How A Snowboard Jacket Saved Me From A Frozen Death

Twelve years ago I was 19 years old, living in Lake Placid, NY basically just being a snowboard bum. There really isn’t any other way to put it. Four guys living in an apartment and working low paying kitchen jobs just so we could spend our weekends snowboarding, drinking and doing whatever else we deemed fit. Joel, Gary, Chris and myself worked, partied, ate bagels and went snowboarding. It wasn’t a terrible life, just a bit immature and irresponsible, so be it. Our landlord was a tremendous jerk, and we fought over everything (when we were sober)… It was a lot like college without any degree to show we did something constructive with our partying.

I can still remember showing off my shiny, newly acquired bottle of Jim Beam before the evening’s festivities began, it was New Years Eve. No one was allowed to touch it, it was mine and I wasn’t even planning on using a glass. We had another stupid party planned, no different than any other we had thrown over 30 times that season, four out-of-town guys, local girls and their friends, and a boatload of fun. Say what you want, we were young and loving it.

Somewhere around the middle of the label (they tell me it was about 10:30) the phone rang and much to my surprise, a long lost friend was back in Saratoga Springs from her travels to “where and when ever” she pleased. There was nothing stopping me from seeing Jesse, but no one was sober enough to drive (I didn’t even have a car at the time) and it was -10 degrees. I’ll Hitchhike!

This was not my most brilliant moment.

There was one person sober at the party who was bored and ready to go, it seemed she lived at the bottom of the mountain closer to I-87 which would cover about 30 minutes of the normally 3 hour commute. She had her own party to get to two doors away from where she lived and offered me a ride at least that far. On went the jacket, in my backpack went the Jim Beam, and we were off. If I could remember her name, I would thank her now, she tried like hell to prevent my hitchhiking attempt, but it just wasn’t working. Upon our arrival at the base of the mountain, our good Samaritan intentionally hid my bottle and tried to get me drunk enough to pass out with keg stands. It nearly worked.

Half awake and fully cocked in a bed with about four other people (no, nothing dirty) generally being drunk and stupid I caught a second wind, grabbed my jacket and found my bottle. One AM or so now, I open the door and felt the cold air instantly tighten my skin like a shrinking rubber band, the fact that it was -10 F had somehow slipped my mind. After 3/4 bottle of Jim Beam, several keg stands, and miscellaneous opaque bottled beers the part of your brain that is afraid of death shuts off, while the remainder acts like Homer Simpson chasing a donut.

After about 2 miles, it was too late to turn back. At this time everyone at the party was asleep, and there was no way to call anyone else. Onward HO! At about 2.25 miles I was jumping up and down at any car that passed hoping that if they wouldn’t stop, they would at least call the police… I knew I was going to die on that stretch of road, alone.

Coyotes are funny creatures, as long as you don’t bother their den, they will leave you alone. They will however, circle and or follow you until they think you are well out of range, they stayed with me about 200 yards out, in the woods for almost an hour. The scene was the inverse of a classic movie desert scene, my desert was snow and my vultures were coyotes. Looking back, I can’t believe I am alive to tell this story.

My jacket was about a half size too big for me, and the style at the time left snowboard jackets ending about mid thigh. The only thing that kept me alive was that Burton Universe jacket. I pulled in my arms, lifted it up over my head and zipped my entire upper torso into the jacket. As cars passed I would scramble to pull my arms and head out of the jacket like a turtle and wave for a ride like a madman. When my psychotic gestures were ignored, back in my Burton “turtle shell” I went. Jumping up and down, running in place, and rubbing your arms generates warmth when your are inside that jacket. Enough warmth it seems, to have kept me alive.

In the end somewhere in the neighborhood of exit 27 or exit 26 on southbound I-87 a New York State Trooper picked me up, Jim Beam still in tow, and delivered my sorry, frozen, nearly dead body to a truck stop with a phone. Someone in Saratoga was awake, thankfully. While I awaited my rescue with my new truck stop friends, my body slowly regained all of its feeling.

I haven’t since, and will not ever wear another jacket that isn’t produced by Burton Snowboards. That Universe jacket, is the only reason I am alive after an act of such incredible stupidity. I have also done a quick review on my current Burton lifesaver, the AK Stagger 2L.

Note: Apologies on the image quality, it’s the best Burton could find from their archives.

[Image © Burton Snowboards]

       

Burton Jeremy Jones 156 Snowboard Review

At the beginning of this season I was forced to make a difficult decision about which snowboard to ride. Since it has been many years since my last time on a mountain, there was much research to be done. There was one more small factor that had to play into this decision, as a photographer, this year I was going to shoot snowboarding.

