gettin' that fa sho!

It is upon us...you know what im talking about...the mornings are cool and crisp and evenings require a hoodie...mmm i love this feeling.

I just got back from Hawaii and it was quite the inspirational trip...seeing Drew, Jim, Tom, Darrell was what I needed...the shred was off the hook in Hawaii...shredded Waikiki and The North Shore, even camped on the beach there. Threw down a stealth mission at Canoes on Waikiki (aka surfed at night), it was freaking sick! Kinda wanna head back there right now...but, truthly, I'm looking towards winter...where will I be....where will I be....?

Pushing it...

The endless winter is upon us...

After an hour and a freaking half drive to Danny, Chad, and Amandas, we screw around with my box and finally finegal is onto the roof of the hEllement for a total of 29 square feet of stowage space on the roof. hahaha Insane...9:30pm - we're off - headed to pick up Heidi in New Hampshire. Then, on to Mount Washington.

***Started writing this one back in the day and never got around to finishing it...go freaking figure...anywho...that trip was epic, surprise surprise...

Chang o plans

Looks like the plans are changing a bit...I'll be frank...Tucks looks like total shit. Massive runnels big enough to roll through in a kayak...moguls galore...etc etc. Sounds awesome actually...but I'd rather get more turns in then just whack it at Tucks all weekend. With that being said, it seems like Sunday River and Sugarloaf still have massive bases...So I think the tentative plan is Tucks tomorrow, and points in ME Sat and Sun. I'm pumped. I have never skiied in Maine, but, I'm sure as hell looking forward to it. Jay is going to be open next weekend and the prospects of natural snowfall this week have me thinking...lets see what happens. Oh yeah, Snowbird got like 4 inches today...how bad freaking ass! Too bad I'm not there...

Tuckermans

Tomorrow night the core four leave for Tucks...im stoked! Can't freaking wait...I have no freaking clue when the hell I am going to pack and tune skis though...not enough hours in the day...It'll be nice to really get away from everything for four days...conditions are looking sick...dodges drop, anyone???

almost forgot...

Vermont last weekend!!

What a kick ass time! Jay still had a bunch of snow, and so did Stowe...so what else is there to do? Pack it up and head north...

Roll into Jay at the usual 6am, head to the Jay Cunt Store, get some AM feed, roll back up 242. The squad this weekend was The Core Four and Matt...Amanda came up with some catchy name, but, it is fleeting me at the momment...

Jay was overcast, but so awesome all day! The trees were still really really freaking good. After the second or third time Wishard flew out of his bindings, we realized his DIN was on 4...lol too bad it was the end of the day. Oh well.

Jay was sick.

We wrapped it up there and drove down to Stowe to kick it with Thorin. As usual, he was ridiculous as hell. haha Took him, his roomie and his other buddy out for some pizza on the mountain roda. Yummy. Then, we picked up some beers, and went back to his crib. Luckily, I had the new Jack Johnson album and he had Game Cube...DUH! BRO DOWN! SO, we bro'd out for a long while, played some beer pong, and called it a night.

We woke up to 20 degrees...if you recall, it was really warm all day, the day before...yes, it was boilerplate. Somehow, it was a freaking blast though! As usual, Thorin was an awesome tour guide, and a blast to ski with. Luckily, we didn't get lost this time, so, things were a-ok in my book. haha Oh yeah! Thorin and his buddy from Oklahoma or somehting totally hooked us up on lift tickets...we totally skiied stowe for 20 bucks on a sunday....soooo awesome! As usual, it was great seeing T Dawg, but, we had to be getting home...bummer

So, that was prob the last trip this season to VT for resort skiing...this weekend we are heading up to Tucks..they have soooooooooooooo much snow! We're prob bringing up a keg, too...soo bring your party hats! ahaha

"Today was proof that you don't need the best conditions to have a good time..."

That was one of the quotes of the weekend from last week's Vermont trip...but before we go there....UUUUTTAAAHHHHHH

So, it's not secret, I'm like everyone else and blow major ass when it comes to this blogging stuff. But, that doesn't mean I'm totally sucking at life sitting around whacking it...just that I'm too busy getting after it to blog about it...haha

Utah was rad. Not sure what else to say. A few highlights...

