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.

When a trip goes really good….its hard to put it into words but I’ll try. This was the fifth season heading out west. I’ve seen bluebird, monsoon and blower pow so I know that anything can happen and usually does. Landing at Starfish headquarters Thur evening to 38 degree temps and a steady downpour didn’t make the next day seem all that promising. But waking up and seeing 4″ on the tops of cars meant things were heading in the right direction. Somehow we ended up getting to the chair before they started running and the day at Alpental was amazing, deep untracked snow from top to bottom. The first run alone made it worth the price of the ticket and all the others were just icing on the cake. Elkins got some pictures but my cameras stayed in the rig so  no pics to share. We had some driving to do so around lunch time we loaded up and headed for the ferry. Adam, Paul, Tim, Graham and E2 filled out the van roster for the trip and there were three other car loads in the line up. We caught the ferry to Bainbridge island and headed to the skatepark. It had rained a bit and there were plenty of puddles. We fashioned some homemade squeegees from cardboard and plastic bags and began the clean up. It took about an hour but it was dry when we were done. The session was great except for the little kid whose board found its way to Dane and resulted in a wrist wrenching slam for him, SUCKED!! We hit the road again and landed in Port Angeles around 9 and got a room for 7 people. Well the room was for 3 but we fit 7. Woke up to a blue bird day and the hopes of more powder like at Alpental. We reached Hurricane before the rope tow started and hiked for the road shot off the back side.

I took a few shots and used the helmet cam to capture the day. You always wish you could have gotten more pics but you take what you get. Here’s the video spliced together like a third grader’s class project.

The course was sick and there were a ton of riders and old friends. It was a great comp with Jake taking the slope style and Alan coming in a close second. Clarke won the powder downhill. Brenden got first in the slalom with Jake coming in second and me in third. Jess ruled the girls division on a CD complete and won a Libtech snowskate. It was suppose to be a two day event but with the forcast of 80 mph winds for sunday they decided to cram the whole thing into one day, which worked great. I got to do my very first board toss to the crowd, something I’ve wanted to do for awhile. Tomoki was in the right spot.

Tired and hungry we headed down the mountain to eat dinner. The nights festivities included the snowskate rock band; T-bagging bandits with Clarke on the keyboards, big John on drums and Pete on the guitar along with a base player and a lead guitarist who skis. It was a table crushing, glass breaking, tooth busting mosh pit with the Port Angeles locals watching in horror. The T-bagging bandits play the summit a lot but snowskaters have to keep it under raps so as not to get banned from their home bar, that wasn’t the case in PA. I’m just glad I was there, that’s all I can say.

With the Sunday event canceled we headed to Franks shop to pic up surf gear for those going for the snow, skate wave three pack.

Adam, Paul, Brenden and Jake pulled it off.

One more skate at Hendo‘s mini ramp and we headed back to the summit and more rain. Hoping that Monday would produce enough snow to hike for we hit the sack. I slept like crap, my first night on the floor, which got me out of bed and to the coffee shop early enough to see that the snow was building up. I headed back to Starfish headquarters with an extra coffee in hopes of getting someone to go out hiking with me. E2 was just getting up and scored the joe and was stoked for a recon of the conditions. We pulled into the parking lot just as it started to unleash some big flakes. It was just us two and the decision was made to start hiking.

I called Levitt with the snow report, and within minutes, Alan, Jordan, Katie, Graham and Tim joined us. The snow was piling up as we hiked and the upper section was unreal. Maybe the deepest snow of the season for me and it was making it a great end to an amazing trip.  I’ve heard that the summits snow can be a bit sticky and I got to see its adhesion properties for myself.

Got 5 runs in and two of those were on my new Powder single that Jordan made for me. I’m not sure how those things handle in questionable conditions but on that day at Alpental it was absolutely amazing, thanks Jordan!!!!

