The World According To Laser

Continuing with the stoke........

2010-03-08T10:56:00.000-05:00

via madriverglen.com and their daily youtube video

SCORE!!!

I can't tell you how psyched I am that my kid was solo on the single chair at 5!!

New Bag!

2010-03-08T10:46:00.000-05:00

Just dropped off at my doorstep

VERY psyched right now, though I have a few more weeks left in MY ski season and for those lucky enough to continue skiing conditions should be good to go until late April and early May!!

The Misadventures of Laser

2010-01-20T02:05:00.001-05:00

This weekend can only be described as FUN-tastic!

Magic Mountain MLK Weekend from Andrew Weyl on Vimeo.

warning some NSFW music

Blogging from the road

2010-01-15T19:05:00.000-05:00

Been in VT for the past 3 days

Wednesday had some GREAT turns at Killington on Devils Fiddle

Devils Fiddle from Andrew Weyl on Vimeo.

whats really cool is that Killington is now featuring my video on their insider blog at http://www.killington.com/winter/beast/blog/authors/tom/fiddle-me-snow-buy-a-helmet-and-score

so as you can imagine I'm pretty excited about things. Now if only I can get this weather event to stay all snow things will be just about perfect

Revenge of the Dynafits: Special Edition

2010-01-07T23:54:00.002-05:00

So if George Lucas can do it, so can I :-)

Location X(re-cut) from Andrew Weyl on Vimeo.

Revenge of the Dynafits

2010-01-05T14:33:00.000-05:00

So I was beat from the weekend, but I just couldn't resist heading out to check on the conditions. Expected 5-6" of tracked out heavy snow, found 13"+ of light dry powder with only a few tracks before me. Also got to hit a mini line that'd been staring at me for years without me even noticing it was there

Location X from Andrew Weyl on Vimeo.

What A Weekend!!!

2010-01-04T03:33:00.001-05:00

My body is sore, my gear is destroyed, and I'm beat

storm came in over 4 days and dumped @ 20" of snow in VT

Spent 3 days at Magic and then headed to Killington for Sunday after the crowds had left

Highlights of the trip included consecutive days of scoring first tracks on Redline(including first tracks of the year), getting to hit a bunch of trees that were worked on all summer, and ripping around with good friends.

Now hitting the ice and advil

New Year's In VT from Andrew Weyl on Vimeo.

Spinning the wheels

2009-12-31T19:48:00.001-05:00

Spent Wednesday at Magic Mountain getting re-acquainted with some of the best ski terrain in all of New England.

Magic 12/30/09 from Andrew Weyl on Vimeo.

Of course even the mellow terrain at Magic has the ability to shred your legs and I woke up stiff and sore, and given that there's the potential for a big weekend I decided that it'd be a good idea to get out and spin the wheels a little bit. Plus I figured it'd be a good idea to check what conditions looked like after the rainstorm earlier in the week.

I really had pretty low expectations given the last time I had been out conditions were crusty and thin. However I was pleasantly surprised to find that while the rain had thinned the snowpack considerably, it obliterated any of the remaining crust layer and set up a bombproof base.

The area had picked up 3-4" of snow which made for surprisingly good skiing above 2000'. Below that there was a very definitive rain/snow line and conditions deteriorated accordingly.

Looking forward, I feel very good about the snowpack and with an added 3-6" this weekend hopefully getting our season going for good

Winter finally arrives!

2009-12-06T12:45:00.001-05:00

It's about time

Picked up 4" of snow last night

So of course a snowman had to be built

This morning I headed out to try some junkboarding near the Mass border and while it wasn't great skiing it was fun to get out

-- Blogged from the iPhone, please excuse any poor gramatical construction or spelling errors

Further proof

2009-08-20T12:48:00.001-04:00

In the mailbox today. Yes it's skiing and not powder but at this point I could be getting back issues of Ski with reports of where the best grooming and lodging is and I don't think I'd care

-- Blogged from the iPhone, please excuse any poor gramatical construction or spelling errors

The countdown begins

2009-08-09T15:32:00.001-04:00

And so it begins......

Needed new boots as my old ones had packed out and needed replacement. So after much consternation and gnashing of teeth I pulled the trigger on a pair of Tecnica Vento 95

They're a full mondo size smaller then I'd been using and a touch softer flex then my old boots. The fit out of the box was impressive with no hot spot over the instep which is normally my biggest fit issue(after needing a wider lasted boot) so I'm very pleased to find a boot that appears to work without needing a whole lot of modification. In fact I didn't get the liners formed yet as I'm going to wait until I get some on snow time. I've added world cup boosters to help add some stiffness and I'm pleased with the results but I won't know until I get them on snow

-- Blogged from the iPhone, please excuse any poor gramatical construction or spelling errors

Tubing fun

2009-03-14T17:43:00.001-04:00

Sun, inner tubes, and snow make for a fun day

-- Blogged from the iPhone, please excuse any poor gramatical construction or spelling errors

In the airport

2009-02-25T14:59:00.001-05:00

Waiting to board my flight south

What a week though, great snow, great friends and stellar weather made for some of the best 7 days of my life

Alright they're boarding now

Laser

OUT..............

