A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to land some good turns up at the Highlands. There was a foot of fresh (ahem), few stumps, and safe conditions...prime. It was no new routine to me. My buddies and I had trecked similar ridges and lines since my days as a freshmen, but for some reason or another, I finally noticed something perplexing: where the hell were all the snowboarders?
Without pointing the figure at the lax standards of marijuana distribution these days (I have no problem with it...go legislature), it appears that boarders, at least in Missoula, simply don't care to earn the turns anymore. I have had several instances in the backcountry where it has been me and a dozen telemarkers, all of whom look at my snowshoes as if I were wielding a beeper, and the plain fact is...I'm lonely. So what the hell is going on? Why am I now alone in an esoteric realm once so familiar to me?
Perhaps it is a problem with standards. We as snowboarders face a vexing handicap in the backcountry. Our boards are bulky, our snowshoes suck, and the only equipment shops specializing in board equipment these days are overrun with "dudes." So less I purchase some retro douchebag threads or ditch my beloved new Custom X, I am doomed to dig for tracks amongst the proposed scholars of backcountry, also known as Telemarkers. And I have to admit...I am beginning to waver.
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