In summary: The day was SWEEEEET!

[causticus]

Snowboarding was had today, and it was sooooo very nice! Piles of awesome light, dry powder, no lift lines and correspondingly few people. It made the 3 hour journey, which is three time what it normally is and included putting on chains, worth it. There were two chains check points, one just outside of redding and one just outside of Dunsmier. The first took a half hour, the second another hour. LAME! Luckily, I was able to roll on through both of them and didn't need to put on chains until I got off I-5 onto 89. At that point, I got them on quickly and started up but something didn't seem right. I pulled back off only a mile or two down the road and found that the right chain was missing. Tightening the left one, I pulled back around and found that I had left the right wheel chain laying the snow when I had pulled out! With it back on, I proceeded on my way and achieved the park! When I went to get my full day pass, the booth said I could wait for 20 - 25 minutes and save $10 on a half-day pass: HELL NO! It took me 3 hours to get there, the powder was AWESOME and I was NOT going to wait any longer!! ;D I got in three freaking SWEET powder runs before collecting Sa_briel and her half-day pass and did one more with her, plus got some more powder on off the side of the runs we took the remainder of the day. The weather was brisk to downright snowy and cold and I wished I had a second pair of full face goggles instead of the Bugz I was wearing (the other pair being on Sa_briel), but it was still worth it. Even had some fresh powder on a run or two late in the day!
My new Burton bindings worked out well. I would say I could feel a marked difference in the response of my board. In fact, it took a little getting used to because I tended to be overly aggressive, overshooting my intended form, angle, whatever. In summary: The day was SWEEEEET!