For sentence immemorial , a lot of people have argued that the ability to go surfing and snowboarding in one Clarence Day is what makes Southern California so gravid . But permit ’s be dependable : it ’s something a lot of mass talk about , but no one ’s ever really done . So when the chance came up for me to give it a shot … of course I said yes .
Well yes , with caveat : I have never surfed before , and the last time I went snowboarding was about 10 geezerhood ago . There are few masses in the world less furnished to attempt to surf and snowboard in the same day .
So , yep , I said yes anyways .
Jason Hoffman/Thrillist
Full disclosure : it was really Chevrolet ’s idea – the company did this with a grip of closet people – and they even secured us a snake pit of a loss leader : professional surfer Damien Hobgood . As we gathered at Huntington Beach at 6:30am , I quickly realise I was jolly much the only one of us who had never surfed before . Nailed it ! After I attempted to engulf a spry moral from the dudes ofEndless Summer Surf Camp(they were great , but by the end I definitely feel like Jason Segel inForgetting Sarah Marshall ) , we set off to catch up with some wave .
Here ’s the thing about surfing : ohmygod surfriding is so hard . I definitely assumed that the literal surfing part of surfing would be the hardest . But , nope , it ’s the paddling . By the sentence I had paddled my way across the wave to the spot where I was suppose to pop up , my arms felt like they were get going to return off .
And , look – NOT TRYNA BRAG , but at one level I totally have one foot on the gameboard before I wiped out for the billionth time . What can I say ? I ’m a natural jock .
Courtesy of Chevrolet/Erik Isakson
After a duet hour of wiping out while Damien entirely ripped it across every wave , we packed up our appurtenance and got into our motorcar – next period : Big Bear . We loaded up our gear into a fleet of 2016 Colorados , and straggle from Huntington around 11 am . Then we made our manner to Snow Summit ( big shout out to the in - car WiFi , which allowed me to complete a future Thrillist designation on the way up … 2016 is nuts . ) to “ crush some powder ” or “ tear up the gnar ” or whatever hoi polloi that snowboard call it .
It was completely alone and middling special to watch the scene change from city spirit and sea air , to tall pine trees and mountain air . There ’s not a lot of places where you could get this character of experience in such a short space – surely , the rest of California has mountains and beaches , but none as beautiful and picturesque as the beaches in Southern California . And certainly none only two to three hours from the snow .
Further proving the point in time that this whole thing IS possible , we arrived around 2 pm – plenty of time to hit the mountain before it closed at 4 postmortem . Though I had n’t snowboarded in 10 class , I was n’t nearly as horrible at it as I was at surfing . I certainly was n’t as effective as Damien , or , ya have sex , any of the small child that snuff it zipping by me , but I did make it to the bottom of the mountain with all my limbs . Again , NOT TRYNA BRAG , but I only fell down a mere 37 hundred sentence . disconsolate ‘ bout it . I will let in , it ’s safe to say that the grounds I ’m good at snowboarding is because you get to take a ski cosmetic surgery to the top , unlike surfing where you have to battle the force of ten thousand USA as you paddle out to ocean . If I had to go up the muckle on my belly before I snowboard down it , you’re able to bet I ’d be a lot more exhausted .
Courtesy of Chevrolet/Erik Isakson
I did it , though . I took advantage of one of the most incredible reward Southern California has to offer . If you ’ve get the will , the energy , and yes , a truck that can fit all your appurtenance AND push through the snow , it is possible to both breaker and ski in the same day in LA . Even if you do both incredibly badly .
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Wilder Shaw is a even Thrillist contributor who does n’t blame you if you ’re jealous of his natural athleticism . Ask him his secrets on Twitter at @WilderShaw _ and Instagram at @wildershaw
Courtesy of Chevrolet/Erik Isakson
