Even though I'm no skiier, this stuff is awesome. Brought to us by Line skis and some of the meathead boys (Will Wesson and Andy Parry), the Traveling Circus is super low budget ski/travel/jib awesomeness. They MacGyver rails like no other and are dirt poor. Episode 5 just came out and you can catch the line here. This newest episode is pretty hilarious because they kill themselves well when they finally get into powder.
http://www.lineskis.com/stories/108
Check it out sucka!
3.12.2009
Spring Time Sucks (Little More Season Left)
Well as we are now in the middle of March and the big trips (Jackson, Utah) are in the history books, we can now look forward to mushy skiing and clearance sales.While the NY component of the Moguls is headed up to G305 on Friday, I will likely be attending last weekend festivities at Liberty - coming back as a returning hero after my big win.
Quick recap. Jackson Hole was amazing. It's only a few days since we've been back, but most of us are now reshaved (minus my chin steeze) and back to the grind (the bums lost Dong).
Jackson was a big gnarly mountain. The only thing I didn't like about it was I had to leave. As conditions kept improving while we were there, it was as if the mountain kept getting bigger, more interesting, and more challenging. So many spots
on that hill could be turned into full day sessions. Whether they were cliff drops, tree runs, or steep slopes, endless terrain variety abounded. I'd pay 1200$ any day to have one powder run at the Hole, it is that good. Hell, even the traverses at Jackson are good. First mountain I've ever been on where you can be on a flat traverses on a board yet still be able to cruise to the next trail or across the mountain without ever stopping and having to push.So let's enjoy Spring skiing, t-shirt riding, and goggle tans. Perhaps a trip to Mount Hood is in order for June, and a trip to Chile to ride South American style during the heat of the Summer.
3.08.2009
Corbets Couloir (Someone hold me)
Late in the day on Friday we made a point of hopping a tram and shooting all the way up to scope out the epic Couloir of doom. Alright. It’s big. It’s really big. And wow, steep. Videos, pictures – anything online – don’t do it justice. It is insane. I was getting vertigo just trying to get near the drop-in to scope it out.
We heard from a few other guys that were up there that the couloir – from the storm and recent weird conditions – was gnarly than usual. Instead of just a two-story drop into a
55-degree pitch, it was probably closer to three stories with exposed ice/rock far more prevalent than usual.Heading up (and for the last few weeks) we all teased the idea of dropping in with differing digress of seriousness. After looking at it though, it was just way too epic. Too late in the day after too many days of riding. Even if the conditions on the couloir were a little better, our shot legs wouldn’t have held that first epic drop and then it would have gotten very death inducing.
10+ Inches (Jackson Hole Day 5)
“First box on a pow day. How’s that feel?”
It’s 8:55 A.M. and the tram driver calls that out. Quite the cheer comes out of the 100 person packed out tramcar. Miserable weather for a few days and the promise of a true Jackson Hole pow day put a buzz and energy through the car that couldn’t be imagined. As a goof, the driver put on the MGMT song “Kids” because it is so brutally overplayed since T Rice’s segment in That’s It, That’s All, but quickly, everyone’s heads were bopping and the sight of deep untouched snow at 10,000 feet got everyone pumped.
Off the tram, the first wave of riders were like the troops landing on D-Day. This is what we’ve all trained for; this is what we’ve all waited for. Brown, Dong, and I clipped in, headed to the Rendezvous bowl in howling winds and dumping snow and pointed down.
For a moment we thought the snow didn’t stick. So high and so windy, the cusp of the bowl was icy and rocky. But 25 feet deeper into the bowl and consistently deep and untouched snow launched up on every turn. Perfection. The rock hard ice bumps of the last few days were gone and replaced with soft light snow.
Cheers and hollers went out and pure bliss oozed out. Dong became quite irritated by my supposed “5-year old” attitude, but we don’t all get epic pow days.
One run made the whole trip worth it. But down at the Sublette chair, it was only 9:30. A long day of riding was still available and pow was everywhere.. Soon, Tim and Dan caught up and the riding continued. Lots of snow, lots of powder slashes, and face shots galore. If there were 10 inches on the top, there must have been double that in some of the wind-pushed tree runs. Goodness.
The truth depth and possibility of this mountain truly came alive and opportunities abounded. Cliff drops, rock jumps, random kickers and tree stomps became the norm. Every feature was now doable and every run could be done faster and harder.
By 10-11, the top of the mountain started becoming clearer and clearer but the storm sat between 9000 and 7000 feet. Dropping from the higher chairs down into the bowls was like going into the great abyss. On the Cat tracks around the top of the bowls you would look down into a white nothingness. But we knew what was there. Yummy pow pow. Very nasty.
So turns out Jackson is epic. The only thing I want now is to come back, as fast as possible. With more pow and more time, so many more dangerous situations will present themselves. Till then.
It’s 8:55 A.M. and the tram driver calls that out. Quite the cheer comes out of the 100 person packed out tramcar. Miserable weather for a few days and the promise of a true Jackson Hole pow day put a buzz and energy through the car that couldn’t be imagined. As a goof, the driver put on the MGMT song “Kids” because it is so brutally overplayed since T Rice’s segment in That’s It, That’s All, but quickly, everyone’s heads were bopping and the sight of deep untouched snow at 10,000 feet got everyone pumped.
Off the tram, the first wave of riders were like the troops landing on D-Day. This is what we’ve all trained for; this is what we’ve all waited for. Brown, Dong, and I clipped in, headed to the Rendezvous bowl in howling winds and dumping snow and pointed down.
For a moment we thought the snow didn’t stick. So high and so windy, the cusp of the bowl was icy and rocky. But 25 feet deeper into the bowl and consistently deep and untouched snow launched up on every turn. Perfection. The rock hard ice bumps of the last few days were gone and replaced with soft light snow.
Cheers and hollers went out and pure bliss oozed out. Dong became quite irritated by my supposed “5-year old” attitude, but we don’t all get epic pow days.
One run made the whole trip worth it. But down at the Sublette chair, it was only 9:30. A long day of riding was still available and pow was everywhere.. Soon, Tim and Dan caught up and the riding continued. Lots of snow, lots of powder slashes, and face shots galore. If there were 10 inches on the top, there must have been double that in some of the wind-pushed tree runs. Goodness.
The truth depth and possibility of this mountain truly came alive and opportunities abounded. Cliff drops, rock jumps, random kickers and tree stomps became the norm. Every feature was now doable and every run could be done faster and harder.
By 10-11, the top of the mountain started becoming clearer and clearer but the storm sat between 9000 and 7000 feet. Dropping from the higher chairs down into the bowls was like going into the great abyss. On the Cat tracks around the top of the bowls you would look down into a white nothingness. But we knew what was there. Yummy pow pow. Very nasty.
So turns out Jackson is epic. The only thing I want now is to come back, as fast as possible. With more pow and more time, so many more dangerous situations will present themselves. Till then.
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