Traditionally, for my body weight, I rode small boards and didn’t want to go into anything too large. (I am also a sucker for very flexible boards). The very first board I fell in love with while doing my research was the Burton Fix 155. The great debate of it all was over the flex, was the Fix going to be stiff enough for stability while shooting? Many hours were spent on the phone with Burton rider services, and much time was wasted on contemplation. Part of my decision was based on some information from rider services whereas, when one rides a board that is rated for less than their body weight, the board will feel more flexible than its weight rating.

It was my assumption, that being 20 Lbs. overweight for the standard weight range for the Jeremy Jones 156,  It would end up as flexible as the Fix 155, and the Fix 155 would have been too flexible. My assumptions were incorrect, and the Jeremy Jones board was a little more flexible than the rating, but still not quite flexible enough for me. This is in no way a reflection on the quality of the ride, or the quality of the board, but entirely personal preference. I should have just stuck with what I know, and gone as flexible as possible with my board choice.

The pros far out weigh the cons with the Jeremy Jones 156, and it’s a great all around, all mountain board.

Pros

1. Sintered Vision Base
   Fast, fast, and more fast. A good all temp wax will keep you going all day, and a good fluorite all temp wax will keep you at mach-3 all day. This base is fast (Did I mention that yet?) and durable, this will be the base on my next board.
2. Directional Flex and Even Core Profile
   Smooth turn transitions and tons of pop. The ollies are high, and the turns cut like a razor. Having not ridden this board in powder yet, I cannot vouch for the feel in fluff, but I can tell from its stability that this is where I will be using it in the future.
3. Rail Ready Tune
   Boxes, rails, pipes and whatever else you decide to slide across in the park will be much easier now that the board is tuned for it from the factory. So far, my favorite part of the Rail Ready Tune is the ability to maintain edges and not sacrifice high speed control. We have been de-tuning, and “rail tuning” edges for years so this is nothing new, but it saves time (as well as money) and allows you to get right on the hill.
4. Mid Wide Construction
   If, like me, you have a “sort of” big foot the mid wide is for you. Keep your toes off the snow, while keeping you fast and stable. One thing I have noticed from boards that are classified as wide, is increased weight. The mid wide construction feels no heavier than any normal width board I have ever been on.
5. Super Fly II core
   The board is light, Lighter than the Forum Manual 153, with a very low swing weight allowing for blender fast spins, and effortless switches to fakie.
6. Infinite Ride
   All of the boards with Infinite Ride are over built by the factory, and put on a machine that simulates a seasons worth of riding before the board is even shipped. The board will flex the same the first day you ride it, as it will 100 riding days later.
7. EST/The Channel
   This is baseless technology perfected beyond the imagination of those that pioneered the concept. Comfort, control, and true board flex are all byproducts of the EST system. Being new technology, there is a flaw but it is not in the system itself, the board or in the channel itself. Along with Burton Rider services, I have found a solution to my issue with EST, which will only be an issue for a select few people that have a size 10.5 foot, and ride a pair of EST boots as well.

Con

1. Stiffness
   The only con that I can muster up, is completely personal preference, and is entirely about the stiffness. I like a very flexible board, something like a wet noodle and I should have chosen the Fix.

If you like a middle of the road stiffness, and a board that is perfect in the park, at high speeds in powder, and pretty much everywhere else on the planet, this is the perfect board. In fact, I would assume the stiffness will help if your the kind of rider that hits rails from the air, like Jeremy Jones himself.

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Shaun White and Kelly Clark take Mount Snow by storm.

Shaun White Wins Men’s and Kelly Clark Wins Women’s Winter Dew Tour Snowboard Superpipe Finals at Mount Snow Resort in Vermont.

Full Event Recap (Courtesy Alli Sports)

NEW YORK – January 11, 2009 –Olympic gold medalist Shaun White won the men’s superpipe finals and hometown hero and fellow gold medalist Kelly Clark won the women’s event Sunday in the second stop of the inaugural Winter Dew Tour at Mount Snow Resort in West Dover, Vermont.

Shaun White’s winning run included a backside rodeo 720, a backside 900, back-to-back 1080’s into a 720. He finished with an alley-oop rodeo and scored 96.25.

“The first run was really good but I knew I could go a little bigger than I did in that first run,” White said. “It was a weird run. My glove was kind of iced over and we had to add these marks to my board so I’d make sure I grabbed it. I went through that second run there and it just all fell together.”

Steve Fisher of Breckenridge, Colo., was second at 92.75 and Kevin Pearce of Norwich, Vt., was third at 90.00.

