Day 4-6, Mas bus!

More bus, less snow. In search of the perfect pow..it can't always be glamorous. Chile's weather forecast has been calling for about a meter and a half of new snow. Half the int'l team left for Chile on Friday, who knows where they are now. 3 of us stuck it out in Bariloche one more day to avoid the stress of catching the bus on a short notice. To burn time, we went to a national park and arrived with a broken camera. Probably the most beautiful sights I've seen since coming to Argentina and spent most of it trying to fix said camera. We walked around a small peninsula, befriending the homeless dogs, touring a Catholic church and trying to hitchhike back to town. Another night in the hostel in Bariloche, and an early wake-up call will take us on a trip to Chile.

Yesterday was a travel day..with fresh snow in Bariloche, no less. Missed the first bus by 5 minutes and spent a few hours drinking coffee and filling up on jamon y queso sandwiches. 11 hours later, our journey ended in Pucon, Chile, a small ski town NW of Bariloche. Staying in a comfy hostel with a very friendly host family. Okay with calling this home for a few days. Haven't explored town yet, but the casino is apparently where it's at.

It's been pouring in Pucon since we arrived last night around 11pm. All ready to ride this morning, we find out the mountain is closed...perhaps we'll have better luck tomorrow, but the weather forecast is promising lots of rain or very wet snow. Mother Nature has been disappointing, but if she shows us one good day, it will make it all worthwhile. A few days here and then....? Heading to Santiago next Saturday and flying to Buenos Aires on Sunday to wrap up the trip. One week down and not even a full day of riding yet.

Pray for pow....

Day 3, Be resourceful

Hola. Bread and coffee always seem to be the way to start the day in life, no matter what country you’re in. Big in Argentina, same in Europe and breakfast in the States are all pretty similar. It’s just a matter of what you put on it. I dig the Nutella action, but dulce de leche is about all they serve…caramel, essentially. Enough sugar for the morning buzz to kick in. Enough to at least get me to the mountain.

A half day at Cerro Catedral is really all we wanted to do. None of us have much desire to ride much here anymore. Conditions are crap and the snow is heavy even by NW standards. Sure, I’m a spoiled Utah kid, but it’s just not fun to ride in that kind of snow. Mud boarding is a reasonably popular sport out here. It’s pretty simple: when you’re on your skis or snowboard, find a patch of mud and ride through it, but try to avoid the big rocks. Fortunately, you don’t need an extra ticket for mud boarding because it’s guaranteed here at Catedral when you hit the base area. Booyah.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to a ski resort that’s enforced a leash law, but the liftie demanded I put it on before getting on a lift. I’m all, yeah, ok, it’s in my backpack. Ok, so I really can’t remember the last time I owned a leash. Just kidding, I can. It was at Crystal Mtn about 4 years ago and I had to fork over 8 bucks for a leash I used only for one chairlift ride to make the liftie happy. Similar tricks were pulled today. Except, hey, we’re in a foreign country, so American leashes are different, right? And with a little knot tying, my beacon strap became my new leash for the lift ride up. Nice. Liftie was satisfied and I went on my merry way.

As Barry and co. opened up their small-business snowboard shop at the base of the hill selling off their gear, I got enough time on the hill to realize I’m over it. Over Bariloche. It’s been decent here, I guess (again…spoiled Utah kid), but even Barry agreed that this place is about as fun as playing with poop on a stick.

After hitchhiking a ride back to town, we decided to rethink the Argentina plan. Barry has been talking about the storm coming to Chile next week. Sounds like our travels might take us up that way. Not very stoked on hopping back on the public bus with my gear and another 17 hour bus ride, but it might just be worth it..and what’s a trip without a little spontaneity? If we do the Chile thing, we’ll leave tomorrow evening, but plans are in the works now.

So, with the end of Bariloche upon us, I went to the downtown area and bought way too much chocolate tonight. But a touch of vino and chocolate makes everything ok in the end.

Day 2, La montana

Woke up to some extreme yelling competition going on somewhere in the hostel last night. I was waiting for someone to pull a gun. Well, I’m sleeping on a flat bed and not a reclining chair, so who can complain? A quick move of the luggage up the hill and I’ve found my home for the next night at least. Rolly luggage is great, but it doesn’t perform at its best on broken cobblestone.

