November 3, 2000

There�s an opening-day debate: Should you go or should you wait? We present two sides to the arguement with a look at opening day at Mountain High in Southern California.

For going: I�ve been waiting for months to ride! I�ve got a new board, boots, bindings, stylie threads, and the best goggles (that�s what they told me at the shop) that I dropped serious cash for and I�ve got to put my well-spent money to work.

Plus, I live to snowboard. I dream about it. Talk about it. Watched all the new videos and just have to learn that new handrail trick.

Plus, I want the bragging rights among all my friends.

Opening-day rail session.

I�ve got to get in shape for the season, and the best exercise for snowboarding is to go snowboarding, so I went. And there�s nothing like the fresh air, blue skys, and loads of other psyched riders to hang with on the slopes. Thanks Mountain High for getting my season going.

--John Stouffer

For not going: There is a reason why they call the one run mountains usually open for early season the �white ribbon of death.� All the snowmaking equipment, rocks, and yahoos with remote sensors making them head straight for your knees are concentrated in a twenty-foot wide space. This makes your much-awaited first run of the season more like running an obstacle course.

Plus, the snow conditions are unpredictable, so you can either wreck yourself because you are a little out of practice anyway, or wreck your new equipment that you�ve waited months to try out.

It�s true, I have anxiously awaited the start of the season, so despite my better judgement I went riding at Mountain High and had fun, even though my predictions for the not-so-glamorous early season riding were right on target.

Our cohort in crime Doug even caught an edge (forgot to detune his brand-new board) and sprained his ankle. Great start to the season.

--Jennifer Sherowski