A journey of snowboard trips

Alaska: Alyeska 

I had a friend in Alaska who I decided to go up and visit. I spent a couple days snowboarding at Alyeska, whether it was day riding or night riding…got to check out the mountain. Its one of those trips that I should go back and do because my riding was coming back from knee surgery and I took the trip easy.

Washington: Stevens Pass, Summit at Snoqualmie, Crystal Mountain, Mt Baker, Mission Ridge. 

I grew up in Renton, Washington where Snoqualmie Pass was a half hour drive. Whether it was catching rides with older friends when I was not able to drive yet, I made my way to the mountains after school to snowboard. In middle school, I was on the ski bus to Crystal Mountain each weekend. Before I turned 16, I was spending weekends at Snoqualmie teaching snowboarding. I remember the first time I went to Alpental, I sucked…sideslipped a lot! I continued to ride Snoqualmie as I grew up and when I returned to Alpental a year later…I was riding it a lot better each time. By the time I went to college in Seattle, I split my time between Snoqualmie and Stevens Pass before finally giving up Snoqualmie to ride Stevens Pass entirely. As my riding became better I made the trips to Mt. Baker and Crystal every chance I could get while continueing to ride Stevens Pass. My last year in Washington was able to ride the lonely isolated Mission Ridge and then packed up to head to Colorado.  Washington really makes people well rounded riders, just the riding there offers up so much to more advanced riders.

I’ll be back at Stevens Pass in December and looking forward to riding my old mountain.

Oregon: Timberline, Meadows, Mt Bachelor 

Trips to Hood in the summer were easy from Seattle, I had it down like clockwork for years. I lived at Hood in the summer, enjoying every second of being around shredders who love the year round riding. It’s still a must-trip for me to do once a year, just to ride in the summer on the glacier. Mt Bachelor was a further trip but when the mountains closed in Washington, Mt Bachelor would still be open offering up a very good late season snowstorm each time. Such a good mountain that people often forget about.

California: Mt Shasta, Squaw Valley, Kirkwood, Northstar, Sierra at Tahoe, Heavenly 

My first trip to Tahoe was on a family trip where I remember getting snowed in and riding Northstar at Tahoe when I was there. My second trip was with a friends family and we rode Heavenly. Finally in 2004, I was lucky to take a road trip to Tahoe and spent a whole week riding various Tahoe mountains. The road trip was a blast, each resort was soo different and had so much to offer.

Idaho: Schweitzer 

I’ve only been to Schweitzer once and it was such a long journey from Seattle that I know why it was only once. It was for an AASI event lasting over a couple days and I enjoyed every second of it. At the time it was the closest thing to a resort that I had been to, staying in the base and going out each night, riding each day.

Colorado: Steamboat, Loveland, A-Basin, Keystone, Breckenridge, Copper, Winter Park, Aspen Snowmass, Aspen Highlands, Aspen Buttermilk. 

I moved to Colorado with only one day of Steamboat riding under my belt…but I knew that the mountains I would come to ride would be worth the move. Since then I’ve tracked the majority of days here in Steamboat but have spent the early and late season at other mountains. Whether it’s the perfect X-games pipe at Buttermilk or the soft slush at A-basin in June, there is riding for every ability, every style here in Colorado. In the end it’s nice having the light fluffy powder here where I call home. But it is nice to leave town and find great mountains within a couple hours.

British Columbia: Whistler/Blackcomb 

When I lived in Washington, Whistler was a 6 hour drive and when I first started snowboarding…it was always the place to go to for a long weekend trip. I started making semi-annual trips each year, always in awe of the town, the resorts and the snowboarding. As my riding progressed, the mountains became even better. I still try to make a yearly trip during Telus Festival to enjoy the goods that Whistler has to offer.