Keep On Snowing!

November has definetly been something epic. We've recieved a lot of snow over the past week or so, and theres more in the forecast. The tram going to the top is already open and is riding very well. At this rate the entire mountain should be open before christmas, which is something unprecendented for the past 10 years here.

These photos are from last monday, I fell in the woods and jammed my thumb very hard, so i took a break and took some photos. These are the 151 trees off the Ironhorse lift. I was alone riding out there, and after wincing in pain awhile from my thumb injury I started appreciating how much snow had fallen recently.

Anyone planning a trip out should get on it- its going to be an epic year....

Shop-Keepin' it!

November 22nd and 23rd have been boardroom setup days, and now im about done with it. the place is looking cool and tidy, and im the only person working here til dec02nd or so, so everything is gonna get done when it gets done- which means by dec02. Top photo is the shop now, middle is how it looked yesterday, and the bottom is Matt painting things green in the repair shop. I have no idea why, he should really be setting the place up and shoulda painted this summer, but hey-who am i to judge.......

Mountain opens tomorrow but Im not riding for another week or so- its all good anyways, usual suspects will be coming thru tomorrow.....

Early Season Opener Pt. 2

This weekend is giving us another preseason opener with good conditions and great weather. Yesterday started somewhat chilly but warmed up quickly from the bluebird sunny day we had, which left me wishing for a hoodie. The resort was like a dysfunctional family reunion, equipped with every aspect you would expect from a gathering of sorts- laughter, booze, rowdiness, and an after party at the black bear that i skipped out on like usual.

The mountain is less than 50% open but its riding well which is promising. The last shot of the clouds was a really seldom occurrence in Big Sky-well it happpens but its cool to see regardless. The cloud line was in the meadow and we drove thru the clouds when going up the mountain. If we had stayed home yesterday we would have thought it was a nasty ugly day outside.......

DEC01 looks like my move in date to my condo, til then its more couch surfing...

What a BUST....

Moonlight Basin, the resort behind Big Sky, used to be cool with whatever! They are lax about people getting theres preseason, and until yesterday I thought it was all good- well I guess Moonlight is tightening up the operation. Now bear in mind already this year someone got buried over there in an avalanche from hiking when they weren't open, and this guy has the audacity to tell us we can't get down....damn. Well this jump took us most of the morning to build, and it was damn near ready until someone with cred on the side of their truck came thru and told us to wreck it. Wack. I've been kicked out of plenty spots for skating especially, so im familiar with the routine, but this guy was just flexing his pseudo-authority and it was nauseating. I told him I hoped all the people hiking the ridge above treeline were as conscious about safety as we are when hitting a kicker.

These are the photos to what never was......to anyone confused, it was a step up jump, and we were planning on landing up the hill above the grass....

Mountain opens this weekend, so peaceout to hiking, we got lifts now baby!

Opening Day, Jib Mission, Monopoly...

The past few days have brought some more snow and more things to do. This past weekend we had a pre-season opening day that was fun as hell, there was pow off challenger and the trees over there were covered well enough to mock thru. The picture of the chairlift is of Sky and Danny on the chair behind me going up. Coincidentally that's also them playing snowboard monopoly.....
....Two nights ago the four of us (rob,sky,danny,myself) embarked on a rail mission in the meadow and got some footage of us hitting the handrail. The light was pretty weak and my still camera couldnt do a good shutterspeed with the light, so hence we have artsy motion-blurred photos.
......My job at the mountain starts in 6 days, which then will make me online more often. I do have video completed to be uploaded, its all about when to find a convenient time to come to the gas station and upload it to google.

....but until then......

Transmission From The Big Sky

Preseason trespasses onto a small local ski resort trail has lead to a mini shred/jib park that has people talking all the way to World Boards in the BZE. Well Im not sure whos talking what but I know who threw down what and who added what to the equation, well, coz i got the video to prove it. Chapter 1 is about completed and will be uploaded in the upcoming days...

I finally found a condo to spend the winter in and it is mildly more expensive with mildly more space inside, so anyone thinking about a montana vacation to see me book your ish and come on down like im bob barker. I just found a wifi spot up here too, so im sitting in a parking lot now uploading photos/this post.

