Snowboarding

Best Mountains

There is much controversy over the best mountains to snowboard at. I live in beautiful Victoria, BC, Canada where the closest mountain is Mount Washington, not my favorite choice, but I will cover it anyways. The next closest is one of the best mountains in the world: Whistler/Blackcomb is only a ferry ride away for me. Finally I will cover Interior skiing, which is known for the quality and quantity of its snow.

First off is a little hop, skip and a jump away from me: good old Mount Washington. About halfway up Vancouver Island, this mountain hosts about 70 runs and a bodacious backcountry. With only 6 major chairlifts, this mountain could use an upgrade as the lift lines just seem to be increasing. However the lift tickets are cheap and it is only a stone's throw away from me. This mountain can have really good seasons where it has the most snow in Canada, or sometimes it receives extremely dull seasons, having to close early, such as this season. All in all, this mountain ends up being a great way to save money and snowboard at the same time.

Next up is the beautiful Whistler/Blackcomb, home for the snowboarding of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. This mountain boasts uncountable runs that range in all levels of experience. Many lifts keep the lines short and sweet with long runs. This is a wonderful place to spend a day snowboarding in the sun. It usually gets good snow and is large enough to play host to another uncountable number of snow machines. If you are willing to spend the money, this is a great place to board anytime.

Finally let me introduce you to the wonderful world of interior skiing and snowboarding. The main advantage to interior mountains is not only the huge amount of snow they get but also the light, beautiful texture of the snow that drives snowboarders crazy. Sunshine Village, Banff, Alberta, Canada is a great example of this. This mountain owns absolutely no snow machines because of the fact that it doesn't need them. There is almost always a constant downpour of that nice white stuff we all like. However, the main resort only really consists of a gondola leading up to some great runs. This mountain is still renowned though because of the quality and quantity of the snow it receives. So if you get a chance to try Interior Skiing, I suggest you try it.

Many other mountains exist around the world and these ones I suggest are probably not the best for you considering your location. Try to find a cost efficient mountain that offers lots of runs and has low lift lines for maximum fun. But, the time it takes you to get there is also a factor. Whatever your choice is, the fun of snowboarding depends less on where you are, and more on itself.