Back-in-the-City Kid: Dew Tour/FTC

Made it back to San Francisco in time for Dew Tour (because I like to party and I always find a way). This year was even more fun than last year, mainly because I didn't get my phone and wallet stolen this time. Going to Dew Tour with my best friend Summer is my new favorite tradition. It really shouldn't even be allowed to have as much fun as we do. I'm not gonna say too much more. Here's a bunch of photos and vaguely related captions.

Brown SoCal glow, pre-Dew with Martin at EPR

my entry for some contest. I love pizza so much

Summer's entry. She loves doughnuts

Only posting for the Kevin Romar photobomb

Half of them didn't speak English, half we wished didn't speak English

Vip seats that we got just for being babes. no joke.

Mobbin deep before the Common show

uncommonly close to Common

Vague memory of double fisting with Taylor Bingaman.

Street course was pretty sweet. Thanks #teamBinky for the passes

Really, thanks #teamBinky.

David Gravette bout to go ham

da babe Shecks

classic best friends photo with Nicola and Summer

Javelle, me, and Tyrone day before FTC I think?

Javelle shreds everywhere. style points for the afro pick

I guess I deleted all my photos from FTC? So here's me. haha

Mammoth Opening Weekend

This past weekend was Mammoth's Opening Weekend, and because I've been into torturing myself by going to the openings of all the mountains around Tahoe, even though I can't ride yet, I made the send to Mammoth.

On Thursday it started snowing while I was in school so I left as soon as class got out,  unsure of how bad the storm might get. I arrived in the Mammoth Village a little after 7pm and realized I had no idea of what I was doing for the night. My phone was stolen a couple weeks ago so communication is basically impossible. The only way I can find my friends is by just guessing where they'll be and going there. My first stop was Sushi Rei for the Volcom VIP Reception. I ran into friends there so I hung out a drank for a while. I ended up meeting a ton more people too and we eventually all made our way over to Lakanuki to party more. Sometime around two our little gang rolled up to our friend's condo up the street and crashed there.

Friday morning started off slow but eventually everyone got their stuff together and went out to ride. Lucky me got to stay inside the condo all day and watch Real Housewives of Atlanta/attempt to do homework. When everyone came back from riding we hot tubed and then went down to the village. I watched a couple minutes of the Horgasm: A Love Story premiere but Lakanuki was too crowded for my taste so I left to find something else to do. I ended up running into some of the Yobeat guys outside Gomez's and hung out with them. Together we ventured over to Corey Smith's Spring Break Snowboards art show. There were some amazing photographs there, as well as the craziest boards I've ever seen. After the show we went up to this amazing huge suite (I think it was Transworld's) and did some party preparation. Then it was back to Lakanuki for some madness. Back in the spring when I blew my knee out I had emailed Cale Zima, who was about 3 months ahead of me in recovery, and chatted with him about knee stuff. I met him for the first time in real life at Lakanuki and did some more knee talk/shot drinking. Super cool guy. At the end up the night I somehow was convinced by a couple friends to drive up to their spot at the mountain. There we got into some shenanigans (asbestos was definitely involved) and then passed out.

On Saturday all the guys in the house went out pretty early to ride and because I was already at the mountain I figured I'd go out and take some pictures. I spent the day chugging Monsters and hiking the park in my jeans and tennis shoes. Meanwhile, Matty Mo kept the tunes fresh in the lodge all day. After quitting my photog endeavor I went back to the Mammoth Inn where I had spent the previous night. The rest of the evening involved watching Skeleton Crew's new video Media Offline, playing a multi-story game of Hot Lava with Ethan Deiss, discussing how wonderful riding pipe long and hard is, and drinking Monster-Vodkas. Eventually our gang made it out to Sushi Rei for dinner and stuffed ourselves with the good stuff. I felt kind of bad that Monster payed the tab and I probably shouldn't have been covered, but my one roll and a Soppora probably won't dent the company's financials. We were at the restaraunt for a while because different friends kept sitting down and kicking it, but at some point we got out of there and went up to the 32 condo. There was a girl there- it was so exciting. haha I finally got to hang out with another female for the first time that weekend. Our huge group loaded up a bus and ventured up to the lodge for the RZA concert. I managed to walk into the Vestal VIP lounge with the rest of the group, despite being non-very-important, and enjoyed the free vodka drinks and foam-glow-stick battles for the two hours we had until the show started. RZA was ok, but I couldn't understand a word he was saying so I just talked to friends for most of the show. The last stop on Saturday night was to Mason Aguirre's house for his birthday party. That was pretty fun and low key. Really awesome way to end the night- surrounded by friends, good energy, stale McDonald's french fries, and more vodka.

