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Bernie Sanders: Reason #873 Vermont Rules

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Reason #873 Vermont is the greatest state in the Union: Bernie Sanders.

Bernie represents Vermont in the United States Senate. He is the only Independent (Lieberman doesn’t count) and whenever you catch him on C-Span, his hair is always a little disheveled as he addresses the chamber. Yeah, Bernie is pretty much a perfect representation of the Green Mountain State’s people.

Here’s Bernie name-dropping some Vermont snowboarders, post-Olympics, on the Senate floor. Notice how he pronounces Lindsey Jacobellis’s name (Juh-koba-liss). You rock, Bern.

Tags: bernie sanders, snowboard, vermont
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This is THE weekend to be in Vermont.

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Gotta love spring riding in Vermont. The days are longer, the lift lines are shorter, the weather is sweet, lift tickets get cheaper, and the snow takes on a food-like consistency (corn, mashed potatoes, sugar) that is perfect for learning new tricks in the park, or simply learning to snowboard, period.

There is an unbelievable amount of events at Vermont resorts this weekend, including live music, pond skimming and cardboard races. Know what else? It’s Maple Open House Weekend. Sugarmakers across the state open their sugar shacks to visitors, with tours and an array of maple products for sale. If you’ve never met a real live sugar maker, now’s your chance. Maybe they’ll even sign your chest. For a listing of open sugarhouses all around the state visit vermontmaple.org.

Ride Vermont-approved events:

-Vermont Specialty Food Tasting at Smuggler’s Notch. Cabot Cheese, maple products, Westminster Crackers, Green Mountain Coffee and tons more. Don’t be shy when visiting the sample stand – eat and be merry from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Gazebo in the Resort Village.

-Snoe.down 2010 at Killington. Jam band fans: pull out your patchwork pants and fire up the Prius – this is a weekend-long winter music and sports festival hosted by the band moe., with performances at Killington Resort and Rutland’s new Spartan Arena. Several bands are scheduled to appear March 26-28.

-Reggaefest 2010 at Mount Snow. With reggae music all weekend, a crowd-pleasing pond skimming contest on Saturday and a raucous cardboard derby on Sunday.

-2nd Annual Joey Jam at Okemo. Fast becoming the most talked-about event of the season, the Joey Jam rail jam competition is back after a wild premiere last year. This year’s winner is taking home a 1989 Chevy Camaro RS. It comes with a new Pioneer CD deck, and some Efx speakers. So awesome. Be there.

-Battle for Burlington at Jay Peak. The 4th Annual Jay Peak Battle for Burlington is a slopestyle jam competition for snowboarders in college. Rep your school in team colors and slay the park in a 2 1/2 hour session.

Have fun and be safe out there this weekend.

-Luke

Tags: battle for burlington, joey jam, maple-open-house-weekend, smugg's, snoe.down, snowboarding, sugarmakers, vermont
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2010 Burton US Open recap, slopestyle photos

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

Sina Canadrian strapping in before her winning run on the slopestyle course.

Take four straight days of gorgeous weather, add some drama surrounding the Rahzel concert and the Shaun White no-show, sprinkle in a 4th halfpipe title from Vermonter Kelly Clark, and what do you get? Just another US Open, really. They’re always this awesome.

Under clear skies and with temps hovering around 55 degrees, the men’s and women’s slopestyle finals went down Friday afternoon. Amongst the media-types in the tower where I was perched, Ulrik Badertscher got the biggest round of “Eff yeahs” for his double back flip off the cannon box, the last of the six features on the course. It was only proper that he won best trick, and a lump of cash from Amp Energy, for his effort. But in the end it was Mikkel Bang, who had one of the Mitrani brothers (I can never tell those two kids apart unless they have a bib number on) trailing him through the course with a video camera, who won, taking his first US Open title. For the women, the relatively unknown Swiss gal, Sina Candrian stuck with the “spin to win” mantra, landing a 360, 540 and 720 in her run to secure first place.

After getting kicked out of the bottom part of the course for not being a “Super Photographer”, I cruised down to the parking lot for the prime tailgating hours. It was tough to walk more than a few car lengths without running into somebody familiar (thanks to the Powderbank.com boys for the PBR).

