Ok so for xmas Jill got me a GOPRO Hero HD helmet cam. It is very cool and we have shot some sick footage in tight trees with DEEP powder. The problem is the format, Mpeg4 is a bear to work with. For some reason both my Quicktime player and my AVS video editing software is very choppy. It sounds like others with this product are having the same problem. I’d love to post up some of yesterdays runs but as of right now I’m still waiting on customer support from both AVS and GOPRO. Because I’ve been taking the helmet cam lately I haven’t been shooting any stills, so this post is picture less, sorry. Hope to have something interesting to view soon. If not I’ll go out and take a picture of my new snow rake from Planet snowtools, the thing is absolutely amazing.

Mark

Been super busy in the shop with decks, subs and trucks plus the holidays just around the corner. Sent off a big stack to Adam, a board going to barontieri today and 23″ of fresh (heavy) pow at the mountain. Meeting Cole at 8:00 for some early tracks. As always I’m wondering 125 or 152. Would be nice to have a 151 for days like today. Bringing snowshoes and poles in case we need to duck a rope for the backcountry. Even when the mountain has a bunch of new snow the allure of untracked is powerful. Hopefully some pics for tomorrow.

Mark

This can be a fun time of year, building boards in the shop in the morning and testing them in the afternoon. Sometimes it can be frustrating if its really dumping and there is lots to do in the shop but this year winter is off to a slow start. We’ve had a week of sub zero temps and HIGH winds which has scrubbed the backcountry, nothing a snowskate can’t handle though, further proof in my mind that all you need is snow to ride. Cole and I jumped out of bounds behind the quad, breakable crust with hidden obstacles. Don’t  know if skiers or boarders would even bother but we had a blast. It was way to cold to stop and get some riding shots so I just took a few pics along the way.

Cole brought his 151 and I had the 125. It will be interesting to see how these two boards compare through out the year. Yesterday the 125 was probably the easier choice, I’m not sure why but it was. We took turns riding both boards and the conditions were pretty crazy so I don’t think it really tells me much about how they compare. I guess it was easier to keep the tail down on the 125, you weren’t having to lean too far back which made turning easier. Like I said the crust was wicked but fun.

We put in a boot track and fired off four laps in a couple of hours them headed back to the resort and the barren ski slope.

I finally got a chance to ride the 151 on some hard core groomers. That thing is pretty amazing for how long it is and how locked in you feel on a carve, even over blue ice. That board will definitely be a contender on in-bounds powder days.

Just a couple of pics from the shop, a stack of decks, boxes of truck parts and a pile of off cuts. I hope to get the store up soon for easy online ordering. A lot of these decks are spoken for, either heading to Adam or for locals. If you want to be put on the list before the shop goes up email me your wants at chillersnowskates@gmail.com.

I told Cole I had a couple of boards coming in from Florida Powder Skates. I was thinking about keeping the new 151 for myself. He pretty much just payed me before I had a chance to say no. The new 151 is a cross between the 152 and 125. It has the dims of the 125 but the length and insert locations of the 152 and as an added bonus an early rise nose. this translates into a sub that can float the deep stuff but still carve ice.

Most of the mountain is still closed, just not enough snow. This means all you need to do is hike a few yards and you get untracked goodness.

Cole loves his new board, he was going on and on about how the thing rips and we had only been riding an hour or so. It just didn’t take anytime to get her dialed in. When he was catching his breath I borrowed it for a rip. Yep it works!!!

We were just hiking this little patch next to the groomer track above where the cat track came in. No one bothered to hike the 40 yards up the hill so we had it all to our selves. Groomers can be fun too.

A quiver doesn’t need to be really big to cover the bases.

After hitting this patch we had to navigate some really hard icy areas that had been over skied. Cole had no problem on the 151 and passed me right by. Sure on tight narrow icy crap he slid out a bit but overall the board killed it. Good job Adam!!!

Working on refining my sub with some subtle shape and flex differences. Will be nice to ride the mountain on both set ups and compare how they handle. Same basic dimensions 0n this sub as the “spatula”.

– Length: 116 cm, 46″

– Nose: 155 mm, 6″

– Tail: 140mm, 5 1/2″

– Waist: 115mm, 4 5/8″

I often hear people say that once kids in Wyoming discover snowskating then its going to get huge. I’ve never understood this sentiment. It seems like they’re saying that kids who live in a town with a ski resort  would never have to resort to snowskating to entertain themselves. I think that any place with snow on the ground can be a great place to ride, you don’t need to live in a boring town to enjoy it. We are very fortunate to live around some great hills and usually have a couple of feet of snow in the backyard most winters. You don’t really need that much snow and that big of hills, just a bit of gravity, a shovel and a rake.

Our backyard is layed out with a wall ride, big table and hip.

There is plenty of speed from the hill in back but you need at least a foot of coverage to utilize it all. The hip will need a lot of snow and packing to be rideable and even then not sure how it will work, right now it looks a bit dangerous but hopefully with some snow things will change.

With this seasons first dusting of snow its easy to get excited about building up the backyard. I’ll keep you posted.

Yesterday was a surprise all around. We got 2″ of snow in the valley and ?? at the mountain. So with the sun poking out I loaded up the “spatula” and raced up there. To date, the snowfall has been in tiny increments but Friday night delivered around 6″ to the mountain. This 6″ was a drop in the bucket compared to what they need to open. They do make snow at Schweitzer but only on the beginner hill.  They build up huge piles in front of the machines then spread them out and repeat. I parked by some condos and walked to the run. The snow was pretty light and fairly deep. Rounding the corner and seeing the run my thought was, “dang, should have brought the powderboard.” Well I’m glad I didn’t cause this was a perfect time to test the “spatula”. At first glance it appeared that they had flattened out the mounds and that the fresh snow had fallen on top of the groomed run, sweet!! I hopped on and started down the slope. Being the bunny hill its not exactly steep but it has a consistent fall line that goes for a couple of hundred yards. Snowmaking snow is really gloomy and crusty until they spread it out so if you rode directly under the gun then it was weird but on the sides it was light. My first run was ok but not great, I was able to keep speed but not cut hard. When riding on the groomer’s track (not the blade just the bumpy track) the board turned fast and easy and felt really stable. But off the track it was hard to bury the tail. Could be the core was a bit stiff, something I felt from the start or more likely the inserts were too far back which kept the sub from bending where it should. Well, luckily I do have two rear truck settings although they are only an inch apart and might not make any difference seeing the adjustment is so minor. I pulled the pin and moved the rear truck towards the front hole, then hiked back up for a second try. Wow, what a difference an inch made, night and day and all of a sudden the nose was popping out and the powder wasn’t a struggle. Powder might be too nice of a word for crusty wet man made snow but it was untracked that’s for sure. The board rode really well, super fun on the groom and very lively off piste. Now this isn’t the proof I need to start building these, on the contrary this thing has only proven itself to insure another trip to the mountain, but I’m stoked for sure.

Now for the really BIG NEWS the grip kicked ass!!!!! No snow build up, no icy spots, didn’t deteriorate under my tread, looked the same when I left as it did when I started. Completely blew me away and puts my mind at ease.