I never figured that a weekend at Stratton was in the cards for me, but I got an invitation to meet people from a really interesting non-profit group at the U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships, so I headed up after work on Friday. The forecast was for near-perfect spring weather all weekend and that's exactly what we got on Saturday. Cloudless skies and temps in the mid 40s softened almost everything, especially on the skier’s right side of the mountain.
PR Mastermind Matt Yemma in the bumps
I’d never been to Stratton before, so I was stunned to see the extent of development for a mountain of this size: hotels, condos, and homes all over the place. I assume that if the economy hadn’t turned south, Intrawest would’ve kept on building. While a lot of the trails were, as many people complain, too boulevardy, I found several winding EC specials and a decent amount of low-angle woods in Upper Kidderbrook and Sun Bowl.
Kidderbrook Woods
Today, clouds came in with intermittent light snow, so the hardscrabble didn't soften as much as yesterday, but I still found a bunch of trails that were skiing nicely.
James on Black Bear
With most of the diverse crowds from the U.S. Open finals gone, I got a good taste of what Strap-On is like on a normal weekend -- hedge fund managers from Connecticut and their spoiled wives and kids. A lot of them looked like the type of people that would work at AIG. As a goof, I considered walking up to one of them and DEMANDING MY TAX MONEY BACK.
At least they're honest about where their sympathies lie
While the skiing was very good, the real fun of the weekend was meeting all the people from The Chill Foundation on Saturday. Originally created 14 years ago by Jake and Donna Burton (founders of the snowboard company) to provide teens and pre-teens from underserved backgrounds with equipment, lift tickets, lessons, and transportation to nearby mountains, they soon realized that the snowboard-learning experience could be used as a springboard to teach them how to get past their present circumstances and succeed in life. You’d never guess that any of these polite, well-spoken, and motivated kids, brought in from 14 cities across North America, were from at-risk environments. In fact, they were the polar opposite of the snotty, ill-mannered snowboarder stereotype that skiers (who, me? 8-[ ) often grumble about. A great story, I’ll have more details in an upcoming article.
A few shots of the Chill crew and the U.S. Open:
Jake Burton Signing Fan Apparel
Two-Plankers In The Minority
Airing Out
Photo Op
PR Mastermind Matt Yemma in the bumps
I’d never been to Stratton before, so I was stunned to see the extent of development for a mountain of this size: hotels, condos, and homes all over the place. I assume that if the economy hadn’t turned south, Intrawest would’ve kept on building. While a lot of the trails were, as many people complain, too boulevardy, I found several winding EC specials and a decent amount of low-angle woods in Upper Kidderbrook and Sun Bowl.
Kidderbrook Woods
Today, clouds came in with intermittent light snow, so the hardscrabble didn't soften as much as yesterday, but I still found a bunch of trails that were skiing nicely.
James on Black Bear
With most of the diverse crowds from the U.S. Open finals gone, I got a good taste of what Strap-On is like on a normal weekend -- hedge fund managers from Connecticut and their spoiled wives and kids. A lot of them looked like the type of people that would work at AIG. As a goof, I considered walking up to one of them and DEMANDING MY TAX MONEY BACK.
At least they're honest about where their sympathies lie
While the skiing was very good, the real fun of the weekend was meeting all the people from The Chill Foundation on Saturday. Originally created 14 years ago by Jake and Donna Burton (founders of the snowboard company) to provide teens and pre-teens from underserved backgrounds with equipment, lift tickets, lessons, and transportation to nearby mountains, they soon realized that the snowboard-learning experience could be used as a springboard to teach them how to get past their present circumstances and succeed in life. You’d never guess that any of these polite, well-spoken, and motivated kids, brought in from 14 cities across North America, were from at-risk environments. In fact, they were the polar opposite of the snotty, ill-mannered snowboarder stereotype that skiers (who, me? 8-[ ) often grumble about. A great story, I’ll have more details in an upcoming article.
A few shots of the Chill crew and the U.S. Open:
Jake Burton Signing Fan Apparel
Two-Plankers In The Minority
Airing Out
Photo Op
