(no subject)
Location: Stratton
Gnar counter: 26 & 27
Ok, so my schedule this semester gives me lots of time to go snowboarding. I am off Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. This happened to work out in my favor because the on snow demo was going on at Stratton on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. So I missed the last day, no big deal. After my last class on Tuesday, I came back to the apartment, packed my bags and met up with Dan. I had to drive since I wouldn't be able to stay the whole time. Printed out directions at the last minute, and got on the road. It was about 10pm by the time we left. It was raining and pretty shitty the whole way up. Once in Vermont, the rain turned to snow and made driving a little bit sketchy. We drove around for an hour trying to find a hotel at Stratton that wasn't booked. We found out that everything was booked near Stratton, so we took a drive over to Magic Mountain to see if there was anything there. It was like 2am at this time, so the bed and breakfast places that we found were all closed. We drove passed the Hayes Brothers factory on our hunt for a hotel. In a stroke of luck, I made a wrong turn which led us right to a motel. It was a family run motel, with pictures of grandchildren on the lobby counter. There was nobody behind the counter, since it was so late. We ran the buzzer a bunch of times, but nobody came. I noticed there were 2 couches beside a fireplace in the lobby, so I suggested to Dan that we sleep there. We were both pretty fed up at this point, after stopping at numerous hotels and driving around for over an hour that it didn't seem like a bad idea. Dan had visions of waking up with a shotgun in his face, but I didn't. I pictured a warm welcoming, with a little old lady apologizing for not answering our calls for service. I didn't think they would really mind that we slept on their couch, but Dan did. So we decided to just drive around some more. Dan started drinking beers at this point. I kept driving. We got back to the Hayes Brothers factory and saw that the light was on inside. We looked in the window and saw a nice lonely couch. The door was locked and the windows were like Fort Knox, so we quickly abandoned that idea. We decided to just sleep in the car, in the parking lot. Snowboarders have been sleeping in cars forever, it's a pretty common thing really. We had a bunch of shit in the back, so we moved some shit around, and I layed down in the back while Dan sat up front. He was having trouble falling asleep, so he drank beers throughout the night. I managed to fall asleep in the back for what didn't seem like very long. I rolled around a lot and woke up really really cold at one point. It was snowing out and I had to pee. I did my thing and tried to fall back asleep but it was way too cold. Around 6am I was just ready to drive to the mountain. Dan said he didn't sleep a wink, but I was pretty good.
We also tried to get a hotel room before going to the mountain, but once again, still booked. So we got to the hill before the reps even set up their tents. We got a prime parking spot and hung out for a bit. Bob bought us breakfast in the lodge, which was excellent. The gondola opened and we took some runs before demoing boards. These first few runs were epic. The few inches of snow from the night before made for a perfect morning. We got first tracks down a few trails and rode until it was tracked out. Dave met us up there after we took a few runs. Then I started demoing boards. I don't really remember the order, but I got to ride a 51 Capita Midlife Theory with Union bindings, a 54 Salomon Arnie 5000 with Spx pro bindings, a 53 Stepchild Latchkey with P1 wingtips, and later in the day, a 121 Rossignol Mini. The Stepchild was my favorite board of the day and I fell in love with it. 153 is the perfect size snowboard for me and this board was sick. I didn't want to give it back. We both rode the mini's at the end of the day and had a fun time. Rode with a bunch of different people on Wednesday and had an absolutely killer time out there. I left my car in the lot, and Dave drove me and Dan back to his place at Mount Snow. His house is sweet and his backyard setup is sick as hell. He had the flat bar, and the picnic table in the yard and it looked really sick, but I passed out at like 8pm on the couch. I didn't wake up until the next morning when Dave's alarm clock went off for the third time. Apparently, I missed out on some dude soup in the hot tub after I passed out.
Dave drove back to the mountain today and I dropped my bags off at the car. I was bummed that I was going to have to leave early today, but I was ready to have fun regardless. Met up with Brian right away and took a bunch of runs with him and his buddy Patrick from 32. It was sweet riding with them although conditions weren't as good as the day before. I wanted to demo some boards, but I was having a lot of fine on mine. After a bunch of leg burners, I grabbed a 53 Lib Tech Travis Rice. Dan got the 57 and we took them for a spin. I think I found the perfect snowboard. The flex was sweet and the magnatraction pretty much fucking rules. I really want one of those snowboards for next year. Back to my Mervin roots, haha. We took a lot of runs with Tony from Volcom and his group of friends. That dude kills it. I had to give the magnatraction back so that others could enjoy it's wonderfulness. After a few more runs on my board and making our way over to Sunbowl and back, I was ready to call it a day. I wanted to leave before it got dark since I wasn't super sure of how to get home. I tried reading the directions backwards, and then I just said fuck it and followed the guy in front of me with Jersey plates. The drive home wasn't too bad but I am exhausted now. I had so much fun the last two days I can't even explain. I left out so much, but Im too tired right now.