And PHOTOS!

2009-02-25T00:07:00.000-05:00

The best part of banging your head against a wall......

2009-02-24T16:37:00.001-05:00

Is stopping

6 straight days of charging through nearly bottomless snow is fun and all. But the best part of the day is the happy contented feeling you get when you quit

Pictures and video to come later tonight. Unless I pull a last night and sleep for 12 hours straight cause I'm exhusted.

-- Blogged from the iPhone, please excuse any poor gramatical construction or spelling errors

4 days of powder SLAYAGE!!!!!

2009-02-23T00:52:00.002-05:00

The damage

1 bruised shoulder
1 cut lip
1 hurt forearm
1 pair of sore legs and knees
1 broken Marker Duke

but the goods were SOOOOO worth it

Powder Madness! from Andrew Weyl on Vimeo.

heading back for round 5 tomorrow AM!!

GET SOME!!!

Minianimal POV

2009-02-23T00:50:00.001-05:00

Minianimal trees from Andrew Weyl on Vimeo.

Mini shows us that his steeze isn't limited to the park and pipe scene

Once again packing.......

2009-02-18T08:37:00.002-05:00

I feel like I've spent the entire winter season living out of a suitcase..............

Now I'm packing for almost 2 weeks on the road in two VERY different climates. Minianimal and mommy leave tomorrow AM for the Mouse, and I'm pointing the car due North from the Albany airport and heading towards snow for the next 6 days.

Then I've got to turn around, come back and get on a flight to FL myself for a 5 night excursion during ESPN the weekend. At this point I'm figuring its going to be a better idea to simply pack for the entire trip so I can stay North for the entire time.

This is far too complicated

Finishing up a great day

2009-02-09T20:43:00.000-05:00

With PIZZA!!!

-- Blogged from the iPhone, please excuse any poor gramatical construction or spelling errors

Crowds at Killington

2009-02-08T07:07:00.001-05:00

This is exhibit A in how NOT to run a lift line. Nice job K-mart now that the Skye peak express is the only way out of bear you might want to think about opening more then one or two lines in the corral.

-- Blogged from the iPhone, please excuse any poor gramatical construction or spelling errors

Superbowl Sunday

2009-02-01T14:12:00.000-05:00

Horry for hype and snack foods!

Just thought I'd drop in with the midseason ski update

Minianimal informed me yesterday that he'd like to ski more and would like me to find him parents that allow him to do so. If this kid doesn't wind up sponsored it's going to kill him when he realizes that most NORMAL four year olds don't get 16 days of skiing in before Presidents week and if they do more then 7 they're really lucky.

In any event, the season has so far been a resounding success I could not be more thrilled with minis progression from forgetting how to ski at the beginning of the season to a switch skiing, tree ripping, bump pounding, cliff* dropping, I will not stop until the lifts close, monster.

I refuse to discuss nor forecast the weather upcoming. It sounds like it could go either way. I'm just hoping it goes the right way.

*by cliff I mean ledge and by ledge I mean mound and by mound I mean just enough to get his skis off the ground

-- Blogged from the iPhone, please excuse any poor gramatical construction or spelling errors

And yet more POV

2009-01-29T14:07:00.001-05:00

Maggot Mountain from Andrew Weyl on Vimeo.

One photo from today

2009-01-28T17:56:00.001-05:00

Need I say more?

-- Post From My iPhone

Magic POV footage

2009-01-27T07:52:00.003-05:00

Minianimal at Magic from Andrew Weyl on Vimeo.

Yeah my kid pretty much rips ;-)

Homemade rocker part duex

2009-01-20T18:41:00.001-05:00

After the success of the Powspatiplus, and my recent love affair with Mavens, I decided that I needed a touring ski with rocker. Unfortunately most rockered skis are 120mm wide monsters that make for wonderful touring setups if you're using lifts or helicopters. Unfortunately the touring community hasn't quite gotten the whole fun shape thing so there is a paucity of shapes in the 99-105mm waist range that have rocker. So never being one to let the facts stop me it was time to create one. For this I chose my bluehouse districts, they're fairly lightweight, wide, and aren't foam cored. Now the one issue is the lack of any metal whatsoever. With the pow plus it's very simple, bend metal and you have rocker. I'm not sure how this will work without something to hold the bend. My hope is that pressure and time will be sufficent enough to "warp" the core into a reverse curve.

-- Post From My iPhone

Lexington

2009-01-20T12:09:00.001-05:00

On the plane from Louisville to Baltimore and wanted to post some photos

My dad

Daniel, Ethan, and Will

Ethans photo of Christina

Say cheese

-- Post From My iPhone

Catching up

2009-01-13T18:53:00.003-05:00

well now, I haven't posted anything resembling ski stoke for QUITE some time now

In the words of the Joker "here we go"

First up we've got the Mini-animal at age 4 deciding that skiing forwards is so 3 year old

Switch from Andrew Weyl on Vimeo.

