My buddy finished the fails and bails of our Mammoth season. He really does amazing edits... enjoy! 

-b

isn't it crazy how quickly our bodies fall out of condition?  When I do not surf for 10 days it feels like I haven't paddled for 10 years.

I hurt myself again on Sunday...same knee   Luckily no broken bones it looks like and on crutches for 2 weeks.  For some reason I know a ton of people who hurt themselves this weekend at Mammoth.  Besides myself I know 3 others.  One was in our group and he broke his collar bone.

 

The stuff off dana plateau was visible from where we camped, it's rad.  From the top they looked like a lot of fun (but scary) and we didn't think we were committed enough for the mandatory hike back out.  We also watched a couple groups shred Solistice couloir.  The picture below is Mt. Dana, with Dana couloir on the left.  You can't see any of this stuff until you get back there a bit.  Solistice is just on the right, not visible here, and looks great.  

There is an-apparently easy way to hike up to solistice from another parking area, then shred down to the bottom of Ellery either leaving a car or bumming a ride.  I'd probably opt for that next time.    

This was one of the bigger mountaineering-like trips I've done, the visuals out there are so cool.  I was mostly gripped and puckered the whole time but it was worthwhile.  

-b

last year we had a late bit of snow but mostly just up higher.. got about two feet around this time.  this year, this is out of the ordinary, but still not too surprising I guess

-b

That snowboarder did us proud.

Quickie solo sesh this afternoon at Mt. Rose following a hearing in south lake tahoe, worked out nicely.  I went "suit to shred" very efficiently.  Spent a couple hours up there before heading back to the office.  They were claiming six inches, and I think they actually got all of that and maybe more.  And you're not usually going to hear me complaining about snow being too light, but that was the case here.  It came in so cold that it was a true dust on crust situation and the super-light powder had almost no cushion to it.  If it keeps snowing though -- and it might -- it could be very nice with a couple more inches on it.  Here's a selfie:

screenshots from slush cup on sunday.  so many good skier falls.  video will be done in a minute.

 

the only snowboarder to make it across

  

88, parka. bluebird, slushy, and slush cup was today.  not as long as last year, but they had a 5 foot drop off a little lip into the 130ft long pond, so there were some pretty awesome crashes.  I filmed it all and am going to put together another highlight video later.

dylan didn't make it across, but he sure looked good.  shaved his hair into a mullet and got rid of everything but the stache

here is the video from last year

-b

the part in the shadow is almost straight up and down and that cornice is enormous. super short run before it bottoms out though, not really something people ride.  you either traverse underneath, or get up on the ridge and cross over that.  either way, further to the left is where it starts to get ridden

day 87.  reported 11" new snow since the last day they were open.. we had blower pow in the morning and spring laps by afternoon.  fun day.

dylan rode haden's 195 nitro swallowtail.  it looked like it charged easy and carved like wild.

screenshot and a sequence

   

-b

Looks like that snow came after all ! :)

Day 37 this weekend at Mammoth. Haven't hit park so it was awesome to lap it with friends and enjoy the nice spring conditions. Here's a solo top to bottom run. I got to try out a couple of new tricks so pretty stoked to get back out there this weekend. 

I'm super jealous! PNW was warm and slushy every day I was out there. 

Stevens Pass was awesome though! Lots of Sidecountry potential....

Because it was so warm there were lots of slides on most south facing non controlled faces. 

-b

It was heavy snow, but it was good up high and we were all stoked about it.  I upgraded to 163 Juice Wagon and it was a great day all around.  Like scorer said (and I didn't put it together that they were the same guides until I saw your post) our guides were unbelievably cool and did a great job showing us the goods.  Apparently they were not concerned about saving anything since we were the last crew out there and hey let us tear up the entire place. It got sticky at the hard deck but we lapped the high stuff.  

That night Matt the Alien gave us an intimate dj set, he was fun to party with but we never got to ride together.  Hopefully I can look him up in whistler some day.  

It continued snowing hard all night and the last day we woke up to an unbelievable pow day.  Finally got to ride our real pow decks and erin was on her FishLTD and I got out the hovercraft for only the second time this year.  Apparently we left the windows open on our original cat (I blame that on the homies) and it was filled with snow so they set up another for us:

They flew in the Canada Burton rep, a guy named Jeff, to tend bar at the party and he spent the day riding with us, another great addition to the group.  JP and one of the homey's showed up in a sled and took 4 or five pow runs with us too, that was cool.  It was still sticky and wet under the hard deck but great up high, if there are any glamour shots from the photo guy I'll share them on here at some point.  Here's one I took from the top near the supernatural course:

Not much else to say except great trip.  I don't know if I'm technically a cat skiier -- splitting is probably more up my alley -- but Baldface is a wonderful operation geared toward snowboarders.  It was unique to have guides on boards, and our entire cat was on boards, and the terrain has a "snowboard" feel to it with bumps and jumps and rollers and easy runouts that I think probably separates Baldface as an entity.  Plus the connection they have with board companies and riders, and snowboard history, is cool.  Anyway, back to work

-b

Anyway, that night we partied in the lodge, had a great dinner and got to know everyone.  In retrospect, meeting a bunch of people from different places, with various stories but who all have a passion for snowboarding (there were a couple skiiers) was probably the best part of the trip.  Other than internet forums I guess I just don't have time to do that enough.  

