Day of days
Bam!
“What was that?”, I thought to myself. It was just after 4 am and I was awakened by what sounded like someone slamming their shoulder into the front door of the apartment building. No, it was just someone throwing a rock at the door. No, it was just in my dreams. I lay there with my head slightly off my pillow so I could utilize both ears. I was waiting for the next noise. Nothing. I lay my head back down and thought for a minute or two. The Seattle Times Sunday edition newspaper, all ten pounds of it. The paper boy had walked by with the Seattle Times and put a little extra umph into his throw. Now I was up and immediately I thought about checking the snow report for the day. My anticipation grew, like that of Ralphie on Christmas morning hoping for the Red Rider BB-gun. The day before brought 9-13” of snow and the overnight totals might add another 12-18”. All it said on the opening page of the website was “Powder day”. The excitement set in and there was no way I was going back to sleep. Out of bed, I made some breakfast and packed a bag for the day. As I walked out the front door of my building, my buddy Trevor was lifting the hatch of his Toyota Forerunner with a big grin and we both nodded, knowing it was going to be a good day.
I had been watching the snow report for many days prior, catching the weather on TV, and monitoring the “storms stacking up”, as the meteorologist described it. My curiosity and anticipation continued. How big will these storms be? How much snow will we receive?
I was sick with a horrible cold all week. The flu? I don’t know. People always ask me that when I’m sick. “Did you get the flu?” I don’t know. How do you know if it’s the flu? When I get sick, I just call it sick. My sleep patterns were all over the place the previous seven days, yet all I could think about was getting healthy enough to go snowboarding on the day when all the stars aligned, the storms delivered, and deep powder stacked up before us in glades of goodness.
The first storm came through and minimal amounts of snow fell on the mountains. The temps were a bit warm and the snow conditions were less than ideal. We heard multiple reports that it was fun, but the snow was heavy with a consistency like cream cheese. I decided to skip it, rest up, and continue drinking mass amounts of hot tea in hopes it would drown out my cold. The next storm was huge. It would bring many inches of snow, but the temps warmed quickly and the snow turned to rain. We were holding out for the day of days.
It arrived.
Trevor wasn’t too far into the drive and the rain began. The further into the drive, the harder the rain fell. We continued upward and eventually through the elevation where the rain turns to snow and everything was covered in it. The tree branches struggling to hold up more snow than one would think possible. Beautiful. A string of red tail-lights in front of us all with the same thought; powder day. Judging by his tracks, one driver was a little too amped for the day. He had spun his 4x4 out and slid across the road into an embankment of soft snow, which rested in front of a guardrail. Others had stopped and were hooked up and towing him out. The snow was coming down hard. So much so, you couldn’t see much past one car ahead. Once we made it to the parking lot at Stevens Pass, there was plenty of evidence that the storms had delivered the goods. Deep powder covered the mountain and cast cool shadows across drift lines that had yet to be destroyed by snowboarders.
It was a day of days. The powder was indeed deep everywhere. We slid over and through many stacks of snow and left our mark all over the mountain. The chairlift rides are always a hoot, literally and figuratively - exchanging smiles, elation, and conversation with people you’ve never met. Lance, a guy who had spent the night in his RV in the parking lot, was just waiting for someone to ask how he was doing. We had all we could do to get a word in the rest of the lift up. Between heavy breath’’s, wiping off light snow from his googles, and clearing the snot under his nose, he shared extensively about his last two runs. Then he continued on about how his ass was all black and blue from a hard fall he had taken a couple days before. We attempted not to visualize.
Once off the lift, we hiked to one of the steeper runs closeby. Descending together, we made some big pow turns amidst the stillness of the trees. This was one of our favorite parts of the mountain. We stopped for a moment to take it all in. Looking up, I opened my mouth and let a few fresh flakes hit my tongue. Silence. Intrigue. We both smiled. These are the moments where I sense God, stand in awe of creation, and feel gratitude for many things. The bright green moss on the trees covered with snow gave the trees an aged look, like living giants. We picked a path through the forest and continued down. At times, the hard falling snow blew sideways with strong gusts of wind. This left only those appropriately dressed to ride amidst the storm somewhat dry. It’s all part of the experience of snowboarding in the Northwest. Storms keep people from coming out at all, while at the same time, draw others whom enjoy the cold and the elements. Once at the bottom, we saw Lance partially pulling down his pants to show someone his black and blue ass in the lift line. We casually moved on to the next lift shaking our heads and laughing. You really do see it all on pow days.