Transimission Complete.

(Red Jacket and Tech Deck Pro= Rob Gray, The Mitten= Jon Messy)

Taste Of Montana

The Bozeman Motel Guide

Bozeman, Montana, for some reason is a mecca in itself for sleazy 70's style motels. Personally I've never seen more in such close proximity, but thats proally coz i've never had to look for such a thing. Well here they range from 40-80 dollars- perhaps theres more expensive ones but they've never been identified to me, plus what else do i need that they could give me? anyways, here is a completely objective taste of what Bozeman can offer a traveler in search of a motel.

The Imperial Inn Definetly the best deal in town- there is a cheaper place down the road but ive only checked that place out quick...honestly this place is shady enough! For some reason I always stay here a couple nights this time of year. This year I had electric tape covering the peephole, since there was just a hole there, and numerous other wacky quirks i should leave to the imagination. The overabundance of pink is something to be noted.
COST:40 bucks a night- used to be 35 but the rooms have mini fridges now....

The Blue Sky Motel I was impressed here. This place was very homey and the rooms had some attention to detail on them. I stayed here for a month last year and they gave me a price break with the extended stay. This place definetly works if youre looking for a good place to crash out and chill, but not if youre looking for a long night- the walls arent very thick and neither is the door. Their sign reads wi-fi capabilities, but that was before my time. I recommend this place somewhat.
COST:Damn, I think around high 40/lo 50 a night, its a family run deal so its all good....

The Rainbow Motel I dug this place. Maybe it was just the right time to stay here. It was last year and id been staying at the Imperial Inn (see above review) and wanted a couple more amenities...well this place served well. The room I stayed in was in the back where there are only a couple rooms, so it felt like more of an apartment with daily cleaning service than a motel. I was actually sick with the flu here for a few days...i think they had HBO. One thing to note is that they don't want youre business unless you got plastic- i guess too much wreckage done to rooms in the past....
COST:Around 40 I think....

Days Inn I stayed here for 1 night 2 years ago, and have never gone back, nor regretted it in the least. A long list of useless amentities, aside from the free continental breakfast in the lobby, i think that was cool but dont remember it enough....omelette bar perhaps? well the room was small for the price (not like i need a big room) and it was way overpriced....
COST:Like 80 sumthin?!?!? thats 2 nights somewhere else man! Or one night somewhere cooler!

The Lewis & Clark Motel The Shining Star of the Boze-Muda Bar Triangle, this vegas-ish rest lays chock full of amentities, including free wifi. Last night when choosing a rest I felt that regardless of price i needed to stay here to make this review, because when considering motels in bozeman this one is unmistakeable. Their massive sign reads Casino, Pool, Restaurant, as said very vegas-like (even tho i have yet to go to vegas). My room makes me feel like im waiting for the coke deal to go down with its gaudy 70's style decor, which is cool with me at least for the next 24 hours. I was exhausted last night from riding the day before and pretty much crashed out after checking in around 9pm, but this morning i was excited to explore. The pool/gameroom/sauna/trout pool (saywhat?!?!?) was interesting at first but quickly uninviting. I started for the pool, but it was cold as hell, and there was a thin film over it all like jello that isn't finished jella-fying. It also reaked of chlorination. I quickly exited and went for the hot tub, which was luke warm and had a similar chlorination level. I spent a few minutes in there, then went for the sauna. I don't know much about saunas, like how long they take to get working, but i turned it on and sat in it for a good 5 minutes. Eventually I felt like a creature wearing a towel at a zoo, because nothing was happening and i was staring at the glass door shutting me inside. I excited that, and wrapped up the area with a quick check of the trout pool, which I learned had trout food one could purchase for 25 cents. A work in progress it still was, no fish, no water, just fake rocks and plywood. I was fairly indifferent at its status....the free wi-fi is helping this place in my mind, and other cool features like a phone in the bathroom (not that i used it, but noted its placement.) Overall a decent place. A little more expensive, but there is more to do and the amentities they offer are somewhat useful.
COST:60 dollars a night

Hopefully I can lock a place to live down soon so I can end this annual scherade of motel hopping. Its costly but definetly interesting....if one keeps it interesting i suppose....

