YOU DON'T NEED EPIC CONDITIONS FOR AN EPIC DAY!

Snow or no snow you have to appreciate where you are and who you have come with.

Sometimes you have to plan trips a long way out and then look forward to them for months. It's a real dice roll in terms of conditions. My favourite way to head to the mountains often involves watching snow reports and ditching all responsibility should the right conditions arise. As "life" and "bills" have caught up with me I find myself needing more and more lead time for my favourite pastime.

Attitude. Snow or no snow you have to appreciate where you are and who you have come with. A poor outlook on crap conditions can definitely detract from a good time. When you return to the grind and are hanging around the water cooler are you the type to complain about bad snow or one to describe the great time with great friends in the best setting possible?

I rolled through this very gambit over the weekend. We had planned to hit opening day at Kicking Horse months ago (it would have been my 3rd opening day of the year!) and had been watching the snow stack up in anticipation. So much good snow came down that they chose to do a soft opening the week before our scheduled trip. I swore when I heard this; I also swore when I saw posts of how epic the conditions were. Fast forward a week and we arrive to a bombed out hill which had seen no sign of snow.

You choose your own adventure as you travel forward and only you get to decide how to define a good time.

What an epic day. The bottom of the resort was under cloud and there were patches of fescue sprouting out. It was a dreary start to our day but as soon as the gondy sprung out above the cloud layer we were met with Bluebird Glory. We did a few runs quickly and then we sat in the sun at the top of the mountain and savoured the view, good company and refreshments. There may be no friends on a powder day but in my experience the days where conditions are poor are all about camaraderie. We got a few early season turns in, reveled in the scenery, and the bonds that brought us to the mountains became stronger.

This is a lesson I have learned many times: you choose your own adventure as you travel forward and only you get to decide how to define a good time.

[Image: Photo by @alliejohnson88]