Wow, long weekend.  Towards the tail end of last week, we had some surf finally roll into the area after a long dry spell.  The spot for the day was "The Wall", a break defined by a long concrete barrier separating the Atlantic from Ocean Blvd.  I’ts a great place to shoot surfers, not only because of the elevation that the wall gives the photographer, but because of how close you are to the surfers.  With the 100-400 L lens I had mounted on the 7d, I was able to get some sweet shots I might not have been able to get anywhere else.  The first 2 are Travis and Ryan respectfully.  Both work here are SASS and can kill it equally well in the water, and on the hill.  The second 2 are NH locals who’s names escape me.  If it’s you, shoot me an email at Jack@SAsnow.com.

Here’s where the weekend got crazy.  We set up the Reclaim the Fame Rail Jam over at Hunter Mtn in New York.  For those who don’t know, Hunter is a little known gem of the east coast.  It get’s a big crowd from NYC, but the park crew puts together an awesome set up year after year.  But, it’s also 5 hours away from the SASS offices in NH.  We woke up early on Saturday and headed over to check out the setup that Hunter had built for the riders to shred on.  Not only was there an awesome trio of features in the jam (wallride w/ gap, down rail, and flat box) but the crowd at Hunter was super stoked to come out, learn all about SASS and sign up to win a FREE SASS / Dakine pack!.  

As an added bonus, we brought New York’s own Jarred "Allstar" Haynes and DJ Byggz to rock the mic and shred on the 1′s and 2′s.  Both came out and threw down hard while the skiers and snowboarders killed it on the features.

In the end, everyone crushed it, no one got hurt, and the winners walked away with some sweet swag from Dakine, Kicker and Oakley for their efforts!  We want to thank Hunter Mtn Park Crew for putting together a dope set up, Dre from Hunter for taking each and every one of our multiple phone calls to talk about the event, and Allstar and DJ Byggz for braving the frozen north to come out and provide some entertainment for the masses.

Don’t forget to check us out this weekend at the Main Event Finals in Stowe VT!  We’ll also be swinging by Amity Hall in NYC to do an event with the NY Snowboard Group!  We’ll once again have Allstar and DJ Byggz with us, as well as our homies from Good Wood NYC.  It’s going to be a blast, so if you are in the area, make sure to swing by!

Until next time, Keep those tips up!

-Jack

SHARE!

       While the rest of the SASS crew made their way to Hunter Mountain for the Reclaim the Fame rail jam, I went back to my alma mater, Williams College, to help run the now-infamous Weeny Jam.  The 3rd Annual Weeny Jam, put on by the Williams Ski & Snowboard Club and sponsored by South America Snow Sessions, is a yearly exercise in the rediculous and a way for the nerds at Williams to finally get out of the library and enjoy themselves.  Think of it as the Trans Am with hot dogs, free roller coaster rides, a bangin’ DJ, and a palm tree-lined mini-jib course.

Read more…

SHARE!

  Yeah, yeah, blogs are supposed to be about timely content, but unfortunately our social media intern has been having a ravenous stomach bug recently so he’s barely been able to hold it together in front of his laptop.  So we’re still posting stuff from our Colorado trip back from early Feb.  But lots of good stuff to cover.

  After the ro-deo that is Winter X, we hung around Aspen for a few days for a bunch of meetings, visits to Aspen High, Basalt High, and Colorado Rocky Mountain School, as well as a big meeting in town to launch our environmental sustainability initiatives.  On hand with Nathan Ratledge from the City of Aspen’s Community Office for Resource Efficiency, Griff Smith, the Bariloche liason for the Aspen Sister Cities program, Marta Darby from the City of Aspen’s Canary Initiative, and the lovely Karinjo DeVore, President of the Aspen International Mountain Foundation and the one who helped us pull the whole thing together.  

   After some coffee (it’s not "manfee" unless we make it) from Ink, we got to talking about our plans to partner the City of Aspen with SASS and the city of Bariloche to make sure our operations in Argentina put less of a strain on local resources and the environment, and brainstorm ways to educate and involve the great people of Bariloche in our efforts.  Lots of really great ideas were thrown around but we’ll be working hardest to convert one of our buses to run on waste veggie oil from town restaurants (which reduces carbon emissions by 80% versus diesel fuel), weatherize the hotel (improve insulation as well as seal leaky windows, ducts, doors, etc. that reduce heating efficiency), retrofit lightbulbs and other appliances (increasing energy efficiency) and possibly build and run a greenhouse as a co-op with the local community, providing fresh produce both for you guys this summer as well as for the locals.  During the South American winter, produce gets very expensive for the natives because it’s mostly shipped in from Chile, and vegetables are a crucial aspect of maintaining healthy diets, especially in low-income households.  While a lot depends on finding partners in Argentina who will take on these projects with their own energy and motivation, we’re optimistic about our sustainability program and it was clear from our meeting that we have a great support system in Aspen for our efforts.  Look forward to hearing more as our plans develop!

