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April 23, 2008 In Transit It was an epic, record-breaking snow season in Jackson Hole, 605 inches at the resort. I rode exactly 100 days at the Village (aka Jackson Hole Mountain Resort). After so many days of the best powder ever, the time has come to go forth and do some other things and push myself snowboarding in different ways. So that is what I am doing. I will initiate a summer blog when I get something exciting to post, like some video or seal pictures. Until then, happy spring!
Jackson Hole
Mountain Resort Early April 2008 SO MUCH SNOW
Tuesday
March 18, 2008 Jackson, Wyoming As
the endless snowstorm of December through early February became a more
spring-like weather pattern of sunny days interspersed with an occasional
snow day, so did my attention turn from sweeping powder drama on the natural
terrain to precise pursuits of progression on park features. I set my sights
on getting some sort of halfpipe and slopestyle tricks together to bring
to the Roxy Chicken Jam in Mammoth at the end of this month -- indeed,
the metamorphosis of natural terrain acrobatics into park tricks has been
intensely fruitful, moreso than I really expected. Between the parks and
pipe at the Village (JHMR) and the rail park at Snow King I have been having
a good time playing with new tricks and checking quite a few off of my
list (I don't have a list but I used to so I guess I now have a list in
my head).
In this process I have kind of come to the conclusion that it is so incredibly
satisfying and such an actualization of my dreams in snowboarding to learn tricks
and push limits and hone details and such that this progressive trend IS the
goal. For me, right now, this is where the fun is (whether it takes place in
a park situation or on a mountain like here in Jackson where some of the terrain
lends itself to such things). Partially because I am feeling this modus of progression
so strongly (and in part because my new games have resulted in a massive contusion
resulting from a collision between metal, flesh and bone...then I rode on it
for four days which was beyond insane) I am probably not going to Mammoth to
the
Chicken Jam competition next week. And I just don't want
to
go to battle/war and invade right now...I want to hold this thing close to me
and hone it and make it into the glowing, pulsating, unstoppable force that it
is so close to becoming. Inventing weapons that you do not yet know an reinventing
those that you do. There are some park features over there I really want to hit
bad (i.e. quarterpipe etc.) and TTR points to covet (wait, wait...something about
snowboarding not being about sitting around in hotel rooms counting our points...)
but it is not the time to go. Sometimes there are all of these things that go
down before a trip that indicate that it is just not the time to go on said trip.
The plan is shaping up to be one of intensely focused park riding this summer.
Saturday February 23, 2008 Jackson, Wyoming I attempted to race in the Dick's Ditch Race here at the resort today. Based on some decent practice runs yesterday I knew, simply to get through the top section, I should use my '06-'07 Custom X --the edge pressuring on sheet/glare ice thing just translates so well with that board from mind to feet to edge to ice. Rode almost identical terrain/conitions with that board at Coronet in the back bowls in NZ in August that one day and it was awesome. But for some bizarro reason I brought and rode the T6 today, which when you loose speed on serious or steep ice just does the squirreliest things. Long story short I had to do a DQ/DNF as I was going too slow after one little ice knob and missed a gate...with the T6 I get sucked into the micro of the terrain instead of powering through. I ride the sketchiest natural terrain in sketchy ways in all conditions at all speeds. I just space out on making critical calls based on my experience. The T6 was brilliant for those 60 powder days we had earlier this winter but in many riding situations it doesn't serve me well. Not blaming the equipment so much as the sensory weirdness I have with the terrain and ice textures when I use that board. I feel the texture, experience the texture so much with the T6 that I get caught up in that micro level instead of engaging with the macro of the larger line.
Thursday
February 14, 2008 Jackson, Wyoming A beautiful sunny day on the mountain, really fun conditions sun-soft in
places, powder in places, everything smoothed out and fast and fun. But
it is still cold outside, it is still winter. I really like this mountain
in conditions like today's, for example the hits in Dick's Ditch were really
good and doable today, the natural-terrain-park-ness of the mountain can
be felt on days like today, different textures and flow than during the
two-month-long powder day, but it is really nice like this, how it was
today.
