Happy Holidays!

Christmas day and I'm posting a blog. Never thought it would come to this. Today I'm finally supposed to get on my train back to my parents' place in North Dakota. I checked on yesterday's train and it made it out of town just fine. It's only running five hours late, too, which isn't that bad for that route. If that holds true for my trip I will have over 30 hours of fun time on the Amtrak Empire Builder. Sounds like plenty of time for snowboard movies, books, magazines, beer, free food (perks of having to ride in a bedroom, though it cost 3x the price) and all sorts of miscellaneous mayhem. At this point I'll be lucky to make it home before the rest of my family goes back to their respective dwellings (the ones that did make it back are from the Twin Cities area of Minnesota).

One of my sisters was nice (naive?) enough to suggest that I drive home. When I got done laughing I relayed the message that the route I would take was closed. Things are starting to warm up and melt the snow away, but it's still a 1200-mile drive. That's 16 hours in good weather. Here's the last picture of my car before I finally drove it out last night:

The downside of 'dumping'

Half an hour of digging later I could actually drive the thing, all-season tires and all. Driving over the multiple mountain passes of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana is not very high on my fun list, so I'm going to go ahead and wait on the train.

Here's hoping you all have a happy and safe holiday season and that you get to spend all the time you want with family and friends. Cheers!

Stand for What's Right and You'll Never Stand Alone

Amtrak is on lockdown, so I'm still stuck in Portland. The Lib Tech Dark review is going to have to wait because I just came across two stories I need to share. These are two examples of what I think of when the word 'hero' comes up.

First is Tim DeCristopher (photo at right), a University of Utah student who posed as a bidder at a BLM auction. DeChristopher succeeded in 'buying' 22,000 acres of land intended for oil and gas drilling around National Parks land in southern Utah. The rub is, he has no intention of paying for the land, which can't go up for auction again until after Obama is sworn in. Read the full story here.

This guy has a pair of stones that would put that pebble in Raiders of the Lost Ark to shame. Imagine taking your last exam of the term, driving down to a government building, casually signing up for a government land auction and systematically driving up prices and purchasing land to the tune of millions of dollars, then being discovered as a wrencher and being escorted out by federal agents. Never having a guarantee of anyone to back you up. Jail time is not out of the question. In my mind, this guy qualifies for man of the year. I might just set up a Google alert to follow the case. My favorite quote of his was this:

"I knew that as bad as this could possibly turn out, if I ended up going to prison, then I could live with that. But if I saw an opportunity to protect the land of southern Utah and I saw an opportunity to keep some oil in the ground and give us a better chance for a livable future and I passed up that opportunity, then I wouldn’t be able to live with that."

I nearly lost it right there. Dictionary definition of integrity. Would I be placed in a similar situation, I hope I could perform as admirably. Mr. DeChristopher, America owes you!

The second story of brazen activism comes from across the Atlantic in the land of Aston Martin, Austin Powers and Jenny Jones (there, now it's a snowboarding story). An unidentified saboteur broke into a power plant, scaled 20-feet of electrified razor-wire fencing and shut down a 500 megawatt turbine, then left a tag of, 'no new coal' before disappearing into the night. I came across the story on Fast Company, but I don't know if it qualifies as news as it happened two weeks ago. Like they say, not much coverage of it stateside. I guess we wouldn't want to encourage that sort of behaviour so it's best to keep mum. The best part about it is the activist may have a solid legal defense. According to the article, if he or she 'acted to save lives' (Brittain's climate change emissions did decrease by 2% due to the action) a precedent has been set for the defense. Well, that would never fly in the good ole USA, but kudos to the Brits. No word yet on the reaction from the residents who missed their sitcoms or had their WoW raids cut short because of the power outage. Definitely one part Banksy and one part ballsy. I'm hoping it was a female, so we could introduce her to Tim DeChristopher and breed a new army of super-activists to get this world on track. That might take too long, though, so maybe we should all just follow their lead, get off our asses and make it happen. Be the change. Live without dead time.