Although the owner (JP) let me open that one the rest of the pile was removed from the room shortly thereafter.  

In the morning our guides (Mark and Graham, both awsm) gave us a remedial BC safety course and we got out of there pretty quick.  Conditions the first day were spongy, warm spring with what we thought was going to be rain coming in.  The snow was isothermic and sticky under a hard deck, but I can't tell you the level.  Apparently when you ride cat you party in the ride for a while, then get out and ride whatever you're directed toward, and then get back in and do it again.  It was hard to get an appreciation for where exactly we were at any given time.  

The dragon guys were a lot of fun and of course we were "product testing" for them in short order:

But I felt like I had to use my aframes for a few runs regardless:

I have very few riding shots at all, but we did have a photog with a dslr (and actual skills) the last day so hopefully he got some goodies.  Here's Erin getting mad wicked on the day trader:

And then when we got back to the bar it was snowing up high, which amazingly led to two consecutive powder days to end our trip.  I'll post the rest when I get a minute.  

-b

But before that a couple pics from Days 35 and 36 at Whitewater that I couldn't download until I got back:

Erin passing her beacon check in the lodge:

And touring above Wh2O:

This is honestly just a short splitter tour from the top of one of the lifts.  All of this excellent terrain (AND MUCH MORE!) that you can see is easily accessible by hiking out of sidecountry gates.  And I missed it while we were there, but apparently you can get single-lift ride tickets for $15 or something and just ride the chair once and then lap this stuff.  It was full-on spring slushiness while we were there, but would be some of the best riding I've ever seen when conditions are on.  And from what I hear about the west kootenay's, it is usually on all winter long.  

-b

86, parka.  sunny, warm, fast (mostly) and slushy.  ideal spring day.  super fun.

haden

85, juice wagon.  2-3 inches overnight but got up a little late.  fun soft day.

haden, japan with a cut off arm

sam, backflip

haden coming out of a millerflip

   

 

-b

Hope you get a few dumps while you are there!

 

 

-b

brian

max learned backflips

julian

day 82, juice wagon.  5" new heavy snow, fairly wet out, fun day.  filmed with max and his friends which I will mash together later.

brian borrowed my slash ATV.  I told him it's a beast that likes to be manhandled, and jokingly said it would throw him into a tree on our upcoming run... totally called it, as that's exactly what happened.

day 81 today, rode my slash again.  such a ripper.  went fast, turned left and right, swung from some trees.. good times.

day 80 in the sun surrounded by doom clouds. took a couple east laps and then did two quick hikes with dylan for some mellow runs.  there were maybe 2-3 new inches since they were last open on monday, so not really pow runs, but they were smooth and felt great.

couple random clips from the two runs, with dylan eating shit as the opener.  he was claiming front 3 mute, but....

view from the top

a dude I know, hah

 who would have thought I would make this many days.

Again today went out to Blue with the TdotO crew. Spring like conditions, snow was soft, didn't hurt too badly when I fell..lol but I did still hear some cracks and smacks. Either I'm breaking in my board more or something FLux bindings maybe? i'm able to nose and tail press a lot betta IF I went another day more.. I'd probably get in a nose/tail block hahah maybe..
Shout out to FJ5 thanks for waiting and to Lux for the Flux.  Apparently I've progressed quite a bit which is great to hear =D. quite the bitter sweet ending 

I went to Caberfae last weekend, MikeD (from GR) met me there and showed me where all the secret pow stashes are.  Had a great time riding with MikeD.

[TUBE]www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar_1xtIDadw&list=UUCYG2QfBb5-141sSBqdHBnQ&index=1[/TUBE]

 

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar_1xtIDadw&list=UUCYG2QfBb5-141sSBqdHBnQ&index=1  if inserting the link to the the post didn't work (as it doesn't usually for me).

-b

-b

Man need some good air time to pull off a Method like that.. I want to get to that too, in time perhaps =p lol

blow up picture too.. haha but I have no office but It would be in my room or somewhere

day 78 with the lady.  fun is fun

I will never be able to do a method that looks as sick on camera as that shot of Spenser up there (and if I did I'd have it made into a Fathead and put it on my office wall for all time)

FJ got some footage of us.. its in the other thread there something call amateur Sierra footage?

I was expecting to ride the whole day 9-9 but turned out there was no night riding anymore so it ended around 4 which was alright becuase I was done! rode like it was my last day of the season.. and it might very well be.. don't know how much longer things will continue to stay cold. soon things will be melting and turning in to ice and mud puddles.

Time to fly out to Alaska! lol

Amazing year for me. to many of you 8 may not be a lot of days out but for me it was quite a feat. always busy and scheduling was always tight, luckily found some peeps to ride with, so grateful. Looking forward to hopefully another fun filled season next year.

it's the burton juice wagon

we did the same thing yesterday and jerms brought his camera bag. shot of me trying to get better at methods..

If I had been a little closer with the POV this could be in the running for crash of the week on unofficial.  I may have overreacted by yelling "self arrest" but I did think he was going to injure himself.  Tele skis are dangerous

-b

we lapped this run a couple times.  he didn't feel like riding it, so he took the short way down.

