My Right Hand Has All the Fun
My new snowboard and I went to Cypress Mountain twice last week, and we had a pretty fantastic time. Cypress was the last of the local snow playgrounds for me to investigate (Grouse Mountain and Mount Seymour are the others) and I can say with confidence, with all my massive ski and snowboard experience, that Cypress is the best snow mountain near Vancouver. It has more runs, better snow, smaller crowds and better views than the other two, which will probably make it my regular destination for the rest of this season.
The first day I hit the hills, I took public transport. I was fully prepared for this to be a complete and utter disaster, with all the enjoyment of being pulled backwards through a sharpened sieve, but it actually turned out quite well. I left the house at 7:30am, caught the bus to the city at 7:45am, caught the Seabus across the bay at 8:00am, jumped on the Cypress shuttle at 8:20am, and was at the mountain at 9:05am. Not bad for a carless guy with an armful of snowboard gear. It was a glorious day, with lots of snow for me to fall into and friendly people to chat to on the chairlifts. I did manage to land on my right thumb on my first run though, which was as the French say stupide vraiment sanglant. I was pretty sure I hadn't broken it (as I have actually broken it before, and that wrist, and the little finger on that hand) so I put some snow on it and kept going.
The rest of the day went well, with my form steadily improving and no further thumb injuries. My back also played nice as well, which was pretty amazingly good news after four months of physio. Hooray.
The second day I went along with my buddy Ryan, who drove us in his self-propelled VW chariot. The trip up was about an hour, and was certainly a lot less annoying than public transport, although I saw an equal number of hot naked women. It was snowing lightly, which was pretty cool to see, but it certainly made our gear soaking wet by the end of the day. Ryan is quite a bit better than me, so after a few good green (easy) runs, I stepped up to a blue (moderate) run with him. Naturally, it kicked my ass pretty badly. I skidded down steep slopes, bounced off moguls and barely missed ploughing into a "Trails Merge" sign. It wasn't much fun, but I suspect I'll need to endure more blue runs if I'm to become a minor snow god. Well, perhaps a mid-level snow priest with +1 mithril chain armour.
Snowboarding isn't an easy sport. It's expensive, physically tricky, and highly dependent on the weather. It is, however, enormous fun. It's also a great feeling to be out amongst the rugged mountain peaks, with soft snow, lungfuls of clean air and the vast silence of the wilderness all around. Many times I just lay back in the snow, soaking up the majesty of the mountains and getting strength back into my trembling legs... well, at least until my buttocks started to freeze. So yes, I'll be heading back to the mountains soon, when all my swellings have gone down a bit.