Rome Snowboard Design Syndicate

So a month or two ago, I wrote about Spring rituals…

Well, as much as we might be known for other kinds of  spring rituals, we try our best every year to do a good solid Spring Cleaning…

Like a lot of things in life sometimes you just have to commit…when you do, you’ll be more than happy that you did, once you’re proven successful.

So March was crazy warm here in VT, and when it was happening, we all knew that we were seeing days off the end of the season.  It was almost like March was doing an impression of April…

Starting with closing day, April’s been doing a good impression of March. I was trading texts with Capt. Al that this weekend definitely had good potential for snow and subsequent hiking.  So I wake up Saturday morning with shred on the brain and try to go to Stowe’s webcam to check out conditions: broken.  Well, that’s when it starts pouring here in Waterbury.  Just so I’m clear, it was POURING rain.  So I end up running errands in Burlington, ya know, a nice little Saturday, even had time to get to Bed Bath & Beyond.

So I get home and see the post Eastern Boarder has made on their Blog about Wildcat, which of course get’s me thinking about when I’ll go to Tuck’s again.  After a check of the radar, I see pink in NH and was all bummed that it seemed all the snow went to Wildcat and Mount Washington.

Well I had blown off the work I had to do this weekend until Sunday and this morning I was continuing to procrastinate when I got this photo from Josh…

I have to admit I wasn’t totally convinced.  I saw the icicles and remembered the POURING rain and figured the snow quality probably sucked pretty bad.

Then the call came…someone driving a snowcat had given Josh a ride up for a second run… he verified the snow was definitely the shredable variety.  One of my bosses was urging me to go ride, so my work could wait, seemed logical at the time.

I finished my game…struggled to find pants to hike and ride in…and got on the road… safe to say I shouldn’t been the first person down the trail I went down… but I was…

(POV video always seems like a better idea when recording it than when you actually have it on screen.  This is definitely my half-assed video editing, do not hold this against the Kids on Shred boys).

So East Coasters, get out there and earn some turns…

(oh BTW, West Coasters… ease up, we know you have snow, but remember those years you didn’t and then you’ll let us enjoy it when we actually get it)

Hitting soft jumps, Parking Lot BBQ’s, spring events, the list goes on…

One classic New England spring ritual is heading to Tuck’s.  To do Tuck’s right, you keep your eye on the weather and try to grab the first sunny 60 degree day of Spring.

Due to the awesome weather we have been having in March, that happened earlier than ever this year (for me)…probably any day from Tuesday through Saturday would work this week…so where I would normally take that day off and run to New Hampshire, this year I was able to hold out until Saturday, which enabled Justin from Warranty to come along.

I had the wrong setting on my camera so I don’t have many good pics of the terrain… but check the pics on Tuck’s site here

We left Waterbury at 4:45 to reach NH and get a spot in the parking lot…Safe to say we were powered by Red Bull

So I was smart enough to bring a couple cans of Bud up…I was smart enough to hide them in the snow…in the end I wasn’t very smart and stepped on them with my crampons

The below picture has seemed to get a response from people…I think it’s because a lot of the pics don’t do justice to how steep it is there…this clearly demonstrates once you roll over the edge there is no looking back.

Here’s Justin ready to drop…he was testing next year’s Blitz pack…   I love the sky in these pictures…it looks painted

Fortunately we had some more Bud’s hidden back at the truck…Here’s Justin handling some hard earned rest

Definitely a great day all around.

If you want to go, personally I recommend going with someone who has gone before. Additionally you need a mindset that recognizes the dangers of the mountain environment. I saw about five things yesterday that people didn’t get hurt solely due to dumb luck.

Most importantly, read the updates on the tuckerman.org and also read the morning postings on the avalanche board. It is your responsibility to make sure you understand every word; they have plenty of rangers and ski patrollers around as well to ask.

Now that I’ve gotten through that all, I do recommend that you go. It is an unforgettable experience that will challenge you in a variety of ways and it will keep you coming back for more…

My Equipment: Design 58, 2011 United Bindings, 2011 Libertine Pureflex, Insurgent Backpack, Cordova Jacket & Pants , Hoss Gloves (going down) Emblem Gloves (going up)