Bear Mountain 4.18.10 - Closing Day

Typing the date almost feels like engraving the death of a fallen comrade on his tombstone.  Today Bear Mountain shut down the lifts one final time, and while Mt. High and Snow Summit continue to operate for one more week the flame of the season down here--along with most of the nation--remains barely lit. 

Riding my last laps and Bear, I couldn't help but think about all of my experiences this season: New tricks, new friends, old friends, and let's not forget the snowfall of the decade here in Big Bear, CA. So, looking back I asked myself, "What did you learn about snowboarding this year?" And here is what I came up with...

Be As Friendly As Possible; You can learn something you didn't know from anybody you talk to in one five-minute chairlift ride.

If You Really Want It, Wake Up Super Duper Early for Powder; Right after the five foot dump up here, the skies opened to bluebird.  Too bad I woke up five minutes before the lifts opened, and after wading through waist deep powder, digging out cars, etc. I rolled up to the hill at just about noon. Guess what? I didn't slash much powder, poor me.


It Pays to Play; I stayed out of the park for the majority of these last few years snowboarding.  I spent a lot of time playing around on groomers, testing out what I could get my snowboard to do; ollieing, pressing, buttering, flatground spins, basically having fun.  This year I moved to Bear and figured, you know, "When in Rome".  I've learned a lot, a lot of tricks this year without any serious injuries and it's all thanks to time spent mastering my snowboard elsewhere.

Patience is A Virtue; don't end up with a downed kid and a broken board.  Especially try not to lose your temper over every little thing other people do; they are going to do it all the time, and it's easier just to worry about yourself.

Enjoy It All; A ridiculous amount of time has flown by.  Bear Mountain opened in October, and since then each day found me fixated on features I wanted to hit and tricks I wanted to try--you can't blame me, it's hard to do otherwise riding Bear.  So, it's not that I didn't have fun but that I rarely stopped to realize it. It really doesn't matter how much snow you get, if you are snowboarding you are someplace incredible doing something amazing; don't forget to drink it all in every now and then.