Hmmm the snow is pretty sweet but the parks never seem to be built till half way through the season on grouse mt. pretty lame, went up and there was only 3 small rails jibable. maybe this week will have something worth shreddin. 

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After an hectic pre season I was ready and excited to leave to Austria with my friend Vanessa Andrieux. We go there every year to find good snow condition, I was all packed, board and bags in my trunk and as i was driving back from Barcelona it started dumping everywhere, and by the time i was in Switzerland my home mountains were covered by a good 60cm of fresh snow ! This is when we both decided to join the Demonium base camp in les diablerets (definitely the best place to stay, hang, mini shred and skate up there) and shoot a couple things home before heading to the austrian mountains. We waisted the first day looking for features to shoot along the road and at 12pm, after 3 hours driving around for nothing, we decided to go up on the mountain and shred. luckily the place wasn’t totally tracked yet, I found a couple good friends at the first chair lift, they took me to the good spot and I got chest deep for my first run of the winter !! I can’t remember a better start of the season ever ! sik ! The next day we built a kicker with Eman, Damien, Nico and Tonton not too far from the road in a safe area as avalanche danger was quite high at that time. It was fun to be shaping a kicker already. The snow was deep in the landing, the sun was shining we had a good thermos with hot tea and good meet, cheese, bread and chocolate. Family style ! After that we joined Nicolas Droz in Chatel to get a couple shots, each day we were pushing the austrian destination a bit later and we finally never made it there. That’s when my friend Annie Boulanger called, there was no snow in whistler and she jumped in the plane to come shred with me.. I was so stoked to have her here because I m always the one going to canada or US and for once I got to show my place to a good friend ! as soon as she got off the plane we called Jonas Emery who could eventually give us heads up on the conditions where he was staying.. and we ended up staying at his place for a good 4 days.. We got sik tree runs in still really good snow on our first day and it dumped overnight !! We went to Verbier the next day, same thing, good tree pow runs under the cabin, and the great thing is that no one was on the slopes before christmas ! We joined Emilien Badoux the next day for the same luck with sunshine this time! After that we headed to my home resort with my both of my parents my cousin, my boyfriend and 2 other good friends with whom we shredded all weekend.. It really felt like christmas ! This last couple of weeks were such a blast, I got to practice some Quebecquien expressions, I got to shred for the fun of it which happens very rarely, i got to stay at my grand parents cabin and the conditions were fantastic ! That was definitely my best christmas present this year.. and i wish you just as much fun and good shred !  

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JumpCamp online newsletter providing breaking news in condensed form, with illustrated, entertaining, and often sensational tidbits.

Happy Holidays from JumpCamp
What does every shred dog dream of waking up to Christmas day? A JumpCamp session under the tree of course. Don't be lame and buy your loved ones something like a sweater or a  touque. Sign up a friend or family member this Christmas and become their favourite person for the rest of the year.
Go to Onethirtythree, call or sign up online today.

Road trips
With the lack of snow on the Island this last month we were getting a little too antsy to sit around so we headed out on holiday road. First we went out to Banff and hit up Sunshine Village. It was my first time out to the rockies and it was awesome! The weather was perfect; sunny and cold and we got lots of killer pics and footage for our new movie project. We'll definitely be going back again. Thanks a lot to Doug Firby for the great hospitality. www.skibanff.com

Patrick Kitto enjoying the cold smoke out in Banff. Mmm Mmm good

When we got home there was still not very much snow so we packed up some clean undies and headed out again, this time to Whistler. Whistler is always wicked and this trip was no exception. We shredded the opening day of Blackcomb and then Whistler the next day and it rocked ( my board and my mind ) haha. Early season conditions joke... Thanks to Ryan Proctor for hooking us up. www.whistlerblackcomb.com

Myles col' kickin' it with his favourite run on Blackcomb behind him: the Sudan Couloir