I had never decided what day I would leave Mammoth on, but when I woke up Sunday morning I felt like it was time to go. It had been a full weekend and I was ready to get home, sleep in my bed and do a major party detox. I'm glad I went to Mammoth because it definitely motivated me to kick some physical therapy butt so I can get on the snow again. I'm pumped for the season and I can't wait for more good times with friends.

Here's a couple photos I took, before I got lazy and stopped pretending to be a photographer.

Mammoth Opening Weekend 2012, a set on Flickr.

And Here's a video of the weekend that I didn't make:

Further World Premiere, Squaw Valley

Premiere season has officially begun.

The world premiere of Jeremy Jones' Further was at Squaw last night outside KT-22. I headed out there with Rebecca, Diva, Madison and Bryan. We had two hours to kill before the movie started so we did some drinking and mingling. It was good to see everyone who came out to the movie. Lots of familiar faces wandering the village.

Me in the middle of a Rebecca sandwich before the movie

The movie started around 9 I think and we got a little spot on the grass with a bunch of friends to watch it. As expected, there were plenty of shots in crazy locations that made you shit your pants thinking about riding them. Following suit with Deeper, Further turned out to be more of a documentary than a traditional snowboard movie. At this point I had enough alcohol in my system that following a storyline and listening to a lot of talking was challenging. Honestly, I just wanted to see some sick lines but there was only one riding shot every minute or two. The shots they used were awesome though. After what seemed like a really long time, the movie ended. I should probably try watching it again sometime because everyone was stoked on it. So if you're sober and want a good story I'd recommend Further.

After the movie we headed over to the after party at Rocker. It was a closed event and they weren't selling tickets so resourcefulness had to be used. Luckily my good friend Ramone was DJing the event so he came out to get me, Rebecca, Madison, and Diva. We had an awesome time inside; the alcohol was flowing, the music was bumping, and old friends were all around. I don't remember what went on towards the end of the night, but from the pictures that were taken it looked like I had a great time.
Here's what Hondo at Transworld had to say about the night.

Solid night.
Cheers to premiere season!

Novembrrrr

Getting right to the point- This month has been pretty fucking awesome so far.

Nicola and I killing it in Truckee

1. Nicola Barry moved into my house. She's the best.  Nicola is so awesome to live with and its fun to not be alone in my house for the month. We make pretty awesome dinners and go snowboarding almost every day together. Which brings me to awesome point 2.

Classic "Girls on Chair lift" photo

Front 3. © 2011 Ben Birk, All Rights Reserved

2. Boreal is open 7 days a week now. I've gotten 6 days there so far (school is sooo in the way of me having fun). I've learned some cool tricks that I'm pretty stoked about and finally have a picture of myself, thanks to Mr. Ben Birk. I've also discovered I really like gaping boxes. And doing MJs. Another discovery is that I ride 8x better when I listen to Gucci Mane radio. It's funny riding Boreal right now because it makes me think back to this time last year when there were only like two features I'd hit in the whole park run. I'm so happy and grateful that I'm at the point now where I'm not scared of hitting any of the features they have. It makes snowboarding even more fun, if that is even possible.

3. I entered Rome's Magic Shred Contest and won myself a new board. My new Detail Rocker should be arriving any day now and I'm so stoked to get on that baby. You can see the contest here. I'm a little nervous about riding a rocker board but I'm down to try anything once I guess. It's coming just in time too because my Roxy is about to be no bueno. I got the edge drag going on and it's really harshing my mellow.

A little more snow please?

We're the three best friends that anyone could have.

