You might be considering a snowboarding trip to Cypress Mountain in North Vancouver, British Columbia, before the winter breaks in March or April. After all, Cypress Mountain will host 2010 Olympic snowboarding events. The Olympic Alpine skiers, unlike the lowly snowboarders, get to head north to Whistler. Cypress Mountain is no Whistler, but still, it's a neat and high-class place.

Your question, in considering a 2009 snowboarding visit to Cypress Mountain, is double-edged.

The pro side: Cypress Mountain will be an exciting place to go in coming months, crackling with Olympic snowboarding preparations. Wouldn't it be great to have a chance to see what the world's best, the Olympians, will see in 2010?

The con side: Cypress Mountain will be all messed up because they are getting ready for the Olympics, carving up the grounds with bulldozers and making a cool vacation seem merely inconvenient instead.

The short answer seems to be, for snowboarders, that the "pro" side seems superior, and that you should consider a Cypress Mountain visit.

You would feel differently if you were a freestyle skier, because the Cypress Mountain freestyle venue is closed this winter, except for Feb. 9-10, when the Canada Post Freestyle Grand Prix will take place. This is a major World Cup event, and so the first half of February would not be a good time to schedule your snowboarding vacation.

However, Cypress Mountain snowboarding facilities are not closed in a similar fashion, except for April 2-6, when the Canadian Nationals Snowboard Championships are slated.

Leaders of Cypress Point had mixed thoughts early in the decade, when the chance to serve as an Olympics venue was offered. A $6 million grant from the International Olympic Committee helped answer that question, putting new lifts and tows in place. Meanwhile, Cypress Mountain has used its own money for a new 45,000-square-foot lodge.

Snowboarding at Cypress Mountain in 2009? Seems that it's worth a try, expecially if you wait until after mid-February.

As for attending those 2010 Winter Olympics at Cypress Mountain, they're from Feb. 15-27. Events for both women and men are halfpipe, cross and parallel giant slalom.

Sources:
http://www.cypressmountain.com/dh.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22995132/
http://www.thenewstribune.com/adventure/v-printerfriendly/story/280156.html
http://nsbsg.com/weeklywindow/?cat=25

Snowboarders have options, and one of the main ones is whether to go off the main trails, or off-piste.

British snowboarder and freelance writer Daniel Elkan explains on timesonline.co.uk: "There's a common misconception - held by skiers, mostly - that snowboarders are happiest when larking about in the terrain park, launching themselves off huge snow ramps and skidding along hard-edged metal railings. Well, that may be true of snowboarders under the age of 20, but it certainly isn't true of me, and of many like me." Elkan goes on to explain how he can do without the deep bruises and broken bones.

If it sounds like Daniel Elkan isn't too hot in the half pipe, draw your own conclusions. Still, many other snowboarders are following his path toward getting away from the beaten path. This is enough of a phenomenon that the folks at the legendary Chamonix resort in eastern France have felt compelled to issue due warnings.

The most importance sentence from Chamonix is: "There is an extremely high number of deaths in Chamonix each year, don't ski stupidly, your life depends on it."

Equally ominous is the urging at Chamonix to hire a guide if you desire to go off-piste: "If you think the price is a bit steep, just consider the price of a rescue and/or a coffin, and the decision will be obvious."

Ho-key, doe-key, we get the point!

Our advisers at Chamonix further tell us that off-piste snowboarding should not mean that you duck under the ropes and go outside of the resort's official area. Instead, off-piste means that you go off of the regular trails within the bounds of those ropes. At any major resort, there are plenty of places with this so-called virgin snow, and the resort's ski patrol will be looking out. In fact, you should tell the ski patrol what you're doing ahead of time.

Daniel Elkan wrote about his off-piste experience at Ischgl, in Austria, with one of his buddies. Chamonix says you should have at least two pals with you. Each should have a transceiver, which helps people find you if you are buried in an avalanche. The group should also bring shovels.

You also should check regularly on snow conditions, not just in the morning, because they can change by the hour.

Don't follow somebody else to a location just because you think they know what they're doing.

Our Chamonix author concludes with a somewhat political flourish: "Remember that skiing on- and off-piste in Europe is at your own risk. You will not be able to sue anybody for anything; this is Europe, judges have brains. You will be charged a hefty fee for any type of rescue, so ski safely."

Sources:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/specials/ski0809/article4744804.ece
http://www.absolutemotions.com/Newsletter/Cham/off_piste.htm