Eastern Expectations
Of all the feelings I have about the 2022/2023 riding season thus far, one feeling I have felt this winter is relaxation. Strange word to use perhaps but powder day anxiety is real. Waking up earlier then anyone thinks is necessary; pissing off your partner running the coffee grinder at 2:30AM, white knuckle driving to the hill in shit conditions, skinning with your heart red-lining, wondering if today will be the day you leave it all on the hill and just as you snug up your last ratchet on your back foot and pull your googles down on your helmet….a skier comes out of the woods behind you and lays deep surfy tracks down your pristine line! Not relaxing at all! As a matter of fact the exact opposite.
A change of pace, and a change of mindset, given the current conditions I’m much more likely to get up at a normal hour, have coffee with my partner, drive to the hill listening to a favorite podcast, skin with a friend or make a new friend in the skin track, enjoy the tour and being out in nature and most importantly enjoy some nice soft corduroy on the way down. I am definitely not saying refrozen groomers are superior to powder; nor am I saying you can’t have a relaxing powder day. It’s just when you adjust your expectations of snow quality I think you will have a better experience overall. I have had many of the best touring days of my life in the late spring chasing the last lines in the woods as they literally vanish under my board. On those days the daylight is long and you’re in the best shape of the season; the corn snow is perfect for your edge to lay out hero turns on the sunny slope. The birch trees cast a shadow on slow, tracked out mank packed powder; but it rides! Oh to get tree turns in May in Vermont! To me that’s as good as any blower powder day in the NEK.
If you take snow quality out of the equation then it’s just about getting out and making turns, on whatever snow condition you find. That was really what my my 33 month North East Riding streak was all about. Getting excited to just get out and slide on snow and the adventure to get there became much more fun then trying to ride the perfect snow conditions. As this season rolls on and we all, myself most definitely included, pray for an epic storm cycle or even a moderate clipper; make sure you get out there. Take your time and enjoy skinning the local hill while we wait for the backcountry to fill in, because it will.
Per Devore