And for all those closet Jamie Pierre fans, YES he did ride it to the road :-)

Next up we've got 2 days of POV footage from Magic

Magic Mountain POV from Andrew Weyl on Vimeo.

Day one was pretty solid, if unspectacular, had a bit of an ice crust in spots, but once that got skiied, it was just fun to get out there and charge

Thin Cover charging

From Magic 11009

Magic Mountain Pinhead shows us some tele steeze

From Magic 11009

Bumpskier ripping it up

From Magic 11009

Day two was probably one of the best days of the year at Magic thus far, we got 6-10" of blower new snow and it was fantastic skiing

Magic Pow Day from Andrew Weyl on Vimeo.

Once again Thin Cover shows us how its done

From Magic Powder

>From Magic Powder

KillWW slaying it on Lhasa Pows

From Magic Powder

And to top it off I spent Monday afternoon poking around in the BC for some fresh, found a nice new line that will be pretty good once we get a little more snow

Mass Backcountry from Andrew Weyl on Vimeo.

I have now seen everything

2009-01-02T20:05:00.000-05:00

It's snowing in Orlando!

-- Post From My iPhone

Happy New Year

2009-01-02T13:47:00.001-05:00

So we're a day late

-- Post From My iPhone

Test track

2009-01-02T13:44:00.001-05:00

-- Post From My iPhone

It's a small world

2009-01-01T10:34:00.001-05:00

God I hate that song and mini is bummed beyond belief that his boat is blue and not yellow

-- Post From My iPhone

Monorailin'

2009-01-01T09:18:00.001-05:00

-- Post From My iPhone

And there are palm trees

2008-12-31T11:48:00.001-05:00

WTF

-- Post From My iPhone

And Like that.....................

2008-12-28T19:58:00.003-05:00

Its gone

44" and its ALL GONE!

POW DAY!!!

2008-12-23T07:11:00.003-05:00

Mini-animal gets the "not so steep but still deep" powder at Magic Mountain. For any of those who have little ones and get bummed at missing out on powder days, I give you Magic's powder day grooming policy. 1-3 passes with the groomer on most of the low angle terrain and the rest of the trail is left as is. Meaning while your little guy rips it up, you're also getting face shots.

Worth considering the next time we get 12-24" of snow!

Merry Christmas Pagent

2008-12-22T15:55:00.001-05:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Dumping at ABC

2008-12-19T17:52:00.000-05:00

Now it's starting to come down at a nice little clip

-- Post From My iPhone

Minianimal is the Photo of the Day on Killington.com!

2008-12-16T14:19:00.004-05:00

I know, damn paparazzi are everywhere ;-)

Holy Crap What a Weekend

2008-12-14T12:56:00.003-05:00

Good god, this weekend went to hell in a handbasket quick.

So, because I'm bored I'm going to enthrall everyone with the tale. Dateline Thursday, skis waxed, bags packed, and everything looks like a go for an early trip north to ski some pow. The forecast was holding at 6-8 inches across Central VT with possibly more snow north. I'm merely waiting for the wife to return so I can get going. Unfortunately by the time she makes it home its started to rain, freeze, and ice so I begin thinking it might be a good idea to wait out the storm. Finally at around 7 PM I decide its time to go. Roads were surprisingly good and by 8:15 PM I had arrived at Manchester ABC. Conditions in Manchester were slush and mist, I had thought about heading over to Magic for a late night skin lap but Matt had informed me that they had lost everything in the rain event Wednesday.

So I settled in for the evening, made one last check of the weather and plotted. I figured I'd be up early check the conditions, and simply drive north until I hit the snow. Unfortunately I was awakened at 4 AM not by the sounds of plow trucks, but the incessant pitter patter of rain on the roof. Some choice words were uttered and I'm pretty sure I rolled back over and went back to sleep for an hour. But by 5:30 there was no denying that north would be the right call. The only question remained "how far"? I had mentally prepared myself for the thought of driving to Jay Peak, but I figured Sugarbush would probably be a safe bet as well, and it also had the added bonus of requiring a drive past the mighty Killington, meaning I could check out conditions there as well.

The need to check conditions at Killington ceased when I checked my voicemail and got the grim news, it was raining at KBL. So Sugarbush it would be, and confirming my suspicions, Fran called with an update that on site reports from 'bush were 6-8" and mist rather then rain. I pulled into the Stewart's in Rutland where the whole thing began to fall apart. Mini-animal called, and I kid you not I've NEVER heard him as upset as he was over the phone. Our house had lost power, and without power there was no water or heat. To say he wasn't handling it well would be an understatement, and there was no consoling him at all. He was nervous, scared and needed his daddy. Finally my wife got on the phone and I got the full situation report. Power must have gone out late last night, temps in the house were down to 60* and of course she didn't know where the flashlights/emergency gear was. I told her I was coming home, but she would hear nothing of it. There was some discussion of her starting a fire all by herself, and after attempting to talk her through it, and hearing mini's frightened crying and whining in the background. I began to have my doubts as to whether it wouldn't be a better idea to simply just head back home.

