These guys have to be the first people to snowboard Mission Peak ever.
A storm system swept through California this week, dumping not only rain but snow in parts of the Golden State that haven’t historically seen snow since at least the 1970s.
Bay Area resident Solon Yiu had a snowboarding trip planned for this weekend (Feb. 25, 2023) up to Tahoe with a handful of friends but, with news that roads would be clogged with unprepared drivers all trying to make their way up to the Olympic Valley, they canceled the trip and pivoted to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Hearing that Mission Peak, a popular mountain peak and hiking trail located east of Fremont, California, received a dusting of snow up top, Liu and his friends planned to hike up to the top early in the morning and shred the Diablo Range for as long as they could.
Liu, who goes by @SalonKindaTakesPictures on Instagram, along with his friends @RaxNoCap and @Juseo successfully hiked the three miles to the top of Mission Peak, unclipped their boards, and snowboarded the popular Bay Area mountain perhaps making them the first people to snowboard Mission Peak…ever.
Liu shared his experience with @JackFroot, his video and experience posted below.
Here’s a mountain top photo of the risk-taking trio.
According to @RaxNoCap, they started their hike up to the top around 5:15 AM.
“Upon arriving to the outhouse near the peak, we were blessed with the sight of white mountain tops! We proceeded to spend hours atop the peak area, having fun riding down the slopes repeatedly.” Liu captioned his video.
Total trip time from bottom to top and back again (snowboarding included) was around eight hours, which, from their captions, wiped them out!
“Definitely worth the intense climb, but ngl (not going to lie) my legs were cramping so bad when we went to go eat hotpot after that…” @RaxNoCap comments.
Several @JackFroot followers commented how the snowboarding looked less than ideal, which to them I say you’re missing the point.
According to the SF Chronicle, the last time it snowed, like really snowed in the Bay Area was 1976, that’s 47 years ago.
Anyone can board up in Tahoe, but how many can claim they’ve snowboarded Mission Peak? Not only that, that they were one of the first to do it?
As of this blog post, only three people can, and that’s more than worth a cancelled Tahoe trip and sub-par boarding conditions.
