Poach Session.

Don't worry I don't mean poach as in poaching animals, I mean it the going on the mountain at night to take a run way.

Steamboat mountain has been blowing snow around the base of the mountain for quite some time now, but since we all were going up to Buff Pass, none of us had the idea to ride Steamboat yet. Since Buff is now inaccessible because of tons of snow and apparently a fallen tree (I haven't seen it for myself), some of us have been wanting to keep riding without having to drive two hours and pay $40. This is where the idea came from.

My friend Tyler and I both purchased skis and boots for $10 total (skis $1, boots $9) at the Ski Swap that was held at the Steamboat Elementary school about a month ago. Needless to say, we have been jonezing to ride them. Then yesterday, as we were taking in Bristol Hall with an epic view of the mountain out the window next to us, Tyler came out of nowhere with, "Let's go ski Steamboat tonight." Our friend Vince who was also with us thought this was a hilarious idea and said he would love to come with. After that I headed up to the library where I ran into fellow blogger Bobbie Jo and told her of our planned adventure and she was in too. Our crew was set.

After a day full of homework and resume finalizing to mail out to some back-up companies for SIA, I was more than ready to ride when the time rolled around. Tyler picked me up around 11:30pm to head to his place and get this adventure started. As a side note, we ended up going to the Meadows parking lot near the mountain where Tyler tried to teach my how to drive stick. It went pretty well but I have a long ways to go.

Anyway, after that, we met up with Bobbie Jo and Vince at one of the hotel parking lots up in Ski Time Square to get all our gear on and figure out the hike up to the snow. First, hiking in ski boots is awful, just awful. On top of that, we realized there is a dirt road we could have driven all the way up to the snow but we failed to realize this until we were a ways into the hike so we weren't about to turn around.

I have ridden man-made snow plenty of times in Minnesota, but not at midnight. This snow was wicked icy, lumpy, and full of weird trenches. Needless to say, being the inexperienced skiers that Tyler and I are, it was a bit tricky. We got it down pretty well, and I even hit a small kicker we found on one of the many rollers.

After we finally made it all the way down (which took about an hour), we had to make the trek back to the car. Thankfully the hike back was way easier, although it was still pretty rough in ski boots. By the time we made it back to the car, we were all exhausted and getting off the ski boots proved to be almost harder than hiking in them. So we drove off, feeling completely accomplished and stoked on what we just did.

I took a couple videos of this endeavor but unfortunately it was very dark so you might not be able to see to much but nonetheless, try to enjoy.

This first one is when we were at the start of our run looking down the icy slope.

This next video a glimpse at Tyler's first attempts at skiing in his life.


This final video is Vince throwing a 180 off one of the kickers we found.


So there you have it, hopefully you can kind of see these videos but that is a taste of some of the shenanigans you can enjoy when living near a mountain. Peace.

Getting Technologic: In Depth Look at the Dorm Rooms.

For this blog I'm doing something a bit different. The other day I received a new video camera in the mail from the good people at the CMC Marketing Department in order to do video blogs so I hope you enjoy because this will be just one of many to come in the future. Just a head's up, there will probably be a lot of snowboard footage, especially with the all the new snow we're getting, but I thought I'd start this whole video phase off by showing you what the dorm rooms are like here at the Alpine Campus. Peace.



P.S. I have to give props to my friend Bagel for doing the filming in the beginning. He didn't want to be on camera in case you were wondering where the filmer went.

Perks of CMC Classes/Opportunities.

For those of you who are followers of the Collarbone Chronicles, you've probably read my blogs about the SIA Tradeshow and the Product Design class offered here at the Alpine Campus. For those of you who haven't, here is a quick recap so you'll understand just a little more of what this blog is about:

I went to the SIA Tradeshow in Vegas last year to intern with Rome SDS (Snowboard Design Syndicate). Basically I did anything and everything they asked me too, which included running any sort of errand to helping out their sales reps with sales presentations to even getting to provide feedback on what gear to produce for the next season. After all was said and done, Ron (the guy I contacted about working for Rome) told me to e-mail him when I got home so he could send me a snowboard and bindings for working for them. Basically SIA was awesome and super worthwhile so anyone who comes out here for the Ski and Snowboard Business Program should try to go, although unfortunately it's not in Vegas anymore.