Look, my wife is fantastic at MANY different things, but if we're drawing up teams for winter survival school, she's the last one picked. I dunno why but staying calm and acting rational in the face of the chaos just isn't her strong suit but I'm digressing

Anyway, I pointed it south and put the hammer down to get back home. I'm not sure how fast I drove, but the roads were good and I successfully made it home with no incidents. Upon arrival I could barely comprehend the magnitude of the destruction that had occurred in the area. Trees with trunks as large as 4 feet wide were snapped like toothpicks. Branches littered the road and power lines were down nearly everywhere you looked.

The damage to my neighborhood was substantial but through the grace of God my house and yard had for the most part been spared. I walked in the front door and found Mini and mommy curled up in bed keeping warm(so at least they got that right) ;-) Mini seemed relived to see me so I got him up and we headed out to try to find some firewood to keep the house warm. Driving around it became clear that any hopes of a speedy return of power were a complete pipe dream. Making it worse it had begun to snow which made the conditions even more hazardous. Every few moments you heard the sickening snap and crash of tree fall and I decided that perhaps we would be better off returning to VT before things got any worse.

It was a tough sell but within an hour we were on our way back north. After grabbing a bite to eat, we settled in at base camp calling every hour or so to see if our answering machine would pick up. Alas it was not to be so we lit a fire and proceeded to spend the rest of the night enjoying the fact that we actually had lights that worked. By 10 pm we finally got through to the machine, but decided it would probably be best to spend the night and give the crews a chance to get the limbs cleared from the road.

Royal Flush

2008-12-09T08:53:00.001-05:00

Yes it was good

Royal Flush from Andrew Weyl on Vimeo.

Long Trail

2008-12-07T21:22:00.000-05:00

Good skiing, good food, good times

-- Post From My iPhone

December 1st

2008-12-01T21:06:00.000-05:00

So it wasn't snowing and was 50*

we still had some fun

And I'm Spent

2008-11-29T11:56:00.001-05:00

After the all that Mini crashes

Grand Central

2008-11-29T11:55:00.002-05:00

Enjoying the worlds greatest train station

Meet me at the clock

French Fries

Seat tester for Metro North

Radio City

2008-11-29T11:49:00.000-05:00

Skating

2008-11-29T11:38:00.003-05:00

Twenty minutes of skating at 30 Rock $70

Watching your son learn to be the next Johnny Weir

Priceless

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree!

2008-11-29T11:37:00.005-05:00

A very big tree

Cheese!

The Rink

Like a pro!

photo's

2008-11-29T11:26:00.000-05:00

The next Scott Hamilton?

2008-11-28T17:06:00.001-05:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Inside

2008-11-28T13:00:00.001-05:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Radio city music hall

2008-11-28T12:58:00.000-05:00

Rockettes baby!!!!!

-- Post From My iPhone

Taking a walk

2008-11-27T15:27:00.000-05:00

Just went out for a nice little walk around the neighborhood with the folks. Wanted to wish all a happy Thanksgiving.

-- Post From My iPhone

Ah the family thanksgiving photo

2008-11-27T12:21:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the best photo is accidental

-- Post From My iPhone

Back on the snow

2008-11-24T20:41:00.001-05:00

It's only taken 2 years plus but I've finally gotten my boots dialed in to where I want them. Spent all day at Killington with no shin or toe bang. Other then a small and very fixable problem with the tune on my skis I think everything is set for the year.

-- Post From My iPhone

Ok so he's not Roger Moore ;-)

2008-11-23T11:23:00.003-05:00

Mini rocks the mousetrap

2008-11-20T12:32:00.000-05:00

Whales are fun!!!!

-- Post From My iPhone

Breakfast the meal of champions

2008-11-20T08:47:00.000-05:00

Ok ok so there's something to be said for egg sandwich and hash browns in the morning

-- Post From My iPhone

New skis

2008-11-17T22:31:00.001-05:00

Well not technically "new" but new to me

One pair of 180 igneous FFL's on the tuning bench. I've always covered a pair. Handmade in Jackson Hole these things just ooze quality from sidewall to base.

I got a chance to scratch the surface of how killer they are when I took them out for a brief spin at P-kill earlier in the year but I'm really excited to test their full potential.

Think snow

-- Post From My iPhone

Once again waiting

2008-11-15T10:55:00.001-05:00

Well it was a nice little mini season while it lasted. Once again we're playing the waiting game. I've managed to get some projects taken care of while it's been warm and rainy. Hopefully we're ready to rock and roll come the 20th and it will be game on for good.

-- Post From My iPhone

Killington 11/5

2008-11-06T08:11:00.001-05:00

Minianimal and I decided to head to kmart for some spring skiing in November. There is nothing better then 60* temps and skiing. Coverage was good and K has managed to stockpile significant amounts of snow in higher elevation areas. I'm not sure whether the low angle, low elevation terrain will hold through Friday, but once snowmaking weather returns Sunday night it shouldn't take long to get those areas resurfaced.

