Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Emv and 4th of July weekend










Monavie just released an all-natural energy drink to accompany the already amazing products that Monavie has to offer.  The new energy drink is called Emv, which stands for “Energy to the power of Monavie.”   The energy drink is all-natural and is made of 80% juice, including the coveted Acai berry, Acerola, Camu Camu, Capuacu, Apple, Grape, and Pear. The caffeine comes from natural forms such as Yerbe Mate and Green Tea extract.  There is no added sugar, artificial sweetener, colorings, or preservatives.   


Mark Frank Montoya has been a huge advocate of Emv.  He recently left Monster to promote a new movement of health and awareness.  With his help I was able to host a few events over 4th of July weekend to be able to start spreading the word and educating people about their health.  


July 2nd is not a day most people would associate with a snowboard rail jam in Portland, Oregon; but on this day it was.  The temperature was well above 90 degrees and the 2 tons of snow was melting fast, but that didn’t stop the 40 snowboarders that contended in the event.  The event turned out to be an epic party at Epic Snowboard Shop on NW 23rd and Vaughn.  



The event started with an introduction from Mark Frank Montoya.  He brought his party bus and entourage of professional snowboarders to hype the new energy drink.  


Once the event began there was plenty of action.  The riders were getting creative on the two features that were built by Axiomatic apparel.  There were two rail setups in the middle of the parking lot. The guys were throwing down some heavy tricks, including a transfer gap from one feature to another.  The girls were also throwing down and giving the guys a run for their money.  


Spectators and sponsors surrounded the parking lot.  Rome SDS brought with them, Team Terror.  Other sponsors include Smith Optics, DC, Axiomatic, Grenade, Cilla, Drop, Spacecraft, Frequency magazine, Neff, MHSS, Monavie, and Pyramid.  The rail jam also benefited the S.O.S. outreach program.  


The spectators were taking advantage of the 3 free kegs of beer provided by Pyramid Brewery along with the many other attractions to keep people entertained.  Three different Dj’s were keeping the music lively and Sharpening Markers played a set that kept everyone wanting more.  We also had artist, Andrew Dvoracek, contributed paintings that fit the health and wellness theme.  


July 3rd was an art event at Evo Gear, an amazing shop in the heart of Seattle.  Evo is a shop that really reaches to the community and interacts with the  industry on many different levels.   On this particular night Evo was hosting an art show in their gallery to show case all of the art work from their own employees.  The event was called “helping hands.”  Evo was nice enough to let us participate in the event.  


MFM spent most of his time having plenty of one-on-one interaction with people to spread the word of Monavie.  People were enjoying themselves with free beer donated by Pyramid brewery and the music provided by Tronix.  


Evo did a really good job of putting together a video about the event. You can check it out at http://vimeo.com/5470246.


July 4th was a blast.  We went to the lake and swam for a while.  There was this great little island that you could swim to with a diving board.  That made things a little interesting.  From there we went to the waterfront to watch the fireworks and grabbed some drinks afterwards.  We ran into John Kaiser and his girlfriend Nicole and then ended up having a dance party on the bus.  Molly, Sara, Chris, and Ang stumbled upon the party and added to the good times.  


The last event was on July 5th at Stevens Pass Snowboard Shop in Gold Bar, Wa.  The rail jam was held on a double barrel rail that had stairs on each side with scaffolding to get your speed from.  The owners of the shop, Tony and D, really wanted to make the event a success.  They shoveled away on their Fourth of July to make sure there was enough snow the next day.  Everyone that showed up had a great time and the top riders walked away with cash and prizes.  




Monavie - The start of a healthy life




The Monavie Convention on 20th in Salt Lake City, Ut marks the start of my Monavie career.  Jeff was nice enough to let me take his vehicle to Utah with Rachel and Robis. We hit the road on the 17th.  Marco was nice enough to host our entire group and let us crash at his place.  The convention was the launch of the new energy drink Emv.  The whole experience was really what I needed to be motivated in this company.  I got to meet the owners of the company.  I really appreciated that because I got to see their morals and they truly are good people and I support their cause.  Checking out the private jet and all of the other incentives was also motivating.  Educating people about their health and wellness is something I am not ashamed of and I look forward to helping people change their lives to a healthier lifestyle.  


Road trip from Arizona

I had a very interesting trip this time around.  I flew home to my parents house in Delaware for four days.  I had to study for a professional exam that I needed to take in Phoenix, Arizona.  From there I flew to Arizona on May 5th to take the exam the next day.   Rachel flew out to Arizona with me from Pennsylvania because she needed help moving to Oregon and it all just worked out perfect. We got this sweet place to stay that was like a desert oasis.  We spend plenty of time packing and packing, but we still had time to enjoy the pool and hot tub.  Unfortunately, it wasn't quite as much pool time as I wanted and I was a little crabby to Rachel....sorry. We hit the road on the 9th and made it home on the 10th. The sunset leaving Arizona was amazing.  Best part is that I passed my exams, which was a huge relief.  






Campus Rail Jam Tour - Oregon State University

The Campus Rail Jam tour made a stop at Oregon State University on May 21, 2009.  The day was beautiful, but it was a scorcher.  I had a hard time motivating myself to compete.  I had already qualified for the finals in Portland, but I wanted to get some extra practice on the set up and maybe get a chance to take some money home.  I had a great time seeing lots of familiar faces.  The Oregon stops always draw a good crowd of people.  I got to meet a really sweet girl named Emily and I got to hang out with Ashley Thornton and meet her boyfriend.  Overall, even though I felt sluggish, the event was a blast and I took home the money I was hoping for.  

