Hard Hitting Investigative Journalism: 31st Annual Burton U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships

Welcome To Vail!

In 1982 a group of friends, passionate about riding a surfboard-shaped plank of wood down a steep snow-covered hill, decided they wanted to know who was the best at this new winter activity. Thirty-one years later one of those friends is standing in front of me with his wife, one of his three sons and a big ol’ grin on his face. You’d be happy too if the sport you helped grow from backyard pastime to international obsession finally had a venue that was perfect for its most prestigious competition. Yes, Jake Burton Carpenter has done right by snowboarding and if you think otherwise then you’re a fool.

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That John Denver is full of shit man.

Life's about shiftin gears, poundin beers and killin deers.

Land of the free home of the brave.

Excuse me while I kiss the sky.

At home in the woods.

Get em while they last!

Headed Out

I’ll be flying out to Denver this afternoon for SIA trade show, then heading up to Aspen to check out the clusterfuck known as X-Games. For those of you unfamiliar with SIA it is the largest, longest running winter sport tradeshow. It was moved to Denver 3 years ago after a nice long run in Las Vegas(the good ol days). It’s not that Denver isn’t fun but when the snow sport industries gather together, it’s much more fun if there’s no snow in the immediate area(reminds people they’re there to work not party, no bueno.) So I’ll be roaming the Denver Convention Center all day tomorrow finding the best of next years snowboard gear, heckling uptight ski company exhibitors and hopefully scoring lots of free stuff I can give out to you, my loyal readers. Friday morning it’ll be time to head up to Aspen to join the circus. Like so many of my fellow winter-sports enthusiasts, I have a love hate relationship with X-Games. I love that it elevates the exposure of our sports. I love that it puts more money in my friends’ pockets for their tireless year round preparation to impress on a big stage. I love the parties. What I hate is the general attitude at X-Games and the insane people it somehow attracts. It’s like instead of water people in Aspen have been drinking a mix of Monster Energy and speed(I’m convinced crack not speed is the active ingredient in Monster). I will go no further in hating on X-Games, I think the photos I take this weekend will do the talking. Despite the extremely high kook factor, X-Games was incredibly fun last year and I’m looking forward to covering it as a self proclaimed gonzo-journalist this year. I’m envisioning something similar to my coverage of Outside Lands summer before last. In addition to the article coming next week I’ll be updating my Instagram and Twitter feeds regularly so if you’re not following those, better get on it. Hope you’ll all enjoy what I’ve got in store for you.

Cheers,

Andrew.

VOTD

Snowboarding is about having fun with your Frends and few people in snowboarding are constantly having as much fun as these guys. If you’ve got some time check out more videos filmed with a fancy new HD camera on Frendsvision. The site just got a facelift and the new product is up too, it’s Ahmazing.

Reporting From…

So I’m in Denver until Friday for the SIA tradeshow which should be interesting. I will then be heading up to Asssssspen, Colorado for the Xtreme Games. A friend recently pointed out that they might want to think about changing the names as most of generation X has traded piercings for mortgages but that’s a conversation for another day. What you can expect in the next few days is coverage of the debauchery of the after hours parties at both SIA and XGames, as well as interesting little tidbits of info before you’ll see em on ESPN. Stay tuned, in these next few days, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

On The Road Again

Should get some interesting pictures to post.

Yes! That’s Awesome!

Just a look back at what we were doing a year ago. Sorta wishing I was there again given that it’s snowing and the wind’s blowing 50mph in Truckee. Oh well time to burn down more trees than a forest fire. Have fun with your day ya’ll and remember safety first!

Cheers.

Good Eats- Mona’s of Denver

Good Eats- Smiling Moose(CO)/City Market(VT)

Nice Life!-Party at The Goose Super Post