How will this winter compare to snowboarding during the pandemic?

How this season built a passion for snowboarding, and winter in general.

As the question surrounding covid continued into the winter of 2020, few places were able to offer an escape from this crazy new world we were living in. Enter snowboarding. This wasn’t the first year that I had journeyed to the mountain. As a teen, I had gone a couple of times skiing and one time snowboarding, but this year would be different. 

How I got Started Boarding

I started the season off on vacation, where my wife and I decided to make a trip to the mountain for some skiing, early season. Because Arapahoe Basin was the first to open, and not requiring reservations or season passes, that was our destination. Once arrived, the mountain seemed more domineering than it had when I was a teen. I successfully made it down the one open run, “Ramrod” and an extremely winded, and tired skier made his way back to the car. That skier was me. I was winded and exhausted after one run. 

After some dinner in Breckenridge, the drive home through the beautiful back highways of Colorado made us determined to conquer the mountain. It was that drive home where I decided to take on snowboarding. Our next trip we would go to Monarch Mountain just outside of Salida, Colorado. Here, again with rented equipment and our son, we managed to “enjoy” another day on the mountain. The car ride home, my wife finally decided to lay down the ski poles and pick up a board, and the rough landings of the day inspired me to get better. 

Deciding to commit a bit more to the snowboarding journey, we picked up used gear to avoid having to rent and made another trip up to Monarch. It was this trip where there was some traction being made and I was finally able to go down the bunny hill, on my heel side edge and not fall. Success! It would take another several times on the mountain, though, before I would understand the concept of turning and how to engage my toe side edge. 

*I want to make a note here as well. We never got lessons, but we were constantly absorbing content by great snowboarders from YouTube such as: SnowboardProCamp, Tommy Bennett, Casey Willax and Johnathan Buckhouse. It wasn’t just enough to get on the board, we had to be invested and constantly watching how-to videos. These guys put out awesome videos from how-to to managing fear to selecting proper gear. I highly recommend watching any of these channels if you are interested in becoming a snowboarder as well!

My Experience with the 20-21 Season

This season was great, I learned how to progress and each time I went to the mountain I got better. It was an opportunity to take my son outdoors and I enjoyed not only the fresh air, but also to bond with him and to show him what living an active life can be. The excitement surrounding his trips to the mountain were worth the extra work to have him tag along. He was spoiled in that he tried both skiing and snowboarding as well (he of course wanted to board, but skiing was a more enjoyable experience for all of us!). It was particularly special to have us as a family snowboarding down an easy run at Copper Mountain. One fond memory was making sure my son was ok, only to have him push me off and keep skiing down the hill, as daddy was clearly only getting in the way! His skill and love for the snow and mountains will only continue to grow as he gets older, and it is only one of the benefits of learning to snowboard this season. The snow quality wasn’t a huge issue for us this season. We hit several POW days, and several times we were snowed on (and even a blizzard at one point), yet we still managed to have fun even on the days where the snow was a week old and conditions that could be described as sketchy at best. The snowboarding community as a whole has designated this past season as a less than average season in terms of snowfall and snow quality. Based on the stats, however, average would be a better term to describe the snowfall totals overall, but the general quality of snow was apparent at various times. For example, in December, on New Year’s Eve actually, in an effort to make it back quickly down the mountain, I got overconfident and unable to avoid others put me in a situation where I caught a toe side edge and was flung Superman style down the run. Under better conditions, my fall should’ve been a bruised rib, and the wind knocked out of me. Instead, I suffered several broken ribs. Aside from personal grievances against icy conditions, the best quality snow came late season, where warm temperatures turned POW days into slush days rather quickly but remained fun none the less. 

How was this season different?

As I mentioned previously, Covid has put the world through the ringer, and the Ski/Snowboard industry was no exception. Having been a hotspot at the beginning of the pandemic, it was a question whether mountains would be allowed to operate. Lucky for us, they were allowed to be open, albeit some additional security in place. For many resorts, that included a reservation system for season pass holders, and increased ticket prices at the window for single and multi-day tickets. For us, we decided to purchase the Monarch Mountain season pass. This pass was not only one of the few mountains not requiring reservations, but due to being in college we received a great deal, as well as access to several partner resorts allowing us to board several resorts this season. Along with strict mask enforcement and reduced indoor operations, the overall experience was very similar to that of my childhood, meaning it truly was an escape from the world during a time that felt very unreal. 

