Flying High Again
By Alberto Muro
The season of winter sports returns to the state of California, and just in time as popular resorts have received reports of heavy snow during the beginning weeks of November. In Southern California, a popular resort known as Mountain High opened its doors to the public on November 13.
Employees at Mountain High were at the entrance greeting people with a smile. Although booths were open for season passes, tickets, and lift tickets, they remained empty since a majority of people arriving came prepared, and without hesitation lines to the lift filled up.
Since it was opening day at Mountain High, a DJ was spinning music which in a sense gave people their own soundtrack to race down the mountain. Despite being considered a safety hazard, some riders already came with their own headphones.
Taft College student Jose Salamanca looked forward to the snowy conditions at Mountain High and kept up to date with the weather reports. Jose says he has been snowboarding for 3 years, and this will be his fifteenth trip to Mountain High. Prior to the opening day, Jose said he could not wait to test out his new board, “I have just ordered my board last month, and have been anticipating to test out the durability of it.”
When asked about the fundamentals of snowboarding, Jose mentioned his previous experience with boards, “Snowboarding to me shares its similarities with skateboarding which helped me greatly adapt to the environment; I mean even the falls share the same pain aspect.” It was surprising to see the toll that falling in snow had, and Jose did not let a botched landing ruin his day by the look of his bloody smile he was ready for more.
Snowboarders were not the only people scaling down Mountain High. Fans of skiing also took to the slopes and maneuvered carefully down the mountain, and just like the snowboarders, they too had smiles on their faces. The Mountain High experience is inexpensive and is a great environment for people to learn about winter sports.