Great video - nicely edited, too.  Would love to head up to BC one day.

-b

EDIT: Rad vid scorer, I just decided I'm taking my hovercraft out there in a couple weeks (although I don't expect conditions to be like that, damn!).  I just sent it to my wife, she will be stoked.  Do they have plenty of boards to demo in the shop if I want to ride something else?

And Rob, I'm only highlight #4, seriously?

-b

Rode my 2003 se7en 158T, great board!  Haven't been on that thing for a while, had a good time.  Looks like I'm headed to Sugar Bowl for Sierra Avalanche Center day tomorrow, anybody else up that way?

day 73.. today was sick.  sun, more blower pow, and the girls got to meet lando at his home mountain.  booyah!

Day 11 was friday, the snow was great! it was a little on the warmer side but still nice. pissed some people off who like to barbecue on the side of one of the trails, apparently hitting a jump that they made in the middle of the trail is unacceptable, screw them its a public trail... other than that it was a pretty usual day on the mountain.

Day 12 was sunday, super hot stripped off every layer but my jacket. but it was argueably the second best day of the year, the snow was super soft. They closed off the portion of the mountain we usually like because they had some kind of collegiate race there, watched some it was pretty cool. We rode the other side, i was delighted to see that it was very playful, lots of little bumps and moguls you could just launch yourself off. my friend took a pretty hard hit rocketing off a ledge from the trees, messed up his shoulder pretty good, hes a trooper though finished the day and even took a few laps in the park. overall great day lots and lots of fun. 

day 70 today with zoe and the crew.  charlie party!

Shredded mostly north and east-facing pow in protected areas, but it's heating up so much out there that might have been the last day for blower.  Time to start getting prepared for the corn harvest I guess

-b

Yeah it's Alt-J, kinda digging that (whatever it is) right now.  And I'm bumping this to the next page . . . .  Nice Japow pics NotErwx.  And frankly I don't think you can go wrong with the parking-lot pants-off pics, Spenser, good work.  (kinda makes me miss my durango, to tell you the truth)

-b

day 69 with zoe and her friend valerie.  so fun!  got at least 5" new snow so we had a mellow pow day.  did a little bit of filming and am planning on doing a random mash of all the footage from their 10 days here, but here are some screenshots for now

max sending it (top center to the very bottom)

brian, stalefish

max, back 3

valerie gettin' her sag on after her first day of AK powzer

And last night I put together this video from Terminal Cancer couloir, I hope it meets everyone's approval:

HD link if you're interested:

https://vimeo.com/61399325

-b

Looking forward to seeing the video.

spenserpalooza - let's get it booked!!!

 

 

Just above this spot it was so tight I could barely make any turns: falling leave style is something you always want to keep you in your repertoire. 

 

Sign me up for spenserpalooza. 

 

-b

 

 

I'm on the woodgrain hovercraft as usual, Jeremy on charlie, Noe on her black/pink rome split

Hell's bells, j, I have no idea.  I was just telling my wife this morning that I want to go to Tahoe next year (we're going to Keystone, CO this year) as they were showing scenes from Squaw on a Warren Miller movie that one of my crappy movie channels was showing.  

Okay, cancel that idea, spenser is a dick.

Hahahaha, just kidding.  I don't think anyone would expect you to babysit them and I was being facetious about staying at your place - no one would expect you to put up a bunch of people for an extended stay.  Well, I guess there are some people who are always looking for handouts.  Besides, I have an open invitation to stay with crazy Uncle Jimmy in Haines...

people would have to be totally honest about their abilities before deciding whether or not to come.  it's rad to visit here regardless, but as far as snowboarding goes, you would want to be able to take advantage of the terrain, not that all of it is gnarly, but still.  why spend over $1000 on a trip if you can't make much out of the riding where you're going?  I guess the scenery and experience makes up for it though.

Now there's an idea I can support.  Airfare might be pricey but we can all crash at spenser's place to save a few bucks.

day 67, split up wedding bowl again, with jeremy and noe. bluebird, perfect temp for skinning, and there was some decent snow.  a lot of it was wind affected and crusty, but sections of it were great.

jeremy and noe dwarfed by a cornice

Ashley Call, Lucas, and their skier friend, cutting a cornice

At the top, looking back over the mendenhall valley where the shop is.  Mendenhall glacier and the ice field tucked in the mountains toward the right

Jeremy, with the ocean behind him

Jerms and Noe

In Elko later this week looks like I might get a chance to tick off a line or two in the Rubies with a friend (fingers crossed), and it could have some actual powder.  Will report back

-b

Interesting... don't think I've experienced such snow conditions before.

I can't imagine it without the moisture.

Keep the stoke going!

Good stuff though, thanks for sharing!

65, slash.  sunny laps with haden.

new style, goggles under the clava

spring activities

I had heard about a smoke shack from a friend the other day in the steep woods.  we tried to find it yesterday to no avail, but with the help of another friend found it today.  it's buried and just looks like a roll-over drop in the woods.  dug it out a bit to see inside.. not in the best shape, haha.

in the exposed stuff that was wind affected and in the sun a bit, there wasn't an actual crust, it was... I don't know how to explain it.  it was more dense like wet snow, but without the moisture, and had a "taught" surface probably from wind blowing over it. either way, didn't feel like a crust

is there a crust top layer?