When we got home from Whistler, guess what? Still not that much snow. So we packed up some more clean undies and headed out again, this time to Golden. Now if you've been to Kicking Horse you know it's rad. Steep, deep and gnarly. We had a wicked time there until the third day when the temperatures were a cool -28 in the hills and our nostrils were sticking together when we went outdoors. We all looked like Michael Jackson with our noses frozen closed so we bundled our Vancouver Island butts back into the truck, cranked the heat and headed back west. Thanks to Jordan Petrovics for the hook up.
www.kickinghorseresort.com

Matty, Joe and our main man Eric. "Close the damn door, it's cold!" Thanks to Eric for setting us up so good. You rule Rolston!

Matt Trigg riding some deep, cold stuff with Ole in the background filming. Trigger kind of looks like Darth Vader coming out of there.

Back Home
Now don't get me wrong, we've had a few good days of hiking around here. We've been noboarding up the hill quite a bit and even hitting some urban stuff in town with the cold temperatures.

No bindings? No problem... Ole loves noboarding. photo by Patrick Kitto

The Green Room "Eco-friendly Styles for Your Home"
Do you enjoy breathing? Of course you do. You probably enjoy drinking water too. Well, these luxuries will not be available if we don't start taking care of our lovely planet. Our friends
Rebecca Wood and Cortney Upham are proud owners of Courtenay's first housewares and gift store entirely dedicated to eco-friendly living. Go down and check out the goods. Do it for the kids... www.greenroominteriors.com (250) 898-0400 A407 5th street Courtenay

New Onethirtythree Team Manager
That's right folks, Patrick Kitto has been appointed the new TM of Onethirtythree. Send all your sponsor-me videos and pics to the shop and you could be living the high life of a sponsored rider full of free stickers and t-shirts. (250) 897- 1907; 143A 5th St, Courtenay

Avalanche Course Coming Up January 24, 25
Avalanche is the greatest hazard facing "out of bounds" backcountry snowboarders, skiers, sledders and ice climbers. This course is a must for those venturing into the backcountry and highly recommended from your friends at JumpCamp.

Have a safe and happy holiday.
See ya in the hills.

 

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Whistler PartySnake Premiere Tonight!!!!!!!!!! / Order instructions 2/ Win a Burger T

If you missed the Vancouver PartySnake premiere do yourself a favor and don't miss the one Tonight in Whistler. We're warming up at Tapleys and heading over to Buffalo Bills for the premiere. Get there early and you might even get a PartySnake T.



Oh and if you want a "woke up starving" T-shirt email Dave. The order cut off is the morning of December 15th so we can have them done in time for Christmas. Who wouldn't want to find one under the tree? Tell all your burger loving friends about it. I'm sure they would. If you don't have the money just send in a photo of yourself pigging out on burgers for your chance to win one. We'll post the top 3 shots in the blog and let the public choose who's most worthy of winning a "woke up starving" T-shirt. Send photos here.

Labels: burger T-shirt, IS eyewear, ISeyewear, PartySnake, Win

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Dev's fresh back from a little trip to California where he did a interview for Fuel TV as well as an infomercial for DC. Now I have him doing a Pro Tips for SBC. Busy man. I'll hit ya with links once they're available for viewing.



The Updown site is up and full of fun content to explore. Look for a copy of the latest issue of Updown at a store near you.



Oh and we have a PartySnake premiere tonight in Kelowna. Its an Island Snow / Jager / PartySnake deal but I can't seem to be able to find the flyer for it with all the info. It shouldn't be that hard to figure out, there can't be anything better going on in Ktown on Thursday night.

Christmas countdown: Christmas is only 21 days away!

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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

 

Airhole Visit / T.I. Interview / Dave Harris

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

 

Chucky's tattoo

After a short little visit by Chucky and his good buddy Dustin Craven yesterday I learned they picked up some pretty epic impulse tatty's last May.