• Balls deep in pow the first day


• Balls deep pow the second day


• General Grits' breakfast burritos


• Alta


• Cat skiing at Pow Mow


• Totally getting pumped on heli skiing at Pow Mow but getting shut down cause visibility was lame


• The High Traverese on Baldy


• Watching Chad tomahawk while paralleling a rock face in the Ampitheater


• Telling Amanda we go a foot dump when we really got absolutely nothing


• Amanda believing us that we got a foot dump


• That bomb ass burrito place


• Popping my skis off next to Nobis


• The Free Skiing nationals at the Bird


• Chatting with Sage about his skis


• Being in heaven aka Snowbird


• Signing two kids' helmets because I was billed as Subarau's biggest fan


• B-Squads


• Shane and Jess


• Totally sweet photo ops

And obviously sooo much more...the brain is just foggy...it is 420 afterall...

Some stoke:

Wishard and Amanda at Alta


Amanda tits deep at the Bird


Me balls deep at the Bird


Chad doin the damn thing


Shane hanging out in the white room


The old man still has it


Sigh. I wanna go back.

holy crap

only two days out and jesus christ am i excited...

UUUUTTTTAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Aggressive

Well...its 5:40pm on Sunday and I'm almost home...

We rolled outta GTown round 8 on Friday...around the same point we "ran" into trouble last time, we freaking blew a fuse and lost the GPS and iPod...ugh. So, we pull over, get some Taco Hell and roll over to the fuel station for fuel and fuses...The fuse that was supposed to be blown, looked fine...pulled all the fuses, and they all, freaking, looked, fine! Guh..after 30 minutes of dicking with it, we finally just replaced the supposed dead one...sure nuff it worked after that...great.

Back on the road.

I did alot of sleeping, Amanda and Cordell threw it down and we made killer time. It was raining basically the whole way. I took over the last leg, through the snow, and got to Jay about 6am. After indulging in some killer sausage/egg/cheese bagels from the Jay Coutnry store, we got all our junk together for what we were hoping would turn into an epic day.

Got one of the first chairs up the Metro quad. lame. Couldnt see 3 feet in front of me, but, gave it the ol' college try. The untracked snow was sketchy at best with a solid quarter inch top layer of death (ice). Made it tricky...we rocked out in Expo Glade, and it was tricky...super grippy and akward. But, we made it happen.

Next we caught like third tram. Got to the top...and it was clear as day and sunny! Big Jay looked pretty stellar too. It was so weird...usually the top is a mess and the base is clear and calm. Bass-ackwards. The Vermonter was super nice until we got back into the fog mess...

We met up with Blazeler, Matt, and the birthday boy, Ansel. It was freaking awesome seeing those doods...been way too long. We hit up some more stuff with them, and they peaced after lunch. It did pretty much blow by that point since it was pouring, but, freezing on our jackets...

After lunch we broke out the b-squads. God damn are those things sick! Probably one of the most difficult skis I've ever been on...the combo of the crappy snow and raddness of the skis made it difficult. But we managed and slayed it as best we could. Chad straddle a ski, so did Amanda...I got rocketed and was heading straight for a tree, but, somehow brought it around and came to a stop with my skis against the tree...hahaha ssssssssketch!

After we called it quits, we rolled on down to Lyndonville. I gave Chad and Amanda the short tour of the town (the 5 minute version, not 7) and then we went to Dave/Ashley/Dave/Mike's. Shit quickly got out of hand.

Jim was there, Drew showed up, matt showed up, marie showed up, 4 of dave's friends showed up, everyone showed up...after watching some sweet youtube vids, point break, pictures, and general bullshitting the booze began to flow. We came prepared - stocked with 6 4ds. After a little bit, we rolled over to Ansels. Everyone was getting vertical and then we stepped up the fratness a level or two and started the flip cup...that went on like usual. Tron and Brit showed up which was so god damn awesome...Then, it got ridiculous...

For some reason, Ansel was being carried around on the kitchen table. I'm not quite sure how it got to the next level, but, someone flipped over the kitchen table after Ansel stepped down. It progressed from there - the stools when flying, bottles were smashed, the table was broken in half, more stuff was broken...blah blah blah...it was out of freaking hand! hahaha



Then we went over to Shredville to bring in Pat's birthday...that place was crazy freaking packed...saw soooooo many people, too many to name, but it was so awesome to see everyone again. Really miss everyone. I finally made it home about 12:30 in the am, and quickly passed the heck out, in anticipation of the sweet powder snow we came for...

to be continued...

The bumrush begins...