A little bit of adjusting to the new abode and I’m ready to roll up to the hill. Decked in snow gear and walking to the bus stop, I’m impressed that no one seems to think twice about walking through the city with your snowboard gear. It’s the town closest to the mountain, sure, but it has little feeling of a ski town. Forking over a little more than $1 USD gets you to the mountain in about 45 minutes. My riding buddy for the day was Derek, a 22 year old from Ohio I met on the bus. He just got into town for a 3 or 4-month jaunt in Argentina.

As the boots are getting laced, a smelly giant comes running up an nearly tackles me. Barry got into town just a few hours before and had been sessioning a mini-pipe, waiting for me to show up. Nice to see a familiar face. The round of introductions were made..Jon, Marco, Ralph, Pablo..an international Chilean crew for sure. Swiss, French/Canadian, French/German, American, Chilean..I think that covered it.

Ready to ride, those who were uninjured or willing to buy a ticket went riding. New snow meant smiling faces, which soon turned to sweating faces when we started our descent down the wet, heavy snow. Nice welcome to the hill when you haven’t ridden in more than 3 months. Ouch.

It’s an interesting sight for sure on the hill. Lots of beginners on the bunny hill and beyond. Only know how to do the snowplow on skis? Hey, no biggie. Let’s jump off this cattrack! Oh..there goes my skis and poles. Feel like taking out a skier on your snowboard? Sure, the hill seems to sway towards the one-plank anyways. Who needs anymore of those annoying skier types anyways? I’m convinced Argentines think the best way to get down the hill is by anything other than skis or snowboards.

Rode until 5, caught the bus back to the city after a ½ liter of beer. Eat, drink, sleep. That’s what happened. Yep, bye.

Day 1, Just about done

48 hours of travel time finally left behind. Bariloche welcomed me this morning at the bus station just outside of town with 2 pesos to my name. Unexpected payments left me short on cash for little more than a bus ride on the public transportation. After 3 stops to the same woman at the tourist information desk, I timidly made my way over to the bus shelter. The policia standing by the bus helped me with all my bags, and we begin to head into town. Small shacks line the road, giving little indication that this is a ski or tourist town. Perhaps my notion of ski towns have been Americanized, but even after being dropped off in the heart of downtown, it felt I had closed my eyes and randomly picked a town from a map and said, ‘Yeah, I think I’ll bring my snowboard gear and see how that goes.’

The only indication of snow are the hordes of ‘snowboard’ shops and ‘surf’ shops that are as abundant as Starbucks. Even then, they seem to be only useful if you don’t mind dropping $$ on everything and want to dress in Burton from head to toe.

Hello, Bariloche. Time to explore. First stop, tourist information. Check. Second stop, ATM. Wait, was it on this corner or across the street? That looks like a bank…nope, cell phone shop. Ok, well, money can wait. These bags need to go. Hostel 41 Below. Seems chill. Are we there, yet? Oh, this looks nice! Shoot, I should check on their availability before hauling my gear up these 40 stairs. No rooms available? Ok, any suggestions for a hostel close by? Perikos? 2 blocks? Oh, uphill? Alright, thanks. I’ll check it out. Periko. Perkolis. Perfecto? Shit, what? Oh, this starts with a “P.” This is probably it. Hello, grandmother. (Nope, not it, but I’ll take a room!) 70 pesos, si? (Oh, damn!) Si, gracias. Showerrrrrrrr. Ooo, one of those toilet-sink lookin things that wash your butt. How pleasant!

3 hours after the end of the long bus ride, I’ve finally settled..for a night at least. Though there is plenty of time to catch the bus and head to Cerro Catedral, I opt to walk around and learn about this town. Lots of chocolate, cheap alcohol and good coffee. Not a bad place to end up for 2 weeks. Periko hostel finally comes within sight and I put down a reservation for tomorrow night. Anything to save a few bucks, I suppose.

Checking in with my American life, I ended up at a café for most of the evening, sending out emails and getting a draft of a story to an editor. Closing down the café, I’m eager to explore just a little more under the drizzling rain/snow that’s falling. Argentina is known for their late nightlife and dining, and plenty of restaurants were full of diners just getting their evening started. Looks nice, but too much food and money for what I wanted to spend. A nearby grocery store calls my name, and fresh baked bread, cheese and a liter of beer sounds exactly what I want for 4 bucks. Looks like breakfast will be mighty tasty.

