I didn’t count during my last cold plunge.
Leading up to that, I did; with gritted teeth, rushing through the numbers to achieve… what, exactly? The bones in my feet felt like they were breaking, my breath caught in my chest, expelled in short, violent bursts. I told anyone who would listen that I was going for a minute, even while others easily went longer, or, alternatively, had no interest in this particular sort of self-torture. The creek was probably in the 30s (single digits for you Celsius cats), and the preceding sauna sesh was reading over 125 °C (257 for you Fahrenheit freaks [definitely not accurate, just going off the pinned thermometer though, only indicator I had]). The above being said, walking down to that final plunge, I had a numbers-free epiphany.
Ostensibly, I was doing this because it felt good, because it’s supposed to be good for me, right? Exactly how long, how hot, how cold, should be largely irrelevant. Doing the damn thing is the point, to each at their own level, for their own benefit, in their own time. So for that last dip I leaned back slow, stared into the distant sun-tinted firs, and tried not to think.
Ingredients for health, courtesy of nature.
It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers of snowboarding too. How many days on hill, spins spun, vert clocked, inches accumulated, feet dropped–the metrics go on. Except for a single solitary one of us, at a single solitary time, no one is ever gonna be the best at this. Especially not us industry-heads, weekend-warriors, dedicated-locals, or journal subscribers.
Jackie Flanagan (top) and Josephine Prinzo (bottom) sampling the goods.
Though I’m new to it, a March trip to Retallack Lodge is a The Snowboarder’s Journal tradition. For this iteration our crew hailed from Idaho, Colorado, Washington state, Oregon, Utah, and California, by way of New Jersey, Virginia, Ohio, Vermont and Canada–Industry vets and newcomers, journal employees, marketers, salespeople, a literal board builder, and one very lucky subscriber. We rode with a half-full mindset. There was fresh snow. Not bottomless, but deep enough to reconnect with the thing that we all share, as different as our jobs and backgrounds are, and as different as our individual relationships to these boards are. We were IN the cat, IN the mountains, IN the moment (no cell service is a boon sometimes).
Cat life is the good life. Our tail guide Paul; Chris DiMarco; the crew; Josephine Prinzo; Dave Frey (who won the trip by subscribing); Jeff Fox milking it til the end; cat views.
I had never been up this way, so the place was all novel to me. The first thing that hit me was the terrain. Though mid angle and high-altitude were the name of the game for our tour, the options are endless on runs that push into the 4k vert realm. Jump spots, big lines, pillows, tree riding, it can all be had in this massive tenure nestled in the heart of the Selkirks between Kaslo and New Denver. Our guides, Roger and Paul, knew where and when to put us to find the best snow, and if we didn’t find it, Paul assured us his route was great, and we just went the wrong way.
More goods samplers, from top to bottom: Zach Cohen, Dave Frey, Sean McKillop, Colin Wiseman.
Despite riding some powder, I remember our runs back to the lodge most vividly: About 15 minutes of straightlining a bumpy cat track, bouncing off for side hits and slashes, and reveling in the absolute chaos of 5-6 riders, shoulder to shoulder, pointing it to the bottom for après. It felt like the thing that was closest to why I got into this shit in the first place. I hope to return next year for round 2, and maybe 2 minutes in that damn creek.
Welcoming party. The Burton boys, Chris DiMarco and Zach Cohen. Lodge life with dog homie. A clock that's always right. Tail guide Paul. Taking in the sights with Jackie Flanagan and Josephine Prinzo of Low Pressure Studio. Fireworks viewing party on the last night. Cat driver Jack. The whole crew (left to right): Colin Wiseman, Sean McKillop, Jeff Fox, Andrew Guimond, Matt Wibby, Roger (lead guide), Chris DiMarco, Dave Frey, Nicki Clover, Jackie Flanagan, Josephine Prinzo, Zach Cohen, and Paul (tail guide). Not pictured, me, behind the lens.
Thank you to the fine folks at Retallack Lodge for hosting us, feeding us and guiding us through breathtaking British Columbia backcountry terrain. The Retallack experience is one-of-a-kind, truly top-notch from sunup to sundown.