day number 2

so friday after thanksgiving was the second day on the slops and for black friday it was surprisingly crowded. the day was a little better a nice 30 degrees outside which is perfect for snowboarding and i was with a few people so it was all fun. the worst part of the day came at the end when i had to carry my intoxiated brother down the mountain cause he was unable to do it himself lol ........ just another out of the ordinary expierence i have while snowboarding. the day concluded with me racing home at 4 o clock to get to work by 630 needless to say i sat at work for a very uncomfortable 5 hours in my snow gear with no time to change. its all worth it for the love of the game.

the start

last saturday november 29th was the first day of riding this season and it was a historical one. that day happened to be the coldest day on the mountain in years, at its coldest on the peak the temerature dipped down to -14 degrees with windchill. even for a die heart snowboarder this was a little bit rediculous and i couldnt stand it i had to head down to the bottom and stay on the park run. it felt a little weird getting back on my board as it always does the first time because its such an awkward way to stand but by then of the day i was riding normal again. besides the freezing cold temps and ice patches it was all and all a good day on the mountain.

what a beautiful view

While I’m on the topic of rants let’s just settle another thing that really bothers me. I understand Alaska is a beautiful place and it’s a hidden gem and this and that but why did the U.S. government waste a large amount of money on a scenic view? The answer is we didn’t!!! So why are we letting these nature lovers stop us from keeping our economy sound. If they like the place so much make them cough up millions to buy it otherwise let’s start the drilling to produce the oil. Just think about it 86% of our nations cost on oil is imported from Saudi Arabia and other Mideast countries. Now if we drilled in Alaska an oil treasure chest we can probably reduce that to about 20% import and maybe get ourselves out of this financial hole our government dug us into……

global warming my a**

What a croc of S***. Global warming is a big deal and because it effects my passion I did a lot of research on it, and the 100 average I had in earth science helped a little bit too. Did you know that’s the CO2 level that people are saying are going to destroy the world are some of the lowest they have been in the worlds history. Earth takes a natural pattern and this is just part of it. I think one of the biggest scams was al gores movie “inconvenient truth” polar bears floating away on melting ice I mean come on … doesn’t everyone know that bears not to mention polar bears are some of the fastest best swimming mammals. Polar bears do things like this every day just to get food they enjoy it. Sure I’ll give u that all the burning of fossil fuels and other garbage we pollute into the world aren’t helping the ozone layer but its making a mark of .000000001 not even a significance. The worlds not going to melt in fact even if global warming does get to be a huge problem well all be frozen not melting it’s just the opposite of what everyone thinks. Nothing gets me more angry then hearing people complain about global warming.

sit back and relax

Snowboarding isn’t just a sport to me it’s like a lifestyle among other things. Snowboarding had changed the way I do a lot of things and the way I act. I started dressing different talking different and living life different. If there is anything I learned from snowboarding it’s to take every second of life as if it’s your last. Some of the wipeouts I’ve seen you look back and say wow how is that kid even moving right now. Snowboarding also is like an escape for me. There is nothing like relaxing on the lift listening to your favorite song after a long aggravating week. You sit there and just stare at this huge piece of land covered in snow and hear nothing but the snow slide across itself and the sound of your breathing. To me nothing is more relaxing. Some people say well isn’t it to cold out there to be relaxed and just sit there but when you’re in a huge jacket and making runs all day it’s like sitting on a beach in 90 degree weather. Everyone has something that makes them relax and happy and this is mine…

how the proigy started

It all started 3 years ago when we got hit with a huge winter storm. My brother went snowboarding with a bunch of his friends one weekend and loved it. He continued to go a couple of weeks after that and it grew on him. He enjoyed it so much he thought I would to since we are pretty much the same, but I wasn’t so sure. After he asked and asked I finally said I would go one day with him. The day I was suppose to go I had gone out the night before and completely forgot about it and never woke up, he was pretty pissed at me. After that I had to go cause he wouldn’t let me live it down so I wound up going a week or two later. I had so much fun I bought myself a board the next week and haven’t stopped going since.

wow that hurt

One of the worst things I’ve ever experienced riding was a fall I took last year. I was riding at my usual mountain (mountain creek) and I decided to switch up the trails a little bit. It was getting close to the end of the season so a lot of the time the snow at night gets a little icy and slick. Me being the thrill seeker I am decided to go off the trail and up into the trees (something I do a lot but never fail at most of the time) I was up in the trees with a lot of speed and very little room to slow down on. I noticed the trail I was on got a little bumpy and stiff so I tried to slow down but before I knew I was being launched off a little tree stump and flying in mid air onto an icy patch on rocks. I ended up back down smashing my elbow on this 5 inch deep icy rocky surface. As I laid there I thought for sure my elbow was in a million little pieces. I pulled myself up by a nearby tree and got right back on the trail as soon as possible I made it all the way t the bottom just to see my brother hop back on the lift. Me being the genius I am jumped back on the lift to catch my brother. On the ride up I’m telling him how much pain I’m in that I don’t even know if I can get back down the mountain. After I get to the top I take my time going back down so I don’t do any more damage. I finally get to the bottom and go to the med office. The lady checks me out and say it can possibly be broken but more than likely it’s not. We took the 2 hour ride home my brother and I and I went straight to the hospital to get x-rayed. After the x-rays at 2 in the morning the doc told me it was broken just bruised really bad, but until this day I disagree. My arm blew up like a balloon and as I’m writing this I can play with a chip in my elbow. After this whole ordeal I winded up taking a week or two off and let it heal and was right back on the mountain as soon as possible….

