As many of you may know, Liam Casey is now a Surface team rider. As he has just gotten the 2010 Surface New Lifes, I got him to tell us what he thought.
Photo - Scott Titterington
First Impressions
My first lap on these bad boys was down Couloir Extreme above Jersey Cream Chair on Blackcomb Mountain. I was pretty nervous at first as I have never skied on rockered skis in my life and this was one of or the steepest run on blackcomb. The conditions were soft which helped and after a few turns I got into the groove and ripped the rest of the bowl. WOOO so much fun! James Anderson and I ripped down to go up Glacier Chair and headed to good ol’ spanky’s ladder. We ripped Ruby Bowl twice and oh boy these skis were just a treat. I did a few 180s off cliffs and airs and was amazed how well riding switch was on these babies. I remember thinking “I should have fallen by now. What’s going on?” but I hadn’t. I have never skied that fast switch in powder before. It was as if I was if I was on a normal groomer… suuper easy.
After this we met up with Andrew Pires, Zavier Vaillancourt, and Yu Sasaki (4frnt freeride slayer). We spent the rest of the day in CBC trees and my skis were allowing me to stomp cliffs, ride pow, hop pillows better than I have ever done. The rocker and the width on these allow you to land upright and not backseat so you are in more control and comfort. just like a groomer.
Anyways that was my first day. I have never skied a better ski in my life and I had a grin from ear to ear all day.
2010 Surface New Life
Groomers
I knew that these were going to be able to slay pow like nothing, but I was worried how riding groomers was going to be like. To my surprise, these actually ripped! I was still able to lay down fast carves all the way to the next pow run. I was very pleased.
Performance Spec
Flex
The flex on these is quite stiff, just the way I like it. Actually, all the Surface skis are on the stiffer side. No noodles here.
Strength
They seem to be stronger than an ox, although I haven’t had many days on these guys, so time will tell I guess. I haven’t heard of any issues yet with them or any other skis in the line as of yet from the Surface Skis boys or anyone else.
Overall
My overall impression on these beasts is simply wow. By far the best ski I’ve ever had the pleasure of riding. They make pow skiing a breeze forwards and switch. The rocker makes for great landings way more often. Really a nice solid, fun, ripping ski.
If you want to check these skis out or any other Surface skis, North Shore Ski and Board on Lonsdale carries the brand. Eliel Hindert (Surface Skis rider and rep) and crew will be in Whistler January 18th at TMC shop for you to demo them out. If you can’t make it on that date, send Eliel a facebook message to demo a pair and I’m sure he can hook it up as he will be in Vancouver and Whistler a lot this season.
So, if you haven’t heard, Whistler is AMAZING right now. To take advantage of this fact, Frodo, Kyle Jasper, Matt Whelan and I headed up there yesterday and oh ya, it was perfect! Started off with some park laps and found that every jump was absolutely perfect so we sessioned them for most of the day. Since we were having so much fun, I didn’t even bring the camera out till about the 6th lap and only managed to get a couple decent shots before heading in for lunch. After lunch we went up the peak to shred some pow. It had been almost a week since the last storm and there was still plenty of fluffy white powder to float on. We were all pretty tired, so we decided to head down on a good note. All in all, the day was sick and everyone reading this should head up to Whistler before the huge crowds arrive because it’s prime right now. Here are the few shots I got this weekend and hopefully I’ll be able to shoot some deep pow slashes up Grouse soon!
Matt Whelan stoked on the park (and life) after the first lap
So here it is; my first post to Grouse Park. Being as none of you really know me, I should probably introduce myself. My name is Hamish and I’m Scottish. I grew up there, though I now live near Boston, MA. I started snowboarding in Waterville Valley (East Coast jeaa!), NH, and it wasn’t long before shredding began to take over my winters. I finished high school after a few years of being a weekend warrior and proceeded to spend the following year as a ski bum in New Zealand and Colorado.
Now, I go to school at UBC, which despite the work and classes, really isn’t all that far off from living like I did in a ski resort. I’m up at Whistler pretty much every weekend, and now, thanks to Sam as well as all of you reading this, am going to be spending a lot more time on the North Shore Mountains shooting photos… stoked! But rather than go on rambling, I’m going to leave you with two of my photos; the first is from the bottom of the world, and the second is from a more familiar place just up the road.
Enjoy.
Unfortunately, I haven’t had internet for the past week, but this weekend I did have the opportunity to ride some powder up in Whistler. I’m sure most of you remember former bloggers, park crew and Grouse riders Dan and Nathan Jonas, Scott Titterington, Liam Casey, James Anderson and Ryan Belich. This year, they flew from the Grouse nest and are all living together in a house in Alta Vista, Whistler. It’s been nice to catch up and ride some powder with them at their new home mountain. The six of them have been continuing to kill it in Whistler and after seeing them the past few weekends, it seems like their loving it up there. They’re all really cool guys and are doing great things up in Whistler this year. Here are some photos of what they have been up to lately, and also some shots from last year at Grouse.
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Bill Hawley. Born and raised seven minutes from the mountains in North Vancouver, I’m a new addition to the Grouse Park Blog and very grateful for it! As much as I’m new to the blog, I’m not so new to the mountain. I started skiing at Grouse when I was 3 years old and it just became the regular thing to do after school and on weekends. Things progressed from there and when I was about 12 years old, I picked up my parents little point and shoot camera, took a few pictures around the house to keep myself busy and that’s when I realized what I wanted to do for fun. Skiing and photography. Now, I’m finally starting to combine the two and it’s proving to be the most kick ass thing I know how to do.
So, now that you know who I am, don’t be shy if you see me up the mountain, I’m the guy wearing the bright blue jacket and pants looking like I shouldn’t be shredding the park. Come say hi and maybe strike up a conversation! The temperature’s dropping a little bit, so let’s be optimistic and say that’s a sign of snow on the way. Here’s some of my most recent shots to keep you stoked on the season, enjoy!
Park crew Adam Nicholls spinning the step down before the rain came
Hey there, my name is Jeremy Cox. I am stoked to be one of the 09/10 Grouse Mountain blogospondents and can’t wait to share the latest and greatest content throughout the year. Grouse Mountain has become my home mountain ever since I learned to ski at Mount Seymour and Whistler when I was five. Living 20 minutes away from Grouse I can often be found skiing or filming. I would consider filming my hobby and can commonly be seen carrying around a enormous camera bag as long as the the weather is good and the riders are there. I hope to pump out the edits all year long which will be posted on the FOURTYFOUR media Vimeo page and of course here.
On that note, be sure to check out the the new Voleurz Outdoor Graduation film this Wednesday during the online premier.
Okay, so maybe just outta Whistler. The kids at PYP and all those local Coquitlam boys that moved up this season have been riding everyday so far this season, except for one day when Pat partied too hard and slept in. It’s been known to happen. Anyways, here is what they’ve been up on these past few bluebird days that we’ve had to kick off December.
So, the Jonas brothers snowboard. They managed to get some camera time with two of them in the park. Must be all that Peak Season fame.
Bluebird days call for Friday laps in the Blue park on Blackcomb. Here’s the full crew!
Strength
