For a decade, over a decade ago, I chased winter. From the Northwest’s independent ski resorts and iconic summer snowboard camps to the modest ski fields of New Zealand and back. These days come spring if the number of days I got on hill need two hands to count, it’s been a successful season. New York will do that to ya. This year has been on par in terms of time spend strapped in, but the quality of boarding has been all-time.
I’m talking powder, baby. And lot’s of it.
A waist-deep December day in Whistler set the tone for the season. A rowdy day of cat boarding in Colorado last month cemented the purely positive vibe. Then three nonstop days of fresh snow and intermittent sun in the Jackson backcountry with a handful of legends came by way of Vans Snowboarding, and well, if I log no more days this year, that’ll be fine by me.
Jackson Hole is a proving ground. There’s no way around it. Cheap beer-fueled nights at Cowboy Bar may be carefree, but once you step into the tram the next morning it’s all business. You need your wits about you in Wyoming—it’s not a place for the inexperienced or snow-illiterate. Thankfully, for day one we had hometown hero Blake Paul, the 25-year old rising star of Vans, The North Face, and GNU to guide us around the gate accessed backcountry. Blake, along with a few faces from Vans' upper management, put on a show.