All Apologies 2 People I Missed

OK, to anyone who I seemingly blew past and forgot about, and to anyone wondering why I left Chi so suddenly, and to anyone who is mildly interested in drama-- basically things got sped up in Chi....I had no real set date of departure, just doing my thing chilling with a list of people to still get up with when I got a phone call from Robert. Robert has been my roomate and my co-worker out west in Big Sky the past 2 years. Well the housing situation we thought was locked fell out from under us. From what I've been told dude who was doing all the detail work (and from my impression taking care of the security deposit!) just disappeared. Word is he went out on a run and never came back. Well now the spot we thought we were getting into is non-existent, and someone has to go to Montana and put that paper down for a place, and make sure theres a hot tub too! So that was the mission I was sent on, put down for a place to live so this winter can happen. Financially its a MAJOR squeeze for me, but if i didnt do it ASAP then this winter might not have worked out for Robert and his old-ass dog, so thats how it went down. Curtis, Schlepp, Belen, Mr. Miyagi, and E Honda all have my apologies for not either getting in contact with them, missing seeing them, or just not saying bye to them.

p.s. i am in a parking lot in montana right now on my laptop on someones wifi signal i found driving around this morning. the time change messed with me and 5am was wakeup. nobodies on their business here so i have to wait to go buy toothpaste and shaving cream, then coffee and perhaps then we can find an establishment with some wifi, or maybe ill go snowboarding instead....

Chi 2 MT

It might be that I've trodden the east coast path so many times it becomes a quicker and easier journey by comparison to the westward one, because this trip is a long one. I always pick the worst times to leave Chi and end up spending an hour fighting commuters, then its fairly steady up to the dells, and onto minneapolis. The kick of it however is that around the time youre seeing signs telling of your close proximity to St. Paul, you start seeing 200+ numbered mile signs for Fargo, which is the halfway point. The idea of not even being halfway after 8 hours in a car is something to seriously ignore because it can drive you insane otherwise. Also if you left in the morning like I did, you would be noticing the oncoming darkness.

This is seriously the door to the west point of the trip- the dark and unknown part where gas signs are something to be noted because exits begin to consistently offer "NO SERVICES". For someone who has never done this I recommend getting a hotel for the night and proceeding on during the day, because it can get a tad freaky- especially that only two weekends ago i was in New York City, the weekend before in Chi, I wasn't accustom to everything being so empty. These are all side thoughts when you're just driving around, but when problems arise like getting gas, or going to the bathroom, or picking rest areas to sleep at, the madness seeps in. So in short North Dakota is no joke on the desolate factor, gas station attendants will be suprised to see you and there will be awkward moments. Rest area bathrooms will be totally empty, and the thought of a band of truckers jumping you for no reason will occur. I was lucky and hit up a rest area called "Bad Route Rd." which was a rest area with a dark parking lot great for sleeping in. I caught a couple hours there. I match "great" with "dark" here because theres nothing freakier than waking up to someone looking in at you, especially when dude is wearing an FBI jacket ! (happened once, scared the hell out of me)

The drive this time made me realize that the trip only gets really cool an hour or so out of Bozeman. I mean if you've never seen hills then i guess its better, but the real mountains come in sight on a clear day outside billings, but moreso closer- i think the absarokas.....

These are all driving photos from the trip. Yes theres snow in Montana now! The last ones of are my shady motel I stay in every year for some reason.....

Chi Shots Pt. 1

Mark from Viking has a new spot he's fixing up which is going slow,


Mike from Michigan has been playing spots under the name of dj str8jket, and held down a Halloween party at the Piano Bar in Wrigleyville.


Wrigleyville is catching lowblows from the southside fans because everyone is happy for the White Sox here it seems, perhaps with the exception of just the die hard cub fans. it's good to see chicago excited about their team and thus their city.

Viking is getting going with the seasonal affairs and has a good inventory for the upcoming season. I think its gonna be big for a lot of places it wasnt last year- Whistler, Washington, and of course Montana. We're due! Thats Barry out of focus hanging out while I spend money on equipment.

More to come....think I'm leaving Chi tomorrow.....