-- Post From My iPhone

Helmet Hero Video from today

2008-10-29T22:29:00.006-04:00

Well here it is, I'm not 100% impressed with it, but I'm slowly figuring out what works and what doesn't footage wise.

The light we have to work with out here is flat and grey, and the powder is often wet, meaning that POV shots of skiing wide open powder runs tend to look boring and repetitive. I may shoot at different angles or change mounting locations to attempt to fix that, but I have a feeling it probably will be a wash. I'm encouraged by the limited "chase" shots, I thought those did a better job of capturing the conditions, so in the future I'm going to try to get more of them. It helps to have a subject in front of the lens to provide some kind of definition. Perhaps tree footage will look better?

In any event, the camera is durable and does a pretty good job of taking still video so I'm encouraged on that front.

Plattekill

2008-10-29T17:30:00.001-04:00

What a great day, coverage was unreal, close to 20" up top and NO rocks whatsoever

Couple more shots from today

2008-10-28T21:21:00.003-04:00

Nice solid day in Southern NY, I haven't seen it snow that hard in a LONG time. It had to be coming down at a 1"-2" an hour pace, perfect early season snow too, very wet and heavy to prevent you from punching all the way through and hitting a rock

Mmmm snow

2008-10-28T13:58:00.001-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Minianimal eaten by a shark!!!

2008-10-27T13:26:00.001-04:00

Seriously!

Happy Halloween All

2008-10-25T15:45:00.002-04:00

A bit early, but Minianimal and I would like to say Happy Halloween to all

Decompressing

2008-10-25T12:10:00.004-04:00

So its taken me 2 days to get off the October turns high, and I'm poking through some of the "B" roll stuff I took with the iphone camera. I really was kinda pissed off that I had forgotten my point and shoot at home, figuring that the iphone would leave me with crappy cameraphone style pictures. I'm actually blown away at what I managed to get, and further bummed because I may have wasted a great shooting day because I didn't think the camera I had was up to snuff.

Adding the Camera Bag app makes the iphone camera even better

The junkshow in the back of the car on the way up to Vermont

North Ridge Area

Escapade

They're not Powder magazine cover shot material, but I'm pretty impressed at the ability of the iphone in a "street" photography setting. The real test I think will come while trying to take an action shot, which is where I think the lack of shutter speed and other controls will become a real hinderence. I'm really looking forward to testing the limits of what this thing can do.

Little Helmetcam footage from today

2008-10-23T14:47:00.002-04:00

First time out with the go pro helmetcam, I thought it went well. Next time I'm going to try a slightly higher angle, although due to the conditions I was looking a lot closer to the front of my skis then I normally do

Escapade to Flume

2008-10-23T09:07:00.000-04:00

Yes
It is october 23 and I made a continous ski decent of escapade to flume
-- Post From My iPhone

North ridge

2008-10-23T07:58:00.000-04:00

Great coverage maybe 5-6". Not too many guns set up however

-- Post From My iPhone

Sunrise over Skye peak

2008-10-23T07:27:00.000-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Caper/great northern

2008-10-23T07:01:00.000-04:00

Looks pretty skiable and if it's ok at this elevation it should be better up top

-- Post From My iPhone

Mavens in the house!

2008-10-22T22:20:00.000-04:00

They finally got here! I'm usually not someone who raves about topsheet artwork but these are amazing. The other thing that is immediately noticeable is despite the 189 cm length they don't seem that long. As I type they are in the shop awaiting mounting.

You know you have a serious problem when.....

2008-10-21T11:37:00.004-04:00

You are actually contimplating driving 3 hours plus for a snowstorm that may or may not materialize into anything more then 3" of snow on top of grass and rocks.

There are three insane options and one sane and boring option

I will dispense with the sane one which is to simply stay home and let others go out and have fun. This option is clearly unacceptable and is immediately thrown out as it is entirely without merit.

Option #1 is to head to Mt Snow. They're already open with some form of jib yard and the new ownership has made no secret of the fact that they will make snow if possible. They will also see less natural then anywhere else due to their southerly location. Plus doing 50' of vert through a jib park really doesn't appeal to me at all.

Option #2 is to pray like hell that Killington decides to get their crews up the mountain and turn on the snowmaking system tonight. My guess is Killington should see 3-4" out of this storm and coupled with some snowmaking help, I'm possitive that there would be a skiable base. However, without snowmaking help I might as well be skiing on frost.

Option #3 is to let it all hang out and make the suicide drive to Mansfield and Stowe. NWS is reporting that there could be upwards of 7" overnight and possibly 9" in total snowfall. I'm not sure Stowe will put the guns on, but 7-9" is enough to ski. Again though its a long drive and if it doesn't materailize I'm stuck in the same boat as I would be at Killington.

WE HAVE LIFTOFF!!!

2008-10-19T07:47:00.006-04:00

Holy cow, I never thought when I said two days ago that "it wouldn't be long", it really wouldn't be that long. Mt Snow did their fan gun thing last night and are claiming to be pushing for an October opening!!!! Unfortunately I'm working until at least Monday and possibly Tuesday as well. But with some luck it looks like the October ski streak will continue!