In Product Design class, groups are formed at the beginning of the semester, each group being a different company. For the midterm, each group gives a presentation about their company to a panel of judges, and one group is selected for the whole class to become a part of and work on until the final. It was a great class that makes you think about all the aspects that go into a snowboard company, plus a snowboard or pair of skis actually get made and everyone in the class gets one, which is really awesome if you ask me.

So now to the main point; I got my snowboards.





The first picture is of the top sheets and the second is of the bases. The board on the left is the Rome Graft, one of Rome's middle to higher-end park boards. The bindings I'm getting with it are a pair of demo 390s, Rome's freestyle binding, coming from one of the summer camps Rome went to so they probably won't be here for a little while yet.

The board on the right is the Able to Believe snowboard that we made in Product Design class and had built by Never Summer. I was a little bummed because I sent Never Summer our graphic three times because there were some mistakes in it as well as Never Summer lost it once, but the graphic they ended up using is one of the ones with a mistake in it. In the leprechauns beard there is a 52 because I originally thought the board was going to be 152cm, however, the sizes we went with are 151 and 153, so the 52 really makes no sense there. Also, we had a base that we designed specifically for the die-cut process of base making which Never Summer uses, but they stuck with their logo instead. Frankly, they are minor details that I really don't care about, I'm just stoked to ride the boards.

So there you go, hopefully it didn't seem like I was trying to brag too much, but I just wanted to give you a little glimpse into the perks of life as a CMC student in the Ski and Snowboard Business Program. Peace.

Neither Rain Nor Sleet Nor Snow Nor Gloom of Night.

Today was another epic endeavor up the snow covered roads of Buff Pass for a sick Sunday session, except this time, Buff Pass tried to stop us.

It all started off a little later than usual when my friend Bagel and I were just hanging out and he had the idea to go snowboard. Naturally, I agreed. Very soon after that, our friend Ben called before we could even talk to him, asking if we wanted to go ride at Buff. Naturally, we agreed.

After getting all our gear together, we hopped into Ben's Nissan Xterra and headed out. In retrospect, the initial conversation about how Ben still had his summer tires on should've been a hint as to what lay ahead, but at the time, we didn't even think of it.

Everything went pretty smoothly like it does for awhile up Buff, but then we started getting into the snowy parts around the first gate. We were slipping and sliding a little but nothing to scary, until we came around a corner. There on the side of the road was a silver SUV that had slid off the road and down a small ditch where it had gotten lodged on some trees. Thankfully we didn't know the people whose car it was, but it was still pretty scary to see that it had happened to a car not much different than ours.

We continued on up the road where we passed some friends who were also heading up, unfortunately after we did so is when things went bad. We came to a point in the road where there was a pretty wide and deep hole that for some reason wasn't frozen and was full of mud. Ben decided to go to the right side of hole where there was a bit of room, but also a bit of a ditch. He ended up going down into it with just his left two tires so we thought we'd be fine getting out. This turned out to be wrong.

Ben pulled back and forth ac couple times, and it looked like we were getting close to getting out when we noticed we were slipping a little more than before. We got out to see what was going on when we realized the problem; the front left tire was completely flat. Luckily, since we had just based some other friends, when they caught up to us, we were able to attach a rope to their tail hitch and to Ben's front frame, so we got pulled out... but now we had a flat tire on our hands.

Lucky for us again, Ben came prepared and had a spare tire and the tools to change it in his car. After moving to the side of the road we proceeded to figure out just what we were doing, since none of us have ever had to change a tire before. Once again, Ben was prepared and had the manual in the glove box, so everything went surprisingly well.

All the while, Bagel had been eyeing this rock drop on the side of the road where we had pulled off. It has snowed all day yesterday and a little over night, so there was some nice fresh powder on the run. After scoping it out, building a little lip, and checking speed, Bagel dropped in a hit the gap with perfect speed. I actually got it on video on Ben's phone, so as soon as I get it, I'll try to figure out how to put it on here. Needless to say, it was sick way to get back into the snowboarding vibe after this little setback.

The rest of the ride went off without a hitch and we ended up having a sick session. Up at Buff, there were two new kickers along with the rails that are still up there. A bunch of people even hiked a long ways up to take some powder runs.

Thankfully the ride down went just fine with a couple scares of sliding off the road, but we made it down in one piece. This ended up being the craziest trip up Buff I think we've ever had, but we love snowboarding and skiing, so no flat tire or a couple close calls are going to keep us from riding.

Another Denver Adventure.

