Features

Burton Trip to Baldface Lodge, Nelson BC

by Sara Tollestrup

WARNING: The following article is neither indecent, nor offensive. However, if you have never been to Baldface, please be warned that you may become excessively jealous while reading this article. It is strongly advised that you start a savings account for the purpose of visiting Baldface before reading the following.

I have always despised the catch phrase "Girl Power." I mostly hate the phrase because it makes me think of the Spice Girls with their nine-inch spike heels and mini skirts, which is about as far from representing girl power as it gets. Replace the pumps with snowboard boots and the minis with sexy neck gaiters, and then we'll talk girl power.

Donna Carpenter (of Burton fame), the woman who has, and continues to, revolutionize women's snowboarding, invited pro snowboarders Anne-Flore Marxer, Hannah Teter, and some of the most influential women in the snowboard industry to join her at Baldface Lodge in Nelson, BC.

From March 27 to 30, an awesome crew was brought together including Burton staff, a great shop girl from Toronto, journalists from Spare, Onboard, 7th Sky and Transworld, two New York fashion editors, the creative director of Frequency, a freelance writer from Jackson, a French photographer, an ESPN commentator, and Katie Bailey and me representing the Snowboard Canada Women's Annual. See where I'm going with this girl power thing? For three days, I was surrounded by 24 beautiful, creative and intelligent females who also happened to be sick at dropping cliffs, slashing pow and tearing through trees.

Here's what goes down on a typical day at Baldface.

You wake up around 6:30 and jump out of bed, seriously, even though you are super tired from après shred the previous night and every inch of your body aches, the excitement of what lays ahead gets you going. You then have the option to go to stretch class in the lodge, or to sip coffee in your chalet. At breakfast you are met by the amazing Baldface staff who serve up a delicious hot breakfast.

On day one, breakfast was followed by mountain safety 101. Heath and Ryan (two of Baldface's guides) showed us how to use avalanche beacons. They helped 12 of us carry out a rescue scenario where we had to use our peeps to find buried avalanche beacons. The other group of 12 was instructed by their guides, the legendary Buff and Yuske.

After our lesson in mountain safety, we were split into two groups. We rode in one of two snow cats driven by the lovely and talented Christy, or Homie J. Inside the cats it's a lot like camp; everyone sings along to tunes, tells jokes and snacks on sandwiches and cookies. Plus, everyone you look at is smiling from ear to ear. The cats were with us each day for the full seven hours of riding – no hiking, no chairlifts, just a cat at our beck and call.

At about 9 a.m. we would roll up to the first run. On all three days we met the kind of conditions that every resort website claims to have, but never actually does. We slashed deep powder, snaked through trees, surfed open powder bowls, slayed powder fields and had perfect visibility through it all. Once let loose on the slopes, we were like a pack of hungry wolves with dinner before our eyes. We would stand on a ridge or at the top of a bowl and stare down at the 320+ cm of powder, each day with a little more fresh on top. Often we were instructed to drop in one at a time, everyone just waiting to kill it. We were all keen to go first, but I soon learned it didn't matter whether you dropped in first or last, because there were fresh tracks for everyone, and the fresh kept coming all day long.

Being a group of girls, we rode well as a team and were able to get more runs in per day than any other previous group. After nine runs I felt my energy fading, but I would have kept going until the sun set if that was possible. The only thing that got me back in the cat after the last run of the day was the realization that I had either a massage, a sauna or a hot bowl of soup waiting for me back at the lodge.

On day one we had a really cool honourary moment when both groups met at Craig Kelly's cross. We stood together for a group photo and some shout outs. The shout outs are an idea the people at Baldface came up with, standing in a line each person shouts out something they are thankful for. My shout out was for Roberta Rodger, because without her I wouldn't have been on this trip. The next day we were lucky enough to shred with Craig's partner, Savena. It was so inspirational to be in the same mountains, and on the same runs that Craig had once ridden.

After seeing Craig's cross I didn't think the trip could get more memorable, but it did. Not only were we with Burton, the biggest brand in snowboarding, but also we were all girls. The climax of the trip came on the last day when the two groups joined up. All 24 of us stared into the bowl of untouched pow that lay before us. At the bottom of the bowl one of the cat drivers had written GIRL POWER in huge capital letters in the snow. I laughed mockingly for a second, and then turned my focus back to finding the perfect line. I dropped in fourth for the ride of a lifetime, linking what seemed like endless powder slashes. At the bottom the energy built up more and more as each girl dropped into her line. We were all cheering, clapping, laughing and shouting each other's names. At the bottom of the bowl we regrouped, and 24 of us rode side by side to the cat track.

As our cat climbed away from the bowl I looked back and saw the words girl power written below. At the risk of sounding cheesy to those of you that weren't there, that run was one of the most powerful experiences of my life. Any passionate snowboarder will tell you that they feel something inexplicable when they shred a perfect powder line, now just imagine that sensation multiplied by 23 and that is legitimate girl power.

When you're with a group of girls in an après shred situation, a dance party is inevitable. On the second night, which was also our last night together, we proved that we could not only pop 180s over pillows, but that we could also bust some pretty mean versions of the running man on the dance floor. Laura, a freelance writer from Jackson, turned DJ, and kept sweet tunes like I Want to Rock and Karma Chameleon pumping all night long. Our group was uninhibited on the mountain and on the dance floor. A full on limbo competition broke out some time before midnight. Everyone, even the Baldface staff, had a go at the good old limbo, but it was Hannah Teter, Tina Dixon and Anne-Flore Marxer who were truly out for blood. In the end Hannah came out on top and was rewarded with an icy pipe full of tequila. The real die-hards played Guitar Hero and tore up the dance floor until 2 a.m., while the majority of us who had gone to bed long before dreamt of powdery pillow lines.

On the evening of the 30th we were flown away from our dreamland. We were all pretty bummed during the heli ride, and our pilot knew it, so he shook us up a bit, swooping close to the mountains and diving hard towards Kootenay Lake. In the end, it was hard to say goodbye to everyone and everything, but it was the best snowboarding of my life, and I'm still going through powder withdrawal.

Thanks Donna, you gave us something we had once only dreamed of!