Snowbound... yet again (run #5)

Like I said in the previous post, I'll be headin' up to Tahoe again to hit the slopes.
Super juiced, probably because this'll be the first time I get to use my new gear. And for those who haven't kept up with my snow-related news (and even if you have), here's a lil' taste of my new new. Or is it nu nu?

The 2009 Burton Custom with the new ICS system

Don't mind my, "Sorry Roger, u Tiger now!" blanket. Haha. It's the sickest shit ever. Super comfy. But back to the board: these are the Burton Triad EST's. It stands for Extra Sensory Technology. They only work with the new ICS system. Extra cushion...Super Buttery.

This is the new ICS system. It stands for Infinite Channel System. Instead of your standard 3D system, where you screw in 3 - 4 screws from the bottom of your binding into your board, this system allows you to screw in your bindings with only two screws along a track that allows you to rotate and place your bindings in an infinite amount of stances. Traditionally with the 3D system, you can rotate your stance in any degree, but the process is lengthy, and the spots where u move your bindings on the board to either widen or shorten your stance is limited to placement in the holes on the board. This new technology is breaking away from traditional thinking, offering endless possibilities in the way you ride.

Super comfy binding straps that wrap around the toe area and push your boot into your binding as suppose to the traditional binding that straps over the wide part of the foot, squeezing and putting pressure on your feet.

I'll be doin' the regular one day trip.
Leavin' at 5am and headin to Northstar. See ya'll when I get back.

- Raw

Flashbacks

The other night a good friend of mine called me and we got to chattin' about what's to come in '09, particularly in our travel plans. We have yet to decide on a big annual trip that us guys usually go on, just to get away and have a big vacation to look forward to. So then of course comes the flashbacks. We're trying to expand our horizons and travel anywhere and everywhere that sparks interest, but of course your natural default is to resort to going to Las Vegas. I can hear slot machines ringing in my head, chips shuffling, and the Outfield - Your Love constantly playing in the back of my head. So if you need a quick fix, this might do you a little justice.

Craps



Click here to play this game

The rules aren't 100% the same as if you were playing in a casino.
But whatever, just to imagine you're back at the tables is enough sometimes.

I love travel. '08 was a great fuckin year for travel...at least for me. In '08, I went to Vegas on average once every two months. Two of those times included the fellas rollin' 20 deep into clubs ordering bottles like there's no such thing as the recession. Damn. I love it. I've been down to SoCal a few times the past year also, but who's counting. I hit Seattle up for the first time too - that was a good trip. I'm glad that I've made it to Tahoe 4 times this season, making 5 after tomorrow. Yazzzzur, I'm snowbound once again. Tryna' get some good footage I can share with ya'll. Next season I'm definitely hittin up a season pass. Gona' hit that 100 mark. Fuck, that's tough. That's 20 times a month starting in December, so iono.. haha. I'll prolly hit at least the 20 mark, that's for sure. So whoever's down, holla!

- Raw

Just Wait

'til I return with endless footage from Tahoe.
I didn't feel like posting a whole bunch of pictures, so here's a preview of what's to come.



(Flicks and Clips were taken at either Boreal, Northstar, or Sierra... or somewhere along the way)

Snowbound... Again

Yazzur. Back at it again.
It's been a few weeks since our last run, so I must admit I'm pretty excited to hit the slopes on Monday. This would be run #4 for me. Plus I just copped a shitload of nifty tuning tools for upkeep and maintenance.

My personal favorite: the hot stick iron.

It's basically a flat iron to melt and apply wax on your board. I would use an old iron (like the ones u use for clothes), but those have holes in them. The stick iron looks pretty sweet though, it looks like u can do a whole buncha other crazy bullshit, like make grilled cheese sandwiches or smash someone's face in and leave a crazy burn print.

Photos from the trip when I return.

- Raw

p.s. To any of you catching this, if you go to www.anymountain.net (The Any Mountain store's website), you can join the Any Mountain preferred customer program for free. You basically just get e-mails on deals and all that junk-mail business. But the point is, it's free...PLUS, you get a coupon for $50 off a $100 item. The downside is, it's only off a single item, and I'm spreading the news pretty late. The coupon expires tomorrow (Monday 2/16). The closest ones I know of are Berkely, Redwood City, and San Jose. Get it in!

The Day Of

What a fuckin' day...
Please excuse my language, but I must say that I am extremely pleased with the outcome of our one-day Tahoe quickie considering the unfortunate events that took place leading up to it.

Allow me.

