Paul Holding

Me and my girlfriend, Angelita, out touring

Well…. how best to start this. Easy, I suppose…… I love the mountains, especially when they’re covered in snow and love to board down them even more. Most of all, I love having to climb them to board down.

I don’t know why I prefer the backcountry to the resort. Perhaps it’s the fact that it’s just me and my friends (most of the time!)  as opposed to the rest of the world or the lack of tracks or the complete peace and quiet or the reminder that the mountains can be a scary place which is so often forgotten when you’re skiing in resort or just the sense of satisfaction that you have done it on your own two feet.

So…..after obsessively reading a selection of other ski orientated blogs and the fact that everyone and anyone seems to have a blog these days, I thought I would join the club. I’ve always been a little sceptical of blogging. As much as we might like to deny it, there is an element of “look at me!” involved with these things which has always put me off (but secretly I’m probably  just as bad as the next man!! Haha!) but I’ve really found others’ useful for route finding, conditions, general inspiration and Stoke. So another blog about me and skiing to put in the mix cannot be all bad.

Being an English man and living in a country with unpredictable snowfall and small hills, the proverb of Mohammed and the Mountain was quite apt. I realised they wouldn’t come to me, so went to Chamonix, France for my first season in 02/03 where it was inevitable that I would end up getting into snowboard mountaineering. I’ve ticked off a fair few of the classics but the list is never-ending. I’m now into season 6 and a half (don’t ask!) and currently in Revelstoke, BC, Canada exploring the local Revelstoke Mountain and Rogers Pass. So, this will be the start of my blog….(half way through the season. I told you I was sceptical about these things.). Currently nursing frost bitten toes, so have a fair bit of time on my hands to get this thing started.

My home when not snowboarding is Oslo, Norway with my girlfriend.

Happy reading and hope you enjoy.

Paul Holding (24th February 2010)

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