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I’m back in Jackson with the family, finally settling down after an all time trip to BC. Willie and I stayed in Nelson for a couple days after our session at Red Mountain. We scored a epic pow day at Whitewater Nelson’s local hill. We were in disbelief as we rode the chair over the untracked powder below. We rode till we had our fill and then relaxed in anticipation of the days to come at Baldface. For those of you who don’t know about Baldface listen up. It’s a Back-country cat skiing/snowboarding operation located high in the mountains above Nelson. It’s a place where the soul of snowboarding lives strong. The staff, quality of service, and good vibes makes it the must do cat shred trip. The complex road system connects a series of ridges accessing a wide variety of aspects and terrain. Steep snow caked tree runs, pillows and alpine bowls offer one of the most diverse riding experience you could ask for. With a ton of early season snow it was a dream come true. Jeff Pensiero, owner and founder invited me up to observe their guide training. It was probably the best thing I’ve done as a rider. It gave me an understanding of why the operation has become such a legendary snowboarding experience. Jeff’s dedication, hard work, and love for riding is the reason it’s become what it is today. He’s payed dues and built the lodge with the vision of sharing amazing riding with like minded guests. The safety team is top notch working together as a well oiled machine. I was humbled by the guides expert abilities and deep knowledge of the mountains. For three days I was fully immersed in a series of training exercises and discussions. We started the trip with transceiver training with multiple beacons buried in three different zones. We covered avalanche forecasting & control, first aid drills and discussions, terrain evaluation focusing on moving through the mountains safely with a group.  The session ended the with a full on multiple burial rescue scenario. It was super cool to participate with the pros and getting after it with all of their experience and training. To say the least I left with a sense of inspiration from these guys and can’t wait to get back up there. If you can, do yourself a favor and book a trip… it’s going off.

After being home just long enough to repack my bags I hit the road heading northbound for BC. Yesterday Willie and I drove to Spokane and spent the night. We woke up and got back on the road and made it over the boarder around noon. We arrived at Red Mountain just in time for a halfday session. It was a good feeling getting changed into our gear in the parking lot after hours on the road. It was really foggy and we’d never been to the hill before so we had no idea what to expect as we climbed into the clouds. We were happy finding good snow while exploring the uncrowded tree runs till the lifts closed.

this is what i like to see… except for the fact I’ll probably get stuck in Denver after 20+ hours of travel.

Winter Storm Warning

URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY
314 PM MST SAT DEC 12 2009

…A WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON THROUGH SUNDAY
EVENING FOR THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS OF WYOMING…

.A PACIFIC WINTER STORM THAT HAS BROUGHT 3 TO 9 INCHES OF SNOW TO
THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS WITH LOCAL REPORTS OF UP TO A FOOT OF SNOW
TODAY…WILL INTENSIFY THROUGH THIS EVENING…BRINGING PERIODS OF
MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW ALONG WITH STRONG WINDS OVER THE MOUNTAIN
PASSES AND OPEN AREAS ACROSS THE VALLEY FLOORS. PERIODS OF
MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WIND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE
NIGHT AND SUNDAY INTO SUNDAY EVENING BEFORE TAPERING OFF AROUND
MIDNIGHT SUNDAY NIGHT. SNOWFALL OF 1 TO 2 FEET IS EXPECTED IN THE
MOUNTAINS…WITH LOCAL AREAS NEAR 3 FEET IN THE TETONS. THE LOWER
ELEVATIONS WILL SEE 6 TO 12 INCHES WITH HIGHER DRIFTS. ACROSS
SOUTHWEST WYOMING SNOWFALL OF 2 TO 6 INCHES WITH STRONG WINDS IS
EXPECTED WITH POSSIBLE SIGNIFICANT DRIFTING ALONG INTERSTATE
80 AND US HIGHWAYS 189 AND 191.

Last night 20,000 spectators filled the street of Seoul to watch 9 international riders battle it out in a head to head snowboarding competition. In the end it was Finland’s Eero Ettala who took the title with a strong riding performance opening up a big bag of tricks for the the crowd.

