Kelly Canyon

Kelly Canyon is where I really learned to snowboard. I had tried boarding in highschool for a ski trip at Buena Vista in Bemidji, MN - but, I was terrible and it went how you would imagine the first day snowboarding would be for anyone. I tried again at Snowbowl, AZ with a few friends from college and I was actually able to board (somewhat)! At the time I was really new to it and, like any new boarder, I had some doubts about how long I would be sticking with the sport; whether or not it was for me.

After returning from my first trip riding with my friends, I bought a used board and bindings from some dude on Facebook for $100. This was back in 2021 and I'd bought a Burton Cruzer 155cm with Ride LS Series bindings from 2006 hahaha … The board is a true twin camber and incredibly stiff; moreso than most of the boards I have now. It was great to learn with, but, I probably did myself a disservice by trying to use it as a beginner.

All of that said, Kelly was a great place for me to learn how to snowboard and I still enjoy it to this day. It has a good mix of green and blue runs (as seen on openskimap.org), but I don't believe it truly has anything that qualifies as a black run - except the side/face of the hill. I have yet to try those runs since the last two seasons have been poor for overall snowpack.