Winter is coming!
The leaves are changing, the temperature is dropping and the mountains have their first dusting of snow. Pools are closing, ski sales are starting and I just got in my first bit of preseason boarding.
Goodbye miniskirt. Hello snowboarding pants.
I’ve been melting for the past five months anticipating the beginning of a new snowboarding season.
I only made it through the summer by watching “Follow Me Around” at least three times a day and checking Transworld Snowboarding’s website almost hourly. I also started wakeboarding and longboarding just trying to get my fix.
I’ll admit it helped a little, but nothing can compare to the snow. I live for winter and snowboarding.
Every year around this time, the build-up of anticipation reaches its peak.
The season is getting closer and closer, and I know I only have a little longer to wait. I’ve made it through an entire snow-less summer (yea, like I can afford to go to camp), and now I barely have a month and a half before the lifts are open.
Not as easy as it sounds, though.
I’m sure you avid snowboarders and skiers, like myself, know what I’m talking about. The close-yet-so-far-away feeling overwhelms everything. And although I’m bombarded with work and school, I’d still prefer to spend my autumn days dreaming of being on the slopes with a chilly wind blowing on my face and snow surrounding me.
September, for me, is one of the worst months to wait for the new season. The weather is too confusing. It’s hot one day and rainy or cold the next. It’s like Mother Nature is bipolar. (Give her some lithium, for crying out loud.)
I made it though, thanks to many snowboard and ski movie premieres, constantly walking around in all of my gear and strapping into my board recently to jib on some muddy slush.
Thankfully, October has arrived. I, or should I say we, have survived the worst of it.
Well, almost survived. We still have a few more weeks until the anticipation and waiting are dead for another year.
October will be colder. The snow will be falling soon. This means the heater in my car will be turned on, and I’ll get to break out my favorite winter apparel: hoodies and beanies.
Most storms this month will leave snow in the mountains. I’ll be able to hike and shred, even if it’s just on enough snow to barely cover the ground. Anything is better than nothing in my book.
When the snow finally starts to stick in the valley and at my house, I’ll be satisfied for a few more weeks. I’ll just goof around on my yard’s giant hill jibbing random yard things and hopefully setting up a rail with my friends. Not any serious riding, but something to keep me entertained.
Then as the first weeks of November pass, I know I’ll hardly be able to contain my excitement. It’ll be just days before I can ride a real mountain from top to bottom and skip the hiking part.
In those last few days, I’ll probably end up wearing my snowboarding clothes every day and sleeping with my goggles on every night until opening day of the season.
I won’t miss it. I’ve been waiting for what feels like an eternity, scorching through the summer, enduring the crazy Utah September and barely containing myself through October.
Only 45 days until the predicted opening weekend. Pray for lots of snow, and I’ll see you on the mountain.
