Have you ever seen a turtle get turned on its back?
Well, this is the imagery that comes to mind when I think of someone riding in powder for the first time, especially in waist deep powder like we have now. When you're learning the ropes, one of the final stages of the learning progression and crescendo of enjoyment for the sport is learning to mash some pow.
After a good few days of learning, you think you've taken your lumps in the groomers punishing your little wrists with every catch of your body. Your neck muscles were sore for a week from that time you caught your edge and smacked your head and thought, hey, I might need to invest in a helmet. And at long last, the swelling in your one bum cheek subsided to finally match the other. You think you've got it. The fallen leaf has become something that only leaves do and you're picking up the speed down some runs, maybe even jumping a little. And then…dun dun dun, dun-du-dun, dun-du-dun (think Darth Vader to get the tune) ...comes a powder day.
Your friend, who got you into the sport in the first place, is thrilled and can't wait. You, the seasoned rider you've become, think you're ready for it. It looks easy and fun, and you've got it figured out now. Assured by your professions of competency, your buddy agrees to go up with you. So you start off at the top of Grandview starting out towards Sugar and Spice and then with two whips of a tail, you're pal disappears into an abyss of trees.
And you follow.
I don't know about you but, I got tired just watching.
An hour later......after rolling around in the snow, taxing every muscle in your body, and stuffing snow into every wrinkle of cloth and perhaps your body, you've swam out. You've discovered that falling is bad, um kay, and that trying to push yourself up like you've done on the groomers just doesn't work the same way here. Your friend tried to stop and help, while he/she stared at you with a fool's grin (note the laughter coming from the camera person), and kept saying things like 'just lean back'. From pure frustration you tell your friend to leave you, you'll make it down, or you're one of those who gets mad and grouchy. In any case, you've found powder to be a horse of a different color.
I'm here to tell you we were all there once and if the pain of snow against your skin, and the sting of the ego wasn't worth it, then people wouldn't quit their jobs to move to the mountains, or get up at 3:00am to get here to call in sick when they're almost here, to keep their jobs. Riding powder is an other worldly thrill that feels like what it might to slide across cumulous clouds. It is a veritable vortex of fameless glory filled with hoots and hollers to burn joyous memories in your brain for decades. It gives a sensation that is ineffable (is not expressible in words) causes incessant giggles, makes men proudly wear beards of ice and keeps the masses coming back and back and back.
For all those who had one tough time in powder on a snowy day and signed off.... do it again. I guarantee it will be worth it.
Here is a little snippet of a success story:
Storm total is 38 inches and counting..it's dumping out there. Now's your chance!
