The Snowman Cometh

At last my prayers have been answered, and the snow has finally arrived in Ono. Last week, it snowed non stop for three days, laying down about 70cm of nice fluffy snow. I don't think I've ever seen so much snow come in one sitting; even during my season in Whistler, I don't remember getting such an almighty motherlode.

My life now heavily revolves around the white stuff. If I'm not snowboarding in it, I'm driving my Suzuki wagon (complete with snow tyres) in it. If I'm not walking the school dog in it, I'm cross country skiing in it (yes - I have turned to the dark side - more about that next time). If I'm not testing out my new snow shoes in it, I'm sitting at my desk in school watching it fall. If I'm not shovelling it, I'm thinking about it, and if I'm doing none of the above, I'm probably dreaming about it.

So far I have visited 5 of the 6 local ski areas. Granted, there are all very small compared to anywhere else I have boarded in, but what they do have going for them is the amount of snow they receive. If it continues to dump like it did last week for the rest of the winter, I will die a happy man.

Last week, I went for my first night riding session and I was pleasantly surprised to find I had my own private ski area. It was absolutely dumping snow, and I was the ONLY person there. It was just me riding, and 3 lifties working the lifts. Every knee deep powder run was mine for the taking. There's a saying "no friends on a powder day" which means that when the conditions are powderous -you don't hang around waiting for lagging mates. That night, the saying took on a slightly different meaning; there I was, a total Billy-no-mates, with all the fresh lines I could ever want. There was plenty to go round, but it seemed nobody else wanted to brave the storm and join me. By the end of the evening, my first tracks had already been covered again, and I'd say it was some of the best powder riding I've had. I'm hoping that these are typical conditions for this area and that there will be more of the same to come.

Since the epic dump last week, the weather has warmed a little, and we have received nothing but sleet and rain, which has turned the once fluffy powder snow into granulated sugar snow. However it's forecast to snow all tomorrow, so hopefully I will be hitting the slopes after work for another epic night riding session tomorrow evening.

Coming soon on the all new Funky Drummer Website: More Snow Stories.