Note: This isn’t a sponsored post, though I do work for Grouse Mountain. I may be a little biased.

So I couldn’t help myself. First tracks of the season are awesome no matter what the terrain.

So the decision was made first thing Friday, December 12th that Grouse Mountain had received enough snow to open and would begin winter season operations on Saturday morning, December 13th. Many of the employees had been speculating all week since the significant snowfall on Tuesday, but it was Thursday night’s dump that sealed the deal.

We were ready for it.

One of the biggest perks of working for a ski resort is getting out on the slopes. For those of us who work in this industry I think it’s really important we continue to enjoy it in the way we did when we were first breaking in. I ended up going three years without snowboarding up until last spring. It was only on the staff day at the end of last season that I finally got out on the snow for the first time since mini-man was born. That’s just not right.

I can safely say the hiatus is over.

The mountain opened this morning with the new Greenway Chair and Paradise open. While I hear there were a few technical glitches with the brand new Greenway Chair, by 2pm The Screaming Eagle Quad was running and, with it, The Cut and Side Cut were open.

I got out for a few turns in the afternoon to warm up my early season legs and see if I could remember how to get down the hill. There was a super great buzz about the mountaintop – everyone seemed more excited and friendly than I’ve seen at times before. Must be because we’ve all been itching to get out in the snow, the lineups were reasonable and we were just happy to be finally on our boards.

The snow was good. Very few pebbles, a couple of icy patches, but all in all super for just a couple of feet spread out by the groomers. There were even fresh tracks to be had if you ventured to skier’s right of the Screaming Eagle and were willing to brave some of the tall grass and shrubs still poking through.

My legs held up and I didn’t have to find out how well my new pants would shield me from a roll in the snow. I did, however, determine I need to go buy some new long underwear. I am currently without a decent base layer and it was WAY colder than I’d thought it would be. I picked up some new goggles at Outfitters because I couldn’t find mine and the snow guns were blowing like crazy – in fact, I counted 9 on The Cut and I can’t stand riding without goggles.

On the way back to the Skyride I couldn’t help but pull out the camera to catch a little video of the vibe at the ice skating pond. It was packed and people were having a great time.

[video]

I also just happened to swing by just as Karen Magnussen was starting to give ice skating tips as part of The Peak of Christmas celebrations – notice Santa’s Workshop in the background.

I think I’ll head back up next weekend with mini-man in tow so he can check out Santa and the reindeer… and I’m definitely going to have to work a couple of runs into each work week as a little reminder of how fun my job is.