Daily reporting from Nick: While bedding down last night, we decided to set the alarm early and get to the gondola when the mountain opened. Day 3 began in much the same way as day 2. Mixed weather reports and some uncertainty as to whether or not we were going to tackle the slopes. It doesn't help that the "greeter" at the Heavenly ticket counter was a pessimist and warned everyone that there were strong winds expected and several lifts were likely to be closed by noon. We thought twice about buying tickets (for about 30 seconds is all) and we decided "to hell with it!" We came here to ride and all be damned, we were going to ride! Up the gondola we went with a "lovely" couple from Scotland here on "holiday" (gotta say it with the Scottish accent).
The first half of our day was spent exploring the Nevada side of the mountain. We got our legs under us on a couple of runs that we did yesterday before venturing out to ride some new terrain. While we were ripping down the run, we both missed the sign directing us back to the lift. Needless to say we reached a dead end with a sign reading "impossible to ski or ride further" (in more or less words). We preceded to unstrap our boards and hike our way back up the mountain (a snowboarder's version of the "walk of shame"). After 8 or so runs, we took a break for lunch and decided we'd ride the California side for the rest of the day.
The California side of the mountain proved to be the place to be! Fresh powder and very few people made for an awesome couple hours of riding (have I mentioned yet that the snow was falling and we were getting dumped on all day!). We were laying down fresh tracks at 1 o'clock in the afternoon and at times we had runs all to ourselves. After a half dozen runs we decided to call it a day and we mapped our decent to the bottom of the mountain. Little did we know that we were in store for quite the backcountry fiasco. We more or less walked, skated, and rode our way down a snow covered, switch-backed, service road for the better part of a half hour. This "run" was mountain on one side and shear cliff on the other! We thought it was going to be a nice easy ride to the bottom and instead we both ended the day tired and sore.
A few Tylenol, a quesadilla and a few beers at a bar that doesn't know the definition of happy hour ($6 pints, are you kidding me?), and a carb packed dinner of pasta definitely put smiles on our faces (even though we had smiles plastered to them all day).
Joke of the day: Q: What did the elephant say to the naked man?
A: How do you breathe from that tiny thing!?! (courtesy of The Buried Life).
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