Zaskoda

Last week, Nino, 3 skiers, and I headed up just northwest of Black Hawk city for what would be my first (and Nino’s) backcountry trip. I had some of the gear I needed, but still dropped nearly $700 for 2 beacons, another set of snowshoes, 2 shovels, and 2 probes. Nino and I also attended a 1 hour avalanche awareness course. We learned enough to know we need to take a real class.

The snow conditions were nearly as bad as you could imagine. Several days of sun had the top cursted over in the open areas. I would find myself over knee deep in snow not 20 meters from a patch of exposed grass. That’s what you get for heading out after the very first snow of the season.

Skiers definitely have a backcountry advantage when it comes to traversing. Uphill, I could keep up. However, downhill, the skiers get to slide along and rest at the bottom while the snowboaders hike it all the way through. You definitely need stamina.

My favorite moment was sitting back in a snow-made lounge chair and looking off at an amazing view down the valley. I want to spend my next day of turns somewhere with a lift, no doubt. However, I expect to do this backcountry experience several more times this season. It’s good stuff.

Snowboarding

At least, I think it’s the world’s first Steampunk Snowboard. The idea started when two conversations came togehter.

Read more…

Projects, Snowboarding, Steampunk Snowboard Freebasin, Project, Skijam, Snowboard, Steampunk

Nino and I have been working all evening on the Steampunk Snowboard. I hope to demo it tomorrow at A-Basin. I intend to get a run in down the bunny slope. Anyway, it’s late and I’m tired. I just wanted to post a couple of pics before bed.

Snowboarding

Hooray! I know some people won’t be as happy about it as I am, but I’m sure they’ll get over it. I’ve found a couple of stories saying The Village at Wolf Creek is back on track. It’s only taken 20 years! There’s an article in Biz Journals and and article in the Denver Post.

The Denver Post takes a very negative slant, “It is clear that the development of Wolf Creek Pass isn’t in the public interest.” I’ve been following this topic for a while now and, frankly, not everyone is all upset about it. There are large groups who are making a lot of noise about potential environmental impact and economic impacts. I’d even say there is a fair amount of validity in this. However, at town meetings that Red and the gang have held in the past, a large number of people have supported his project and the economic gain it could bring to the area.

Honestly, I don’t know the specifics of the project. I would hope that it is fairly eco friendly and uses as much green technology as possible. If it is, indeed, a threat to the local ecosystem – then I don’t want it to happen. However, it’s my belief that the area will some day be developed. It’s an amazing place to ski/board. That said, I think groups should focus on guiding the project down the best path instead of trying to block it altogether. Just my $0.02.

Village at Wolf Creek

Thanks to ski-blog for the scoop. It would seem that one of the pending lawsuits regarding the Village at Wolf Creek finally reached a resolution. The following is from Mineral County Minor (and is also quoted on the ski-blog link above)

WOLF CREEK— The owners of Wolf Creek ski resort and developers of the proposed Village at Wolf Creek have reportedly settled their lawsuit over the project.

The Pitcher family, owners of the ski area through Wolf Creek Ski Corp. Inc., sued Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture over the $1 billion Village at Wolf Creek resort project in 2003.

U.S. District Court Judge John Kane dismissed the case last Tuesday without ruling as to the admissibility of any evidence presented, according to The Associated Press.

The Pitchers reportedly cooperated with the Village at Wolf Creek’s developers early on, but pulled out in the 1990s.

Led by Kingsbury Pitcher, they sued the joint venture, claiming they had no legal responsibility to help develop the resort. Leavell-McCombs countersued, alleging that the Pitchers had committed fraud and breached their contract.

The settlement cancels a trial that was scheduled for July 7. The Pitchers had reportedly threatened to introduce evidence of the political intrigue that has surrounded the Village since the 1980s. The two sides were haggling over political allegations when the settlement was announced…

A separate lawsuit filed by environmental groups over the development was settled out of court in February, with steps yet to be taken including evaluation of an access road by the U.S. Forest Service, approval of a highway access permit by the Colorado Department of Transportation and approval of development plans by Mineral County, which can only be considered after access is approved.

According to Honts, the next step will be with the Forest Service, which is under a court-ordered agreement to do another environmental impact study for proposed access roads to the development.

Forest Service spokesman Mike Blakeman said the government will bill McCombs for the costs of the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) for access roads and Forest Service employees will do most of the work on it, not a private contractor. Rio Grande National Forest (RGNF) officials will choose the team that does the environmental analysis.

I was beginning to think the whole project was going to fade away. Looks like things are rolling along at a snail’s pace.

Village at Wolf Creek

Last summer I moved from Texas to Colorado, accidentally leaving behind my trusty old ski coat. I say “ski” because I bought the coat before I started snowboarding. It always served its purpose well, so I never replaced it. However, I was due to leave for Chile and, without a coat at the last minute, I was forced to find something else. I hit a local shop and picked up a Sessions shell called the “Istodis Heather Jacket” (Hershey flavor). I only know the name because I spent the last 30 minutes looking it up online – it’s not printed inside the shell.