SHARE!

 What’s goin on faithful blog readers!  As I am sure you have noticed, SASS has been crushing the coverage in the ski/snowboard world lately.  Here are two of the latest articles about us that appeared in Freeskier and Transworld Snowboarding.

The article in Freeskier was included in their summer guide.  They included 5 camps, and did a pretty sweet write up on each.  While they may have had the dates just a hair off (it’s actually late July to mid September), AND THEY DID NOT LIST GARRETT RUSSELL who is one of the ORIGINAL SASS Family members, we appreciate the love and like to think we are doing something right to be included in their write up.  If you don’t get the mag, check it out below.  Just click on the thumbnail for a full size image.

SASS also got some love in the Transworld Snowboarding Summer Shredding issue.  They did an awesome job documenting 4 different summer shred opportunities, and it’s an honor to be ranked up there with what they consider the best summer programs in the world.  We also had an add run in the issue designed by yours truly.  Keep an eye out on news stands and if you see it, pick up the issue.  It’s chock full of good stuff.  The rest of the mag was awesome, and even as a skier, I have a copy on my desk right now that I’ll probably pick up again after I finish writing this up.

With all of the increased exposure the phones have been ringing off the hook and signups are coming in faster than ever before. There is no doubt that SASS will fill every last spot this season so ake sure to signup before all the spots are gone and you are waiting yet another year to get you experience of a lifetime in South America. Call 603-498-7842 to register immediately.

Thats pretty much all I have for now!  The last 24 hours have been intense!  Dunfee and I rode some pow last night at Ski Bradford in Masachusetts and then the crew went surfing this morning.  I shot a ton of photos, some of which I will share in the next blog post.

We have an event coming up this weekend you should all check out.  We are hosting the "Reclaim the Fame" rail jam at Hunter on Saturday night.  Come out, and party with SASS and Jarred "Allstar" Haynes.  www.myspace.com/adotstar.  It’s gonna be a good time!

And don’t forget to get your deposit’s in if you are thinking of heading South with us this summer!  It’s going to be a blast, but spots are going to begin filling up fast!

Until next time,

Peace, Love, Snow,

Jack

SHARE!

View on Vimeo. 

Nothing like the morning commute…

SHARE!

View on Vimeo.

SHARE!

I finally put my stupid flip video camera to good use documenting the successes and hijinks of our time at SIA & the X Games.  Enjoy!

View on Vimeo. 

SHARE!

Kicker describes these bad boys as "a throw-back with a retro look and legendary KICKER sound, ideal for music lovers and musicians alike."  Now, I’m not a musician.  Scratch that, I play a mean ukulele.  But, I don’t need headphones for that.  What I do need them for is drowning out some of the music that Lucas likes to play in the office.  Crazy euro techno will flow directly into Hall and Oates.  It makes no sense sometimes.  But, unless I am on the phone, you can bet I have a pair of these on my head.

The super padded ears and band make it seem as if I don’t even have them on.  In fact, I have had huge issues in the past with headphones being uncomfortable.  So it’s nice that no matter how long Lucas decides to play Celine Dion, I know that I am cool with leaving them on and being able to concentrate on my work.  And they expand wide enough to fit my huge dome even if I am wearing a hat.  The fit on these is spot on. 

Kicker did a great job creating a headphone that is easy to forget about when its on your head.  Well, it would be easy to forget about if it didn’t sound so good.  I know it sounds cliche to post a review with nothing but good things to say about a product, but here is the bottom line.  While these wont compare to a $500 pair of Senheissers, they aren’t designed to.  What they are designed to do is give you the best sound in an affordable package.  And they do that in spades. 

