hello, my name is michael. long time listener, first time caller.
this is my first ride report. i may cry a little since i've waited for such a long time.

i just moved back to NYC, one of the greatest cities in the US, let alone the world, but getting to a mountain requires a car (used to have one but don't now) and/or serious dedication.

so me and the not-yet-frozen nose hair woke from out brief nap at 2:30am, slugged some coffee, put on a complicated combination of layers and hoofed it to the F train with my board, boots, and backpack. i live way out in Brooklyn so my train is above ground. i think it was 11° while i waited for my train. then i arrive at Homage (skate/snow shop in BK)to wait another 15 minutes (with a guy who appeared to single handedly keep Oakley afloat) for the bus that was supposed to arrive at 3:45am. many stops, lots of sweating, and 5+ hours later, me and a whole slew of other douche bags arrive at Mt. Snow.

i made this trip because they received almost a foot of snow in the past 24 hours. WHERE DID IT GO?

not in the tress.
not on the sides.
did the mountain eat it?
my only guess is that they mashed it down into that "world-famous EC corduroy". don't get me wrong, i know a base is important. i've ridden through what looked like an untouched powder field from the lift only to find out it wan an inch thick powder-ice plate on grass. but COME ON! i hate the East Coast for this. and i heard people all day talking about how great it was. people get stoked on packed powder days.

ugh.

all this to say, i did have a great time. there was very little ice (it's all relative you know) and a few trails on the North Face that were not all moguls but not groomed. i would love to be the guy that thought conditions were great. but i'm not. i was super-stoked to get my first day in (lack of funds, shitty snow, cost/benefit, etc....) and i had a blast listening to good music and freezing my ass off. the lifts are laid out well and i never had to traverse. i seemed to avoid the ever-increasing crowds until the end of the day. nothing major to speak of, just good to see i can still ride after three negligible to abysmal years.

did i mention it was cold as shit? i heard some guy behind me on the lift say (paraphrasing here) "what the hell? it's really fucking cold but there's no snow?" his logic doesn't technically follow, but i got what he meant.

(important to note, it never got anywhere NEAR the high my phone was claiming in that first picture. it was frostbite city aaaaaaaall day.)

Some Words:

i risked frost bite to take this dark-ass photo. it was actually sunnyish most of the day.