My little secret: Sierra Summit.

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Okay, don't laugh at me, Sierra Summit is my new favorite resort. I get major hate whenever I mention this little spot out of Fresno but it really deserves more credit. Most people I know automatically think less of it because it's not in Tahoe but really, who gives a shit. Tahoe is the bomb. We all know that. But the magic can be found in the places that we don't all know about. I went to Sierra Summit last Sunday with some doubts in my mind. I figured it'd be a little crappy but I didn't care because I was going to get to snowboard. My mind was blown when I got there. A few factors played into incredible day.

1. PERFECT BLUEBIRD CONDITIONS. Ah. It was awesome. I ditched two layers and was still pretty warm. The sky was bright and blue. There was a foot of fresh pow covering the mountain. It was also what the locals called "busy" but what any Tahoe kid would call empty. No lift lines or anything. No one getting in my line as I boarded (except one skier who guerrilla attacked my jump line). The runs were also very open. There weren't really any paths that we had to stick to. It was easy as pie to cross from one run to another whenever we felt like.

2. Sundays are $20 ticket days for 6th-12th graders. Cha-chinggg.

3. I went with my old friend Gina. This was my first time boarding with just another girl in years, besides camp. I'm always going up to the mountains with guys are by myself so this was a new experience. I've been friends with Gina since babyhood but we haven't hung out recently. It was cool getting back together with her. It was also cool because she is basically the same level as me. I'm a bit more advanced but that made it super cool. I didn't feel pressured to go faster than I wanted so I could take my time and just have fun. I was also able to teach Gina some tricks. I love teaching people. I get super stoked when I learn something new and when I teach someone else something new I get super stoked FOR them. Side note; I met this little kid who was just learning to board and I helped her with turns for a while. I had a ball. Anyways, Gina was super fun to board with and we were able to push each other. Good stuff.

4. This place is an intermediate boarder's paradise. Most of the runs are intermediate and the parks are too. Usually I have issues with parks at other resorts. The beginner parks are supppper beginner, with boxes that are like a max of 3 inches above the snow and jumps that are like four feet high. And then the next level parks are too advanced for a medium level rider to comfortably attempt anything. This is not the case with Sierra Summit. The parks were a perfect medium. I felt like I could safely attempt the rails and such but I was still challenged and forced to progress my riding. It was sick. Another cool thing was that almost all of the snowboarders/skiers on the mountain were lower levels so I felt like I was one of the better riders on the mountain. There was definitely no intimidation factor there to affect my confidence.

So yeah. I was pleasantly surprised by this place. I'm trying to convince my friends to go to Sierra Summit with me on Sundays now but it's hard work. People just don't believe that there's good boarding in that area....

Bluebird at Sierra photo cred: this guy