Picking up passes

2008-10-17T11:18:00.000-04:00

there's a definate chill in the air up at Killington as minianimal and I picked up our 08/09 passes

Not too much longer now

The Waiting Game

2008-10-13T16:50:00.000-04:00

The temps fluctuate wildly, the folliage peaks, and the light becomes ever fainter and flatter. The season draws inexorably closer and yet, it just can't get here fast enough. The last few days have simply felt like agony for me. I can't wait; visions of the first turns of the season, the first chair of the season, the first powder day all float through my head. I fear if it does not snow soon I will go insane waiting for it.

New Killington Guide for 08/09

2008-10-09T14:00:00.002-04:00

Just a couple of scans from Killington's new Winter Guide 08/09

Recon

2008-10-04T23:00:00.001-04:00

There's nothing better than fall recon, especially when you find hidden lines where you weren't expecting them.

It started pouring rain so I wasn't able to find out just how far this glade went but it looks pretty sweet

Better then where's waldo

2008-09-28T08:22:00.003-04:00

Spot service has released a "Track Me" page so now everybody can find out where I am

yeah thats right, cause all of you out there REALLY care about where I am

anyway I think its a pretty cool little function

Check it out!

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=047szCTbxT9DZ7REbx7Ixg2oV0EOOeixE

The Gear Weight List

2008-09-26T22:24:00.006-04:00

I've been keeping a list of weights elsewhere on the internet but figured it would be a good idea to back it up here as well

unless otherwise noted weights are for a pair

Skis

160 K2 Sahale 2318g
160 Volkl V1 20/20 2460 g
180 Alpina Cross Terrain 2816 g
177 Atomic TMX 3260 g
177 Volkl G3 3500 g
180 Atomic Heli Daddy 3640 g
165 Volkl Explosive 3688 g
178 G4 3808 g
187 Bluehouse District 3984 g
179 K2 Public Enemy 4140 g
180 Volkl Explosive 4244 g
180 Atomic Powder Plus 4800 g

Bindings

Voile 3-Pin Mountaineer 432 g(3 pin + stock heel)
Voile 3 Pin Mountaineer on riser 740 g (using riser heel)
Dynafit TLT Classic 822 g
G3 Targas 1264 g
Black Diamond O3's 1440 g
Black Diamond O2's 1532 g
Silvretta 300 1660 g
Salomon 977's 2052 g
Fritschi Freeride(w/o toe shim) 1976 g
Fritschi Freeride(Stock) 2052 g
Fritschi Freeride(w/ heel shim) 2076 g
Naxo NX01 VRS 2280 g
Tyrolia Mojo 15 2360 g
Naxo NX21 2500 g
Marker Duke 2720 g

Salomon PS plate 728 g
Voile 3 pin Riser 352 g
Dynafit Rental plate 284 g

Boots

Scarpa F1 3196g standard
Scarpa F1 stripped down(no heel throw and removed all hardware except lower buckle assembly) 2680 g
Dynafit TLT 700 3576 g plus rear spoiler and WC booster 3676 g
Lowa Struktura Evo 3920 g
Scarpa T2's 3920 g (non thermo liner) 3432 g (thermo liner)
Dynafit FR Aero 4300 g Stock 4436 g modified
Dalbello Avanti V12 5284 g(standard liner) 4764 g(thermo liner)

Go Pro Helmet Hero

2008-09-25T13:51:00.005-04:00

Just purchased a helmet hero from go pro

First impression is-"damn this thing is tiny"

Its incredibly small, and once out of the box it feels about the same as one of the toy spy cameas you would get when you were a kid

Photos/Video are saved to a SD card, suposedly you're able to shoot 2 hours of film with a 2GB SD card. Camera is 3 megapixels, and is hyped to take fantastic shots, but I'm not buying it for the camera function. I'd give a full rundown on tech specs but I'm lazy.

The entire camera can be encased in a plastic case that is waterproof to 100 feet, so taking photos/video underwater should be no problem. The other cool thing is the plethora of helmet mounting attachments included with the camera. From straps to glue I have no problem saying that you will have NO problem whatsoever finding a method to attach your camera.

On my Nine.9 I decided to use the glue, but on my G10 I went with the straps. Not only is it quckly removable, but it doesn't interfere with the operation of the vents. Operation is ridiculously intuitive: one button turns it on and changes modes and the other controls the shutter. The buttons are very easy to find and I doubt there will be any problems with operation while wearing gloves, which is a major plus

Here's another pic to show just how miniscule this thing is

And one final one showing how the mount shouldn't interfere with googles

Sample footage, make sure to actually go to youtube and check it out in High Quality. I can't seem to find any way to link to the high quality version.

The only drawbacks I can see so far are the batteries, the Helmet Hero takes 2 AAA batteries and my guess is that unless you upgrade them to lithium, you're going to run out of juice fairly quickly in the colder weather. Another minor gripe is the lack of any kind of display screen, which makes it difficult to orient the camera, but having delt with large LCD screens sapping batteries in the cold, I can completely understand the reasons behind leaving it out.

