Vacations Over

It's time to get back to bloggin'. I fell off the wagon there for awhile and didn't have the motivation to write about anything I guess. It's not that my life became some mundane existence by any means, but bloggin' just didn't seem to fit in. I promise I won't ever take that long of a break again...until maybe next month.

I guess I'll start off pretty simple and toss up a few pics from the last couple of months-

Jamie O'Brian - Pipeline

Veiw of Pipeline from our backporch

See the rest of the North Shore vacation pics here

A couple of action shots from the last few months-

JR Cole Kings Cliff

Jeff Snowden - Old 27

Scott Matual

Vail Report

Red @ Renton Skatepark

$92 dollar lift tickets??? People actually pay $92 for a day on the mountain, and I guess now more than ever before. Vails parking garages are maxed out every weekend and even some weekdays. When I lived there it would only happen a few days out of the entire season. Well thanks to my friends we didn't have to pay for a single lift ticket while we were there. Brent even offered up his guest bedroom so we didn't have to get a hotel.

Even though the parking lots are full, morning lift lines are out of control, and your lucky to squeeze your ass in sideways at some of the local bars...the mountain is still the same. All the best jumps, rollers, jibs, and trees runs are right where I left them. Some off the beaten path too far out of the way for tourists to venture, and a few right out in the open most folks would never notice unless they spent years hitting the same runs over and over.

Conditions on the first few days were ok. Not really any new snow and not the blue bird skies, but still fast. We spent most of our time doing laps on the front side riding in a small posse of old friends. I couldn't have been happier. The last day we received 8-10 inches of fresh snow and we spent almost the entire day in the trees until I almost broke my ankle. Luckily it was at the end of our day and everyone else was pretty beat down and had no complaints about calling it done.

On the trip back to Denver we stopped by Aaron's shop to say hi to him and Mikey Paris. It was nice to see him and hear he's really doing well. It would have been nice to spend more time, but just like every vacation I take I can't seem to fit everything in.

I leave for the North Shore of Oahu on Tuesday for Clem's bachelor party. Surf reports are calling for plenty of swell and nice weather. I have a feeling this is going to be an amazing trip.

Dual Sport

I spent half the weekend surfing and the other half snowboarding. Conditions weren't perfect for either, but pretty close. A foot of fresh snow and sun would be optimal. I settled for soft, slightly slushy, and sunshine. Perfect conditions for hiking the Summit U-Jump. Surf was offshore, sunny, and provided a few cover-ups for those lucky enough to get into `em. Crowds were more than I expected for Westport in the winter.

Heading to Vail for a long weekend. Staying with Brent and Tracy in their new place. I'll miss the Holy Oly which I'm pretty bummed about, but I'm sure I'll have a good time.

Trip to the North Shore is also gettin' closer - 2 weeks. Looks like there has been no shortage of waves.

Cold Days Ahead

Jackson with the Rodeo

The snow has taken a break and given way to sunny days and freezing temps. I'm really excited about the clear skies, but not so much the freezing temps. Already scored a small patch of frostbite on my index finger from sledding/snowboarding/shooting pics all MLK day. It was well worth dead patch of skin.

Becker with the cheese

Baker birthday weekend was pretty fun. Of course a little more relaxing than I imagined, but none the less fun. First day was sunny and pretty hard snow. Second day was a few inches on top of crust. Just enough snow to inspire us to seek out a couple drops. My ass is still recovering from a big ice patch on a run out.

The crew was different than usual - Obie, Laura, Ethan, Annie, Jason, and his lady(name???). It's fun hanging out with them, but nothing crazy. Riding with Obie is always a good time. Jackie actually tried to ski for the 3rd time again and of course did well. Next day she went back to the snowboard when the snow started to accumulate. Also ran into Otter, Mike, and Des, in the lift line. We did a few fun lines with `em till they took off to ride the front.

Surf looks really good this week. Too bad my boss is in town and I have to show my face around the office or else I'd be 'working from home' again. Talking about heading out one day this weekend. I don't expect it to be anything but friggin' cold.

Drex's site been active with the usual shit talking in the past few weeks. About time he starts the forums up again.

Goods-
-Non-Stop Round trip ticket to 4 day weekend in Vail(Feb. 21st) - $130
-New Ice cream maker for the kitchen
-HI. North Shore in 40 days

Bads-
-$50 parking ticket on MLK
-Cloverfield
-boots that will never seem to dry
-No Summit Pipe yet

SunPeaks...without the Sun

Josh over sidewalk gap

Spent a long weekend in SunPeaks with a really great crew of people- Jackie,Josh,D,Mary,Vince,Etty,Nate. Everyone was a solid rider so we didn't have to wait much or worry about what color run we were on. And if we did ditch someone we just kept going and eventually we'd find `em on another run. No bitching or complaining either.

