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Another event for Porters has come and gone but the Burton movie stop in Reno at The Underground will not be forgotten.

On Saturday night there were two showings of Burton's "It's Always Snowing Somewhere", a kiddie show at 7:30 with an autograph signing with Burton team riders, Mason Agguire, Danny Davis, Jussi Oksanen, Heikki Sorsa and Kelly Clark. The kiddies that showed up were totally stoked and walked out of The Underground with huge smiles and a bag of sweet swag.

The doors reopened at 9pm and the 21+ showing was under way. The night kicked off with Shawn Farmer's band Hunks of Metal rocking the roof off. Then our IT guy Josh Hall's band, Cohesion took the stage and threw down one of the tightest sets I have ever heard them play..... you guys rocked! Then the screen dropped down again and the second showing of Burton's "It's Always Snowing Somewhere" was off an running. As it was playing I was working the door... wait I worked the door most of the night, but I digress then the Supersucker fans started to pour in. Most had tickets but many had to pay at the door and when I told them it was $4.99 to get in they were super stoked. Corona was on hand as well supplying FREE Corona to the Porters crew and Burton team riders, as you would probably guess the free beer went fast. As soon as the movie was finished Eddie Spaghetti and the rest of the Supersuckers took the stage and I told the bouncer to let everyone else in for free because I wanted to rock. As always the Supersuckers played a rockin' set, they never disappoint me.

After the Supersuckers finished up their set the crowd thinned as it was like 1:30 am. For those that stuck around they were rewarded with some high strung punk rock from The Dirty Rigs and Anti Panti. Then the bar emptied and I went back to work... taking down banners, stickers and tents. I hope everybody that came out had a freaking awesome time, I know Chris Wilmouth did. Thanks to everyone that helped Trevor and myself, much appreciated.

  http://www.porterstahoe.com

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Holy crap.. Did you see that Party Snake teaser yet? If so there's really only been two responses. 1. You loved it and can't wait to see more or 2. You hated it and wish it would die. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground on this on. Check out some of the comments I found on the Gnarcore site.

I'm still waiting on a revised teaser before I post it directly in the furious blog but you can check the rough version out on the Gnarcore site or find it on FB. There's some pretty funny comments there too:

39 Comments:

Sarah Ann Thoms (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 8:47pm on September 6th, 2008
sick sick sick sick sick sick sick sick sick sick sick sick sick sick

Justin Van Der Poelen (Ottawa, ON) wrote
at 8:59pm on September 6th, 2008
looks sick boys!

Jeff Keenan (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 9:32pm on September 6th, 2008
f*ckING shi*t........

Danny Koriath (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 10:05pm on September 6th, 2008
a**holes

Christopher Robert Miller (Emily Carr) wrote
at 11:18pm on September 6th, 2008
f*ckyeah.

Dave Cashen (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 12:02am on September 7th, 2008
Killer Boots!

Andrew Prost (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 12:15am on September 7th, 2008
f*ckya

Kenneth Micheal Edwards wrote
at 12:21am on September 7th, 2008
lookin sweet can't wait to see it

Alex Watt (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 1:11am on September 7th, 2008
I love it...Aww i miss you boys,., cant wait till im back near the hill.. lets hit up whis .. come visit ill be moving there in 2 months!!!!

Troy Erickson wrote
at 1:59am on September 7th, 2008
a.k.a...skids 5?

Raymond Bishop (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 10:31am on September 7th, 2008
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

Max Honegger (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 10:42am on September 7th, 2008
this is AMAZING! MOST ANTICIPATED SNOWBOARD FILM EVER!

Thomas Richards (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 11:03am on September 7th, 2008
hahaha. Yeah! this is siiiick. Im hyped to see the rest

Alex Ploughman (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 1:05pm on September 7th, 2008
so stoked

Mike Rutter (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 4:08pm on September 7th, 2008
yeeeaaa!

Chad Erik Iverson (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 5:19pm on September 7th, 2008
i'm excited/scared for my life....for the premiere...

Laura McIsaac (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 6:12pm on September 7th, 2008
too good

Damon Pyett wrote
at 7:16pm on September 7th, 2008
um oh jeez.

Lee Pipes (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 10:22pm on September 7th, 2008
Hey Damon, we're tryin' to promote a clean video for the kids.. We would appreciate you not using the lords name in vein, thanks.

