1,2,3, STOKED!

Plus 1 for the JB.

What a day. Not sure if y'all are up on it, but I joined STOKED mentoring last summer. Its a non profit mentor program that matches "at risk" youth with mentors.



Anyway, Sunday was our first time up this season. It was awesome. Got up early, made some sandwiches and got going. On the way, we wrote goals for what we wanted out of the season, and wrote out some of our fears. Kevin is my mentee. We did skate mentor together in the fall, and now it's snow time.






It rained all the way up to snow summit. We were hoping it'd change to snow, cause kevin has never seen snow actually fall. Unfortunately, when we got to the mountain, it was still raining. Gooo. We busted out the lesson cards, (kevin had never gone before) and started learning. Either snowboarding has gotten easier to learn, or these kids are that good. I couldn't believe how fast Kevin learned how to handle the board.







What really worked out was that Kevin's goofy footed and so am I. By the end of the day he was linking turns and following me down the hill. Selvin, Joel's mentee rides regular, so they were able to do the same thing. I forgot my camera, otherwise y'all would be watcing a you tube video of these guys.




When it was all said and done, we had an amazing day. I can't wait till next time. Especially cause I'll have my camera.

Back In the Game!

So it’s been a minute and I’m back. Life caught up with me and had to celebrate my birthday and other friend’s birthday’s. Now that’s all done I’ll be riding like the wind. I went up over the weekend and rode with my boy DJ Gaveegav. My man has MAD steeze!








We hit up the local spot Mt. High and it was surprisingly good. The conditions were good for a So Cal mountain. My board was waxed and ready to go. We hit up East first and did a few long runs and F’ed around for a bit. After that we went over to West and watch the triple air contest that was cool seeing some of the local talent hit the jumps. The day was very enjoyable especially watching a girl fight go down too. I only have a few pics from the weekend but it’ll do.I have a 3 day bid coming up this weekend, so I’ll be doing a North trip just like Mobb Deep. Tahoe will be fun and I really can’t wait to get up there and shred the gnar bro! LOL

I promise more pics from Tahoe

Apres the Lord!

You know what's funny? Almost everyone has met someone from Jersey. And everyone who's met people from JErsey love people from Jersey. People we talked to asked us where we're from, and in the beginning we said california. This yielded a ho hum response for some reason. However, once we kept it real, and answered JErsey, everything changed. Smiles, stories and questions. Maybe because it's further than california, or maybe because JErsey REPRESENTS! Anyway, onto the show.

REPRESENT!!!!

LAst day of riding.
mixed sunshine and clouds. We hit both mountains. Blackcomb morning, lunch moves and afternoon Whislter, Then back to Blackcomb for the closeout glacier run. This place is amAzing. We hit off the photospot for free with a little help from Japan. we were swapping cameras and taking shots of the vistas, and each other. Props to them for nailing this one. Arigato Gozimas.

Whislter peak. The bottom was 3.5 miles away... great ride.

After the whistler move, we headed over to Blackcomb for some Glacier lovin. The lower mountain was cloudy, the peaks were as clear as it can get. Absolutely stunning. (and I never say that)

Underwater


Aquarium.


the moon.

By the end of the trip Bethany got pretty bold and started hitting jumps. I caught her midar busting this corked out frontside 540


Focus. Pure focus.


nothin' like some Apres beers..

And that pretty much wrapped us up on the riding. That night we ended things lovely at the Rimrock restaurant, which came highly reccommended. Lobster mashed potatoes, Caribou, and Foie Gras Venison went down type Lovely. Top notch eats, top notch girl, top notch mountain. We had the best time ever. -So far.

So that puts me up to 12 1/2 days. Word up. Time to rewind and start it over with Kevin!

My Manada

China White.
Flake.
Powder.
Snow.

Whatever you wanna call it. It fell. And we love it. Another awesome day. This time we hit whistler. Some say it's better for snowboarders than blackcomb. LIES!!! It was awesome. Still no real crowds and plenty of turns.




Bethany couldn't get happier. She started getting bold and hitting tree runs (baby ones) with me. A nice thing about this place was the gondolas. You could get up there without freezing, and you could lock in the freshness on the way. Or just take pictures and chill.

my little turtle

Whistler while you work

Sunset over bespin

And the saga continues.

The BJBs took on canada this time. A first for me. I hadnt been to visit our neighbors to the north, and it was time. Air Canada. Half french, half english, all love. Flight was a breeze, plane was nice and new. They even had some nice nerdy amenities for us..

They had USB for a nerdy charge in midair

Anyway so we land, eat and wake up the next day to find out that whistler is MASSIVE. Some say Jungle is massive, but whistler really is massive. Since it was the baller trip of the season, we stayed in Le Chamois hotel. It sits at the base of Blackcomb, and has a sweet view of the mountain. Our room was equipped with a kitchenette, and an honest to god hot tub in the middle of the room. Sweetmix. Internet was a bit scarce though. who cares.

The view from Le Chamois

Weatherwise, we had a nice set of days that varied. The first day we had a mix of clouds with some breaks. It wasnt really all that cold either. probably around 26 at the base. We rode blackcomb on thursday. What's cool was they had a bubble that would go over the whole chair to protect you from the wind/weather. Even though it wasnt bad at all, we had to bust it out.

bubblin'

The mountain is big. It's real big. and really pretty. I ended up inheriting a photo editor, who told me precisely what to take pictures of. (I'm glad she did, cause I wasnt thinking picture time)



ooo0oO0hh! clouds! and mountain!



My photo editor

More mountain. More taste.

Boom. One more day down. Valenteezmeez!

