Big Bear III

This past week was our 3rd annual trip to Big Bear to do something resembling snowboarding. I did not magically discover how to snowboard properly between last year and last, but at least i did not get any worse. My older son Nathan has nearly mastered the proper form, and my younger son Henry is essentially fearless so he barrels down the tougher slopes, form be damned.

Wednesday was a good day for boarding, but when we stopped for lunch at around noon, it was cold and windy and wet. We got some significant snow on Wednesday night, so on Thursday morning there was pristine snow at Snow Summit. The weather wasn't as warm this year as it has been in the past, so the snow stayed nice and powdery well after noon.

We went with two other families this year, but i was the only dad so it was me, 3 moms, and 6 boys ranging in age from 13 to 5-- all by odd coincidence also half-Filipino. The place that we rented was just large enough for the lot of us.

We left early, on Thursday afternoon rather than Friday, because more snow was forecast for the evening and we didn't have 4-wheel drive. The drive down the mountain is challenging enough when it's not slippery, so i didn't want to take any chances.

I had hoped to do some running at Big Bear this year, but the weather did not cooperate. I've never really run at altitude. Even walking up stairs or a snowy slope can be quite taxing at 8000 feet, so i suspect running would be a challenge. It's probably coincidence, but my morning run today felt really good. I did about 6:10 pace for 5 miles, and i felt like i could have kept going.