64.  bluebird pow out the ridge on my fish.... today was fun.

rode with my friend jesse.  first chair, thinking of where we wanted to go.  second run, we went all the way out to the right, dropped from the saddle with the big shadow below it, into the sun field.

at the top, facing the back side

max and brian

screenshots

brian and I about to drop in to a steep tree line with no tracks... I wish I could do it over and over and over

slash to turn with the sun lighting it up from behind

brian after the run

after our second run

day 63, charlie again + 6" more snow.  not the best visibility up top but it was fine.  found a couple totally fresh runs through the woods.

Snow quality wasnt that great mostly hardpack and ice. got some fun turns in though. They say a bad day on the mountain beats a good day at work. so yeah ill agree to that. Got pulled over on the way home doing 81 in a 65... luckily the cop was nice and gave me a warning. 

wore the gopro, but I'm always reminded of how underwhelming they are, outside of gnar lines.  oh well.

That looks freaking amazing. 

I'll be hitting up the speed bumps in Wisconsin this weekend.     I'll try and take some pics after the midwest storms we've had the last two weeks.

come with us next year fellas!!

dope!!!

well, the conditions were not what i expected for the weather we've gotten and were getting. it was mainly hard pack. turns out the wind blew all the snow off the mountain, oh well it happens. So we just decided to carve it up, and take some side hits like we normally do. I didnt land one jump all day... something was wrong... i think it was because i lifted this morning, i just couldnt get enough pop to clear the knuckles. overall id give the day a 6. i was not to happy at the end because im getting sick and i just couldnt breathe. im gonna try again for friday, hopefully im feeling better.

wow. pushed and pushed now at day 7, Went to Glen Eden for the first time. conditions were alright, some icy spots at the top but it was okay, the runs were short.  For those who were saying that they have the best park in Ontario.. I think I would have to agree, they have so many different features from small to big.. at least they have a lot of small beginner ones by the looks of it. but $10 to get a park pass for the year? just a way for a cash grab...boo to that.

Rode switch whenever I could here and it was feeling pretty good, I think because I was in some mellow sections and decided to setup my bindings Regular on my directional twin. so that probably aided some. I want to go out some more but  man... didn't wanna say it but it can't be ignored! wallets really taking a toll, but Until next time!

Pretty cool on the day i went ridin Blue Mtn. with lux and fj5 saw someone else riding a stunt and I was like a kid pointing look look, hahah

also saw another stunt when I was riding on Moonstone.. I wonder if its anyone from here.. I had his gear all marked to put up a description but now I totally forget.. just remembered that it was a stunt and it was at moonstone/st. louis think he had Union forces on as well.

here's another angle of the hip from the gopro.  kind of a weird picture, but oh well

but having that much pow to back you up makes it not as bad

I didn't like how these shots turned out at first, but after I put them together it looked better.  Haden sending a backflip

I went off a small little jump and my legs were shaking lol Just look at all the snow there! quite jealous of the conditions you've got spenser

day 60.  unexpected day off so I got to shred, where usually this is the one day they're open during the week that I don't get to go.  one run with jeremy and then I finished the day with phil and haden.

ashley call built a hip in one of the gullies and it's awesome!  perfect for regular foot methods, and you can go over the tree too.

ashley, back 3

bong

   

I only have the ATV and I don't ride park. it would be a great board for booters, but it's on the stiff side so not the best board for all-around park unless you are a best and that's your preference.

the paxson is supposed to be a normal medium flex, and the park is supposed to be a little softer and has camrock which it sounds like you are into.  I think you'd like the park for a park board, or the paxson if you want something a little more solid with more edge bite since it's flat.  not sure why it would feel softer, but who knows.

the park should be quite easy to press.  it's not a noodle like a horrorscope or anything (personally I think when a board gets TOO soft, it's actually harder to lock into a press).  it's medium-soft and with camrock, it should lend its self to all things park/jibbing

had one run with max.  little powzer tree jib.

weather is a little warmer than ideal might be a wet one ) =

but gonna find out in....4hours.

so stoked to rid with my brother!  he has been snowboarding almost as long as I have, but never went quite as much except when we were kids, especially after highschool.  I'm excited that he's going more, and remembering that yes, in fact, snowboarding is awesome and he loves to do it.  I also just love hanging out with that guy.. he's one of my best friends, but we always forget that haha.

it's not actually an inversion, it's just fog that rolled through.  it was clear when we got there, fogging for the first couple chair rides, and then it kinda rolled off to the side and opened up again.  moist land up here!  it's been a very foggy year, hovering around freezing up there.  today's visibility was awesome. we're used to wiping goggles every 10 seconds and riding by brail half the time this year, haha.  so many fog days.

day 58 on charlie again.  4 more inches of lighter snow on top of remnants of yesterday, and clear weather for once!  a little fog rolled through in the morning but it was mellow.

