Whats I Saw: East of the river with skiers.

There's a pressing topic that I've been avoiding on this blog. The discussion can no longer be delayed. Its time we address an issue that has been contentious amongst snowboarders since the very inception of our sport... Our relationship with skiers.

Cue the 80's music.

I tend to cooperate, or at least coexist with skiers, since my first days on a mountain were with skiers, and I probably never would've found snowboarding if not for an ill-fated attempt at skiing. The point is, they are unavoidable, and when properly used, they can be a beneficial part of the shred. They also tend to have jobs, and are usually more willing than snowboarders to wake up before 11:00am. Hence, when something involves doing a lot of hiking for a little bit of shred, I usually end up hanging out with two-plankers.

Snowshoes/skins required. 1/3 of a mile feels like a marathon in waist-deep pow.

Back in the day, when we had fresh snow in CT, I checked an item off my "huge storm" hitlist. The Lyman Viaduct in East Hampton is a 135 year-old railroad overpass along the airline state park rail-to trail system. I run the trail in summer, and the steep, open gravel face of the viaduct leading down to the salmon river fishing area is obviously gnar to anyone walking the trail. When it dumped, this was target number one.

As per usual, my snowboarding crew was still sleeping....So I linked up with some skiers whom I hadn't met in person yet at the time, Jake Kravitz, and Adam "Chicken" Simon. I've found skiers who own skins and backcountry gear are reliably cool people, you should add one or two to your crew. They know stuff, and pull their weight.