Ride Vermont Cabot/Burton Contest

Ride Vermont has teamed up with Burton and Cabot to give away a pretty sweeet plaid Burton Custom board. It's safe to say I really want this board. To enter the contest, you have to write a poem using the words Cabot, Spring, Vermont, and Burton. Hopefully, my effort is good enough to win.



Is it not spring in Vermont?
Why is it 80 degrees?
All the snow has been shredded,
Like Extra Sharp Cabot cheese.

I guess I'll hang up my board,
And get some boots for hiking.
Though a plaid Burton Custom
Would sure be to my liking.

Laundromat Thoughts

Some things crossing my mind as I sit here waiting for my laundry to be done:

1. As I walked in, some guy was talking to some woman, who must be the owner. I pour in my detergent, and as I do he says to her, just loud enough for me to hear, "I have quarter of 7, are you okay with people coming in?" Well, the sign says last wash at 7, close at 8. It's 6:45. Yes, she is okay with people coming in, you passive aggressive dick.
2. The couple in here smells like cat urine. They put on a show about NASCAR. They mumble everything they say. I'm gonna go ahead and stereotype here, and guess they live in a trailer.
3. This must be the laundromat the hotel uses, since the same woman is always in here washing sheets. Good to know the sheets get washed. Sad to know they use a public laundromat.
4. There are 16 dryers here. 6 of them are broken. This is very frustrating when aforementioned woman is trying to wash the sheets for an entire hotel.
5. Free wireless is good wireless.
6. The laundromat is oddly relaxing. Not the washing/folding, but the sitting here not thinking "I should be more productive" since, technically, I am being productive.

Doin' Big Things

Sadly, the riding season is coming to an end soon (Okemo closing tomorrow, 4/9; Killington shooting for May 2, but I don't see that happening). So, I now need things to do. Here are a couple things I have planned so far; if anyone has an idea of what to do in a snowboarding town in the summer, share them in the comments.

1. Run/Bike/Hike - this is a big one. I need to stay in shape, and my apartment is too small to work out in much. I also hate running, and my body rejects it. I also want to get a bike as cheaply as possible, and get to riding around and see the scenery. If anyone can help me there, let me know. The hiking around here is pretty good too from what I hear, so I definitely plan on going for more than a few hikes. It'll also be great to get outside and away from the apartment.
2. Season change stop motion video - so here's the plan. Every day possible, I plan on going to the same spot at as close to the same time as I can get. I will take a picture from the same angle, using the same settings on my camera. I plan on shooting by one of the lakes, that way I can catch the ice as it forms and melts, as well as the trees blooming in the spring and changing in the fall. I also want to capture the sky, to show the weather and movement of clouds and fronts. This is probably not an original idea, but I think it'll be pretty cool to see the end result of my own version.
3. Make T-shirts - this is something I've wanted to do for awhile now, and I think I'll finally have time to figure out how to get it done. I want to do my own screen printing
4. Learn website design - this is something I've tried before and failed miserably at. There were a couple factors involved in that, and most of those are gone now. First up, redesigning this blog. Also I want to write more consistently. The redesign could take awhile, but I'd like to get it done by summer. The writing more consistently will hopefully (for me, not necessarily for whoever stumbles across this) start now.
5. Learn to consistently ollie - I snowboard. It's embarrassing that I can't do a simple ollie on a skateboard anytime I want. Simply. Embarrassing.

2010 Burton US Open Complete Albums

I finally got all the pictures from the Open up:

2010 Burton US Open

2010 Burton US Open

The 2010 Burton US Open at Stratton was Saturday March 20th and even a Shaun White no show (he says he was sick, I heard around the comp that he didn't like the snow after his practice session the day before) couldn't put a damper on the day. The weather was gorgeous (hello sunburn) and the runs thrown down were insane. Watching a double cork on TV is one thing - seeing it in person is a whole different experience. Seeing three in a row? I'll let the pics tell the story.

Men's Halfpipe Results

1) Kazuhiro Kokubo - JPN - 97.17

2) Louie Vito - USA - 96.17

3) Iouri Podladtchikov - SUI - 96

Needless to say, with scores like that this competition was out of control. I honestly think the runs here were better than what was at the Olympics. When guys like Scotty Lago and overall Burton Global Open Series champion Peetu Piiroinen don't make the podium, you know it was sick.

Women's Halfpipe Results

1) Kelly Clark - USA - 94.17

2) Kaitlyn Farrington - USA - 90.33

3) Ellery Hollingsworth - USA - 86.33

The American women went huge to sweep the podium - Kelly Clark even tried for the first 1080 in women's pipe history on her victory lap, but couldn't nail it. I have a feeling it won't be long before that's a staple in her run.

Now, on to the pics...

Yep, Paul Mitchell is a sponsor - thanks again for participating, Shaun

End of the slope style course - cannon off the end of the edge of the Earth

Lago

Dude's about to land in the parking lot

Peetu wayyy up there

If you weren't upside down, you just weren't cool

Even security was like daaaayuhhhhm

Boostin

The two best dressed guys at the Open

The full album of pics will be up soon, probably tomorrow night. Here are the rest of the 2010 Burton US Open results.

Okemo Light the Night Rail Jam Video

As promised, here is a video from the Amp/Okemo Light the Night Rail Jam:

Great weekend this past weekend - some friends came up and it couldn't have been a better time. Conditions were great, and one of my friends who started riding this year graduated to the big kid lift - apparently lessons do work! I'll be heading back to Jersey Thursday for the wedding of a couple friends on Friday, then hitting AC for the first time since my going away party Saturday. I can't wait, I've missed that place (and South Jerz in general) way more than I thought I would. I also got a real camera, so hopefully I'll be coming back with some good pictures and even better stories to go with them.

Laundromat Boredom

Putting up this video of Maximus Jones-Drew, my Peke, trying to figure out how to get outside with all the snow we had last week. Man, was that stuff fun to ride in. Got some friends from Jersey coming up this weekend - supposed to be absolutely gorgeous for their introduction to Okemo. I also bought a camera, unfortunately it won't be here in time for the weekend. Eventually. Enjoy:

Yes, afterwards I shoveled a path - he just really needed to get out at that exact moment. How could I not film it?