4. Mammoth BWKO was the sickest fucking weekend ever. Ever. I headed down there after my thursday night soccer game (I scored my first goal!!!) and made it down to Mammoth just in time for some afterpartying at the Hyde Lounge. I met new people, saw some old friends, and drank a healthy amount of alcohol. I went with some guys to a party at someone's house and then crashed in some random hotel room. I made it out at 7am to go up to the mountain and get my ticket. I was told that the school was only going to buy me a one day ticket but it turned out to be a three day ticket, which made my weekend so much better. The weather on Friday was ridiculous, but I met some guys who taught me how to Miller Flip so the weather didn't even matter. I was so stoked to learn a new trick. Liz and Nicola came down with Armeen and two skier kids that night. We partied more at Lakanuki's and then went to Hyde Lounge where we were treated to even more free drinks. I met up with Jaeger at some point and gave him my wristband so he could get into Lakanuki's with us. We partied there until I don't know when, and then went up to the Bataleon condo right there in the village. I dipped out fairly early the next morning and rode with Nicola and Liz for the rest of the day. That night we met up with some guys we met while riding for drinks at Gomez's. Turns out our margaritas were paid for there as well, by Binky from Smokin (Thank you <3). We headed back to Lakanuki with the boys and Cody gave us free drink wristbands (Thanks to which ever company paid for our 50 red bull vodkas). Cha-ching. The rest of the night is a blur, with lots of details that I remember but would never share on the internet. Sorry ;]. Basically, we had a good time. Lots of drinking, lots of playing. I stayed in the Bataleon condo again that night and then next morning I set up my bindings up on Jaeger's old Disaster- luckily Jaeger rides the same size as me. We went out riding together and had an awesome time. I kept the board because I can't handle the edge drag I have on my Roxy right now. The Bataleon board rides super differently but it'll work out until my new Rome board shows up. Nicola, Liz, and I sent it back to Tahoe at 1:30, only making the mandatory In-N-Out stop. Liz had to go back home but Nicola and I went out to Boreal and rode there until the lifts stopped. Such a good weekend, with amazing memories, and amazing friends.

5. Northstar is opening in a couple days and I'll be there with Nicola, destroying the park like we always do. Haha. We locked our penguin slides in at Boreal on Sunday night so look out for our mad steeze. Jaeger is also going to come up and stay at my house for the weekend so that'll be fun.

This winter is already topping last years 100 fold. I can't wait for the rest of the season. So happy to be here. So happy to be snowboarding.

Familia 2 and stuff.

Another fun weekend. I'm going three for three now with these Reno trips.

My mom came up for Sierra Nevada College's parent's weekend and was planning on staying at my place until Sunday. On Saturday there was a whole slew of activities at the Freight House District in Reno and I convinced my mom that she had to come with me to see what snowboard life is like.

The set up. Photo By Boreal

The first event at the Freight House was Boreal's rail jam. I thought I'd be able to do a bunch of tricks and get some gear but I was wrong. They didn't have enough snow so they had to take the box out. This left the flat bar rail. It would have been fun and I could have still done some cool tricks but I just couldn't get enough speed. Even a lot of the guys were having trouble making it to the end. The funnest thing I did was stall on the rail, rock back down the lip, ride up the drop in ramp and 180. I didn't make it across the whole rail once. Not like it mattered because they didn't have any girl prizes anyways. It was fun to ride with my friends though. And how can I complain about riding a rail in Reno on October 15?

After the jam were the festivities inside the Freight House. The guy at the door knew me and let me and my mom in without the $15 tickets, making this the first premier I haven't had to pay for this year (I have no idea who the guy was and even after a ten minute conversation with him I was still bluffing my way through our relationship). The only thing going on inside was the autograph signing. I don't usually participate in those but since there wasn't anything else to do I got some magazines signed. I talked with Sean for a couple minutes and he was like "I need a picture with Dylan Thompson and a bunch of girls" so we got a group of girls together, took a couple pictures and then we went to the bar and Sean bought each of us a couple of drinks. I had a good time talking to him. He was super nice and I was stoked to meet someone new. I love meeting people.

Screen on the field. (Photo: Josh Parker)

The first movie started and I honestly can't even tell you what it was. I went to the back of the Freight House and sat in the seats facing the screen above the baseball field with Sean. We ended up talking most of the movie and I was under the influence enough that I could watch the movie screen and not be able to process a single shot. Finally I was like "Oh shoot my mom is sitting alone. I'm gonna tell her to come back here." I brought her back to where I had been sitting and watched the rest of the movie with her.

