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I’m not gonna lie, I don’t remember the entire weekend. But one thing I can say is there was a good group, great snow, and never a dull moment! I’ll try and piece it together...

I get up around 9:30 Friday, March 14^th. I grab a shower, eat a pancake and head out the door. I get to Al and Brien’s house around 10:00, Brien’s still in bed and Al’s out shopping for trip supplies (I got mine the day before.) Which consists mostly of Booze and Energy Drinks. So he gets back with Arby, his sister’s soon to be husband. (A little Fun Fact: He proposed to her at PowderKing on an Earlier trip that year.) So Judy and Arby take off to Grand Prairie to pick up supplies and Mike and Ray for the trip. So we load up the truck and head to Donnelly for lunch at Kan’s Corner. Than we go and pick up Amanda and the rest of our shi*t, which we forgot but remembered on our way to lunch. We out of town by 1. So we get to Rycroft, buy some snacks and huge cans of Monster, 710ml! Wicked! We’re between Dawson Creek and Chetwyne, we hit a Check-stop, just after we literally molested a hot chick and her good-looking mom, with a sign that reads "Call Me! 1-780-837-8869" (Brien’s Cell Number! LoL.) Luckily we don’t get messed with, but the cop acted like Brien stole the truck, checking his plate and his tires/rims. Why the tire? We’ll never know. So we get to P.K., and our A-Frame accomadations. We unload and Start Socializing. We start drinking as we check the place out and its wicked! A total party house! A drum set, 3 Guitars, and a Gas Fireplace and huge windows, with a wicked view of the mountains! So far there is 7 of us, Me, Al, Brien, Amanda, Jody, Arby, Mike and Little Ray, the youngest of the group, a cool 10 years young. So we start playing 31... with drinks. So I suck at drinking game, and I lose hard since the have turned to shots. By the last couple rounds I was doing 4, 6 and 8 shot hands. The last hand of the game, I lose, 8 shots, I say, "f*ck It" and Chug half a bottle of Cherry Whiskey and go to bed. But not before Matt and Guss show up. Matt drinks 2 thirds of a 26 of J.D. and then has a beer and Pukes a huge puddle. I fix the toilet for the third time and finally go to bed.

Al and I awake to Matt Bangin’ on the drums and yelling "Wake up a**holes!" Its 7:00 in the Morning! f*ck! And I’m as drunk as I was when I went to bed! So we roll out of bed around 8, and Matt’s still drunk too! Wicked! We all eat breakfast, suit up, and head out. Me, Matt, and Al jump on the back of Arby and Jody’s Jeep. We get a lot of smiles as we roll into the P.K. parking lot. So we get out lift tickets and head up the Mountain. We get to the top of the T-bar, me , Matt, and Al are going to hike to the summit, to our surprise everyone is coming, even little Ray and Jody! So we hike to the top. I don’t know if anyone elsa felt as light headed and as drunk as me and Matt from the night before but hell did that make a harsh hike! Our group breaks up into two groups. Mellow group consists of Arby, Judy, Ray, Guss, Amanda, and Brien. The Gnar group is Me, Matt, Al, and Mike. We ride the trees all the way back to the A-Frame for lunch. So we eat and Bullshi*t for a bit than header back out. We meet up with the rest of the group and shred the rest of the day? We end the day back at the A-Frame, and we invent a new drinking game called "Spin Draw" you pick a card, and if your is the lowest you have to take a shot, spin on a stool 10 times around fast, and take another shot. I got screwed in this game as usual. Pulling the most low cards, thus taking the most shots and rides on the stool. After my last shot I head outside to cool down and spit a lot. So I’m buzzin’ pretty good now, cooking stakes on the BBQ, when Arby says, "Lets go hit that roof, lets just go and session something." So after supper all us guys go out and build a jump, but its so dark by the time its ready, that no one sticks anything, except landing on there asses (Good thing I was wearing my butt-pads, and it was slightly powdered up.) So we head in and watch some footage from the day on the TV, have some beers before we call it a night.

So we get up the next day, eat breakie, get geared up and head out the door. We jump on the back of the jeep again for the ride to the hill. So we go to the top of the T- bar and ride down to Satisfaction and have a beer for the trip like usual tradition. Than we ride the day, I’ve been filming most of the time with my Goggle-Cam, and got some rad footage of jumps and Tree-riding (2 GB worth! Probley only 10 minuets after editing.) The day ends with everyone back at the A-Frame having drinks, packing up, and watching the days footage. We all load into our Vehicles after saying our goodbyes and make our trips back home...

Wow, I remember quiet a bit! A damn good trip, with some damn fun people. I’m going back again, next chance I get!