I got to ride with my brother all day, who hasn't ridden much in the last 3 years or so, but he's coming out more this season and remembering why it's so fun.  awesome day... super fun.  I felt on point and strong and charlie was ripping.

we had it all... some powder, some groomers, turning, not turning, high fives, air, slashes, tumbles, a little puking, a couple beers, and good weather.

anyhow back to my day. it was ankle deep powder all day, and there were tons of bumps, and moguls on the groomers to launch off of. so thats what we did... all day... at the top of the run some people had made about a 5 foot kicker where they sit and get hammered all day long... (dont ask me why, but they didnt even have any equipment to get down the mountain.) so they essentially built it for entertainment purposes. well we hit that every time. 2nd to last time i got a little ballsy and decided id try a method. did the trick alright barely got the grab, but messed up on the landing, landed way to far back in the seat, and my stiff ass board which i have such a hard time flexing gave way, and i was not expecting that... so i ultimately wound up washing out. but it didnt hurt bec there was a blanket of pow there . The mittersill backcountry area was actually open today too... lots of fun, got some good turns in the trees, but all the walking really takes it out of you so we only did that twice. Overall great day, its ashame all that pow is gonna be tracked out by 10:00 tommorow. but sunday were supposed to get blasted again so we will see what happens... Ill be up there again tommorow.

lots of pics were taken but i dont have any so i will see if i can have them send em to me.

-b

suicidal thoughts...spencer?  no way he is living the dream

-b

spens - you doing okay?  No suicidal thoughts?  Just checking...

sierra SL is also a contact base so it's exactly the same as the cobradogs.  the SL highback on those is a little softer than the team highback, though.  if you use extra forward lean, the cobra dogs might feel a little more responsive because of the highback, but if you don't use forward lean, those two bindings probably feel exactly the same.

force base is noticeably more responsive than contacts - totally solid on the board, whereas the contact base sits on top of padding so it can flex and move more in relation to the board.  I can't say for sure about the charger base as I haven't ridden them, but they are a carbon-injected atlas base so they should be slightly stiffer than the regular atlas base.  I would guess they are pretty similar to a regular force base when it comes down to it, but they will be lighter and have more padding under foot.

yeah, slash's flex scale can be kinda confusing with the way they have the diagram arranged, haha.  straight is pretty firm, ATV is a hair less firm but still a stiffer board, paxson is medium, and the park is on the softer side of medium, but it's not a noodle like a horrorscope or anything (I would compare it more to a capita indoor FK maybe)

the paxson is totally flat, whereas capita's FK is only flat in the middle and then rockers up right after the binding inserts.  definitely a different ride.  flat feels like a mellower version of camber in a lot of ways, whereas FK is pretty straight forward rocker.  control between the feet, easy presses, lots of natural float in pow, but it's not quite as stable or locked down or any of that.  I have ridden just about every profile out there.  loved FK when I was into it a few years ago, but these days I'm mostly back on full camber and wondering why I went so long without it, haha.  I also really like flat, because it feels very similar to camber in a lot of ways, just a little mellower, but the main thing I like is that it floats more naturally in pow.

paxson is more of a solid mid flex board, while the ATV is on the stiffer side.  paxson is also a true twin, whereas the ATV is a directional twin... twin shape, directional flex (slightly stiffer tail), and a little setback (1" more nose)

no footage or anything, but max was doing some super next level scotty stevens shit

brian started learning backflips

falling on a front 3, haha

haden, back 1 out of the aframe

anyway, rode a little pow/tracked pow in the morning and then followed the dudes through the park.  backflips, hucking bodies, some good slams...

-b

can't believe I made so many days this season. i think this is a record!.

Went to Mt. St. Louise Moonstone again.  This time with my buddy and his GF. conditions were pretty good snow was quite soft, but it was it cold!! feeling something below -30C my hands were not happy. I had to go in and warm them up.  The night before I only had just over 2hrs of sleep and went to the gym that evening so I was exhausted for this trip out.  Some how through the day we split up and couldn't get in touch with each other until near the end of the day.  Rode switch for last half of the day but called it quits because my body was too exhausted to respond and there was a moment where I just stopped thinking and i blanked out for a good 5-10 seconds then I caught an edge and fell.. that hurt and woke me up.

Day 6:

also to be updated. Blue with the Ontario Crew.

*edit* So Lux was nice enough to carpool with me up to Blue Mountain in Collingwood, then we met up with FJ5 and friends at the hill.  It was CROWDED...we were standing in a couple of the lifts for a good 5-10mins before we could get loaded.. good thing a 3ppl chair lift opened that not many people use, either because its old or ppl don't know about it, but waiting for the lift was a lot faster. Lux and FJ5 move pretty quick..I have to ride my goofy to keep up with their switch!  Conditions were pretty good, but some spots were just ICE, that was scary and Happy valley a green run had this triple hump right off the bat of the run.  That's just a trap to get a pile up going, luckily i managed to absorb the jump, otherwise I would have fell for sure. Got pretty cold as the day went on into night, started to work on my switch again, and still not comfortable. I gotta go on a day where my body is fully rested and properly warmed up to go all out working on my switch. Had a lot of little features here and there, launched off them and jumped the highest I have ever gotten...3-4ft+ and got manual grabs in =p at least i think that's what the grab is called. Also hit the park for a jump at the end where there's a crowd ie the line watching as we attempted to conquer this small jump feature.  I didn't expect to get as much air as I did and it freaked me out, didn't land great but at least I didn't fall on my face or ass. so i'm pretty happy about it.. only thing that was misssing is some video footage of the day!