No beer opener. Right. Well, the door jam will do just nicely. Enjoying my liter of beer. About to do some in-room yoga. Buenos noches y hasta manana.

Day 0, Argentina begins

Really more like 2 days altogether. Day 0 is travel time. With about 20 hours each devoted to flying and bussing, not including layovers or wait times. Left the States with no problems, but found the plane flying one big circle as we were waiting to land in Buenos Aires. Fog covered the entire city, with no indication that there was life on the ground below us, save for a few tree patterns that looked man-made. A snowboard filmer from LA sat in the seat in front of me and shared stories of plans for our trips. Me – the aspiring snowboard writer looking to pick up some travel stories and enjoy my first international trip on my own. Him – a last minute jaunt to snowboard country to meet up with a crew of riders and get some footage.

Wishing my new airplane friend a farewell after customs, we separated ways with our snowboard gear, perhaps keeping an eye out for each other on the mountain. I purchased a ticket for a short ride to the bus station, only hoping I understood the woman correctly, who helped me with information. No, she said, the bus I need to take is not at the airport, but rather, in the city center. Unsure of every direction I was heading, my bus was, indeed, at the station – one of the 200+ busses that pass through this station. A short wait, and the 20 hour bus ride began. A double-decker bus with almost fully-reclinable chairs transported the 40 or so passengers to Bariloche, complete with meal service and entertainment, the latter being a sad choice of American movies or Spanish live-recorded concerts.

The meals, though entertaining itself, were nothing more than replenishing. Seran-wrapped snacks of sugary croissants and dulce de leche were packaged in the same styrafoam ‘plates’ we use in the States for slabs of meat. Dinner resembled a cross between a TV dinner and airplane food – sectionalized compartments for each ‘course,’ and the camera unfortunately left deep in a luggage pocket in the bus storage.

Lots of semi-conscious sleep, but the bus attendant, with his wonderful company, was generous with the wine, which always makes for a nice sleeping aid. Fly and drive. That’s all that happened. The end.

oh man...

this blogging this is tough. so much good stuff happened since the purchase of a one-piece, but (blogging) time is $$...probably because i seem to write the damn things at work... and i've been too busy to update my faithful (one) reader (thanks, Hart!). so today i signed up for a twitter account. it's the equivalent of updating your facebook status in 140 meager characters. you should wiggle on over here to check it out...

but in the meantime, here is asshole version of the last 2 months:

-wearing the white one-piecer brings weird 'who's that gaper?' looks my way.
-white one pieces get dirty fast.
-schralp trip to the NW for 2 weeks included rain, hail, thunder, lightning, fog and sun. hurt my knee the first day out, hung out with grandma and the parents, had first BC trip at alpental.
-future snowboarding magazine is no more! :( rip
-spring shreddin' at a-basin over memorial weekend. caught a 17 inch trout. yummy!
-drinks with liko smith of the block hotels.
-lining up shred trips (argentina!) for some editorial stories.
-moved from one psycho roommate to another.
-finally found my own place - sans roommates!! - at the base of the canyons resort.

i'm in pittsburgh this week for a PR Schmoozapalooza learning about all the wonderful tactics and case studies of new media, going green and trends in the travel and tourism industry. hey, if it means being out of the office, i'll take it! but all this talk makes me want to switch over to writing/journalism more than being in PR.

have you ever watched "moment of truth" on fox? how sad of a show is that? can't say i've ever watched it before, but i couldn't imagine being stoked about walking onto the set of a reality tv show and fess up to any deep-rooted thoughts in exchange for $$ and a lonely life after you've pissed off your family and friends. yet, it seems to be a moment of pride for the people coming on the show. good luck winning your relationships back.

just had dinner at this place called 'original fish market' at the westin convention/hotel in pittsburgh. can't say it's a tasty restaurant, however much they call it a fresh fish dining establishment. blech. the sushi is better in utah than it is at this place. just remember that if you ever go to the pitts. the waiter reminded me of a young, pre-white michael jackson, too, so that was a little disturbing.

that's it. that's all.

sometimes the best things come in ones

you know those dreams you have that you know will be a reality one day? it may not be a burning desire, where your thoughts reflect to that dream every day, but deep down, you know that one day, it's going to come true.

my dream finally came true today.



