38
MOUNTAINLIFE
WINTER /SPRING2016
T
hewinter of 2014-15wasmoody. After the early season smasheduswithpineapples, a highpressure
lockeddownon the region andput us into an endless stretchofwarm, sunnydays. Itwas hardonmorale.
My friends and I spent themajorityof thewinter repeating the optimisticmantra, “It’s just good to get
out,”whichof course it always is, but in someways it felt like Iwas being fuelledbydenial.
Without pow, you get back to the basics
—
it becomesmore about just getting exercise andbreathingmountain air.
Therewas enough snow to ride on
—
it couldhave been a lotworse
—
andwhilemanypow-snob locals rode their
mountainbikes or got out of town completely, wewere determined to findwinter.
An aggressive 4x4 recon to the topof one of the highest logging roads in the area barely got us to the pointwhere
we couldunload snowmobiles. Each shady, snow-filled sectionof roadwas like amirage; as soon aswe rounded a
corner to anywhere sun-exposed, the road returned todirt.
Beyond the forest service road, desperate sledding throughwide open creeks and grassymarshes already abuzzwith
Mosquitos and swampbugs.Open aqua-bluewaterwas just beginning to showon an alpine lake thatwewould
need to cross.This type of scenewouldbenormal for June in theCoastMountains, but not inMarch, typically the
peakofwinter. Itwas good to get out, but alsokindof grim.
BACK
YARD
OPTIMISM,
DENIAL
ANDTHE
POWDER
MIRACLE
By Joe Lax
just
good
to
get
out.
“
”
ABOVE
Turns like thiswere rare lastwinter. Joe Laxgets some.
PAGE41
Joe Lax is just happy tobeout there. BRADSLACK.