Ian Campbell Cymet (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 10:38pm on September 7th, 2008
whens the premeir?

Michael Warhurst (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 11:02pm on September 7th, 2008
wheres da tittys

David Frederick (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 11:52pm on September 7th, 2008
i don't know what to say!?!?!? UNREAL!!

Andrew Heneghan (Simon Fraser) wrote
at 7:40am on September 8th, 2008
tease of the century
killah

Mark Brophy (Memorial University) wrote
at 11:14am on September 8th, 2008
f*ck this is so rad.

Matt Standish (Simon Fraser) wrote
at 2:11pm on September 8th, 2008
such a stripper song

Marc-antoine Duguay wrote
at 5:40pm on September 8th, 2008
so neff!!!

Geoff Stinson (Alpha Secondary School) wrote
at 9:03pm on September 8th, 2008
wildercats?

Chris Halindy wrote
at 10:22pm on September 8th, 2008
f*ckING SICK JESUS CHRIST
!

Nick Doucette (Seycove Secondary School) wrote
at 11:17pm on September 8th, 2008
i have a hard on for this up comin season

Pat O (Holy Heart Of Mary High) wrote
at 5:34am on September 9th, 2008
wow.

Melanie Prokop wrote
at 3:50pm on September 9th, 2008
RAG GNAR!

Mikey Luke (St. John's, NL) wrote
at 3:50pm on September 9th, 2008
Holy shi*t f*ck superstar......loves dem GT backflips!!! Woooooooooo

Clint Omelaniec (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 1:22pm yesterday
'bout time.

greasin.

Tia Skye Alexandra Iverson (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 5:55pm yesterday
oh dear god...
this shi*t is out of control!

Andrew Mark Geeves wrote
at 6:19pm yesterday
how do i get a snakebullet board ?

Andrew Mark Geeves wrote
at 6:19pm yesterday
where** not how.

Adam Balon (Saskatoon, SK) wrote
at 8:28pm yesterday
wicked.

David Douglass Brocklebank (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 7:02am
D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-DAMN.

Matthew Godard (Vancouver, BC) wrote
at 10:16am
f*ckin unreal....free poor Growers in the snow cave!!

DVD art's in the works. Here's some rough Idea's.



I forgot about this, Its an oldie but a goody!



Oh Yeah Zeddy's B-day is at Joey's up on Granville this Friday. Contact Dave@iseyewear.com to RSVP

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Today saw the second day of the Burton Australian Open go down at Perisher Blue Resort, where men’s and women’s halfpipe qualifications took place. Athletes from all over the world were vying for a coveted spot in Thursday’s semi-finals and a chance to grab a piece of the $50,000 AUD prize purse.

The men were first to drop into the pipe this morning under cloudy skies, where 14 men were boiled down to six. Sage Kotsenburg (USA) took the top spot in men’s halfpipe qualifications by putting down a solid run that started off with a frontside 900 melon into a backside 540 mute, followed by a frontside 720 indy, into a switch frontside 720 mute, finishing with a stylish melon to fakie. Aussies Scotty James, Samuel Murphy and Charlie Steinbacher, in addition to Chris Sörman (POL) and Marco Grilc (SLO) advance on and will be competing against invited riders Mason Aguirre (USA), Danny Davis (USA) and Kevin Pearce (USA), among others.

1 Sage Kotsenburg USA QUIKSILVER 90.00
2 Chris Sörman SWE BURTON 85.17
3 Marko Grilc SLO BURTON 80.17
4 Scott James AUS --- 74.50
5 Samuel Murphy AUS --- 73.67
6 Charlie Steinbacher AUS FORUM 55.67

The women’s field was dominated by Paulina Ligocka (POL) who stuck an extremely strong run, outscoring her nearest competitor by over 20 points. Ligocka, riding in her first competition after an injury set her back last year, proved that she is still a force to be reckoned with. Her second run, which scored her a massive 89.17 points, started off with lofty frontside air, followed by a method air, into a 540 tailgrab, followed by a backside indy, finishing with a 720.

Joining Ligocka will be two Aussies, Erin Tanner and Lauren Staveley who advance on to Thursday’s semis and will take on the likes of NZO halfpipe winner Jamie Anderson (USA) and Olympic gold medalist, Hannah Teter (USA).

