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.