iRide
Zaskoda’s Snowboarding Journal

I think it was about 2003. I was at a friend’s house when her sister from California arrived. I was a snowboarder. She was a surfer girl from Santa Cruz. I didn’t realize it, but I’d just met my surf instructor.

We’ve gone on surfing trips together a total of four times now. The first trip was to South Padre Island. We brought a dog and camped on the beach. The waves were small, but I managed to stand on one and ride it. Our second trip was to the same location; only this time, it was during hurricane Katrina. The waves were very sloppy and I was never able to catch one. Still, I had a lot of fun splashing around in the water. These two trips taught me an important lesson about surfing - paddling is a lot of work.

I want to talk about paddling for just a moment. First of all, it’s about technique - just like snowboarding. Before you learn to properly carve, you spend a lot of time fighting the mountain. Even once you have the technique, you’ll tire yourself if you’re afraid to ride at high speeds. Once you develop a better technique, you can ride much longer without wearing out. That’s exactly how paddling is. The more you learn to keep your balance, not fight the ocean, and steady your pace - the longer you can keep paddling. And if you’re learning to surf, you will be doing a lot of paddling.

Back to the story… My teacher decided I was ready for a real surf trip, so we filled a couple of backpacks and headed to Sayulita, Mexico. This was my first ‘good waves’ experience. Mind you, the waves were no more than a couple of feet high. I struggled with my paddling. I couldn’t keep a good balance on a glass board and I could barely push through incoming waves on a floaty soft top. Somehow, I managed to ride a few waves before the trip came to an end. My favorite was a wave that rolled me without losing me; I managed to get back onto the board while still being pushed by the wave. I even stood up. You’d be surprised how hard standing up can be!

Most recently, my teacher took me to her home town of Santa Cruz. Suddenly, everything I thought I’d learned changed. First, the water was cold (~54 F) so I had to wear a wet suit. Between the cold water conditions and the extra weight of the suit, my paddling arms gave out easily. The first day she took me to the beginner’s break called Cowell’s. I was a newbie among many. I road her Velzy Surftech. It was huge (10′), like a small island; and it seemed unsinkable. The waves were good, but a bit mooshy and choppy. They were also bigger and meaner than anything I’d ever tried to catch. These puppies got up to three feet tall! I never stood up. I never successfully caught one. Mostly, I was pearling on that uber-floaty board. She was riding a smaller, lighter board - and I was trying to copy her. I should have been riding further back while trying to paddle in. Still, I had fun.

For our last two days in Santa Cruz, she took me to her favorite spot - Pleasure Point (38th street). This was not a beginner area. Some of these waves were being beautifully ridden. They were bumping up as much as six feet tall. Still, there were a handful of beginners there. We hung with them over on the shoulder, where the waves were much smaller. The waves were bigger and faster, but they were cleaner. I caught several, but stood on none. The first time I tried to stand, my arms gave out. They were so worn from paddling, I couldn’t lift my body. Another time I stood and was on my way up when my foot slipped. I laughed as I fell back into the water. Finally, my best ride of the trip came when I only managed to get to my knees while popping up. I went ahead and rode the wave for a while, kneeling down.

I’m finding learning to surf to be very challenging. I see my teacher catching wave after wave, and I start to get discouraged. However, catching a little bit of a ride is a huge rush and fills me with enough energy to paddle out for another attempt. I’m contemplating another trip back to Sayulita. It would be the first time I stepped down to a smaller wave. Maybe I’ll find myself more confident?

I can’t thank my teacher enough. I don’t see myself snowboarding forever. In fact, I can see another 10 years of good riding and then I’ll probably start to back off. By then, I should be just about finished with the hard landings and big bounces. From there, I see myself growing old in the ocean. Surfing requires a lot of physical fitness; however, it doesn’t tend to bruise you the same way. Getting worked in the ocean is rough, but at least your not landing head first on hard packed snow and ice. That’s the future I see; but who knows where life will take me.

Every time I sat on the lift with someone new, I had to go on and on about the quality of the snow there at Wolf Creek. Finally, one of the locals grinned and said, “Don’t tell your friends!” I laughed; it wasn’t the first time I’d heard a remark like that.

Wolf Creek boasts the ‘Most Snow in Colorado’. They make zero inches of snow. The ski area is in just the right geographical location. Go a few miles down the road, and epic snow conditions might just turn into open dry land. The only thing more remarkable than the quality of the the snow conditions, is the total and utter lack of significant development.

You have two towns relatively close to the ski area. We stayed in South Fork. It was the cheapest option, and we were on a budget. The town boasts very little; but you can find a warm room for the night at a good rate. About equal distance in the opposite direction is the town of Pagosa Springs. There’s a small resort on top of the suflur hot springs in the middle of town. Pagosa is just big enough to offer a commuter airport. Mostly, I remember seeing lots of hotels.

Meanwhile, the ski area itself is small and usually under-crowded. This is about to change. Everyone dreams of finding that last little ski town. A fellow named ‘Red’ McCombs apparently dreams of building it from scratch. He’s calling it the Village at Wolf Creek. Ironically, while trying to research the venture (for potential personal investment), I found the most valuable information on the opposition’s website:

Texas billionaire developer “Red” McCombs seeks to construct a city of up to 10,000 people just below the Continental Divide at Wolf Creek Ski Area, one of the snowiest spots in Colorado. - Friends of Wolf Creek

There’s also a large amount of surprisingly up-to-date information in the Wikipedia entry:

Wolf Creek’s future as a local’s resort has become less certain recently with Billionare developer Red McCombs’ proposed development of a village of 10,000 people within the boundaries of the ski resort.

And a bit on this fellows blog: The Glory of Southwest Colorado

I’m excited about the whole thing. I’d like to buy one of these new condos and live at Wolf Creek for a season. I imagine myself working from home and snowboarding until I can’t snowboard any more. Here’s hoping…