Prelude to a Challenge

Well, the snow finally has begun to accumulate on the mountains of Washington State. Beginnning this weekend, the challenge is on. In case you don't know me, my name is David Schor, and I'm a snowaholic. I became an avid snowboarder over the course of the amazing 2005-2006 season in Oregon, and was the first person to finish the inaugural Ski Oregon Challenge. Not being one to repeat myself, I am moving northward to take a stab at the inaugural Ski Washington Challenge. The challenge? To ski or snowboard ten of the fourteen ski areas in Washington in one season. Last year, I boarded all eleven ski areas on the Oregon Challenge, completing the circuit on February 19th. This year, I plan to get an early start on the Washington areas, and the huge snow dump this week will help me get a jump on the circuit.

This weekend, I plan to make the trek to Mount Baker and Crystal Mountain, Washington to begin what will be, at minimum, a ten resort circuit to complete the challenge. Depending on my mood and finances, I may expand my horizons to take in the four additional areas on the Ski Washington list, but for the time being, I am focused on completing the basic challenge. Two of the fourteen (Powder Cats and Heli-skiing) are prohibitively expensive, and may be outside my budget for this year. We shall see. I am doing my best to minimize the costs of completing the challenge by sleeping in my Honda Civic (something which I have some experience with), and visiting two resorts per weekend, in order to reduce travel.

I will make an effort to keep this blog up-to-date with my progress. Look for an update after this weekend's excursion - I may even post pictures..