Trust me it's cooler with snow.  Talked to two splitboarders with winter camping gear headed the same direction (anyone know Shralph Macchio?), hope they had fun and made it out OK.  

Today we did a BC tour across the way to Meiss Meadows, found some wonderful corn and had a great day in the sunshine.  Back home and will probably get some turns in Tahoe tomorrow -- then the storms start to roll in (fingers crossed).  

-b

Noone has gotten a day in since wednesday?

fun edit...love the hank williams backdrop :)

filmed today, and put that together with a few clips from last monday as well.  currently rendering and then uploading...

photo from today, phil and haden on the chair

i go down like that on a daily basis when im riding i have fun while doing it too... good for you checking back into the wipeout game! good thing the landing was soft.

To be honest it feels like I've gone out more times than this in this season. But today's condition were as good as it gets here in the east. Nice soft powdery snow! fell on my ass but thanks to the soft pow.. my butt was spared! found a bunch of little bumps and humps to launch off of and pulled off a few grabs too, felt good Wish I had some video footage so I could see myself

Partway through I notice burton was have a demo day so I jumped at the chance and demo'ed a couple boards and their EST Cartels the binders were comfortable, but not as responsive as I would like em to be. But I'm also getting heel lift in my boot now so that's partly to blame.

wanted to stay and play a little longer but the buddies I was with today couldn't hold it down.. they were tapping out. ahhh but it was still a great day, no injuries just soreness.

barely got to ride switch today because I was having way to much fun shredding my goofy stance. This may be the end of my season... feels like the end of it is near.

 

Upon inspection I found a "fold" kind of crack/gash in my topsheet with a slight accompanying bend in the sidewall that you can feel through the ptex, and I guess the tail of my board (which was the front at the time) must have completely folded and sent me into a death spin/yaw combo.  This is the topsheet, the middle of that crack is all the way through the topsheet/expoxy lamination.  Weird right?

 

For fun I brought my gps here's a snapshot of our morning overlaid on google earth:

 

 

That program is rad

 

-b

 

EDIT:  P.S. Oh yeah, in other gear-related news, I lost a speed zone and ripped the tongue out of one of my drivers.  Which was awesome.  So probably I'll need to fix that with some duct tape. 

 

Just bought a joystick this year...absolutely love it...been riding strictly camber since the beginning but this board is too much fun not to own :)

 

Day 20 for me today, more groomers at the resort with my wife and a friend.  Sun was out and actually the resort is riding real nice, I think I might head back out there tomorrow.  We're ready for a pow day in Tahoe for sure. 

 

Hadn't been on my custom vrocker for a while, very much enjoyed being back on that stick.  I know everybody around here is up on camber's tip (and I get it) but I think that might be my favorite ride.  Also there was a retro/gaper party at the lodge so that was a lot of fun as well. 

 

-b

rode my slash ATV. camber on a pow day? it was sweet.

first day riding with the gopro this year on chairlifts.. I don't miss all the editing.

I envy your ability to do this.  

There isn't nearly enough snow here.  

I'm starting to remember why beer is so important to a fun day.

[tube]http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=59142735/[/tube]

I'm putting together a little edit of some of the footage from today.  nothing special, I'm just bored I guess.

me courtesy of Jeremy

jerms

looking out toward the ocean

eaglecrest parking lot

wedding bowl area, where we tend to go when we don't just do eaglecrest.  top center is roughly where we drop from.  that's where all the photos from my last splitting trip are from.

and eaglecrest

jerms' air to fakie with dylan slappin' five

and I thought this screenshot was funny.. jerms did a back 3 tripod off the knob there, landed, and got pulled right into the wall and hit face first.

for some reason, it reminds me of this photo from last spring on the ferry when we went to Haines, haha

   

I'm pretty sure I hit a few ice rocks sticking out poking fun at my board ) =

Tis was a good day fell once on the last run because I decided to try and do a backside 180? from goofy to switch. Didn't hurt too bad

had stomach cramps/aches half way through the day so it was hard to concentrate.

Day 3 was today, at Hunter again. rode solo again most of the day, lots of good fake snow, it was really soft up there today. i found myself really pushing myself today, i was charging the mountain hard. Towards the middle of the day i met up with some of the skiers who were staying with us. after some name calling, we decided to lap the park... didnt turn out to bad, landed my first jump, just a small little kicker, but i was proud of myself. the fellas decided to up the ante on me and go off a 15 foot kicker... didnt end well, they both ate it hard, i was the last to go and rather than attempting, i had to go on a rescue mission for their skis and poles. they both had a double dismount, luckily everyone is okay, and i got a good laugh out of their stupidity. 

on a side note i saw a sierra stunt up on Hunter Mountain today, could it be anyone on here?

 

-b

Some short clips straight from my GoPro:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10100427046104207

anyway.. day 44 with Jeremy.  same snow conditions as all week.. slushy, soft, fun, with some pow stashes.  we mainly rode this very short little traverse (if you can even call it that) where you duck a couple ropes on the side of the run at the top, and there's a pretty awesome pow field that few people tend to ride.  had some awesome turns in there... sooo fun.  there were also like 4-5 legit tree jibs in a row down the side of it, which was rad.

all photos of jerms

the "park" (three boxes) is at the bottom so we went through there each time.  OMFG TAILPRESS!!!!

and here are two of the treebash jibthings

how are you suppose to ride that thing? not straight down right?