“The men and women’s halfpipe qualifiers showed a glimmer of brilliance with the inspired riding of Sage Kotsenburg of the US and young Scott James of Australia leading the way,” said Competition Director, Greg Johnson. “Paulina Ligocka showed that she is back in a big way by locking in the top spot, truly an outstanding effort.”

1 Paulina Ligocka POL BURTON 89.17
2 Erin Tanner AUS BILLABONG 68.33
3 Lauren Staveley AUS --- 47.83

The Burton Australian Open continues tomorrow with the men’s and women’s slopestyle qualifiers. For further information visit www.opensnowboarding.com.

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’ve never been exposed to military life, and I’ve certainly never been in a combat zone - until last week.



I spent a good part of my summer vacation in Afghanistan. Danny Kass, Grete Elliassen, and I spent 10 days in the Middle East, visiting our troops on an "X Games themed meet and greet." Our mission was simple: boost moral. If you’ve ever hung out with Danny, Grete, or I you’d know not only did we accomplish our mission, we went above and beyond the call of duty. It was a small sacrifice compared to what the servicemen and women of the Armed Forces are doing for our great nation.

I went over to Afghanistan with an open mind, to see first hand what was going on and how the troops were doing. I came back humbled and with a true understanding of sacrifice. I mean, I know how trying “the road” can be, but giving yourself for 15 months of your life, away from family and friends, is one hell of a sacrifice and a test of a true patriot in my book.

Our Middle East tour started in Qatar, a small but very wealthy country on the Persian Gulf just off of Saudi Arabia.

Qatar is the hottest place I’ve ever been to - including the sauna at your local health club. The temperatures ranged from 120 degrees during the mid-day heat, and would drop to around 90 degrees at night. Needless to say, we spent the majority of our time in doors soaking up every ounce of air conditioning we could before bolting to an air-conditioned car, and off to the next air-conditioned building.

Other than the heat being almost unbearable, the troops were amazing. The base in Qatar isn’t only a fully-functioning military base, it’s also a rest and relaxation base for solders to get out of the combat zones in Iraq or Afghanistan for four days every six months. This was their R&R time. The feeling in Qatar was pretty light hearted. The solders were allowed three beers a day, which loosened them up enough for Danny to olli four of them laying down - including Col. Cotter on his skateboard.



From Qatar we boarded a C130 military plane flight into Afghanistan. Once we arrived in Afghani air space the plane blacked out completely into the night sky. A young soldier with a thick Kentucky accent leaned over and said, “We're going to drop in fast, they have a tendency to try and shoot these things down.” That’s when the realization that I was in a war zone fully hit me.

He was right, too, the C130 plane dropped like a rock out of the night sky from about 20-30 thousand feet up to the runway below. A “combat landing” is one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced. My face was glued to the window praying I didn’t see a rocked fire out of one of the many clusters of lights seen below. Thankfully nothing “exciting” as another soldier put it happened.



Once we were “safely” in Afghanistan, Grete fell ill with salmonella poisoning. She was hospitalized and our tour was put into a holding pattern. Not only would Danny and I visit Grete in the Afghanistan Hospitals but we ventured around a met most of the Doctors, Nurses, Staff, and of course the injured and sick. Carmen our guide practically lived at the bedside of Grete, what a guide! My experiences of Hospitals are that they always have an eerie feeling to them, and this one was no exception. My heart sank as we toured room after room. Everyone had a different story to tell why they were there. A group of local Men were all smiles getting routine check ups, so they were able to get a job on base. Then there was an American Soldier awaiting hand surgery after his armored vehicle was rolled during a roadside attack. The most disturbing was by far the small children. One little girl lost her leg from an old Russian land mind, and in the very next room a little boy laid out dressed in bandages healing burns from an explosion. Experiences like these are reinsuring my thoughts and wishes to have peace on earth.



Danny and I carried on and entertained ourselves by exploring the rest of the base. While checking out the base we met a group of armored truck guys who called themselves “The Reapers”. These guys were cool as hell and had story after story to tell Danny and I about their life in the military and their tour in Afghanistan.
While hanging with The Reapers I felt safe - these guys were the bad asses on the front lines. They gave Danny and I a full tour of their armored vehicle, including sitting in the gunner’s chair. Spinning around in that chair armed with a 50 cal and a grenade launcher was quite a feeling.

Grete wasn’t getting any better after a couple of days so Danny and I left her and our tour guide Carmen behind as we ventured to a FOB (Forward Operating Base) named Solerno - better know as Rocket City.