Gnar counter: 26 & 27
Ok, so my schedule this semester gives me lots of time to go snowboarding. I am off Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. This happened to work out in my favor because the on snow demo was going on at Stratton on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. So I missed the last day, no big deal. After my last class on Tuesday, I came back to the apartment, packed my bags and met up with Dan. I had to drive since I wouldn't be able to stay the whole time. Printed out directions at the last minute, and got on the road. It was about 10pm by the time we left. It was raining and pretty shitty the whole way up. Once in Vermont, the rain turned to snow and made driving a little bit sketchy. We drove around for an hour trying to find a hotel at Stratton that wasn't booked. We found out that everything was booked near Stratton, so we took a drive over to Magic Mountain to see if there was anything there. It was like 2am at this time, so the bed and breakfast places that we found were all closed. We drove passed the Hayes Brothers factory on our hunt for a hotel. In a stroke of luck, I made a wrong turn which led us right to a motel. It was a family run motel, with pictures of grandchildren on the lobby counter. There was nobody behind the counter, since it was so late. We ran the buzzer a bunch of times, but nobody came. I noticed there were 2 couches beside a fireplace in the lobby, so I suggested to Dan that we sleep there. We were both pretty fed up at this point, after stopping at numerous hotels and driving around for over an hour that it didn't seem like a bad idea. Dan had visions of waking up with a shotgun in his face, but I didn't. I pictured a warm welcoming, with a little old lady apologizing for not answering our calls for service. I didn't think they would really mind that we slept on their couch, but Dan did. So we decided to just drive around some more. Dan started drinking beers at this point. I kept driving. We got back to the Hayes Brothers factory and saw that the light was on inside. We looked in the window and saw a nice lonely couch. The door was locked and the windows were like Fort Knox, so we quickly abandoned that idea. We decided to just sleep in the car, in the parking lot. Snowboarders have been sleeping in cars forever, it's a pretty common thing really. We had a bunch of shit in the back, so we moved some shit around, and I layed down in the back while Dan sat up front. He was having trouble falling asleep, so he drank beers throughout the night. I managed to fall asleep in the back for what didn't seem like very long. I rolled around a lot and woke up really really cold at one point. It was snowing out and I had to pee. I did my thing and tried to fall back asleep but it was way too cold. Around 6am I was just ready to drive to the mountain. Dan said he didn't sleep a wink, but I was pretty good.
We also tried to get a hotel room before going to the mountain, but once again, still booked. So we got to the hill before the reps even set up their tents. We got a prime parking spot and hung out for a bit. Bob bought us breakfast in the lodge, which was excellent. The gondola opened and we took some runs before demoing boards. These first few runs were epic. The few inches of snow from the night before made for a perfect morning. We got first tracks down a few trails and rode until it was tracked out. Dave met us up there after we took a few runs. Then I started demoing boards. I don't really remember the order, but I got to ride a 51 Capita Midlife Theory with Union bindings, a 54 Salomon Arnie 5000 with Spx pro bindings, a 53 Stepchild Latchkey with P1 wingtips, and later in the day, a 121 Rossignol Mini. The Stepchild was my favorite board of the day and I fell in love with it. 153 is the perfect size snowboard for me and this board was sick. I didn't want to give it back. We both rode the mini's at the end of the day and had a fun time. Rode with a bunch of different people on Wednesday and had an absolutely killer time out there. I left my car in the lot, and Dave drove me and Dan back to his place at Mount Snow. His house is sweet and his backyard setup is sick as hell. He had the flat bar, and the picnic table in the yard and it looked really sick, but I passed out at like 8pm on the couch. I didn't wake up until the next morning when Dave's alarm clock went off for the third time. Apparently, I missed out on some dude soup in the hot tub after I passed out.
Dave drove back to the mountain today and I dropped my bags off at the car. I was bummed that I was going to have to leave early today, but I was ready to have fun regardless. Met up with Brian right away and took a bunch of runs with him and his buddy Patrick from 32. It was sweet riding with them although conditions weren't as good as the day before. I wanted to demo some boards, but I was having a lot of fine on mine. After a bunch of leg burners, I grabbed a 53 Lib Tech Travis Rice. Dan got the 57 and we took them for a spin. I think I found the perfect snowboard. The flex was sweet and the magnatraction pretty much fucking rules. I really want one of those snowboards for next year. Back to my Mervin roots, haha. We took a lot of runs with Tony from Volcom and his group of friends. That dude kills it. I had to give the magnatraction back so that others could enjoy it's wonderfulness. After a few more runs on my board and making our way over to Sunbowl and back, I was ready to call it a day. I wanted to leave before it got dark since I wasn't super sure of how to get home. I tried reading the directions backwards, and then I just said fuck it and followed the guy in front of me with Jersey plates. The drive home wasn't too bad but I am exhausted now. I had so much fun the last two days I can't even explain. I left out so much, but Im too tired right now.