Mt. Hood Meadows and Kona Lager's Pond Skim

April 25th was a really frigid day to be holding a pond skim.  The objective of the event is to clear a 100 foot long pool of water that is even colder than the air.  The objective may be to skim the pond, but this is really a costume contest.  So really, the objective is to have the most elaborate costume that will not inhibit you from making the cross.  Due to lack of time and care for preparing  a costume, I kept it pretty basic and unoriginal. The first time around was a breeze.  I successfully made if to the other side.  Thank god, I don't think I would have been able to handle being wet and cold.  It was cold enough when you were dry.  Second time around, I was almost going to go swimming, but my determination to stay dry helped me to force myself above the water.  The competition was fun, but I think that next year I'll stear away from the gaper show.  

Whistler 4/20

This was the most memorable 4/20 holiday celebration yet.  I jumped in a car with Halo, Karim, and Ellie. We made our way through the northwest and over the boarder of Canda and the U.S. to make our final destination in Whistler, B.C.  On 4/20 we got to go ride even though it was socked in and difficult to see. Shredbetties,com was nice enough to be able to help with lift tickets making the day and the whole trip all that much better.  


Post riding, we celebrated further by lazing about the pool and hot tub as the sun graced us with a few moments of sunshine.  Eventually, some how, Mark Frank Montoya joined our shit show and drank some vodka and grape cool-aid "Grape Drank!" with us to kick start the night.  


A nice stroll over to the Aussie house solidified the purpose of celebrating 4/20 and rejoined some good friends for a good time.  Well intoxicated at this time, I thought it would be a great idea to go long boarding with Josh, which turned out to not be a good idea.  I was left with a wonderful scar the size of my shoulder blade to forever remember this day.  


At this point the rest of the night beings to become a fuzzy mess, but a few more drinks later and a few bars later we ended up at Buffalo Bills dancing our asses off to a Led Zepplin cover band.  With all of us doing air guitar, one could have guessed we were all having a great time.  Thankfully, Erykah showed up to help us drunkies make it through the rest of the night.  She helped us purchase food to eat and baby sat us like a bunch of little kids.  


The rest of the trip panned out to be just as fun.  I had a great time riding with Erykah and Ellie.  It is not too often I have the opportunity to shred with those ladies. Karim was really sweet and was nice enough to take photos to document the event. I think spending 4/20 in Whistler may need to become a yearly tradition.    







Friday, July 24, 2009

Road Trip Across the Country











































































































































I had the opportunity to drive across the country from Pennsylvania to Oregon in a large Dodge Durango.  Of coarse I had to raid my parents house and completely fill the truck with stuff.  Jeff and I hit the road on Monday March 23 at about 5 p.m. with a mission to get to Colorado State University by Wednesday morning, less than two days later.  The Campus Rail Jam tour had a stop there and I really wanted to participate in the event.  The drive out there was long and tiring.  We really couldn't stop to sleep for two reasons.   First, there wasn't enough time.  Second there was no room in the truck to lay down.  We had a chance to catch a few hours in and there, but overall it was a straight long drive to Ft. Collins.  I showed up about two hours past registration, but the guys putting on the event were cool enough to let me compete.  The girl vibe there was great.  I had a chance to meet Amanda Poindexter and Charlotte Trundle, both really great girls.  The comp was a success, I took first place and walked away with $100.  The next stop was going to be Salt Lake City.  We headed north and went west on I 80 until about two hours later we hit a block in the road because of weather.  Jeff was a strong person for being able to drive through the storm, but it was crazy, gnarly.  We had to turn around and figure out a plan for the day.  We decided to head back south and try to make it to Breckenridge for the night so we could visit a good friend Aaron Thompson and have a warm place to sleep.  Thankfully, we made it there safely and had a wonderful night of comfortable sleep.  The next day Aaron showed us around and took us on some sweet runs.  On our way out we had to stop at smoke shack tucked away.  I'm sorry locals, but it is too cool not to mention.  The shack was so well built and not appropriate for people with a fear of heights.  


The next day we started back on the road with Salt Lake as our destination.  We got there and spent our time with Steve Pierce and Sam Driver.  Many pow turns were created at Brighton and in the back country.  I had a great time.  I also had a chance to catch up with my friend Abby Johnson. 


Once we left Utah we started to head towards Spokane, Washington but stopped in a small town called  Mcall in Idaho.  Jeff and I spent a night in a nice resort and had a wonderful opportunity to relax and catch up on some chill time after being on the road for so long.  We enjoyed a good home cooked dinner and a few cocktails, but we had to get to bed early to get on the road early the next morning.  The drive to Spokane was long because of snowy road conditions, but thankfully I made it to Spokane in time again to compete at the next stop of the Campus Rail Jam tour.  This stop was at Gonzaga State University.  I'm so glad I got to compete at this event.  Mt. Hood local Becky was there and I had a chance to meet a girl named Kendra that is from Canada.   The competition was a lot of fun and I walked away with first place again and some cash to put gas in the truck.  We took off after the competition and drove till we made it home to catch an amazing night of sleep, in our own beds.  

Mamafest 2009 at Summit at Snoqualmie





















On March 14th, a non-profit competition was held for the cure for cancer called Mamafest at Summit at Snoqualmie. There was about a foot of fresh powder and it was completely silly to be doing a competition since the rails were caked in snow and the jumps were super fluffy, but regardless the comp was on.  There was a great group of girls that came out for the event and local rider Raelynd Tarnove took first place followed by myself.  She had a sweet 540 and sweet style on the rails.  Overall the event was a great time. Since this benefit has a great cause, there was a great group of spectators and sponsors.   I hope that Mamafest will be held again next season.