I really love surfing. And I definitely love skiing. I only kind of love snowboarding. But love is still love, right? And that first love, surfing, completely blows my affection for the latter two out of the water. But that’s just my preference. And every time I’ve ever woken up in the mountains to find a new foot or two of beautiful, fluffy, untouched snow, my heart’s sunk a little. Sure, two feet of snow in one night is a gift from the Gods. Time to wake up and make first tracks and all that jazz, sinking to my armpits in powder through every turn. But I have to admit that deep down I would always rather be surfing. And living in California means there’s a good chance the same storm that just puked snow everywhere is probably also making head high barrels back home. It’s not an exact science, but always a possibility. And that possibility is enough to take me away from the moment at hand and long for waves.
Martin “McFly” Winkler doesn’t have that same dilemma though. He lives in a landlocked country, so God knows why he has an old surfboard hanging up in his garage in Austria. His options are ski…and ski some more. But you know what? If I were hanging out with Marty and we woke up to two new feet of snow, I’d run straight to the garage and grab that surfboard too.
