Catfish and Peachtree do Xmas, Grouse Mountain Style
Hey gang,
Hope everyone had a good xmas/Hanukah what have you! Mine was a little on the quiet side (the economy hit hard I guess). Despite the excessive pyjama lounging, I managed to boogie on up to the hill with my good friend Graeme for a couple hours.
If you have a minute, check out Graeme’s videos. This guy pumps out some fan-freakin-tastic little edits.
Graeme goes byrdgang with the new peak chair
We managed to muck around a bit, slashing some serious pow and finding cute pillow lines all along blazes and inferno. Mind the rocks, as they are out and about as usual. With the mountain closing early and our stupid late start to the day, we moseyed on over to the park, which was a little snowed in, but still managed to have fun. We played around on this roller, which has probably changed by now I’m not sure.
So yea we got tired, thus a trip to Lupins ensued. Après ski consisted of some hearty poutine and a little present-scoping under the massive tree. Graeme thought he’d check it out.
Feeling pretty beat up from our extensive 4-run day, we headed home for some turkey and family time (mainly sleep though). Overall, a good day was had by all. I hope everyone has a marvelous new-years!
Graeme wishes you all prosperity and love in the new year
Cam
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Hey Guys!
Hey fellas, an update from Scotty has finally arrived. As well just like Charlie’s update I got some good news and bad news. So to start the drumroll, ill start with the bad. So the bad is, theres no new photographs from myself. Work during the day plus night riding with no park doesnt always make the correct light graphing. So now the good news! The quicksilver park will be bumpin real soon! The tables are in the process of being formed, and I got an update yesterday saying that one had been open, and two more are in the process, if they are not already complete by today. Havent talked to Shaw today, and due to standby issues with the tram, and no brakes in my car, today wont be the day to go check it out.
On Monday night with the big park closed I decided to take a gander through the rookie park with a few friends. While shredding thru i get a phone call from another friend telling me to come hook up with them along Olympic. While cruisin beyond, we meet up with the new gang very quickly at the bottom. As we proceeded to ride the chairlift up we got the word that side hits are just poppin. I decide to give it a shot. Within a single run, there was at least 15 of us boys and girls shredding thru. Including old legend Taylor Jones, back up from his gnar back problems, and whatever knee rubbish he had just been through. 3/4 of the crew started flippin all directions over these tiny bumps, i surely witnessed an improvement from a few locals, and gave em all props. With Taylors two and a half year rehab period, he was back the same place he left off.
So with that in mind, take a step out of your regular day, and go try something new! We got some snow falling real soon, so go play! The Park should be back up, if not running already, so stay tuned.
Rookie Park is up
Hey everyone, just a quick update. Went up Grouse Mountain yesterday with my girlfriend to re-teach her how to ski. Despite not skiing in 6 years, and the high winds, she did really well. We had a great time up until a BC Hydro power outage shut down the lifts. Grouse Mountain handled the situation well, got the back-up generators running, and kept everything under control.
Between the wind and power failure, I managed to snap a few shots of the new Rookie Park, which is under the Screaming Eagle chair. Get up there and check it out for yourself. The line goes as follows:
Up bar.
Rainbow Rail.
Down bar.
Butter box.
As you can see it was a little foggy. The Rookie Park looks super fun. I’ll be up there working on some rails once the pow gets all skied out.
-cj
Boards, Boards, Boards.
I’ve been told to stay off the hill just a couple more days, so today I figured I’d go look at getting a new board. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and had settled on getting something with Banana or Rocker Tech. Due to the mad Christmas rush, EVERYTHING is gone. I had a list in prioritized order. Here’s what’s going on on the local scene. I called reps, distributors, company headquarters, stores, everything. Here’s some info you, if you looking into any of these boards.
Capita Horrorscope FK
Good luck finding this one. Your best bet is going online and even those are selling out fast. I found the 148 at The Source. Only 5% tax, on sale and free shipping. Win win! There are a few other online stores with the 152′s and 156′s. Take a look. Your best bet would be to find a friend who lives in Washington, get the free shipping and then drive down to pick it up. So go ride Baker and get a few numbers! If you can wait, Pacific Boarder will have some more coming in January, at the earliest. You can go in and see if they can hold one for you, or call and ask to speak to one of the managers.
Rome Artifact 1985
I shouldn’t be sharing these secrets with you because this is the board I want, but I’m a nice guy. Pacific Boarder has this one in a 153 and a 156. The price has been knocked down to $459.99+tax for Boxing Week. Go out and have a look. If you’re looking for the smaller 147′s and 150′s, once again, check The Source, they’ve got them for $450.