The Resorts

During the season we managed to board at six resorts. Because of the Monarch Pass, we were able to board Monarch several times, along with Ski Cooper, Copper Mountain, Loveland, and Arapahoe Basin. For my birthday, we did buy individual tickets to Keystone for night boarding (probably one of my favorite experiences). I feel very fortunate to have explored so much of what Colorado has to offer in terms of snowboarding. 

Of these six resorts I have compiled a very informal ranking based on my time this season. 

#6 Monarch Mountain

Coming in at number 6 is Monarch Mountain. Despite it having been my home mountain and the mountain where I learned to board, it was icy more times than not, and early season offered less than a foot of snow on beginner runs. Monarch doesn’t produce any snow, so they rely on mother nature, and it showed this season, especially since the central mountains can claim to have had a less than average snowfall season. 

#5 Loveland Pass

I am a bit bias here, as I was only able to experience Loveland late season. It was slushy on most of the lower mountain, and the fact that it is on the smaller side meant that there was even less to explore than if the mountain was completely open. Late season aside, the upper bowls were a blast and a very high-speed video of me ripping Bennett’s Bowl can be seen on the YouTube channel!

#4 Arapahoe Basin

Arapahoe Basin owns the title of having the longest season in Colorado, and we managed to hit it at both the very beginning, and the very end. My wife absolutely loves A-Basin (as us locals call it). Being tucked away behind Loveland pass gives the resort some stunning mountain views, and the challenging terrain makes it a must for advanced boarders. My biggest complaint comes because of timing again as slushy conditions made it difficult to maintain speed and forced skating on several flat sections mid-mountain. 

#3 Ski Cooper 

Nestled just outside Leadville, Colorado is Ski Cooper. It is where I learned to not be afraid of my board. It’s where I learned to not be afraid of challenging terrain and how my abilities have reached a point where I felt truly comfortable on the snow. The front side is a bit overused, and the lifts can be slow, but a day on the backside of the mountain made for some exciting turns and runs that made me sing out loud to my tunes! The conditions, despite also being natural snow, exceeded that of its southern neighbor and made for a more pleasurable experience. 

#2 Copper Mountain

Honestly what’s not to love about Copper Mountain? It has terrain for literally everyone. It was the resort I was able to take my son on a chair lift for the first time, and it offered both challenging and thrilling terrain for our skill level up a huge portion of the mountain. We didn’t even get an opportunity to explore the east side of the mountain in the three days we had, but the views, the snow, and the runs made it stand out as a personal favorite.

#1 Keystone 

I know that a huge portion of my ranking goes into the experience surrounding my first trip to Keystone. It was my birthday weekend, and I was gifted a brand-new snowboard deck. We made it to Keystone for night boarding just as the normal day was wrapping up. As a result of it still being winter (and pre-daylight savings) We were able to get the full experience of night boarding. From the beautiful sunset on the peak, to the blue and purple of the runs as the lights began to illuminate the side of the mountain, the image and experience will be forever etched into my brain, and easily makes Keystone my favorite resort from this last season!

Looking forward to 21-22 

As a result of trying several resorts this past season, I have decided that I will board using the Copper Mountain pass and the Epic Keystone pass for this upcoming season. These two passes offer the mountains I love the most with some fringe resorts as additional benefits. These include Monarch Mountain, Taos, Crested Butte and Breckenridge late season. 

Despite holding only basic mountain specific passes, a couple of other resorts are on the must try list, with one being confirmed with dates. In Colorado, Winter Park, Beaver Creek and Vail remain outside of passes, but are on the “ride-list.” We did just purchase flights to Vancouver for this spring, which means that Whistler-Blackcomb is officially confirmed and will make pass decisions for 2022-2023 an even greater challenge. 

Each resort has a unique feel, and regardless of my personal feelings about the resorts I have visited, I have yet to have a truly “bad” day snowboarding. Each day on the mountain feels like an escape for me. The effort I have put in to getting better rivals as one of the more difficult things I have done. I have proven that each time on snow makes me better. This next season, aside from new resorts, and frequenting favorites, I will put aside even more fears and push the boundaries of what I can do on a board. This includes park riding, double black diamond riding, and hike-to back country riding. 

Overcoming challenges and facing fears were only some of the benefits to taking on snowboarding this past winter. It also fueled a growing passion, it makes me more aware of my mental health, and physical well-being. Focusing on improving when it got hard allowed me break through areas that were holding me back and offered learning opportunities along the way. This mentality, drive and experience will continue to be tested during season two.

Lastly, I am thankful for the opportunity to travel around the state and experience so many runs on premium Colorado powder. I appreciate my family who helped make it a reality with watching my son, and even supporting my crazy journey in learning to snowboard! This next season will truly be one to “send-it!”