Demo Day on Ice

What could be better for a demo day than a foot of fresh? Well, I don't know about that, but I know that an inch of ice will destroy it all. Yesterday was the big demo day for Mt. Hood Meadows and a freak rainstorm came through overnight and put a layer of death on top of what was a fluffy dream. I went to sleep with visions of riding a bunch of great boards and woke up not really caring whether I strapped in or not. My buddies Ben and Phil rallied up to the mountain with me. When I say 'rallied,' I mean it: Ben is an experienced rally driver. Add studded snow tires and all-wheel drive to the mix and he was the only way we made it happen. Thanks, Ben! I also demoed Ben's boots: last year's DC Ghosts, that he ordered in the wrong size and never rode. What a guy, that Ben.

When we got to the hill, the bad news was evident. Our first clues were the plethora of closed up businesses on the way and the skating rink look of the landscape, but we held out hope. No luck here, the slopes were not fit for hockey much less snowboarding. That said, we did take some quality runs. I demoed a Lib Tech Dark Series 161 BTX that I really liked. I'll post the demos individually in the next couple days.

I should have plenty of time to write as I'm going to Williston, ND (home of my parents and scarce little else) via train for the holidays. That is, if I can ever get out of town. You see all of the snow and ice in the city means trains are at a standstill. Ditto that for most transportation, including planes and buses. My best hope lies in my new ticket for Thursday (aka Christmas) that gets me into town Friday night, barring delays (can you say 'Not bloody likely'?). In addition to that, I'm going to try a bus tomorrow (Tuesday) that could get me as far as Spokane, where I would meet the train. It will take some luck, but I think I can do it. They say fortune favors the prepared and I'm fuckin' ready, so let's get it! Did I mention this is a 25-hour train ride (again, without delays) one way? Lots of time to think, read, write, masturbate, eat, converse with strangers, sleep and/or gaze at purple mountains' majesty. Wish me the best, I'll need every flake.

Video Review: Car Danchi 3

A while back I checked out the US premier of Car Danchi 3 up in Seattle and wrote about it for snowboardermag.com. You can see that piece here. Honestly, I don't have much to add to that story, so this write-up will be short. I gotta say that Car Danchi 3 is probably among my top 2 favorite movies this year (the other being That's It, That's All). The video was just really compelling. It made me want to shred, it made me want to step my game up on multiple fronts and it made me want to go turn my Subaru into a car danchi and roam the mountains of the northwest in search of the best snow.

Car danchi or grocery getter?
(Taken today in Portland, by the way)

Honestly, almost anyone could do it. Neil Hartmann, the Car Danchi mastermind, started off in a Subaru Legacy wagon. I certainly could if I had the sack. Will I? I'm about 50/50 on it. I have a 15° sleeping bag that I've never been cold in. I tested it a couple weeks ago when I was bored and slept in my car on a night that got down to about 25°. That was comfortable enough to sleep 'til about 10am with cars whipping by and the sun fully up. Seriously. It felt strange, but you gotta start somewhere. That's a long way from sub-zero mountain nights, I know. I'd have to be fully stocked, prepared and committed for that. Maybe I should try it on one of these snowy nights in town. That would be closer to a true test. Even closer would be if I cooked my dinner in the oven of my hot engine compartment. Look at the upside, though, so close to the lift for those first tracks and driving up the night before totally eliminates traffic.

Anyway, all of this speculation may never have happened without the Car Danchi movies. They are truly inspiring. What started out as a three-minute flick in In Short two years ago, has blossomed into an amazing documentary-style, full-length snowboard masterpiece. This one is worth the effort to track down. Search it out at your local shops, failing that check the internets. If you're in Seattle, check out Snowboard Connection, if not maybe drop Neil a line at his blog. May it inspire you to live in your car and/or drive your home.

Pow Wow and the Art of Winter Driving

Yesterday was a deep pow day at Meadows. A huge storm is rolling through dumping snow throughout the region, even as far down the valley as the city of Portland. This system is responsible for about 90% of the snow on Mt. Hood right now. With the prediction of a particularly generous 20-inch overnight load and the announcement that the main lift, Mt. Hood Express, was fired up, I rallied to get a crew together. In the end, Thomas and Colin joined me for the treacherous drive up US26.