Then came the product toss. Having two people doubles your chances of catching stuff so that was awesome. Ended up with a couple of things. None of which I would ever wear, but my giveaway collection is growing so I should be able to have another one of those soon.

Finally Familia started. I'm not writing a review of the movie here, so all I'm going to say is that is was good and you should watch it. I tried narrating what all the tricks were to my mom. Before I brought her to the event I was like "I want you to see what snowboarding is about" and she replied "I know about snowboarding. I watch the Olympics." I attempted to help her understand the video the best I could so that she could see that people snowboard outside the Olympics.

After Familia 2 was the raffle, for which I had no tickets. Then was the win a date with Brewer auction. I was ready to put $10 down for a date, but some older blonde lady put down $75 and I was beat. I didn't think anyone would pay more than $15 for that guy but I was wrong. Ha

"White boy wasted" (Photo: Josh Parker)

Then the music started and my mom went back to our hotel room at the Circus Circus to sleep. She had no desire to see Kreayshawn. Shame. The show started with a bunch of random DJ rap group things. I was maybe a bit tipsy and didn't know who was playing at all. I was on stage for most of the sets until too many people ended up on stage and security kicked everyone off. I stayed up there and finally security was like "You need to get off." And I was like "No way. I'm PR for Technine. This is my job to be up here. Do you know who I am? I've been here all night. Do you know who I am??" It didn't work. I had to get off the stage. Haha. I thought it was funny to try though. Then before Kreayshawn started I went back onto the stage and was standing by the back with Jay, Eric, and Brewer. Security once again came to kick us off, Jay did some sweet talking, something about being a photographer, and the rest of us just stayed up there.

The DJ was playing tracks. Everyone was just moving around pretending to do stuff.

Kreayshawn started and while I don't know any of her songs besides Gucci Gucci (come on, can anyone name ONE other Kreayshawn song? Didn't think so), her music was actually pretty catchy. She started with no shoes on and threw her socks into the crowd while she was singing and did the rest of her set barefoot. Security came up a few more times to kick randoms off the stage, and while I could probably win the random-person-of-the-year award, I managed to not get kicked off by just staying at the back of the stage. By the end of the show Eric, Brewer, Johnny, and I were all dancing towards the front of the stage, just having a good time. When they finished performing I hugged Kreayshawn's sister, high fived Kreayshawn, and then they were gone. And so were we. (Later friends of mine questioned how I was on stage the whole time. I have no idea how it worked out, really, but cool things seem to happen to me when I'm drunk.)

Paul in the zone. (Photo: Alana Vaccaro)

First stop after the show was Lincoln Lounge. Which was the best place ever. They played a bunch of classic rock songs and I danced my little heart out. Who did I dance with?? I'm pretty sure I had a few different dance partners, but I don't remember all too well. I know Skeetiter showed up and I danced with him. And then Keeks came out of nowhere too. Oh and Seanderson, Sierra, Marina, Alana, Woj, and Stickupthebutt were with us as well (Looking at photos I realize there were a lot more people than I remembered, so I'm not even going to try listing everyone). At some point a food truck showed up outside the Lounge and I thought it was the delicious Taco Truck so I grabbed Sierra and we ran out to get tacos. Turns out it was the Italian Truck so she bought us some chicken parm, spaghetti, and lasagna. We went back inside to eat and I couldn't finish my stuff so Johnny, Woj, Skeetiter and some others were able to feast as well.

America. Fuck Yeah. (Photo: Alana Vaccaro)

Next stop was Wurk. It took us pretty long to get there. I think we went the wrong way. At some point we ran into a singing cowboy who wasn't very good. We hung out with him for a little while. Finally our ragtag pack made it to Wurk. We found out it was a $10 cover and not many of us wanted to pay that. So there we are, standing in front of the building, figuring out how we're going to sneak in. A couple kids tried to just rush the side door but security was on top of it and checked them for stamps. I had two stamps on top of my hands from the earlier events so I thought about trying to pretend one of those was the Wurk stamp until I realized the security guards were checking underneath the wrists for a stamp. I remembered I had eyeliner in my purse so I did a quick sketch of a stamp on my wrist and went to the side door. I walked in with Johnny who had just walked out so it would look like I had been with him. They still checked my wrist, but somehow my scheme worked and I made it in.