Lib Tech Skate Banana or Box Scratcher
The Skate Banana is nowhere to be found, but after some phone calls, I found out that the Boardroom in North Vancouver has a 152 sitting around. They pulled it out of the back when I called. It’s gonna go fast, so if this is the one you’re looking form hurry over, or call dibs over the phone.
The Box Scratcher was MIA at all the places I called and went to, but staff at the Boardroom assured me they’d be getting more in soon. If you’re willing to buy this deck used, there’s a guy selling it on craigslist for $400. He’s never used it, so it might be worth checking out.
Also, none of the Lib Tech stock is on sale. They’re the money makers this year!
Nitro Sub Pop
Comor has a few of these at various locations around Vancouver. The one on West 4th had one left in a 154. They’ve got it marked down to $399.99, making it one of the cheaper Rocker boards out there.
K2 World Wide Weapon Rocker
If you can stand the glaringly bright top sheet, then Comor also has this baby stocked. Like the Sup Pop, there’s only one left at the West 4th location in a 154. I’d assume the other locations are left with slim pickins too. The tag on this one reads the same as the Sub Pop.
Stepchild Jib
One word. Coastal Riders. Okay, so two words. This is the only rocker Coastal has left. They’re gonna go pretty quick, so I’d pay a quick visit to their shop or warehouse to check them out.
If you’re wondering what I picked up, my answer is nothing. As marked down as these boards are, it’s still too much for a poor student like me to afford. However, I am accepting donations in the form of monetary value or information on where I can get the Artifact 1985 for cheaper!
On a happier note, I’m heading off to Whistler for a few days, so be sure to check back over the next couple days for some fantastic pictures and words about how tricks are up there.
Also, for all you girls out there, don’t forget about the MGT Snowboards camps running on Grouse Mountain on January 3rd and 4th. There’s still spots left and it’s going to be good times. It’s even in the name! (More Good Times, if you were wondering.)
Keep it real,
Sam
Some good news and some bad news
What’s crack-a-lackin,
I hope everyone’s holidays are going well, I have been having so much fun and this massive snowfall in the city and on Grouse Mountain is great. Ok so I have some good and bad news and just news as well, so I’m going to tell you in this order, it’s going to go bad news, news then good news.
Bad news: Scott Titterington and Myself were in an undisclosed location shooting an urban rail with a friend of ours named Liam Casey (PS like everyone has said, remember this name… MARK MY WORDS: HE WILL BLOW UP!). It was pouring rain and the LCD screen on my camera suffered some water damage. I have now had to send the camera away to Canon and they said I would have it back in 4-6 weeks. DANG!
News: I am going to Future Shop tomorrow and I am going to push a hard bargain to see if I can get a loner camera to keep shooting, hopefully my law school tactics pay off (fingers crossed)…..
Good News: Since I am smart and thought ahead I have some videos to keep you entertained, while my camera is in the shop. I have been making some headway with Vimeo.com and I should be able to post up some videos that have been done for a while now, soon.
Note: I did get some footage from the waterpark of an urban setup we had goin on, but since my camera is gone now I cannot import and edit it, sorry this kinda got messy. I will post again tomorrow letting y’all know how the mission at Future Shop went and we will go from there…
Happy leftover eating,
Chuck
Pow, sweet pow!
Merry Christmas! I hope Santa was good to everyone. For those of us who wished for snow, we most definitely got it.
The best Christmas present ever!
Grouse Mountain is getting PUKED on! My brother, cousin, and I went up for a Boxing Day shred today. There are still a few small trees and branches sticking out here and there, but knee deep pow makes up for that.
Make sure you come up and get some while the gettin is good! Here’s a few shots of the good stuff. Would have taken more but there was gnar in desperate need of a good shredding.
Tram pow!
Getting ready for a day of shred.
Jesse shredding, CJ missing the shot.
Snow!
Actually come to think of it, no, there’s no snow. Don’t bother heading to Grouse Mountain. Its far too snowy, fun, deep, average…
Four Days Off…
I’ve been off snow for three days now. It’s not a voluntary decision that I’ve made. My plan was to ride every single day after I got done with exams. Everything was going according to plan until I became too cool for school on Monday and ate it while trying to multi task on the 40′ box. For those of you who haven’t tried variations on the 40 while drinking a large fountain pop from Lupins… don’t. Needless to say, it didn’t end well and as a result, I’ve been sitting at home, keeping weight off my left butt cheek and icing the rest of me up. Kind of makes me wish I was 19 again.
Sitting at home got me thinking. Riding the park means you’re gonna get hurt. Mostly just minor bang ups and bruises, but sometimes you’re out for an extended period of time. So what do you do with all that time off shred? I’ve compiled a list of things to do that’ll help you kill time till you can ride again.