I'd like to take a second to say, I'm not going to write about every time I go up to the mountain. I realize that it's much more exciting for me to do than it is for you to read about. That said, you can be sure that all of my posts have some content worth reading. Keeping you stoked and informed is what I'm all about. If I feel a product review would do that better than a post that says, 'Look at me, I took some park laps with my friends,' I'll post the review. Actually, I'll probably post whatever I want until I hear some comments from you. Turning this into some sort of dialogue would be much more fun and interactive than the current lecture.

The meaty part of this post regards driving in winter weather conditions. The snowsports community exists in a paradox in that the better the conditions are on the mountain, the worse the roads are going to be on the way. 'Chains or traction tires required,' is a sign we're all familiar with and it means you're in for a long drive. I personally drive a Subaru Impreza with all-wheel-drive and all-season, M+S rated tires. I've never put chains or studded tires on it and with few exceptions, I've always felt in control.

My snow-mobile

My equalizer is driving cautiously. I'm not ashamed to drive 20 or 30 mph in particularly dangerous conditions. Not to sound like a third grade math problem, but think about it this way: if you have a sketchy, 30-mile drive to the mountain and you drive 45 mph, you get there in 40 minutes. If you make the same drive at 30 mph, it takes an hour. Is it really worth 20 more minutes on the hill to be passing people in a blizzard? On the way up yesterday we witnessed the unthinkable: a semi and a car stopped side-by-side putting chains on in traffic! This was even in an area with extra-wide shoulders specifically for chaining up. The rest of traffic was forced around into the chain-up zones to drive past. I shouldn't have to waste any words telling you all how dangerous this is. Chain-up (and chain removal) zones are there for a reason. They give you a safe place to operate, so that you don't have to worry about cars whizzing by on both sides. If you need to put chains on your vehicle, please use the designated zones if possible or pull off as far onto the shoulder as you can. Getting hit by a car while chaining up for a powder day would be a shitty, avoidable way to go.

Enough about the downers, though, let's talk about the deep pow that awaited when we finally got to the resort. Boot-deep on groomers. Easily waist-deep on ungroomed runs. Reports of chest-deep powder mines between the trees were enough to keep me out. Especially with the sticks and weeds waiting underneath to snag you (remember, this is the first storm of the season and still only a 40-inch base). We stuck to a steady diet of 4 Bowl near the MHE lift and it provided run after run of steep and deep fun. When the Shooting Star lift opened, the crowd spread out and our laps went quicker. A couple more powder burials and we called it a day. Speaking of which, deep early season pow can bring some unforeseen challenges that you might not face when the base is more established. The same run that was an open rolling bowl in March might cliff you out earlier in the year. 'Expect unmarked obstacles,' is what Meadows always says and it's for real. Ride with a friend and try to stay within shouting distance. Knowing that Colin was nearby put my mind at ease a few times up there.

The final icing on the cake was seeing fellow Portland shred Scotty Wittlake on the hill. I saw a post of his on the Lib Tech blog from opening day, but seeing him in person was rad. I didn't say anything to him, but he's always been a guy who's style and attitude I've appreciated. This one's for you, Scotty!

Best Gift Possible

With snow falling in Portland, winter is definitely making it's presence felt. And regardless of your belief in Christ, the coming holidays are sure to have some presents dealt your way. This year, the Yak knows the one gift that works for anyone. Joe six-pack, Joe the plumber and Suzi homemaker, check. Teething toddlers, check. Disaffected college students, hellions and troublemakers, double check. The (wo)man who has it all, check. All will be singing your praises for the low, low price of $19.99 + shipping and handling. What is this miracle device? I'm glad you asked. Say hello to the gift of all gifts, the one that makes a Lamborghini look like a pair of socks. The one, the only...

The TV-B-Gone!