White now holds the lead in season standings in both the superpipe and slopestyle disciplines.

In the women’s event, Kelly Clark, of West Dover, Vt., executed a frontside air to a backside 520. She continued with a frontside 720, a cab 360 and a frontside 520. She finished with a backside air and earned 90.75 points.

“I couldn’t be happier coming home to Mount Snow and doing so well in front of all my friends and family,” Clark said. “I really had a lot of fun tonight and it’s great to come away heading into the third event with a first and a second place.”

With this win, Clark secured the lead in overall point standings for superpipe.

Hannah Teter, of Belmont, Vt., was second at 88.75 and Ellery Hollingsworth, of Darien, Conn., was third at 83.00.

On Saturday, Norwegian Torstein Horgmo maintained the lead in a close contest against Olympic gold medalist Shaun White in the men’s snowboard slopestyle finals and Jamie Anderson won the women’s event.

The 21-year old Horgmo took the lead on his first run and the field was unable to best his score of 92.67. His winning run included technical tricks on the rails and the flat box and a cab 900 on the first jump, to a backside 900 on the second jump. He finished with a switch backside 1260 on the final jump.

“This means a lot to me,” Horgmo said. “Winning a contest is fun. I still don’t feel like I beat anybody here today. I’m only trying to beat myself at the contest. I got my win now. I’m super stoked. I don’t think I really realize it yet.”

Shaun White, of Carlsbad, Calif. was second at 92.33 and Andreas Wiig of Norway was third at 88.00.

White remains the overall point leader in the race for the Dew Cup based on this event and his win at the first stop of the Tour in Breckenridge, Colorado.

“This was a full-on course,” White said. “We had rails at the top, a rail in the middle, big jumps at the bottom. It was really fun.”

In the women’s field, Anderson, of South Lake Tahoe, Calif. made good use of the course with a tail press to a nose press to a pretzel out on the top rails. She landed a switch backside 360 on the first jump to a cab 180 on the box jump. She finished with a frontside 360 to a frontside 520 on the final two jumps to earn 85.67 points.

“I was just having a good day and my body felt good,” Anderson said. “I didn’t really do so many frontside fives in practice, I was kind of just doing backside 180’s so I’m stoked on that part.”

Canadian Spencer O’Brien was second at 81.50 and Chanelle Sladics, of Newport Beach, Calif., was third at 80.67. O’Brien, who won the previous Winter Dew Tour event, remains the overall point leader heading into the season finale next month in California.

Later in the day, Simon Dumont, of Bethel, Maine, won the men’s freeski superpipe finals after taking the lead in his first run and increasing his lead in his second, to finish at 94.00.

His winning run included a cork 900 to a 900 on the right wall. He continued with a cork 1260, an alley oop 720  to finish with a switch 1080. Dumont’s win was redemption from his fifth-place finish in Breckenridge, Colo.

“My self esteem was down a little bit,” Dumont said. “Breckenridge didn’t go my way. Slopestyle didn’t go my way. So, I had one option and it was to come out here and hopefully lay something down. I wasn’t the only one. It was a huge night for skiing. I’m psyched to be a part of it.”

An event highlight came from Canadian Justin Dorey who executed a technical double flip in his second-place run, which scored 91.75. Tanner Hall, of Kalispell, Mont. was third at 90.00.

Dorey and Hall are now tied for first place in the season point standings and Dumont is only 10-points behind in second.

Taking his freestyle rail skills to the slopestyle course, Canadian freeskier JF Houle won the men’s slopestyle finals on Friday.

His fellow competitors embraced and congratulated him at the finish of the course after witnessing his impressive tricks on the rail obstacle. Houle executed a 450-degree spin onto the rail, with three spins as he slid down the rail, to finish with another 450 off the rail. He scored 92.00.

“I’m strong at rail and I just went for a super technical run,” Houle said. “I think it’s never really been done in slopestyle before. So I’m pretty stoked on that. I’m super stoked that finally rail gets some respect in the slopestyle course.”

Per-Kristian Hunder, of Norway, placed second at 86.67 and Alexis Godbout, of Canada, was third at 85.00.

Houle placed sixth at the first stop of the Winter Dew Tour in Breckenridge, Colorado.

“Now with the first place I can’t believe it so I’m just going to be on it for the next Dew Tour for sure, and train hard,” Houle said.

The four-day competition was the second of three stops of the Winter Dew Tour that features men’s and women’s freeskiing and snowboarding disciplines. Approximately 24,800 fans enjoyed the Winter Dew Tour experience at Mount Snow Resort in Vermont. The tour will conclude in February at Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort in California.

