The One Run Wonder

Sorry for the lateness of this ride report. Work is starting to take over my time, which means summer is around the corner and for some reason it hurts more this year then any other! I am not sure why that is maybe because this winter I worked really hard to get my turns. When I worked for the Canyons in Park City I got a lot of riding in and was a little burnt out on it at the end of the season, therefor the arrival of summer didn't hurt as much. Plus we had a lot of great Skateparks there. Last winter, my first in AK, was pretty shitty. I mean I got some riding in but I just wasn't as committed as I should have been. This year I was ready to make some essential changes. Trying out splitboarding was the best thing I have done in my life. It is amazing how fast you can access untouched terrain. What twisted the dagger in my heart was a trip the the Mecca of Snowboarding, Valdez Alaska.

From Skagway to Valdez it is about a 12 hour drive. Kristin and I packed up the car the night before the trip so we can head out nice and early. Six a.m. the next mourning we were on the road and stoked to go to Valdez. The weather was beautiful and the roads were clear, pristine road trip conditions. After a roller coaster highway we got to the bottom of Thompson Pass and we couldn't believe our eyes. The mountains were huge. Once in them we saw pillow lines all over the place. The best part of the pillow lines was that most of them were slashed, dropped, and murdered. A good sign to run into like minded people.

Coming up to the famous 29.5 mile on Thompson Pass we decided to pull over to check out what is happening at Tailgate. To our surprise not a lot of people were there. I guess it was understandable because the next day was the first, after it's ten year slumber, King of the Hill Contest and everyone needed to rest up for that one.

We arrived at our hotel, the Mountain Sky Suites. Thanks to the Tailgate we got a room with two beds for $50 a night, which is an awesome deal in Alaska. Pack four guys in there and you are looking at $12.50 a person per night. While we were checking in Travis Rice came up to the counter to fill out some form because they broke something the night before, I think they were talking about a window. I don't want to start any roomers because I am not sure what happen, but it is good to see that the old snowboard spirit is still alive. Star struck we headed to our room.

After unpacking we tracked down John F. and his crew who was about to get debriefed after their awesome day out in the Heli. We met in the bar that they have been hanging at every evening of their stay. After a few pitchers and shots we moved on to the Pipeline. Pipeline is a bar where the locals cut up the rug. It was quite funny to watch some of the people in there but it was getting late so we said our goodbyes and went to bed.

The next morning was another beautiful bluebird day. Now I am kicking myself for going out and not being able to wake up nice and early to go out to some heli pad and look for time on the heli. Previous plans and the alcahol the night before made a convincing argument against waking up early, so we slept in and met the crew around 10 am to head up to Tailgate. While we had our complimentary breakfast we saw Danny Kass, The Dingo, and Dustin Craven. It is great staying at the Mountain Sky. Before we headed to Tailgate we stopped by the Heli Company John and his crew used to pick up some punch cards. There Kristin and I decided that we will buy some Heli time for that day or the next. They had some openings for the day but that would have meant that Kristin and I would have to split up and ride in different groups. For the first time on a Heli we decided against it and oped for the next day. Excited for the next day we headed to Tailgate.

Nothing was going on at Tailgate everybody was up at the contest. John, Kristin and I decided to take advantage of the Big Mountain Taxi Service to head up the hill to get a run in. It was quite the ride up. At the top you were humbled. Up there you see how big these mountains are and how steep. The snow wasn't the best but you are not here to get utah blower pow, you are here to ride the massive mountains. After shredding that mountain we got spat out a couple miles down the road from Tailgate. Luckily a nice girl stopped and gave Kristin a ride to our car and she came back to pick up John and me. Back at Tailgate John's crew was ready to head out. It was sad to see them leave. Kristin and I stayed at the at the Tailgate until 4 p.m. but no one came down. So we packed up and went to town to walk around and check out Valdez. We bbqed some steaks and relaxed in the room, to be ready the next day.

Waking up the next morning brought a lot of pain and anger. I opened the curtains and starred at a wall of fog. Hoping it would go away we got dressed and ready for the day. We grabbed some breakfast, where we saw Xavier De La Rue, and headed to the Heli pad. Driving up the hill it started snowing, now we knew that we won't be able to bust our Heli cherry today. We talked to the guys there and they confirmed that they most likely won't fly today. Heart broken we drove back to town. On the way we saw a car in the snowbank and someone working on something in the truck. We pulled over to see how we can help. In the car there was a flipped over generator spilling gas all over, also in the trunk were a bunch of baked goods. We first off put the genny up right and helped clean up the car. After that we pulled her car out of the snowbank. Her name was Maggie and she owns Magpies Bakery in Valdez and she was on her way to bring coffee and backed goods to the guys camping up at Tailgate for Easter Sunday. After loosing half of her baked goods to the gasoline spill she kept on and drove to Tailgate. At least we were able to help her out on a blue day like that one.

Kristin and I decided to cancel our last night and head for home. A lot of mistakes were made but I can honestly say even though I only had one run in Valdez the experience will stick with me the rest of my life. Valdez is something else and I vowed that I will make that trip a yearly vacation!