The scene around snowskating just keeps getting better and better. With great events in unique locations with solid prize money it just can’t help but go up. Like everything in snowskating its up to the riders to create their own reality and from what I can tell there are plenty willing to share the load. A big thanks goes out to all the Port Angeles crew who put in a ton of work and to everyone who helped us on our trip, it really was a group effort.

Tomorrow morning I load up and head out west. The van will be pretty full by the time we arrive on Friday. So far the roster includes, E2, Graham, Leavitt, FPS Adam, and Jake. We’ll be meeting up with Jordan, Katie and Allan at Snoqualmie then heading to Port Angeles on Fri via a couple of skatepark stops along the way, (as long as the weather cooperates.) Last year this trip worked out so perfectly it would be silly to expect the same this time around but who knows. The weather for Hurricane Ridge is forecast to snow 4-7 on Fri which is a pretty good start. I don’t think we’ll be getting the bluebird with the freshies like last time but that’s ok, just as long as it doesn’t rain like the year before. I’ll be demoing some of my stuff for next season. There will be three set ups of the 42 both with the 36″ top deck and 38″. Also I’m bringing a set up that I just pulled out of the press on fri. Its a brand new sub from a brand new form and I’ve only had a few days on it. I’m having a hard time describing it since it falls in between a snowskate sub and a powder sub. For the time being I’m calling it a mountain skate.

The mountain skate is a direct descendant of the 42″. It has the same side cut and taper although the width is about 3/8 wider. The insert locations and the deck mounting with respect to the tail are the same as is the sweep of the nose and tail.  The goal was to make a sub that would handle just like the 42 but with a larger nose for off piste riding. It comes in at 51″ long, 8 1/4″ nose, 5″ waist and 6″ tail. This is not intended to be a powder skate but instead a snowskate that can handle powder, and most importantly steep terrain. One thing I’ve found though is it doesn’t really matter what you want a sub to do, it will ride how IT wants to ride. Last Saturday was my first test ride and that was just on groomers which it handled great, especially steep stuff. Its very easy to turn and the extra edge in front really digs into the carve. Yesterday though we got to test it out in some fresh pow.

Now with a length of 51″ and a narrow 5″ waist I didn’t expect it to slay the lower angle deep stuff but it did a pretty good job. The area that I was most interested in was steep tight terrain and in those spots it handled great. A smaller sub in steep terrain is a great match. You take a bit of the speed off which slows things down just enough to make good turns with out the feeling that your right on the edge.

All in all it was a great day and I learned a bunch about the set up. Its definitely still in the experimental stage but I’m excited about the direction that I’m headed in. This deck will be free to demo at Hurricane along with the 42″s so if your up there give it a try and tell me what you think.

We did get some footage of its maiden powder voyage, check out how low it rides in the snow, it almost seems like the top deck is throwing out a spray too!!

Just grabbed this off of Snowskaters.net can’t wait to meet up with Jordan and Alan for Hurricane.

Uh…what can I say about these three boards? They are the same yet different. Stiff, mid and soft flex from left to ride. To remember just think of Kate Moss being the stiff one. So as you might guess they each turn and edge differently. I haven’t taken out the soft flex yet, this Saturday for sure, but I kinda have an idea of how it will handle, kinda. It will be fun to ride I’m pretty sure. Definitely a perk with this little obsession, you get to ride something you have speculated on.

There is a snowskating misconception that the sport simplifies things. In reality it makes things more complicated as evidence of the boards we would be packing to the hill. We rode the beginner hill until the quad opened up. Always a nice warm up, mellow fresh groomers. Then back to the new spot which has been delivering some great turns.

We probably got about 4-5 inches but all of our tracks from last week were pretty much filled in. We were able to salvage the boottrack which made for quicker laps.

I have been having fun with the pole cam as you have all probably noticed. What I like watching the most though is the footage of the board, basically from the knees down. I just like watching the board as it turns. It feels like if I watch close enough I’ll actually be able to understand what is going on, but I never do.

