Season Highlight
Bombing lines at 2 in the morning 600 miles south of the north pole in a place I had never heard of until a year ago.
The 800 inches that fell on my home mountain range the Sierra didn't suck either.
Where did you ride this season.
I spent a month in the high Alps of Japan and a month in Svalbard, a small island near the North Pole. Other then that I was in my home range the Sierra.
Board of Choice.
Filming for Art Of Flight: Flagship 161
High Alps of Japan: HoverCraft Split 156
Resort Powder Days: HoverCraft 156
Arctic Circle: Solution 161
High Sierra: Solution 161 and HoverCraft split.
Hardpack/spring resort days: Mountain Twin 159
But the board I rode this year the most was the HoverCraft and Hover Craft split. We had weeks on end of powder day after powder day. If it wasn't for the HoverCraft I would need a new back leg. But what really amazed me with this board is how well it rides hard snow. I rode the split version in everything from bullet proof to, crust, corn and pow. One line in particular stands out the most. I was on a "fall you die" exposed face in bullet proof ice making hop turns with total confidence above the crux. If you had told me a year ago I would be riding that line in those conditions on a 156cm and 26cm wide snowboard I would have said now way.
Why do you snowboard?
Snowboarding gives me wings it is my art. On the really special runs I feel like I am flying and is my portal tot another world.
How much do you Splitboard?
I put in about 80 days a year on my splitboard. It has really reinvigorated my passion for snowboarding. In my home range for example I am constantly riding new lines, the possibilities are endless. After 25 years of battling crowds at resorts I find my self driving past the resort and opting for the solitude of the backcountry. The cool thing though is that when I do ride resorts I am more amped then every because I appreciate the ease of taking a lift to the top.