Watch some videos:
When you’re riding, you’re not really thinking of watching the newest shred video. The thing is, videos are a great source of information and inspiration. I remember when I was starting out in the park, around the same time Forum put out True Life. I watched it over and over again, studying how JP Walker approached his jibs. I had it on VHS, and I rewound and replayed in slow motion so many times, that the video doesn’t work very well any more. Here are a few boarding movies from this year that are getting me stoked.
1. Forum or Against ‘Em – Forum Snowboards
For those of you that don’t know, Forum has totally revamped their team. If you thought losing JP deflated their jib balloon, think again. What do you think? Are you Forum or Against ‘Em? A 2-disc collector set is out now, with lots of goodies, such as a sticker book, a die cut sticker, a beanie and a book of pictures for visual learners like me!
2. No Correct Way – Kids on Shred Productions
I absolutely loved this movie. Rome has an amazing team of riders. Heads up on Laurent-Nicolas Paquin’s section. Super sick.
3. I Ride Park City – Park City
With riders like Stevie Bell, Heikki Sorsa, Aaron Bittner, Eero Ettala, Torah Bright and Erin Comstock, I Ride Park City delivers exactly what it’s supposed to. Amazing park riding. Also, watch the intro if you wanna see Shaun White be unsure of his stick shift driving skills. He looks down at his gear box as he shifts gears but tries to not make it look obvious. You’re not fooling me Shaun.
4. That’s It, That’s All – Red Bull
Travis Rice has come out with his own movie, and he’s rocking the Lib Tech TRS with Banana Tech and Magne Traction. Wanna see how the pros handle the new technology? This is the movie to watch. Be warned, it’s not all riding all the time. If I had to classify it, it would be a snowboard art film. There are a lot of nature shots and a bunch of “Wow! It’s sooo pretty!” moments. The riding? SO dope! Travis kills it, regardless of terrain.
5. Teenage Love Graffiti – Isenseven
Some of you may not know about this European film company. They have some of the best riders across Europe in their line up and a rad mascot. Their previous films include Uber Movie and Prediculous, which included footage shot on Grouse Mountain. Neat-o!!
If you’re looking for teasers for these movies and more from the 2008/2009 season, look no further.
Tune your setup.
If your injury is the result of not tuning your kit properly, you should get out the file and waxing kit and start detuning those edges and getting rid of the sticky spots on your board. If you’ve never tuned your kit before, don’t go filing those edges just yet.
That used to be a lake, now it's an ice rink!
Let the guys at Document Snowboard Magazine show you the ropes in setting up for freestyle and waxing that stick.
Those are the two I can think of that will keep you thinking about snow. As for me, well, I’ve been prowling the internet looking for new music, watching and rewatching seasons of Family Guy and the Office, walking my dog and wrapping Christmas presents of all shapes and sizes. I think that all products should be packaged in a square or rectangular box that is COMPLETELY closed off. No circles or boxes with one corner missed so you can “Try Me!!!11!one!!” Anyways. I’ve also gotten a chance to clean my room and do my laundry. Regardless of how hard you rock on a board, remember that laundry is key.
And that's after half the work was done
I hope to be back on my board by Sunday, making it 5 days off. I’ll see some of you around, hopefully!
Stay safe,
Sam
Grouse Mountain on a Sunny Christmas Holiday
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Hey guys, got back last week from a trip to Whistler, but dont be jealous, you didn’t miss much. Temperatures varied from -20 to -38 degrees, it was bitter cold, and did not do much riding. Our time was spent equally in the pool, hot tub and steam room.
cheese whiz and pizza
Monday night, me and some close friends set up 2 spots, one was a wall stall/qp, Scott Titterington shot it, and as you have probably seen, Liam Casey was gettin inverted. Remember this name, Liam Casey is HUNGRY this year, prepare to be amazed.
Second spot was a 45 foot capped down rail. Liam chopped his skis pretty hard on it, and after about 30 tries, I managed to 50-50 the whole thing. Pics will hopefully be posted in the near future.
Zavier Vaillancourt
I decided to go on a solo mission [to Grouse Mountain] Saturday afternoon. The weather was SICK, was about -5 the whole day, which felt like spring compared to last weeks cold snap. One of the worst things that comes along with a late start, is the amount of people on a sub 200cm base. The reason why an early start is better, is it allows the snow base to grow and accumalate for about a month so when the crowds come over the holiday, the coverage will stay promising as all the families come to ride.
Andrew Pires
Ran into frequent grouse skiers; Zavier Vaillancourt and Andrew Pires. Zavier was rocking his massive 191 ON3P Caylors not expecting the tracked out terrain haha.
