Deep Snow on Both Coasts

After the bike riding ended on the sunny, but windblown and rainy Big Sur, CA coast, I switched gears and headed for the snow-choked Sierras and returned home to spectacular snowy conditions at Killington.

It has been some time between posts due to hectic riding and working schedules. Friday morning Barry and I dropped off the rental Trek 1600's at the Folsum, CA bike store. He caught a cab to the airport and I headed up I-80 into the Sierras. The forcast was for heavy snow and chains were required for all vehicles except 4-wheel drive with snow tires. I had 4-wheel, but no snow tires or intentions of putting on chains. Off I went to see how far up into the mountains I could go. At about 6000 feet they were pulling people off the road and ticketing those that did not have chains. I-80 was basically hard-packed snow and ice. I decided I had chanced this long enough and got off at the next exit - Soda Springs, CA. I pulled into the first rental shop I saw and could not believe the amount of snow piled along the roads and builings! I asked if there was a good place to snowboard and they directed me just a couple of miles south to Sugar Bowl. Within minutes I was in the parking lot suiting up and buying a lift ticket. I later found out Sugar Bowl averages 41 feet of snow per season! And this was an above average year.

Up the lift I went and down the first run; I could not believe how deep the snow was. Not the light powder snow of the west we dream about, but heavy snot snow. I decided to go into the huge Douglas Fir trees and looked in awe at the 12-foot deep hole in the snow by each tree. These are the holes that have killed Sonny Bono and Kennedy clan skiers. I was looking so intently at them, I lost concentration and fell. The snow was so deep I could not get back up on my board. When you pushed off the snow with your arm, it just sank up to your shoulder. I took my back boot out of the binding, and tried to stand up, but my leg sank down to my hip. The loose, heavy snow was neck high! Finally I took out both feet, got on my board like a sled and paddled my way over to a run where the snow was beaten down by skiers and riders and I could finally get upright enough to get back on the board. Once I stayed on the well-traveled runs, the fun really began.

There were many options on this set of mountains. I had a blast carving in the deep, heavy snow on blue and black diamond trails. I tried a few double diamond chutes that were steep yet easily done with all the snow to use to check your speed. The snow kept coming down hard and visiblity was limited. I went at it until late in the afternoon - starting at 10 am, so I was exhausted. As I headed over to the mountain where my car was parked I took a trail marked to take me that way. I soon found out I made an error and was in a double diamond tree area. As I concentrated on missing trees and snow holes I heard someone yell as I went by. He had gotten himself in one of those 12-foot holes and was having trouble getting out and was not sure what to do and where to go even if he could. Well by the time I slowed to comprehend all this, I was now not upright any more and in the same predicament he was in. I had learned what I needed to do from my first run experinece and quickly sat on my board and 'sled paddled' down the hill. He saw what I was doing and where I was going and followed suit. We were both concerned about getting out as it was getting dark, the snow was coming down heavier, this was not a well-traveled area, and we were not sure where we needed to go. If you go off the wrong side of one of these ridges, you can be out there for the night or days, as I saw on an episode of "I Shouldn't Be Alive."

Well we both got out fine, and I headed for the car. As I was putting away the board I noticed I had broken one of my bindings. Also, the snow was piled up about 12 -15 inches on my car and on the roads. I decided to head back to Sacramento and do lanudry, rest, get my bindings fixed and get ready for my week of work in California. Predictions were for 3 to 5 feet of snow on Saturday night, so I did not want to get stuck up in the mountains when I was supposed to be down in the central valley working. It is bad enough that I have spent 7 out of 12 days playing out here when Cargill paid for the plane fare.

The week of farm visits and talks to customers and prospects went very well. After four days, I was getting back on the plane for the east coast. After a day of recovery at home Donna and I made a trip to Killington. While I was out west, the snow had melted, froze, melted and it had snowed all over again back east. Conditions were very good. We had a great time. Donna has not had the opportunity to snowboard at all this year up to now, so needed time to get back into it. The conditions in the woods were ideal. I played most of the time in Squeeze Play, the blue sqyuare set of woods on Ramshead Mountain. It was great!

Until the weather warms up and the roads dry out, our riding is limited to the routine of Spinning Saturdays together. Sundays Donna plays hockey and I snowboard at Killington. Looking forward to a good spring riding season - I am ready whether it is on the snow or the roads.