I knew this would happen, I build one sub then the craziness begins. You just keep asking, or others ask, “what would happen if…?” You keep tweaking flex and changing dimensions until you can’t remember what the original question was. But I’m not complaining, its really fun to be able to make skis to match your mid season whims. The latest ski is a true twin tip with center mounted inserts and a 5 7/8″ (150 cm) nose and tail. There are two sets of inserts which give you mounting options between 16 and 19 1/2″. We rode it today and it was a blast, unfortunately I have to send it to BARONTiERi cause it was his idea and cause he made a sweet Snowflake logo for me as well as all the work on the website and the ColorFool designs. I’ll be pressing a shop version asap though. Here’s a few before and after pics. The first one shows before the press and the second pic is after the top deck and sub have been cut to shape.

Today I loaded up all of my subs and took them to the mountain. It was a pretty heavy load but the goal was to try and ride them all, or at least most of them.

First though was to grab the 151 and head into the back-country to meet Eric and Cole, who already had four laps in.

After we were done riding powder we headed back into the resort for some groomer laps. We chose a fairly long run to test the boards on with both mellow and steep sections and ending with a lap through the boarder cross course. Eric and I switched decks after each run making sure that we both rode all the options.  It was really informative seeing that each deck was set up a bit differently with respect to truck height and sub dimensions. Hopefully after some more runs like this on varied terrain I’ll have something to report but most likely I’ll just have even more questions to ask, which is fine.

I think I figured that the total driving time from Sandpoint to the Ralston Cup to be around 18 hours. Throw in some snowmobile shuttles, hiking donner pass, goofing around and you’ve got about twice that. It wasn’t a race to get there so having as much fun as possible on the way down seemed like a good idea. The fun started Friday morning when I met up with Graham, Jeff, Pidgeon and a snowmobile trailer. We headed up to Bogus Basin to see if we couldn’t get a few laps in before the big drive to Truckee. The snow was deep and the fog was thick but who cares when your making fresh turns. I grew up in Boise and rode Bogus Basin all the time. Unfortunately they don’t allow snowskates so we had to ride outside the area. Jeff has tried to talk the GM at Bogus into letting snowskates on the lift. The GM said he would pay for Jeff‘s gas to drive somewhere else to ride???? After three great laps apiece we dropped off the snowmobile trailer and Pidgeon, who couldn’t make the trip, and headed for Truckee to spend the night. Saturday morning gave us around 6 inches of fresh snow and with the help of our good friend Brad Krommenhock we got some shuttles in on Donner Pass before heading to south lake and the Bonser Pipeline. We got to Bonser‘s just before dark and just as Jommy landed a kickflip over the keg gap. There were a ton of people and the pipeline was going off. Scott Chapelle had rigged up a tree stand about 30 ft up in the air from which you could get a birds eye view of the party and quarter pipe.

I guess I forgot to get pictures of all the features but I did get Brian straddling the coping.

Jeff got us a room for the night that had a blow drier. I guess he thought he would ride better if his skate was blow dried before the comp. Check out his Chiller shirt.

I’m sure some people take snowskating comps seriously but most of us were just there to have fun and hang out with other riders. there is a lot of standing around and waiting which means there is always a flat ground session going. Jake here with a kickflip!

The course had two lines and tons of variations. Boxes, rails, tables big and small and lots of hips with a mini quarter right in front of the judges. It was great to see Sean Davis ride again, so solid on the boxes.

The tables were getting sent by a bunch of people but unfortunately Goblin wasn’t one of them thanks to a bad landing trying to transfer a huge gap between the last set.

The comp consisted of a slalom run and a slopstyle run. The slalom was pretty technical and required you to carry a lot of speed otherwise you crawled across the finish line. The slalom wasn’t something to take too seriously but I did kinda make the 45″ for just such an occasion. I rode it first and had a so so run. They weren’t shouting out times so its hard to know how you faired. I decided to take the 42″ morning wood for my second run and it did so much better railing the corners and I felt like I carried a lot more speed through the course.  After everyone had made it through the slalom we ran the slopestyle in the same order.  Hanging out with a bunch of friends, watching each run and cheering everyone on is just the best. Jake was amazing with his taped open shinner and it was obvious that he rides on a much higher level then the rest. He won the whole damm thing, slalom and slopestyle, I’m not even sure who placed below him.