Under the image of the hand throwing up the peace sign it's written "best summer ever" some how predicting the summer they both eventually experienced. Keep an eye out for the next issue of Updown Magazine for more heart warming stories about friendship in Dustin's "Greasy" little interview by yours truly.

Hey look



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THE MESSAGE  - OCTOBER 2008

Welcome back to another exciting edition of THE MESSAGE.. da da da DUNNNNN.
Good new snow fiends, We got are first dusting on the Sierra's last week, so lets hope that this will be an early season for all us!  THE BLOCK, THE BLOCK is gearing up for Snowboard Season by sponsoring a bunch of snowboard premieres and parties. I just saw the new First Tracks Video,  Knock on Wood at Mont Bleu, and what a great turnout we had, THE BLOCK was soldout and Flick was dope as all hell! 

Hot Dawgs and Hand Rails

If you missed Hot Dawgs and Handrails last month, you done F@cked-up. ! Hot Dawgz & Hand Rails 5th annual snowboarding specatcular tested the skills of some of the best jumpers and jibbers in the world and paid out $15,000 in prize money!  Rio and the entire Bear Mountain Park Staff pulled off the 1st contest of the year with Grand Style!  The Dropin, The Gap, and the rails were epic and riders were stoked to be throwing down for the first time of the Season! Big props to reelcomp.com for broadcasting a live feed of the event besure to check it out on their website.

The winners in the Men's Finals were...
1st Place- Jed Anderson
2nd Place- Chas Guldemond
3rd Place- Scott Vine

and the winners in the Women's Finals are...
1st Place- Desiree Melancon
2nd Place- Marie Hucal
3rd Place- Raewyn Reid

Scott Vine brought home Best Trick. Congratulations riders! Additional Heavy Hitters were Ben Bogart, Scott Stevens, Louif Paradis, Bode Merill, Keegan Valaika, Leanne Pelosi, Elise Borelli, Nick Dirks, Zak Hale and Tim Eddy. J.P Walker, Seth Huot and Hana Beaman were chillin' at Bear and Josh Sherman and Dave Duncan were announcing! If you missed Hot Dawgz this year, we'll see you next September! Big ups to Nam for organizing the afterparty, DJ Slip Matt and Matty Mo held it done hard. If you aint heard Matty Mo got a new mixtape out so be sure to Grab Government Cheese Vol 1. 

THE BLOCK BOOTCAMP 2008

Has been rescheduled to December 1st -13th in South Lake Tahoe. We are selecting 50 lucky recruits from an applicant pool of over 500+ that I received. It has been no easy task going through the applications, so if you were selected congratulations you will be receiving your deployment orders at the end of the week!  Remember that during bootcamp you will be tested to your physical and mental limits. So do yourself a favor and start working out and jogging now. This is not going to be a walk in the park. 

Knock on Wood

Who wants to see some sick snowboarding action for cheap?! Well, South Lake Tahoe based First Tracks Productions is offering a special deal to friends of The Block. If you click on the following link, you'll get to a hidden page on First Tracks' site where you can purchase their new movie, "Knock on Wood" for $10 off retail! http://firsttracksproductions.com/knockonwood091317257375.html If you haven't seen the trailer for Knock on Wood, check it out for free here:

Upcoming Events

Big Bear

October 18th is the last Bear Mountain Job Fair at Snow Summit from 8am-2pm. If you got to ride Bear and cant pass the bootcamp, this is a good option for any shredder.

October 18th and 19th is the 38th Annual Big Bear Lake Oktoberfest! So if you missed the job fair you can atleast Drink it off.

October 19th @ Active Ride Shop in Le Brea - F.O.D.T. Presents "Familia"  and TWS These Days from 7-9pm with DJ Episode! Be there!

Lake Tahoe

Wednesday Oct 15th  Technine's own Eric "MessyHair" Messier aka The Snow Man, will be playing with his group "The Fiz" at Whiskey Dicks with The Mathematicians in South Lake Tahoe.


