If you were able to keep count of all the acronyms in the title, you would know that South Amercia Snow Sessions is in Denver for SIA, then Aspen for Winter X Games 14, then we’re going out to Telluride for the Freeski World Tour. We’re going to put together a little videoblog from the trip, so you can look forward to that. SASS got hooked up huge from alum John Heinle with the ill loft in Denver; now come a busy couple days. We’ll keep you posted!
-Ryan
Another weekend, another flurry of events with SASS. Travis and I packed up the car Saturday to get a few runs at Loon before we met the folks from the Tufts Mountain Club. I spent the afternoon crushing myself trying to re-learn all my box tricks after a year skiing pow in Colorado, and Travis hung out with the Loon homies. After a quick shower we met up with Jack and headed to the Tufts Mountain Loj. This weekend was the first Inter-Collegiate Franconia Notch Ice Festival, a great event that the Tufts Mountain Club put on that got 56 people ice climbing for the first time! These guys were super rad and loved the SASS presentation.
Me raffling off some Herd product and Dakine gloves. They loved it!
After raffling off some gear and hanging out a bit more with the Tufts crowd, it was off to visit Sushi Dave’s (Imperial Palace in North Woodstock, NH) and get the night going. Soon enough we found ourselves in the Bunyon Room at Loon and, as always, SASS sent it.
After a brutal 5:30 wake-up call, Travis and I broke trail to Killington for the Gatorade Flee Flow Tour and our meet-up with the Killington shred squad.
The Killington Free Flow course. A little bit flat but top section looked raaadddddd
The Free Flow start gate, and the smallest snowboarder I’ve ever seen, who was more obnoxious than Kanye West at the VMA’s! He told me several times that I skied like an old lady. I was so crushed I had to hide in the mini-park the rest of the day!
We had a great time getting to know the Killington snowboard kids and look forward to bringing a group of them down with us this summer to kill it! Another exhausting week is in line for us, with lots of stuff going on in the office and Luke, Lucas, and I heading out to Colorado on Wednesday for SIA, the X Games, and the Freeskiing World Tour. Going to be busy but I’m stoked to head back out west and ski some pow. If you’re riding Whip’s at Aspen Highlands and see a skier in a blue jacket, please don’t snake me! I wouldn’t want to land on you when I air the cliff. Have a great week boys and girls!
-Ryan
Hey Everyone,
With all the stuff going on in our own lives, it’s super easy to forget about those who aren’t as fortunate as we are. I am sure by now everyone has heard about the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks in Port au Prince, Haiti. We want to help, and are contributing to a drive that will deliver goods and services to the country via a flight in mid February to provide supplies and humanitarian support.
Right now, we are looking for medical supplies, powdered formula, disposable diapers (not cloth), baby wipes, baby cereal, infant Tylenol, infant and children’s vitamins, as well as baby care items such as lotion, powder, baby shampoo,clothing, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, blankets and towels. Anything else you can donate is appreciated, but those are the items highest in priority.
You can stop by our offices at 18 Sea Road, Rye Beach NH to drop anything off, or you can call me at (908) 319-0663 and I will meet you somewhere to pick up anything you may want to donate.
Remember
Peace, Snow, and Love (for one another)
-Jack
SASS alum and Stanford nerd Lucyann Murray KILLED it this weekend at the Mt. Snow stop of the Revolution Tour, slaying her way to 3rd place in slope. Travis freaked out because he says she doesn’t even ride park (she does)! Way to Lucyann, you’re KILLING IT!!
SASS alum Lucyann (right) shell shocked by her own performance
We wanted to give a quick shout out to SASS Rider Sean Ryan. He headed over the pond to Switzerland to compete in the O’Neill Evolution Tour. He ended up taking 10th overall in slope and crushing it. His back 9 tail even received some coverage in the Wall Street Journal. Check out video from the event here.http://www.oneill.com/evolution/videos/ Sean’s run is at 16:35.
