The Great Snowboard Expedition
May 23, 2021
I can not really call this one was "sketchy" but it is a great story worth sharing. What started as a silly mistake turned into a fun weekend adventure with a group of friends. So, what happened?
Earlier in the ski season I was riding at Alpine Meadows Resort in Truckee, CA. It was going to be last run of the day and we were headed to the top via Summit Chair. After a short ridgeline traverse we ended up at Idiot's Delight (uh oh...) and were inspecting some steep lines down the front face (blue arrow). I had to remove my snowboard to peer over the edge. The wind was howling so I secured the snowboard and turned away. Within maybe a minute I heard someone shouting "Tim! Your board!" I did not even need to look back to know what happened. The board got tossed in the wind and went straight down the backside past the skull and crossbones out of bounds sign (red arrow). I was totally hosed. I did my walk of shame up the ridge and was assisted by ski patrol down the mountain in a sled.
I got a new board for the remainder of the season but still wanted to retrieve the one I lost. Would it be possible? This is the story of The Great Snowboard Expedition.
Activity: Wilderness Expedition
Location: Alpine Meadows Ski Resort, CA
Peak Elevation: 8,600ft
Elevation Gain: 2,100ft
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 6 hours
Success/Failure: Read on to find out
Team: Tim Murcko (Chunkin'), Magdalena Chmiel (Bike Shorts), Ronen Sarig (Old Man Winter), Peter Verdone (PVD), Windy Riemer (Windy the Reamer), Jeremy Neubauer (Snow Leopard), Philip Norman (Pancho Villa)
Postmortem
May 22: A group of 7 goons set out on the greatest quest known to man since 2020 - The Great Snowboard Expedition (codename: The Hunt for Yellow Snowboard). Like all epic two day quests, mountain biking was involved the day before as a warmup to the mental and physical challenges we would face. We enjoyed a full day of downhill shuttle runs in Georgetown about an hour east of Sacramento with help from California Expeditions. It was pretty rad, they paired us up with a guide for the whole day who was able to lead us through some pretty sweet trail that we would never see otherwise. After the riding we packed up our gear and headed further east into the Sierras where stormy weather greeted us. It was chilly and wet. Old Man Winter set the tone for the expedition by bringing nothing. We gave him a trash bag to stay dry. Would he survive the night?
May 23, 10:30AM: Old Man Winter survived the night and moral was higher. We set out on the adventure via the Five Lakes Trail which enters around the resort to the backside ridgeline where the incident occurred. A quick side note: It is important as expedition leader to gather the proper intel before sending the team in. Advanced AI mapping technology was used (google maps) to plan the route. We even scouted the trail a few weeks prior to determine if it was open for the summer season and gets eyes on any immediate dangers like unexploded bombs, apparently.
May 23, 1:44PM: We had reached the ridgeline and started our search from the top. To continue you had to drop down into the bowl which was steep loose rock. Not a ton of vertical gain but it would be slow going. I dropped in first and Bike Shorts went a different route on the side to cover more ground. Old Man Winter stayed on top with his binoculars to search the area and provide us directions over radio. After a half hour or so we had no leads. The search continued...
May 23, 2:35PM: I was all the way at the bottom of the bowl by this point taking my time searching across the field. It was overgrown and I was starting to loose hope. Did someone else find and grab it? Were we in the completely wrong spot? Did it travel much farther? But then, a simple question from Old Man Winter came in over the radio - "Hey...is the snowboard yellow and black?" I immediately responded, "Yes! Where do you see it?" Following Old Man Winter's clear instructions, I located the board sitting in a spiky bush. Aside from minor damage to one corner it was totally fine. I strapped the board to my pack and starting hiking up. Fueled by the excitement of success I made quick time on the ascent.
May 23, 4:02PM: We made our way down to the bottom and that concluded the Great Snowboard Expedition. The snowboard is now welcomed back into the family where it will continue to live a happy life. Let this story serve as a lesson on how a stupid failure can be turned into a fun success.
"The mountains are calling, and I must shred" ~ John Muir
