Splash to the Face

Coming into the winter season, nearly everyone who makes the winter months the center of the rest of their year will tell you about the crushing emotions associated with the wait. The anticipation, anxiety, longing, and the endless attempts to ignore the whole thing in hopes that the season will just sneak up on us without realizing it.

The methods of coping are endless and well documented; the urban ice rink lurkers, the weather report addicts, the shred movie groupies, the a lil' too-early grass and rock shredders, and the notorious and often self-deceiving 'I don't care and it will come when it comes' folk.

I've been guilty of all of the above, and I'm sure I'll try a thousand more before my times up.

But once those first sights of snow finally do show up, it's something magical. A little click occurs in the brain and I feel like a different person, a complete person once again.

With that in mind I headed up these past few weeks to enjoy some early season turns outside of Squamish in the Diamond Head area. Dropping freezing levels and optimistic forecast checking prompted myself and a few hungry friends to hike through the mud, rain, and fog in hopes of finding a thin layer of snow to quench our thirst.

Old Skicks, Fresh Look, Fresh Precip

P///Aaron Schwartz

Strapping up and hoping for snow

P///Aaron Schwartz

A few hours, and several ponderings on what the hell we were doing here, we were greeted with the first sights of snow. A vision that was compounded more and more with each step until we arrived at the conclusion that 'holy shit winter is here!'

First steps, looking real artsy

P///Aaron Schwartz

Snow line, slap dem' skins on

P///Aaron Schwartz

Simply seeing those first fresh layers of snow on the ground, gave the feeling of a fresh start and a new year in myself. A new snowfall, you've ridden it before, but never this exact one. Hell maybe even a few of the flakes in this one have already found their way under your skis or into you face during another pow day of a season past. Then traveling the world via jet stream and gulf stream alike, only to make it right back here to play once again.

Jake-Cohn.com getting deep on day one

P///Aaron Schwartz

Shredding was accomplished, slashes were thrown, flips and spins stomped, pillows were popped, leg hair was lost, and blisters were gained. At the end of the day it was the same old fun, as if we'd never left. A quick splash of water to the face to wake us all up and offer a kind reminder of why we keep coming back.