Last night was sick! Spring skiing at Libertry...Amanda set her first SL course which turned out to be freaking killer, and the bumps were prime.

I dropped off The Sam Pensler at Sheetz in Frederick...as I was pulling away, it dawned me; ski season has begun. While I was bummed to know I won't see most of the kids until the spring picnic, god damn am I stoked I can finally go shred it...

Jay tonight, Utah next friday for ten days...this is going to be good. Looks like travels could get a little sketch tonight, but, we're leaving early. The B-Squads need to be waxed, but, other than that, I'm pretty set. Is it seriously only 8:30?

Please lord...

...let the Accuweather peeps be sober, and make this true...

Weekend recap, week/end forecast

Another solid weekend...bump bashing in perfect spring conditions. Finally got a chance to make some turns with Code Red yesterday...damn can he rip.

This week's weather looks like hell...upper 60s today and tomorrow, with rain tomorrow...more warm crap the rest of the week. Good thing we're Jay Peak-bound come Friday evening! Hell yes!

And holy jesus god is is shaping up to be one of the most ridiculous weekends ever...Pat, Ansel, AND Jim's birthday celebrations are this weekend...the past two years Pat has been arrested on his bday due to his underage shenanigans...not this time! Well, maybe...we'll see...

Hold onto your hats kids, and strap on your gnarly boots...March is here and it is going to go off!

Shred Liberty can be pretty fun...

This past tues, I was wrapped in Gore-Tex, sweating my ass off. This past thurs, I was wrapped in my down jacket, trying to stay warm...doesnt make sense, but it sure as hell works out.

Thursday was sick. Cordell set a killller slalom course on White Lightning. I felt pretty good, felt like i was being more aggressive than usual, and had a freaking ball! After we pulled the course, the key three when threw it down on the ol' backside...lower eastwind's bumps weren't quite what we were expecting - read big and firm. However, upper Strraaaaaata was killer! The bumps were perfectly spaced, and they were blowing snow on it...since it was so cold, the snow was super soft and not grippy. Nice. Lower strraaaaata wasn't bad either...it was a ghost town so it was nice to just let the skis run...another solid outing for the Key Three

On Friday, we FINALLY pulled the trigger on the plane tickets...jesus christ...we rode it out, and basically got shafted on airfare...instead of buynig them for 300 bucks a month or so a go, we had to drop like 500+ and fly outta Philly...but who gives a shit, I'm going to Utah with the raddest bad asses in all the land hahaha I'm stoked...but before that, JAY PEAK, WOO! haha

Super G Skis Kill it

So this is uber late, but, whatevs...

Last weekend was epic. Saturday, the weather was a tad overcast, but, whatever, who cares...it was super-g training day. We basically had White Lighting all to ourselves so that was pretty sweet. It was my first time running anything remotely comparable to a super-g course, let alone my first day ever on super-g skis. haha It rocked. The course was killer...my first two runs (also my first two runs on the super-g boards) were sketchy at best, but I felt like I had it more dialed the third and I felt like a rock star for the fourth. haha I'm sure I sucked, but man was it fun...after we took the course down, the key three and Robbie opted for the ever crucial lunch-on-the-lift (which means we werent a bunch of sallys and ate our lunch on the lift to bag a few extra turns). I think this was the only time where I have said that Heavenly was saweeeeeet! It was amazing to rip high speed arcs and feel that solid and stable...I can't really remember where we went after that, but I remember ripping down blue streak and then switching to GS skis...which felt like noodles after the morning's events. The rest of the day was awesome, I think we just bashed bumps with the kids all day.

Saturday night turned into a tuning marathon on my part...hammered out three pairs of skis and a couple, um, cups of, um, coffee...in the midst of it all, we were planning out the Triple Crown race which was to take place on Sunday...since it's generally full of middle aged, overweight, speed suit laden men, it seemed appropriate for me to make a complete mockery of it. For starters, I tried on Cordell's speed suit, just to make sure the fit was appropriate. Money. So, I rocked it out on Sunday.

Sunday, Cordell and company set a 60 gate SL course on White haha it was ridiculous...I wasn't coaching, just playing...so I dabbled in the course, but got worked a few times, so just stuck to the backside...not to mention it was incredibly difficult to ditch out on the backside...snow was super soft, air was cool, bumps were plentiful...so i stayed back there until it was time for the big race. hahahaha Needless to say, I was as ridiculous as possible...even carried my GS skis up to the start, grunted, growled, made a ton of noise hahah I beat Larry, so, it's all good...

