Notes on the Road, the Olympics and Joint Pain

As I sit here, waiting for clothes to dry for my next adventure, I thought I might share some things I learned from the previous adventure. And some things learned from adventure in general. And some ranting I never did about the Olympics (which happened while I was away). And whatever else comes to mind.

Hostels are the way to go. They're cheap, you get to meet people and the atmosphere is just straight up better than most hotels. When was the last time you stayed at a hotel and actually met a fellow traveler? Met a fellow traveler over a beer and a snowboard video? My point exactly. Take heed, aside from the obvious (your roommates may vary, etc.), at Jackson Hole the pool room had more cougars than Wild America. Bring your bear spray or your 'A' game, depending.

Local guides are irreplaceable. This couldn't possibly need explaining.

When your guides don't stop, you only get pictures of their backs.
Andy, Uriel and Benny in a Utah blizzard.

Those times you get seated in an exit row, you will be next to a 400-pounder with screaming babies front and back. Enjoy the leg room, bring headphones and lean right.

Nate Holland has a problem with tight clothes in boardercross. So much of a problem that the New York Times did a story. Here's a nugget that escaped most of the commentary:

“If someone is showing up to races in tight clothes, we wouldn’t recommend that person for a spot,” said Holland, who is on the selection committee for snowboard cross at the X Games.

Nate actually has the power to nix invites. He also has no qualms about doing so on the basis of fashion. He says, "the image is at stake." I say if you're strapped in to one plank and standing sideways, chances are you're a snowboarder. You want to ban alpine boards?  Get over it.

Shaun White got another gold medal. Something tells me this one will fade from the public memory faster than the last. He and his team know it, too. Why else would they have done all the pre-hype? He was on talk shows and tv specials before the games even started. Are magazines that didn't have him on covers going to want him any more now? Magazines that did? He's definitely breaking into that 50-60 demographic, though.

How about Todd Richards' color commentary? Double-double extra tomato, classic. The tape-delay and NBC's general coverage on the other hand. Meh. Show it live. How long did it really take? Far less than the men's figure skating short program or some random curling match...

I like Mt. Hood Meadows for the fact that it doesn't turn to moguls nearly as quickly as places that have a higher ratio of skiers. Looking down a 1000' bowl of moguls just makes my joints ache. Compared to most other places, though, that's about its only redeeming quality. Well, that and I've come to know it well over the years.

Living in the mountains must be the best thing ever. I've gotta try that out. This whole hour and a half drive is no good. Purgatory, I say. Portland is a great city, though.

It reads, "If you're lucky enough to live in the mountains, then you're lucky enough." Cody bought it for $25.

Hiking a long time for just one run is generally worth it. Try it some time. Bring food, drink and stoke. And one guy who knows what's up. Preferably with able legs.

Post-ride beers, snacks and laughs. Dumping hard enough to cover our gear in minutes. Good thing we were in the trees. Tom, Cody and Matt after a Willy's Peak expedition.

Now I'm off on the 9-hour drive to Nelson, BC. Then a quick, 9-minute heli to Baldface lodge. Looks like they're getting the goods right now, so things are looking up. Weather's looking good for the drive, too. White knuckles replaced by chillaxing.  I'm thinking of doing some quick video interviews with random employees at Baldface to get some insight into the inner workings. I mean, who wouldn't want to work at a rad cat-riding operation? We'll see if it's all that. I know the riding is.

The Journey Concludes: Jackson Hole

 Like Snowbird and then some. This time the tram goes up 4000 vertical in nine minutes and once you're up there it gets gnarly. A little fresh snow the day before I arrived helped soften the edges and a day off gave my legs a welcomed reprieve.

Benny from Salt Lake put me in touch with Joel in Jackson Hole. They're in a shop owners' ring or something - Ben with Milosport and Joel with Jackson Treehouse. Both cool shops. I never did get to ride with Joel, but he lent me a board more suited to Jackson: a 162 instead of my 155. Many thanks, no one likes submarine-ing.

Strapped into a Rossignol Jeremy Jones Experience 162, ready to get it.

Before I get to the riding, a word about the accommodations. The Hostel in Teton Village is the best value I've ever stayed at for a ski resort. Warm rooms; bathrooms in every room instead of every floor; a nice community area with TVs, pool table, ping pong, fireplace, tuning area, two refrigerators, microwave, slow cooker (but no stove?); a five-minute walk to the tram and all for around $40 per night. Now that is with a four-bunk room, so you're rolling the dice on roommates. How long are you really going to spend in the room, though? Hopefully not long. Hopefully it snows.

 

It did for me, anyway. Unfortunately, a bit of trouble with my voucher foiled my plan to get on first tram. I'm not a morning person, so I thought my slopeside room would give me my first shot at a 'first' something. First tram is so much easier than first chair. Did I mention they fit a hundred people in those boats? Not a place to have bad gas like I did at Snowbird. I blame the medium-rare chicken from the night before. Seriously. From a restaurant. Lucky I didn't get sick and file suit. I held it in like a champ, though. Anyway, I settled for among the first five trams. Still a good amount of fresh to be had.

I can't stress enough how hard it is to ride 4000 feet at a time when I'm only used to 2000. All it took for me was two tram runs and my legs were violently reminding me of their fatigue. Then to the gondola (only 2700' vertical). Tree stashes were still giving up pow slashes and the best I found were at the top of the gondola. One place I had to check out was Dick's Ditch, one setting of the Natural Selection contest a few years back. Now, during Natural Selection, they had feet of powder while I only had a few inches, so it looked totally different, but the layout was still there. Hip here, tree bonk there, rock hop, cat track, repeat. Long and deep like a Tolstoy novel. After a couple tries there I wandered around the rest of the mountain, but things were getting bumpy. I made a point to see every side of the mountain just for future reference and when that was done, so were the lifts.