I’m didn’t even trying to fight the jet lag because I know I’m leaving tomorrow. I went to bed around nine last night and woke this morning around 4. I like waking up this early, it’s so quiet and nice to read and write without distractions.  The training session went well yesterday. The jump looks good and it should be a great competition. It was raining when arrived but has dried up since so I was able to explore a little bit of the city on my skateboard. Everything is smooth and it’s been a good way to get around town. I love Korean food and found some good stuff around my hotel. Even the convenient stores have Kimchi and other picked delights.

your 711 doesn't have this

I woke up exactly five minutes before the alarm went off and looked to see how cold it was. 0 degrees f, not too bad for Jackson hole in December. I got up and checked on Mylo, he was waking up so I held him for a minute before making coffee and starting my truck. It was dark and the cold took my breath away as I stepped outside. It was overcast with a trace of new snow keeping things a bit warmer than I was expecting. I started a fire and sipped coffee and got my last minute preparations dialed. I checked in online the night before and had no bags to pack so my morning was looking easy. I waited to last minute said goodbye to Lily and Mylo and headed out.

The flight from Jackson Denver was a bit turbulent and I felt claustrophobic and nauseous, the cold air felt good when I got off the plane. My next flight was much better crossing the snowcapped Rockies. It was a sunny powder day. I was wishing I was down there shredding. The clouds parted and I could see Crested Butte in the distant clearly from the plane. We flew over the Uinta’s, Wasatch then across the vast emptiness of Nevada. The Sierras appeared as a stark wall jutting up out of the dessert, They’re huge! I could see them from miles away and as I got closer I realized we were flying directly over Mammoth. The mountain looked good from 20,000ft and I’m sure people were out ripping all the new snow.

I just arrived in Korea and got to my hotel room over looking the kicker. It’s raining so they called off the training today. Hopefully it will be nice for the event looks like a pretty good set up.

20,000 ft above mammoth

The jump from my hotel window

Last Friday John Makens and Scott Lenheardt joined me on a splitboarding tour. John had just got back from California and Scott was in town to sign prints of his artwork for Asymbol. It was the first time I’d met Scott but I felt like I’ve known of him for years through his artwork and mutual friends. We haven’t had much snow up here lately but regardless it turned out to be a fine day in the mountains. With a little effort we got some great views, found some good snow and fun turns.

high plains drifting

No plan, is a good plan. It seems sometimes keeping things loose results with the best case senarios. With no real plans for the holiday aside for Lily and I hitting up a buffet with Mylo in tow. I desperately wanted to avoid the timely and labor intensive cooking and cleaning regime involved in executing a proper feast. I caught wind Montana had been getting some good early season snowfall and heard it was opening up on thanksgiving. We decided to go with less than 24 hours till the chairs started spinning. We made some phone calls and Willie was down to join us as well as Lily’s friend Hedy and her son who live up in Missoula. We packed light and quickly and were on the road in time. We picked up Willie to join us on our spontaneous mission and we were off in hope of some early season lift access powder. The drive was shorter than I had remembered and we were all very happy to arrive. We stayed at Hedy’s friends cabin. It was a rustic cabin with no running water and I spent the better part of the night waking up to stoke the fire in fear of the women and children freezing in the dark cold of night. We got up early and made it to the chairs just as they opened and walked right on in disbelief. It was a beautiful bluebird day and the snow was glistening in the morning sun…it all was looking incredibly inviting. We made friends with the guys we shared our first chair with and they gave us the low down on where the goods would be. We got off the chair and pointed to the next lift and got right on again with no lines. Halfway up the chairs in front began unloading onto the slopes and lines were drawn in the pristine powder below. We scoped out all the options on the way up, got off and it was on…

Not a bad way to start the season.

For the past week I’ve been traveling with lily and Mylo across the vast west. It was our first family roadtrip with the little man  and I was filled with uncertainty and almost ditched the plans last minute. We eventually decided go for it, we’d be bummed if we missed everyone. Once we hit the road things were quite mellow. Mylo slept and I just drove for hours. It turned out to be a great trip, we saw a lot of friends and family hung out at the Volcom headquarters It’s good to be home but I miss everyone down there.

Once on the road I was inspired by the vastness of the land and my mind wandered…

We picked up Jamie in Reno and he gave me a break from the long drive.

Mono lake & Hwy 395

We arrived in Mammoth for the “I AM” Art show in honor of the late Jeff Anderson. It was an amazing night, old friends, fine art and much love.

My Mom, Brother & Sister and Myloparadise

Venice Beach, Niocle and Allan hooked us up big time with this sweet spot!

Mylo enjoyed spending some time outside without a bunch of gear on

a warm welcome

the venice park was absolute perfection

The Bowl was empty but full of sick lines

Fun waves but a bone chilling offshore breeze…