Stop and look around

It snowed over a hundred centimeters two weeks ago in St. Donat so the snowboarding has been spectacular. If that wasn't enough, the weather has been really moderate so it's been an especially great time to stay outdoors. I recently got over a major flu so spending a lot of time outside has been a sorely needed moral booster. Two weekends ago, we were snowboarding in a foot of packed powder which was really delicious and last weekend, we were out in full on sunny spring conditions with cloudless skies on both days. This past Saturday, we went to La Reserve which is a pretty extreme mountain, the closest thing that I could compare it to is Mt. Baker in Washington. The locals are generally really talented and the trails are tight and pretty steep. I rode with my girlfriend who is just learning so I didn't really get a chance to get into the tasty stuff but I still had fun. Sunday we spent at Mt. Garceau which faces the sun and rolls at a much more mellow place. I've been riding a limited edition Lib Tech Magne Traction board for the last two weeks which has a wavey edge like a huge steak knife. I really like the thing but it isn't as loose as my old Burton 151 so I haven't been in the air too much this year. I think that I've been snowboarding about 15 times this season which is about 14 times more than the past few years. I'm really chuffed about being back on the slopes and it's doing my psyche a lot of good.

I can't help but think about my friend Renee who died way too young and how little time we all have left to really soak it all in. Ferris Bueller said it best; "Live moves pretty fast, if you don't stop to look around, you could miss it". On that note, I am now getting amped to go back to Costa Rica in May for a spring surf break.

And finally, given that gas is costing me over a buck a liter right now - this story is pretty cool.