In the afternoon all we did was bash bumps and bump races with the kids...probably the most amazing day of training I've ever been a part of...everyone had a blast, the kids seemed to pick up on a lot, and parents seemed super pumped. On the way home that day, it dawned on me that I coach along side of, coach some of, and are supported by some of the most amazing people I could ever imagine. I had such an awesome feeling after that day, but was pretty bummed when I realized it was practically over...

*Sigh*

Jay just got 14"...I'm in Rockville. freaking bummer. At least I'm heading up to Liberty tonight...I suppose things could be worse...right?

Sigh...

I loathe Mid-Atlantic sprinters (spring/winters)....

Who else wants to move to ooootah with me?

Who would have thought...

...that cold weather, a Honda Element, Pennsylvania, 4ds, Sunny D, deer meat, sub zero wind chills, 1 t-bar, 1 double chair lift, 2 trails, and a 300 vertical foot hill with snow could be so much fun? I guess when you throw in three of the most radical mo fo's around (plus me), it becomes a no-brainer...

If you haven't heard or figured it out, The Key Three and Matt (Mascot) made our way to the Tussey/Sawmill race at Sawmill this weekend. It was my first time at Sawmill, and geeeezum crow is that place tiny! 300 vert feet on a good day...two t-bars and a chairlift...probably 6 snow guns...and the most reckless mountain I have ever been to. Between the Ski Patrol almost beheading someone as he came off a blind roller in the middle of a trail, to the groomer that was out grooming an open trail as the public shussed down, and the snowmaker dood that was bombing up the hill on a snow-machine in the middle of the trail, i was moderately fearful for my own safety...The Ski Patrol did serve up some mean Bar-BQ venison though (that doesn't seem legit, but, that place doesn't care...)!

We stayed in Wellsboro Sat night, knocked down some Brass Monkeys and I was asleep by 1030 at the latest haha We left at 4am Saturday morning and I got home at like 930 Sunday night...crazy times for sure.

I haven't quite figured out where the subwoofer is hidden in the Element, but, lordy does that thing bump...har har...junk was cold as anything too - -11 windchill on Sunday. Not too bad if you're moving around, but, when you're standing on the side of the trail, it's not too awesome...anywho...another solid weekend for the books!

God do I need to get back to the Jay Peak story...screw that, I need to get back to Jay Peak...

This thing might become the Accuweather blog...

I dunno if Accuweather is full of drunks, or if they just have a sense of humor...or both, but check out the upcoming forecast...


Hysterical...

Anywho, I've been slacking with the blogging, but, not with the shredding...I'll update this junk sooner or later...

You are ridiculous, Mid-Atlantic...

Another righteous weekend of the shred up at Liberty...early morning gate training yesterday, and gate training today. Cordell blew chunks yesterday when we got home, I'm guessing Amanda poisoned his roast beast sandwich...either way he was out for today so I got to play Coach Chad haha those are some tall boots to fill, but I think I managed...skiing was surprisingly good despite the mercury topping out 'round fiddy degrees...Saw Pauly and the rest of the p-crew which was cool and it was even cooler to see Zander man and his fam out sliding around - even if he did stab me with that damn ski pole about 50 times haha I suppose it was really my fault...

Anywho...this weather is looking like absolute crap...I'd like to bring to your attention to of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen on Accuweather...

Exhibit A
As you will notice in the graphic below, the graph of the high temp is literally, off the charts...



Exhibit B
The Mid-Atlantic is full of wusses. Note that 31 degrees is dubbed "frigid"...



How does that Coheed song go again? ...pull the trigger and the nightmare strops, woah oh...Why can't I be in Cali enjoying the 11 foot dump...grr

It might get a little hairy...

Things might get confusing here...I know I haven't wrapped up this past weekend's events yet, but I feel the need to touch on last night...

Winter finally came back and slapped Liberty in the face...thank freaking god...if conditions at liberty were always like last night, I wouldn't be so pissed about not being in Vermont -- yes it was that good haha

Anywho, your typical Thurs night gate training with the race team. We got shafted on Sneaky Pete with a SL course that was a joke but man that backside was righteous. The Core Four was on the mountain with a few additions. It was great to see Robbie and Jared back on the snow, and as always it was great to see April and Todd. Todd gave us the heads up that Upper Ultra was a little on the outta-control side of things and that there was "powder" to be had. In disbelief and with little convincing, The Key Three and Jared went to investigate...sure enough, the backside was firm, but grippy - in most spots. Lower Heavenly required a few tricky navigational tactics, but nothing extreme. However, Upper Ultra was a dream...loose powder, and tons of launch pads. As usual, the night was too short, but a blast.

