The incredible shrinking Snowy Range


Corner MountainOn our third try in as many weeks we finally make it to the Snowy Range Ski Area for an afternoon of turns. This is the place where I learned to snowboard back before Burton figured out that snowboards didn’t need fins like surfboards. It kept me out of at least as much trouble as it didn’t. Coming back is kind of a shock. The old A-frame lodge with its big round fireplace finally burned to the ground, to be replaced by giant log warehouses. Ticket prices are still good at $50 for two half days. The strangest part, though, is just how small it feels. Did I really spend whole seasons here in high school? We hit every run of interest to us in a little over three hours. It’s fun, and the snow is nice, but I can’t imagine coming here week after week. I guess that’s why we started postholing into the surrounding hills – the early urge to explore. Despite the size, it feels good to come back and hit the old runs, retracing some threads that were woven into me long ago.


3 responses to “The incredible shrinking Snowy Range”

  1. LOL
    “This is the place where I learned to snowboard back before Burton figured out that snowboards didn’t need fins like surfboards.”

    so, you tried to ‘go home’. you that shocked that it’s not the same?! it’s never the same.

    recently, i’ve been making inquiries into getting my original BMX bike. some other things as well. it looks like my friends know the people who now own the fantasy mansion i spent most of my young summers at in Redlands. i’ll be going back to that mansion this summer! so stoked. my guess is, it will seem small.

    this is great to hear about this and any of the snowboarding (skiing) you 2 are doing. while i’ve lost nearly all of my interest in snowboarding, i do wanna try the hour glass skis. i’d like to try the minis as well.

    well, this winter has been totally dry. TOTALLY DRY. no nothing. got some whiteness on Owens the ONE DAY i hiked it (lol). Olancha looks very boney. and there hasn’t been measurable precipitation here (well, less than 1/2 an inch this winter..pffffffft).

    so you went home. ha. stoked for you. the results were not at all surprising tho. you REALLY REALLY need to post some action shots of you/ann doing some downhill. from the side or from below.

    oh yeah, sold my 164cm board last weekend to some VERY stoked dude. i hope he enjoys it.

    so i was in Oak Glen (and Redlands) a couple weekends back. Oak Glen is a quait mtn town just E of Redlands. there was snow / ice up there. i took my bike out for some. i was recalling your trails and tribs. THAT SHIT IS HARD! i minor application of the brakes and BAM! you are out of there!

    it’s been icey dicey here as well. basically, there is perma ice on all north / shady areas that have water. like gutters on the streets. it’s been like this for a month of or more. crazy. i’ve messed around on that (drunkenly) a few times. bikes + ice = bad.

    alrighty then.. this was a heartwarming blog. goin’ back home. lol. thanks for giving it up.

  2. Or, maybe it is the same, but I’m not…

    There’s definitely more snow posts on the way as we head up to Jackson Hole next week. I’ll do my best to get an action shot…

  3. Nothing to do with snow, but everything to do with memories revisited. When I was a kid I spent many a summer at Jack London’s Wolf House ruins in Sonoma. He is buried on the property under a boulder. For some reason, my childhood memory of the boulder was that it was BIG! Took my wife there a few years ago and found the BIG boulder to be about knee high.

    Gahh!

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