Some good Old Fashioned Reno Planking. (Photo: Alana Vaccaro)

Wurk was Wurk. Not much to say about it. More drinks, I think Brewer bought me a couple, I don't remember really. Lots of standing around talking. Kinda dancing. Trancing out in front of the speakers. All that. Finally around 4:30 I called it. I wanted to stay and I was down to party until the sun's out, which has been my Reno tradition I've kept up the past couple of weekends, but I had a hotel room and plans for the morning. The first time I tried leaving Jay grabbed me and was like "No. You aren't leaving." And brought me back in. I stayed for a couple more minutes, said my goodbyes to everyone, and then dipped out before anybody could stop me.

Finding Circus Circus was no problem, but finding the Hotel Tower was. I wandered around the casino for a while before I could find the actual hotel. I finally made it to my room and got in bed. Jay noticed I was gone at this point and started doing the "Where did you go? Come back!" drunk texts, which I found amusing. But it wasn't happening.

I woke back up at 8 and sent it back to Incline with my mom. I had to do some work at Diamond Peak at ten, and was thankfully done with it in like an hour. I came back home just as my mom was leaving. I hugged her good-bye and then passed the fuck out. I slept for the entire day, in my typical day-after-Reno tradition. I had such a good time last night and it was awesome to have my mom there with me for it. I think she enjoyed it too.

Can't wait for Sacramento sending next weekend!
Thanks for taking so many photos Josh & Alana! Many lost memories have been pieced together through these gems.

Rome The Shred Remains premiere

Friday night was the The Shred Remains premier at the Freight House in Reno and let me tell you- it was probably the most epic night of partying I ever had. Here's the story. (Please excuse my constant shifting from past to present tense. My brain is only half working today)

I'm hanging out around campus on Friday trying to find a ride to Reno. Two weekends ago I drove to SF, and last weekend I drove to Bear. I was not down with driving more. Just completely over it. 6pm rolls around and it's looking like everyone has a full car. My issue was that I wanted to drink and have fun, but Mt. Rose highway is so gnarly that I wouldn't drive it after having anything to drink. If I only have to drive a mile through Bear, or Incline, or Govy after drinking I feel ok about it. But Mt. Rose is another story. I finally decide "Fuck it. I'm driving myself and just staying there for the night." I throw my sleeping bag in my car, get ready and head out.

I make it to Reno around 7:30 and run into people I know in like 3 seconds upon arrival. First it was little Lewis from my team at Northstar, and then I run into Ryan who I met riding Mt. Rose Summit last year and have been friends with since. I paid $3 for a PBR (ridiculous), and then wandered about chatting with my various friends there. My friend Jay has a free-drink wristband so of course I'm like "Nice wristband." which he responds with "Play your cards right and I might get you a drink later." So I immediately start laying the lines out real thick: "You look really nice tonight." "That jacket gives you a real nice shape. All rectanguler and manly." "Your eyes are sparkling". ch-ching. More beer for me.

It must have been 8 at this point, but the movie was like an hour late. Which I didn't mind because I was enjoying the company. I had ran into Marie briefly earlier and was super stoked to see her. She's an amazingly nice girl and always fun to be around. I want to find her again to spend more time catching up but I don't see her so I go to LNP who is unsurprisingly easy to find and ask him if he's seen her. One of my friends (I forget who) was standing near him and introduces me to LNP and a couple other Rome guys standing around. I had met Laurent last spring skating Truckee and then riding Boreal the next day with Marie and Victor and I guess he remembered because he goes "Ohhh yeah! I remember you!" and the game of catch-up begins with him. I end up talking to him until the movie starts, primarily about the nasty stuff that goes on inside the Rome van on the road. Laurent is such a nice guy and super easy to talk to. A+ quality human.

