All good things must come to an end, and so it is with winter 2017/18. Think back to November and the anticipation most of us felt: colder nights, shorter days, first snowfalls—all leading up to the most hallowed of dates, Opening Day.
It’s the day we started paying off season passes, dreaming of powder days and sharing time with family and friends in the mountains. Whether it was
your first season, or just another one in a lifetime of ski seasons, this was a fun year. Apart from a couple of cold snaps and a few periods where we were waiting for freshies, this winter delivered the goods. Powder was ridden, bumps were tamed and groomers were carved. Then, before you know it, the end of the season is in sight.
If you’re a true aficionado I’m sure you’ll agree, there really are only two real seasons, winter and waiting for winter. We’re about to enter the latter. So, what can you do while you wait for the lifts to start carrying riders again? First, you can suck as much marrow out of winter as humanly possible. It’s not over yet, the fat lady hasn’t even started warming up her vocal chords. This year’s closing date is scheduled for mid-April, that gives us a full month of awesome spring skiing before we hang em’ up for the year.
We’ve still got Easter, Snowbombing and the famous Tod Mountain Days Spring Festival to look forward to. Then there’s springtime ski touring if you’re back-country inclined. Some of the accessible local terrain in the Coquihalla or Roger’s Pass is great for spring laps when the lifts have stopped turning. North facing terrain can stay prime and there’s always the chance for a corn snow cycle on more solar exposures.
Eventually though, despite our protestations, snow melts, grass grows and ski helmets get traded for bike helmets, or whatever your summer sport of choice may be.
I have a friend who marks the turn of the season by the date he can go for his first stand up paddle on Heffley Lake. The reality is that we are the fortunate ones; our off-season training starts the minute skiing or boarding stops.
Our region has some of the best outdoor recreation options in the world. Biking, hiking, paddling, fishing, dirt biking, golfing, camping—you name it, we’ve got it. And don’t forget, Sun Peaks has most, if not all, of those things on their doorstep.
Add in a fantastic lineup of summer events and the sting of winter’s end starts to fade like a suntan in October. Speaking of October, it’s only six months away. That means November is only seven months away! Winter, I’ll miss you, but we’ll meet again soon, in the meantime you can find me somewhere outside, doing good things, with good people in great places.
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