Another winter is well on its way and luckily things are new and fresh again. Snowskating has always had this feeling to it where you just weren’t sure what’s around the next corner. Obviously with a new sport you really don’t know where it will go. This mystery is what attracted me to snowskating.
Early on the goal was to reuse old snowboards and be able to stand up for most of the run. Just the fact that you could go down hill without bindings was enough to make me hike back up for another run.
I had no idea what would make a good snowskate so I tried to make them really pretty using my woodworking skills. If they looked beautiful then maybe people wouldn’t question whether or not they actually worked.
I fought the direction that most snowskates were going in. Small skateboard-like sizes to me seemed like I would be stuck in the parking lot. Of course I had never really tried a small skate so my opinion of them was totally wrong. At one point I realized that if I could control a massive snowskate and a small snowskate then what about all the sizes in-between? This was when the skilsaw came out. I had visions of trolling yard sales to score old snowboards for cheap then cut them down to size and re-sell them for a nice profit. I still have that same stack of cut down snowboards that have never touched snow.
Luckily Adam at FPS did the hardwork for me and I felt like the time spent cutting down old snowboards was wasted time.
Riding big powder skates you immediately hone in on the conditions that will make them fun. Big long groomers just aren’t very enjoyable on powder skates so you become fixated on untracked terrain.
At first building my own subs seemed like a monumental task. I was afraid of the mistakes that it would take to accomplish my goals. But after the first crappy skate I was hooked.
Just heading up to the mountain with a new prototype that offered answers to my many questions was enough to power me through the inevitable let down and remorse that would come after riding it. There will always be mistakes and those mistakes will direct your future designs. The mistakes make the boards. Without them you would be directionless.
If you haven’t already noticed the snowskate community is made up of riders and builders. In some areas the builders outnumber the non builders. Making attempts at snowskate innovation is part of the sport. Those attracted early on need a hand in the direction. This helps everyone I believe because there is a constant “sharing” of ideas. I know I would not have been inspired to make changes to my skates if it were not for FPS, Ralston, Lib, Starfish, Circuit and Grassroots to name a few.
So here we are, in the winter of 2013 with skates that still resemble my original attempts made eight years ago. The goal is still the same to stand up for most of the run.
Well, its been awhile since my last post, but I’m back and at least for the first part of the winter will be posting weekly updates. Its been a pretty hectic month getting ready for the season. I think this is the most prepared I have ever been before the lifts have started. The new shop has been great and it has afforded me the luxury of a curing booth for the decks and subs. After pressing they all go into this 70 degree room for another 5 days to insure the epoxy cures completely.
Although the recycled graphics from the last few years was fun I’m glad to be rid of someone else’s logo on my stuff. This season we’re looking at white, with some soon to be added stickers.
The sliding truck plates are black but other then that I’m pretty much sticking with the same design. Three hole locations and two height options with a quick release pin.
Black and green grip for the tops, with a built up tail option available too.
The subs from last season worked great but there is always a tweak that can push them even further. I reworked both the 145 and 135 forms for the better. I most excited about the 135 with the slightly longer base and lower sweeps to the nose and tail. Always looking for that short board that will float deep pow. The new subs are in white.
One great thing about the Chiller shop is that there is a great testing zone in the back. Just need a bit more snow to soften those landings.
The shop is clicking right along but the website is badly in need of a product page and that is next on the agenda. Expect more pics and prices next week.
Sorry about the lack of updates but this last month has been a whirlwind of big pow days, pressing decks and another epic road trip. After our last visit to the sawtooths I emailed Cory Smith at mtnapproach.com about his new approach skis that fold up small enough to fit in a pack.
Cory, who lives in Sun Valley and works at Smith Optics, checked out my post on the Sawtooths and extended an invite to come down for a few days of riding and filming at the Smith Optics private back country zone. Well I may be busy with work and family stuff but a invite like this doesn’t come along very often and so I jumped at the chance. I got the ok to bring along a friend and Cole happened to be in the right place at the right time so he scored the second seat. Not sure what exactly was in store we loaded up the car and hit the road. All we knew was there would be another group of riders hitting some jumps and that me and Cole would be able to explore the zone and hopefully find some pow. We got into Smiley Creek late and found the bunkhouse, which was a really old two stories cabin that had been patched up just enough to keep the heat in. After introducing ourselves to the crew inside we found a spot on the floor to throw down our bags and go to sleep.
The next morning the crew was a little confused about what to do we us. We didn’t have our own sled and the snowcat with the crew cab wasn’t working. Luckily a few of the guys tandemed us up to the zone. Our first day was great, we were able to catch a couple of rides up the mountain from the crew and caught deep pow turns on the way down. They were all pretty busy scoping jumps and making sure they were ready if the sun peaked out so any rides we got we really appreciated. We even hiked a couple of laps too just cause the cat tracks were so easy to travel. The next day we woke up to high winds and grey sky and every one in the bunkhouse was in no hurry to get going except us. Luckily we had left our skates at the yurt so they had to give us a ride up. Somehow it ended up just being Cole and I and two brand new sleds on loan from Ski-doo.
It was officially on!!! We rode non stop for the whole day, doing as many laps as we could. About half way through the day it even started dumping which really made it seem like we had stumbled upon a gold mine of opportunities.
