There was a week in October where the universe was not on my side. I didn't get a job that I really wanted, I got laid off from the job I had, and lost a family member all within about 7 days. But in true form, I had to focus on the positive, especially when it came to getting laid off. I have to say, I took the news like a champion (at least at first). The chick who called me into her office to deliver the news was not my favorite person anyways, so when she told me, I looked at her, shrugged, and told her, "Whatever, I already have my Cali4nia pass, so I guess my season just opened up." Of course when reality hit me about 10 mins later, I was fairly upset and in shock, but it wasn't anything a few cocktails and a Bay Club session couldn't fix.
I was pretty bummed on not getting this job I wanted as well. It was at an action sports company and I was itching to get back to snowboard land, but I ended up getting a solid chunk of riding in and got a job at Volcom (my dream company) instead in February and things couldn't have gone better! As the old saying goes, "Hindsight is 20/20."
Here's a little summary of people and events that made this snowless season great-
First off, my road dog, Anni Porteous. We hit Mammoth, Alpine, Squaw, Bear, and Summit! And if we are trying to have a positive outlook on the lack of snow this year, I would say the driving conditions were a breeze and we got to take her Prius quite a bit.
We hit up opening day at Mammoth. No snow, but always a party. I probably averaged about 5 laps (that's an opening day record for me). One of my good friends from Squaw came down, we drank lots of bloody mary's, we watched Mr. Plant (again) and had a blast!
Anni and I headed up to Tahoe between Christmas and New Years. Not my favorite time to snowboard, but who cares? I'll take any time in Tahoe I can get. I grew up skiing Alpine Meadows, but haven't been there since I was a kid, so when we got to spend a sunny day shredding there, it was awesome to be back in the old stomping grounds. Of course, I live for Squaw and we spent the next day there. The wind was high, the snow was low, the crowds were poppin, and I got as many Shirley laps in as possible. I also got to spend time with my old Surfside friend, Ricole and her boyfriend Kevin, which was epic in itself. It actually turned out to be one of the coldest weeks I have experienced in Tahoe in my entire life, which turns out to be perfect weather for the casino. It was about -14 at lake level with wind chill. Yikes!
Smith sponsored Surfside on their annual demo Mammoth trip and they were nice enough to bring me along. Every shop needs a token chick right? The whole trip was epic. The Wave Rave party had Led Zepagain playing and Mammoth Brewery on tap and everyone was rocking out in true form. I got to hang out with my favorite Smith guys and see a lot of people that I had been missing since I left Surfside. The riding was sticky, but fun, and I got to demo a bunch of cool gear from next season. I hopped back on a couple of Rome's and loved them. I always spend some time on Capitas and GNU's and enjoyed those as well. And even though I was riding Smith's coat tails, I had a chance to try some polarized Zeal goggles, which I always love. It was just an overall great week and I am always happy to see old faces and make new friends up there.
I started my new job at Volcom within a couple days of getting back from the Mammoth Surfside trip. It probably took a little time to get my brain working again, but not long after my start date, Volcom took all the employees to Bear. I took one lap and definitely called it my last day of the season, but I had a great time and nothing beats getting paid to snowboard and party. And those were basically the highlights of my season (not including a lot of day trips to Bear and Summit).
Between the job hunt, the snowboarding, the side jobs, the dog painting, and the lack of a good desktop computer, I failed to keep this blog up to date on my riding adventures, so here's a season recap in pictures of some highlights as well.