I'd always wanted to have a helmet cam but was turned off by the hassle of running wires, the difficulty of finding a safe and secure mounting location, and the prohibitive cost of buying a video camera with imputs and a lens to attach it to. If that wasn't enough, you then had to find someway to edit and upload your video. The helmet hero is wireless, comes with numerous mounting options, and easily transfers video via SD card. Add in the extremely reasonable price of $169 and I think this thing is a winner.

Bluehouse Taco Stand Flex Video

2008-09-22T08:32:00.006-04:00

Sick skis, I can't WAIT to get my hands on my Mavens!

Boo Weekly is my hero

2008-09-19T18:09:00.000-04:00

kick Westwood's prissy ass

Bluehouse is down

2008-09-19T02:26:00.002-04:00

Wanted to buy skis,

Website crashed from too much traffic,

Go to bed and hope they're there in the AM or stick it out and hope the site goes back online?

Update:

Powstash is the MAN, one pair of Bluehouse Mavens on their way to me!

A busy day at K

2008-09-18T15:23:00.006-04:00

The boys made the executive decision that one night wasn't enough so we decided to stay another day

Early morning in the pool, the leaves are just starting to turn

air temp 47* and minianimal really doesn't care that the pool is outside

While we were swimming there was a helicopter working on Skye Peak

After the pool we drove over to Bear to see what was going on but the heli was grounded and we didn't want to walk through a work zone.

Instead we went for a Snowdon hike, looks like the triple is getting a new coat of paint

At first glance I thought they were putting a waffle hut at the Snowdon quad, but now I'm not possitive as it could be a feature for the new Stash park

We made it all the way up to the Poma, before calling it a day. I figure if minianimal can make it to the poma this year, next year he should be all set to make it all the way into the glades for early season turns ;-)

And of course to end the day one has to hit Long Trail Brewery for eats and drinks!

9/17 Killington Golf

2008-09-18T03:38:00.003-04:00

With mommy away for the next few days, Mini-animal and I decided to head up to Killington for the night

we arrived to find the golf course relatively deserted so we decided to play a quick 9 holes

Practice Green at the Killington Grand

Mini IS Tiger Woods(or at least he has the same headcover)

Is it snowing YET?!?!

Mini-animal on the range

Mini does his best John Daly impersonation

Now the Stack and Tilt

Mini on the 1st hole

Mini-animal chilling in the Cart on 2

Daddy can I PLEASE drive the cart?

Mini needs to work on his touch on those 2 footers

The two of us had an awesome time

First Look: Black Diamond Bandit Pack

2008-09-11T23:09:00.007-04:00

I'm constantly looking for a lift serve/sidecountry pack that works. In the past few seasons I've been through the Dakine Heli Pro, Black Diamond Slide, Dakine Tram, and finally back to the Heli Pro(version 2).

So in the search for the better moustrap, this years entrant is the Black Diamond Bandit. Its 11L which transates to 690 cubic inches which puts it on the small side of packs. For those that desire it is availible with an avalung but for my purposes I feel that the standard non avalung version is sufficient for my needs.

My problems with previous packs have ranged from poor fit, to lack of ski carry, and finally too many bells and whistles getting in the way actually doing the packs job. In order to successfully win the job my pack has to do the following things.

1. Its got to fit on the chair. There is NOTHING worse then dealing with an overstuffed pack on a chairlift. Especially on the East Coast where stupid people will flip the saftey bar down with no regard to whats in the way. Seriously people if you're not coordinated enough to sit on a chairlif without falling off, perhaps you should drop skiing and take up checkers, ok? The Slide was a great pack but it never compressed properly and you felt like you were carrying a turtle shell when you sat down.

2. Get rid of all the stupid straps and pockets. The latest version of the heli pro is the WORST for this. Its got integrated hydration so why the heck do I need a pocket for carrying a water/soda bottle? Furthermore I HATE compression straps and buckles espeically when they cover the zippers. All they're good for is coming loose and snagging on trees/lifts/etc. Plus everytime you reach into the bag you have to unbuckle and re-adjust the compression straps. I realize that on larger packs compression straps are a good thing but there are ways of using compression straps without interfering with the access to the pack al-la the Frenzy that I reviewed here.

3. It needs to carry at a minimum: hydration, skins, change of googles and gloves. Being able to organize all this stuff is a plus as well. Both the old and new Heli Pro packs were lousy at this, the new one in particular. There was no way to store small things like clif bars and chapstick away from large things like skins and gloves. This ment that you were always digging through your pack looking for tiny crap. I also get annoyed at companies that make packs for winter use and simply add the probe/shovel storage as an afterthought. I'd be fine with a pack that didn't have shovel and probe storage. But if you're going to put that feature into a pack, at least put SOME thought into what the best way to store them would be. The newest version of the Heli Pro is absolutely abhorent, I don't know how anyone could easily extricate their shovel and probe, its hard enough getting them IN the Heli Pro.

4. A good ski carry, I honestly don't know why this bugs me, but it does. The Dakine Tram was almost the holy grail, it was small, streamlined, well orgazined, and had a GREAT outer sleeve for shovel/probe. But it lacked the ski carry which just killed it for bootpacking or any other task that required strapping skis to the pack.