After wrapping up at the Evo Tour, he headed over to the Burton European Open and finished 12th overall. Congrats to Sean!
Sean checking out the course!
Dolla Bills!
Saturday, January 16th: time to wake up at 5 and make moves down to Ski Sundown, Connecticut. I had never skied The Constitution State before, and was interested to investigate the under-reported shred scene that had produced industry greats like John Sang Wilbur. After three and a half hours second-guessing Google Maps, we were set up at the base of the mountain with the help of the Sundown staff (thanks for the table!) and a very enthusiastic parking lot attendant who cracked bad jokes about breaking into people’s cars whenever they locked them. Josh Lempart had put together another great setup for the Main Event crowd, with a high flat bar/down rail/flat box combo leading into a big stepdown that hugged the lift. Another beautiful Snow Grind creation that had the skiers telling me they were going to pay the fee for the next day’s contest just so they could hit it. Gets me stoked to see the park Josh is going to build us down at Cerro Catedral this summer!
The Sundown setup
SASS homie Will Mayo, who got 3rd at last week’s stop, killed it before the contest even started, giving us a much needed phone call to remind us that the contest was indeed on Saturday, and not Sunday like we had imagined. While the slowboarders got to practicing, Lucas "The Blueberry" Moore got to informing the Sundown public about our summer programs in Argentina and John Sang and myself took off for a couple runs with local Sundown riders Jake, Brendan, and Gregg. Wilbur had forgotten his snow pants and opted to go business casual with his khakis. He even commandeered my skis and with his new ski boots from 32, took to shredding the bottom of Sundown in a desperate ploy to show his enthusiasm for the SASS ski program. Who knows, maybe we’ll see a John Sang Signature SASS Ski Session this summer! Mottos have already been floated such as "You bring your skis; we’ll bring The Sang!" and "Session 2: The Sangtion."
We got a package this afternoon!
Herd Headwear has stepped up huge and sent a box of hats, bandanas, neck warmers, and stickers to give away! Check them out at www.herdheadwear.com. I have one on my head right now, and it’s probably the most comfy thing ever.
Keep an eye out for us at events all over New England! You might just get a super limited Herd item to take home!
Until next time, keep it steezy.
-Jack
Hello and greetings to all my fellow snow sliders out there. I hope you all enjoyed your weekend, wherever your travels may have taken you. The SASS crew once again went on the road this weekend in search of the best that New England had to offer. In tow were myself, John, Lucas, Ryan, and Luke.
Which led us to Cranmore Mt in North Conway. You might be saying, "But Jack, the Trans Am was this weekend, there were so many other events on Saturday…Cranmore?". Well, if you haven’t checked out The Darkside, Cranmore’s park, then you need to get with the program. Jess and the park crew takes this stuff seriously. They all ride the stuff they build, and I have never come across a park that is so meticulously maintained. Every lip is mint, the rails are smooth, and set up, though always changing, keeps a great flow.
Photo Credit – Ryan Dunfee
This Saturday was the first of the Darkside Series, a multi date, night contest. It consists of 3 events where riders can gain points to win prizes at the end of the season event. It’s great to see such a well run event. The smaller scope of things gives all riders a fair shot at prizes too. With some of the bigger contests, contestants can feel a bit lost. With the Darkside Series, even the youngest riders can get in on the act and walk away with some swag for their efforts.
We hit up Flatbread’s in North Conway after the event for some chow, before heading back to Lincoln to wake up bright and early for The Main Event at Crotched on Sundayy.
If you haven’t heard of the Main Event, get out from under your rock, walk over this way, and get schooled on one of the largest all east snowboard series out there. And we were stoked to be a part of it! Apparently, these guys were stoked for us to be there too! One even tried to sticker his base! Though it didn’t work out too well, they didn’t mind posing for a shot before they headed over to the course.
There was a huge crew at Crotched ready to get down on the set up, which included a top rail section, 50 foot booter in the middle that led to a smaller jump flanked by 2 up-flat boxes, and a wall ride with the smoothest transition I have ever seen in person.