Friday morning, 9am, we leave the Boat. Tyler, Corey, Kayleigh and I were off to Denver for a day long adventure to be finished up with the Avalanche vs. Hurricanes game.

The first stop of the day was in Kremmling where we were unfortunately let down by the thrift store we were planning on going to but we shook it off and continued on to the outlet stores in Silverthorne. When we got there, we started it off with a different thrift store which turned out to be pretty expensive for a thrift store, followed by a ski and snowboard shop where Corey took it upon himself to strap on a 114 snowboard a hop around the store. It was hilarious.

After those stops, we headed to the Pacsun and Lids outlet where a bought a SICK New Era hat with Wolverine fighting the Hulk for only $10. We had an extra ticket, so all the while we were making some friends and trying to get people to come with. Unfortunately everyone was working and unable to go, so we set off for Denver.

The next time we stopped was at a skate park in the outskirts of Denver so a little sesh and to stretch our legs from the rest of the drive. I apologize for the lack of pictures but I completely forgot to take some of the skate park. After that we continued on towards the innards of Denver to Cherry Creek Mall where we hung out and visited a number of the stores you just can’t find in Steamboat. There is also where we met up with Kaelyn, an old friend from school last year.

Strolling around the mall, we headed into Macy’s to check some stuff out and kill some time. There was really nothing any of us wanted to spend money on there, especially since we had already picked some stuff up from the outlet stores for way cheaper, when I came across this particular gem in the following picture:

Unfortunately we quickly figured out that the jacket was $160, so I decided against it.

While at the mall, we found out from someone who worked at one of the stores we went into that there was a two story Goodwill not too far from us and also on the way to the stadium, so needless to say, we had to check it out. It was by far the biggest and nicest Goodwill I had ever seen. We all found something awesome. In particular, I found 3 new shirts and an awesome painting for the room, and Corey got skis and boots, all for some sweet low prices.

After that we decided to eat before the game, so Corey dropped Tyler, Kayleigh, and I off at Cheesecake Factory where we got, you guessed it, some Cheesecake, then met Kaelyn and him up at corner cafe where they had some delicious soup, and then it was off to watch the Avs beat the Hurricanes (sorry if you're a fan).

We had some really good seats considering the tickets were only $15 as you can see from this picture courtesy of Kaelyn:

Our friend Charlie and another friend of his met us at the game as well, and we all had a great time. From getting dip and dots to trying to sweet talk to merchandise girl to give me some free stuff, this was probably the funnest hockey game I've ever been. Just the energy leaving the arena after the Avs won 5-4 was awesome, so we were all super stoked. We finished off the night with some DELICIOUS Jack in the Box before we dropped off Kaelyn and proceeded to make the trip back to Steamboat since Corey and Kayleigh had to work in the morning.

Needless to say we were all exhausted, so mad props to Corey for driving us back at midnight while we all fell asleep. This was another awesome adventure and I can only hope we have another one soon. Peace.

One Midterm Down.

This afternoon was my first midterm of the semester in Accelerated Boot Fitting.

My preparations for the test started the night before by going over some definitions and trying to memorize all the bones in the foot, which thankfully was easier than I thought, although the overall test ended up being harder than I thought.

Like I said, I had studied the night before, as well as the morning of the test, but going into the test, I was under the impression that it would be mostly multiple choice, but unfortunately it was all short answer as well as a bunch of definitions.

I think I did very well on the bones of the foot section, although it was only worth 20 out of the 200 point test, but I felt a little sketchy about the steps in the boot fitting process as well as the various planes of motions and technical names for the movements of the foot, all of which had to be defined without any sort of word bank or multiple choices. Basically I'll just have to wait and see how it turns out.

The rest of the class has been quite interesting and a lot more in depth than I thought. On top of learning about the bio-mechanics of the foot, we've begun work on making our own insoles for our ski and snowboard boots. We will eventually come of the class with three custom insoles for whatever pair of shoes or boots we want, using the different methods and technologies in the industry today.

This boot fitting course is a great class to take, especially if you plan to work in or run a shop, because owners definitely look for experience like this, so hopefully this blog gave you an idea of what to expect from Accelerated Boot-Fitting if you're thinking of coming to CMC. Peace.

To Each His Own.

My roommate Bacon is planning on opening a ski and snowboard shop in Michigan, so needless to say, we talk a lot about brands and which ones we like and which ones he should carry, so I thought I'd right a blog about some of my favorite brands and some smaller ones I think people should know about.