From there on out, the weather turned to spring conditions. Ma Nature hit the Head and Shoulders for a flake free weekend and the sun lit up the mountain like some equatorial beach. My final day was a full-on mellow-park chill sesh. After a few frustrating attempts at finding snow that wouldn't make my teeth rattle, I settled on the mini park. A few stalefish trashcan taps later and it was time for après beers and elk steak.

 I couldn't possibly order the buffalo steak with this guy staring me down.

See ya later, Jackson, glad I had the chance! You know I'll be back for a replay next year, especially if I can score some of those cheap, silent auction lift vouchers (see 3b) again.

The Journey Continues: Snowbird

First off, what kind of blogger forgets the camera cable!? Maybe I'll take some phone pics, maybe I won't take the time because I'd rather be 'out there' anyway.

Back to back days riding Snowbird (Utah) was some of the leg-thrashing-est riding in my life. Three-thousand vertical at a shot on one tram blows away anything I've ridden before. Add to that the steeep pitch and chunky bumps (at least the first day) and my legs were ready to go on strike when we went back at it day 2.

Day 2, of course it snowed, but it was a weekday, so it was empty. No waiting for the tram, just my buddies waiting for me. This list of friends old and new includes, but is not limited to Ben Pellegrino, Forrest Shearer and Mark Edlund. How am I supposed to keep up with that!? 'Where's Graham?' became the #1 hit song for the day. Mostly I made it back to the tram to meet them. When we switched it up to the other side of the mountain, the phone tag game began. Let me be clear, it was dumping outside, too. The fresh was 6-8" deep and I was having a blast. When it came time for one last traverse out the gate that felt like it lasted forever, I knew it was last run and really hoped that no 'last run' jinxes tripped me up. When the traverse finally turned into downhill, the pow was epic; soft and deep. Face shots, roostertails and inadvertent cannonballs. We took it all the way to the road and hitched out of there to cap off a beautiful day.

Next up, Jackson Hole. Here I sit banging a keyboard instead of exploring new territory. That ends now. Details from riding yesterday and tomorrow will emerge in a few days. . . and maybe even some pictures.

Holidays, New Year and Then Some

We're officially into it, the teens. I expect it to be awkward. Change. Growth. Distractions. Just like any decade, I guess. Hell, I'm already 1 for 1 on writing checks, how bad could it be!?

This was actually my first holiday season without contact with my family. I've been stuck in airports and on trains for Christmas, but I always managed to find a way home. This year, I just decided to forgo the whole long-distance winter travel to a small town in the middle of nowhere scenario. Instead I went to Sunriver, OR where my friend and his family rented a vacation house for the week. I got to Skype with my family, which of course turned into my six year-old niece goofing off for the camera and precluding any real conversation. The family vibe was high at the rental home and it was packed with 14 of us, so it felt like 'home for the holidays' for sure. The bonus was two days of snowboarding at Mt. Bachelor, just an hour's drive away. Peep the pixels.

12/23 - The first day Northwest Express was running

12/24 - the first day Summit Express was running
Gotta get those lifts running by Christmas and we were there to use 'em!

After four days of Christmas cheer it was back home to Portland for a tic and then up to Bellingham, WA with my girlfriend for our traditional New Year's festivities: shredding Baker for New Year's Eve and ringing in the decade at a warm, boozy house party. This year that meant I got to hang out with some friends I met up in Baldface last year. Snowboard friends become good friends quickly and it's been great hanging out with Martin, Jeff, Jesse and all the rest over this past year. There's nobody I'd rather ring the new year in with than my girl and some of my best new friends.

With that, here we are. 2010. Keep reading the blog and dropping your comments. I can promise you nothing but the best of my abilities, which hopefully improve throughout time. Got anything you want to hear about, let me know. I've got a handful of board demos to tell you about in the coming days and another board demo to attend this weekend. This one's only Burton boards though. What should I try? I'd like to check out some different cambers, a Malolo if it's powdery, something jibby and loose to round things out.

Also coming up quick is my Level 1 Avalanche certification. My kit is complete except the beacon and a good pack. Which reminds me, I'll be introducing you to a custom backpack maker, too. He just happens to be my cousin.

After that, the Legendary Banked Slalom at Baker. More good times with the crew up there. Followed by an epic, three-stop shred trip: Salt Lake, Aspen and Jackson. Any of you live in those areas or have advice thereto, let me hear it. Especially Jackson, I'm going in with nothing but some lift ticket vouchers. Not quite seat of the pants, but not quite fully clothed either, if you smell what I'm stepping in. Baldface comes next, speaking of epic. That's about as far ahead as I plan. Some 'maybes' in there: North Face Masters at Crystal Mountain, Level 2 Avalanche certification, Ride Shakedown at Snowqualmie. Lots going down and I'll be sure to tell you all about it. Just like I told you about Cambodia. Yeah, you thought I forgot. I'm working on some big things there. Here's a taste.

Anybody ever see Tomb Raider? I haven't but apparently this tree figures in a scene.
Ta Prohm, Angkor Province, Cambodia

Here's to the best year yet. May all your powder be deep and safe. May your landings be as solid as your joints. And may you always have the prefect words when recounting your tales of deep powder and solid landings!