hands down, the best 160 bucks i've ever spent.

closing weekend, here i come...

deep down, we're all just a little material girl

park city's annual 80s prom went down on saturday. while i didn't get my groove on to any iron maiden that night, i was fortunate to have a few drinks with jenny beforehand.

yay. 80s.

canis lupis comp

sunday was the canis lupis at the canyons, an annual natural halpipe banked slalom contest. it's pretty burly this time of the year - big, icy rollers nestled between a 3 foot-wide gully. 10-15 foot banked walls. absolutely gnar course. i couldn't have been more stoked to try my hand at this speed race.

a few practice runs on saturday and things felt alright. by the second run through, the course started to feel a little familiar and a little less intimidating. met a few people who would be running the course...definitely felt like a backyard BBQ - just a casual grand ol' time at your home.

i saw whitney at registration the next morning. her nerves were pretty far shot. too bad she skipped out on breakfast at powder daze - the first chair crepe with peanut butter, nutella and bananas was a good start to the day. after a few freeride runs, i headed over to the canis lupis to get a few practice runs in before the comp.

it wasn't until my last warm up run that i realized i probably did too many. legs a little tired, adrenaline kind of gone...pretty much nothing left for the race. time soon found me standing at the top of the course waiting to drop in. the first turn pretty much indicated my run was fucked. almost missed the first gate, somehow missed the last gate, and in between the start and finish, i bailed twice - once landing on my head; the other a nasty landing on my hip.

it was the last fall that took me out of the race. gripping my left hip in pain, i finished out the race with tears swelling in my eyes. with a grand time of 177 seconds, my name graced the list of worst times out of all 75 competitors. turning away help from ski patrol, i stuck around to watch a few more people finish the race, coming in with times like 89, 93, or 100 seconds. even whitney pulled off 105 seconds. maybe that crepe didn't hit the spot like i thought.

once i finally rallied back to the base, ski patrol tried to help me out at the clinic, but out of state insurance wasn't accepted, so i hitched a ride back to my car from the nice patroller who obviously felt a little bad for my situation.

in so much pain, it took about 10 minutes to get from my car to my room, and it wasn't until 8 hours later that i could make my way to the clinic to get my leg x-rayed and checked out. fortunately, no broken bones, and the bruise is only now starting to show up 3 days after the crash. photos to come as the bruise comes to surface...

baby computer genius

this is quite possibly the best press release i've ever received, even if it's in celebration of today's holiday.

For Immediate Release - Inwindow Outdoor Acquired for $2 by Nation's Youngest Entrepreneur April 1, New York - In a bizarre turn of events, Inwindow Outdoor, the undisputed global leader in innovative outdoor advertising, has been acquired for $2 by an 18 month old toddler via an Ebay auction. "I'm in complete shock", announced CEO, Steve Birnhak. "I was showing my nephew how to list an item on Ebay and as a joke I used my company as an example. I was just going to cancel the posting but I must have hit the wrong button. The next thing I know, I get an email from Ebay congratulating me on the sale to 'ShebsNYC' for the unfathomable sum of $2 using the 'Buy It Now' function." ShebsNYC, it turns out, is the screen name for Shelby Wilder, a little girl who doesn't know how to type, much less use a computer. Her parents often buy toys and other items for Shelby using the auction site and thought it would be fun to make the purchases through an account set up for her. In this case however, the purchase was a complete accident. As her mother Joan explains it, "We have no idea how Shelby did this. She loves hitting the keys on our computer, or 'pooter' as she calls it, and this time she must have somehow managed to actually make a purchase. We're quite proud of her ambition." Jeff Cohen, Director of Business Development for Inwindow Outdoor summed up the mood of the staff, "we were all extremely energized in anticipation of our upcoming launch of our new product - Pillvertising, which puts tiny ads on prescription capsules for popular drugs. You know how much this country medicates? Our company is growing like crazy and this was going to be the biggest thing since Gumballvertising, which we introduced last month. Then this happens. At least the folks at Bear Stearns got $2 per share. We got $2 total. Even if the offer is raised to $10, that's still not enough for all 20 of us to get home on the subway. We're all pretty demoralized." As for Shelby's long-term plans for the company, her intentions as the new owner are unclear, but if her first day on the job is any indication, her presence is already taking the company in exciting new directions. According to Birnhak, "She and her parents showed up with around 14 other really little kids because it turns out her parents run a day care. It was absolute chaos. One kid bit my ankle. Another threw up in the fax machine. Instead of calling clients, I was reading 'The Little Gorilla' and 'Go Dog, Go!' and even changing diapers. I was about to have a breakdown when inspiration hit me harder than the stench hitting my nostrils. Diapervertising - ads on the inside and outside of diapers that are given away for free or low cost to parents!" DEC's for Diapervertising have been conservatively pegged at 250,000 per baby based on the reply from the Magic 8 Ball sitting in the company's offices. Ned Ryerson, media buyer for Outdoor Edge Vest Share Group Com Star Media : FBI says, "Sounds reasonable to me". For more photos, rate card pricing and information about Diapervertising, please click here: http://www.inwindowoutdoor.com/diapervertising.html

