Words: Xander
If you were to dream up the ultimate snowboarding trip, I’d bet that you’d land on something pretty close to the Baldface experience.
For many snowboarders, Baldface is a rite of passage, a visit to Mecca to marvel in mother nature’s ability to create the perfect snowboarding canvas, and to stand within the walls of those who pioneered riding it. This place holds snowboarding in the highest regard – it celebrates and preserves everything great about our culture, it respects and pays tribute to the people who influenced the sport and, day in day out, serves up snowboarders of all abilities with the best day riding of their lives.
This year, the Baldface Lodge, a short heli bump from Nelson in British Columbia, celebrates its 25th anniversary and, somehow, Transfer lucked into one of the more coveted and sought-after trips of the season – the four-day New Year’s Eve slot – no easy feat considering the multi-year waiting list to score a visit to the lodge. With one of the best December snowfall totals in recent years, 12 powder sticks with the stances set back and a cat-full of charged up first time visitors, Baldface truly dished up the experience of a lifetime.
Here are some notes from the field.
The History
We had the honour of meeting Jeff Pensiero, the founder and owner of Baldface, during our trip and I think the best way to describe him is a snowboarder first, nice guy second and entrepreneur third. Meeting Jeff is like meeting your mate’s cool dad – he has a youthful energy, a welcoming presence and a wicked sense of humour with a story similar to many of those in snowboarding – a combination of a fierce passion for the sport, an ability to see opportunity, foster relationships and double down on a healthy dose of calculated risk.
The best way to understand and appreciate his story is to listen to his Bombhole Episode. In this interview, Jeff discusses his relationship with Craig Kelly, building a team and a business, listening to the local community, dealing with setbacks, the Natural Selection contest and lots more. It gives a lot of context to the significance of this place, and is well worth a listen.
The Lodge
Stepping foot into the lodge is like an acid trip at the best snowboard museum you could imagine – an over stimulation of fandom and nostalgia as your eyes jump erratically from wall to wall to take in the array of rare and iconic snowboards, prototypes, artworks, photographs, signed posters, tributes and memorabilia mounted thoughtfully in every nook and cranny of this beautiful log structure. You can feel that the walls are full of stories, you see markings of your favourite snowboarders being here before you, and you just know that this is a special place.
More clubhouse than bougee ski lodge, your first stop is the bar where you’re greeted on a first name basis by your best friends for the next three days and issued with your first of many forms of hydration for the trip. You then marvel at the entire Mike Parillo x Burton Balance collection perched above the floor to ceiling windows, Trevor Andrew’s neon 43 sign in tribute to Ken Block and a Supernatural poster signed by every single one of your favourite snowboarders.
You melt into the leather couches as you watch world-famous surfers play ping pong, stare out the window and mind surf lines in the distance and listen to the distant groove of someone getting stuck into Jeff’s vintage guitar collection.
If Jeff is the cool Dad, Operations Director Mia is the even cooler Mum – and during our first dinner sitting she beautifully and eloquently performs her welcome address – equal parts spiritual and informative.
And perched thoughtfully on the adjacent ridge, appropriately overseeing the whole structure, is Craig’s Cross – a tribute not only to Craig Kelly, but also, I came to learn, a symbol of remembrance for many other friends lost in the mountains.
The Riding
Finding it difficult to articulate with adjectives when people ask what the riding is like at Baldface, one term frequently came to mind – video game. The description kept coming up run after run as you picture yourself as a character atop an untouched canvas of hits, drops, hips, banks and berms, scattered amongst perfectly gladed trees and playful fall lines – so idyllic that you think it could have only have been created by coders for a level in Amped 2.
With storm after storm loading up the tenure since early November, Interior British Columbia’s famously dry snow, consistent low temps and lack of stripping winds allowed the snowpack to build into one that was deep enough to fill in, yet low enough to keep the terrain featured.
The riding is advanced, but not overly intimidating – any rider who has a reasonable understanding of turning in pow can master the runs at Baldface, with the best tip I heard being “ride at 80% speed, stay light on your feet and trust the gaps in the trees”.
Averaging around 10 laps a day, it’s truly luxurious snowboarding as you’re greeted at the bottom of a run with a joke from your cat driver – back leg quivering as you ascend into the warm cat-cabin where blaring music and delicious sustenance packed into YETI coolers offers a brief respite before going up and doing it all over again.
The Crew
It’s hard to get one mate to commit to a snowboard trip, let alone 12, and with lots of tire-kickers interested in the trip, it was a select few who took advantage of such a rare opportunity early on, clearing the schedule and locking in the trip. What a privilege it was to ride with 11 other friends – new and old – each with a unique relationship with Australian snowboarding, but all with a shared love of riding pow. Anecdotally, the key to a Baldface trip is to have a full cat of like-minded people with the right attitude and similar riding styles, and I couldn’t agree more.
Our abilities sat somewhere on a scale of weekend warrior to washed-up ex-pro, but what we shared was a common appreciation for the experience, a great sense of humour and a similar approach to riding the terrain. The chemistry was magic, the hoot decibels maxed out and the memories priceless.
The Food
They have a sterling reputation, but we can attest that the kitchen staff at Baldface definitely know what they’re doing. There’s a team of five in the kitchen – each of whom were introduced to us on the final night – and even if you’re not a foodie, you can’t help but appreciate the thought and consideration behind the plates of food served to you each night. The produce is locally sourced, meals are refined without being pretentious and catered to all palates. Highlights for me? The house cured bacon definitely lived up to the hype – especially if you stash some in your jacket pocket, choice anxiety on your packed lunch combo so you just take one of every single thing on offer, a piece of chicken so succulent your brain imploded and a dessert in the shape of a fucking swan!
The Party
What happens and Baldface stays at Baldface – but let’s just say that there are very few other places in the world you’d wish to be on New Year’s Eve. Our little cabin in the wilderness lit up – literally and metaphorically – as roman candles and fireworks set the sky alight and Irish car bombs lined the whole bar at a quarter to midnight.
We were even treated to a set by The Risky Livers, featuring Jeff Pensiero himself, before getting stuck into the festivities, dressed as either a lobster or a mobster, until the early hours when reality hits and you realise that you have to get up to go snowboarding pretty soon.
The rest is a bit of blur honesty.
The Memories
To use an old cliché, it’s difficult to capture the Baldface experience with words – but it’s I stand by that statement when I say it’s truly an experience you will never forget, one that goes beyond just being a snowboard trip and instead brings you a much deeper appreciation for snowboarding and the lifestyle it embodies.
Diving into the history of the lodge and understanding its significance in snowboarding and contribution to our culture gives an added layer of context to the sheer marvel of nature that is the snow and the terrain in the tenure – the combination of which, I believe, is like no other place on earth. Baldface celebrates and respects snowboarding in the most authentic way, preserving what the sport was built on – an unadulterated connection with the mountains.
To snowboard in a place with such a legacy is an incredible privilege, and to share it with 11 (and a half) like minded people who harbor the same appreciation for this place and this lifestyle that we love so much was nothing but an honour.
The best news of all? Transfer has secured a trip to Baldface for another year.
Are you keen to join us? We’re now taking expressions of interest to the 2025/26 New Year’s Eve trip. To find out more, send us a DM on Instagram.
