2010 Year End Video.

Well, here it is... 2 software applications, 3 start overs, and endless program crashes later, I present, my crowning video achievement thus far..

'Ezy Riders: Winter 2010'

Winter 2010 from josh on Vimeo.

All footage in the video is from Gore, Whiteface, and Jay Peak and was filmed by me, Greg, and Chris on my old Canon SD600 Elph. I must say this video took quite a bit of effort, mainly because my computer is junk and everything I did took forever, but also because I worked hard at piecing it all together and coming up with a nice flow, fitting music, and an overall entertaining viewing experience. I really enjoy making these videos. It gives me great pleasure to create something from scratch that I can enjoy with the others who made it possible and never forgetting some really great life memories.

I hope to gain more experience using my newest application, Adobe Premiere Elements. It seems to be pretty robust with features and is overall fairly intuitive. Next year I would like to include some interviews with friends and others at the mountain to share their experiences and make the video more varied.

Of course you can never have enough action clips and in that regard I would like to include new friends and locals at Gore, WF, and Jay as well. I would also like to get a new computer as well as a much better camera to make next years video even better... We shall see!!

Whiteface 04-03-2010

Final Ski Day
Ski Day 21



Final Ski Day of the year. We decided Whiteface would have better coverage left than Gore. It was already around 60 degress in the parking lot when we arrived around 9:30.

I started the day out in my #5 retro David Wright jersey, and it soon become too warm!



By mid-morning it was already in the 70's! So warm we had to back to the car to remove some layers.. Greg got a good video of me on the way down. It was so warm there was actually a girl snowboarding in a pink bikini top which was nice to see :)




Many people had on shorts or shortsleeves too.






Snow coverage was still actually pretty good. The only bad place was the top wall on Skyward was bare. We had to hike down the rocks to get to the snow about 10-15 yards.



The snow was nice and soft and surprisingly not too slushy for some reason. Greg got some air off a kicker in the park. And we finally had a chance to ride Lookout Below, which Greg is standing at the top of below. It's fairly narrow with many big rocks and steep spots.



Had our final beer of the year on the deck outside then headed into Lake Placid for lunch before heading home.. Man it was a great year for me. Most days on snow in a winter i've ever had and my riding really improved a lot by the end of the year.

Gore 03-21-2010

Ski Day 20


The legendary alpacas of Rt 28! I must say those animals are rather ugly. There are also very curious, the whole pack of them slowly filed out of their barn and wandered over toward me...



Met Chris in the parking lot in the 'locals' section at the very far end. It was already a nice temp out and it looked like it might clear up later. Got on the gondi around 10. Pretty sparse crowd for that time, large bare patches on the last pitch of each trail and Walt's bump run was set up with one kicker at the bottom. Turns out mostly little kids did the course and it was single file, kinda liked it better than serious adults. Plus the run was not steep at all and the moguls were small.

Warmed up down Sunway to Quicksilver. Snow already nice and loose. Legs were definitely feeling it after one run. Rode up the gondi again and took Pine Knot to summit chair.

Up top we cycled Upper Steilhang and Cloud to Dell and Headwaters, then moved over to Open Pit a few times, Chatiemac twice, then Open Pit again. Stayed away from Lies and Rumor cause we weren't feelin bumps at all. What we did do was nice and soft and fast. Really was pretty good, it was warm and there was still lots of snow, no bad bare spots.

Took Wild Air to bottom for a break. Turns out Chris walked to the bottom from just under the gondola on Foxlair cause his board broke and was unrideable. A seam in the base ripped up. So we ended up gettin him a free rental for the rest of the day!

After lunch went and did Topridge then Cave glades. Topridge was really nice but the glades were tough on boards, snow was a bit firmer in the trees. Just so much better with POW. Chris said the rental board was the most unresponsive board he ever rode lol, a 160 burton cruzer.


Rain had stayed away and the sun was actually out now! I was only wearing a light windbreaker and sunglasses. I think we did Open Pit and Chatiemac a few more times and possibly an Upper Steilhang run too. Snow was getting heavy and slow. Then over Topridge Triple to Fairview which we absolutely bombed and still didnt make it over the hump at the end. Saddle was closed so we took Sleighride for our last run. Had to be careful dodging the bare spots towards the end.