While in Rocket City, the Air Calvary gave us a tour of the Heli pad holding Blackhawks, Apaches, and a smaller surveillance chopper. We took shooting lessons from a sniper and visited an artillery group of guys who are responsible for shooting back at the Taliban after Rocket City is attacked by, well, rockets. Danny and I were reminded that we were at a FOB nicknamed Rocket City at about 2 am by our guide McKnight. I was abruptly awoken my McKnight’s deep voice saying, “come on, get your sh*# on, get your sh*# on, we got to get to the hard building.” I looked over at Danny while he was throwing his bulletproof vest and helmet on and started to do the same.



We all grabbed our blanket and pillow and ran across the street to the hard building, aka a bunker. It was thought that we may be getting attacked by rockets that night so we all spent the night tossing and turning on the concrete floor wearing bullet proof vests and Kevlar helmets. Let me tell you that was one hell of a night. Let’s just say I wasn’t missing my flight out of Rocket City.



After our Rocket City adventures Danny, aka Afghan Dan, and I met back up with Grete and Carmen, did one last signing in Afghanistan and started our trip back home.



Although our trip was short and sweet, I think I got a pretty basic taste of military life in a war torn country. The highs of hanging out with the gung-ho soldiers and their weapons, to the lows of visiting a four year old girl who lost a leg from a land mine are just two extreme emotions I felt in just one week.

Again my hat goes off to the servicemen and women who sacrifice so much to protect this great country we all love.

www.porterstahoe.com


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So, I'm finally back home from my trip, and my sleeping patterns are completely shot.
I went back 7 hours, so the time change screwed me up even more!

You should have seen my cat when I walked through the door.
He stared at me, then attacked my leg. After about 5 minutes of him clung to my leg, he finally realized it was me. (Spazz)

My bunny was just like, "oooh, people, PET ME!"

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Check out the nice parallel turns this skier is ripping....right down beside the jump. Makes you want to get into some stretchies and go for a wiggle. Nice one Danny.....and a few coldies to end the day no less.




Heh learn how to do a cab7 won't you?




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 Self Portrait - Grouse Mountain

 

Full name:
Gonzalo Tudela (AKA Gonzo)

Equipment:
Canon 1D Mark II N
Canon 1VHS
EF 15mm F2.8 Fisheye
EF 17-40mm F4L
EF 50mm F1.8
EF 70-200mm F2.8L
3x Vivitar 285HV
2003 Skidoo Summit 800

What are some career high lights for you?
Every time I get out into the backcountry a feeling of Euphoria overcomes me.  The hour or so it usually takes to get to the alpine with the constant “braaaaaaaap” from a sled is actually quite calming.  I rather throw in ear plugs than headphones.

Who do you enjoy working most with?
I think I enjoy shooting the most with one of my best friends Aaron Shapiro.  He reminds me of a Tom Penny for snowboarding.  Basically, whenever I’m out shooting with him, he’s just riding, and you can see it on his face.  Whether he’s in front of a camera on a bluebird day or in front of me doing pow slashes in fog, he’s not out to prove anything, he’s out to have fun.  If you watch his style, you’ll see what I’m talking about.  It’s like he uses the mountain as a skate park, and just destroys it every time.  9 times out of 10, I’ll be ripping around with him and he’ll do something that’ll blow my mind and I’ll say “Give me an hour to go home and get my camera gear so we can shoot that”.

What are some the challenges you find working with snowboarding instead of a studio?
My fingers get really cold, and I mean really cold.  That and changing angles is usually a lot tougher than people imagine.  Sometimes you have scale the side of a mountain that could take over an hour just to get a certain viewpoint.  Half a dozen times it doesn’t work out.  One thing I’ve learned is that you want to shoot your wide angle shots 2nd, and your telephotos first.  That way, there are no foot prints around the jumps from you walking around trying to find the right spot.

