With winter just a few short weeks away, I have already begun digging through old snow board flicks, and blowing off work projects to check out some shred videos on youtube. As I was in the middle of my usual winter day dream, I stumbled upon a video that was posted last year by Burton Snowboards. It was a contest to see who could make the best Mountain Poach video. Currently, there are 4 mountains in North America that do not allow snowboarders- Mad River Glen, in Vermont, Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico, and Deer Valley and Alta Ski Resort, both in Utah. I was out West a few winters ago and my homies and I considered Poaching Alta, but then quickly decided just to ride Park City another day, rather than deal with the hassle just for a cool story. Had we only been a few years later, and we might have had a shot at the 5 thousand dollar purse for best video. Enjoy the video and get ready for winter. I for one have been strapped into my Burton 7, doing 360 spins off my bed since late July.

NW Jersey got its first snowfall today and it’s suppose to be a badass winter this year.  If your a snowboarder you are probably trying to stop yourself from riding down the wet grass in your front lawn because you can’t wait for the season to start.  Nows the time when we start breaking out our favorite shred films and getting stoked for winter.  My favorite shred film of all time has to be “91 Words For Snow”.  This film by David Benedek wasn’t even a major release, It was a 16mm free give away in 2005, I got it in a magazine.  This film relays the creativity and diversity of the sport. The culture, back country riders, jibbers and the ever emerging urban shred scene.  More importantly, it covers the bond and spirituality of snowboarding, the endless fun that can be had just doing dumb little tricks and ripping around with your buds.  The soundtrack features artists such as  Cut Copy, Zoot Woman, Grandaddy, Noise for Pretend and The Go Team DJ Sepalot’s digital “Highway to Hell” makes your want to do robot dances while your floating on powder.  Big budget commercial movies and rails sessions filled with the latest mainstream hip hop joints are taking over most films, this may be one of the last low budget art focused films you may see for a while.  Here are some of the best parts.

HighWay to Hell Scene

The Go Team – LadyFlash

If you want a copy.

Longboards have long been thought of as too big, bulky, heavy or long to perform the standard skate tricks that are so smooth and easy on the standard boards. I came across this video while day dreaming at my grey and  gloomy 9-5, and it served as the perfect medicine to get me through the day, knowing that shred season was another day closer. The best thing about longboards is that they are the perfect substitute for snowboarding or surfing.  Although nothing can replicate the feeling of shredding through some waste high pow pow, or back slashing that perfect head high barrel, longboarding lets you keep your skills in check, and also lets you push the limits of what everyone thinks boards are capable of.  This video has some really cool parts in which the riders really take things to the limit.

So if you are a skateboarder, surfer or snowboarder, check out the progression going on in longboarding. You don’t need water to practice surfing and you don’t need snow to practice snowboarding, grab a longboard, get out there and skate.

There’s clearly something about a snowday that brings out the best feelings in all of us. Maybe it’s because it reminds of us of being kids and that anticipated excitement of a day off of school. Maybe if your like me it’s because snowboarding is your favorite thing to do and any amount of fresh snow always has the potential to be a great time. I think what everyone can relate to is the feeling of freedom we get with any snow or ice storm. We feel free because we are suddenly released from the grind of our daily lives. The job, the demands, the schedule are all washed away when mother nature takes a shot at man made infrastructure.

If your a snowboarder the 2nd thing that crosses your mind on a day like this after being stoked about not having to head into work, is where can I shred today? After a midnight call from a friend as the snow was starting, the executive decision was made to call out of work and ride a small mountain in Northern NJ called Hidden Valley. Our crew of 3 shredders met up around 8am the next morning and arrived to dumping snow and empty resort parking lot, a riders dream really. Hidden Valley is the type of mt that has stayed true to it’s roots, still using the same chair lifts it started with 25 years ago and not bowing down the commercialization of snowboarding and big brands like it’s neighboring spot, Mountain Creek. The place still has jersey ski scene all over it though, lots of man made snow, monster ice mounds from snow blowers, and you can hit every trail on the mt in less than 30 minutes. So naturally, this makes us Jersey born shredders super creative on the hill, put simply you can’t be scared to take on a mound of ice.

The day started off fun as hell, 5 inches of fresh and we were 3 of maybe 15 people on the whole mountain., pretty much had the place to ourselves. We thought our huge powder slashes were so kool, we decided to film them, after reviewing the film they weren’t nearly as kool as we thought. But thats the fun of shredding; the littlest thing or smallest creativity can seem so awsome to you as your riding. The leftover ice mounds from snow machines were especially fun to screw around on, one in particular was a perfect natural wall ride (pic below), sketchy as hell though because the whole inside was hollowed out. In typical Jersey fashion our day was cut short as the snow turned to ice then rain, but being true soldiers we rode til we were soked. After the rain/ice passed we are made are way back out the great powder from hours before was crusted over with a sheet of ice. The park there was shitty to say the least, but they did have a buried short bus with endless possibilities. Razor was ripping pop 180’s off the corner and after a couple attempts i was finally successful in gapping the whole thing. Our spirits were lifted from the bus session so we decided on one last run, never a good idea, and we paid for it by getting stuck on a broken lift for 30 minutes. We were so frozen and stiff by the time we got off we could barely make it down the mountain and thats how our day ended. Powder slashes to rain soaked gear, ice runs and ice walls, a sweet park session and getting stuck on a lift. Just another day as a Jersey shredder.

New Jersey Wall Ride.