Turned out to be a beautiful day so we had some beers on the deck. Nice crowd for the bump contest prize ceremony as well. Stopped and took some pics of the North River from Golf Course Rd in Warrensburg...

Whiteface 03-13-2010

Ski Day 19.




All I remember was very tough conditions until around noon. Lowere mtn was ok early but Little WF wasn't good until then. Didnt even go to summit today. I think I had more beers than runs made.

Conditions were frozen ungroomed slush from the day before. terrible. we parked at the kids kampus area for the first time. saved $15. The pic above was taken from the kids area and it was cool to see the Wilmington trail from that angle, it's the trail in the foreground and it's that last steeper sectin right before it ends.

Whiteface 03-06-2010

Ski Day 18

Finally got to ride Upper Cloudspin -




Great trail. Really enjoyed it. Here's some peeps comin down it -




Another awesome day at the 'face

Gore 03-05-2010

Ski Day 17




Took the day off and rode solo. Went all over the mountain. Above photo is from somewhere off of Sagamore in the woods. Who can find it??? Would love to get in there over the summer thin out the whole area. It could be one of the best glades at Gore, it has that much potential in my opinion. Big wide bowl area...

Gore 02-28-2010

Ski Day 16



Greg and I went up today. Still really good conditions from the snow a few days prior. Overall a really good day.

Whiteface 02-27-2010

Ski Day 15



GREAT day! Tons of fresh snow, over 50" the previous week. We got into the Slides before lunch and did slide 1. Chris launched off a cliff, I missed the airborne part but he was flying when he landed.. awesome.

Got some really great video today too over on the High Country glades. We were able to ride all the glades today, including ones I had never been on, such as Cloudsplitter and 10th Mtn Division. Cloudsplitter glades are the best ones on the mountain IMO. We were able to ride Cloudsplitter to 10th Mtn to High Country Glades consecutively on one run which was very cool. Never had a riding experience like that at WF. Nice to know.

Also ducked the rope on Upper Northway which was prime. Untracked fresh deep pow all the way down, best run of the day easily. Did it again later in the day and just as good. Can't believe we were the first to do it.

It was cloudy all day, so it was disappointing on Chris' first trip here didn't get to experience the visual element of the sense of size of the mountain. It really does add to the experience.

Awesome day, these video clips will prob be the highlight of the year end video.

Jay Peak Feb 20-21, 2010

Ski Days 13 and 14.

Jay. Peak. Rules. Jay delivers again. No new snow on Saturday and it was colder and windier than it looked, however the conditions were very good all over the mountain. Even our warm up run down the Goat (aka The Worlds Greatest Groomer) was really good and that run is usually is scraped off by the first skier! Once warmed up we hit up... i honestly can't remember, but i know it was good. We covered much of the mountain today, except tram serviced trails. Highlights included the Weeds and then Beaver. Then up the Bonnie again to more glades that were in nice condition. Headed over to Jet and met up with Randy, Eric and the gang. We went and got a Timbuk run which was very fun, did an Orchard run which was good also. Broke for a ham sandwich tailgate lunch and then set up the cars and did two Dip runs I believe. The Dip was awesome as usual. Found plenty of good stuff in there just as Chris had predicted.



Did a few more runs after the Dip. I think Hells Woods and Expo glade too. All of it was fantastic. I think we quit just before 4 today. It started to sleet and soon we were covered in a thin layer of ice. Goggles glazed over and visibility was very poor. We all headed over to the new Tram bar for a few rounds, and by a few i mean 4. Everyone had a great day and we left hoping that the stuff falling would turn over to snow later. Had an easy night back at the house.



Sunday morning surprised us with around 4-5" of fresh light powder on top of the glazed surface from late Sat afternoon. Greg, Vommie, and I made our first runs of the day in Timbuk, then one more in the Orchard. Awesome Awesome Awesome! Plenty of first tracks for us. It was very fast with the frosted base and light fluff on top. Tons of fun. I was whoopin'. Met up with Chris and Jason and did another Orchard run which was just as good.




