Words: Jamie Trayer
Photos: MacKenzie Hennessey
This past Sunday, February 8th, marked the second Ladies Ride Day of the season hosted by Darkside Snowboards and Burton Snowboards. If you haven’t heard, you’re hearing it now; the east coast is getting smothered with gifts from Mother Nature and the event went down on one of the best snow days of the year at Killington Resort, VT.
The winters seem to go by so fast… sad to say this winter seems to be flying by too. Let’s be real though, who can complain with all the fresh snow these past weeks?! So, what better way to make your days count than a day spent with a group of fellow lady riders! Last season’s Ladies Ride Day (LRD) was graced with endless sunshine.. this year, endless pow.
The group met at Darkside Snowboards in Killington at 10 AM. Some new and familiar faces filled the shop that morning. Everyone was eager to catch up with friends, meet new people, get some fresh turns and snack on some delicious home cooked food. Among the crowd were Burton’s own LRD veterans, Clarissa Finks and Lesley Betts, who brought along an awesome crew of ladies: close friends and some co-workers from the BTV Burton Flagship Store. Before we knew it, it was time to send it to the hill!
With the largest turnout yet, there was some question if we could keep this group of hard charging ladies together on the mountain, but boy did we succeed. From top-to-bottom K1 Gondola runs, notorious Stash and Dream Maker park laps and who could forget the free-refill glade runs on Bear Mountain – we did it all. It was a cold one but every soft turn was worth it. We rode until last chair and rendezvous back at Darkside for après.
The smell of home cooked food filled the shop air as we filed in to unwind and reenergize. Billy and Teeta Langlands, founder and owners of Darkside Snowboards knew exactly what to cook up after a long day of riding. Some ladies even brought their favorite après dish to share! The rest of the afternoon was filled with smiles and laughs, talking about the awesome day and plans for future gatherings. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that this couldn’t happen on the regular – and that’s no lie.
For this season, Darkside and Burton plan to host two more Ladies Ride Days. If that doesn’t make you want to dance your pants off, I don’t know what will. So mark you calendar’s, we’ll see you at Darkside Killington at 10 AM on Friday February 27th for a ladies ONLY rail jam in the Dark Park and again on Sunday March 15 at 10 AM to say hello to the first turns of spring days!
From all the ladies, a big thanks to Mercedes Ortega for hooking the day up with Burton demos! Thanks to everyone who made it out, Burton, Darkside, etc, etc..
We hope you can join us for another awesome day of fun and riding!
