Well to say that this year has been a little bit of an adventure would be a massive understatement!!! This final trip of 2021 had it all-floods causing fuel restrictions, snow shortages causing tubing trip postponement and a last second audible to a new trip, and bus driver shortages almost causing trip cancellation. However, through persistence and parents stepping up in support of the program we were able to make it up Sasquatch mountain on Friday to enjoy an awesome opening day on the hill. The group of 20 skiers and borders were greeted with great early season conditions. While the snow base on the mountain still has a little ways to go, the snow quality was excellent powder making for an awesome day of memories on the hill. This trip left the group excited for the next trip and was an excellent way for the outdoor education program to finish off the year and get momentum heading into 2022. Outdoor Education students please leave a 100 word blog response below.
Mouat Extreme Outdoor Education 
This trip had huge complications with transportation and I almost didn’t get to go because I couldn’t get a ride. Luckily Mr. Rahe had a spot in his car so I joined him on our way up to the mountain. This was my first day of the season for snowboarding this year and it felt good to be back on the slopes. I felt that over the course of the day I improved, first I had to relearn what I was even doing then I started to improve. The mountain was pretty exposed in some parts as there hasn’t been enough time to fully cover it. I think this was a great first day of the season and can’t wait to get back out there.
Highlights of the day and things you might change for next time?
I really enjoyed the trip either than the long wait for my friends to get rentals but that’s normal for any day on the mountain. The snow was good, it wasn’t to busy and the weather was also very good. With perfect conditions a day on the mountain with friends is one of my favorite things.
My best experience on the mountain that day was when we all got stuck in the powder and it took us like 15 minutes to get back onto the run. Something I would do differently is take the bus but that wasn’t possible that day I’m saying that because once we got to the mountain everything was great.
I’m glad we were able to make this trip happen and that you enjoyed the experience!
It was very fun and exciting that almost never happened and I want to thank Mr. Rahe for all the hard work he put in to make that trip happen. On the trip, I learned how to ski again since I had not skied for two years however it is just like riding a bike and came back to me almost instantly. I am very happy with myself that I didn’t forget anything especially since it was my first time skiing in a while. I wish I had hit at least one black diamond however got too tired and decided it was unsafe to do a hard run. Next time I would definitely do a black diamond and push myself a bit more.
I’m happy that we got to experience an awesome day on the mountain and that you got more comfortable as the day progressed! What were some of your highlights for this trip?
The conditions on Sasquatch Mountain were very favourable. It was super light snow and not too packed. I was surprised to see that it stayed below -5 the entire day since I’ve been on that mountain in the rain. My Dad was able to drive me and my friends and we had a great time hanging out in the car and on the mountain. We were all able to ski the blacks together because we’re all around the same skill level. I do wish that the other chair was open and it did get repetitive skiing the same runs the entire. All in all, it made for a great season opener, and I’m looking forward to going back when both of the chairs can be used.
It’s always a good time when you’re skiing with people who have similar ability levels. What might you change for your next time in terms of your preparation?
Ahhhhhhhh, the first ski trip of the year. This proved to be an interesting trip for many reasons. To begin with, the bus up the mountain got canceled at the last minute so it was a struggle to arrange rides to get up and down the mountain. Caelan and I managed to get a ride up with a friend’s family (huge shoutout to Micah and his dad). The actual snowboarding was great, there was tons of powder and I was able to shred a few double blacks with my friends. We hit plenty of jumps and got some dope board grabs and my goal for this season is to land a 360 out of a jump with a board grab.
Great! Were you fully prepared for the experience or would you change something next time?
Snowboarding at Sasquatch for opening day was very fun! I’d recommend going on an opener day because there is fresh powder and the runs are very smooth. Other than the rentals at the beginning of the day and the food service taking a bit long, it was a very successful day with getting up and down the mountain without a bus. The chair lifts ran quite smoothly and the lineups weren’t even that bad. I would advise this trip to people who want to go next time because its lots of fun and even next time hopefully it’ll be a blue bird day out!
Sounds like you had a good time. Did you learn anything about your boarding while on the mountain?
The ski trip was fun and I was glad that it was even possible to go
,even though there was no bus available. (Thanks to Mr.Rahe at this point)
It was such a good experience especially , because it was my first time skiing in Canada. Skiing was one of the reasons, why I chose to do an exchange year in Canada and it was worth it for sure. There weren’t many people at the mountain so you didn’t have to wait really long to use the lift to go up the mountain ,which was nice. And the people, which went on the trip were also really nice, so it was easy to find a group to ski with. One thing I learned never ski without a partner except you want to be stuck in the middle of the trees not knowing where you are.
Sounds like you enjoyed the experience. Anything you might change for next time? I’m also thankful that I didn’t lose you on that last run lol!!!
First day of the season for me, went in completely expecting to be as good as I was before…oh how I was wrong. I forgot that you could get rusty over the year and so I had a good laugh once I realized I wasn’t as good. I still had a really great time, the snow was good and the weather was really nice. Highlight of the day was going down a hard run with some of the German exchange students I hadn’t gone with last year (some funny falls and moments). Could’ve been better for me if I picked a lesson more suited to my ability level but otherwise everything went very well.
Yes it definitely takes a little bit to get back into the flow of riding down the mountain!
Wow where do I even start. This trip was an absolute blast from start to finish. The powder was fresh, the weather was ideal(not raining and not freezing cold, just right). We did run into a few issues, the first being that the bussing got canceled. Luckily I hitched a ride with young legend Micah Toews and his father and Jacob Kwan. It definitely took me a bit to get back into the “carve” of things if you catch my drift.(LOL get it cause you carve on a snowboard LOL) After some intense warming up, me and the bros caught some sick air and absolutely smashed some double black diamond runs, dashing down the mountain on sheets of marvelous powder. This time I actually remembered to bring a hydra-pack and this was such a great idea, I stayed hydrated all day long. I also chummed it up with some of the German exchange students which was lovely to socialize with them and I learned a lot about their culture. As I hoped back into Micah’s truck, yes I was exhausted but wow I had just had an incredibly epic day on the mountain. Thank you Mr.Rahe! If I were to do anything different next time, it would be to wax my board sooner than the night before at 11pm because then I would be way less tired on the slopes.