Next run we did Kitz woods and then up the Bonnie to Vertigo. I managed to take a nice fall before entering Vertigo... while trying to negotiate past that tram tower near the exit of the Bonnie I somehow caught my edge on some brush and before I knew it was airborn upside down. Not sure what part of my body touched ground first but it knocked the wind out of me. Continued into Vertigo which was is a tough one. Had lunch and I think Greg called it quits after that so Chris, Jason, and I finished up the day together. I think we did another Weeds and Expo run along with two Everglade runs. I really like the Everglade. It is very long, fairly steep, and challenging. It also feels very isolated in there as the it is basically tightly cut mature pines. Can't see more than 2 turns ahead. Love it. Also really liked the Weeds glades too. Don't think I had been in those before this weekend. So many glades at Jay I can't even remember them all. It's hard to take mental notes when I'm just trying to keep up with Chris! I was wore out, but Sunday afternoon was very enjoyable. Relaxed but we were goin at it, at least I felt like I was. Quit around 2 to prep for the ride home. It was great to hang out with friends and forget about life for a weekend anyway. After all, that is to me a huge part of what skiing is all about. Said our goodbyes and headed out. Jay is batting .1000 in my book.

Gore 02-08-2010

Ski Day 12.

An interesting day. Woke up Sunday morning at 6:30 and was initially not going to go. Texted Deb to tell Greg I wasn't going. Went back to sleep and woke up around 8 feeling much better. Packed up real quick and headed up.

Wouldn't you know it, I found a spot in the top lot at 9:45 on a Sunday morning! I was at the gondi by 10 and I thought for sure I would run into Tim and Greg there cause I knew they got there early and this is usually the time we take a quick break. No dice.

Headed up gondi. Rode Pine Knot down to summit chair. Checked the hut on top, no dice there either, however there were bootprints all around. I felt like Mantracker trying to find these guys. Normally I'll take Lies or Open Pit back to chair but today I took Cloud to Headwaters. Hadn't been on that in forever. It was nice and chill. Paused at the the summit chair to look for the guys, no dice here either! Cruised Tannery which I remember being totally empty and just so-so condition. Waited again at Bear Mt summit, no luck again, so down Foxlair -> Sunway -> 3B. Nice run. Adk Express to Sleeping Bear which was also ok conditions. One more run on lower mountain, Sleighride -> Wild Air, then done cause I knew the guys had to leave early today.





Now it's 12:20 and I would have bet my life I'd find them in the bar... sure enough, they were half way done with their first beers already! Come to find out I was right on their tails all day long, I took the same lift order all day, I could just never catch up to them. Turns out they lapped Hullabaloo towards the end of their day. The only chair I didnt check and from i read later, the best place on the mountain that day. Guess ya win some and ya lose some!

Whiteface 02-06-2010

Ski Day 11

Another PERFECT day at Whiteface. This has to be some kind of record, something like 7 consecutive bluebird days at Whiteface for me. Unbelievable!

Did the standard runs on little whiteface, Mountain Run and Excelsior. Conditions were scratchy, hard pack with thin cover. Then over to summit chair. We tried out The Follies which had good coverage. Then on the summit chair again Greg convinced me to do Upper Skyward. It had decent coverage. That trail will probably always make me just a tad nervous looking at it from the lift and then again on the initial drop over the edge onto the trail. There's something scary about looking over that edge, it seems so steep and vast.

On the ride up the summit chair we saw one of the lifties riding a shovel down lower skyward -



He was actually moving at a fast clip. I'm fairly certain he passed a few skiers! Coming down Victoris to the summit chair I spotted a nice chute just beyond the edge of the trail thru a thin row of trees. If we ever get some fresh snow this would be really fun -



We rode the Wilmington trail again this week. It was in good shape, the last thrid of that trail is challenging. The middle third could really use a nice fence all the way down the left side. Someone is going to go right over that cliff one day.

Towards the end of the day we went over to Wolf and tried out the mini skier cross they built recently. A banked turn at the start and finish with a group of small rollers in the middle. It was a nice change of pace.

We also watched some guys hit a medium size kicker. Nearly every one pulled a nice trick. The level of rider and skier at Whiteface is noticeably higher than most other places. It is indeed a very challenging mountain.