I feel like I should say something about the Snowbird trip and competition
of last weekend. 7.5 hour drive mostly in blizzard conditions on Friday,
got to
Snowbird and the sun is out which is nice, took me almost an hour to find a
parking place, went and got registered (by now it is 2:30pm) Got four
runs on my lift
ticket that afternoon, took photos of all of Baldy and Silver Fox too just
in case...fast forward to Sat. morning 8 am tram...5th on the startlist,
got one
practice run then a 4 hour wait in the start tent (at least there was a tent)
sat there balancing on the precipice with the gale force winds outside, cold
and tired still from the day before with the drive etc. They finally called
off the event at 2pm or so, got a few runs but didn't get the info re:
the venue
change until it was too late to go and practice on Northwest Baldy (venue had
been West Baldy) The Vibe of Snowbird is difficult too, lots of skier rudeness,
general big city attitudes, not the Peaceable Kingdom I've grown accustomed
to in Jackson. 8am tram Sunday morning, 815am ride down NW Baldy (first
ride there
ever, I didn't do this stuff last year except for a few midseason days...I
only rode the Bird in very early season and late Spring), super-annoying
traverse,
nailed my ass on a tree, the same spot that had already had a bad muscle tear
in it earlier this season, there are annoying not-doable-gracefully rock bands
in my chosen line that were not there in my photos since the extra winds have
changed things up since then, fine, I could deal, but I was over it. Ride down,
another tram, another long annoying traverse...I get to the top and have to
go within 30 seconds of arrival with no rest...I went for a hidden windlip
drop
in the trees, it just felt good, I knew I wasn't "trying" and really
just wanted to be done with the comp and to go and ride the pipe all day, like
get on with things, happy freestyle, enough with all of this mountain goat
stuff. Generally it was a skier contest re-packaged as snowboarding, I give
the organizers
credit, they did try and were mostly friendly and organized, the disdain for
freestyle snowboarding expressed a the rider's meetings was lame. The press
release for this made it sound like more of a creative with some freestyle
deal and less
of a mountain goat deal, but seeing how the judging played out (I only watched
a few runs, I rode the pipe instead) it was all about the goat.
Let me be very clear, I am never over natural terrain, but I am right now feeling
very over this Freeriding with a capital F thing. It can be glorious, higher-level
spontaneous technical progression in an improvisational context or it is like
a revolving "noodling" improvisation like in some kind of average
hippie jamband. Scooting down the rocks. Like there is a formlessness that
comes from
having mastered first the technical form, then one can have no-form, then there
is a formlessness that comes from not having fully mastered a form, it is arrived
at too soon. I am glad people have this competition outlet who dig this stuff,
it is just not my deal. Met some cool people there, glad it is over. I appreciate
JHMR and Jackson in general so much more now. SLC scares and annoys the crap
out
of me.
Going to do Dick's Ditch next weekend because it is a Jackson thing and I want
to
see what it is like. Going to prepare for some late season freestyle competition
stuff but I am also keeping things open-ended so as to be able to take advantage
of late season park riding opportunities separate from competition situations.
Right now I am learning things quickly when I can find terrain that suits me
and I want to roll with that and not be too fenced in with having to force things
for competition reasons.
Thursday
February 7, 2008 Jackson, Wyoming 10:35 pm MT Big storm came
through today with high winds, snow and blowing
snow shutting down area roads and delaying my departure for Salt Lake
City and Snowbird where I am supposed to compete in the North Face
Masters Big
Mountain snowboarding competition this weekend. Still planning to head
down there tomorrow, won't get much of a chance to "practice",
will hopefully get there in time for an afternoon riding session and
registration.
Watched most of the Quicksilver Natural Selection on Saturday and Tuesday, it
was extraordinary. Other that that excitement, it has been snowing a lot, I have
been riding a lot and making the most of mid-winter conditions that are even
better than I could have possibly imagined. I am in the process of figuring out
what I want to do for the duration of this winter and this spring in terms of
riding, competing, traveling, working, living etc. Right now I am leaning toward
keeping JH as my year-round home base and getting done what needs to get done
via focused travel to specific places with specific objectives in mind.
Thursday
January 31, 2008 Jackson, Wyoming Deep inside a powder storm
without beginning and without end, the snow
up there is now so deep that the terrain can be ridden in ways barely
imaginable a mere month ago. Light, fluffy rivers of slough dripping
off of every
pillow off of Thunder lift, no crowds, an epic day. I like to go to this
place called "Jaws" where the steepness and immensity of powder
in, on and around the chutes and cliffs induce a blur between a
simple line and what is a creative freestyle action. And maybe i just like
it because it is called "Jaws"... like the big wave break off
of Maui. Because I have been somewhat obsessed with surfing lately. Perhaps
due to of loneliness or just confusion because I haven't found my social/snowboarding
niche here yet, and because I am a person of the water and surfing
is so purely, essentially a style expression at all times. Getting in
touch with this water part of myself is actually making me more deeply
in love
with snowboarding that ever before. And it is like finally after all
of this time of wanting things to happen, it now is finally coming together,
accessible and doable. My pursuit of freestyle progression has been reinvigorated
and
continues in earnest.
So it is only fitting and overwhelmingly serendipitous that this Quicksilver
Natural Selection event with it's surf competition-style waiting period and
natural terrain freestyle focus and modus of being the event that "will
change snowboarding forever", be taking place here at the resort right
now. Though I have yet to witness the epic unfolding of brilliant riding
that is surely taking place in my midst. I am loving it, I am happy to
be here
and
I look forward to watching what goes down in Dick's Ditch and Casper Bowl
during the next few days. I am backing this event fully, completely, with
all of my being,
Tuesday
January 22, 2008 Jackson, Wyoming It
has been such an extraordinary winter so far I haven't had much time to
spare to write updates. Most days have been powder days of some sort, inbounds
has looked like some sort of Japanese powder scene with massive pillows
and deep, fresh snow all over the place. Tomorrow will be cold with some
sun then the forecast looks like some amount of snow every day for the
next nine days.