What are your favourite magazines?
Magazine’s are really a funny thing with me.  I have a subscription to snowboarder, I buy every issue of SBC off the shelves (from a local snowboard shop to support them), and I usually buy some issues of Future, Transworld, and Snowboard Mag when I’m shopping for groceries.  Truth be told, I never really read any of them.  I’m really weird that way, I have over 300 magazines, some dating back to the 90’s, but I’ve maybe read like 10% of them?  I usually use them for the eye candy.  I flip through them a few times and pick out the photos I like.  Remember them, and file the magazines away for a rainy day.
Images speak louder than words in my head, and technique plays a huge part in my mind.  9 times out of 10 when I see a photo I like, whether it’s technically sound or creatively genius, I go straight to the photographer credits to see who it is.  It’s kind of funny; most snowboarders can pick out a rider from their sponsors and their style.  I can pick out some photographers based on their lighting and composition.  There are the seasoned vets who absolutely kill it with every photo like “Yup, that’s a Zapalac photo”.

Myrosha Daley - Hemlock Valley Resort

 

Who do you think are the best photographers from last year?
There are so many that have, and will always stick out in my mind, whether or not they shoot snowboarding is another thing.  Here they are in no particular order:
Ian Ruther, Tim Zimmerman, Jordan Manley, Crispin Canon, Jon Scarth, Danny Zapalac, Andy Wright, Jeff Curtes, Kevin Zacher, Dorothea Lange, Cole Barash, Colin Adair, Blotto, Jess Mooney, Oli Gagnon, Jordana Meilleur, Russel Brown, Dano Pendygrasse, Dice K Maru, Scott Serfas, Ansel Adams, David Lachapelle, Annie Lebovitz, Charles Garcia, Owen, Jimmy Greeley, Jon Kirby.  There are some not mentioned, but that’s because I can’t brain fart them all out at once. 

What started you in photography?
My friend Mike from elementary school bought a Yashica FM SLR and I was fascinated by the split focus screen.  It just boggled my mind on how the damn thing worked.  So, after playing with focus for a solid 4 hours (with no film in there) I forgot about cameras for a good 2 years.  Then one summer I made friends with this crazy Mexican who was in town with his family for a month.  Their parents bought a new camera, and gave me their old one. (a nice wall mart special point and shoot).  I began shooting wall mart film on this point and shoot of me and my friends skating.  That phased out after I ran out of money.  I mean, for a 10 year old kid, $10 a roll with processing wasn’t really worth 24 photos.
So high school came along, and I made friends with a guy named Eric, and one day he showed me his Grandpa’s old camera.  And that’s what did it.  After I picked up that Minolta X-GM with a split focus screen, all I wanted to do was take pictures with it.  So, after a $200 shutter repair to the camera, I borrowed it for about 2 years and made every mistake you could possibly make with an SLR.  I then went back to my friend Mike to get some help and learned a few things, and borrowed his flash for a solid 6 years.  I finally gave the camera back to Eric and went out to buy my very first digital SLR, a Canon 20D.

What was the moment that made you decide that you wanted to take photos of snowboarders as a career choice?
The very first time I sent a photo to Colin Adair.  He was the nicest dude I had ever dealt with, and after I sent him a preview jpg, he asked for the RAW right away.  I sent it to him and kept pressing the refresh button for like 30 minutes until I heard back from him.  I got word they were going to run the shot in the upcoming issue.  But 2 weeks later, I got an email saying it wasn’t going to run, but that he wanted to see more in the future.  It didn’t matter to me that they weren’t going to run it, the only thing that mattered was that someone actually kind of liked a photo of mine.  It became my mission to impress this dude who worked at SBC.
Later on that year I get an invite email to the 24/36, and decided to do it.  When I picked up the roll of film and stuck it in my camera I had decided that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.  I have an extreme obsession over snowboarding and love for photography that this just seemed to be the right thing to do.

What's a perfect working day for you?
Having a Leica rangefinder with 3 rolls of TMAX 3200 in my pocket shredding pow with some close friends.  But I have to go buy a Leica first…

What is a favourite photo of yours that has not been published?  What's the story behind it?
The shot of Myrosha Daley I have here on Mount Seymour.  I just like how everything is in the red/orange hue and you can see the oil tankers in the Burrard Inlet.  It’s one of those things that everything was going wrong that day, and my flash kept mis-firing.  I crossed my fingers and told Myrosha to drop in.