Whiteface 01-30-2010

Ski Day 10

Another bluebird day out there. Covered the face with lip balm and got at it. Conditions overall were good given the past weeks weather. First run we did Upper Mac on a recommendation. Wow, a tough warm up! Little sketchy up on that head wall but after that was great snow wide down the left side. Upper Skyward was good also. Some patchy spots but good coverage in many spots. Wilmington trail was deserted after lunch. I'm diggin that trail more. When we are the only 2 people on it you can explore around lines and found lots of fun spots most of the way down. Oh yeah, Boreen was a blast. The cats travel up the mountain on skiers left of that trail and till up the snow going back and forth all day, the result is a spring time like super carvable surface. Lots of fun all the way down.

There was also some kind of mogul competition going on. The kids were pretty impressive throwing backflips off the jumps.





Anybody else think the WF base lodge bar should be redesigned to have a monster 4 sided island bar in the middle of that room, and ditch the existing two? High ceiling over it and everyone would have a good view in there. I think it would make a ton of difference on the enjoyable scale. This was Greg checking out the scenery, and the scenery was named Ashley!





Upper Skyward:

Gore 01-24-2010

Ski Day 9

Real nice day today. Corduroy was nice early. Never rode gondi today. Adirondack Triple to North Quad to Summit Double. Lies was the run of the day for me. Great snow and sun. Lapped it a few times. Topridge then all the way over to Sagamore. What a trail! Every time I stopped to rest the bottom was never in sight, it just keeps going and going. Very Happy

I really like taking the 'back' way up to the summit sometimes. Keeps you off the beaten path, away from the crowds and on some of the trail I don't always ride. Cedars from the base really was not that bad on a board. Once you get past the first section you can strap in and make it to the lift.

I think we also did Tahawus glades somewhere along the way. They are much better than I remember for some reason. Good distance long and pretty wide spacing. I will be back in those hopefully soon.

Whiteface 01-23-2010

Ski Day 8



Every time I've ever been to Whiteface it's been bluebird and today was no exception. Very cold but since I got my new gear this season I've yet to be cold. Got separated from Greg on the first run. The plan was to go to the summit chair but I go past it every single time. Ended up on Boreen,a green circle to the base. It was awesome. The cats travel this trail up and down the mountain so skiers left was totally chewed up from the tracks. The result was spring like slushy powder. Really nice to surf down that stuff. Took the face lift to the summit lift and still no Greg so I went down to the Lookout chair. Lookout Below had tons of snow blown on it...



Heard later in the week that it opened the next day and was really great. It may have been the only day it was open this year because we got rain the day after that. Took the Wilmington trail and I ducked the rope into the new Sugar Valley glades from the top, aka Hickock Hill. I couldn't help it I had to see what these glades were like.

Near the top...



and further down...







The trees were well spaced and there seemed to be several really nice sections that opened up a bit. They should ski really well once we get some new pow. Oh yeah, they are 1 mile long!

Finally found Greg at the base where we had some lunch. We were having a beer on the deck when a TV crew showed up to film an intro segment for the skier-cross event. Johnny Moseley was part of it! Greg proceeded to bust his balls between takes for having to wear a "women's jacket" that the newtwork had him put on! He went and shook his hand after. Greg was pretty pumped about it all so that was cool.


Skier-cross course...




Mid mountain cafeteria...




Later in the day we hit the summit and I rode Upper Cloudspin several times. What a great run. Steep with really good snow, slightly less intimidating than Upper Skyward. On our way down to the base we stumbled across the High Country Glades. They are short but sweet...





Overall another great day at The 'Face!

Jay Peak, Jan 16-17 201

Ski Days 6 and 7.

Went and visited my old pal Chris up in Jay VT. Left Friday night and arrived around 11:30, there's just no getting around the 4 hr drive. The rental house this year is sick! Brand new, got my own bedroom with a self inflating air mattress which is an awesome setup when you're a guest.