This Thursday and Every Thursday BAR24 is holding Battle of The Bands until a winner is announced on November 6th, so get down their and show your support!


Saturday, Oct 18th – Late Nite productions brings the Original Wailers back to Tahoe at Moe's Place.


Wednesday Oct 22nd – Collie Buddz  is playing at Whiskey Dicks with Rise of the Revolution and DJ Pee Wee.  Rise kills it so sure to get there early and check em out!


Wednesday Nov 12th – Pato Banton with the Mystic Roots Band and Planting Seeds! Mystic Roots is dope and Pato got love for THE BLOCK so don't miss this show!


Friday November 14th – Finger on Da Trigger presents "Familia" Premiere at Bar24, signing with the Technine Team, Snowbunny Contest, Live Performances by the worlds top VJ; DJ Crime,  Hip Hop by Concise Kilgore from the Cali Agents and more TBA Lots of other bar24 contests for lots of SWAG and giveaways! Be sure you are there!


Saturday November 15th – The Premiere and the team travel to the Sandbar in Sacramento. We got a Snowbunny contest with the Déjà vu Girls and Zsu Swimwear, a Rail Jam in the back, T9 Team Signing and so much more so be there!!!


Tuesday Nov 18th – One Block Radius come to town, Marty James, MDA and Z-Man throw a tough show, pickup there new hit "you got me" and come to the show.


Friday November 28th – Del The Funky Homosapien has been add to host the "Blizzard" Pray for Snow Party with A-Plus and Bukue-one! So mark this one down cuz its going to GO OFF in Tahoe that weekend!


Saturday December 28th– "How The Grouch Stole Christmas" with Grouch and Eli from the Living Legends! I am looking forward to this show the most! So get up on game and go buy his new album that came this past spring and be sure to celebrate X-mas with the GROUCH!!!


Ok that's all I got for ya for now, I am working a bringing a "Familia" premiere to Vegas as well as planning THE BLOCK PARTY 2009 at the SIA Tradeshow. More info when I got it all confirmed but until then, Pray for Snow and see you on THE BLOCK!


-Dirty D from THE BLOCK


PS Check out these Videos:
Live From the PALMS Pools and Bungalows - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru3vhbtu7tI
Live From Hot Dawgs and Handrails - http://reelcomp.com/videos/view/6990

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So I was exploring the vast internet and came across a blog called WeKnowSnow.com and was immediately jealous. Snow! In August!! What!?!?

Here on the east coast we are lucky to start some of our seasons by the end of December. White Christmas my ass. I’m usually seeing dead grass right up until then. Yea we have our share of bad weather, but it never sticks.

I’m telling you, one day I’ll be here. Till’ then I call the east coast home. So I’m thinking, in a few years, maybe someone could hook me up out there, with a web or graphic design gig? Ya know, one that I could ride half the day and work the rest. Maybe my freelance will pay enough by then. For now it’s a 9-5 and 2 weeks a year :/

Thanks for reading,
Passion for Addiction


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Banff and Lake Louise - Christmas Break 2008
Tremblant - 2nd and 4th weekend of January; 1st weekend of February  2009
Swiss Alps - Spring Break 2009

Lake Tahoe?
Vermont?

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Late in the season, a common pastime among snowboarders is the infamous gaper hunt. After witnessing this activity in various places, I've been struggling with a very important question: what is the proper pronunciation of the word “gaper”. Everyone seems to have their own take on it and I'd like to take a little time to investigate the etymology of the word.

Conventional wisdom would have you look to a word's spelling to get an idea of how to pronounce it. Using this logic, the most obvious answer for the proper pronunciation is gey-per. If we look to the definition of a gaper, however, we're led to believe that the pronunciation doesn't follow standard english syntatical expectations.