Myrosha Daley - Mount Seymour

What is one of your favourite photos in general?  What's the story behind it?
Probably my favorite photo of all time is a photo done by Dorothea Lange called “White Angel Bread Line”.  It’s a photo taken in 1932 during the depression era near her studio in San Francisco.  There was a wealthy woman known as “White Angel” who set up a breadline to help cope with the 14 million unemployed in the country.  The photo is very simple, yet extremely powerful and has always stuck out in my mind that there are people less fortunate out there, and that I have to live my life to the fullest and be thankful for everything I have and work for.  Here’s a link for the photo: http://www.gtphoto.ca/whiteangel.jpg

Your name is not too common, do you find you get a lot of different reactions from people?
Oh ya.  Tons of people never believe me when I say “Hey, I’m Gonzo”.  They think I’m making up some nick name or trying to avoid telling them my real name.  Sometimes, when I’m really lucky, chicks dig the name.  They think it’s cool and hot, two things I definitely lack.  There is a disadvantage though.  Everyone remembers your name, and it’s hard to remember all the Jons and Nicks out there.  Usually I remember someone by their face, and not their name.

Shout outs?
I hate shout outs.

Aaron Shapiro - Grouse Mountain

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Totally fun, I was expecting a little more fresh snow, but what can ya do.


Picked up my pass...  So if your heading to keystone or A-Basin, or you would like to, let me know!


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By Wang Don & Photos by Lorenz Holder

  

When most people think about China, they imagine Kung Fu, The Great Wall, poverty and communism.  Where these things still make an appearance in our daily lives every so often over here, the new face of China has changed.  In an economy that is flourishing, not only are most snowboards now produced here, but also the sport itself is finding is feet in what turns out to be the new snowboard market that has the most potential in the world.
 

Just a few short years ago, the population of in China had never even heard of snowboarding (or skiing for that matter), but thanks to Steve Zdarsky and his event The Nanshan Open things are changing.  Nowadays just outside of Beijing you can find 14 ski areas, one of which is Nanshan, the host of the only international snowboard event and the resort which boasts The Nokia Nanshan Mellow Park, the best freestyle area in the country.  With the first and largest event in China, The Nanshan Open with only 6 years behind it is now a 4 star TTR event and has a prize purse of $25,000 US Dollars.  But, things were not always so glamorous…

Austin Smith, frontside 5.

“The Chinese people remind me of the early 90’s when snowboarding just   started. There is a buzz around it, like the good old days. Nothing but positive passion for this great shredding activity. I’m looking forward to experiencing this wild country once again." -Marc Andre Tarte”

Tadej Valentan with another front 5.

The Open was born when a handful of riders, mostly foreigners living in China, got together in the small but first park on Chinese soil.  The day was reminiscent of those homegrown events that took place twenty years ago in the west, but no one could imagine the potential. For an event to find such success in such a short time in a country that didn’t event have distributors of snowboard goods until a short time ago has never been done before.  And with International media attention, top-level riders in attendance and sponsors such as Red Bull, Quiksilver and Gibson Guitars, the Nanshan Open is putting Chinese snowboarding on the map.

 

The Nanshan Open has single-handedly driven the progression of snowboarding from a newborn infant to a teenager in the Peoples Republic.  The snowboard scene has by no means reached its potential, but when you witness the Nanshan Open you would never believe that this is Chinese snowboarding.  With Chinese riders competing head to head with international pros, musical acts on stage that are famous nationwide, and video productions like Mack Dawg and The Pirates on hand to catch all the action, its like you were magically taken back to the west for these tow days.

    Atsushi Ishikawa pleasing the crowd.

The park, which was expanded in 2006 by relocating 30,000 cubic meters of earth, is now the only international standard area of its kind in the country. Hosting top riders such as Hampus Mossesson, Marc Andre Tarte, Kier Dillon and Danny Davis, The Nokia Nanshan Mellow Park is an integral part of The Open.  Without the hard work of Steve and his crew of local top riders, the Chinese snowboard scene would sill be unheard of….

 

The Nanshan Open takes place this January 5^th and 6^th at The Nokia Nanshan Mellow Park, 20 mins outside Beijing, China. 

 

For more information, please visit www.mellowparks.cn or stay tuned to www.snowboard.com for future updates!



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So this weekend I got to trek down to VT.  I got an invite to Jake Carpenter's annual fall bash, which this year just happened to fall on his birthday.  So my bro and I head down a day early to hang out with JG at the Burton headquarters.  I'm not sure what I was expecting really but what I got was so much better!!  The lucky buggers that work there have a small half pipe and bowl in the back yard!!!!  SO awesome.  Got to see my bro kill it in the bowl alongside some of Burton's pros... like Terje Haakonsen and Danny Davis... and some super cool employees.

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