Sunday Shreddin'

Our instructor training got cancelled yesterday, so we decided to go shredding anyways! Dustin, Niles, Susan, and Lisa joined me for a stroll up Eaglecrest to get some good turns in. This was the second time using my Burton Spliff splitboard, and man oh man is that thing fun! I was worried about the float, since it's short for a split, but I guess Burton's 'nug reduction' technology works pretty well afterall. Although the fresh layer wasn't that deep, only a few inches, I could tell it will float just fine through the waist deep shred days ahead of me this season. It's getting easier going uphill in split mode. I've conquered some pretty steep pitches without my Sparks skins failing me. Only one tumble so far, but that was my bad technique at fault. I can't wait for the shred adventures this winter! I really wish Dustin had one too. If Santa is anywhere reading this post, then you know what I want most for Christmas... a split for my man! :) Oh, and lots of snow if you can make that happen too :)

I GoPro'd the ride down, but I was just holding it in my hand so pretty much all the footage is worthless for a video. My goal today is to hopefully get a few decent still shots out of it. I lost my one and only attachment clip for my GoPro, so I can't attach it to my telescoping pole I use most often.

I got a few photos to share though!

Powdery Wonderland

The film premiere we went to last night was epic! Absinthe Films 'Resonance' has successfully made my top 3 favorite snowboard flicks of all time. The parts that really impressed me were Bode Merrill and Nicolas Muller's parts. The whole film was amazing. The music. The riding. Everything! Definitely gonna have to buy this one for the collection. 

Here's a peek at Bode Merrill's part...

Here's Nicolas Muller's full part...

We had a blast after the film with some new friends, too! I know I've used this saying before, but it's too funny not to say it. Last night, we drank some Alaskan, at the Alaskan, with other Alaskans! haha. Yeah I know, it's corny, but just deal with it :) 

We also got some shrimpy friends for our aquarium. Our six black tetras ate our four neon tetras :( Rest in peace, little ones. The four ghost shrimp hold their own though and they seem to be getting along just fine. We plan on adding a couple angel fish in the near future as well. 

Annnnd, I went snowboarding today! 

The snow was SO deep. Seriously, this was the most snow I've ever seen in my life. Not even joking. Even the big dumps we got on Beech doesn't compare to how much snow was up there today. In-freaking-SANE! 

I now know that I need a longer board. My little park set up I'm working with is not very effective in the powder, at least this AK powder! I actually stopped about halfway down, took out my tool, and moved my front binding back quite a bit. It felt weird at first having a more narrow stance, but I guess I'll just have to get used to it! 

The only reason I had my stance so wide anyways was for riding park features. Rails and boxes were much easier with that setup. We won't have too many rails and boxes to play on here, so I better get used to all those awesome natural features! I'm looking forward to getting more experience riding backcountry and natural features. I guess I'm in the right place for that! :)

^ I just gazed at this and imagined the possibilities :)

Eaglecrest Pre-season Round 2!

So today the snow was falling fast so we decided to take a drive up to Eaglecrest and get some hike-n-ride action in. Dustin is recovering from a cold spell so he took it easy as I hiked about halfway up. The snow was amazing... wet and heavy, but still super fun! 

Word on the street is that it was waist deep up at the top. By the time I stopped, it was easily knee deep, and I never saw the first rock on the way down either.  I did take my ol' Burton Blender just in case a rock popped up somewhere. Next time, the Smokin' is making an appearance. I definitely should've waxed the Blender before I went though, she hasn't been waxed since last spring, and I could definitely tell! 

Anyways, here's a short lil video from today... Unfortunately, I thought I turned my GoPro on right off the bat, but apparently I didn't, because by the time I realized it wasn't on I was already almost to the bottom... so here's what you get! 

November Snow Adventure from Jessica Davis on Vimeo.

And of course, some photos!

Pre-Season Shred!

Today was a BLAST! We woke up early, packed some lunch, scraped our freshly waxed boards, and hit the road to Eaglecrest, which is only about a 15 minute drive from our apartment. We figured it would take us a good hour to hike to the top. Afterall, it is over a 1,500 ft elevation gain with 20lbs of backpack and board on our backs. After several rest breaks (big smack in the face to how out of shape we are haha) we finally made it to the top of the Ptarmigan lift in a little over an hour. 

We ate our lunch in the warming hut at the top, then set out to explore the terrain. Lets just say, I will be in complete heaven when that mountain gets some more snow. It really wasn't deep enough to go bombing down the mountain. It was only about 6-8 inches with some deeper drifts here and there, but it was enough to have some fun thanks to our backcountry shovel! Dustin packed snow onto a piece of wood in front of the chairlift to make a box to slide. I shoveled a little booter, but the snow was too fluffy and as soon as I hit it, it just exploded. Everything was still so much fun though! We played around at the top for about an hour then decided to head back down the mountain since the sun was going down. 

We rode down the service road a.k.a trail to the top. There was enough snow packed down on the road that we rode a pretty good ways before it got too rocky. I didn't think to bring my rock board so I had to be super careful and not put any new gashes in my base. Thank god for chairlifts, because if I had to hike that every day with my board(which I totally would if it came down to that!) I would either be in pain or in really good shape! haha.

Warning: LOTS of photos! :)