As the sun set and the coolers ran empty, it was time to hike up and catch the Black and Night Rail Jam. Snow Park Technologies and Burton went all out with the setup. There were boxes, rails, a wall ride, a plastic quaterpipe, a natural quarterpipe, and a giant metal tube resting against said natural quarterpipe – the variety of possible combinations was limitless. It was a straight-up open jam format, meaning the roughly 2 dozen riders could get in as many runs as possible in an hour and a half, with judges working on an “overall impression” platform. French Canadain Burton rider Charles Reid ended up grabbing first, thanks to his huge rodeos in the natural quarterpipe. But it was Vermont homeboys Forest Bailey and Shaun Murphy who had the biggest cheering sections. Both took their street style to the course and dominated the single-barrel rail. With 2 seconds left in the competition, Shaun Murphy got a huge roar from the crowd after landing a backflip on the plastic quarterpipe that he’d fallen on several times earlier. Murphy grabbed third place and Forest Bailey took fourth. Congrats, boys. Way to show the big players how Vermont rail riders play.

http://www.vimeo.com/10313811

After the rail jam everyone slipped and fell their way downhill to the concert stage. I didn’t stick around for the Rahzel show, but I heard later that he only played for about an hour. Apparently some punk’s snowball landed directly on the DJ’s equipment, shutting down the show. Rahzel was not amused. Oh snap.

Friday night: parties, drinking, sleeping in cars, blah blah blah.

Saturday morning: while enjoying my morning coffee I tuned into the live webcast on go211.com to hear that Shaun White was a no-show at semi-finals. He was at practice yesterday, so this was a weird development. By the time I got to Stratton and settled into a spot near the top of the pipe a few hours later, the announcer was reading aloud an official statement from the US Open: “Unfortunately Shaun White is exhausted and not feeling well enough to compete in today’s U.S. Open halfpipe event.” Whatever that meant, White is probably glad he was too “exhausted” to compete, for Louie Vito and Kazhiro Kokubo were on fire.

Louie threw back to back double corks that had the crowd roaring with glee. Kazu made his super laid-out, super stylee McTwist Chicken Wing look effortless. Serisouly, if judges scored on style alone, Kazu would have been untouchable. But it was no matter, for that McTwist, plus his own version of a double cork, was enough to get Kazu the win. I heard grumbles from the crowd that Louie was ripped off – this writer has no comment.

So that’s it. Another US Open come and gone (that’s 28 years in a row now). I always get a weird sensation after it’s over. Like, “Man, that was awesome! Oh wait, this means the season is almost over. Bummer.”

There’s no bettter way to wrap up another great season than chillin’ in the sunshine in a tee shirt, watching the world’s best perform (unless they’re too exhausted), tailgating, watching live music and seeing locals like Kelly Clark and Shaun Murphy win big. Until next year…

-Luke

You can watch the US Open on your television set on ABC on March 27 at 5:00 pm EST.

MEN’S SLOPESTYLE

1 Mikkel Bang NOR

2 Ulrik Badertscher NOR

3 Sebastien Toutant CAN

WOMEN”S SLOPESTYLE

1 Sina Candrian SUI

2 Shelly Gotlieb NZL

3 Jamie Anderson USA

MEN’S PIPE

1 Kazuhiro Kokubo JPN

2 Louie Vito USA

3 Iouri Podladtchikov SUI

WOMEN’S PIPE

1 Kelly Clark USA

2 Kaitlyn Farrington USA

3 Ellery Hollingsworth USA

RESULTS:

MEN’S SLOPESTYLE

1 Mikkel Bang NOR
2 Ulrik Badertscher NOR
3 Sebastien Toutant CAN

WOMEN”S SLOPESTYLE

1 Sina Candrian SUI
2 Shelly Gotlieb NZL
3 Jamie Anderson USA

MEN’S PIPE

1 Kazuhiro Kokubo JPN
2 Louie Vito USA
3 Iouri Podladtchikov SUI

WOMEN’S PIPE

1 Kelly Clark USA
2 Kaitlyn Farrington USA
3 Ellery Hollingsworth USA

A Mitrani brother tails Mikkel Bang as he spins jump #2. Mikkel scored a 98 out of a possible 100, the highest score in US Open history.

