The lights of Glenwood Springs have been eclipsed by the towering walls of its neighboring canyon. Each dotted stripe on I-70′s eastward lanes whips by to the beat of the music blasting inside the van, as if acutely choreographed to the soundtrack of the road trip. Hobbsie, at the wheel once again of his trusty van, is leaning forward, excitedly fidgeting from the herbal maté in his bloodstream. So fired up are we, our bodies are practically hovering above the van’s seats as we rapidly ramble on about all things skiing. The Trew Gear bus, Harvey the GnarV, is somewhere ahead of us, with Pat Sewell, Casey VanDenbroek, Dersh, and MikeyH playing Tony Hawk on N64, while the Pew twins man the helm. Well, I guess one of the two is steering that mad, mad landyacht of fools while the other is probably holding a bottle of whiskey or beer, or both, but definitely not driving.
Our mission? Well, beyond partying as only a good group of rafting, skiing, film-making buddies shall do once properly assembled on a road trip, we will be touring the nine Colorado Ski Country Gems resorts. Resorts might be too heavy a word for these local ski areas. Playgrounds for freeriders, more accurately. Freeskier and Snowboard magazines have asked us to go out and explore, by skis and snowboard, the best that these mom and pop areas have to offer. The winter season here in Colorado has seen a deep snowpack and recent storms have only sweetened the deal. Add in some daffys and backscratchers, and one can only shake their head about the tom-foolery and shenanigans which will likely transpire.
So, over the next week or so, follow along (Twitter: #COgemsrdtrip) as we sample the road less traveled and play in these rockiest of mountains. The holiday rush is over, minimum-wage jobs in the rear-view mirror, and these ski bums are ready for some brocial shred-working out in that fluffy white stuff, Colorado style.
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All photos by Shay Williams
Day one of the Freeskier Magazine all-mountain ski test went off without a hitch under blue skies, leaving many a tester with some sun-baked skin. After arriving at Copper Mountain ski resort at 8:00 am, it was barely 11:00 am by the time I had downed my second energy drink of the day. I wasn’t the only one; my team manager at Scott, Kevin Kruse, and Michael Olenick had already started the party earlier with some Red Bull shotgun action. Whoa.
With the temperatures hitting nearly 40 degrees (F) and no new snow in the past week, schralping the groomers quickly became the name of the game. Shay Williams decided early that he wanted some ‘sick’ carving shots on Copper’s best groomers, so a crew of us testers and reps headed up the Super Bee lift to find some corduroy to hip into.
Luckily, the sun began to warm up the snow in the back bowls, and by then, my buddy Mike McCabe and I had found some sweet skis to ride. It seems on this, the second day of March, that Spring has sprung and the corn snow cycle is in full effect.
Check out the 2009 Freeskier Magazine Buyer’s Guide to find out what we had to say about all the shred-stix we tested. Day two starts early tomorrow morning, so I’m gonna down this last Jack-and-Coke and hit the sack. Well, maybe after another beer or two.
Scott Leatherman glove in red and black
2% of your purchase goes to SheJumps.org
After a short ride to Boulder, I met up with my good buddy Mike McCabe while he was still at work over at Folsom Custom Skis in North Boulder. I arrived just in time to watch him lay up and press a pair of sweet looking freeride skis. The soon-to-be owner of the custom pair of skis was there too, six pack of wheat beer in hand. It is such a cool experience to watch the ski building process in action; the smell of the epoxy and the sound of the pneumatic press as it drops down on all the laminates fills the room, mixing in with the anticipation of the what the final product will look like. I have to say, for a small, two-man operation, Folsom Customs is a legit place, and I encourage anyone in the Boulder/Denver area to stop by and say hi. Bringing beer always helps!
Today, I woke up and headed on over to the Warren Miller Entertainment headquarters to tie up some loose ends from the tour, and to say hi to some of the folks working there. It’s always sweet walking in their building, because SKI and SKIING magazines are made there too, so there is all kinds of cool stuff up on the walls. WME is already busy lining up athletes and scheduling film shoots for next year’s film, and I picked up some much needed insider knowledge about how everything comes together. Thanks to the personal introduction by Kim Schneider (editor of WM films), I had the chance to meet Josh Haskins (line producer) and Max Bervy (director). It’s always great to meet the people behind the scenes of the skiing industry; the ones that bring each year’s ski stoke to audiences worldwide. These guys have been in the business a long time, and they’ve seen everything that happens in the sport, so it was nice of them to give me a little guidance on making this whole skiing thing happen.
Since I was already in the neighborhood after leaving WME’s parking lot, I decided I would swing by the Freeskier Magazine office to say thanks for the sweet profile they printed in this year’s Photo Annual. ‘Digi’ Dave Amirault greeted me at the door and his wave of energy hit me at once; I can see how he manages to handle the multitude of tasks they throw at him, including running Freeskier’s website and writing online features. He introduced me to Chris Jerard and Jay Michelfelder, long time members of the staff at the magazine, as well as some of the interns. It was really cool to walk into that office and have them all know who I was, even if I’m just another ski bum. After tossing me some swag, including a new DISCRETE/Freeskier Mag beanie , I said my goodbyes to Digi and the rest of the crew and headed out into the heart of Boulder, ten copies of the Photo Annual in tow.
The TatsVan is acting up again, probably because she feels left out on all the adventures I’ve had for the past two months. Since she quit on me in the Chipotle parking lot and won’t start up again, I found myself flung right back into the swing of ski bummin’ at its finest: killing time creatively. So, I’m sitting here at my buddies’ house poaching their internet and writing this update after skateboarding around Boulder for a few hours, taking advantage of the last dry streets I’ll see for a while. I can’t believe I’ll be on snow tomorrow for the first time of the 08/09 season; I hope my legs are up for it!
My schedule for the next few weeks will be hectic, and I hope to steal enough time online to keep posting, but if you are in the Aspen, SLC, or Sun Valley areas through the end of the month, look for me! Hopefully the TatsVan and I will be over our little tiff, and she’ll be ready for some ski bummin’ road-trip style.
These gloves are just plain pimpin'
2% of your purchase goes to SheJumps.org
Check this fresh release , courtesy of Digi Dave over at Freeskier.com! Big thanks to Tony Prikryl and Frank Shine for the epic photos; I can’t wait to go and shred with you guys this winter.
And of course, I want to thank all my great sponsors and friends and family. Without you, I wouldn’t be the ski bum I am today, heh. I heard it’s snowing in Colorado and Utah again…
Check out this Velocity Jacket by my new sponsor, Helly Hansen
2% of your purchase goes to SheJumps.org
Freeskier Magazine online has updated their new e-store offerings and the gear is looking sweet. They have everything from new hoodies to headphones, and they’re offering a limited edition line of Discrete/Freeskier Magazine co-branded beanies. Click here to head to the Freeskier Store and get one for yourself !
Also, don’t forget to vote Discrete as your favorite item in the Freeskier Store. Just click here to make that happen! Help make some ski bums happy and support a good company.
Thanks,
Tats
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