will dance for cash

And the job search starts again…. Every year since I’ve started snowboarding I find myself looking for another job right around this time. I work myself into so much debt from buying new gear season passes and plane tickets that the only way for me to get out of it is to work 2 jobs for a month or two but it’s the price u got to pay when u love this sport. This year already I bought my season pass ($300) new gloves pants and hats ($200) two trips to Vermont ($700) and the season hasn’t even started. Once the fun finally starts so will the good blogs loaded with pics and good stories kind of like a reality TV show. Let’s pray for snow people not only will I get two rides but hopefully a class or two will get cancelled…..

no trip for me

Usually every year I take one big trip to the west coast or about 7 to 10 days but this year is different I really got screwed. My sister is getting married in June and the wedding is in Mexico so obviously it’s a little hard to plan two trips so close together. I can’t really say I’m that mad cause it is after all my sister’s wedding and I’m happy for her but this means I lose out on the trip to aspen me and my brother were planning. Instead of looking at the cup half empty ill take a look half full, there is gonna be a lot of girls there since its in Mexico and hoping that the conditions are right maybe I’ll get a couple days of wakeboarding in ;) and maybe a nice tan, but we can only hope for the best.

mammoth mountain

In the skiing and snowboarding world there are a few big mountains that everyone knows about and everyone hopes to ride at least once in their career and one of them is Mammoth Mountain. Until now it was one of the worst mountains to travel to because it was a four hour drive from the airport in LA but now for the first time in 13 years they will be flying flights from LAX to Mammoth lake which would take only an hour and much more comfortable than sitting squeezed in a taxi with a bunch of strangers breathing down your neck. This is huge to anyone who was thinking about making the trip to Cali to ride Mammoth like me. Thanks for thinking about us and adding the airport.

its tough out there

This is officially the worst time off the year for any snowboarder. The spring is good because I can finally heal all the bruises and cuts from the season and get some sleep. The summer is good cause I get to wakeboard and practice my tricks for the next season but the fall o man does the fall really suck the jitters set in for the upcoming season and there isn’t a thing you can do especially since I don’t skateboard. It’s too cold to wakeboard and not cold enough for the snow. Thankfully for me the season is starting early this year and I’m taking full advantage. As of now I’m headed to Vermont November 1st to ride mount snow. Let’s just pray to Mother Nature and hope she brings some powderrrrrrrrrr.

POP

http://blog.zionsnowboards.com/?p=117 so the program is called POP .. probally the most honorable thing ever done by a snowboarder in history. This program is run by a company called zion a rather small snowboarding company but none the less a profitabloe company. What they are doing is donating 10% of every sale to a picked foundation of their choice. The foundation they picked this time is a group against child sex trafficking in cambodia. Thats right young children in cambodia are forced to work in brothels in this country. This company zion is a huge supporter of the new song project (the people against child sex slavery) and is a huge funder of them. I think the POP program in general is great these huge corporations never give back and zion is setting an example. More then the program itself i think the selection of the foundation is even better, these kids shouldnt have to be put through this they deserve a choice and the new song project is giving them one. Thanks Zion and POP

11 year old prodigy

Arite so most pro snowboarders get signed when they are about 19 20 years old so you have to ask yourself how did this little 11 year old kid get signed with one of the biggest snowboarding companies in the world??? its mind boggling... this kid isnt even out of 6th grade yet he has a career and make more money then our proffesor probally (no offense but he did just sign a huge contract) so how does he do it 11 and already on the pro circuit well first he started pulling tricks so advanced for his age he made it on the cover of snowboarder magazine twice ... just so you know how hard that is some of the worlds best snowboarders who age from 22- 26 havent even made it on a full page shoot their whole careers. If you ask me thats something pretty crazy to think about this 11 year old has a career what were you doing in 6th grade if your a normal kid you probally werent traveling around the world getting paid to do what you love .... even when your 25 you probally wont be traveling around the world getting paid to do what you love but this kid finishs his multiplication tables and then goes and competes in competitions with 22 yr olds and keeps up. Talk about a prodigy ... this kid is a prime example

peak to peak

Whistler Blackcomb Building Record-Breaking New Ski Lift Whistler and Blackcomb are two of the biggest skie resorts in the world and now they are one. The record breaking mountains are being connected by a record breaking gondola for the first time in history. For anyone who has ever been there or plans to go there this is huge before this gondola was made it would take you just a week to ski one mountain trying to navigate it but now that they are connected you can do all your runs on both mountains in a week. This is the biggest thing since the chair lift was invented, if i had to compare this to say baseball its like the metal bat of baseball u can hit farther and harder and its the same thing in the snowboard and skiing world. Cant wait till 2010 to go ride it...

Almost that time

2 months, 19 days, 7 hours, and 10 minutes until the first day of the snowboard season. Everyday it gets cooler and closer until i can strap in and call my drop in. This season is big for me new board new tricks bigger park and a lot more skill. Lets just hope we get some decent snow this year not like last year i felt like i was living in miami. Being a snowboarder you hope every storm that comes are way you hope it brings a foot of snow so you can get out there on the weekend and do what you love. Even if it doesnt snow in new york once this year i still have two good weeks of boarding i already booked two trips this season. The first trip is to killington Vermont the biggest mountain on the east coast. We rented a house there for a week in december. The second trip is to Aspen Colorado for the Xgames in February. Flying to the west coast and riding their mountains is a rough yet fun expierence. The jetlag plus the altitude is crazy, its like trying to run a marathon after u slept for 3 hours and smoked 15 packs of cigarettes. After a few days u get use to it and then you back on a plane coming home to readjust, it kinda makes you feel like a proffesional athlete traveling cross country. In the time it took me to write this blog we got 10 minutes closer to opening day!!