The Urban Dictionary defines a gaper as:

... a skier or snowboarder who is completely clueless. Usually distinguished by bright colored clothes and a gaper gap -- the gap between the goggles and a helmet/hat. Gaper's are known to do the "Gaper Tuck" which is an attempt at being a ski racer by tucking, however, it is done incorrectly with the poles sticking straight up like thunderbolts and lightning, very very frightening! Gapers also sit at the bottom of jumps and try and go big off table tops in the park.

From this definition, we're led to believe that the term gaper has its roots in the description of the gap for which they are known. From this, one would assume that the correct pronunciation of the word is in fact gap-per. So the confusion is understandable when trying to figure out how to properly pronounce the term.

The Urban Dictionary, however, also provides another definition for the word GAPER as “an acronym that stand[s] for Guaranteed Accident Prone on Every Run.” This definition has no reference to the distinctive gaper gap which seems to be one of the roots of the word. If we rely on this definition, there is no need to break the rules of syntax and the word can be pronounced gey-per.

Gaper in Other Contexts

The word gaper also has meanings in other contexts. Wikipedia describes gapers as stone heads, often depicting a black man, located on the fronts of buildings in the Netherlands to indicate that these building are pharmacies. The gaper represents the assistant of the travelling apothecary who was the forefather of the modern pharmacist. This assistant would pretend to be a sick man only to miraculously feel better (and perform a dance) after taking the pill given to him by the apothecary. So in the Netherlands, the word Gaper is somewhat representative of a charlatan. This relates to the modern definition of the word since gaper's in ski resorts will often profess to a higher degree of skill than they actually have. This doesn't help in the search for the correct pronunciation of the word, however, since I don't speak the Dutch language.

The simplest definition of a gaper that I have found so far, is “a person or thing that gapes”¹. This definition actually provides a phonetic spelling for the word, which is in fact gey-per, as one would expect. This description also agrees with the more colloquial definition of the word as gapers are often seen in the middle of Whistler Village, in their rear-entry boot and neon one-piece glory, gaping at the scenery through the lense of a camera (that is when they aren't seen as a streak of neon laying down wide carves on the cat track).

The Verdict

Following this long and arduous Google search, I think the question of the pronunciation of the word gaper can finally be laid to rest. I motion that the correct pronunciation heretofore be gey-per; don't let anyone tell you otherwise. If they insist on pronouncing it gap-per, refer them to this study which should convince them that they are wrong-headed. Although this study cannot be considered complete by any stretch of the imagination, I'm pretty confident that it is the most in-depth investigation into the etymology of the word gaper that you'll be able to find (I'm not sure if that makes me sad or proud).

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Mt. Baker, WA – You thought it was over? Think again. With several feet of fresh these last few weeks, lifts running well into May, no crowds, full snowpack, and tons of daylight, frequency TSJ #6.3 drops just in time for those who ride beyond December. From Snowbird to A-Basin, to Whistler, to Tuckerman’s to Alpental: snowboarding continues in full force, and South America/New Zealand deep pow sessions are just around the corner.

With the stellar photography and strong writing that frequency TSJ readers have grown to expect, #6.3 features an amazing piece with freestyle legend Jeff Brushie by one of Snowboarder’s former editors Joel Muzzey, as well as photos from Bud Fawcett, Trevor Graves and others. From humble beginnings in New England to practically writing the book on modern halfpipe riding, Brushie reflects on his career, accomplishments and future. Senior Editor Colin Wiseman takes on the issue of snowboarding’s cost barriers and accessibility with a compelling case for municipal snowboard parks a la skateboard parks. With a lot of kids in snow-bound cities who can’t get afford $80 tickets, is it time we bring the hill to them? Mammoth native son and wunderkind Eric Jackson sits down with Senior Editor John Laing to talk about his rise through the ranks, escaping the contest circuit, and getting kicked off helicopters. China has, until now, largely been a presence in snowboarding mainly via manufacturing the gear and clothing we all utilize, contributor Lorenz Holden and Mr. Wiseman however, break down this emerging shred scene and take a look at a potential massive resort explosion. As if this all isn’t enough, premier photog Adam Clark takes us on an incredible tour of his photography throughout the years with his Gallerie section. Via gut-sucking descents by Jeremy Jones, Ash Christiansen, and amazing landscapes, Adam reminds us how truly incredible it all can be. 