 

-b

day 43.  more spring-like conditions in bounds.  got about 6" of new snow since monday so there were some fresh runs to be had.  fun day.

main chute out the west ridge staring you in the face as you ride the chair up.  it was looking pretty nice today, and we watched the first group get the goods after they opened the bowls.

day 42.  finally got to ride with the whole crew.. jerms, dylan, haden, and phil.  filmed a bit with phil for a homeschool thing for their blog.  really fun day.. got a few new inches of wet stuff that padded the whole mountain, and it was pretty decent off the groomed stuff.  stoked!  did our springtime laps in this spring-like weather.

full screen - https://vimeo.com/57925252

[tube]http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=57925252[/tube]

a few screenshots

our friend eli sending it

phil pointing it on a double stage

dylan, front 3 snowballcanon

phil, frontside alleyoop

max, late pokey fs alleyoop thing

day 41, headed up early before work to get a few runs.  rode with my friend brian who is the other slasher in Juneau at the moment with his paxson 58.  more groomer speed runs, and we hit that perfect side hit again for some fun back 1s... I could do those all day every day.

super slash bros!

Its been a long while since I rode on soft powder snow. it was great! Spent the day riding switch and had 2 hard falls, I could hear my spine crack with each impact as I rolled down a couple of feet.  Didn't really feel any pain but it just did not sound right so I laid there for a little bit just in case before I got up to continue my switch down the hill ( =

I was hoping to get my switch down by the end of the day but it'll be on the next time I go out and I'll stay out of the steeper blues and black, not the way to learn haha

I got in some 180s to get on my switch, felt good to do that again.  Also tried to do some Tripods but I couldn't keep it for long, dunno why but I think i might need to lean into it more, I was doing it on the Reverse Crew, a lot easier to get on the soft flex nose than the stiffer tail. Also couldn't get keep my press on either ) =

It started to RAIN!, oh so shitty to ride in and it snuffed the stoke, called it a day.

Jerks :)  

I also had the mpother of all boot packs. I knew it was too deep to ride up there. But went to a line thats really nice and no one hits up when the rest of the resort gets tracked out. Too deep, came down too far, tried to traverse, but no chance, every tree forced me further down. By pure chance a group of skiers had dropped in a bit too far as well (or scored their favorite line requiring a long walk out - i assume the former though), and were having to skin back to the resort proper coming past me. So i popped on their skinning line and an hour and a bit later i reached the ropes. Im fekkin drained now though :)

one crappy gopro shot of jeremy's tailgrab on a little tranny finder

 

 

-b

 

Round these parts we call that pogonip

 

-b

 

Rime is ice that forms from fog pretty much. It's when you have a lot of water vapor in the air and mix it with quite cold temps. The vapor or fog actually freezes to most surfaces to what seems like out of now where. Pretty cool stuff, unless you have sub par coat/pant combos

 

You should google the stuff, it can actually do REALLY cool things.

 

 

Here's a google earth cookie trail of the tour, gives you some idea

 

 

And here's an obligatory picture of my wife slaying it as per usual:

 

 

Bottom line of the day: don't skimp on your dvr space if there is a potentially-awesome NFL playoff battle -- It was not cool when my recording ended during OT in the Denver/Ratbirds game

 

-b

I was thinking the same thing. must you quote all the photos again.. haha

they were great shots though and 30+ days alrdy? man im so jealous hahah me 1

(piranha must've edited his post..before I quoted it suddenly a whole bunch of pictures and a few new paragraphs were added, threw me off.  Made me wonder if I quoted the wrong post!

LOL look at the ice cubes on his face. thats a good time.

day 35 here.  nice new snow; I'll call it a pow day.  had some great turns and overall a really awesome day with jerms, dylan, and noe.

dylan in the morning

for the first half of the day, pure rime was coming from the sky.  literally caked our outerwear in a layer of ice and it was rad.

decided to try a new tweak, whatever that grab is called that's tweaked like a crail, but it's an indy by the front foot.  I think this one was taken a little early cause I know I held it for days.. needs more tweak though.

jerms.  this was a tailgrab at first..

tree bash ollie thing

gravity!

messed up this shot twice.. too far in, and took this one a little early, but I still like it.. jerms, method treetap

simply awesome!!!!

(fixed...see below)

the rest

the beginning of the trail up to wedding bowl.  last march when we went, the snow was to the top of the trees.

jerms

the dudes

jerms

at the bottom of the bowl

hiking

first hit, tailgrab.  I wish that tree wasn't there in the background..

at the top

seymour canal, toward the outer coast

jerms, stoked the NHL is back

splitting for day 34... perfect conditions.  deep, light snow, no wind, and clear skies.  went up with jerms and dylan, and that burton rider dude brandon came and headed up with us to get some shots.

here's one for now of brandon sending a pretty big gap, with eaglecrest in the background.  goes from the knob in the top right to the tranny at the bottom where you see the low tracks.  this was his 3rd hit, got a couple more, but probably my favorite photo of the day.  shifty!

