Aspen - X-Games Day 3

Thos is a copy of what I posted on Porters blog

Saturday being our last full day in Aspen we had to go big. And we finally made it out to the X-Games ha! The first event was the Boarder-X and we were lucky enough to stand with Nate Holland’s family. Nate was the 3 time defending gold medalist so there was a ton of pressure on him. No one has ever won 4 golds in a row. The Holland family was on cloud nine with Nate’s brother Pat also racing. Unfortunately he crashed in the Semis. In the final race Nate was in 3^rd place about halfway down the course and the family was getting nervous. He made an amazing come from behind win and the crowd was going crazy, It was an amazing experience to be there. We hung out with the family at the Aspen Inn to celebrate with a few drinks.

Next we were off to watch the Men’s Snowboard Superpipe prelims and support Porters own Andy Finch. Oakley put us up in an amazing V.I.P both above the pipe. It was sick and we definetly had the best seat in the house. Did I mention it was stocked with a full bar and snacks? We only stayed for the first round since we all had a dinner to attend back at the Oakley house. We did get to see Andy throw a sick run. He launches so high out of the pipe. It was cool to see it in person. The pipe has 22ft crazy walls.

After a packed ride back to the Oakley house, we had another great dinner. Then back to our house to change and go party our buts off. We ended up at a club called Fly which was cool. It looked like the inside of an airplane. We had a V.I.P lounge which was stocked full with alcohol. The whole crew was on fire making the best of the last night. We ended up dancing tell 3am and the only reason we left there was a DJ switch and he sucked. After a walk back to the house, Hoyer pumped the stereo to full blast and the house was bumping. We all managed to dance for another hour jumping on the tables and countertops getting down. There was even some crazy inverted moves going down. We capped the night off with a few frozen pizzas and a good old fashion food fight. What an amazing day and the perfect way to end an amazing trip. The Porters crew gives big thanks to Josh Hoyer and the whole Oakley crew for treating us like kings. I can’t wait until next year.

Aspen X-Games Day 2

This is a copy of a post I did on Porters blog

After partying until the sun came up there were a lot of late risers in the Tahoe house. We managed to get out of the house around noon. We decided to skip Buttermilk where the X-Games are and ride at Aspen Mountain which is 10 times bigger and 6 times more vert. Aspen got a few inches overnight and the snow was good, but the visibility sucked at times it felt like I was floating on the clouds. It was sketchy. After a handful of 3000ft vert runs we rolled to the Oakley Apres Party at the Tavern. Let just say there were mass amounts of alcohol consumed in a few hours. Oakley was kind enough to hook us up with some sick new Four Legged Frogskins or Blades.

After a few hours of partying at the Tavern we headed back to the house. We had about 2 hours before we were off to dinner, some of us used the time chill in the hot tub, while others just continued to drink. When the time came we were all showered and ready to party. Tonight we went to the Oakley Athlete house for a fantastic dinner by a private chef. The house Oakley put there team in is amazing, it was 12,000 square feet on a five acre lot in the Aspen hills, I can’t imagine how much it was to rent that for the week . If any one is interested it was for sale for only $32,000,000 Million Dollars. The house was stacked with all the Oakley team Simon Dumont, Seth Morrison, Jon Olsson, Eero Ettala, Kristi Leskinen and a ton of others. We watched the X-games form the house in an amazing theater media room. Well we’ve been in Aspen for two days now and we haven’t managed to make it to the X-Games yet. You make the call chill in a 32 million dollar mansion with the athlete’s, or freeze your but off with 10,000 people watching it on the Jumbo screen. Is my case rested?

We ended staying at the Mansion for most of the night, so no crazy all night dance parties. I promise we are going to make it to the X-Games tomorrow. We want to cheer on Porters own Nate Holland in the Border X, and Chas Guldemond in Slope Style. Check back tomorrow for another post, I am sure it’s going to be a wild night, since it’s our last night in Aspen.

Aspen X-Games Day 1

This is a copy of the post I did for Porters sorry if anyone looked at both.

Lets just say our fist day in Aspen, we got down like Rock stars. After we landed we got settled into our house then off to the Oakley Mansion to meet the crew and build ourselves some custom goggles and get hooked up with some outerwear. We arrived late into Aspen, so we had no time to make it to the X-Games, and watched it from the house.

We ate dinner had a few cocktails then off to the clubs. Luckily we are within walking distance to downtown it came in handy at the end of the night. We headed to the Red Bull party at The Sky Bar 39° and it was off the hook. There was a huge line and they were bouncing most of the people, but with the Oakley wrist band it got us in the door V.I.P style. It was a who’s who of the industry. We hung out with Porters own Michelle Parker who recently turned 21, and Tahoe local CR Johnson plus a ton of other pros Tanner Hall, Seth Morrison, Travis Rice and even said what’s up to commentator Sal Masekela to name a few.