That's right, the TV-B-Gone! This handy little gadget is about the size of a matchbox car, but infinitely more fun. Turn off any TV, regardless of manufacturer, in seconds. Tired of that loud football game on Sunday at the bar? Gone! Sick of your date paying more attention to the screen than you at the restaurant? Gone! Outraged by the mindless drone of hundreds of TVs set to the exact same channel at Best Buy? GONE!! This handy remote doesn't slice or dice, but it just might save your sanity if you have to walk anywhere near an electronics department. Think of the electricity all those TVs waste. You're doing the world a favor and having a little fun at the same time. Imagine if you had one during the Olympics... Michael Phelps is reaching for the wall... then, faster than you can say 'We may have a new record'... GONE! Maybe, just maybe someone will realize that they could be doing something better with their time. And then, my friend, we all win. But don't wait, the TV-B-Gone is not sold in stores (for good reason). If you buy now we'll be sure to not throw in a lifetime supply of Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat. We'll be sure not to annoy you with senseless infomercials. What we do guarantee is fun 'til the battery just gives up. So buy yours today. Buy for the whole family. They make great stocking stuffers!

Opening Day!

Finally! I've only been waiting since the first weekend in MAY! For those of you just joining us, Mt. Hood Meadows, the humble author's home resort, got enough snow over the weekend to open up three lifts today. I put the call out, but I guess my friends had the fear. Oddly enough, my friend Ben, who didn't carpool with me because he thought he had to give other people rides, pulled in right next to me in the lot. Turns out his other friends are weak, too. So we spent from 10am - 2pm cruising unexpected pow and popping cat tracks to fluff. It was super fun! For an opening day, the sticks were hard to find. I did endo on a stump once, but that's what the rock board is for. I was also ridiculously overdressed, as the forecast predicted -10°F with windchill, but the reality was 10° and dead calm. All vents opened, I was about right I'd have brought my camera if I thought my fingers would operate, but I got a few shots on the phone camera, so here you go:

Here's the main side of the mountain looking empty.

Another shot out front of the lodge: where is everybody?

They're all in line for Daisy, the longest lift running.

My legs let me know that it had been a while, so half-day was the word. I was expecting that, of course. Some energy drink got me back to Portland, where snow in town had the place at a standstill. I'll never be used to that. Two cars in the ditch on the way back near town with about an inch of snow on the roads. Doing my driver's training in North Dakota has served me well in snowsports pursuits. A little ice cream followed by a hot shower, quick nap and huge dinner with my neighbors (thanks Kathy and Philip!) and I think I earned tonight's sleep.

Meadows Opens Tomorrow!

My home resort, Mt. Hood Meadows finally opens tomorrow! Granted, it's only three lifts and 30 inches or so, but it's good enough for me. Now I just have to survive -10° F wind chills. I've been through worse. I'm down for the cause. I just have to scrape down my board and mount up the bindings and I'm there. Full report tomorrow. Peace.

Video Review Preview: Absinthe - Ready

I've been talking about Ready for a while now, but haven't reviewed it properly yet. First, here's a sample of what's coming. I got a chance to talk to Justin Hostynek, the big dog at Absinthe and he had some rad things to say. Check out this piece I did for Snowboarder. The video quality is poor, I know, but the sound is there and the content is what's really important. I'm thinking about putting up the raw interview, but it's 20 minutes and rambling. Let me know if that's something you're interested in and I'll hook you up.

Shit, while I'm typing I might as well do the review. Let me go find a rider list. . . Here we go (gotta love cut-and-paste):

Gigi Rüf, Jeremy Jones, Kevin Pearce, JP Solberg, Romain deMarchi, Matt Beardmore, Bjorn Leines, Scotty Lago, Jules Reymond, Chris Coulter, Markus Keller, Blair Habenicht, Marco Feichtner, Mikey LeBlanc, Matty Ryan, Keegan Valaika, Wolfgang Nyvelt, Cale Zima, Annie Boulanger, Nate Bozung, Nicolas Müller

Yeah, heavy hitters all the way. So many good parts. The rails were limited, but Absinthe has never really been known for the best urban sections. Of course, Mikey killed it, but after that it's more isolated bangers than solid sections. Big mountain Jeremy Jones was back with the crew again and didn't let anyone down. I always love watching what he can do on big lines. I do have some interview footage with him that I might throw up raw. He's such a good guy and with the experience he has, you know he's got good advice. Be sure you check back for that. He put together something like six parts this year and the ones I've seen have all been among his best work. I hope I rip like that when I'm in my 30's. Moving on, though. I gotta give one part away: they had a wreck section! Just when you thought films were giving up on those. I like the formula of showing the wreck and then showing the rider stomp the same trick, just to really show the process and the frustration. But the whole wreck section has an energy to it that just makes you remember how gnarly snowboarding can be. As if you forgot.