THINK Outside the Box
BE Inside the Window

tall tales and magical stories

you can read this story once here or get the lowdown over here. but if you're already here, you might as well read the embellished version.

after boosting 10 feet out of a natural halfpipe on every banked turn at the canyons a few weeks back, barry, craig, hart and myself gave each other a round of high-fives and hugs as we reflected on a magical run. "how magical!" barry exclaimed. as the run-out returned us to the base of the lift, the magic must have followed right behind us. seconds upon unstrapping our magical bindings from our magical feet, a tall, lurky giant overshadowed the four of us as we stood in awe over such a person.

but was this truly a person - man, to be specific - conceived of a mother and father from the heavenly soils on earth?

craig's excitement could no longer be contained as we took a seat upon the lift. "did you see that?!?" remarked craig. "no," said barry, confused at the sputtering coming from craig's lips. "that guy was, like, 8 feet tall!" exclaimed craig.

turning our heads to look two chairs back, a human giant sat with his legs dangling from the chair lift. "oh, i know that guy," i said. "he's some retired utah jazz bball player. he can slam dunk without dunking." with lightning-fast, magical speeds, barry dialed his friend andy in seattle, a sports fanatic with more knowledge than a crystal ball. "andy. it's barry. quick. what's that tall basketball player? the one that used to play for the utah jazz?" pause on the other end. "you know, like a really tall guy?" continued barry. "is he white?" asked andy. "yes," replied barry. "is he 7'4"?" asked andy. "sure," said barry. "oh, that's mark eaton," said andy all-knowingly. "MARK EATON!" i exclaimed. "that's totally who that is."

as barry hung up the phone, relieved at his new epiphany, we conspired to approach mark eaton for a magical photo opportunity atop the hill. as we watched him approach the unloading ramp at the top of the lift, our amazement was heightened as we watched his technique - magical, of course - for getting off the chair. with 4 foot tall calves, this giant was required to apply a bit of skill in standing up. no sooner had he gotten off the chair that we cautiously approached this creature, not knowing what to expect.

"excuse me, uh, are you mark eaton?" "why yes, my son. yes, i am," responded mark eaton, in a soothing, non-scary-giant-like voice. "could we get a photo with you?" asked craig. "i would be more than honored to be in a photo with you all," said mark eaton to our amazement.

as he placed his goggles on top of his head, we could slowly see his hungry "i eat people shorter than me" eyes give way to passion and care as he placed his arms around barry and craig.

with 2 snaps of a button, our magical day was immortalized in a digital world. forever will barry, craig, hart and myself remember this day as an amazing opportunity to bring magic into our lives.

and later that day, we conquered the mountain and ate the people who tried to follow us.

it done broken itself

if you didn't know, landing on your face while snowboarding can be a recipe for a minor broken nose. note to self: sticky, spring riding in the park is best left for a waxed snowboard. time to go to the clinic and get me a Rx for loratab. because..you know..i'm in so much pain.

glitz and glamor

paris hilton's movie 'hottie and the nottie' may have tanked at sundance this year, but that doesn't mean that the general public is any less hyped on celebrity status. take, for instance, the world superpipe championships at park city mountain resort just last week. this comp - with its 22 foot pipe walls and all - brings out the big guns of skiing and snowboarding. shaun white, tanner hall, simon dumont, torah bright, kier dillon, mason aguirre, kelly clark. whether these guys and gals have won olympic medals, x-games titles or earned a stint on MTV's "scarred", the rise of these snowsport superheros is opening a new portal of glitz and glamor to little boys and girls all over the world.

