The first snowfall is still a few months away, but it's almost time to start planning how you'll spend your winter. Last year we sent SBC staffer Rob Scruton to check out a backcountry tour with NBS Snowboard Shop out of Winnipeg. Here's what he came back with. Both words and photos are by Rob Scruton.

At the bottom of my first real backcountry run, my legs are burning, my lungs are throbbing and my heart is pumping. I look back up the mountain to see bluebird skies and the evidence of avalanches not far from my line that's now cut deep into the soft Purcell Mountain powder. Now I understand why my friends and co-workers have always said to me (an east-coast shredder who has never ventured west of Windsor, Ontario), “You’ve never been riding out west? Then you haven’t experienced real snowboarding!”

Not a bad way to get a first taste of “real snowboarding.”

Real snowboarding came my way in a fairly organic and simple way. I had heard Jay Jennings, the owner of NBS Snowboard Shop in Winnipeg, and Steve Trybell of Sunset Resorts Condo developments had been running a yearly tour out to the wilds of western Canada for the past five seasons, and were in the planning stages of their next trip. Over a couple of beverages one night, Jay and Steve came up with the idea of getting a crew together to embark on a five-day trip to ride the sort of thing Manitobans (Manitoba-ites?) might never get to experience, thus the “NBS Snowboard Tour” was born.

Jay Jennings.

For this sixth edition, the tour was slated to hit Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, Revelstoke Mountain Resort and Sunshine Village. My odyssey got off to an ominous start when my snowboard bag didn't get off the plane with me in Winnipeg. I was freaking out, and frantically explained to the woman from the airline that my bag was missing. After the most nonchalant response, I left the fate of my gear (and possibly the fate of my trip) in the hands of the airline, and headed to NBS to meet up with the rest of our crew. While waiting for our bus to arrive, I made a few calls to the airline and managed to get my gear located. It would be waiting for me when we arrived at our home base in Canmore, Alberta. Crisis averted.

Once everyone piled onto the bus, we were off on our 15-hour journey to Canmore. Now, for a bus trip this long you must consider two things; If you can’t get a solo spot, the person you pair up with makes a big difference, and absolutely no number twos on the bus! Looking out the window I made a few observations on our journey to God’s country: 1. Mountains are big (duh). 2. Calgary looks like God puked suburbia everywhere. 3. The Canada Olympic Park in the middle of Calgary is rad!

The view from our condos.

We arrived in Canmore at 11 a.m. on the day after our departure. Everyone looked a little haggard, but our spirits were still high. After we got settled, we headed to the common area for what would make some of the younger members of our crew quite ravenous, the product giveaway. NBS got tons of product from their brands, and everyone on the tour came out with a huge smile on their face.

A veritable plethora of prizing.

Once the gear was handed out, we were treated to an amazing steak dinner barbecued by Steve. He claimed they would be the best steaks I’d ever had, and I can say he wasn’t far off! With everyone sufficiently stuffed it was time to relax for a bit and get ready for the day ahead of us.

Now this is prizing, thanks Chef Steve!

We were all feeling a little tired on Saturday morning, but the excitement on everyone's face was clear when we pulled into Kicking Horse's parking lot to find bluebird skies and a fleet of snowmobiles waiting for us.

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort.

I made my way over to the Rocky Mountain Riders shed with the other riders who would be heading to the backcountry, while the rest of our troupe made their way to the resort for a day of lift-accessed shredding. Once we picked up our packs, grabbed our lunches (pulled pork sandwiches!) and listened to our guides' instructions, we were all anxious for our day in the Kicking Horse backcountry.

Luke Burley from Rocky Mountain Riders getting one of our guys sorted out.

I didn't have much snowmobile experience heading into the trip, and I quickly found that backcountry conditions don't make handling a sled any easier. Much like my snowmobiling experience, this was my first time out in the backcountry and it was the most demanding riding I have ever done in my life. Riding untracked pow requires a whole different style of riding than I’m used to, and the elevation took my breath away faster than *****.

Some people picked up sledding faster than others.

A recent dump also meant the snowpack wasn’t 100 per cent stable. Debris from three different slides, the last of which came barreling down and nearly swept one of our guys off his feet, fell within 10 feet of us. With everyone safe and sound, we found a new hangout spot and got back to business. A high point of the day was running into pro rider Andrew Hardingham who was out shredding in the area. He was kind enough to spend some time shooting the shit with us and posed for a few pics with some star-struck fans (read: ME!). We wrapped our day up at dusk, and headed back to the base of Kicking Horse to meet up with the rest of our crew for the journey back to Canmore.

Surprise guest appearance from Andrew Hardingham (and Corey "Super Chexx" Martin).

The next morning we loaded the bus at 4:30 a.m. for a “quick” four-hour bus ride from Canmore to Revelstoke where we were again greeted by bluebird skies. However, the snow conditions could have been better. From the top of the mountain to the bottom, one would experience the full spectrum— cold and snowy at the peak, to hot and super slushy at the bottom. That being said, a huge dump of snow the previous day turned the glades into a perfect playground. We were also lucky enough to get some local off-piste knowledge from Pamela, a friend of tour rider Jorge.

The view from Revelstoke.

While lapping the chair, I overheard a group of guys talking about how rad, and how amazing of a shop owner, Jay Jennings is. I have to agree with them. It takes a lot of effort to organize a trip like this, and for six years Jay has done an amazing job. Tired and happy after another full day, we all loaded back on the bus for the trip home.

Jay adding the exclamation mark to the comments I heard on the chair.

The final day of riding would happen at Sunshine Village, thankfully only a short 45-minute bus ride away. Again we were blessed with bluebird conditions and, as a bonus, a delicious buffet breakfast courtesy of the amazing people at Sunshine. Since I had already covered backcountry, glades and groomers on the first two days, I figured it would be a good idea to complete the trifecta with a day in the park.

The Rogers Park at Sunshine Village.

I was not disappointed. Sunshine's park is broken up into two sections with tons of features to hit. The key here is that everything was built perfectly. There wasn't a sketchy takeoff or landing to be seen, and a wide assortment of features made it easy to spend the whole day there. One of the more apt riders in our group threw down a massive 900 over a 70-footer, while another friend of Jorge’s showed up and threw down the biggest backside Rodeos I have ever seen on the same jump. With our final day in the bag, we piled back on the bus to Canmore for the last time.

With this being the last night of the trip, some of he crew decided to go out with a bang. And when I say bang, I mean with some terrible karaoke performances at Canmore's local watering hole The Drake. Highlights of the night included a rendition of Bon Jovi's “Wanted Dead or Alive” sung by yours truly, that I’m sure played out like the talent show scene from Family Guy. Look it up, have a laugh. Speaking of laughs, tons were had and some solid bonds were made between great people on an amazing tour.

The closest thing to a group shot we got.

I can’t say enough about Jay and Steve. The effort it takes to put something like this together is beyond comprehension. I will forever be thankful to them and NBS for letting me go west. Thanks to all of the resorts we rode at (Kicking Horse, Revelstoke, and Sunshine Village) and everyone who made the riding possible (NBS, Sunset Resorts Canmore and Rocky Mountain Riders). I believe the trip can be summed up in a metaphor. At some point we were supposed to do a group photo, but it never happened because everyone was having too much fun experiencing new things on their snowboards. So, there may not be group photo T-shirts for this year’s tour, but there sure were a whole lot of unforgettable turns.

Join us next year!

Check out more about NBS and the NBS Snowboard Tour.