I am planning to do some snowboard competing during the next couple of months
while still spending most of my time riding here in Wyoming. I am kind of enjoying
riding in my own little world and focusing on progression.
Tuesday January 1, 2008 Jackson, Wyoming...Casper
Bowl today, Mini Ice Falls and Rainbows
Wednesday December 26, 2007 Jackson, Wyoming We've had some good snow, some warmer snow, a lot of snow, a little bit more snow, a couple of days when the sun came out when I got at some of the non-tree terrain that was fun. A lot of time spent in the trees which is also fun. The Weather Channel just said it was -2 degrees Farenheit. I've become somewhat immune to riding and living in these cold temperatures, it was pretty cold in Utah last winter too. Riding all over the place but more gondi runs than the norm (due to weather), haven't been out of the gates (due to lack of riding buddies with like objectives, visibility and avy conditions). I am well entertained in the resort right now -- plan to hit Casper Bowl and Dick's ditch as much as possible before they close them for that competition. Will hit the park stuff more often when the holiday crowds dissipate. Letting myself rest a little this week. Still feel the need to do something constructively creative up and out there this winter.
Tuesday
December 18, 2007 Jackson, Wyoming After a nice seven days
of riding at Grand Targhee last month, Jackson
Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) finally opened on December 1 with terrain
on Apres Vous Mountain. So I continued to ride as much as possible
during
that first week the mountain was open and enjoyed some fresh powder and
manmade snow conditions on what can be described as the milder part of
JHMR. Then over the weekend of December 7 through 9 I attended and completed
an Avalanche Level 1 Course involving some classroom learning and three
days of extensive backcountry training and adventures. More terrain opened
at JHMR (known locally as "The Resort" and "The Village")
over that weekend which I finally got to ride starting Monday the 10th.
I saw the potential of this place last spring when I came here to check
it out in late season, slushy and melted spring conditions. Now I am
getting to experience it in fantastic winter snow conditions as the base
seems
to increase a little with every day's snowfall of an inch or so to a
few to several inches. Since most of the upper mountain opened last week
the
temperatures have stayed very cold and snow conditions at their prime.
Things have warmed up a bit over the past couple of days though I have
to say that my favorite conditions were yesterday (the 17th) afternoon
between about 2pm and 4pm when it was dumping and there were fresh lines
to be had in new and unexpected places. It has been an amazing couple
of weeks with 6 + hour riding days jam-packed with exceptional, quality
runs.
I have managed to stay well entertained by the terrain
here but I am starting
to feel the need to do something "constructive" with myself and my
winter of snowboarding. It is really challenging being in a new place among
new people and trying to figure out where I fit into the scene (or lack thereof,
which is not necessarily a bad thing).
And
in spite of the odds, it is pretty lonely to be a girl in this town.
There is an experience of putting oneself in new and challenging
terrain and getting that thrill of interacting with it and finding new ways
of interacting
with it upon repeated runs and lines. I think the freeride thing is so critical
to improving and expanding the riding, it is a really good, fun, important
thing -- but I also see how it becomes an inertia that one can hide inside and
avoid
pursuit of aesthetic/artistic and freestyle (trick) progression. I know myself
enough to know that I am not satisfied with aimless casual riding. So there
comes a time to reach for something more. Not that I haven't been doing this
nonstop
most of the time, it is just that being here where I feel kind of isolated
from some kind of massive park or competition scene, there needs to be some added
force behind my intentions and actions. There is a lot of negative talk I get
to hear from people, not necessarily directed at me but there is an atmosphere
of non-ambition here among some people that I find annoying. I am here for
action
and to do things.
Here are a couple of photos: JHMR Casper Runs/Bowl "Cloudbreak";
JHMR Gondola Ride (Both from 12/18/07) Today was really cloudy and foggy up
there
but still a lot of fun, especially in the trees.
Sunday November 25, 2007 Jackson, Wyoming Here
is a photo from Grand Targhee's Opening Day last Wednesday. Have had four
good days over there, taking today off to get some things done. JHMR opens
Saturday 12/1/07, five days from today.
Sunday November 18, 2007 Jackson, Wyoming Got a few turns in during a wet snowstorm up on Teton Pass yesterday. First riding since Mt. Hutt on August 28. Anxiously awaiting the opening of the resorts here, figuring that Grand Targhee should be operational by the end of this coming week. Ready to party. Other than that, I have to say that the diving board scene here is intense.
Tuesday October 30, 2007 Jackson, Wyoming Here is a picture from Saturday. So far I am liking it here. I am really anxious to get on with things, snowboarding, winter and so forth. New season, clean slate...here goes...
