Westbound Boarder

Can you believe this pow at Keystone?!

Today is March 1, which means that spring is finally here (well, technically the official “first day of spring” is March 20, but with 70 degree temps yesterday, it may as well already be spring here in LA!)  Yet, if you head to any mountain in the Western region it seems like just the opposite.

Everywhere from Vail, Colorado to Mt. Hood, Oregon is seeing new snow continue to pile up.  Even the SoCal mountains are seeing more snow than usual.  Mt. High, for example, received nearly 10 inches of fresh pow over the weekend.  Though a bit later than most of us would have liked, it looks like El Nino has finally arrived.

So in case the March sunshine is making the ocean waves call your name, you might want to think twice before you officially trade in your snowboard for a spring suit.  This season’s here to stay!  For now, anyway.

As much as I’ve been enjoying reports of the new two feet of pow here at the SoCal mountains, NorCal is seeing even more.  Check out this awesome shred video from Heavenly at Lake Tahoe!  The only thing missing from this video is the snowboarders

Big Powder Day @ Heavenly - 1.21.10 from Heavenly Mountain on Vimeo.

Allright folks, get ready for some sick conditions coming to the SoCal mountains this week.  It’s finally snowing!  And with rain in LA expected to continue throughout the week, this should be the El Nino storm we all have been hoping for.  Mt. High has already seen 3 inches of fresh pow at the peak, with the base receiving a mixture of snow and rain.  The snow level is expected to drop to 5,500 feet tonight, making for tons of fresh pow tomorrow and throughout the rest of the week.  Bear, on the other hand, (while the temperature is 38F at the moment) is expecting 8 - 16 inches tomorrow.

I’m not going to pretend to love the rain (because I really don’t) but nonetheless, it has been raining in LA the pase couple of days.  But one great thing about rain in the city means snow at the local mountains!  Big Bear/Snow Summit saw more than 14 inches of new snow this week, so if you’re thinking of heading up to the mountain, now would be a good time to do it.  And if the below photo doesn’t entice you, I don’t know what will!

Photo courtesy of Big Bear Mountain Resorts

Danielle and I have been quite the world travelers lately.  Well, US travelers, anyway.  Danielle just spent what I hear was an amazing week in Hawaii, and a day later she took off for a week in Alaska!  Not without a fair share of surfing/snowboarding, I’d imagine.  And me, I’m in Vegas right now for a marketing conference, enjoying my first break of the entire couple of days. (Whoever said you can’t get business done in Vegas… obviously didn’t go to my conference :/ )  And when I found this e-mail in my inbox, I couldn’t help but not share my excitement with you all.

Tomorrow, Heavenly ski resort in Tahoe (Nor Cal) will open for the season with nearly 40 acres of skiable terrain accessed by the Heavenly Gondola, Tamarack Express and Dipper Express Chairlifts.  Heavenly will open at 9:00am and lifts will operate until 4:pm, and will continue to operate from 8:30am - 4:00pm on weekends, and 9:00am to 4:00pm on weekdays throughout the duration of the season (weather permitting, of course).  And, if that’s not good enough news, it is rumored that a big storm is supposed to pass through Lake Tahoe on Friday, bringing long a foot of new snow with it.  So this weekend in Tahoe should be pretty legit.

Love that El Nino is bringing us fantastic skiable terrain a few weeks earlier than usual.  Can’t wait to make my season debut run at Hood next weekend.  I haven’t had the opportunity to make it up to Heavenly or any other Tahoe resort in quite a few years, but I’d like to visit at some point.  In fact, I didn’t buy a season pass this year so I could actually spend some more time traveling to different resorts, instead of limiting myself to just one resort.  Mammoth’s on the list this year, along with Park City, Vail and Breck.

How about you?  Which resort are you excited to ride this season?

Photo taken on Mammoth on Wednesday morning, 10.14

To those of you who are busy prepping for the upcoming snowboard season… Well, it’s coming just a little bit sooner than you might think.  Though a few Colorado resorts saw opening day last weekend, such as Loveland and A-Basin (last I heard it was 17 degrees in Denver!), California will have its first with Mammoth Mountain opening this Friday.  If you live anywhere in Cali., you’ve probably been experiencing the massive rain storm (yes, I do now consider light showers a ‘massive storm’) but the upside is the two feet of snow that dumped on Mammoth this past week.

This is the second earliest opening in Mammoth resort history (the first being on Oct. 8, 1994) and to celebrate, Mammoth is offering all guests FREE SKIING this Friday! (Yes, you read that right, I said ‘free’).  The base of Broadway Express currently has 16 - 24 inches of snow, which isn’t much, but hey, we’ll take it!  Currently, Broadway Express is the only chair lift that is confirmed open on Friday, but resort officials hope to add more lifts to the list soon since there is more snow at higher elevations.  The resort will be open 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Personally, I won’t be there this Friday (dang job…) but I hope to make it there at least once this season.  If you go, let us know what you think!

And you know what that means - massive snow at the mountains!  Light snow flurries are expected to hit Mt. High and Bear all week through Saturday.

If you’re looking for an event to hit up this weekend, check out “A Snowboard Contest” presented by Active and Signal Sports Saturday at Mt. High; registration begins at 8am.  Additionally, Bear Mountain will be home to USASA’s boardercross competition on Sunday, March 8.  Great events + dank snow = awesome time at the mountain this weekend.

It’s that time of year again, and well, the timing could not be better! Mt. Hood Meadows is bringing you, yet again, their Unlimited Spring Season Pass! For only $99 bucks you can take advantage of the rest of Mt. Hoods season, as it has really only just begun. This week mother nature brought the PacNW quite the storm, as over 5 feet of light, fresh powder has decided to finally grace Mt. Hood!

So just when you thought it was too late to take advantage of the ski season, think again! Purchase your Unlimited Spring Pass online and receive $10 bucks of added resort value and your pass will be valid as of tomorrw. So what are you waiting for? Get online, get your pass and get to the hill; because the fresh pow is calling your name…

This one will be a quickie, but if you’re thinking about hitting the slopes this weekend… don’t think; do it!  The storm that brushed through LA Sunday through Tuesday definitely left more than just mud.  Bear Mountain is reporting 18 inches of fresh powder this week, while Mt. High has received 17 to 19 inches since Sunday.  The even better news?  Blue-bird skies and spring weather all weekend!  If the bare-backed mountain has deterred you from hitting the slopes as of late, now’s the perfect weekend to head to the hill just in time to finish up the season strong.

Is your home mountain also experiencing massive pow?  Let’s hear it in the comments!  Oh, and please… go snowboarding already!

It is a win-win for those of you who are able to play hookie, or just lucky enough to have the weekdays off of work. Tuesday’s through Thursday’s in February, Mt. Hood Meadows is offering $44 9AM-close lift tickets! So get on up to the mountain and take advantage of the first snowstorm in weeks. You can purchase your e-ticket in seconds, so what are you waiting for? Fresh tracks, here I come!

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