All in all, a killer night - this weekend is looking promising too.

Another notch on the ol' belt...

Sunday Dec 30th 11:09pm

a-c-c-u-w-e-a-t-h-e-r-.-c-o-m

The radar looks like this:



With the prospects of first tram at Jay Peak with full on winter conditions in Decemeber on my mind, I call Cordell in hopes of the typical Mid-Atlantic, 50-degrees-and-rain weather spelled an early ending to the day's training at Liberty. No luck - I leave a long winded pointless voice mail.

Immediately, I call Amanda:

Hello?

Haaayyyyyy gurrrrrrrrl!

haha What's going on Dave?

Nothing. Just loking at the weather, I think we need to leave as soon as Chad gets home, not at 9pm. Can you get home motivated when he gets home?

Fine, I don't think that will be an issue haha

Sweet. I'll see you at 4.

Cool, later.

Ok, bye meow.

3:24pm
The house phone rings. I usually never pick it up, but for some stupid reason I did...some dood that had an appointment to do an appraisal on the house at 4. With mom and dad no where to be found, I was at a bit of a loss. Call them up, turns out they're in Frederick shopping for furniture...jesus christ...Long story short, I end up sticking around the house til 4 to let this jackass appraiser who parked on my dad's precious new lawn into the house.


5:00pm
Arrive at Cordell and Company's. Strictly business mode - quick hugs all around in between tossing skis in the box and the strategic game of packing the car.


5:30pm
All packed, and in a cloud of good-byes and I-wish-you-were-coming-with-us', we pile in the Element, Amanda at the helm, Cordell shot-gun and I'm in the sleeping seat.

The road trip starts out with the typical Vermont-shred-trip vibe filled with anxious conversation about skiing, biking and getting radical, to photography and counting how many times Matt yells at Wishard in a day...all is well, we're slated to arrive at Jay way early to just on time - dependent upon the weather, err the condition of Pennsylvania high ways.......


Around 7:45pm
The Element gets rocked by a pothole the approximate size of Delawhere...like the rockstar she is, she takes it in stride.

Around 8pm
We FINALLY find a god damn Taco Bell. While ordering, we notice the potent scent of fuel...figure it's just the Taco Hell, we go top er off with fuel.

Around 8:10pm
The fuel scent is still pretty strong...we pull over to inspect and find a massive hole in the bottom of the fuel tank. Shit. 2hrs from Greencastle, 8hrs from heaven...Get Wishard on the phone, he thinks we're joking...sadly we aren't. We quickly come to the conclusion that we need to get the hell back to the Castle, transplant all of our gear, and see if my car lives up to it's winter-killing-mode look.

We pile back in the Element - the anxious conversation has ceased, as we all watch the gas gauge die and focus on getting the hell back. I go straight into sleep mode as the snow hits in anticipation of the most ridiculous road trip to date.

10:45pm
After the longest drive ever from Allentown to Greencastle, we finally make it back. Move everything from the Element into the Scooby in record time, tell Wishard what went down, and we're off.

11:00pm
On the road again. Northbound 81 is in alot better shape than Southbound was. I pretty much rocked that high way with an average speed somewhere in the 65-75mph range...from here out is basically a blur....stopped in Jersey for gas around 1 or 2, started puking snow on the thruway, passed a ton of cars upside down, snagged first tracks on the highway through 3 or 4" of powder snow, blew by a cop that putting along in the right lane, bumped elbows with death everytime I passed one of them big rigs and my windshield was plastered with 3inches of snow, and starred into that annoying Windows star screen saver for what seemed like forever.

3:30am-ish Monday Dec 31st
Hand over the reigns to Cordell and totally pass out in the passenger seat - Amanda is still sleeping in the back...


More to come later...I have to get some work done hahah

What the hell am I doing...

Holy crap...got home from Vermont 6 hours ago now I'm sitting at work...Jay got a foot of snow...what the hell am I doing...


More to come later...


PS - Great idea Amanda Chad (sorry for the mix up - the past two days are a fog of amazement, details are somewhat lost) :)