Almost October

[DJSapp]

...the most hated of the months. No more summer, not quite winter, no tiny patches of snow left to hike to. All we can do is sit around, watch the leaves turn and hope that damn pacific high pressure will break, allowing the Alaskan pipeline to come roaring in announcing the opening of another season. October is like being held in a hostage situation, nowhere to go, nothing to do but sit in quiet reflection, thinking about every move you will make as soon as you get out. Out into the snow, up onto the lifts, the freedom that comes when October finally releases us from its clutches. But those thoughts are simply a daydream, a diversion to keep us from the reality as we sit helpless in this devilish month.

Our favorite stores begin pulling the leftovers from last year out, dusting them off and setting them on the shelves, taunting us with the hopes that the snow will soon fly. Friends begin rummaging through closets and garages selling of whatever they can find that they no longer want, so they can run out and buy more gear. Quivers are reviewed; cuts and additions are made based on front porch weather forecasting to determine if this will be that one epic season. Films and magazines begin showing up in our mailboxes, highlighting the actions of our heroes during the past year, leading the individual to promise him or herself to push their own limits during the next season.

Entering into October, our biological clocks trigger some basic, almost primal, emotion within ourselves drives us into that corner of the garage to begin the sacred ceremony of scraping off the summer coat of wax. Soon the files and iron are excavated out of the toolbox which was buried under a pile of camping and hiking gear. Rust flying and wax smoking, the garage bound mad scientist tromps around in ski boots, brewing up his plan to dominate the mountains. Rose gardens soon turn into beacon practice fields, complete with garden gnome victims strewn about and desperate rescuers probing the soil, trying to find their ceramic friends. Onlookers attempt to make sense of what they are seeing, but most write it off as some kind of inspired lunacy; while a brother in arms looks and understands exactly what is going on. Out from months of hibernation, a skier has awakened, and is hungry.

[guermo]

Guess you weren't in Tahoe last october!!

[mrryde]

October kicks September's ass IMO

[CS]

Actually, October is one of the best months to get on a bike or tie into a rope. I dig it.

[Superstar Punani]

What are you...ON DOPE?

Late Sep / Oct / Early Nov fuckin RULES because the summer shitty surf is gone, and we get a taste of consistent solid groundswell. Fuck! I've blown off work three afternoons this week to score anything from 4-8 foot good shit, and I can actually enjoy my waves without the guilty feeling that I'm foregoing a powder day.

I wish October never ends

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Actually, October is one of the best months to get on a bike or tie into a rope. I dig it.

Absolutely agree. Getting tied up on a bike with ropes rules.

[Skip Dooley]

I can already smell the woodchips burning.
Oct. stomps September.

[Beaver]

One word.


Octoberfest.

[boarderline]

Speak for yourself, October rules. We get our first pow turns toward the end of October. Remember Brighton on Halloween '04?

[guermo]

we had super deep pow in early october in tahoe last year - squaw even opened in late october..... I think I boarded 15 days or so that month , quality stuff!

[Xover]

october frickin' kills it from cooler weather to the leaves changing to crowd free national parks to ski movie premieres to skiing pow, pow on Halloween.

get a clue jackass

[cj001f]

Late Sep / Oct / Early Nov fuckin RULES because the summer shitty surf is gone, and we get a taste of consistent solid groundswell.

Yup. My break has been better the past couple days than with the overhyped south swell.

[Trackhead]

october frickin' kills it from cooler weather to the leaves changing to crowd free national parks to ski movie premieres to skiing pow, pow on Halloween.

get a clue jackass

You mean, get a clue, ya wanker.

I agree, I love October for every reason everybody else stated.

[Xover]

^ batter up in the Toledo thread bizaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatch

[Barnballs]

HOMETOWN FAIR BEER GARDEN!

[DJSapp]

Hmmmm, oh well. I guess I'm the only person in the universe who can't stand the anticipation of actually skiing again. Sure, October is great for many other things, but they are things I've done all summer. Time for something different, October is the end of some things, and the begining of others.

And btw, the October storms in Tahoe last year were a fluke. I was there, and everyone knew it was a very unlikely occurance.

[yogachik]

HOMETOWN FAIR BEER GARDEN!

I'll be there this year - and my buddies are having their annual post party - I expect to see you there this year, BB.

And DJ? You're wrong. October rules. The air is crisp, we get that final heatwave of the year that signals an immediate (and sudden) turn to cold. I love the smell in the air, the anticipation, getting my gear together, changing my closet from summer to winter...

btw, I just returned from an annual ritual - checking out the new gear at ZJs, studying every zipper, color, weight...figuring out what I'm a gonna get.

[lemon boy]

hunting, the perfect antidote to the skiing jones.

[guermo]

yeah i guess your right about tahoe octobers... I've had probably six or seven good ones in the last 15 seasons here... but for sure last year's was the best! Keep up the positive attitude bud!

[Arty50]

no tiny patches of snow left to hike to

Hmmm...on my flight from LAX to RNO last week, I saw plenty of patches of snow. I saw lots of boobies too, but that's another story.

[HyRUPz]

Yes ... October ... time to ski the strips of horror in CO - note to self AVOID WEEKENDS, carnage abounds on Abazin and Luvland

I happen to like Oct though ... Halloween is pretty cool, bridge to Nov.

[JibKing]

I bet you're glad you spent the time to post that. Don't you know by now that you can't voice your opinion on here?

[tuffy109]

weren't we still skiing like 2 weeks ago?

[Buster Highmen]

Absolutely agree. Getting tied up on a bike with ropes rules.

Whooeeeee, what a fetish!

But anyway, I like October. It's like foreplay. To be savored, teased, lived in the moment. Because we _know_ the good stuff is imminent.

[freshie247]

Change in the weather,change in the weather,

somethings happin here.