Overall, Absinthe put out another great film. They really are a company you can count on. Year after year, they never disappoint. One thing to mention, Marc Frank Montoya didn't get a section this year. He filmed with them, but got hurt early and didn't get any shots. I don't know if he has bonus material, but he's not in the actual film. Sometimes you see his name attached to the project, so I thought I'd get that out there. Regardless, this is one worth buying, especially if you're into a lot of backcountry freestyle. Gigi, Nicolas, Wolle and the gang have it locked yet again.

Tricked Again!?

This can't be happening. The plan for tonight was to go see a metal show. I even had to turn down an invite to a poker game for it, but it was going to be worth it. The lineup was 3 Inches of Blood, The Sword and Lamb of God. Ticket price was $25 pre-fees. I checked the night before and they were still available. Sweet, I'll show up and purchase on-site to avoid the TicketBastard (in)convenience charges. Then, I roll up to the show. There's a line around the block and a big sign on the door, "Tonight's show is SOLD OUT." Ugh. After making sure I had the correct night and that I didn't just butt in on HipsterFest 2008, I called for tickets. Heeeeere scalper, scalper, scalper.
"How much for a ticket?"
"80 bucks"
"Nah, man, I only need ONE."
"80 bucks"
"How much does your mother charge for... oh never mind..."
No way I was talking him below 60. I guess I'll have to read about it tomorrow on Board as Fuck. Besides, I know a place right around the corner where $10 buys a beer and a whole night of fun. That magical wonderland is Ground Kontrol! This classic arcade is not to be confused with the David Bowie song "Space Oddity," ('Ground control to Major Tom' anyone?) which is the backing music for Jeremy Jones's section in this year's Absinthe film Ready. Seriously, though, that video part was rad. I'll review the whole she-bang soon, but he killed it, as usual. And the musical choice was, rad, too. People even clapped at the appropriate time at the premier. Hell yeah! I have some video from that, including an interview with Mr. Jones himself, that I'll put up soon, too. Promise. Anyway, I was telling you about how I had a bottle of fine Northwestern pale ale and played, in no particular order: DigDug, Burger Time, Track and Field and Missile Command. I'm a little crushed that I didn't get to Mario Bros. (not Super Mario Bros., mind you), but it's right next to Donkey Kong and that game is so hot right now that the crowd around it looked like the crowd outside the Lamb of God show. Chaos. I hung out, listened to the DJ (yeah, this place is that cool) set some high scores and generally had a good time. I guess the joke is on that scalper. Haha. You'll have to try harder than that to ruin my Wednesday night!

Video Review: Forum or Against 'Em

Rider List:
Peter Line, Eddie Wall, Joni Malmi, John Jackson, Pat Moore, Jake Blauvelt, Stevie Bell, Nic Sauve, Travis Kennedy, Jake Welch

Opinion:
A well-done, trippy opening sequence (if a bit long), set the tone early. This video has a ton of personality and I actually learned something about the riders as people throughout the each section. How about that!? It isn't the case of personality being the compliment because the riding sucked, either... in fact the riding was on-point, too. That's right, the rare double of being full of bangers while also giving you time to catch your breath. It seemed like every other rider in this flick got broken off hard. Lots of injuries on the Forum team last season and lots of gutsy parts from riders who weren't playing with a full deck, so to speak. By now, you've probably seen that both Pat and Jake were nominated for Transworld Awards. Jake's is not the part you might imagine. Pat's is, and then some. It was great to see Peter Line out there this year with his distinct style yet again. All the parts are really solid in this video. It really doesn't let up throughout. The action is mostly urban with a bit of park and backcountry freestyle and even some big mountain when you least expect it.