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 I had to get up around 4:30 to pack for three hour trip to Mt. Hood. My friends drove in around 5 to pick us up and then hit the road. The morning forecast was cloudy and mild. The other day I bought reflective lense and new beanie so I am as stoked as ever. Speaking of lense and beanie, we got to Hood around 8 as we paused for view of beautiful Mt. Hood above clouds and as we got closer, the weather was not as cloudy and mostly sunny. As everybody in van exchanged words for how humongous Hood is and snow coverage. Pulled into parking lot which was half full then put on the gear as we take deep breath of thin fresh mountain air. It was quite chilly. Everybody was done gearing up and headed to Wyatt East Lodge to stretch our bodies then to Magic Mile Ticket Center to buy tickets. Hit up the slopes afterwards. The first two warmup runs went really well because the snow was mushy. My friends did most runs through terrain park but I spent time shredding slushy snow down Palmer Snowfield to tune up for possible boardercross competitions next winter. All I did was work on speed and turning no matter how the terrain is like. Music is another thing to help me get in flow of riding. The Swedish band "The Knife" had me getting the adrenaline going. I started to get more comfortable with the snow conditions since it's not groomed but I got used to it anyways. Snowbunnies, music, slushy snow were the three things in my mind when it comes to riding in typical summer day which made me a day. Speaking of doing runs...I noticed the summer camp on private terrain. Kids and teenagers came in from as far as Japan, Europe, Nova Scotia. The female skier from Nova Scotia who was in line for lift passed by me giving contact even she couldn't tell that I was making contact too cuz of my reflective lens. I was starting to get the vibe feel of the atmosphere here at Hood. I kept getting more hyped as I grab more runs. I was killing every run better and better with The Knife beat. As hours passed by...my body was running dry due to elevation effect. I took break and headed to Timberline lodge to grab water then headed back for couple runs before it closed down. It was one of my best days of riding this year. I want to go back again. At end of day...I said praise to the three climbers who had their lives taken by horrible winter storm in December. God bless them and bless the mountain for what God has created. Let it be and respect the mountain. Justin

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Directions from Fernie

Oh and if you get lost... just follow the “St. Peters Bible Camp” signs.

No...really... I’m serious.

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DONNER SKI RANCH, CA

For some of you young bucks out there, you have no idea of who the original pioneers are in our wonderful sport of snowboarding.  There was a time with no parks or half pipes that were sculpted to perfection. Also, back in the day the rivalry between snowboarders and the skiing right wing Reich was at an all time high.  Well today was a step back in time where Sorels, duct tape, leashes, neon, flannels and a f--- you attitude reigned supreme. 

Pioneers in attendance:

• Mike Chantry
• Bob Klein
• Terry Kidwell
• Tom Burt
• Jeff Brushie
• Chris Roach
• Monty Roach
• Mike Basich
• Pauly Johansen
• Temple Cummins
• Barret Christy
• Shawn Farmer
• Andy Hetzel
• Tim Manning
• Pat Bridges
• And many more

Andy Finch gave me a buzz around 10 am and asked me if wanted to roll with him up to the Ranch and watch the event.  I gladly accepted, as I wanted to witness what the old dogs still had in their bag of tricks.  Donner Ski Ranch was refuge for snowboarders who were not allowed on the hill at the corporate resorts in Tahoe in the early days.  I can remember how many photographs graced the pages of Snowboarding and Snowboarder all taken at the Ranch.  All those pioneers and early shots were what got my original stoke going and hasn’t stopped.  Visiting the Ranch to this day is still like a step back in time.  No high-speed quads, no fancy day lodge and no overpriced gas guzzling yuppie bay area mobiles in the parking lot.  Just ear–to-ear smiles and a good vibe.

That good vibe resonated through the competitors as you could tell they were all having a good time.  The contest setup was pure as apple pie, a knee-high highway half pipe.  In 1987 I would have been stoked to ride something like that at my local mountain, where a half pipe to this day still doesn’t exist.  Watching my old heroes get loose out of that ditch felt like being 14 years old all over again.  Brushie and the Roaches still have that skate style influence that snowboarders have adapted into their own.  I’ve never seen tom Burt grab that much in one run.  Hetzel still has skills pulling back-to-back fives.  Tim Manning was boosting his old stiff-ass Gnu.  Mike Basich was getting it real loose and keeping it real with some laid out back flips and tweaked methods.  The cool thing was, all those guys had big old grins on their faces and lots of high fives were going down.  Lets also remember that all of their boards we old school.  A few of the boards didn’t even have edges or high-backs.  Also, there wasn’t any side-cut on those bad boys as well.  There was a little hoopla between the guys because Brushie did have the most recent board and his stance did go wider than 17 inches!  Yeah, 17 inches and that’s all you could get back then. 

Finch and I were so fired up that we had to take a couple of runs on Bob Klein’s Terry Kidwell pro model Apocalypse.  What a good time!  I forgot how much you have to slide those old boards around and really give it more of a surf style.  Bob’s board was setup for goofy and I had to ride that thing Fakie.  Yup, fakie not switch as the lingo has evolved.  Switchstace frontside 180?  Isn’t that a frontside cab? 

The contest went down in Jam format for 30 minutes and in the end it was the Hetzel with the win, Chris roach in 2nd and Brushie in 3rd.  All the riders pitched in 20 bucks and the winner took all the cash.  Hetzel walked away with 500 bucks and said “Not bad for and old washed up snowboarder”.

If you want to see some legends and how it was done back then, come on out next year.

Eric

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