When the clubs closed we stumbled back to the house for a late night hot tub session. That put the fork in a few people, but the rest of the crew was still in full party mode, and invited over whomever they could get a hold of. Let’s just say the house was packed until the sun came up.

For this being our first night in Aspen, it lived up to the hype. Based on tonight I’m sure there’s going to be a lot more fun being had. Check back for more party updates.

Being a Tourist in San Francisco

Even though we grew up fairly close to San Francisco, we never really did a lot of tourist stuff other than go Pier 39. It was a fun weekend just hanging out, taking the cable car, going to the zoo, walking along the beach, and gawking at the Golden Gate. The zoo is really nice and lucky for us, just about all the animals were out and about, close enough for us to see. They had just about everything there, including two grizzly bears that were sleeping right in front of the viewing glass. Baker Beach has some of the best views of the Golden Gate, and unfortunately for us, also has a population of nude old men. I apologize in advance if any of the pictures have them in it. Oh, and while we were taking one of our famous self-portraits, a naked dude came up and offered to take our photo. If that wasn't weird enough, then he talked to us about visiting Alcatraz and rambled about WWII for a few minutes. We had Indian Cuisine for dinner, did some shopping, and called it a night. Before heading to Oakland on Monday, we stopped by Pier 39 to see the sea lions. It was the 19th anniversary of them arriving at the pier. The sea lions never hung out at Pier 39 until the day after the 1989 earthquake. Then, they started taking over docks and getting in the way of boat owners. In January of 1990, the Pier officially recognized them as residents and gave them their own floating docks. Since then, they have stayed off the other docks and out of boat owner's way. We traveled across the Bay to Oakland to look at the 2010 Burton stuff and then finally headed home. It was a fun weekend and nice to get away for a few days.

Hanging in the City

So we decided to get away for a few days and head down to San Francisco. I have to be in Oakland on Monday anyway, so it works out well. This morning we took off and stopped in Sacramento to meet our friends Brett and Macy for lunch at On the Border. Next we were off to the city. After checking into the hotel we bought a Muni pass and went to Pier 39. We had dinner on the Pier at WipeOut - a restaurant with a surfer theme. Tomorrow we are hoping to go to the zoo and some other places still to be decided.

San Francisco Here We Come

Danielle and I are going to spend a nice relaxing weekend in San Francisco. I have to look at Burton on Monday in Oakland so we are just making a weekend out of it. I got us a room at the Westin St. Francis Union Square on priceline for $100 which is $229 on there site, I love that site.

I Miss You Mom

Today, January 12th, my mom would have celebrated her 50th birthday. She died in ’96 after a long battle with breast cancer. She was only 37 years old. Although I was only 15 when she passed, I am grateful for the time we had together and cherish all our memories. I can’t believe it’s almost been 13 years. Time goes so fast. Many times, I feel like she isn’t gone, but instead I just haven’t seen her in a long time or like I moved far away. It’s hard to explain, but I know she will always live on in my heart.

The disease that took her away is the most common cancer diagnosed in women. Although a lot of research has been done, there is still a lot to be discovered. Doctors recommend that women begin getting mammograms at the age of 40; however in my mom’s case and many other women, that is too late. Mammograms are not sophisticated enough to x-ray through the dense tissue of younger women making it difficult to see or diagnosis abnormalities. Monthly self-breast exams are highly recommended for any and all women, but it seems to me that more focus is needed in early detection in younger women because cancer isn’t age specific. I can’t say what should be done or I would be a doctor, but I know the more we are informed about things like this, the better chance we have.

New Years 2009 Yosemite

Hope you enjoy these picks from Yosemite over New Years. If you haven't been to Yosemite in the winter you are missing out. The park takes on a new look with all the snow and ice.

Bad Blogger

I have heard it from all of you, whats up with your blog. Sorry I'll just walk with the tail between my legs and tell you all I have been really busy.

In the last few weeks most of the time has been spent working. I did get a few days to go see all my wonderful friends and family for Christmas. Happy New Year to all.

We also took two days off to go to Yosemite. Danielle and I were getting burnt out and needed to disappear. Danny was in town and had never been to Yosemite so we decided to pack up and celebrate New Years eve in Yosemite. It was a mellow night to say the least, we had an amazing two days in the park, hiked to all the valley sites and saw some deer, bear, foxes, coyotes and lots of other small critters. It was a great trip.

Last week was spent at a trade show looking at 2010 snow gear. Danny came down to see what I do. I think he was bored he fell asleep at one of the appointments, One night we did go to R.P.M Go Karts and had a blast Racing other shops and the sales reps. I was doing good but got two penalty's for spinning out other drivers which took me out of contention.

Well I'm going to try and get back on a regular blogging schedule. So check back. Sorry for the long lapse,