My little secret: Sierra Summit.

Sierra Summit Sierra Summit Sierra Summit Sierra Summit Sierra Summit
Okay, don't laugh at me, Sierra Summit is my new favorite resort. I get major hate whenever I mention this little spot out of Fresno but it really deserves more credit. Most people I know automatically think less of it because it's not in Tahoe but really, who gives a shit. Tahoe is the bomb. We all know that. But the magic can be found in the places that we don't all know about. I went to Sierra Summit last Sunday with some doubts in my mind. I figured it'd be a little crappy but I didn't care because I was going to get to snowboard. My mind was blown when I got there. A few factors played into incredible day.

1. PERFECT BLUEBIRD CONDITIONS. Ah. It was awesome. I ditched two layers and was still pretty warm. The sky was bright and blue. There was a foot of fresh pow covering the mountain. It was also what the locals called "busy" but what any Tahoe kid would call empty. No lift lines or anything. No one getting in my line as I boarded (except one skier who guerrilla attacked my jump line). The runs were also very open. There weren't really any paths that we had to stick to. It was easy as pie to cross from one run to another whenever we felt like.

2. Sundays are $20 ticket days for 6th-12th graders. Cha-chinggg.

3. I went with my old friend Gina. This was my first time boarding with just another girl in years, besides camp. I'm always going up to the mountains with guys are by myself so this was a new experience. I've been friends with Gina since babyhood but we haven't hung out recently. It was cool getting back together with her. It was also cool because she is basically the same level as me. I'm a bit more advanced but that made it super cool. I didn't feel pressured to go faster than I wanted so I could take my time and just have fun. I was also able to teach Gina some tricks. I love teaching people. I get super stoked when I learn something new and when I teach someone else something new I get super stoked FOR them. Side note; I met this little kid who was just learning to board and I helped her with turns for a while. I had a ball. Anyways, Gina was super fun to board with and we were able to push each other. Good stuff.

4. This place is an intermediate boarder's paradise. Most of the runs are intermediate and the parks are too. Usually I have issues with parks at other resorts. The beginner parks are supppper beginner, with boxes that are like a max of 3 inches above the snow and jumps that are like four feet high. And then the next level parks are too advanced for a medium level rider to comfortably attempt anything. This is not the case with Sierra Summit. The parks were a perfect medium. I felt like I could safely attempt the rails and such but I was still challenged and forced to progress my riding. It was sick. Another cool thing was that almost all of the snowboarders/skiers on the mountain were lower levels so I felt like I was one of the better riders on the mountain. There was definitely no intimidation factor there to affect my confidence.

So yeah. I was pleasantly surprised by this place. I'm trying to convince my friends to go to Sierra Summit with me on Sundays now but it's hard work. People just don't believe that there's good boarding in that area....

Bluebird at Sierra photo cred: this guy

New love.

Since I haven't gotten to go snowboarding for a few weeks I've gotten back into skateboarding. I've been skating at Red Morton in Redwood City and just keeping it steezy you know? Anywayyss, I've also gotten more into photography and have decided to do skateboarding photography while I'm not boarding myself. And so here it is; FLICKR, my first every skateboarding album. I've never shot skating before and I think I got a few cool shots. I learned somethings that will help me get better shots next time as well. I just can't believe it took me all day to process the batch. Ahhh. The one draw back. Whatever. MGT. Look for a special skateboarding surprise coming soon, featuring the soon to be legendary 820 House.

LOCALS ONLY

Sick day at Sierra

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been kinda sick. :/ Here's the story;

I drove over to Sunnyvale in the wee hours of the morning to catch the Bay Area Ski Bus. My stomach was feeling kinda funky but I was like "whatevs. I'll get on the bus, go to sleep and it'll be all good." So at 4am I boarded the bus and tried to sleep. I made it for like a half hour before I had to go to the bathroom andddd I puked. Lost all my yummy dinner from the night before. Oh and I hadn't eaten lunch the day before either. So all I had left in me (if anything) was the pancakes I ate for breakfast at 8am the day before. But those were probably gone too. Anyways, I go up to the front of the bus and I was like "Do you have any snacks or anything that I could eat right now. I'm not feeling good." And this old guys is all "Well I have some airplane peanuts" and this Asian mom is like "I have some juice." I took those, ate a few of the peanuts and half the box of apple juice and still wasn't feeling good. An hour or so later I was in the bathroom throwing those up. Unpleasant. Oh an I was totally sweating up a storm too. I stripped down to my long underware in the bathroom because I was like dripping in sweat.

By the time we got to the mountain I wasn't feeling so hot. I thought about not boarding and just hanging in the lodge but I was like "No way. I paid $115 for this day. I'm boarding." So I strapped in and felt better once I was on the mountain. I was having an okay time at the park but I wasn't really about to go full out because I had no energy at all. At like 1pm I was seriously having trouble staying conscious on the mountain. Like, as I was boarding I was getting dizzy and having to concentrate on keeping my eyes open and staying up. I figure it was time to take a rest. I was dehydrated and all that crap. I went to the lodge and got a cup of water. I didn't want to eat though because I didn't know if it would make me sick and there was no way I was going to throw up while boarding. I grabbed me a cup o' water, drank some of it and laid down to rest for an hour.

I then went back out onto the mountain and took like five more runs before I had to get back onto the bus. When we stopped for dinner I still didn't want to eat so I just got a piece of bread from Subways, which they gave to me for free. All in all, the day wasn't horrible. I lost three pounds and wasn't able to go as hard as I would have liked. It was still time on the mountain though so it's okay in the end. I'd give the day a C-.

FREE Magazine Subscriptions

Ahhh the lovely world of snowboarding magazines. What better to do when you can't board than sit down and gaze at the majestic sites of other boarders. But, being a student and a self-supporting snowboarder, I have no money to spend on these magazines. However, I always say, where there's a will there's a way. I have sailed the seas in search of deals and I now subscribe to Transworld Snowboarding and Snowboarder Mag, without paying a dime. And now I'm letting my lovely readers in on the deal too.
Click here to subscribe to Snowboard Magazine
For card # type in "snow1970". Use this code to register for a Tahoe card on snowbomb.com if you wish as well.
Click here to subscribe to Transworld Snowboarding

ENJOYY

SO FRUSTRATED!

Oh my freaking God. I am so pissed off. I hate people who ruin snowboarding plans. Going up to the mountians is a big deal for me because it had to be planned like a week in advance. So, my boy friends goes "Hey, my mom said she could drive us up this weekend" and I'm like, "Sick, my school is taking a trip to the school on Saturday but I'll go with you instead." Well, it turns out that my boy friend never asked his mom and she can't drive us and my school has already left so I can't go with them either. I look online, contact everyone I know, and NO ONE can go up because it's so last minute. So I'm stuck at home for the weekend, not snowboarding, while the rest of my friends are. AHHHHHH! I hate life. Of course, every person I talk to goes "I can't this week but you can come with me next weekend." Really? Does everyone have to go on the same weekend? Lame. Ah. Stranded. Snowless. I go crazy without the shred. I hate when people bail. I should've just gone with my school. >.< I can't wait to be done with highschool so I can live in the snow and go everyday.
Oh, bright note; I got accepted to Sierra Nevada College with a $6,000 a year scholarship. :]