Mission Ridge

Mission ridge demo days was a great time as usual.  Even though there is some work involved, it is always sweet to be there and see lots of familiar faces.  The ride booth was crowded as usual.  There was a chinese down hill that was really interesting.  There was a mogal field that was a bling spot at the start of the run.  I guess the guys run was a total white out and dudes were falling all over the place.  I wish I was there to see that.  The girls run was a little more mellow, and Raelyn gave me a run for my money.  She was on my tail the whole time.  Thanks to Kyle's mom for being so hospitable.  Staying at her house is always a treat.  

The Legendary Banked Slalom at Baker

I was really fortunate this year to by having an opportunity to compete in the legendary banked slalom at Mt. Baker.  I've always heard really great thing about the competition, but never competed.  It is pretty hard to get in for locals and almost impossible for non-locals without an invite.  Thank you to EVO gear for inviting me to take one of their two spots.  The weather the first day was typical northwest weather.  The skies were grey and the snow was blowing.  I'd never competed in a banked slalom, so the only thing running through my head was, "GO FAST!"  The first couple of turns were really tight, so when I gunned it out of the starter booth, I pulled off a beautiful cartwheel.  I am pretty sure that cartwheels aren't part of banked slaloms.  The US Forest Service put a slight damper on my day as well.  Oh well, maybe the next day would be better.  Saturday was a much nicer day.  The sun was bling'n and the course was icy.  My goal for the day was to stay on my feet and avoid aerobatics  Unfortunately my time was slightly too slow.  I have to say I am not too bummed.  My time still topped some pro's and the women that made it to the finals have been doing the slalom for years.  One of the ups to the banked slalom was the awesome food.  At the top of the course there was a roasted red pepper cream cheese dip with crackers, fresh fruit and chocolate fondue, and sourdough with cheese fondue.  There was also a salmon feed on Saturday, which I think caused the food poisoning that haunted me all Saturday into Sunday.  I have to say that food poisoning is the most horrible thing ever and I would never wish that upon anyone else.  The banked slalom was an amazing time even with the lows.  I saw a lot of familiar faces from EVO gear, POW gloves, and Spacecraft.  Hopefully I'll have a crack at the course again next year, minus the food poisoning.  

SIA R.I.P.

This January 24th-27th was the last year that the annual Snowsports Industries America show was held in Las Vegas, NV.  It went off with a bang!  Wed night was the 10th annual Rider's Poll awards.  The event was slightly thin of people because Snoop Dogg was playing at the Rain club at the Palm.  The event was also slightly boring considering Travis Rice took every award except Rookie of the year.  The most excitement came from the success of Lucas Debari winning rookie of the year.  Lucas is a killer rider from the Mt. Baker area.  Northwest rider representing.  Anyway, some how I managed to get into the Snoop Dogg show as well.  That was a killer show even though Snoop didn't get on stage till 1:14 am and had a half hour set.  The next night was the last night of the SIA. Method man played at the Hard Rock.  The show was sweet and it was great to get to hang out with some of my fellow Shred Betties...D, Megan, Diana, and even though he is not a betty...Tim.  There were tons of familiar faces and the fun was endless.  I don't think that SIA will ever be the same.  May it R.I.P and put your serious face on for Denver SIA.  

Hood River Show

I spend the last week learning all about the 2009-2010 Ride products.  I am going to be helping take appointments at SIA so this was basically a training session for me.  I have to say, the week was a blast.  The ROME guys always keep things interesting, and Pat and Kyle know how to party.  Sunday night Hells Bells was playing and the show was sick.  They are an all girls AC/DC cover band that sounds exactly the same.  I was at the bar getting drinks when an AC/DC song came on.  I thought they popped a CD in till the band  came on, but then I looked up at the stage and there was a chic on stage rock'n out.  I head banged so much I had an afro by the end of the night.  I must say though, I really appreciated being able to head bang.  May the good times keep on rolling.  

Arctic Blast of 2008

As many of you know the Northwest and most of the country got hit with a few slam'n storms.  Portland was buried with about a foot and a half of snow, and there is about three feet at my house.  The snow amounts are amazing.  Of coarse with all that snow, we are flocking from the mountain to the city to go snowboarding.  While the folks of Portland aren't leaving their homes, the mountain has been dead.  The people of Portland find the urban snowboarding to be interesting, unlike the Salt Lake folks. The Rome boys were nice enough to let me tag along on their trips around town, offering a few words of encouragement.  My friend Halo was awesome enough to shoot the attached photo.  Thanks to my homies for the support.

Tokidoki Party

On Dec. 5th, Evo and Ride Snowboards held a party to celebrate the Tokidoki series that was created for Ride.  I've never heard of Tokidoki until I received a Tokidoki board from Ride, but there are lots of other people who know who Tokidoki is.  There was a line out of the gallery into the shop to get a signature from the artist.  The artist is Italian, but has made his success on animated Japanese style art.  There was an awesome crew of people up there.  Some of the attendants were Pat, the Sweeny twins, Dan, Kyle, Austin and Austin, Chris, Molly, Justin and the rest of the Evo crew.  There was free beer and  and lots of happy faces.  Many good times.

Back Yard Bangerer at Timberline

On Sat the 22nd, the back yard bang took place in Portland as did an early season jib session at Timberline.  With the way things worked out, and for better reasoning, I attended the jib session at Timberline. The event turned out to be a blast.  It was great to see lots of familiar faces.  Epic snowboards was there, Nick the local DC rep, lots of ladies (Amanda, Lauren, Destiny, Christine, Krysta, Julia, and more), and local homies.  The atmosphere was chill and the box was fun. It was great to ride with lots of friends and I am grateful for the experience.  I would have loved to have had the chance to ride along side my good friend, Megan Ginter, at the Back Yard Bang, but instead I can be proud to say that she took first place at the event. Cheers to Megan!!