Canyons Remix

After finding out about the 2 person deal, we had to go back to the canyons to get some more taste. Regular lift tickets are $79. When you get the deal off the internet, $99 gets you 2 lift tickets, 2 burgers and 2 beers. WORD UP!

Important tip: Try to park up in the lot for people with parking passes. We rolled in there and hit the dude with a $20. Otherwise, you have to take this gondola down to a satellite parking lot.

It was snowing again, but this time it was warmer. I think it stayed above 20 the whole day. More powder. This time, it was sliding through this hill full of birch trees. (or some birch-like tree) No one was going through there, we never got stuck and we hit that right up until our free burger/beer meal at the lodge.





After eating, we hit the park again. And again. And again. And again. We were blazing through there over and over. Almost training. Shot some video, and I realized how wack I really am. Time to step it up.




For the last day of this utah Madness, It worked out nicely. I'm at 9 1/2 days. Whistler is coming soon.... hahahahA!!!

Brighton your day

Another day, another mountain.

After the epic day at the canyons, both of us were pretty beat up. Brighton was next on the list, and yes, once again it snowed. Snow in the morning, leaving a bunch of work for us to do. Unfortunately, brighton is one of those places where if you dont know the mountain, you will end up getting stuck. We were seduced by all the untouched snow in the middle, and fell victim to the endless sea of snow inbetween trails.







After digging and hiking our way out of the failed powder excursion, we headed over to the far lift and hit off some more sweet winter yayo. More tracks through more clean snow. It's almost too good to be true, but it's real.

Staci and Nichole ended up coming out with their friend, so it was familytime on the hill. We did a few runs with them, but kept it real on our own a few times.




We ended up finding another little pocket of power off of one of the family runs. Joel dropped in....








This puts the count at 8 1/2 days. I'm liking this blog thing. I can really keep the memories alive. haha. like remember when the contest was close?! haha!

Yes I Canyon!

So on tuesday, I found out you really can have it all. We decided to try some new terrain, and we heard it was bangin' so Joel and I went to check out the Canyons.




Once again the weather was with us. The Canyons had also gotten hit pretty good with the storm. (It's been snowing every 2 days) Couple that with the slow midweek traffic, and you are looking at another BANGIN' day on the hill. The Canyons is the biggest place Ive seen so far, and honestly we didnt even get to hit all the lifts. Its really really big.
Anyway, The sun was shining, and we hooked up some tree lovin in the morning. Powder runs down some technical, steep trees. goo.


Then we decided to hit the face that the highest lift services. I never hike. But this was worth it. Plus it wasnt really hiking. It was a walking traverse. No uphill. 12 minutes and we were dropping in on the steepest, most open, untracked powder I've been in. We were up there for an extra minute or so shuffling to find the appropriate music on the ipods. (you know how it is)



Even though it was sunny, it was still close to single digit temperatures. Joel rearranged his hat to "lock in the freshness" otherwise known as heat. Good move. cause it was cold as hell.





After the powder, we ended up finding the parks. One small one and one big one. We hit the small one first. It was a nice easy little one. I still suck, but I didnt case anything too bad. After the parks, we hit a couple speed runs off, cause the place was so empty, and on the trails it had stayed really smooth. So we hit powder trees, dropped in on an open face, hit the park, had some beers, and then sped our way back to the car. Ahh.. we did it. All of it.


Now my count stands at 7 1/2 days. Bang. Totally bang.

My game just rewinds

Lyrically I'm supposed to represent.


So monday morning, I take Bethany to the airport. Her flight takes off at 10. Joel's flight lands at 9. My game literally rewinds. Joel just came from NYC with a bag of ess-a-bagels. WORD UP!








So we peace out of the airport and roll straight to snowbird. The access Canyon was closed in the morning due to the dumping of snow that was happening. Ahh.. It took a minute to get up there, but we made it. Pow pow Gnar gnar. Gnarder. Ralph Gnarder. S-dot. Carter, you must try harder, competition is Gnarder. It was DEEP. Waist deep. We snuck out of bounds and ended up digging our way out. hahaha. Still sweetmix.






Besides the powder and silence, (no one was there at all) It was Super cold. I dont think I've ever ridden in colder temperatures. There wasnt any wind either. What a sweet day. We didnt need to look for untracked snow. It was on the regular trails. Go down a regular trail, and you're carving it up like it's your video part. first tracks everywhere. After a while, I had to tell my back leg to stop whining.

Oh, and lets not forget about Apres food moves. CROWN BIGGGS!!!

So my count now is 6 1/2 days. More to come....

What's your Sleep Number?

Mine is 69.

Yes. I pulled ahead of Payne. Kinda. Got 1 and a half days in on the weekend. Bethany and I drove out to Salt Lake City for a little bit of the white stuff. So much fun. We stayed in the radisson downtown, where "all" the action is..






Anyway, The first day we went to Snowbasin. Fun mountain. Lots of open space. No one was there. The only thing was that it got a little windy toward the middle of the day Suprisingly with all the funding, the park was non existant. I guess we didnt find it. Still nice though. Then CROWN BURGERS!!!! Pastrami cheese burger at it's best. Ahhh... so bad for you.






On the Second day we slept in and hooked it up at Brighton. Sleeping is was awesome. Pancakes at the Radisson restaurant were not good. Oh well. Bethany enjoyed Brighton more. The weather was better, and It also had more organized runs. Snowbasin is like a free for all.




Oh, I forgot to mention how much snow there was. This week it snowed about 35 inches. The runs were soft and there was powder to pwn. It was so sweet. Till you get stuck. Then it's hot.




So as it stands... 1 and a half days puts me at 5 1/2 days total. Payne better get some turns in. haha.