My only let down came at the end. Daniel Ek's section (and Greg Bretz's, but I don't know much about him) was limited to 2 shots at the very end. I'm not talking during the credits, I'm talking after the credits. I don't know if he was hurt or what, but fuck that shit! I'm expecting big things from that kid. He's got so much energy and talent it's unreal. Set a Google alert for his name and watch it blow up. You'll see. Anyway, I was talking slops on this video. The only other one was that they recycled some spots. I'll let 'em off the hook this time, but only because they used some shots from Mt. Hood SkiBowl, which is the closest chairlift to my front door. Represent! or something

Overall, Forum or Against 'Em kicked ass and for 6 bucks on iTunes, you can hardly go wrong. Get it, you won't regret it.

Video Review: Standard Films - Aesthetica

Rider list:
Mark Landvik, Eric Jackson, Mads Jonsson, Mathieu Crepel, Chas Guldemond, Torstein Horgmo, Johan Olofsson, Juuso Laivisto, Kazuhiro Kokubo, Xavier Delarue, Dan Migno, Launie Kauk, Keegan Valaika, Sylvain Beauch, Priscilla Levac, Sammy Luebke, JJ Thomas, Mitch Reed

Opinion:
These guys threw down from the press of 'play'. Aesthetica had a quick, well-done intro and got right into the opening section. (I've already seen the trailer, why show it to me again?)I won't give away whose section is where, I think that's part of the fun of watching the video. I will say that guys like Mark Landvik and Eric Jackson went huge in the backcountry and had fun, well-paced parts to show for it. Xavier Delarue survived possibly the gnarliest avalanche ever caught on tape. Torstein Horgmo absolutely owned everything he touched (largely park and urban). Johan and Mads have a rad co-op section where Johan noboards. A couple riders who hit heavy on half parts were Priscilla Levac and Chas Guldemond. 'Cilla started off with a fun stunt and went on to pull off some feats of urban daring. Think long handrails in a single bound type shit. You know Chuck G has the park on lock, what with the 1440 at last years Vail Session (R.I.P.) and any number of high contest finishes. This partial part shows a little more of what he's capable in other areas. I expect big things from him; be it contest or video, he's just fun to watch. Overall, I had to buy this video first because they didn't go on tour with it. I say it was money well-spent. The action is intense and non-stop and it covers big mountain, backcountry freestyle, park and urban action. It's well-paced with lifestyle shots and some comentary, too. Well worth the purchase, I highly recommend it.

2008/2009 Snowboard Videos: A Primer

Oregon resorts aren't getting much snow yet, so I'm taking this opportunity to talk about this year's crop of shred vids. If you're waiting out the dry spell like me, nothing keeps you stoked like a little snow porn and the footage this year has money shots a-plenty. First, a bit of business.

This year was status quo for films, but that might end soon. The long and short of it goes a little like this: Mack Dawg isn't making a rider part video next year and one of their big shots, Brad Kremer is filming for Burton. Said corporation went on to say that its riders will only ride in its video(s?). Was that you, Keanu? 'Whoa' is right. Where does that put guys like Nicolas Müller (who has something like a 15-year relationship with Absinthe)? Time will tell, but I guess Kremer might be filming him from here on out. What does that mean for Absinthe? They'll undoubtedly pick up some of MDP's crew. Travis Rice might step in. He filmed with them last time he was in the midst of a two-year Brainfarm mega-movie (more on that later). Had Gigi, JP and Romain left as well, it would have gone from scorpion to avalanche burial in the blink of a shutter. Currently it looks like the latter two (Gigi is with Volcom for sure) will be Burton-free going forward, for better or worse. Hope they didn't get stuck in any adjustable-rate mortgages...

Honestly, I think the crop next year will be just as good as this year. Mack Dawg mentioned a Peter Line documentary that will probably be great. Burton will have a much better video than it has in years past. Dawger's talent will redistribute leaving the top two tiers of videos similar to this year's. Some Euro companies like Isenseven will step up. And, finally, plenty of videos like Thirty Two/Stepchild or Actionhorse will just be available for free download. You know, like this year. Maybe we just file it under 'the more things change, the more things stay the same.' But of course this year's financial and snowfall situations will factor in, too. They exist far beyond my knowledge, control or willingness to predict, therefor; this post is destined to remain incomplete.

Next post will get into specific movies, I promise.