Just a few minutes ago, I actually decided to give them a mini torture test.  I queued up Lil Wayne’s "A Milli" and turned the volume all they way up.  Now, this song has some deep, resonating bass in it.  I fully expected the headphones to crack at some point and give way to distortion.  But after 1 or 2 bass hits, they drivers fell in line and absorbed each hit in rhythm.  In fact, I could feel the headphones vibrating on my ears like a certain other pair of headphones with "built in subwoofers".  The difference being that the headphones were actually creating this vibration, not a set of "cell phone vibrating motors" placed to create the feeling of bass, but no actual sound.  Likewise, treble response is crisp, clear, and bright. 

Kicker really knocked one out of the park with these.  From the super cush leather padding, to the braided cover on the cord to keep it from tangling (I have yet had to unplug them to fix a snag) these headphones offer a super comfortable fit AND amazing sound quality.  Throw in a classic all black colorway and you won’t have to worry about matching your headphones to your outerwear. 

Bottom line:  These things rule, and no matter what Lucas decides to play for the rest of the office, I can keep my secret love for Miley Cyrus under wraps.

Check them out at http://www.kicker.com/hp1973, and peep http://www.kicker.com for the rest of the Kicker line.  I have an upcoming review on their iKick as well that you should keep an eye out for.

That’ll do it for today!  Dunfee has another SIA post in the works that will be sure to get you guys excited, along with an insider’s look at what really goes on at SIA.

Keep it real guys!

-Jack

SHARE!

    The past five days have been absolutely crazy; I’d never imagine so much could happen in that span of time.  Luke, Lucas, and I left NH and a fading southeast swell for Denver.  SIA moved from its legendrary haunts in Vegas to Denver this year, which I expect made the business meetings go much more efficiently, but clearly a couple folks were loathing the change, while others were rocking "Give Denver a Chance" shirts.  That’s generous.  However, Lucas was excited to finally see Denver’s answer to the Bellagio, the Colorado Convention Center.

Welcome to Vegas!

     Before I go any farther, SASS homeboy John Heinle needs a big shout-out.  He picked us up at the airport and hooked us up with a sick loft and a car for our stay in Denver.  And it looks like I’ll be shredding pow with him in Telluride the end of the week.  Sick!  Thanks so much, SASS owes you one John!

     After rolling in with my BroBomb media credentials, we had meetings with all kinds of people that peddle shred-related gear, services, and media.  You name them, and we probably got their business card.  What was impossible to understate was how stoked Denver was on SASS.  Everyone we met wanted to come down and SASS was all over the place, covering nearly the entire booths of Dakine and K2 Snowboarding.  We’re stoked those guys decided to come down and we’re really flattered by the photos that both team produced during their time with us.  I’m really stoked to be working for a group that’s generating such a positive response.

Top: SASS home-boys Eric Pollard & Chris Benchetler ripping the trees off of Condor at Cerro Catedral.

Bottom: More Dakine shots from Catedral & evidence that SASS fever was running wild in Denver.

     I also got to meet the other BroBombers for the first time, as well as several of our readers.

Top: Me stoked on media credentials, and with fellow BroBombers Jon Hartley, Chris Casula, & Matt Barber.

Bottom: BroBomb regulars Freetle Coty, Eric Iberg, & Josh Finbow; thanks for reading!

     After long days of standing up all day & meetings it got progressively harder to think or speak, but thanks to the schwag-athon that is SIA we were supplied with enough energy supplements to stay up for days (and a stack of tees from Surface; thanks Rob!), and we were game to get at the nightime activities SIA was putting on.  First was the Transworld Rider’s Poll.  After MFM announced Best Video (yeah Forum!), hunger set in, and SASS found the best cabbie in Denver to take us through a McDonald’s drive-through with Lil’ Shorty blaring!  It was hilarious!  After I pounded down a #6, we made moves to  SASS homie DJ Z-Trip show.  One of SASS’s favorite clients, Z-Trip got it going so hard we almost thought we were back in Vegas.  We could have at least pretended it was Reno.

     RZA played a sick show as well Friday night, and Lucas and I were able to snake someone’s cab quickly enough to make it back to the apartment to celebrate his 32nd birthday!  Everyone should wish young Lucas a good one.

     After a couple more succesful meetings on Saturday, we packed into the rental & made moves to Aspen for Winter X.  Chris Benchetler provided the car with enough philosophical questions to keep us debating on music and social media all the way to X.  I’ll let you guys know how Aspen went, lots of cool SASS stuff still to cover & the release of the SASS SIA Videoblog!  Yoo!

    -Ryan

SHARE!