First off, Friday afternoon we were scrambling around to find a rental car, or any means of transportation for that matter. We were running low on options.
Darryl's SUV was headed for the shop.
Janette's SUV needed maintenance.
Muriel's SUV is bound for death.
My car has massive cracks on the windshield and squealing breaks.
Alex was busy being drunk.
Luckily with the help of a good friend over at Enterprise, we were able to get an '09 Ford Expedition for cheaper than your average monthly cell phone bill. But we weren't sure at first what the outcome would be because it was a four day weekend for MLK Day and Enterprise didn't have cars at all. It could've been a Expedition, it could've been a Geo Metro. Luckily the cards were in our favor. I guess that wasn't an unfortunate event, but the stress of dealing with our means of transportation raised my blood pressure significantly. I'm glad it worked out, we were even considering not going under certain circumstances.
What was unfortunate though, was that while I was doing a load of laundry so I could actually have clothes to wear to Tahoe, my dryer decides to turn into a pussy, and took an extra hour longer to dry clothes that it usually gets done in 30 minutes. This delays my rendezvous with Darryl and Alex at Alex's house - I was supposed to be there at 1am, instead me and Darryl arrive at 2:30am (keep in mind, we're leaving at 5am). So because fate has decided to make me the lagger of the year, Alex decides to turn into the drunkard of the year.
Not really, but for that day, maybe he was.
The plan, after dispersing at 11:00pm, was to rendezvous at 1am at Alex's.
Anxiously awaiting our arrival, Alex begins to drink himself stupid because he can no longer wait for us after realizing that we didn't show up at 1am.
Just when we thought things were going good, Darryl and I show up to Alex's house, only to see through his living room window that he is passed out on his couch and that his phone was nowhere in sight...great...
After waiting and hoping that he would arise from his drunken death slumber, Darryl and I came to the conclusion that we might as well sleep in the car and wait for the morning.

Just to note, '09 Ford Expedition headrests = DEATH!
The worst engineering ever. Damn.
Can someone just make a car with seats comfortable enough to sleep in and get a good night's rest? Or at least a power nap...

Only by fate does Alex wake up at 5am and call us to apologize and ask where the hell we're at, in which we reply that we've been outside the whole night, which then made Alex apologize more and then blame me for doing my laundry and not being on time.

Anyways, we end up making it to Tahoe, where the table begins to turn.
The drive was fun and hittin' the slopes was exciting. We ended up getting separated for about 2 hours but it was all good. Nothing to fret about.
I even ran into some good folks from BMB.

(the arrival)

...amongst all the organized chaos of snow rubble. is it really necessary? at least it's waterproof...

I can tell you that this probably is... (Costco, 10/$10 - taste the difference)(...farewell Sierra... 'til next time)

When the resort closed, we couldn't be satisfied with ending the day there and going home, so we hit the casinos in South Lake Tahoe.

At first, it was colder than ever. I'm not talking about the weather, I mean the tables.
Craps was cut throat and Roulette wasn't looking too good either.
We began to question why we even came to the casinos.
Why didn't we just go home?
With the little money we had left, we either could've lost it all in good fun, or left with whatever pride and dignity we had left.
That's when me and Darryl turned it all around.
Putting the negative mentality behind us, we watched the Roulette board until we felt it was time to place our favorite bet, the "2nd 12."
Let it ride? Let it ride?
The series of events is now a blur to me, but what I do remember, is that "2nd 12" must've hit at least 10 times in two different sessions where it hit back to back at least 4-5 times in a row.
All of a sudden, Darryl and I were staring at about $400 thinking, "man we were just about to leave too."
I then proceeded back to the craps table, which by the way is currently empty because everyone left due to shitty shooters and cold dice. Standing there with good company, I let my girlfriend shoot. Little did I know that after hitting a few points, hardways, and come bets, we would leave Tahoe happy campers.

Even this one couldn't handle the excitement.


She has decided to remain nameless.
But anyways, after all the commotion, she warns us that she has began to feel dizzy and lightheaded. What happens next? Casino security walks by. We assured security that she'll be fine once we get her some water and something to eat considering we haven't eaten since that afternoon and it's late + snowboarding is somewhat physically exhausting.


So what does casino security suggest? They insisted that she takes a couple hits from the oxygen tank. They were hawking her like they were some kind of drug dealers tryna get you on some new shit. The funny thing was that they were right and she felt better after taking a couple of oxygen hits. And the whole time, we thought they were tryna scheme and maybe detain us on some bullshit. Or at least kick us out. But hey, she turned out alright in the end. Peep the smile through the oxygen mask.

The ironic thing is that the last time we went on vacation with her, we were in Vegas, and her friend was wheel chaired outta the club and back to the hotel room.
This one was given an oxygen tank.

What's next?

- Raw