I'm Back

Since this blog was a school project, I didn't intend on continuing it after I got my grade. Turns out I like writing about snowboarding. I took a few weeks off because I had finals and graduation, but I’m back.

How am I going to keep a snowboard blog going in the off-season you ask? I plan to write about things I do to keep myself busy, such as hanging on the river, fishing and camping. I’ll also write about my favorite things, such as my favorite riders, brands and movies, fiction and non-fiction. I have decided to go with fiction movies this week.

1.Out Cold — This movie is great! It is about a group of friends who try to save their local ski town in Alaska from a corporate sell out. In the beginning they play a game called King of the Mountain, and one day I WILL play this with my friends. The game goes like this:

• Everyone starts at the top of the mountain with a full beer.
• The first one to the bottom with the most beer in their glass wins.
• Pushing, shoving and cheating are encouraged.

There are other great scenes in this movie that are guaranteed to keep you laughing. It is a must see that made me want to make movies!

2. Deep Winter — Most people probably have never heard of this movie. It stars Kellan Lutz as a snowboarder who goes to Alaska to ride the impossible. He goes with his best friend who is a competitive skier. The movie is beautifully filmed, and makes me want to go heli-boarding in Alaska. The movie is not a comedy the way Out Cold is, but the crash in the opening scene will make you cringe.

3. Winter Break — This movie is about a group of friends who graduate college and decide to go live and work in Aspen. I really relate to this movie because I am a recent graduate, and would love to go live in Aspen with my friends. The main characters have a great time riding and partying. It is a comedy with a romantic undertone.

Where to Stay

I hate getting up early to make it to opening chair. The best way to avoid that is by staying up at the mountain. I have stayed in quite a few different places and here is my Top 5 list of places to stay:

1. A house in Government Camp. If you can get a few people to chip in, you can get a nice house for pretty cheap. Houses are nice because you can cook instead of eating at a restaurant, and a lot of houses have hot tubs.
2. Mt. Hood Inn. It is across the street from Skibowl so you can walk if the parking lot is full. It is reasonably priced and has a hot tub, waxing room and a great continental breakfast. It is at the bottom of Government Camp, which has restaurants, bars and shops.
3. Timberline Lodge. It is historic and has an awesome restaurant. It is a little expensive, but the rooms are comfortable and you can walk out the door and go riding.
4. Silcox Hut at Timberline. It is literally on the mountain and comes with a private cook. It is a short snow cat ride to the hut, so you have to pack all of your gear in. It is pretty rustic, but fun if you can get a lot of people together to chip in because it is expensive!
5. Cooper Spur. It is on the Hood River side of the mountain so it’s much closer to Meadows than to Timberline or Skibowl. There is a wide range of prices because you can choose from the hotel or cabins. It has it’s own chairlift and three outdoor hot tubs.

There are lots of other places to stay in Government Camp, Hood River and the towns below the mountain such as Welches and Zig Zag, but these are my favorite.

Riding Under the Lights

In the movie, “The Sandlot,” Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez can’t wait for the 4^th of July because it means he gets to play baseball at night under the light of the fireworks. I know just how he feels, like a pro, indestructible and invincible. That’s exactly how I feel when I ride at night. Like I can jump higher and ride more advanced rails. I don’t know if it’s the fact that there are less people, or if it’s because when I got serious about boarding I was going every Friday night. What ever it is, I love riding under the lights.

Skibowl is the largest night ski area in North America, and aren’t we lucky that it’s right on Oregon's own Mt. Hood. Skibowl has the entire mountain lit up at night, which is different from the other resorts that only have one or two runs lit up. You can ride in all the same places at night as you can during the day, but it’s night so there are shadows chasing you all the way down the mountain. It feels eerie, but in a good way.

My friends and I like to ride to the top, take a quick break at Champagne Hill and then head for the park off of Multipor, which we ride for most of the night. The park is different at night, there aren’t lines of people waiting for their turn to drop in; it’s just us and a few other people. We usually ride in a big group and we tend to dominate the park so people don’t get in our way. I know I sure wouldn’t get in the way of a group of 10 boarders riding together!

And the best thing about riding at night? Not having to get up at 6 in the morning to make it to the mountain for the first chair! And the worst thing is trying to take pictures in the dark!

The Pond Skim

Saturday was Mt. Hood Meadows 4^th Annual Pond Skim. Kona Brewing Company hosted the event. It was a great day minus the high winds that whipped through the event at times. The sun kept threatening to peak out, but then it would cloud over a snow for a few minutes. The smell of BBQ hung in the air from the food in the VIP tents that were closely guarded to make sure that people like my friends and I didn’t sneak in and eat the food!

Many of the contestants went all out with their costumes. There was a guy dressed as King Kamehameha and one dressed as a Kona Brewing beer bottle since there was a Hawaiian theme. One of my favorite costumes was a guy dressed as an 8-foot tall snowman, complete with a blue spike mohawk and a carrot nose. He didn’t make it very far across the pond, and it took about 15 minutes for the Meadows crew to fish him out of the water. He was hands-down the most anticipated rider of the day. Another clever costume was a guy dressed as an Oregon Duck football player with an Apple computer in his hand and the name “Sticky Fingers” across his jersey.

The guys who took the top three prizes were dressed as Borat, Jesus and King Kamehameha, and first prize was a trip for two to Oahu courtesy of All About Hawaii.

With my torn ACL I couldn’t compete this year, but next year you better believe I will try skimming my way to Hawaii!

Oh and here’s the snowman.

Ahhh the mountain

I am starting a snowboarding blog, I know, it's a little late in the season to start, but I love boarding and can talk about it for hours. My blog will include topics such as where to stay on Mt. Hood, what products I like and don't like, how-to tutorials and pictures and videos. I'll also cover events that happen on the mountain such as the Pond Skim at Mt. Hood Meadows. Also, I tore my ACL at the beginning of the season so I will post things to do on and off the mountain when you can't ride. One of my favorite videos to watch is a Burton video at a park they built called the Stash all of the features are made from natural materials, similar to the log in this photo. It is one place I plan on visiting before I become old and crippled and can't ride any more! I encourage people to comment about everything on my blog. If you don't like a product that I do, tell me and tell me why..you might just persuade me to change my mind!