First Shralp!

Two days ago I took a trip up to Coronet Peak to do some snowboarding. Our group was five deep: Marcela (of the Czech Embassy), her Kiwi friends Jay and Gemma, and their dad Andy. Coronet is opening up in one week, but they are rushing to finish construction on a new base lodge, so we had to dodge a few trucks and fork-lifts to get to the slopes. Then the hike began! We mostly stuck to the trails going up, which had been smashed but not groomed by all the snowcats, but then I decided to take a "short cut" with Andy and Jay that involved post-holing through a foot of powder up a 35 degree slope. Needless to say, the girls beat us to the summit. The whole hike took about two hours. At the top we munched some food, shot a few pictures, and then strapped in. It was a fun ride down, we were all messing around and slashing snow, and I was impressed that Andy was keeping up (he just started riding, and I think he's like 60). I went off-piste for a few sections to try out the fresh snow, which was actually about a week old but mostly untracked. I knew conditions wouldn't be like Colorado, but holy hell, that powder was super heavy. I had to keep the board pointed pretty straight to avoid getting slogged down. Coronet Peak has tons of cool natural bumps and rollers, and a lot of cliff drops as well, so I'm stoked to learn all the features once the season starts. We rode to the bottom, high-fived, and jumped in the car to head home. Great Success!