. At the top we strapped in and took our first run down for the season. Other than my wide stance, I felt right at home snowboarding. As the day progressed I got use to my stance once again and the overall feeling of riding on snow again. It a great feeling!
The highlights for the day had to be the friends, the conversation, and the banked drop off on "Pony Tail". Hanging out with friends is always a highlight for anybody. There is no substitute for great friends. The conversations varied from the tame to the other end of the spectrum. They ranged from snowboarding, to video games, to girlfriends, to life, to getting older, to the fucked up shit that people do to get off, and the fact that internet has given these people a place to chat and meet up. Overall some funny ass shit. The snowboarding conditions were pretty good, and Horseshoe was surprizingly not that busy. But the highlight for had to be the drop off on "Pony Tail". All three of us were wipping off tones of tweeked out airs and grabs. No rotations, but what we did was a warm-up for the mad freestyle snowboarding to hopefully follow in the weeks to come. Overall rating of the day = 7

Monday, November 28, 2005

The Fountain of Youth

The Fountain of Youth
As I progress through my 20's I see so many of my friends getting older. I mean we all are getting on in age, all have jobs and responsibilities, but that not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about how many are starting to forget how to have fun, and even when they are in a position to have fun with other friends they don't know how. They will often end up talking exclusively about work, family troubles, bills, traffic, or the weather! That's one thing about being involved in board sports. They are sports driven by youth culture, and youthful mentalities. Tony Hawk said that skateboarding is his "fountain of youth". I believe it. All board sports keep you fit, and allow you hang out with friends in a "fun" environment. So as I get up there in age I hope I never forget how to find my "fountain of youth".