Since Steamboat won’t be open till November 21st and the early snowboard season is only 2 hours away…the drive to ride is well worth it so any spare days off right now I am down in Summit County to ride.
Woke up early today, packed up my gear, picked up my friend Steve in town and we headed down to Loveland to endure a Saturday riding day. Surprisingly it wasn’t busy at all for a Saturday and it was bluebird out most of the day. Windy when we arrived but as late morning came, had to shed some layers as it got warmer.
It’s always fun to ride with new people, that’s one of my goals this year is to meet and ride with more riders.
The only downside about early season weekend shredding is dodging the beginners that just got stoked on snowboarding and are sitting all over each run. It’s quite a skill to master having to dodge 5 flailing people who have no idea what they are doing. I give them credit for being stoked enough to enjoy the early season but when there is only one chairlift and the run isn’t that great for beginners…just wait until more terrain opens.
I love people watching on the mountain. It’s pretty cool to see the variety of people who come to enjoy the early season. You got the park rats hitting the two rails on the mountain, the beginners who just got gear and a pass, the freeriders, the skiers and the old school skiers who came out of the woodwork (ie…straight skis and tight outfits). Everyone there for a common love of the snow.
For some reason my ipod nano didn’t wanna work in the morning so the first couple runs were music-less…so sad! But I was able to unfreeze it and pull out the tunes for the rest of the day riding. Whenever I’m riding, I pump the music but when I’m on the chairlift I turn it off so I can talk to my riding partners. Yesterday my favorite song to listen to was Le Disko’s “Shiny Toy Guns.” I just love the beats on it.
Here is the music video for them, check them out
Riding conditions were really good, they opened up another run since Thursday so it wasn’t that crowded on the mountain. Lift lines were the best I’ve seen on a Saturday, never waited longer than a couple minutes to get on the chairlift.
Best part is I have been leaving my knee brace at home since I spent a lot of time swimming this summer and now working out my knee feels stronger so I am trying to make this the season where I don’t use my knee brace at all. Riding Hood this summer I intentionally left it back in Colorado as I rode pipe all day and this early season riding so far has been pretty good on my knee.
Made it back to Steamboat in the afternoon after grabbing some yummy off-mountain food and the best joy of all Dairy Queen chocolate dipped cones. Living in Steamboat you are limited to chain store brands so DQ is now a highlight when you leave town.
And best of all…it has dumped snow here in Steamboat since I got back home. Got a couple fresh inches of snow outside my house.