The Snowboarder's Journal - The Snowboarder's Journal 20.4
FAMILY DAY: Powder is For the Children
Words: Ben Ferguson. As Told To Ben Shanks Kindlon. Photos: Alex Pashley 2023-01-24 09:28:26
“Oregon’s finest.” From left to right: Austin Smith, Jared Elston, Ben Ferguson, Curtis Ciszek and Gabe Ferguson in British Columbia’s Kootenay Mountains.
I’m in a snowy parking lot loading up my sled when a big, all-black Chevy Silverado 3500 rolls in. The man driving the truck is visibly angry, but still I wave to break the ice. He shakes his earmuffed head at me. A woman and three children are with him. He parks, gets out and turns to unload two snowmobiles from the back of his hulking rig. Unable to hold it in any longer, he lets us know how he really feels: “Oregon plates? Today? No fucking way. It’s Family Day.”
It’s a crisp Sunday in British Columbia’s Kootenay Mountains. Recent snowfall has produced the best conditions I’ve seen so far this year. Jared Elston, my brother Gabe and I are somewhere deep in the region following the Natural Selection Tour stop at Baldface Valhalla. Yesterday a guy in town told us we’re going to ride pow up to “here,” while tapping on his chest. But on our first day out, things are falling apart fast.
The man with the Chevy isn’t the only one looking at us like we don’t belong. Apparently on Family Day, this zone is for locals only. A slew of side-eyes makes us second-guess our decision to ride in this area, so we start to pack up the sleds. That’s when a much more intimidating man than the one before starts walking toward us. We should’ve left sooner.
He must be six-foot-five. The dude is a corn-fed hoss, a big dog. In a deep voice he says, “Hey boys, don’t pack up the sleds. It’s all good. There’s a spot down that road.” He points us in the direction of some tough luck laps. They’re actually really fun.
A few days later we revisit the zone where we got the axe but spend most of our trip riding a spot 30 to 40 minutes farther down the road. Once we’d gotten some good laps in, Sunday’s happenings started to seem funny. Perhaps even a bit awesome. If nothing else, it makes for a good story. Family Day was not our day. And that’s OK.
©Funny Feelings LLC. View All Articles.