I first went skiing when I was a young teen, maybe 13. I can’t quite remember where it was maybe France or Switzerland, but there is one thing I do remember, falling in love. No I am not reminiscing about a holiday sipping hot chocolates by a log fire, snow falling outside while we listened to Hoobastank. I was 13. No I am talking about falling in love with flying down a snow covered mountain. As kids do, I picked up skiing pretty quickly. With my adolescent lack of fear it was easy to throw myself down a mountain and hope for the best, picking up the technique with each run.
Over the next few years I was lucky enough to be taken by my dad skiing a couple more times. One such trip my brother decided to hire a snowboard, which of course meant so did I. While he floated down the mountain making it look effortless, I was on my bum the whole way down.
Fast forward maybe ten years with only two more trips as an adult, I always had snowboarding and the rush it gives you in the back of my mind. With each first snowfall in London I was dreaming of chair lifts and apres ski. So after two years of paying off University loans and saving up, I finally quit my job as a PR account executive and set off to join the thousands of travelers chasing the snow dream.
I decided on Whistler, one of the largest ski resorts in North America. Pretty far from home, but hey at the moment I have one shot to have an amazing winter and by the sound of it Whistler promises to deliver.
It isn’t just the snow I’m chasing though, it is also the lifestyle. Just like with surfing or skateboarding, I wanted to be a part of the community that action sports provides.
It’s unlike any other experience I have had, having dabbled in skateboarding and very briefly surfing, the people I met through it have been amazing and the sense of being part of something, like a big family, has stuck with me. Having moved around a lot as a kid, maybe I am searching for something? But lets not get too deep. I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s having a common hobby, or that generally you have to travel to do it (unless you’re lucky enough to live with it on your doorstep) but the people are some of the best I have met, chilled and friendly, just looking to have a good time and board.
So teaming snowboarding, the people and being in the party town that is Whistler, (B.C. Liquor Distribution recently compiled data showing that the Whistler region consumes more alcohol than any other part of B.C.) what could go wrong? Lets see.