So without further yammering here's my first look at the Black Diamond Bandit

The back is completely clean, no straps, no mess. One outside pocket allows quick access to smaller items and as a bonus is NOT blocked once you engage the ski carry. The material feels durable enough to take on ski edges but there isn't a specific wear area so I will be interested to see how it holds up over the course of a season. The ski carry loop can be adjusted to fit wide ski tails and can be snugged up when not in use by means of an internal buckle system.

As you can see the pack is pretty low profile, I don't think you'll have any problems fitting this on a lift. It also retains its shape very well even when not full, which is a bonus since there are no compression straps.

The inside organization is almost subconcious. There is very little excess space and therefore everything fits perfectly in exactly the space it's designed to go in. Another neat little feature is that the zipper is designed so the pack can be enterly opened meaning you'll never have to dig for the stuff on the bottom. It also has taller walls near the bottom of the pack which prevent anything on the bottom from accidentally falling out of the pack when its opened completely. I'd say you'd have room for skins, h20, avie tools, goggles, hat, gloves. You might POSSIBLY get baselayer or lightweight windshirt, but that'd be pushing it. I don't think a down jacket or other top layer will fit inside.

Its also got a wet/dry divider, I'm not sure how well that's going to work, but its there.

The one area I fel like could really use an upgrade is the waistbelt. It's mearly a peice of webbing with a buckle thrown on. I know its a minamilist pack, and most of the extreme rando dudes will simply cut it off, but because its so light and tiny, I find that the waistbelt is very easy to tangle and lose behind you. Adding padding would at least give you someplace to start looking, and would allow you to add a hip pocket to hold a digital camera or energy bar.

UPDATE

I took the pack on a quick dayhike and it worked fairly well, my only complaint is the waist belt, its somewhat uncomfortable and perhaps completely useless as I felt like the pack carried BETTER when I unbuckled it for a while. I don't want to get rid of it before it gets some work carrying skis, but I could see taking a razorblade to it come ski season.

UPDATE #2

People have been clamoring for ski carry pictures so here they are

Setup is quick and straighforward

Loop the top strap through the reinforced loop. Note that there are two loops, one right, one left meaning that you can set your carry up whichever direction you prefer.(also means you can use it for a board carry)

The bottom loop is pretty large, I'm carrying my bluehouse districts but as you can see there is plenty of room for a larger ski. As I mentioned above the bottom loop has some adjustment so it can be sized to fit different skis, and retracted when not in use.

Note that even with skis on the pack you can access both the top outside pocket and inside clamshell fairly easily

Ski carry is solid, and theres not a ton of movement and its also pretty comfortable even without the use of the waistbelt. It should be fine for a quick bootpack but I wouldn't want to do a 4-5 hour long slog with it as the heel of the binding/brake arm tends to rub a bit. Again if you're considering this pack, you probably either have a pack for longer tours, or don't care about carrying skis for a long distance.

First Look: Bluehouse District

2008-09-11T22:27:00.003-04:00

Just picked up a pair of last years Bluehouse districts to fill the role of inbounds pow day/sidecountry touring rig. First impressions are that for their size they are VERY light which is due to their bamboo core construction. Out of the box the tune needs work, the bases are very fuzzy and the edges aren't quite where I want them, so thats the first thing that will need to be corrected. Flex is definately medium to soft, I'd peg it really close to Pocket Rocket/Gotama softness, I'll be very interested to see how they hold up on EC hardpack/mixed conditions. Granted thats not the kind of conditions I got them for, but even on powder days out here you will see some mixed conditions. In any event I think with Public Enemies, Heli Daddies, and Districts I should be covered regardless of the condtions.

187 cm long

134-103-122

3984 grams(pair)

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2008-08-19T15:46:00.000-04:00

Greetings from Morocoo and tropical storm fay

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2008-08-17T15:04:00.000-04:00

We're in the boneyard at Animal Kingdom. Its a massive playground with a dinosaur theme. It goes without saying Ethan is having a blast!

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2008-08-16T08:47:00.000-04:00

Dinner Germay Yummy

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2008-08-11T20:46:00.000-04:00

I cannot take her anywhere! Kristen managed to spill all over her white shirt I'd post photos but I fear for my life should such pictures make it on to the blog

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2008-08-11T19:57:00.000-04:00

Bottle of red from Spain....check

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2008-08-11T19:33:00.000-04:00

Dinner at the California Grill possibly my favorite eats anywhere!

Tusker house

2008-08-08T08:37:00.000-04:00

Breakfast was interupted by a mouse!

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2008-08-05T16:13:00.000-04:00

After a long day in the parks minianimal crashes. We're going to let him sleep and then go out to dinner. A

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2008-08-04T14:13:00.000-04:00

Ethan loves the trains in Germay

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2008-07-31T16:22:00.000-04:00

2nd test

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2008-07-31T15:29:00.001-04:00

This is a test of the blog

edit: IT WORKS!!!