Season 2 of Powder & Rails opens up with Rapper, Beer Shotgunner and Snowboarding Legend, Shawn Farmer.  Powder and Rails takes you to the Legends of Tahoe event at Donner Ski Ranch for a couple classic Shawn Farmer moments. Some may say he’s crazy, but we’re here to prove he may actually be a genius. 

Yes, Powder and Rails is back, history class has started…

VBS.tv

By: Press Release

Stratton Mountain, VT – As much as it is known for its terrain parks and pipes, Stratton Mountain is equally known for its huge events. This season being no different as the resort kicks off the Vans Cold Wars rail jam series with a post holiday bang.

The first of three 2009-10 events takes place on Saturday, December 26 at 5 p.m., under the lights at Tyrolliene. Open to the public, this freestyle competition features cash prizes, not to mention King and Queen of the mountain bragging rights for the winners.

Registration starts at 4 p.m. in the Bears Cave at the Base Lodge. All riders will be required to wear a helmet, have an SES pass and parental consent upon registering. Competitors will be grouped in divisions based on their age, gender and discipline and the Cold Wars series is open to both skiers and riders.

For more information on New Year’s or other Stratton events visit stratton.com or call 1-800-STRATTON.

Tom Kolicko and FM Productions checked in with this Opening Day edit from Mountain Creek. Best opening day conditions in Jersey in recent memory… Jersey Represent!!!

MountainCreek.com

By: Press Release

MONTPELIER, Vt. (December 16, 2009) – A new blog dedicated to the Vermont snowboarding scene was launched by Vermont Ski Areas Association today.

RideVermont.com, a sister site to the popular SkiVermont.com, will report on the Green Mountain State’s snowboarding events, news and weather and include interviews with insiders, resort reps and visitors.

“If it’s happening in Vermont, and it’s happening on a snowboard… RideVermont.com will probably be there reporting on it. No guarantees, though — snowboarders are busy actually riding,” joked the site’s curator and writer, Luke Q. Stafford.

Stafford will be updating the site with riding tips, “underground” insights, resort reviews, terrain park photos and videos, powder reports and more.

Log on to http://www.ridevermont.com
Follow on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ridevermont
Become a fan on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ridevermont

The Dirty Jerz is officially open for shredding!  Yesterday marked the start of the 2009/2010 riding season at Mountain Creek and what an opener it was… The day was marked by sunny skies, warm temps and great snow.  Things kicked off at South at 12PM with 5 open trails on South Peak making up 1 top-to-bottom run.  Marc Tremain and the Mountain Creek parks crew worked overtime to roll out 12 features for opening day including; an early-season 3 hit jump line and a variety of small to medium sized rails and boxes.  Snow conditions were some of the best I’ve seen in recent memory and up until the time that school let out, the crowds were pretty manageable.  All in all it was just a really great day to be out snowboarding in New Jersey.

 Although the snowmakers were nice enough to keep the guns off  the open trails, they were snowmaking in full force on their other trails.  With temps looking good for snowmaking through next week and the chance of natural snow moving in this weekend, it looks like things are going to start expanding real quick at Creek.  Vernon Peak opens for freeriding this Saturday at 9AM and the rumors are that Jumping Jack at South will also be opening this weekend with more features.  If you missed opening day, you should definitely get out to the Creek and see what you’ve been missing.  If this start is any indication of the season ahead, things are looking good for the shred kids of NJ.

But don’t take my word for it.  See for yourself with this opening day edit from Halley, Mountain Creek’s new snow reporter…

To keep up with all the latest news, videos and conditions visit MountainCreek.com and Thankyouforshredding.com

By: ROME COMMUNIQUE: 

ROME SDS – FUGNAR INTERVIEWS: WILL LAVIGNE 

Will Lavigne’s a pretty awesome dude.  He’s a sick snowboarder, blogger extraordinaire, bi-lingual (twice as many linguals as most of us), and all around just a really nice guy.  After proving himself in a heavy way in Rome’s first two films Any Means and No Correct way, and the fact that he’s Canadian and all, asking him to come along on the cross Canada shred trip known as FuGnar was pretty much a no brainer.  Here are some of his thoughts on what went down on the journey. 
 

What where your thoughts when you first heard about the trip and that you would be going on it for so long?   

At first I thought it was a retarded idea, and then I thought about it a little longer and realized it could be cool. I’ve done the drive a few times so I knew we would find some stuff to ride and have some fun.

About three years ago you did a road trip with our friends from Quebec to Whistler. Did it seem odd to go West to East on a shred trip?

We did the trip when we were filming for the Bandwagon movie. From that trip I had a few ideas where we could stop to find some rails. This time it was three months later in the winter so it got kinda hard with the snow. It didn’t seem weird, I knew it was a do-able trip.

How many of the stops had you been to before? Did you find a new one that were standouts?

I was pretty stoked about the stops we did in BC. We did a few resorts, Seymour, Sun Peak, Kicking Horse, Lake Louise and it was the first time I had ridden those places. After the last resort we stopped at, Lake Louise, I knew pretty much the rest of it, Calgary, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec. It was pretty much the same route we took when I did it three years ago.

