The after a couple wrong turns around Sacramento I cruised over the foothills past Clear Lake and arrived in Fort Bragg (not to be confused with Fort Brag, NC the large military base where the US Special Forces are trained) After dollar tacos at North Coast Brewery and car camping in the 24 hour Safeway parking lot, the first night was in the books. The early morning clouds were starting to give way as I started up HWY1 to the 101.

The therapeutic qualities of getting on the road were evident right away. The winter that wasn’t was out of mind, that space was now taken up by the mind blowing scenery of the California Coast and the Redwoods which put most other trees to shame.

The trip provided ample “GTS” opportunities. Watching the sunset from Redwood National Park, not a person to be seen in any direction. Once the sun had set there was no choice but to drive through the night in order to be in Government Camp by morning. Mount Hood had been receiving storms all all week and 8 inches that day. Combined with the 100 inch base it was the only logical move. I can only pretend there is no winter for so long, apparently two days is the limit.

 Sunrise on HWY26 heading towards Mount Hood. It had been well over a year since I had been to Hood and it was the first time being there in the winter. It was a comforting sight and evidence that winter could be found, a tale I would have to tactfully relay back in Tahoe.

I had never ridden Meadows before but that didn’t matter, it seemed like every pass holder I rode the lift with wanted to tell me about the “sickest zone” on the mountain. At first I barely said anything as they started to spill about the goods for fear that one word could set them off into a realization of what they were doing. After a couple DEEP pillowy runs in the woods out the gates of Heather Canyon I started to take more liberties with the locals who, upon an initial profiling, I determined might know where to go.  By the end of the day I soaked up enough knowledge to call the day the best of the season so far. Not that there was much competition.

Possibly the most exciting thing I have ever seen in a ski area cafeteria. This was a sign that it would be a great day. If you don’t know you should find out.

Breakfast and a good ten minute scope of the terrain Mount Hood has to offer. It was time to ride. There will be some POV to accompany this post as soon as I free up some computer space. Footage or it never happened right?

Unable to get my shift covered for the following night combined with the fact that Northwest resorts to not give discount tickets to employees of California resorts even with a letterhead (though mine was out of date to boot) I decided call the trip and head back to Tahoe, hoping that during the 11 hour drive the forecast would change to three weeks of storms (no such luck). Hood to Tahoe takes you right through Bend so it made sense that I end the trip the same way I started it… with a brewery. Deschutes is the most renown of the many breweries in Bend and I had never been, so it was an easy decision. The perfect spot to get a little loose before the long drive home.

The storm here in Tahoe turned out to be a true bust. Forecasts were originally calling for up 10 inches during the day yesterday and up to 25 inches over night. What actually happened? It rained, a lot, for a long time. The cold air mass took its time coming down south and didn’t show up until early this morning. It was reported that the rain did not change to snow until 1 am at 8,700ft , the summit of Squaw is 9,050. Not good. If the forecasts are on track now we could receive about a foot and a half in the next couple days, but not the 5 feet that was being talked about at the beginning of the week.

The question is now, who in Utah, Jackson, or the PNW proper has some floor space and needs some dishes washed?

As I look out the window right now I am staring at trees swaying in the distance, being shaken by the winds that are accompanying the newest storm front. It is January 20th and between me and the swaying trees in the distance is a table, a window and rain falling in sheets, at times falling horizontally. It is forty-one degrees at the lake right now and not much colder up on the hill I just descended. Normally rain to the top of the mountains in a place like Lake Tahoe in January would be a devastating weather event, making the mountain un-ridable until the next snowfall. This season however, with this rainfall things are really looking up. They are saying we could wake up tomorrow morning with over two feet on the ground. If you have been living here since the early winter this forecast seems like a report of our salvation. If you put this in perspective we have received 6 percent of average snowfall this winter (none of which is on the ground any longer) and this storm would put us at just about the 10% mark going into February (6% if you are comparing it to last winter but don’t do that).

There are good winters and bad winters. There is a good chance that this season will still yield some good snowfall and we will all be able to get a fix at some point before the season is over. Its too early to call this season a wash but as part of this aspiring ski/board film conglomerate, with next to no money for any significant, film worthy, travel this season has not yet started. Sure we have been able to ski mini parks and groomed terrain, and despite the fact that the conditions have deteriorated since the lifts started running in mid-November we a have been able to have some fun and get a couple film worthy shots.

It’s important to stay positive but it’s also extremely difficult. I know talking this way about the weather, so passionately, so dependently seems self-centered, childish, and illogical. Why care so much about something we have no control over especially when our use for this frozen precipitation is for sliding face-first, ass-first, and sideways down, recreation to most. And while the core of this argument is correct the fact remains that snow has become a resource which an industry has been built around. Much like warm salt water is a resource for beach resorts and coal has always been a resource for mining companies all to way to energy companies and the consumers at home, a ski destination without snow is not much of a destination at all and the jobs built around this destination cease to exist or are at least put on hold for an indefinite while.
In this very round about explanation I am trying to explain that not only have we not been able to film up to par here in Tahoe so far this season, but the jobs we all hold to fund our addiction have also taken a hit and left us with little in the way of discretionary funds or any funds for that matter. The days of the broke ski bum used to mean that one would chose to wash dishes for meals or a pass, sleep in the car or under the stairs of some local acquaintances in some old hole-ridden sleeping bag just to wake up an score some nipple deep. Today you don’t need togo to such extravagant lengths to be a slumming in a ski town, you can hold two jobs and have a lease on place with 4 to 7 roommates and live right down the road from the mountain. Peanut butter and pasta appeals equally to both all bums alike.

Should tonight’s forecast pan out we could be in much higher spirits come this following workweek. If these types of weather patterns keep up, minus the rain (though I would take a day of rain if every time it did so we could get a few feet of frozen), this two month period of no precipitation could be a distant and easily forgotten memory. I hope it is. But in the end we cannot discount the fact that we have missed out on two months of filming and riding. When the snow does come we will need to get very creative and milk it for all it is worth. Applying the same model for a JANKY film as we have in the past won’t cut it this year. Most seasons the snow and the shots have fallen in to our laps starting, in some cases, early October. No such luck this time around we will need to work for this one. Luckily we are JANKY so if the bar is not reached its because we are passed out under it. Crack a couple for Ullr because the best chance for deep snow if following a night when you’ve had four or more brews, so drink up!

Timmy, Haz, and JP took a trip down to Mammoth this past week. They haven’t gotten much in the way of snow but that hasn’t the park folks at Mammoth from building sick set-ups and the best kickers we have hit to date! Can’t wait to make another trip when there’s snow. Here’s a little tease!

So there is some snow in Alta.levitra Scott Lammele and Dave Zook sample the goods… Looks kinda deep!

Last February, JANKY went out and shot some video at Brighton during a little FreeskiBrands (Surface, Causwell, Joystick) photoshoot with Jason Eichhorst (phenomenal photographer, check him out!) clicking away. Skiing is Blake Nyman, Shayne Metos, Liam Casey and Eliel Hindert. All of the skiing was with the intention of capturing a still. I tried to show that with these clips as best possible. Didn’t wind up using the footage for anything else, so I figured I’d kill some time waiting for more snow this year by editing some old footage. Hope you enjoy!

We’re having a grand ol’ early season here in Utah. Stay tuned for some fresh shots coming soon…

A nice time-lapse edit put together from the Utah syndicate. Word has it they are about to get hit with some snow for opening weekend at Alta and the Bird. Should be a mad house… wish we were there.