Went to hike the park because the cut lineup was massive… [Note: No lines at Greenway Quad or Olympic Quad]
Ran into my little friends Ethan and Kevin. Kevin is one sick little kid, rockin L1 Thunder pants, this years www rocker and some sick flannels. You’ll be seeing alot of this guy in the future, hes only 11! Gave him some pointers on the second downbar and taught him nose presses on the flat box! Here are some pics:
Ethan and Kevin
Kevin Dzah 5050
And Park Crew Andrew Nicoletti shootin’ for the stars while settin up the new banked wall.
Andrew Nicoletti
My next post will include a follow up of Sams post on rockered boards with my view on rockered snowboards and skis.
Here are a couple sick websites if you haven’t heard of them before:
www.reelcomp.com (snowboard video uploader site)
www.snowboard.com (Sub par forum in my opinion but there is some good info to be had)
www.burton.com Community (I know its BURTON, but nonetheless a very active forum with good information to be had…and some bad)
more links next week!
see you on the hill! smile!
A day with Grouse Mountain Pro Team Rider Spencer Watson
Coming at you today with my first video!!!! YAY!!!!!! It is super short because I cannot upgrade to Vimeo Plus as they do not have international billing available yet. I am in the process of working something out with them (so i can post vids longer then 2 mins), as I do have like 3 videos ready to go to post but no where to post them. SO! Fingers crossed.
Back to the good stuff… Grouse Pro Team Member Spencer Watson made the trek down from his humble abode in Whistler to come hang with me down here in the city. Instead of going up to the mountain to film we realized that we never have this much snow in the city so we should make use of it and hit some handrails.
Since I was up late the night before editing my heart out, I didn’t wake up and get out of the house until 2-ish. I grabbed Spencer and he knew of this really sick 5-kink rail on Lonsdale, so we headed there first. We got there and set it all up and then we realized that the speed factor was a huge issue. Since there was only Spencer and I we decided to move on and come back to it later once there isn’t knee deep powder coming up to a rail. Stay tuned to my updates in the coming week or so, because he is really excited to hit this rail.
All that work for nothing
Getting ready to set up the 5-kink… for nothing!
We were both super choked we couldn’t make something happen with that rail so to make us feel better we decided to hit the McDonald’s Drive Thru. We loaded up on cheap, good (depending on your opinion) food and Spencer proceeded to give away a pair of his sick sunglasses (from BANG ON!) to an employee that he thought was cute, hoping he could score a phone number (note: this did not work).
Next we were off to a famous rail that we knew would already be set up and we knew we could get some shots from it… Delbrook Park was our destination. This long down rail has been featured in many ski and snowboard movies and was the main attraction of our day.
Delbrook Park Down Rail
We ended up getting a couple of good shots and I think Spence had a fun time, so I would call that rail a success. After we were done filming I whipped out my Nikon Coolpix and just started ambushing him with flashes and the Coolpix.
Spencer Watson reppin’ Grouse Mountain
Showin’ off the sticker
From Delbrook we began to head back to my place and on the way we hit a down flat down at West Vancouver Secondary School. It was a big waste of time as there was no light and we were too tired and lazy to set it up.
We got to my place and decided to sesh my rail that I had made the day before from a PVC pipe I bought from Rona for $25 and it would have worked really well if we picked a better spot to set it up. Once again speed was a major issue, but we still managed to get one sick shot from it.
Spencer has now gone back up to Whistler and won’t be back until after Christmas. Since there will probably still be snow in the city, once he is back we have already decided we are going to do another one of these with bigger and better features.
Here is the video, enjoy!
Keep it real,
Chuck
Session Soundtrack
Most people that ride the park have a certain type of music that they enjoy pounding into their brains while they shred. There seems to be a clear divide between those that listen to hip hop and those who ride to punk or metal. Then there’s the slowly emerging subset of riders who prefer synths and drum loops electronically mashed into a delicious electro-pop concoction.
Personally, there are a bunch of tracks that I NEED when I ride. So, without further ado, my top 10 throw down tunes, in no particular order. Trust me, it was hard to narrow it down to just 10.
1. Crimewave – Crystal Castles vs. HEALTH mix
2. Disciple – Nas
3. Roll on Out – Zion I ft. Mac Dre
4. Silhouette – Thrice
5. Composure – August Burns Red
6. Translating the Name – Saosin
7. Ohio All Stars – Hi-Tek ft. Cross, Showtime, Mann and Chip The Rippa
8. Destroy Everything You Touch – Ladytron
9. Chelsea Dagger – The Fratellis
10. Little Weapon -Lupe Fiasco ft. Bishop G and Nikki Jean
What I want to know is what hypes you up when you ride? I’m always looking for more tunes for my collection. Let me know who you’re reppin’ and what you think of the above tunes. I’m also going to post up a Holiday version of this list, in case you want some unconventional Christmas music to rock this next week.
Lastly, ever wonder what that song was from the boarding video you watched or what the pro’s are listening to? You can thank me later.
Happy listening.