Our Friends at Powder Magazine Discovered NYC hitting the Slopes!
If you’re a New Yorker with friends in the snow community, you’ve probably had this conversation… You tell a snow scene transplant from out west, a euro from the Alps or a Canadian that you’re heading to the mountain to get your shred on… You receive a confused look and the inevitable, “Can you ski out here? Where do you do? How do you get there?”
Maybe we don’t have the vertical of the Austrian Alps, the annual snowfall of Snowbird in the Wasatch Valley in Utah, or that bottomless JaPOW in Hokkaido. Hell, we even host big destination trips to those spots to take in the goods every year! But we know something that your friend from out of town may not… what we do have on the East Coast is spirit, attitude and an unmatched determination that we can get ours right here at home!
OvRride has long prided our service as having the pulse of the NYC Snow Community we hold so dear. When our friends at Powder Magazine reached out and asked us to snow that scene, we couldn’t wait to show them the ropes! Snow loving journalist, Abigail Barronian joined us with Powder photographer, Nate Abbott for the full OvR “Iron Man” experience (two separate mountains in two day trips).
Check October’s Edition of Powder Magazine for their Article!
We couldn’t be more psyched that Abbie’s article found it’s way into Powder Mag’s “Culture Issue”! There certainly is a culture surrounding the NYC snow scene. Access to the mountains from the inner city has a flavor all it’s own. In her article, Abbie captures that experience with the humor and wonder most skiers and riders from out of town find when they join a regular day trip with OvR.
She writes: It’s 6 a.m. in New York City and I am hungover. A giant billboard emblazoned with a half-naked Calvin Klein model towers over me as I awkwardly carry my skis, boots, and poles to the corner of Houston and Lafayette and blearily wait for a tour bus to emerge from the empty streets.
This is what we do, this is what it takes to be a skier or rider in NYC. Sure enough, it was just another day for the OvR Snow Bus.
We were on our way to Hunter Mountain the weekend after Storm Stella. Promises of fresh snow helped the energy and our friends from Powder Mag were in for some NYC Snow Culture! It just so happened this bus was a “TNF TakeOvR” bus sponsored our home on the UWS, The North Face. A ton of lucky OvRriders would later head home with fresh gear from TNF, and for those who knew that, they were jacked! Everyone on this TNF TakeOvR was also being entered to win a trip on our annual excursion to Jackson Hole. All those forces combined made for a really positive crew.
Abbie writes: We drive through manmade canyons blocking out the dim purple dawn. Uptown near a snowy Central Park, the bus picks up the rest of the days skiers – a motley crew of young adults in varying degrees of dishevelment, one of whom is already wearing his helmet. Huebsch and Rodriguez hand out bagels to those of us who aren’t already unconscious and put on “Lords of the Chicken”, a snowboard film who’s soundtrack is a mercilessly bastardized version of the “Lord of the Rings” score. I pass out and wake up with the snowy Catskills blurring past my window.
When we arrive at the mountain our trips leaders, Omar Rodriguez & Jonathan Huebsch, take care of all our guests, before gearing up themselves to run a couple of laps with Abbie & Nate. Eventually our friends from Powder Mag head off discover more of Hunter Mountain with fresh eyes, chronicling their findings. For those of us who get after it at Hunter alls the time, we know the culture gem that is a Hunter Mountain Saturday. A lazy lap down Belt Parkway, some bump runs out on Hunter west and all the lift lines you can handle! (Sure… some folks are in jeans, wouldn’t be Huntah without em). Abbie’s article makes a solid assessment, “At Huntah, the lift lines will drive you crazy. The bump lines will keep you sane.”
“If you can ski Hunter Mountain, you can ski anywhere” – Johnny Drama
After another day in paradise, our crew starts gathering around the bus for the OvR Apres Hour. That particular day Coney Island Brewery was hosting the apres scene and the Coney hallmark pilsners were on hand to compliment a few games of cornhole and the usual tail gate party atmosphere as our guests loaded back onto the bus. Apres time is a snow community tradition, a time to relax and reflect on a day well spent. The OvR Apres is an experience we hold sacred.
Abbie writes: Eventually we load back onto the bus, beers in hand. Huebsch puts on “Better Off Dead” and we trace the morning’s drive in a state of only slightly greater consciousness than the first time around. I’m feeling the giddiness and well being of a hard-earned ski day in the books, and wonder if there’s something of a ski town life to be had in New York, after all.
Abbie and Nate were serious weekend warriors, flipping the night and doing what we call the “Irom Man” (riding a day trip Sat & Sun), in their quest to completely cover the NYC snow community over one weekend. The next day they join us for a Sunday at Windham Mountain. Sure enough it’s another great day on the slopes!
You’ll have to pickup Powder Magazine fast since this is the October 2017 issue. Head to a newsstand or subscribe online to read the full article. It’s worth it, if only to hold as evidence in defense of our NYC Snow Scene the next time that transient friend of yours questions you or casts doubt.
So what can Abbie take from her time on the OvR Snow Bus?: Some of the best parts of skiing – the open mindedness, the freedom, the willful disregard for anything other than having fun – can be found in New York. They just look a little different than what I’m used to.
What should you take from this?
DON’T MISS THE BUS!!!
The OvR Snow Bus Returns 11/11 Running till the snow melts in 2018!