"i wanna be like mike" is a phrase of the past. "i wanna fly like shaun" is probably more apt to apply. while fans lined up to get high-fives and hugs from shaun white as he made his way out of the pipe, about 8 paparizzi were tagging along as if they just caught a glimpse of britney spears coming out of rehab.

it was like hollywood came to park city (fo real, though. 10 days of PIBs during sundance is plenty.), to catch the latest trends in a fashion show down the catwalk. i suppose a 22 foot tall superpipe is like a modeling podium... showing off cab 12's and next year's hottest outerwear... but even this woman could attest to the high-profile of this snowboard comp.

well, for all you cheeky bastards (don't be jealous, hart!), not only do i have red hair and snowboard, but my hand gracefully cupped mr. white's hand in a solid high-five while i was lined up with the rest of the fans to get an up-close view of the flying tomato, himself. i also prefer target over walmart. so you might as well start calling me shauna white, because i wanna be like mike fly like shaun eat a red tomato. after all...like snowboarding, lycopene does a body good.

recap

well, it turns out i'm a horrible blogger.. aside from the inconsistent posts, there's the whole lack of visual appeal here. embedded links and photos of snowboard porn and such wouldn't be so bad. living in park city has helped me realized that i love to start projects and never carry them out. guess this isn't an exception.

it finally stopped snowing long enough for people to shovel their entire driveway. 2 weeks ago, it snowed around 100 inches in 10 days - a couple of 12" dumps here and there, but mostly it was slow and steady enough to where the snowplows just couldn't keep up. lucky for me, i caught a pretty bad cold and left work early a few times because i was too sick to work. but actually, conditions were so sick outside that the only kind of bed-rest i was doing was droppin pillow lines. ok, not really - park city doesn't have any pillow lines to speak of, but some of the best days of the season were seen.

half of the gato negro crew rolled into park city on tuesday just in time for my alarm to go off. turns out their drive from seattle was 5 hours longer than they expected, so as they arrived at my place at 5:45am, i was starting to dream about the smell of my breakfast coffee and toast.

craig and mario definitely chose a good first day in park city. perfect bluebird, local's night at o'shucks and plenty of free-flowing beer to understand that utah liquor isn't all that bad after all. the hangover on wednesday proved it.

brighton was conquered on wednesday - though i was convinced mario and craig brought the NW weather to utah: flat light, snowy and windy. but this was enough for the guys to fall in love with the dry, 'best snow on earth' stuff (gore tex in the NW is about as important as a condom in a ski town - keeps you dry and protected).

it's been nothing but bluebird skies all weekend. president's day holiday means lift lines are packed tighter than pam anderson, and it's prime time to play a rousing game of Your Team. anyone up for a round?

gone fishin slashin

if there is any best day to play hookie, it's today. 10-15 inches of new pow on top of the 10-15 that fell yesterday. and dontcha know, i'm stuck in my office all day.

my solution would be to stay in my windowless office and waste time on snowboard.com, but meetings out of the office today will conjure up tearful and remorseful emotions that question my initial thoughts on coming to work when i step outside and see the snow covered mountains in front of me. who has two thumbs and doesn't care about the speech/luncheon on park city's economical forecast? yeah, you know the rest.

it's days like today that make me rethink my ambitions to have a 'real job' so i can prepare for a 'successful future.' boo to that. befriending mother nature and breathing in fresh air is where true success lies. and anyone who says differently should go to the girl's department at jc penny, buy a pair of skinny jeans and call themselves emo.

let's go shred.

www.skiutah.com

Monster Dump! Resorts with 12" or more are in green.

Resort	new	base
Alta	17"	132"
Beaver Mtn	5"	78"
Brian Head	0"	50"
Brighton	17"	112"
The Canyons	16"	107"
Deer Valley	10"	99"
Park City Mtn	10"	88"
Powder Mtn	11"	104"
Snowbasin	17"	119"
Snowbird	16"	126"
Solitude	17"	110"
Sundance	17"	80"
Wolf Mtn	14"	88"

MOUNTAIN WEATHER
1° F	9:15 am

if you should buy one thing today...

it should be the february issue of future snowboarding, chock full o' travel tidbits in february's. but i bet you'll buy the magazine because of the spacecraft article on art + collaborations on page 32... and to support the lovely writer so she can buy her daily bottle of wine.