All the terrain in this pic is part of the Smith Optics private reserve. With the help of the cat they have built tons of big hits into soft powder landings. All they needed was a little sunshine to make it all pay off.
The last morning brought blue skies and no extra sleds for us. This was okay seeing how our visit was pure luck in the first place and we were just thankful for the amazing two days we got. We packed up and headed home, stopping off briefly for a soak at a roadside hot springs. Big thanks goes out to Smith and Cory for letting us sneak in the back door of Prospecting Idaho, lets hope we can find a way to get back there next year.
Thierry is the artist behind my graphics, the web blog banner, my stickers and this great little holiday snowskate card. He also set up Ralston with a cool logo. He’s definitely helping us look professional. Thanks so much man!!
We had a great backcountry day but of course I forgot the camera. Really haven’t filmed anything yet this season, just kinda taking a break from constantly documenting our every move. I did snap some more backyard shots. The yard has been kinda sketchy after the rain then freezing temperatures. Kinda the way it is with low elevation snow. But with the recent couple of inches we are back in business.
Just got my season truck hardware in and things look great. I’m back to the 3 hole aluminum bases for the lib and fps inserts and will use the 2 hole uhmw plastic pucks for my 2″ inserts. Next week we are down south in McCall, hopefully some good pics will come of it but no post next week. Expect a longer one the first week of January which reminds me, Mission Ridge out of Wenatchee will have a night snowskate event from 6-10 on January 8.
51 standard and 51 big side by side. You can see the obvious dimension and side cut differences. The waist and tail of the big is about 1″ wider then the standard.
Brain Wilson printed me up some new stickers of just the right colors. Big rode great today thanks to the conditions being perfect. Even though its wide it carves well, not as easily as the 51 standard but considering its wide waist today was better then I could have hoped for. Since I carry the camera there are no shots of me. Maybe Eric or Cole will slow down a bit next time and snap some pics.
Today was epic, about 6 inches of soft cold snow on top of a crazy crust of small hail balls. It was a perfect day to explore some steep in bounds terrain. We got first tracks all over today, thanks to the main quad being shut down. You had to ride two old style chairs to get the the north bowls plus the fact that it was a Thursday made for an pretty empty mountain. Here’s a shot of Eric on our last run.
I picked up a base grinder this fall. Went in on it with another local who is pressing skis. We’re storing it at my shop, which is nice, but the things messy. Lots of water with that green fluid in it splattering all over. Oh well, it will make base grinding more convenient.
This last week has brought a ton of snow to our area. The mountain is slowly opening terrain and it is sick. Thursday we hiked, as usual, but the difference was the mountain was closed for the mid week period. Jordan and Katie joined us this time.
I had a great plan in mind, we would hike up and access terrain which was still closed and since the mountain wasn’t running we shouldn’t have any problem with patrol.
We hiked to the base of my intended destination when the bombs started going off. Patrol was working the south bowl ridge and I knew our trip was about to get cut short. Sure enough a cat messed on up and told us to head back down the mountain. Ugh! Oh well we got some nice turns on the way back.
I made this powder single two winters ago and really haven’t had a chance to ride it until last week.
It was really fun to mess around on and floated great for its short length. Pasha my neighbor just happened to be passing by and grabbed a turn on her.
Our early season dump kinda melted off. More snow in the forcast though. Southern Idaho still has some pretty good coverage. Check out what Jeff and Cory found. Hit the link to view the video > Early season launch!
It won’t be long now and the excitement level seems to be very high for the upcoming season. Just pressed a new, fatter 51″. Only a proto but should be able to accomodate deep conditions. Strapless just released a teaser. Man the Tahoe area has some STRONG riders. Can’t wait for this video to hit the masses.
Snow in the mountains means its time to fire up the blog for the coming season. Here’s some snowless shots of the backyard set up.
This is the new dirt mound. There should be lots of ways to hit this thing.
Scored a couple of rail from a skate shop that went under.
Backyard riding is one of the reasons I got into snowskating, lets hope this winter brings some snow accumulation down low!!!
I am working hard in the shop on decks and subs. Will have some shop pics soon as well as a product page. But until then you can enjoy a short video of last seasons highlights.
I saw an epoxy stirrer like this in a manufactuers shop and wondered why they didn’t clean it. Then after using epoxy I realized it was just a lot easier to let the excess drip off into a cup. It grows a little bit bigger with each press.
A modest sized stack of boards. It makes me feel productive when I see the almost ready decks but then I think back on how much time it takes and the productivity feeling kinda goes away.
Of course getting out in the pow makes you forget about everything…
Speaking about forgetting, I know I said there might be a Product page coming soon. I feel like I’ve just about got next years product dialed in and I want to post up all that I will be offering for next season. So expect something in the not to distant future and of course I will be bringing it all to Hurricane with demos to ride so you can always catch it there.
Wrapping up a few things in the shop then loading up the van and heading south to Boise to pick up a couple riders. Should be able to get some turns in the Boise foothills on Fri before hitting the road again for Tahoe. I promise to take lots of pictures and shoot lots of videos of the weekend (we’ll see if I keep my promise) and post it all here as soon as I get back. In the meantime here are a few shop pics of the new graphics, thanks BARONTiERifor the creative artwork!!!