Snowboarding: It’s not just for Christmas anymore.  

Keep your subscription up, subscribe new today, or consider a gift for a shredder you love. www.frequencysnowboarding.com.






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Hello Snowboard people, I hope you all are doing good and enjoying the Winter. I know it’s a long time since I posted my last blog but I have been so busy with school and snowboarding the last month. But I will blog more the next weeks, promise. Ok since my last Blog I have been to a lot of places with or without Snow... At the end of November, one week before the Air&Style in Munich I went to Köln, Germany with Isenseven for some Streetrail Riding, which was pretty tuff because it was so warm and we just had space to bring barely enough snow for inrun and landing from the Snow stadium in Neuss to the Rails Spots. Which made riding in the city more dirty and painful. But we had a lot of fun with our Friends for a few days. Thanks to the Carhartt boys, to let this all happen!!! At the end of our trip in Köln weh ad our last Isenseven „übermovie“ premiere in Germany, wich was a fun party with our fans. This nice boy Moritz, was so stoked to meet us that he even painted a picture for us with all our movie sponsors. After Köln and a few days school, my best friends Peter König, Marco smolla and me were riding at the Nokia Air & Style in Munich for the Rookie challenge. It was my 2nd year at the Air & Style and I can just say its the most amazeing snowboard Copetition I have ever been. Ist so much fun, noise and incredible snowboarding. Its hold in the Olympic soccer stadium in Munich which is an amazeing location. After the Event Marco and me had a signing session with our sponsor O2, where people could win our boards.. Check out www.isenseven.de for the Air&Style Video footage. After the Air & Style I had a lot to do for school and tried to film fort he Isenseven movie a few times but the snow conditions in Austria, Switzerland and Germany where so bad that we didn`t had much success. When vacations started I went home to my parents and family to spend Christmas with them and a few days of, which was very cool. After this I went to Garmisch Partenkirchen to spend „New Years“ with the Isenseven crew like every year and afterwards we straight went to Austria to find some snow and get some shots, which wasn’t too good because of the bad snow conditions. So we have hit a lot of handrails during this time. And I went to my Sponsor Vans, Park Opening in Mayrhofen, Zillertal Austria with Silvia Mittermüller. The Park is very great with a lot of small and big Jumps, Rails and Boxes for everybody and even a Halfpipe. You should checkl it out! After 2 weeks of family, new years and filming I had to go back to school and write a lot of exams, which took me almost a month of hardcore learning and just snowboarding on the weekends. But its my last year school, so I need to do a little bit more for it. Last weekend we even made an avalance course with a skilled guide in sölden with the whole Isenseven crew, it was very interesting and important for us when we go out filming in the backcountry. Next week I am going to New York and then drive up the whole East Coast of the USA for some urban riding with Michi Zirngibl Chris Patsch and a few other guys from Isenseven. We will stay in the USA for 3 weeks so I think I have to blog a lot of stuff afterwards.... I keep you posted. I wish you all a lot of snow, wherever you are!!! Tobi

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1st time riding w/ Ray!  How did we go this long w/o riding together???
Nice and sunny.  Cold to start the day, but it warmed up nice as the day went on.  More crowded as well, but that was on the main lift near the ticket window.
The Hero w/ brand new 07 CO2s.  Love those bindings.
Had to take a few breaks b/c Ray is out of shape HA HA.  He also had to mess around with his CO2s to get them dialed.
Did a little camera work with the helmet cam I got for Christmas.
Good shtuff.




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