apres work

it's a tit cold outside - temps coming in at about 6 degrees right now, but it sure is gorgeous. i'm pretty sure it's been about 3 weeks since we had a full day of sun. finally, time to strap on the sunny lenses. ride break extended lunch break product testing here i come!

tara dakides, rainbows and unicorns: a movie review

'against the grain'

as sundancers and slamdancers and chefdancers were getting rad on the streets of park city last night, i was x-dancing my way to SLC. x-dance, an action sports film fest, shows some of the best surf, snow, skate and ski movies of the year. all these 'dances are really to recognize the indie scene and all the talent that produced the goods - namely filmmakers. a 2-year project, josh landan documented the past and present life of tara dakides, who in my eyes is one of the top three legendary women snowboarders to push the limits of female riding (barrett christy and victoria jealouse rounding it out). and it's a great fucking film.

it's pretty to obvious to understand why josh chose tara. her story is so easy to tell - just put her in front of a camera and you've just got an audience. props to josh for making this film, but tara dakides earns the credit for her starring role in 'against the grain.' it's not so much a snowboard flick as it is a biography on tara and using snowboarding as a means of self-discovery and progression. call me a hippie, but i think that's beautiful.

her teenage years weren't so happy. her parents' divorce took a toll on her, and all the ditching class, smoking, drinking and a suicide attempt prompted her mom to pop her into a mental hospital for a few months and forced tara to deal with her problems on her own. at 16, after this emotional roller coaster, she bought a bus ticket to mammoth and moved out on her own, which launched her into a life journey and a career in snowboarding.

i could get all wrapped up in retelling her story, but it's one you have to watch for yourself. it's tara's story, anyways. and, hell, she doesn't just tell it - she's *lives* it and she has created an amazing journey because of it.

after watching 'against the grain,' i had the best snowboard dreams of my life. dreams of the most styled out backside shifties. the cleanest front boards. the deepest pow days. it was the most refreshing sleep i've had in a long time. i slowly drank my coffee this morning while snow was falling on the cars driving into town and wondered where they were headed. 15 minutes late for work, i hopped in my car, picked out some tunes and took a different route to work. after all, getting there should be half the fun of the journey.

studio 411 is distributing 'against the grain' and will be released in the fall of '08. check it out. find your own happy place with rainbows and unicorns.

vodka/monster, art and airplanes

mary jane's had an art opening last night at their main street store in park city. saturday night. during the first weekend of sundance. free bar. yeah.

erik otto. greg gossel. stella im hultberg. travis louie. joshua petker. oh it was good!

this was my first legit art show. these were names i've seen gracing the pages in juxtapoz. artists whose work i rip out from the magazine and pin to my bedroom wall because i can barely afford a print. the small, local openings i've been to were never on this level. the whole night reminded me of being on an airplane for the first time.

when i was 5, i went to disneyland and my parents told the flight attendant it was my first time flying. they said my name over the loudspeaker, congratulating me on this accomplishment and gave me one of those wings pins. it was all very anti-climatic. i thought people might applaud or the pilot would invite me into the cockpit or i would at least get an extra pack of in-flight crackers. nothin except a handshake and a free souvenir. but it was the most exciting nothing i had received. very similar to losing my virginity.

i've learned to appreciate flying more now than when i was 5. it's more exciting than it was back then and there are always new questions that arise with every trip. like, 'why am i going to alaska for 2 weeks by myself?' 'is the plane going to be hijacked?' 'will my panties be sifted through by TSA?'

and just like that, my first big art opening was over. nothing spectacular, but it was everything i could have asked for. can't wait to do it again!

jib this

nice little surprise at the canyons today. a park! ok, to be fair, they had 4 features last time i rolled through. it flows really nicely right now. a few boxes, a 4-jump line, a few more jibs, a wall ride and a kinked rail.

hey, not bad for a bankrupt resort!

PIB's

i'm not talking the sugary mr. pib soda from the days of middle school vending machines. these pib's are worse for your health. people in black. personalities that are stereotyped as a bunch of high-maintenance hollywoodites that invade park city for 10 days every january. today is the first day of sundance.

o__O

i have an urge to watch that old episode of south park where an LA film festival comes to town and corrupts it with their lack of culture. it's a true story.