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Winter Dew Tour at Mount Snow Resort
Friday, January 9, 2009
West Dover, Vt.

Men’s Freeski Slopestyle Finals

1. J.F. Houle, Canada, 92.00.
2. Per-Kristian Hunder, Norway, 86.67.
3. Alexis Godbout, Canada, 85.00.
4. Sammy Carlson, Tigard, Ore., 82.50.
5. Henrik Harlaut, Sweden, 78.17.
6. Nick Martini, Winchester, Mass., 75.67.
7. Bobby Brown, Breckenridge, Colo., 73.33.
8. Mike Riddle, Canada, 70.83.
9. Jon Olsson, Sweden, 69.50.
10. Charles Gagnier, Sweden, 69.50.

Men’s Freeski Slopestyle Points

1. J.F. Houle, 165.
2. Per-Kristian Hunder, 165.
3. Bobby Brown, 160.
4. Henrik Harlaut, 150.
5. Alexis Godbout, 130.
6. Josiah Wells, 125.
7. Sammy Carlson, 110.
8. Simon Dumont, 86.
9. Nick Martini, 81.
10. Matt Walker, 79.

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Winter Dew Tour at Mount Snow Resort
Saturday, January 10, 2009
West Dover, Vt.

Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Finals

1. Torstein Horgmo, Norway, 92.67.
2. Shaun White, Carlsbad, Calif., 92.33.
3. Andreas Wiig, Norway, 88.00.
4. Mikkel Bang, Norway, 85.33.
5. Eric Willett, Breckenridge, Colo., 82.67.
6. Scotty Lago, Seabrook, N.H., 79.33.
7. Brandon Reis, Peterborough, N.H., 76.83.
8. Sam Hulbert, Peterborough, N.H., 74.17.
9. Charles Reid, Canada, 72.50.
10. Yale Cousino, Lincoln, Vt., 71.83.

Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Points

1. Shaun White, 190.
2. Mikkel Bang, 165.
3. Torstein Horgmo, 160.
4. Andreas Wiig, 155.
5. Sam Hulbert, 125.
6. Charles Reid, 115.
7. Eric Willett, 94.
8. Kevin Pearce, 85.
9. Daniel Ek, 81.
10. Janne Korpi, 80.

Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle Finals

1. Jamie Anderson, South Lake Tahoe, Calif., 85.67.
2. Spencer O’Brien, Canada, 81.50.
3. Chanelle Sladics, Newport Beach, Calif., 80.67.
4. Jenny Jones, Great Britain, 75.50.
5. Megan Ginter, Redmond, Wash., 75.00.
6. Marie-France Roy, Canada, 74.50.

Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle Points

1. Spencer O’Brien, 190.
2. Jamie Anderson, 175.
3. Jenny Jones, 165.
4. Bev Vuilleumier, 140.
5. Megan Ginter, 140.
6. Chanelle Sladics, 135.
7. Marie-France Roy, 115.
8. Kjersti Ostgaard Buaas, 110.
9. Kimberly Fasani, 110.
10. Christina Curry, 90.

Men’s Freeski Superpipe Finals

1. Simon Dumont, Bethel, Maine, 94.00.
2. Justin Dorey, Canada, 91.75.
3. Tanner Hall, Kalispell, Mont., 90.00.
4. Tucker Perkins, North Hampton, N.H., 88.50.
5. Mike Riddle, Canada, 85.00.
6. Duncan Adams, Breckenridge, Colo., 81.50.
7. Colby West, Breckenridge, Colo., 79.50.
8. Byron Wells, New Zealand, 76.00.
9. Antti-Jussi Kemppainen, Finland, 69.75.
10. Taylor Seaton, Avon, Colo., 61.25.

Men’s Freeski Superpipe Points

1. Tanner Hall, 180.
2. Justin Dorey, 180.
3. Simon Dumont, 170.
4. Duncan Adams, 145.
5. Peter Olenick, 110.
6. Tucker Perkins, 105.
7. Taylor Seaton, 100.
8. Byron Wells, 95.
9. Mike Riddle, 94.
10. Colby West, 80.

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Winter Dew Tour at Mount Snow Resort
Sunday, January 11, 2009
West Dover, Vt.