At first, I wanted to hate this jacket. I really liked the placement of the pockets on my old coat. It took me a while to adjust to everything being out of place. Once I got over the shock of something new and different, I learned to love this jacket.

First of all, it’s a “shell”. This means it’s designed to be your outter most layer. With the vents open, the Jacket allows for a fair amount of fresh air. With just a t-shirt on underneath, it’s good for those days that aren’t too terribly cold. Close the vents and put a hoodie underneath and you’re ready for some frigid days.

The jacket has an attached hood which I rarely use. However, when I need it, I love it. The sleeves include those snazzy cuffs that wrap around your thumb and go inside your gloves – keeping snow off your wrists. There are tons of pockets including an MP3 pocket (and a special collar that allows you to insert headphones into the jacket), a tucked away pocket inside the zipper flap, a variety of exterior pockets (both button and zipper), and a pocket with a goggle wipe velcro’d inside. There’s also a removable powder skirt with buttons that will latch to your pants… but not my pants, as they buttons don’t fit right with my belt loops.

The jacket is light weight and water proof. It looks snazzy enough to wear as an every day jacket. In fact, I recently wore my jacket camping in Alaska. It not only kept me warm and dry, but kept the mosquitoes from eating me alive.

The quality of the jacket it top notch. I’ve caught a fair amount of tree limbs and have never torn or scratched the shell. After stinking it up with fish and campfire in AK, a quick run through the washing machine (and hung to dry) left the jacket looking and smelling like new.

I don’t think this jacket is perfect. I personally would prefer a removable hood (which Session offers in other models) and I would still adjust the placement of some of the pockets. I’ve found that larger items (such as a radio, phone, or flask) can often hang right around the base of your rib cage – which kinda sucks when you fall just right. Still, the jacket is awesome enough that I completely forget I’m wearing it while I’m riding – which is exactly what I want.

Conclusion: Recommended

Product Reviews

I’ve long lusted for an Arbor Mystic. Imagine my surprise last summer when I found one in a Texas shop at 50% off. I spent more time riding the Mystic 154 this past season than any other board.

Before the Mystic, I’d never experienced a true park board. If you’re considering a park board and have never owned one, you might want to demo one first. The first thing you’ll notice is a different edging. Where an all mountain board is sharp around the curves, a park board loses it’s edge near the ends as to not catch the snow while doing rotation tricks. This means you must have your carves on hard park dialed in a little better. You’ll also notice that a park board has a completely different flex pattern. The middle of the board tends to be springier while the ends are more firm.

The Mystic is one of Arbor’s bamboo core boards. Bamboo is lighter than carbon fiber and lasts twice as long. The use of bamboo also makes Arbor one of the most eco friendly boards on the market.

The base of the board uses a technology Arbor calls Struc Turn. From the website, “It prevents a vacuum from forming between the board and snow.” I quickly became aware of the effectiveness of Struc Turn on my very first ride. I thought a smaller board (I usually ride a 162) would be a bit slower. The Mystic accelerated much faster than any board I’ve ridden.

The mystic is a true twin tip. This is rather funny, as I set my bindings on the board backwards initially and never bothered to fix it. I spent a lot of time this season focused on improving my ability to ride switch. The twin nature of this board made it much easier. With my directional boards, it was difficult to tell what was different while riding switch – something I was doing versus how the board felt. With the twin, I could easily identify what I needed to focus on while riding switch.

Overall, the board is fairly light. It’s not as light as some of the new honeycomb boards coming out; however, you definitely won’t have to worry about a knee popping out of joint while riding the lift up.

Finally, the board just looks sexy. Traditionally, the Arbor boards have been mostly black with very classy and mostly green artwork. While the 04 artwork is, by far, my favorite – I still love my 07.

Conclusion Highly Recommended

Product Reviews

I have a 10.5 sized shoe/boot which puts me exactly in between a large binding and a medium binding. The upside is that I can ride both. The down size is that neither is a perfect fit. I bought a set of large Missions for my park board and quickly found that they were a tad too bulky. Early this past season, I purchased a set of medium, high back, 07 Burton Cartel bindings to replace the Missions. I chose Cartel as I’ve been running 05 Cartels on my Custom for a few years and really like them. My 05 Cartels are solid bindings; the 07 are even better.

The first thing you might notice about Cartel bindings is the wide variety of adjustments available. I honestly thought I was going to have to return my bindings after my first few rides. Once I realized just how much the bindings can be adjusted, I was good to go. While the 05s are highly adjustable, the 07s are even more so.

The Cartels are listed as a mid-grade binding on Burton’s website. However, they are also listed as the most responsive binding in their class. Personally, I found both the 05 and 07 bindings to be extremely responsive. The toe strap runs across the front of the boot, pushing your heel deep into the base of the binding. Your feet are connect to the board for a solid ride.

