Contrary to popular belief, I like snow. Yes, I often talk about my love of tropical islands and far off destinations, but hey…I’m Canadian. While I didn’t grow up skiing, I picked up snowboarding almost twenty years ago. Due to life circumstances and travelling hadn’t gone snowboarding in almost 5 years. I thought I was over it, to be honest, and even had a retirement talk with my best guy friend. Thanks to Burton, I’m back in love with it and hoping to get a bunch of days in this season.

In January of this year, I was invited on a trip to go snowboarding up in Whistler, Canada. I was super excited because I love Whistler. It’s one of my favourite places in BC and in the winter, it’s a paradise for skiers and snowboarders. It’s amazing all year round, to be honest. After accepting the invitation, I went into my storage unit to look for my snowboard gear. I found my board, which barely gets used living in southern California. My snowboard jacket, pants, and everything else were missing. I called my brother to see if I had left my gear at his place or with my dad. He said he didn’t have it. We figured that when my dad moved from his apartment to his seniors home and I wasn’t around to claim my things, he donated it to charity. Sad horns.

I put up a plea on Facebook asking to borrow gear for this trip. My sweet friend Cassie was kind enough to loan me some snowboard pants. My sister-in-law also said I could borrow some of her gear. I went to Uniqlo in LA to buy some of their heat tech thermal gear and I figured I was almost set. But then I received the most amazing message from my dear friend Annie. She works and has ties in the snowboard industry and made a call to my favourite snow brand Burton for me. She hooked up some gear for me!! It was like winning the winter lottery!! I was already leaving for my trip but luckily I live in Los Angeles and there’s a Burton shop right on Melrose Avenue. They sent me over to the shop to pick up some new gear for my trip!! Weeeeee!

If you live in southern California and are planning a snow trip and need gear, the Burton store in Los Angeles is awesome. Depending on the time of year, they pretty much have the whole line to try on and test out. The sales associates are nice, knowledgable, and chill. They even have the cutest shop dog!

Here are some photos:

Burton Flagship Shop on Melrose Avenue

Boards on boards on boards

Snowboard gear heaven

The cutest shop dog!

Trying out the gear in the shop

My first (gasp) helmet!

Party socks!!

Who’s a happy camper on Blackcomb!

Burton head to toe with Olympian Julia Murray, my guide for the day on Whistler!

Some of my favourite apparel and accessories by Burton for this season (similar to mine):

1. AK Flare Down Jacket
2. AK Summit Pant
3. Midweight Long Neck base layer
4. Midweight pant base layer
5. Party Socks
6. Anon Galena Helmet
7. Anon Goggles 

**Disclaimer: Many thanks to my friend Annie for helping me prepare for this trip. And of course to Burton for the gear. As always, opinions expressed are solely my own. **