You and Bjorn banged out some double lines that were pretty sick. Can you give me a quick breakdown on that hit?

It was a fun feature, not huge though. It was two big rocks in a row with a little gap in between, we were using the first rock as a jump and landing on the side of the second rock. It was a short and steep landing, really fun. 

You guys ended up having a pretty serious backyard session over near Sun Peaks. How did you guys get hooked up with that local crew? 

To be honest I don’t remember how we ended up there. We had a fire in the backyard and next to the fire there was a snake run with a jump in the end and a flat-down box. We started to drink beers and ride the set up while the fire was burning. Max lost his wallet while he was riding. Some dudes were back-flipping out of the snake run; some others were half-back-flipping. We shot-gunned a few beers. Lazz ended up getting tied to a girl who was half of a twin sister pair….I’ll hold on to the rest of the story for the next question though.

As always, we need your best Lazz story? 

The best Lazz story happened that night at Sun Peak. So he was all tied up with this girl, doing all kind of “Lazz” stuff, just talking shit and funny stuff. Later that night we went to the bar in the village. There was a bell hanging from the ceiling over the bar, and one of the locals told us that when you ring the bell, you have to buy a shot for everyone that’s sitting at the bar. So we were drinking by the bar when one of us, can’t remember who, told Lazz to ring the bell. So he did, the whole bar turned around to look at Lazz and he was like…”what?, what?”  The bartender looked at him was like, “Dude, you got to get everyone a shot for that.” Everyone was cheering and making fun of him. He didn’t have a choice; the barman was already pouring the shots.

       Few minutes later Lazz was still hanging with that girl, but this time her twin sister decided to join them. He had a twin on each arm. He was making out on his left side, and then turning the head and making out on the right side.  Too funny. 

How much time did you spend as the vans driver?

We were doing rounds of 6 to 8 hours each. I did 2 or 3 rounds. It gets pretty hard when everyone is sleeping at night. I remember one night I was sleeping and someone woke everyone up saying, “Are we suppose to cross the borders??” We were going the wrong way, so it cost us a 3 hour detour. 

How was Mount Seymour? 

It was good. It’s close to the city and you can find powder. The park isn’t bad either.

Music and movies help the time pass on a trip like that.  Any standout flicks for the trip or battles over music control?

We watched a lot of skate movies. Baker had a Deathwish that just came out a little bit before the trip, so we watched it a lot. There wasn’t any real music battle, until I put my music on. My French music wasn’t welcome in the van. 

So you drove about 3000 miles and as soon as you got to a legit street rail you got hurt? What the hell happened? 

Well, we drove 3000 miles, we had slept in the van a bunch, we rode every day, we drank a lot of beers…it was the last day of the trip. Since we were in Quebec and we knew a bunch of people who were going out, we all went. I woke up the next morning still shit faced. We went to a down-flat-down rail, it was pretty steep. It took us a long time to start the session. One of those days when you’re not sure and you just keep thinking about it. So, I tried to get the session going; I did a few speed checks and than I went for a board-slide. I got on the flat and ejected onto my face in the landing. I almost threw up…it was the end of the trip for me.

How did you guys keep the mood positive on the trip? You guys had rough weather, not the best conditions to shred, but at the end of the trip everyone was still smiling. How did that work?

No need to complain all the time. In the end even if you complain for a all day it won’t change anything. You try to make things happen with what you have, if it works it works, if not…to bad. I’d say that the best to do is to try to make things positive. In the end I had a good time.

Did you think Lazz was going to make it on that Chair Lift Drop? 

Hard to tell…could have worked out, but it looked pretty flat from up there. 
 

For more news and Rome SDS happenings keep an eye on Romesnowboards.com

Wu Tang Clan ain’t nut’n to F*ck wit!

Coming to KINK at Mountain Creek South this Saturday December 19th

a “purple tape party” featuring live performance from Raekwon

hosted by S.T.O.N.E. Boogy
DJs Phaze Shifter and Kenny Diaz
Saul Good will perform his smash single “Balla”

21 and over…doors open 10pm
$15 at the door
or $12 with canned goods Wu-Tang is for the kids!!

MountainCreek.com

This Saturday December 19th Okemo is hosting their What I Learned This Summer Rail Jam.  Showcase the tricks and style you learned this summer on a brand new Rail. Open to Skiers and Snowboarders of all ages. $20 entry fee. Registration 8-10am in the Base Lodge Mezzanine. Event starts at 11am. Best overall trick walks away with $200 in cash. Lots of swag too!

Details at Okemo.com

Mountain Creek the NY metro area’s funnest terrain park is opening for the 2009/2010 season at 12PM this Wednesday December 16th.  Mountain Creek will kick the season off at South with top-to-bottom skiing and riding and a mix of small to medium sized features.  Operating hours for opening day are 12PM – 9PM.  South will remain open for riding on Thursday & Friday and Vernon Peak will open this Saturday at 9AM (8AM for passholders).  Get all the latest news and conditions at MountainCreek.com

The I Heart Snow Crew checks in from Killington with this Rails to Riches edit.