Snowboards:

• Dinosaurs Will Die: DWD is a crazy company that I believe is based out of Portland, OR, but I'm not sure. The company was started by to of my favorite riders, Sean Genovese and Jeff Keenan who are on the Think Thank crew (a video production company). This year DWD has three boards, all twin tip, and have some of the most ridiculous graphics in the industry. The reason I'm a fan is because they truly are an underground, by riders for riders company. Sean and Jeff were sponsored by other board companies, but had ideas that weren't getting used and probably wouldn't be used, so they did their own things and today have one of my favorite snowboard companies.
• Forecast: Forecast Snowboards was originally started in Omaha, NE, but have since moved their headquarters to Winter Park, CO. It was founded by David Parrish and has another favorite rider of mine who is also on the Think Thank crew, Pat Milbery. A big reason I like Forecast a lot is because they do a lot to promote snowboarding in the Midwest with their Mighty Midwest Snowboard camp, which actually goes to my home hill, Afton Alps.
• Signal: Signal is becoming a fairly popular company in the industry today, with one of the sickest riders to come out of Jake Olson-Elm, or Jake OE. Probably my favorite part about Signal is their website, and how open their are about their product and company. Their website pretty much has a full virtual tour of their factory in Vista, CA, as well as a step-by-step process of how their boards are built and what materials and technology goes into them. I respect this a lot, because as a consumer and someone who wants to start their own snowboard company, it is nice to see a company that open about their operations for everyone to learn from and know just what their getting in their board.

Outerwear:

• Holden: Holden is definitely my favorite outerwear company, partly because of their pro team consisting of Gus Engle, Laurent Nicolas-Paquin or LNP, and Darrel Mathes. Now I'm sure you can tell by now that a companies riders is a big factor for me when picking my favorite companies, but on top of that, Holden is a big player in the new green focus that many companies today have. They have a fabric they called the C_Change which is the only fabric in the world that is eco-friendly and has 3 layer fabric technology. C_Change also meets the Bluesign standard that guaruntees the highest possible exclusion of substances which are harmful to humans and the environment.
  
• L1: L1 is made by Nitro Snowboards and is once again awesome because of their pro team, which includes Nima Jalali, Jon Kooley, and Jordan Mendenhall. They basically make higher end gear for more fashion oriented riders with a wide product line for both men and women. Their full catalog is at L1outerwear.com so be sure to check them out.
  
• Bond: I recently heard about Bond from my roommate so I decided to look into them and they soon became a new favorite of mine. I'm not to sure about their history, but they have some really cool gear and they are huge into the green movement. The following is from the tech page on their website talking about their sustainable practices: Every piece of Bond outerwear and apparel that comes out of our doors has been pored over again and again to make sure that we are doing all we can to make the most sustainable pieces possible. All of our outer shells and inner lines utilize a blend of Recycled PET (made from plastic bottles and containers), and virgin polyester that is completely recyclable. Both are materials that have been used before and can used again for years to come. We took this and looked at all other facets of outerwear. Snaps? Made from discarded plastic pellets from heavy industry. Zipper pulls and Buttons? Same deal. One man's trash is another's treasure, or at least another man's cargo pocket snap. On top of that, they have great other features that you should for sure check out on their website bondsnowboarding.com.
  

I have noticed that a lot of people have some strong opinions about what brands they like and dislike. My best example is my friend back home who recently found out that Burton owns Forum Snowboards, Special Blend outerwear, and Foursquare outerwear, and now refuses to support any of those brands. I've noticed that most brand animosity is towards bigger companies who have a lot of control in the market, such as Burton. I sometimes and the same way since I think it is important to support the smaller brands who are trying to make it in the industry, but I can see how people would want to get the bigger companies' products since they are a trusted name in the industry, so basically it depends on whatever floats your boat.

A lot of people even associate certain brands with certains areas. Bacon, my friend Eli, and I were hanging with some people when a girl made a comment about how everyone from the Midwest wears Holden and the brand Nomis. I was currently wearing my new Holden jacket, along with Bacon, who is from Michigan, and Eli, who is from Wisconsin, was wearing a Nomis hoodie. We all found it pretty hilarious that the Midwest is associated with those brands, along with the fact that we were all wearing them, but it just goes to show that some people have preconceived notions of what other parts of the country are into.

There you go, a little glimpse at what some of today's snowboarders are representing brand wise, so hopefully some of you will read this and check out these brands and maybe even buy a thing or two from them. Peace.