Chillerdecks donated the slalom prize, its great to have such a ripper owning one of my decks.

I entered the amateur division which had around 35 riders, the most of any group. We’re hoping next year they make a division for old guys so it breaks it up a bit more. I guess the 42″ morning wood did a pretty good job cause I won the slalom and took home a Ralston Snowskate. I was blown away and so happy to have one of their new skates to add to my collection. It won’t be a hanger I assure you. I ride every board I own, it keeps me up to date on all the offerings.

After the comp was over we made a bunch of mob runs down the boarder cross course. Comps like this are really the only chance many of us get to ride with other snowskaters and its always a blast. People are gaping that’s for sure plus what other sport do you get to ride right alongside the best in the industry. Afterward there was lots of hanging out and visiting. Travis pulled out his Japanese powskate that he got from a kid in Japan. If you check out the Banff film festival this year you’ll see a segment of this board being ridden by the maker.

After the comp we headed to Bonser‘s for the after party and more riding. then a late night drive back to Brad‘s in Truckee. The next morning brought blue skies so instead of heading home we headed back to Donner Pass. Graham was feeling a bit sore so offered to just drive shuttle. We opted instead to hike some new terrain so he decided to come along and maybe just take some pictures.

We hadn’t hiked far before we came to a very picturesque cornice and all of a sudden Graham wasn’t so sore and tired any more. Both Jeff, pictured below, and Graham hit it a few times before Graham sent it big. Its really hard to take in such a great weekend and luckily we have pics and video to remind us how much fun it was. Thanks to everyone who gave us a place to stay, shuttled us around, and shared their beer. It was an amazing trip!!!

Many people just don’t get it. They see us riding in the powder and ask why wouldn’t we just ride a snowboard. I’ve come up with the answer, footwear.  I’m mean what other sport allows you to wear skate shoes in the backcountry?

It has not snowed for a week or so. Things are getting pretty tracked up but there are still lines and with the help of cold nights the hoar frost mimicks fresh snow.

We got in four laps in an area that was across from a spot we usually ride. The snow pack is pretty stable around here due to the lack of accumulation which makes it easy to explore new areas. There were lots of snow mounds to hit and Cole seems to be dialing in his landings.

Here’s a little lesson in video production, always make sure your lens is clean. I mean it may be the shot of the century but if you’ve got a dirty lens, well its just take a bit of the shine off. The other thing that is helpful is to shoot in the sun, not the shade. In fact after Cole hit this jump and we were hiking back up the entire field was lit up by the sun, oh well live and learn.

This is what the sky looked like as we prepared to take our first run of the day. That’s a sunsets folks. Granted we had one run down to shuttle all of our supplies to set up camp. But riding with two packs strapped in front and back hardly counts as an enjoyable ride.

The light was unreal and felt like a reward for the days almosts. Like almost turning back at the very beginning cause of snowmobile mechanicals or like Tim almost getting completely lost on his sled in super tight trees while trying to cut a switchback during the shuttle.

The entire run was about 1000 vertical with both tight and open trees, steep and mellow slope and light fluffy snow.

This video, shot the next morning, shows what the top 1/4 was like.

You know what’s funny about this shot? Eric doesn’t even snowboard, he’s a skier. I guess it helps that he skates, alot.

Cole snowboards, or at least he used to. I missed a great shot of him busting through some trees. I’m a shitty photographer cause I’m always watching them ride instead of getting the shot.

You remember the short teaser of Cole and Tim carving some turns? Well here’s a little pole cam vantage of the same line.

We spent Thursday and Friday in the back country. It was sick and I got lots of pics and video. I’m posting just a clip from the trip until YouTube gets its audio swap working again.

I kinda messed up this shot, I was down below them and wasn’t quite ready when they rolled up on me. I wished I would have stayed on Cole the whole time, he was hauling.