Lots of jibbing and riding at top speeds. Fresh snow fall was pretty good, but coverage was not the best. The snow in the trees was barely hiding stumps and logs...and we all eventually found a few. The mountain is not very steep and also lacked the drops we're accustom to back home, but plenty of fun jib stuff to wreck on. Vince kept taking little kids out even though the lift lines were almost non-existent.

Mary over the hot tub gap

Stayed at Mary's parents vacation home which was super nice. It was one of those Ski-in-ski-out luxury places- complete with heated floors, boot dryers, and hot tub. Lots of hot tub time to keep the muscles loose and blood thin, or was that the beer and shots?

Never Ending Winter

Shawn- warm up drop

It's started just like it ended...powder days and lots of snowboarding. Still haven't surfed this year, actually haven't surfed in a few weeks, but every opportunity to go has looked like crap. Oh well, having more than enough fun snowboarding. It's been a few years since I've been really stoked on riding.

Drex with the drop

Headin' to SunPeaks this afternoon with a small crew- Mary C., Becker, Vince, and D. New mountain for me, and different crew than I usually ride with, so I'm pretty excited. Conditions are looking good too - 6" last night and twice as much expected in the next 2 days.

Perfect way to end the year

Too busy to write lately. Between the snow falling in record amounts, and holiday parties, there's no time left for interweb browsing. Well, at least not more than a few minutes at a time.

ki@Alpental

I can't think of a better way to 2007 than the best powder days I've experienced in the last few years. One amazing day at Steven's and 3 or 4 more at Alpental. Kinda crowded, but the runs well worth the wait. Thanks to Drex and crew I'm learning my way around Alpental pretty well.

New Years was kinda anticlimactic. Nice dinner party at Greg and Julia's and then big party at Toni and Peter's. Toni and Pete's place was fun, but I think I was a little too sober to be thrown into a bunch of drunk people I hardly know. Good thing D and Lara were there to ring in the new year with.

New Years eve I couldn't stop thinking burnt out I was from snowboarding everyday, but on the other hand I couldn't help from laughing about how good it was. Perfect example of body giving out too early. Maybe new years resolution should be to work our my back leg more, but just my back leg.

Oh yeah, Space Needle fireworks suck.

Last day...again

I'm not sure if it was the onshore winds, the rain, or the $3.35 a gallon gas, that convinced us driving out to the coast was a bad idea this weekend. Since surf was out of the question it's a good thing Alpental decided to stay open another weekend. I would have gone crazy just sitting around the house all weekend.

After the last weekend in Whistler I was sure that would be my last time on a snowboard for the 06-07 season. I was actually fine with it too. This was a pretty disappointing season- not because of the snow conditions, but because of my condition. I was plagued with injuries- fractured vertebrae and twisted ankle. Both are injuries require a fair amount of rest...something I'm not very good at.

Even though conditions weren't the greatest, it was pretty good for April 29th. It was sunny for a good part of the day. Sun always seems to make a riding session seem that much better. I guess the PBR's helped too, but I blame all the fun on the sun. I guess we'll have next weekend to ride too, but I'll be looking to surf if the waves work out.

Telus Weekend

For the past few years we've made it a point to spend Whistler's final few days of the season with thousands of other snowboarders/skiers that seem to more interested in drinking than the marginal snow conditions. This year was no different than the others - long lines at all the bars in town, too many drinks, and not enough sleep the night before a day of riding.

We ended up staying with Molly who at the last minute had some extra room at her house. It was nice to have a bed in our own room instead of trying to find enough space on the floor to pass out on. This time I knew exactly where to pass out ;)

We ran into a bunch of friends, a few we really didn't expect to see, which was actually a good thing. Even though our friends didn't ride with us we spent plenty of time getting food and drinks. They were even kind enough to hook us up with a few drinks and lift tickets!

The riding was pretty much what I expected- nice up top, crusty 3/4 the way up, and slushy 1/2 way down. The best thing I can say is that it was fast, which under most circumstances would be awesome, but I guess I had a little too much fun the night before. We only lasted a few hours and were back in the bar by early afternoon.

Sunday we opted out of riding and decided to head up North to Pemberton - only about 30 minutes past Whistler. We found a place that served up a kick-ass breakfast. Other than the tasty bread and perfectly cooked bacon, the best thing about it was the wait for a table - there was none. Breakfast was about the only thing the small town had to offer us.

After dropping our friend back in Whistler we decided we might as well hit the road. We figured the traffic was going to suck no matter what time we left. On the ride back Jackie spotted a black bear not 25 feet from the side of the highway. I took a couple of blurry pics.

Even though we didn't get to ride that much I had a really good time.