East Coast Super Post
I am officially home from a week on the East Coast, and I have returned on east coast time with whooping cough, but I am not mad. It was one of those trips where I actually appreciated the east coast, in spite of the cold and having to scrape my car, etc. Mostly it was due to three incredible snowboard events (one of which was not the US Open.)
Most people seemed confused that I turned up at the World Quarters after not being at the Open the day before, but it seemed perfectly logical to me. First of all, watching the US Open on go211, complete with chatroom was the most fun I have had at that event in years. Not only did it bring me back to my youth as a chat room instigator, but I was warm and comfortable. Let’s face it, the US Open might as well be a Dew Tour stop or the X Games these days, and unless someone is paying me well, I see no personal benefit in attending anymore.
The World Quarters, however, was a different story.
Here’s how all events should be. Free beer. Free burgers. No rules. No press passes. No lift tickets. And fire. Lots of fire. Even though it was unseasonably cold, the event was hands down the most fun I’ve had at a snowboard contest, ever. It was such an incredible sketch fest that I couldn’t help but think, how are we getting away with this? But sometimes you just have to go with it, so I did. I failed in the alcoholic department, drinking about a half a beer, but it’s hard to drink with a still camera in one and and a video camera in the other. And it probably helped me edit photos and write a story that night.
Tuesday I headed to Waterville Valley for the innaugural Back to the Boneyard event. When I got there at noon, Waterville was basically a ghost town, but I found someone to give me a ticket and took a couple laps on glare ice trying to find the Boneyard. Yes, I rode Waterville for a year during college, but I didn’t expect the trail to be closed, ok. Once I finally found it I was immediately mad at myself for not setting up the Original Sin snowboard that has been sitting in my parents garage for 10 years. So many old friends and unexpected attendees. Dave Olcott from Stimilon. Preston Strout and Dr. Brian Barb, dressed as the 90s. Even Luke Mathison was there, talking to me like we were still in college. Total blast from the past.
Before heading to NH I was undecided on if I would stay through for Last Call, partially because three snowboard events in a row is a lot, and partially because I had no where to stay. But I ran into the Atmosphere crew, who invited me to stay with them, and Colleen Quigley informed me Last Call was “the funnest day of the year” so I really had no excuse. Thanks to my year at Plymouth, I knew you could get Chinese food delivered to Campton, so that night we gorged on Hong Kong Garden and I edited my 800000 photos. Only real problem was no internet connection, but a quick trip to the Alma Mater took care of that and second day in a row, YoBeat had coverage up first. No Big Deal.
No one really prepared me for how many people would be at Last Call, and even registration was a clusterfuck. But the good news is it had finally warmed up and riding was sweet. I was having fun until I came up on the entry gate for the contest and the ski patrol informed me I didn’t have the proper credential to go through. Not going to lie, I almost rode straight to my car and left. (Do they know who I think I am!) But I toughed it out, and cut in through the woods like a normal person. The event was awesome. People are really good at snowboarding now, and Nelson was highly entertaining on the mike all day. More importantly I was warm, and my goggle tan from Utah has officially turned into more of a lower face tan and isn’t quite as ridiculous.
The event ended, I drove the 3 hours home, and still got a post up before anyone else. I was wondering if anyone cared about my speed other than you know, me, but I got some props of the EB Danvers blog for having “practically real time coverage of all three events.” It felt good, ok.
I spent my final two days in Vermont hacking up phleghm and editing videos. I also built my dad a blog site, which may or may not ever launch. All in all, productive trip and a good reminder of how rad snowboarding in the east really is. Although I think I’ll stay in Portland. I would still rather ride powder.