The movie finally starts, maybe at 9 or later, I wasn't really checking my phone for the time. It's a great movie and got me super stoked to ride. I liked the music all the way through. It was pretty balanced between jibbing, and powder which surprised me. I'm not into the big mountain stuff (pretty much because I can't do it) but they definitely had some cool shots. Here's the teaser if you haven't seen it yet.

Keeping it real. (Photo: Alana Vaccaro)

After the movie there was the product toss (Marie passed me a t-shirt, and I rock-paper-scissored for a banner) and then a party right there at the Freight House. If you haven't been there, it's a really cool venue. There's the indoor bar/restaurant, the outdoor bar, and then a dance club with bar. There was a random rock band playing outside on the stage where the movie was, so I danced with my friends, the group of us pretty much owning the dance floor. We eventually moved over to the club area and go crazy. I was throwing out dance moves like it was going out of style. I dipped out to the bar for a bit to take a break and end up exchanging some words with Lucas. We got to talking and totally clicked with each other. You know someone's ill when you can drop a Harry Potter reference and they get it right away. He treated me to a whiskey-coke and we spent a good amount of time at the bar just talking about everything. Together we went back to the club to dance.

Some Shout action at the Lincoln Lounge (Photo: Alana Vaccaro)

At this point I decide to really send it and have fun. And how do I go about doing that? Spitting my drink in the air of course. I did this a couple time but some girls started getting mad so I dipped off the floor and made my move to a chick with a cake in the lounge area. It's her birthday and she offers me a slice. I take a slice, duh, and wish her happy birthday. I start eating some and when I'm over it I start tossing pieces of cake onto the dance floor. I was in destructo mode, what can I say? Then I start climbing the furniture and dancing on that.  Lucas and I eventually dip out with a couple other people to this place down the street called the Lincoln Lounge. We dance there for a while and eat some awesome tacos from a food truck parked on the road. The vibe at LL was sick because they played a ton of classics.

After a while our whole mob moves down the street to Würk. As soon as we go in some drunk guy projectile vomits and I'm in the cross fire. That was shitty. I went to the bathroom to wash up and met RenoGirl. RenoGirl and I go back out to the club together, and she gives me the boost I need to walk around the club in just a bra and jeans. I had to ditch my shirt behind a couch because it was wet and gross. The plus side is that immediately upon getting to the bar some guy bought RenoGirl and I drinks. Jay sees me, takes pity on me and I end up wearing his jacket for the rest of the night. Besides the puke incident Wurk is fun, and a ton of people I know are there. I stay with Lucas almost the entire time, with RenoGirl by my side like a faithful companion.

I had my spy-cam out the whole time of course.

As we're leaving we get cornered by this crazy Mexican kid. It's me, Thomas, Jay, and Lucas standing against a wall around the corner of the club with this kid venting "I'm about to fucking lose it! I'm going to fucking lose it! My mind is going fucking crazy. I need someone to talk to before I go away. I will seriously beat the shit out of anybody right now." At one point I whisper something to Lucas that makes me giggle, and CrazyMexican, who had bat powers or something heard and started flipping out thinking I was laughing at him. I shifted to the side slightly and he freaked out about me trying to leave, saying something about smashing my face into the floor. This kid had just been in juvie for nine years and now he was totally losing it. Finally Jay bolted back to the club, and CrazyMexican chased after him. Jay manages to make it out without CrazyMexican and we dash across the street to the casinos. Crazy Mexican is on our trail though and we're dipping between rows of slot machines with the gangster kid that looks like he wants to kill us close behind. After some cat-and-mouse we manage to lose him and continue on with our partying (which included me losing money playing blackjack- very disappointing.)

When the sun comes back up I finally call it a night and go back to the Freight House parking lot to sleep in my car. I dozed for two hours but my car turned into an oven so I hit the road. I had planned on "sight-seeing" in Reno before going back to Incline but I was totally beat. And I had no money because I lost my last $5 on the black jack table. I made it to the bottom of Mt. Rose and pulled off into a neighborhood to nap for another hour before trekking over the mountain. I made it back to my place around 11am and have been laying in bed ever since. I don't see myself getting out of bed until tomorrow morning when I have to go paintballing for snowboard team bonding day. I'm exhausted, I can barely move, and I'm completely 100% stoked on how the night turned out. Hopefully I'll be sending it as hard for Capita's premier next week.