Westbound Boarder

During my many years of shredding, I have followed countless traditions here on Mt. Hood, and even made up my own along the way … Silent Rock, Shell gas station stop in Sandy, Mtn Moka, and Harley (more to come on these at a later date!) are a few of my personal faves. So during my visit to Breckenridge, I learned about a valuable tradition with a beaded necklace (mardi-gras style) I aquired locally. Here’s how it goes: Throwing beads into trees from the chair lift, or other offerings like your bra, underware, googles, or whatever you choose, is a form of making a sacrifice to the “snow gods” for good luck, for additional snow fall for the winter and the set up for a stellar spring. An appropriate gesture of “giving back to the community” for some extra powder, in my opinion. Lose some to win some… SNOW is well worth it in my opinion!

It is some of these fun small details that make the entire culture and lifestyle of snowboarding unique. It also adds never-ending drive to explore the mountains and resorts of the world, fueling the fire of my passion for the sport.