~*...snow much fun...*~

with burning man on the mind, i'm going to inject some randnorm playa goodness to my blog entries as well as a mind grenade (just in case the playa event doesn't succeed at blowing your mind).

randnorm sunday event in black rock city 2005

the wilson phillips pancake breakfast
9:30am - 12:00pm
i think the name says it all. hosted by: the bouncy bouncy club @ 4:30 and bipolar


photo by anthony peterson

randnorm mind grenade

wisdom through snowboarding. i often refer to snowboarding as yoga at 50km/h. you are forced to tune into every part of your being to maintain balance. muscles you didn't even think existed hurt after a day of riding. you need to be aware of every part of your body to compensate for the constant change in balance that the mountain throws at you. though it may look like a snowboarder is balanced and going straight down a hill, you are always on an edge. its that edge that holds you in place as you balance your way down the hill. a snowboarder is rarely equally balanced on a board, we are always on one edge or the other.

more mind grenades here

normdate 4.2.6

my friends steve and allison arrived yesterday from toronto. nelson is their first stop on their week long snow adventure through british columbia. i am always stoked to share the majik of the kutenais with my peeps from the big smoke. it is such a contrast living here in the mountains compared to the hustle and bustle of the city. you have to be here to understand it, and i love seeing the epiphanies of understanding that overwhelm people when they breath the air and feel the power of this place.

steve picked me up this morning around 9am, which was actually 10am thanks to daylight savings time *d'oh*



in the parking lot we ran into a whitewater celebrity. this dude rides with his pet bird tucked into his front jacket pocket. extreme bird!



steve and aly were blown away by how beautiful whitewater is, and how much snow there is in april! after a few warm up runs with the whole krew, steve's friend rob and i decided to introduce steve to some more challenging terrain...and powder.



the glory basin was blessed with a good amount of fresh snow, excellent for a beginner's first experience riding through powder. seeing steve wield his fear and ride through powder for the first time reminded me of my first experience with powder at the beginning of this season. we ride in onterrible for god's sake, there isn't snow like this there...ever! we're used to riding with our nose down and balancing on ice, not leaning back and floating through powder.



steve did a great job on his first run through powder, but like all of us new to these conditions, he had to learn the hard way that leaning forward and not having enough speed in powder means that you tumble. getting back up after you fall in powder is beyond exhausting.

tired and exhausted, we emerged from the trees at the bottom of the glory basin (steve's first time in trees) and stared down our next challenge: dynamite.



dynamite is steep, narrow, and covered in moguls. this was the most extreme run steve had ever faced in his life. this line through the glory basin and down dynamite is, imho, one of the toughest and most challenging ways down the summit side...and we conquered it together! nice work steve.

we met up with the rest of our krew in the lodge for a well earned beer. steve had just ridden powder for the first time, rode trees for the first time, made it down dynamite, and lived to tell the tale.



after nourishing our bodies with the tastiest of local ales, and the most delicious food available at any resort in the world (it really is that good), we headed back out for some end of day turns. steve was pretty exhausted, and wasn't into the idea of traversing across to the catch basin for some untracked powder goodness. somehow, with the promise of weed, we got steve to make the trek past the enchanted forest...

and relax with some lifted spirits at the top of the catch basin.


hooray for spring riding without a jacket on! kung fu outfits look so much kewler anyways ;)


steve's reward for making the traverse was a plethora of powder to ride through. actually, we all enjoyed the reward. the best snow is here at whitewater, if you're willing to walk to it.



and just like the glory basin, the open bowl of the catch basin funnelled us through some trees and then a very steep and narrow run, with smaller bumps ;)



congratulations steve on shattering what you thought you were capable of on a snowboard, and conquering the extreme terrain of the kutenai mountains.

satisfied and exhausted, we met up with aly and alexandra in the lodge for a few end of day pitchers of nelson faceplant beer. mmm...sooo good!



i was glad to run into my friend naava and her sister in the lodge. two jewmaican sisters reminding me that its not only possible for two different races to love one another, but that mixed breed children are very good looking too!



it was awesome riding with you steve and aly. i'm glad i was able to share with you the majik of the mountains that i call home. i know you're going to sleep well tonight.



~*...normaste...*~