"I regret that I have but one life to give to outdoor recreation."
That was my thought earlier this week after I spent the day snowboarding in the knee-deep righteous pow at Crystal Mountain. I guess what I really mean is I regret that I don't have the income required to pursue such fun-ness on a regular basis. Such fun-ness as renting a big mutha Toyota Highlander, blasting through the snow and right on past the cars slip-sliding off the side of I-405 (Monday's Seattle commute was epically bad), and snowboarding the slopes at Crystal where the lift tickets are $58.
But I had an excuse for shelling out the dough. I was working. As it were. Doing a story on Crystal's new Northway Chair which opens up 1,000 acres of steep, deep, formerly backcountry terrain. All the runs were black- and double-black diamonds. For an guy who snowboards once or twice a year these days, it was challenging.
But the snow was incredible. Shin- and knee-deep in parts and most of it untracked. I snowboarded with Sean Bold, head of the ski school and a real nice (not to mention) patient guy. (Former Cat 3 bike racer too, it turns out.) That's him in the pics. I like the one in the middle where he's just a blur of snow and all you see of him is one ski pole.
...humming "nice work if you can get it
ReplyDeleteand you can get it if you tryyyyy....dum dum dee dum dee dee...."
Nice post Mike - it sounds like a great time! I'll definitely have to check out Crystal before the season is over. I've spent most of the season at Alpental (45 minutes from home), but did get a trip in to Whistler - and wrote about it for Eastside Business newspaper. http://eastsidebusinessjournal.com/Joe-Kennedy/What-Are-You-Waiting-For-Get-Your-Boards-Up-to-Whistler.html
ReplyDeleteI saw your article on the Seattle Times website, that led me to your blog and books. Good job!