Men’s Snowboard Superpipe Finals

1. Shaun White, Carlsbad, Calif., 96.25.
2. Steve Fisher, Breckenridge, Colo., 92.75.
3. Kevin Pearce, Norwich, Vt., 90.00.
4. Danny Davis, Highland, Mich., 89.25.
5. Mason Aguirre, Duluth, Minn., 84.50.
6. Scotty Lago, Seabrook, N.H., 80.00.
7. Matt Ladley, Steamboat Springs, Colo., 71.00.
8. Charles Reid, Canada., 59.50.
9. Dylan Bidez, Minturn, Colo., 49.00.
10. Elijah Teter, Belmont, Vt., 46.75.

Men’s Snowboard Superpipe Points

1. Shaun White, 190.
2. Danny Davis, 175.
3. Scotty Lago, 145.
4. Steve Fisher, 125.
5. Elijah Teter, 120.
6. Kevin Pearce, 102.
7. Greg Bretz, 100.
8. Mason Aguirre, 81.
9. Charles Reid, 71.
10. Louie Vito, 70.

Women’s Snowboard Superpipe Finals

1. Kelly Clark, West Dover, Vt., 90.75.
2. Hannah Teter, Belmont, Vt., 88.75.
3. Ellery Hollingsworth, Darien, Conn., 83.00.
4. Kjersti Ostgaard Buaas, Norway, 68.75.
5. Charmaine Ironside, Canada, 54.75.
6. Kaitlyn Farrington, Sun Valley, Idaho, 32.75.

Women’s Snowboard Superpipe Points

1. Kelly Clark, 190.
2. Hannah Teter, 165.
3. Kjersti Ostgaard Buaas, 140.
4. Elena Hight, 135.
5. Charmaine Ironside, 115.
6. Ellery Hollingsworth, 110.
7. Kaitlyn Farrington, 105.
8. Gretchen Bleiler, 100.
9. Molly Aguirre, 100.
10. Elizabeth Beerman, 95.

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For more information on future stops of the Dew Tour visit the Alli Sports website. For our review of the action at Mount Snow please visit Winter Dew Tour: Mount Snow Vermont. For complete event coverage including videos and photos visit the Alli Sports Mount Snow site.

Does life get any better?

Results courtesy Alli Sports
Images © James H. Pickett
Do not use without permission

       

Winter Dew Tour: Mount Snow Vermont

The winter Dew Tour comes to Mount Snow–Shaun White Pictured

If you ever have a chance to attend a stop of the Winter Dew Tour, don’t miss it. Day one was riddled with snow, if you came to the event with the intensions of snowboarding day one was a gift. Constant snowfall and light attendance made the runs soft and uncrowded, I myself had to leave the camera in my hotel room and take advantage of the fresh falling fluff. Toward the end of the day, my legs were a little weary so i decided to get the camera out for a little half pipe practise. This is the very first time i have had an oppertunity to shoot in adverse weather with the Canon 1Ds Mark III and test the weather sealing. Happily I can announce that it is weeks later and the camera is still functioning with no issues.

Day 2 was one of the more phenomenal photography days I have seen in the winter time, the sun was powerful but there was little or no pollution present making for an amazingly rich blue sky. The snowboard slope style course was fast, freshly groomed and surprisingly lacking our good old northeastern ice.

Photographer and rider unknown. © James H. Pickett

The staff at Mount Snow did an amazing job with setup and maintenance for the event. Carinthia (at Mount Snow), being the only peak in the northeast that is entirely snowboard parks, was the perfect venue for this stop on the tour. The slopestyle coarse was built on the Inferno trail, and I must say, is nothing short of amazing with huge features. While in the rider tent at the top of the course I overheard Shaun White and another rider discussing how it was great to have an actual course that was an entire trail, and not just a series of a few kickers like other events. When you make the trip to Mount Snow and head for the Inferno trail, beware of Mineshaft, not because it is dangerous, but because of a stretch of flat at the bottom that can slow you to a halt without enough speed.

As a child, My parents first threw me into a pair of skis at a very young age, and one day I fell into a snowboard and never looked back. To watch professional ski slopestyle and halfpipe is to watch an insane air ballet that is more entertaining than the Blue Angels.  Never miss and opportunity to witness professional freestyle skiers at work. They go high, and they spin hard.

The midway housed a ton of fun vendors with product demos, games, and yes… girls. Don’t lie, thats one of the reasons you went, and will go again. Extra special thanks to the Toyota team, specifically James, one of the VIP shuttle drivers that kept my weekend entertaining as hell. (When in West Dover, VT during an event, don’t think of going anywhere but the Snow Barn, it is a constant apres ski party.)

Special thanks goes out to Alli Sports, the team responsible  for the Dew Tour at all of its stops, Great people to work with and even more amazing when you need information (thanks Matt.) or have to arrange something on site.

EVENT RESULTS