I am not a morning person especially when it involves waking up at 5:30am when everything is dark outside and everyone is asleep still. But the second I step on snow, it’s always worth it – It’s worth the 5:30am wake up call, the 6 hour roundtrip drive and the $30 to pay for a session of fun on the slopes. That was today at Boreal.
It was my first time coming to Boreal and getting familiar with this new mountain that opened its lifts for the first turns in California. I had only seen Boreal from the highway (it’s right there, can’t miss it) but was excited to check out the terrain and get back on snow. Yesterday Boreal opened and today they had two chairlifts and two parks lines operating. Under Nugget chairlift there were 4 features: down box, down rail, flat down rail and wall ride. Under Castle Peak Quad were 10 features: 2 C-box’s, flat box, up flat down rail, tube, jump, wall ride, down rail and down box with a staircase inbetween.
I hit up the mountain with Daniel and Jeremy from Mammoth which was a blast and stoked to carpool up with those guys. The weather throughout most of the day was snowy with some moments of clear weather and almost a moment of sunshine. I’m still learning park but I was happy to try the boxes, jump and wall ride for the day. The wallride was probably my favorite feature, just having fun trying to stall on the top. The boxes definitely worked me, got a good bruise from my butt riding the box but it’s all part of the fun.
myself on the down box (thanks Jeremy for the shot!)
Jeremy on the first C-Box at the top of Castle Peak
Daniel on the wallride at the bottom of Nugget chairlift
There was one jump set up on the mountain which meant you could get some good pop from it or go smaller depending how you wanted to hit it. From watching the jump on the chairlift there were a couple flips were thrown, lots of spins and lots of straight airs. It was a good way to start the season.
Jeremy
Daniel’s tailgrab 360
After living in Colorado the past 4 years, the sierra snowfall was a quick reminder of what to expect and staying dry (even when your hair gets soaked on the snow).
It was a really fun day on the slopes and so worth the drive just to get back on snow, some jibbing and remembering how much fun it is. Definitely hoping for more snowfall in the region to open up even more terrain! Meanwhile I’m gonna drink a cold beer and enjoy a sleeping in day tomorrow.
October 30th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
What happened to your helmet? Doesn’t look cool? I know…
October 30th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Pilmo, ah I know I ended up leaving the helmet in the truck today. I wanted to take it easy on day 1 and not get any “I’m wearing a helmet, can do anything” kind of mentality. So took it easy, played easy. I’ll be wearing my helmet when I get into stepping up my progression again. Psh helmets are cool, got sandbox
October 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Thank you for coming to our mountain today, Shay. Glad you had fun. Boreal always tries to open by Halloween. Having two lifts open before Halloween is awesome! Drop by again some time after ski school cranks up so I can meet you in person. We’re not that far from your new home in Mammoth. I hope you enjoy your season in the Sierras. So many good resorts and such great scenery! Pilmo is right, BTW. You are a role model. Get that helmet on! Remember the helmet isn’t just to protect you while you try risky moves. It’s also to protect you from the out-of-control idiots on the hill.
October 30th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by shayboarder and Shred Union, Girls Learn To Ride. Girls Learn To Ride said: Boreal 10/30/10 http://bit.ly/cOg0m4 [...]
October 30th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
No helmets required!
October 31st, 2010 at 6:52 am
looks fun!!!!!!
October 31st, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Michael, thanks definitely coming back to Boreal! I’ll definitely stop in and say hi! I’ll be making a couple trips to the Tahoe area this winter since my family goes there and I can meet up with them there. Definitely looking forward to winter in CA.
I’ll keep the lid on.
November 1st, 2010 at 5:01 am
get some Shay!!!! We miss you out here.
November 1st, 2010 at 7:32 pm
Gags, it feels weird not having you guys around for sure. I definitely miss it. Can’t wait to hang and ride with you guys at SIA.
July 17th, 2011 at 9:39 am
[...] Boreal 10/30/11: A great start to the season with Daniel and Jeremy. [...]