Saturday morning no rush to get to mountain. On the Bonnie around 10. Sun warmed things up a bit by then. Conditions were frozen granular/packed powder which loosened up thru the day with traffic. So by midday there was some powdery build up on the trail with some patchy spots. Rode down to the Flyer lift, also known as The Freezer -




Me and Vommie went over to Beaver Pond. They were in good shape, plenty of base just in need of another storm. There was some crusty powder sections that I enjoyed. Compared to Gore standards this was good, compared to Jay standards this was less than optimal. They usually have at least a few inches of fresh on the ground. January thaw even hits up here i guess. Met Chris and Eric at Flyer again and did Beaver Pond again with those guys.







More of the same on the second run thru. I really enjoyed these tree runs. Even without fresh powder they are fun. Did some other runs then down to car for Chris to switch off Randy's board back to his custom.






Went up Jet next and met up with one of the housemates Pablo. Went down Timbuk glades, outer Timbuk glades and the Corona Highway several times. These were similar in condition to the Beaver Pond glades. Did a few more cruisers and Vommie and I called it a day. Waited for Chris and Eric to do a few more runs then had a few beers. First stop was the IR lounge i think it was called. It was beat! Second beer at the brand new bar. It was hoppin! Kinda crowded so we had a round of Margaritas at the JVI while playing a very bad game of pool. Had a fun bonfire Saturday night. Chris provided the entertainment -



Slept in late Sunday morning and got on the Flyer with Chris around 11. Went over to Andres. It was a bit better than Beaver Pond yesterday due to less traffic farther out. I think we did it twice then met the other guys across the way at Jet. Crossed over to middle mountain area and rode Hell's Woods. These are one of my favorite glades here. Short but nicely spaced. Grabbed a beer outside in front of new bar. Place was packed at 1pm. The other guys called it a day and Chris and I did 2 more runs, first was Expo glade followed by Everglade I believe. I'm glad we went back up as these turned out to be two of the best runs all weekend! Expo was good and Everglade was a ton of fun! Into the bar for a few cold ones and hot wings to finish off a great weekend!

Gore 01-10-2010

Ski Day 5.

Was pretty wiped out from yesterday today. We wanted to check out Burnt Ridge thinking it would be open, but it was not. It was a short trip today as I remember being severly hungover. Nothing special happened today anyway...

Whiteface 01-09-2010

Made record time today to the Face. We were boarding the gondi just before 9am, no small feat. It was very cold today, def single digits with a frigid windchill. We really should have gotten dressed inside, my hands were numb from tying my boots and needed to run them under hot water for 5 minutes to get feeling back before heading up the hill.

Today it was Greg, Tim and I. Tim was out the night before. He was running on 3 hours sleep and was still drunk i think. He outrode both me and Greg. Dude is a good rider. 'Rode hardboots for 15 years'. Anyway, did some warmup laps on the gondi. Conditions were very good, despite the cold. Not much ice at all, mostly firm packed powder. It was very fast. Eventually we went to the summit as they were blowing tons of snow on Upper Northway, a long, straight, steep diamond. This was easily the best run of the day. The man made snow was perfect. There was a few inches of fine grain powder which was just a dream to ride. No worries of ice of sliding out. Perfect. Somehow we only did it once though, can't let that happen again.

Went in for lunch around 11. I brought basically the best liverwurst sandwiches ever made. Thick slice 'wurst, thick slice meunster, with a slice of raw onion, deli mustard, all on a mastrionni onion roll. None of spoke the entire time. Just ate. Afterwards the boys gave me props. It was metal.

After lunch went up the Lookout chair. Took Wilmington trail to the new Sugar Valley Glades and had a spin on them. Not too bad really. Could definitely use more snow, but they were cut nice and had a good pitch too. Looking forward to riding them with more snow.

Gore 12-20-09

Had a good day today... Rode summit for first time this year. Rode Hawkeye a few times and was pretty dec. Forgot how steep some of the headwalls are on the top part of the trail. They were making snow on Chatiemac and Cloud.


Here's Greg on Hawkeye


Headed down to base after several runs on top. Greg took some video of me on lower sunway. Practicing carving. Man, it feels really nice to really lay an edge into the snow, you can tell by the cool carve lines in the snow. I feel like i'm improving at carving, but it is still difficult on steeper trails. It's all about technique and form which i'm slowly putting together. I think my back arm moves like a rudder too much. My front shoulder opens up pretty bad going toeside to heelside.