I have never owned a rockered board nor a hybrid.  Only cambered boards...but my buddy owns a Burton Hero and kills it on it.  He owns many classic cambered boards as well and loves them but finds the Hero to be the most fun on many typical Tahoe days.  I just spent all weekend on the Joystick and absolutely love it.  So fun, super stable, surfy but still rails...may be my new number one...for now :)  

Crap...dont reply to this ...this topic is kinda lamo and doesn't belong here :)

 

 

-b

dude, you shouldn feel like that. share your experiences. make some effort into the videos then

this is exactly why it sells so well though. anybody without experience can shoot on this thing. not to mention the low price tag compared to what people were using to shoot back in the days.

i don't disagree though, too many shitty videos that i do not want to see.

he's indirectly talking about you robnezz lol

ppossibly spenser too, I think spense uses a gopro for his vids

hopefully I'll be able to get out this week, hope the boys r free.

DOPE!! 

screenshot from the 2nd of max.  first try ever...

Have a safe season everyone!

 

Got days 15 and 16 this weekend.  My knee is kind of sore to do anything too exciting at the resort, so I followed my wife and her friend around with my contour for a few runs and then drank some optimators and watched an ooompa band playing at the lodge (apparently Saturday was Bavarian day, which was great).  Screenshot here:

 

 

Today I finally convinced Zakk to come to Nevada for a splitter tour, had couple of good mini-golf runs on north-facing aspects.  Here's the man himself slashing with my dog:

 

 

Still some soft snow back there, but I'm hoping another storm comes through Tahoe in accord with the rumors I've been hearing

 

-b

day 33.  rode the parka again... stoked I decided to snag it off ebay last year.  rides so good.  anyway, short day before work so just a handful of runs with max.. got a few filler shots for the video segment.

reppin!

Day 3 was a park day and I realized I really suck at park and don't know if I wan't to commit to learning or not. I just hate looking stupid (I know, I know I shouldn't every but has to start somewhere... but when there's 11 yr olds throwing corks you just feel like poo) 

day 32 for me.  rode my '03 k2 parka and remembered how great a board it is.  rides awesome.  filmed more with max.  got a couple more shots, some lands and some bails.  stoked.

here's a screenshot.... stomped his trick, got knocked down while riding out, and tumbled directly at me head over heels down the steep slope into the trees where I was filming, with nowhere to move to get out of the way. I thought for sure I was getting taken out when I saw the base of his board barreling at my face just a few feet away, but somehow a collision was avoided.  clearly he was stoked on our close call, haha.

and here's the gully gap from the take off.. it's pretty much perfect like a park kicker now, after the dudes hit it a bunch this week.  not a huge gap or anything, just a rad little feature.  filmed a couple shots here that will be in the video.

tell me about it. Going to sit out for 2 weeks though (aggrevated a tear I already had on PCL). And I finally got the video and when I watch it, I still have no idea how I got my board underneath me at the last second. I was just flapping my arms trying to fly! LOL. Definitely feeling lucky in 2013.  

  

day 29 today.  bunch of heavy new snow but the top 6+ inches were pretty soft, so it was a pretty rad day as far as I'm concerned.  rode charlie with jeremy and we filmed max.  kid is getting so good, it's weird.  we're going to film until his winter break is over from school (he's 14) and then I'll make an edit with all of it.  stoked to see what else we get in the next week....

here are a few video screenshots from today.  some other highlights.... double frontflips, weird backside millerflip on a big knob to drop off, etc.

 

-b

is nice and steep and kind of perfect . . . until you have to hike back to the resort. 

 

Obligatory pic of my wife shredding some solar-exposed snow, a lot of what we found was mucho better:

 

 

And her booting at the top of the hill with our friend carrie

 

 

and a gram of her hiking that I thought looked cool:

 

 

-b

day 28, filmed with max and got some pretty sick shots.  I think I'll work on a little edit tomorrow.  real fun day.. pretty awesome conditions actually, at least on the east side.  wet "pow," but soft and fast.  shitty vis on the top half but it was rad.

anyway, I put extra preseason footage together in this little edit.  it's got me, jerms, and our friend and shop rider bri.

[tube]http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=56575369[/tube]

great thing is you'll be able to see him progress and eventually be WAY better than you.

TWO! wow.. can't believe it.. 

snow's been falling and i haven't gone since it has )=!!

don't even have my snow tires on yet, nice and slippery right now.

 

 

 

Yesterday hiked the backside of a place called fireplug just off the tamarack parking lot.  I've been back there a few times but it was real good yesterday.  I didn't get any good action shots but my friend had a camera on me for a couple deep turns hopefully something turned out. 

 

From this spot you can see Mt. Houghton, which is kind of between Relay and Mt. Rose, there are some great lines up there but it seems like I never have the right combination of time and ambition to get all the way back there.  Someday:

 

 

Happy new year ppl.

 

-b

day 24.  rode the new happy hour 59 for the first time for real.  stoked to be back on it.. such a fun board.  slight bump up from the 57 is perfect as i hoped.  carves soooo good and is just about my perfect all-around board.

filmed a few laps with max.  still no fresh snow, so we were doing side hits and fun little stuff.  this kid is getting good... might film a few more days with him and then make a little edit.

method screenshot

the royal we

Ryan

 

We're from Ohio man, I don't know what to tell you.  It was all I could to to keep her from wearing her carhart jacket out there. 

 

-b