The "Two for Tuesday" California Style...and explaining the lipstick on my collar.
This Tuesday I decided to finally do, as my friend Jason put it, "The California Kid". I decided I was going to snowboard and surf in the same day. While this isn't by any means the first time this has been done, it was my first time. When you think about it, the concept is pretty amazing. Geographically there are not many places in the world that this is possible without taking an airplane, and even then you would be cutting it close. I am sure that there are plenty of other stories out there of this same situation, with perfect conditions of 2 feet of new pow-pow (powder in Cali terms) and 5-6 foot glassy Lowers as the surf session. But that is not my point here. I am not trying to show you a "hey look what I did and you missed it", rather I am providing a situation where the overall event outcome surpasses all of it's individual parts.
I drove to Snow Summit Resort at Big Bear Lake, CA. Leaving my place in Mission Viejo about 6am. Another plus...no traffic! I was at the mountain by 8:15am. I even took the scenic mountain route. This is late in the season, but luckily there was enough snow for some really fun runs. The best part about it being a Tuesday and late in the season....NO CROWDS. There was never a wait in a chair line, I rode up by myself on every chair.
I was averaging 4-5 runs each hour. Laying down turns and carves as best as conditions and my ability would allow. Taking a break around 1130am after 3 hours of non stop runs, I had a nice chicken noodle soup bread bowl and continued runs until about 1:30. With sore legs and my second "leg" upcoming, I decided I had better get on the road.
The drive was beautiful. This time of year the flowers are in bloom and the lighting can be amazing.
Looking at the surf report the night before, I knew I was not in for a great session when I got to the beach. Expecting WNW wind, 1-3 foot surf, I powered on. Driving directly to San Onofre, I figured longboarding was my best bet for two reasons. First I was tired and didn't feel like paddling and groveling in 2 foot surf at some place like Salt Creek, and two it would maximize my wave count.
This is a big difference in my two favorite sports. On one had you have snowboarding that basically allows you to ride as much as you can with no effort in getting your run started. You ride up a chair, relax, and then you are off. Lots of rides with little effort. Then you come to surfing. Much effort, little riding time. There is much paddling. I suppose you could equalize the two by forcing people to walk to the top of the mountain, and then the effort-reward ratio would be more similar in the two sports. Yea, good luck. Only thing even close to snowboarding I guess would be a wave pool...great.
As I arrived at San O, the conditions were less than spectacular.
The reports were correct. It was windy, choppy, bad tide, unorganized, chilly, and well...bad. But alas! I was here to complete my mission. So after some music warm up, I threw on my 3/2 and waxed up the good old Rozo 9'6". It was a weird feeling just being at 8300' and now at sea level. It was almost as if the water knew I had been cheating on her with her sister. I didn't even get a ridable wave for almost 45 minutes. It was as if she was forcing me to explain myself. It was like I had lipstick on my collar and was trying to keep from sleeping on the couch that night. Maybe it was me. Maybe I was the one who had my mind and legs back on the mountain. But after much effort to convince my lover that she had nothing to worry about and that this most likely wouldn't happen again, it seemed as though she slowly, little by little, let me back into her world. The sun came out a little, I caught a few mushy long ones at Old Man's, and decided I had better not push my luck.
As I sat there pondering my repaired relationship with a jealous ocean, she sensed my remorse and sent me one last ride. Amazingly it was about a 4 foot screamer that lined up as perfect as she could give me on this day, and I rode it almost to the sand. As I rock hopped out of the shore break I turned and winked at her. As I did I stepped backward and got my foot caught on some kelp, stubbing my toe lightly. It was almost as if she was saying to me, "next time you visit my sister, wipe the lipstick off your collar before you come home".
Nathan Paul Gibbs
I drove to Snow Summit Resort at Big Bear Lake, CA. Leaving my place in Mission Viejo about 6am. Another plus...no traffic! I was at the mountain by 8:15am. I even took the scenic mountain route. This is late in the season, but luckily there was enough snow for some really fun runs. The best part about it being a Tuesday and late in the season....NO CROWDS. There was never a wait in a chair line, I rode up by myself on every chair.
I was averaging 4-5 runs each hour. Laying down turns and carves as best as conditions and my ability would allow. Taking a break around 1130am after 3 hours of non stop runs, I had a nice chicken noodle soup bread bowl and continued runs until about 1:30. With sore legs and my second "leg" upcoming, I decided I had better get on the road.
The drive was beautiful. This time of year the flowers are in bloom and the lighting can be amazing.
Looking at the surf report the night before, I knew I was not in for a great session when I got to the beach. Expecting WNW wind, 1-3 foot surf, I powered on. Driving directly to San Onofre, I figured longboarding was my best bet for two reasons. First I was tired and didn't feel like paddling and groveling in 2 foot surf at some place like Salt Creek, and two it would maximize my wave count.
This is a big difference in my two favorite sports. On one had you have snowboarding that basically allows you to ride as much as you can with no effort in getting your run started. You ride up a chair, relax, and then you are off. Lots of rides with little effort. Then you come to surfing. Much effort, little riding time. There is much paddling. I suppose you could equalize the two by forcing people to walk to the top of the mountain, and then the effort-reward ratio would be more similar in the two sports. Yea, good luck. Only thing even close to snowboarding I guess would be a wave pool...great.
As I arrived at San O, the conditions were less than spectacular.
The reports were correct. It was windy, choppy, bad tide, unorganized, chilly, and well...bad. But alas! I was here to complete my mission. So after some music warm up, I threw on my 3/2 and waxed up the good old Rozo 9'6". It was a weird feeling just being at 8300' and now at sea level. It was almost as if the water knew I had been cheating on her with her sister. I didn't even get a ridable wave for almost 45 minutes. It was as if she was forcing me to explain myself. It was like I had lipstick on my collar and was trying to keep from sleeping on the couch that night. Maybe it was me. Maybe I was the one who had my mind and legs back on the mountain. But after much effort to convince my lover that she had nothing to worry about and that this most likely wouldn't happen again, it seemed as though she slowly, little by little, let me back into her world. The sun came out a little, I caught a few mushy long ones at Old Man's, and decided I had better not push my luck.
As I sat there pondering my repaired relationship with a jealous ocean, she sensed my remorse and sent me one last ride. Amazingly it was about a 4 foot screamer that lined up as perfect as she could give me on this day, and I rode it almost to the sand. As I rock hopped out of the shore break I turned and winked at her. As I did I stepped backward and got my foot caught on some kelp, stubbing my toe lightly. It was almost as if she was saying to me, "next time you visit my sister, wipe the lipstick off your collar before you come home".
Nathan Paul Gibbs
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