Wiseman provides the words and pictures as the boys travel from Santiago to La Parva to Termas de Chillan to Las Trancas to El Colorado and more. Check out the shot of Jordan Mendenhall riding an untracked road-shot in the Chilean sidecountry near Valle Nevado and remember that he’s riding cold Andean powder while you’re mowing your Mom’s lawn.
See Jordan and more and read the full account of the debauchery in ESPN Snowboarding’s gallery.
My old pal from the Mt. Baker days, Grant Baccetti showed up on Thrasher Magazine’s Hall of Meat this week. Ironically, I haven’t seen Grant in years but here he is in all his glory, busting a laid back exit on a flyout at the Arbor Heights Park 360, a sweet skatepark just a couple miles from my house.
Riders Union has scoured the ‘net for the hottest deals on 2009/10 season passes from the best U.S. resorts for snowboarding. Our criteria is simple: first and foremost, the resort must have killer terrain, whether natural or man-made or both. Secondly, the passes must be priced so that they are affordable for the average student or dirtbag snowboarder on a budget. Thirdly, passes must be unlimited and unrestricted. We’re not looking at midweek passes or restricted deals. These are unlimited adult season passes good every day of the 2009/10 season.
6. Double Whammy Pass
Details: The Double Whammy pass gives you unlimited access to Northstar-at-Tahoe and Sierra-at-Tahoe.
Availability: Through September 30th.
Price: $699
Student Discount: Yes
Get yours: Go to http://www.northstarattahoe.com/info/ski/tickets-passes/season-pass.asp to purchase the Double Whammy.
5. Epic Pass
Details: The Epic Season Pass provides unlimited access to Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly, and Arapahoe Basin during the 2009/2010 winter season.
Availability: Through November 15th.
Price: $599
Student Discount: No
Get yours: Go to http://www.snow.com/epicpass/epicpass.aspx and click on Buy Now.
4. Summit Pass
Details: The Summit Pass is valid for unlimited skiing or riding at Keystone, Breckenridge, and Arapahoe Basin during the 2009/2010 winter season.
Availability: Through November 15th.
Price: $399
Student Discount: No
Get yours: Go to http://www.snow.com/epicpass/epicpass.aspx and click on Buy Now.
3. Kirkwood Network Pass
Details: Unlimited Kirkwood season passes available at a group discount.
Availability: Through September 7th.
Price: $399
Student Discount: No
Get yours: Go to http://www.kirkwood.com/networkpass and enter group name = epa, password = kirkwood. Then follow the links to 09/10 Network Pass and pay with your credit card.
2. Big S Pass
Details: the Big S Pass allows you access to all Summit at Snoqualmie areas including Alpental, all the time.
Availability: Through September 15th.
Price: $359
Student Discount: Yes
Get yours: Go to http://www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/info/winter/unl_pass.asp and click the Purchase Online link.
1. Rocky Mountain Super Pass
Details: the Rocky Mountain Super Pass gives you unlimited access to Winter Park/Mary Jane and Copper Mountain throughout the 09/10 ski season.
Availability: Available now!
Price: $399
Student Discount: Yes, see http://www.skicolorado.com/college_pass.htm for details.
Get yours: Go to http://www.skicolorado.com/superpass.htm to get the RMSP.
Most kids would pass on a resort with only one chairlift. Silverton Mountain in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains is just such a place. With guided riding the norm and avalanche equipment required to ride the lift, Silverton Mountain is not for the intermediate crowd. This massive ridge of sheer faces–littered with bowls, chutes, cliffs and sick natural terrain features–affords the advanced and expert crowd the opportunity to access North America’s highest resort-accessed peak at 13,487 feet.
Silverton Mountain also boasts North America’s steepest terrain. There is no easy way down, so be prepared to tighten your sphincter. The mountain is left in its natural state with the exception of the avalanche reduction work which occurs. Silverton’s lone chairlift unloads at the top of a beautiful cirque which provides easy hiking along a ridge to access up to 1,819 acres of rideable terrain.
Most days, the number of skiers and riders on the mountain hovers around 80, and is capped at 475 on peak days. This allows for plenty of fresh tracks even weeks after a storm, and Silverton’s $150 heli-drops get you even further out into the goods for those days you just don’t want to even see another track. Check out the footage from the good people at Veeco’s Stone Your TV and decide for yourself if one chairlift is enough.
I just booked three days of camping in a yurt at the Grayland Beach State Park in Grayland Washington, about four miles south of Westport. The plan is to hook up with bros at the surf shop for some surfing at the jetty. I’m looking forward to throwing myself into the frigid waters and surfing (or trying to anyway, I suck)!
We’ve camped at Grayland many times before, but we’ve always tent-camped, so the yurt will be a first. The spot is good for beachcombing and stunt-kiting, but the waves at Grayland State Park are not so great, so we’ll definitely have to hit up the jetty and the cove for the good sets.
I’m also looking forward to fish-n-chips at Westport’s Totem Drive-In, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s about the only thing to do in the town. With the exception of The Surf Shop or maybe Steepwater I guess. The family enjoys going around town and checking out all the shops, so I’m sure I’ll get my share of tourist activities too. At least there is a good ice-cream shop.
Since 2004, the tiny town of Milton Washington has been the site of one of the Pacific Northwest’s true gems, a small but super-fun Grindline-designed and built skatepark, complete with a large U-shaped concrete bowl with well over 200 feet of pool coping. Nine feet deep in the deepest sections, the bowl has two over-vert clamshell sections, hips everywhere, transition changes galore, and a death-door reminiscent of the cutout transfer door in the Animal Chin ramp.
The park’s many transition changes and pump bumps will keep your legs burning and will challenge even the most hardcore pool riders to find their perfect line. Not to mention the gnarlyness of the cast-concrete pool coping which makes for some serious grinding. This park has good flow and plenty of speed lines once you get used to the layout, but don’t expect to drop in on this one and just start throwing down on your first run. Concrete Disciples ranks the Milton skatepark a 9 out of 10 overall, and 9 of 10 for tranny.
There is a small street section with a long steep banked wall and a couple of boxes, ledges, stairs and rails, along with a mini-clamshell. It seems the street terrain is mostly geared towards beginners and intermediate riders, but the pool is most definitely an advanced feature.
Helmets are required at Milton, but the rule is rarely enforced. The ‘crete is super-smooth throughout, and the only real flaw to this park is the small size, coming in at just around 10,000 square feet.
