Check this post over at Steve Romeo’s site today. That wet slide goes for a bit. Imagine yourself in it. Good vid to watch and keep in mind now that spring is upon us.
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Seriously, they are. Picture how much happier the world would be (well, at least my world would be) if weekends were Monday thru Friday and you just worked Saturday and Sunday. I guess that idea is a lot like my ‘we should get to play until we reach retirement age, than when we hit retirement age we just work the rest of our lives’ idea, but the reality behind that one is everyone would commit suicide on their 65th birthday. The worst part about weekends is that as they are usually the days that people DON’T work they often get interrupted with adult real-life crap like weddings or baby showers. Weddings were cool when I was single as they can be a tremendous opportunity for TRs of a different sort, but when you’re not single they lose some of their potential charm (the reality is they lose all of their charm, unless of course there’s a keg of Racer 5 present and you get the bride and groom’s father to do kegstands). So, with my Saturday halved due to a wedding and a near full moon figured I’d try for a night sesh with Schralph Macchio (note: not his real name). No action shots as it was piss poor riding.  Looking out towards Tahoe by moonlight
The below pic would have been kind of cool had my tripod not shaken a little bit everytime the shutter closed. I guess I could tell everyone I took it on a Holga and get street cred and be called a photographic genius.  Crappy tripod + shutter clap = blurry night pic fail Next day got an early alpine start of 11 AM and headed out to see what was left at another locale.  Schralph pondering infinity It was softer than expected given the sun baking it  Quite possibly the last few pow turns of the season Quick and dirty pano of the potential lines. The sky was actually two shades of blue with a hard dividing line just as seen in the picture.  Lots of potential areas I call the next two pic series “Pinwheels and Pwnage”  Pinwheels  Pwnage
Victory beer, and the world’s worst shirt. When you order online and it says the color is ‘black’ beware the neon lightning bolts. For some reason I always think of this video when wearing this shirt.  Beer good, shirt bad Good times indeed. Well as it’s gone from 80s to 50s in the course of three days here, bringing with it a bit of precip and thus pow in the mountains – probably some of the last of the season unless we get another Memorial Weekend pow dump like last year. As such, it’s time for a beer Friday celebration. To help us celebrate this week is none other than Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale. A seasonal beer that has probably just about ran out at most local retailers, this beer is a medium bodied IPA with a touch of spice. A sharp hops bite upfront with just enough alcohol warmth on the finish to help relax the muscles after a long tour. Flavor seems to get a bit more pronounced as the beer warms slightly. By no means a daily drinker, but makes for a good change of pace, especially on a chilly night. So there is it, another week down, another beer downed. Pick up a bottle and get ‘er done this weekend!  Celebration Ale vitals Bored out of my mind at work, I was looking thru some photos from this weekend’s tour and noticed that most people were smiling when we found our little pow stash. However, noticed one person wasn’t, which was odd as it was his first trip into the backcountry ever, would have figured him to be smiling like crazy – especially as he was stoked out of his mind that night!  First pow turns  Pow turns = srs bizns Just came across this today, Eddie Bauer’s First Ascent. Interesting stuff as maybe, juuuust maybe, it means that Eddie Bauer is going back to it’s roots (though not going so far as to manufacturing in the USA…) and actually trying to put out quality outdoor gear again. First thought: Sweet, a potential source of outdoor clothing available in tall sizes for those mongoloids like myself, and I’m always a sucker for a picture of Mt. Rainier so that got my attention. Second thought: This stuff is pretty expensive. $349 for the Rainier jacket with it’s ‘WeatherEdge Pro’ generic waterproof/breathable laminate (assuming just another post-Goretex patent expiration knockoff) seems a bit steep for unproven gear – though they have (or at least used to have) their lifetime warranty so you could always ‘rent’ the garment to test it out. In fact…maybe I’ll do that for a future review.  First Ascent Rainier jacket The down sweater, 800 fill, quoted weight of 13.4 oz. puts it in the same weight realm of the Patagonia sweater, not sure how much of the weight of either is down fill v. the shell though.  First Ascent Downlight sweater Could be interesting stuff, they’ve certainly got a decent team (including PNW loc Kyle Miller) helping shape the product, assuming they are actually helping shape and not just licensing their name out. When it goes on the inevitable supercrazywhackfunky clearance I may pick up an item or two and test it out, unless they want to send me something beforehand… Yes, another one pic TR ( aka I’m busy at work but want to throw some stoke up) from the splitboard.com meetup this weekend  This > what I'm currently doing OK, I know this is off-topic unless we’re talking Stephen Koch but DAMN that’s a huge slab! This year the ‘bilers have proven to be rather susceptible to avalanches (23 dead in the BC area alone!), and this year has probably been a massive eye opener for the sled scene to up their avy knowledge. I know in my avy 1 class of eight one of the guys was a sledder who was in the Fernie to sled with his son during December when seven snowmobilers were caught in fatal avalanches. Was interesting to hear his perspective and how on that weekend he was awaken to the relationship between ignorance and mortality. Anyways, the vid. Clemina Creek, Canuckistan. Bluebird pow two weeks after the last storm? Yes, I’d have to say this was better than going to a wedding.  Red Pwned Bowl earned it's new nickname on Saturday (click to view larger) Seriously, you never once looked back to see how your friend was doing? FRS radio much? Never looked down the edge of the slope that you were only two or three feet away from?
Epic fail of a human. Don’t ski the BC with this guy Been getting the stuff laid out and packing this week, been down and out with a bit of a cold this week though so hopefully didn’t forget anything. Still in a bit of a codeine induced fog this AM. What percent of the enjoyment of a trip comes from the anticipation? Is it like dating, where a good part of the thrill is in the hunt and the pre-deal close anticipation, or is all the enjoyment had once you’re at your destination and riding? For me I think a good part of a trip’s enjoyment comes in fantasizing about epic pow under bluebird skys, even though 9 times out of 10 that’s not how it turns out. Pic below paying a bit of homage to Lou’s post from the other day  Living room floor this AM |
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