I only have one complaint with my 05 Cartels. The forward lean adjustment on the back of the 05 binding has a flip latch to lock them into an upright position. This seemed both superfluous and annoying. I have to unlatch the back of the binding before I could flip it down when jumping on a lift. Apparently, I’m not the only one who thought this was a bad design decision as it was removed in the 07 model! The new design, instead, uses a nifty wing nut that allows you the adjust the lean of the binding’s back quickly and easily.

There are a few other minor improvements on the 07. The straps now have a bit of jell inside, making for a snug and comfy fit. Overall, the binding is also lighter than the previous model while still being just as solid. The straps themselves are attached using a new style of nut with a flip up cover. When flipped open, the nut can be taken out by hand – with no tools. This allows you to adjust the length of your binding straps on the mountain at any time you wish. It’s particularly handy when you want to let someone else – with a different shoe size – ride your board.

Simply put, the 2007 Burton Cartel bindings are the best bindings I’ve ever had the pleasure to ride.

Conclusion: Recommended

Product Reviews

You know you’re snowboarding late in the season when, on the way up to the slopes, you pass a van with kayaks on top and see people river rafting along the road side. This was the case when I went up yesterday for what is, decidedly, my last day for this season.

I still can’t believe I went snowboarding in June. The conditions were really wet. I rode my longer board (the Burton Custom) and moved my bindings back before I went up. It felt as much like wake boarding as it did snowboarding. Much to my surprise, the runs were actually rather fast – so long as you didn’t hit a puddle. The sloppy slush was chopped up and proved to be very bouncy. I actually had a rather rough time of it.

I wore very little clothing and still managed to break a sweat at times. With just a shirt on, I was rather concerned about falling. I didn’t want to end up wet. In some places, the water flowing under the snow broke through and made little rivers and waterfalls right in the main runs. Temperatures were running somewhere in the 70′s.

I’m looking forward to summer activities. Today, I finally got out my mountain bike. Wow, it kicked my butt. A 30 minute ride in the mountains reminded me just how long it’s been since I’ve ridden. I’m also hoping to do some outdoor rock climbing, kayaking, and backpacking. I’ll probably mention some of these adventures here on the blog. I would also like to post reviews for all of the equipment and resorts I experienced this past season.

As I mentioned, I decided to let yesterday stand as my final day for the season. I fell short of 100 days by a long margin. I’ve already renamed the blog category from “100 Days in 07/08″ to “56 Days in 07/08″. It was surprisingly challenging to get that many days in! I had so much fun this season, I’ve decided that I want to stay in Colorado for at least one more winter.

I want to cover my riding day count one last time. Previous to this season, I rode 36 days. This season, I rode 56. My grand, life long total is 92 days. I’m telling myself to stop counting – we’ll see if I do. I met my base goal of doubling my days. I was 8 days shy of my secondary goal of bringing my grant total to 100. However, I’ll probably cross that line well before the end of 2008. I fell 44 days short of my ultimate goal – 100 days this season. Maybe that’s just the universe’s way of telling me I need to stay around and get the last 44 days in next season!

To be honest, I feel a little bummed I didn’t get my 100 days in. However, the attempt taught me that riding 100 days in a single season is not an easy task. You have to be seriously dedicated. Keep in mind, 100 days is nearly 1/3 of a year – and the season only runs for about 1/2 of the year. I have a lot more respect for professional riders and the amount of work and dedication they put into developing their abilities.

Speaking of developing abilities, I am proud of the progress I’ve made as a rider this season. I hit a wall in my development before moving to Colorado. I feel like I’ve broken through that wall. This season brought me cleaner and bigger jumps. I’m still a bit wobbly, but I can land cleaner and more consistently than ever before. The season also brought me my first rotations. I’ve cleanly landed 180′s both on the ground and off of kickers and jumps. I’ve advanced my ability to ride switch. I still get nervous, but can carve through blue runs riding switch without much trouble. I even started taking my first little kickers while riding switch.

I’m also stoked at all of the new resorts I’ve experienced this season. The list includes: A-Basin, Keystone, Breckenridge, Vail, Beaver Creek, Echo Mountain Park, and Copper Mountain.

Here to the end of a terrific season, the start of a beautiful summer, and to looking forward to the many seasons yet to come.

44 days left for another season…

56 Days in 07/08

I got a few turns in yesterday. Velzy and I headed up to A-Basin. The previous night only brought an inch of fresh snow and things were turning so slushy it didn’t matter much. The riding conditions were spring typical. The back bowls are closed and sections of the front are starting to get roped off. Still, it was decent with a lot of area left to play on.

Velzy got lucky on the way in and snagged a free lift ticket from a skier who was on the way out. Even now, with so little of the mountain open, a half day ticket still runs $42. That’s a lot of money to play on a handful of slushy runs. Still, I suppose they need to charge that much to warrant being open during such thin times. I am appreciative that there is a lift open this late in the season.

45 days left… (why am I still bothering to count?)

56 Days in 07/08