Today is Saturday, and I’ve been sitting at home (alone) all day long. (Actually, that’s a lie; I did take a quick walk to Starbucks earlier this morning for my much-needed coffee fix of the day).  My phone, though, has been less than lonely, buzzing on the table all day long with calls and messages from friends and family (Danielle included) gloating about their first trip to Hood since the mountain opened last week.

If CA’s less than perfect snow conditions have you blue (like me) fear not because I do have a solution (one that doesn’t involve a 4+ hour trip to Big Bear; and that’s kind of a lie because from what I hear, the snow’s actually been pretty nice at Mt. High this past week; I just haven’t made it up yet ).  

I realize since we began this blog that we have been a bit biased toward snowboarding (largely because it’s the season that’s upon us) but for all you LA folks, surfing is still a good alternative.  Late Fall/early Winter sometimes brings the best waves, provided you can tough the cold for a few hours.  In fact, I hit the beach just a few weeks ago and didn’t even wear a wet suit!  (Well, I also overheard a group of guys next to me complaining about how “they wish they had booties” – come on dudes, toughen up). The ocean was full of surfers, more so than I’ve seen even in summer, and the surf was perfect!  A couple of my favorite local spots are Santa Monica, Venice and Zuma (they have good-sized waves for beginners like me and their waves have been nice this fall) but Carlsbad down south is also a sweet location.  

However, if surfing in 40 degree water is not your thing, and, like me, you are dying for real (good) snow to blanket the LA local mountains, below are a couple good (and interesting) snowboarding alternatives:

• Shaun White Snowboarding – Named, of course, after Olympic Gold medalist Shaun White, this video game is enough to get anyone hyped for the season!  Can’t say I’ve personally tried it out, though I have heard great things.
• Virtual Snow - Just discovered this today and it’s kind of a neat little concept.  The description is in the title – if you just cant’s wait to get to the mountain, why not practice… on land!  Founded by Bob Salerno, you can learn to ski or snowboard on a little treadmill looking thinggy (check out their YouTube video).  Hillarious… I’d be interested to try it out someday
• Ski Dazzle – An online social network for skiers and snowboarders.
• Dew Tour on NBC – I wrote about this earlier today; Dew Tour’s on again tomorrow so check it out! 

As for me, I’m counting down the minutes ’till my Mt. Hood trip next weekend!