Josh Lempert, who just so happens to build the park for SASS in the summer, dialed in the jump after practice. Even after the sun ducked behind the trees, and the temp dropped, the riders really stepped up on the set up. Big tricks were thrown down, with SASS’s own Wes Walsh taking first overall in the Men’s Pro division and Rob Hallowell throwing a slick Back 7 Nose to snag best trip, as evidenced below.
That’s all for now! We are super busy in the office gearing up for SIA in a few weeks, but that doesn’t mean you wont see us on the hill! This Saturday, we have The Big Steezy going on at Smugg’s with Steez Magazine. 9 am registration at the Madonna Base Lodge. Also, we have the second Main Event stop at Sundown in Connecticut. Both event’s are sure to go off.
Get a hold of us in the office if you are thinking of taking your riding to the next level this summer! Camps are all inclusive and spots are starting to fill up. Your $500 deposit secures your spot for the experience of a lifetime! info@sasnow.com or 203-458-1632.
Until next time,
Peace, Love and Snow,
-Jack
Happy New Years from the SASS Crew! With what looked like a huge storm brewing for the weekend, Lucas and I packed up the Subaru, and headed North to Vermont.
Our first stop was Mad River Glen where we hooked up with Eric Freidman, the marketing director. We talked about the season so far and the upcoming events Mad River had going on. He told us to meet up with Ry Young and his crew of junior rippers on the MRG Freeride Team. Ry is a past SASS client, and was stoked to show us the goods. Here, one of the team members gets DEEP:
Sunday, Lucas and I awoke feeling a bit under the weather. Our friend and past SASS traveler, Joe, drove up to hang out the night before and we decided to take the day to drive north through white out conditions. When it’s snowing, it’s best to make it a Jay Day. Lucas called and booked a room at our old haunt, The Snowshoe Lodge and we arrived to a warm welcome from the owner, even though they "weren’t really open today". We grabbed some dinner and went to bed with the snow still falling, knowing that the next day would be epic.
Montgomery, VT
And as usual, it was epic. We met with Brian Keet, Jay’s Event Coordinator to talk about working on some events with Jay in the future. He gave us the inside scoop on where to ski for the day, and we thanked him, and headed out onto the hill with snow still falling. Wind had blown tons of snow into the trees and face shots were had by all. Epic, epic, epic.
How epic was it? So much so that I totally slacked on doing the photography thing and skied pow with Lucas and Joe until I was ready to pass out. The above photo is the only one I snapped all day, and it was over my shoulder, behind me as I tried to recover in The Tower Bar, one of the new facilities in the Tram Haus Lodge. Jay did an awesome job with this hotel, and I recommend staying there if you are thinking about hitting up Jay this season. The ski and stay package prices are too good to not take advantage of. It’s pretty close to getting the hotel room for free!
Big thanks to both Mad River Glen (www.madriverglen.com) and Jay Peak (www.jaypeakresort.com) for taking care of our long overdue east coast pow needs, and the Snowshoe Lodge & Pub (www.snowshoelodgeandpubvt.com) for putting us up on such short term notice.
And don’t fret if you didn’t catch us on the hill this weekend. We have some great events coming up that you should all check out. This Saturday evening is the first of The Darkside Series at Cranmore. We’ll have the tent set up and possibly the grill as well cooking up some snacks for all the riders. Registration is 2-4 with the event kicking off at 5. www.cranmore.com for more info.
Also this weekend is the first of the Main Event Series contests at Crotched Mountain. The Crotched park staff is going out of their way to make one of the sickest Main Event set ups ever seen. The tent is going up and we will be on hand all day to raffle off some sick Dakine gear. Make sure to stop by and say hi! www.maineventseries.com for more info on this one.
That’s all for now. We are still booking trips like crazy! If you want to get in on Argentina in 2010, shoot me an email at Jack@sasnow.com or give the office a buzz at 203-458-1632.
Peace, Love, and Snow in 2010,
-Jack
