Storm surge

Looks like we picked the right week to start a spanking new snow season blog.

What better event to coincide with this launch than a December Nor’easter that just doesn’t want to quit!? Fifteen to 30 inches of fresh fluff glisten on the Green Mountains this morning. Snow squalls are expected to linger all week. Things just don’t get much better for early December. Being the new blog on the block, we’ll take this as a good omen.

But it’s fair to say we’re a little late getting things up and running. We’re well into December here, ski resorts are opening trails by the dozens and Vermonters have been making powder turns for close to four weeks.

A few things had to be worked out first, though. For starters, we had to plow through extended brainstorming sessions to come up with an appropriate name. The thing to keep in mind about Snowbloggan is that the accent is on the second o, which makes the word rhyme with toboggan. Not sure why, but we thought this was important.

Then we had to hammer out the scope, breadth and execution of the blog in tense negotiations with the Burlington literati. Can we incorporate video, audio and photo? How can we update the thing from the chairlift? Will you pay for my season pass?

These are the questions that needed to be hashed out, and here are the answers: Of course … we’re working on it … and ... sorry.

But really, it’s all about the snow. And, thank heavens, we’ve been getting a healthy heaping of that since early November. Ahhhh, Mount Mansfield rises like a frosted jewel over the Champlain Valley on these post snowstorm mornings, telling us all in the greater Burlington area “It’s on!”

And so it is.

Vermont has fared better than most of North America so far this season. That’s something that can’t be said every year at this time, especially last. The mountains of Utah, Colorado and New Mexico caught up with a killer storm last week but many of the ski areas there had to postpone openings this season because of a ridiculously warm, dry autumn. Hey, we’ve all been there. It’s no fun at all.

Actually, I was there for the past 12 years – in the Rocky Mountains that is (see photo) – and moved back to New England in August to reconnect with family, friends and these craggy, quirky, challenging mountains.

Why leave the land of above treeline bowls and soft (usually) consistent snow for unforgiving New England? Well, I’ve asked myself that a few times in recent weeks.

The fact is, I was a bit slow getting on the snow this year – despite the stellar start to the season. I wasn’t sure why at first. But it dawned on me over Thanksgiving that I might get out there, come face to face with the Green Mountains and wonder where the steeps are, where the cliff chutes are hiding and where the open bowls that you can scream down at 40 mph making enormous giant slalom turns without a single thing in your way can be found. I might get to the top of the lift and be bored. That was my biggest fear.

Then I stumbled on a magazine rack at a local gear store (sure I holiday shopped the day after Thanksgiving. Didn’t everyone?) and noticed N’East Magazine. Relatively new, the Portland, Maine-based mag covers skiing, skating, surfing and snowboarding on the East Coast – and the culture and art that holds it all together. It was the exact kick in the pants I needed to seek out a niche in the new Northeast (this hefty snowstorm didn’t hurt either). There are dedicated, passionate, talented and courageous athletes going all out all winter in these parts. And so I will join them.

So who am I, you may understandably ask. Since we’re affiliated with Seven Days, let’s do introductions in the style of those juicy personal ads always found at the back of alternative urban weeklies. This would be under the category “blogger seeking readers.”

Dedicated, passionate, opinionated snowrider seeking online community to pump the stoke of Vermont skiing and snowboarding. Nordic skiers, telemarkers, snowshoers, sledders, snowman-makers all welcome. Offering words and ideas, photos and videos. Open to debate, ready for anything.

Likes:
• long uphill walks in the snow (as long as they lead to big powder payoffs)

• Alberta clippers reforming off the coast of New England, colliding with cold air and spitting heaping doses of fluff on the Green Mountains

• Carving, bumping, gate-bashing, big mountain riding

Dislikes:
• Rain in January

Background:
• East Coast moguls competitor (daffies, twisters and spread eagles)

• Colorado ski bum (12 years and out)

• Snowboarder with hard-boot, racing setup and the most forward stance you’ve ever seen (I’m working on my terrain park moves but wouldn’t call myself a true all-mountain rider yet.)

• Certified ski/snowboard instructor (on hiatus)

Fear:
• See above

Aspirations:
• Encyclopedic knowledge of all inbounds glades and backcountry stashes at every major Vermont ski area.

Interested? Call on me day or night at http://7d.blogs.com/snowbloggan/.

Stay tuned. We’ll have more on the aftermath of this December dumper all week.