Your ladies slopestyle podium: 1st Sina Candrian, 2nd Shelly Gotlieb, 3rd Jamie Anderson.

You know that Coldplay album, "Rush of Blood to the Head." Yeah, we dislike it too. But we wonder how Gwyneth Paltrow's husband knew that it would be a good caption for this photo.

Not the position you want to be in on your last run at the 2010 US Open slopestyle finals.

This is not Ulrik Badertscher falling off of the cannon box. This is Ulrik Badertscher in the second half of his double backflip off the cannon box. It won him best trick. That's Magic Mountain in the background. Hey, Magic!

Olympic halfpipe silver medalist Peetu Piiroinen about to gap to the downrail on the first hit of the slopestyle course.

Unidentfied Flying Rider. Cannon box.

Your Men's slopestyle podium: 1st Mikkel Bang, 2nd Ulrik Badertscher, 3rd Sebastien Toutant (aka Sab Toots).

Tags: 2010-burton-us-open, black-and-night-rail-jam, burton, charles reid, forest bailey, Kazuhiro Kokubo, Luke Mitrani, mikkel bang, photos, rahzel, shaun murphy, shaun white, Sina Candrian, Ulrik Badertscher, vermont
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Burton Manufacturing Center to Close. Thanks, Crappy Economy.

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

The Burlington Free Press reports this morning: Burton Snowboards will shutter its South Burlington manufacturing facility in June, forcing 43 Vermonters from their jobs. The decision means the company born three decades ago in a Londonderry barn and which sponsors U.S. Olympians will no longer manufacture boards in the United States, aside from a relatively small number of prototypes.

All right, Crappy Economy. I’ve had enough.

I was okay after losing two jobs to you in one year.

I can handle my lack of health insurance.

I don’t mind riding a board that’s a few years old with a cracked edge and peeling topsheet.

But this: yesterday’s announcement of the closing of the Burton Snowboards manufacturing plant in Burlington, Vermont… You’ve gone too far, Crappy Economy.

Dude riding a snurfer at the very first Burton US Open in 1982. (photo compliments of Burton)

Snowboarding was born in Vermont. It’s where Jake Burton Carpenter started building wooden prototypes in a garage. It’s where the US Open of Snowboarding has been held every year since 1982. It’s where Olympians like Kelly Clark and Hannah Teter grew up. Vermont is snowboarding.

And now you’re taking away our version of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory – the beautiful dance of man and machine at the world’s biggest snowboard company’s last local manufacturing plant.

Kill the Burton Manufacturing Center? Why don’t you take all our cows and maple trees and dirt roads and the University of Vermont and french fries with gravy while you’re at it.

You’ve made it nearly impossible, Crappy Economy, for a pioneering corporation to operate in my beloved state. That is unforgivable.

Okay, Luke. Calm Down.

Our fearless leader here at Vermont Ski Areas Association is right. “At the end of the day, the important part of the news is that Burton Snowboards — the company and the brand — remain in Vermont, with its world headquarters here,” said Parker Riehle, VSAA’s president. Thank you for keeping it in perspective, Parker. It’s true, the headquarters, including research and development, aren’t going anywhere. And it’s true that the majority of Burton’s snowboards have been made in Austria and Asia for decades now (only if you have a high-end board like the Vapor, or if you’re Shaun White, are you likely to own a board actually produced in Vermont).

But it’s the symbolism involved. The BMC was the guts of it. It’s where the real Vermonters put wood to band saw — Vermonters who ride Stowe all winter and chill at the Huntington Gorge swimming hole all summer. It’s where a dreamy design idea, thunk up in the offices next door, could be realized. There’s real history in that building.

You’ve won this time, Crappy Economy. And I’m angry. But don’t worry – us sideways riders will avenge this death. We will fill the void with new snowboard-industry jobs in the technology sector.

And I guarantee you, Crappy Economny, that somewhere in this state there is a talented young person in a garage, designing the next big thing.

-Luke

email Luke

Tags: asia, austria, burton, burton us open, burton-manufactuing-center-to-close, burton-vapor, economy, jake carpenter, jobs, stowe, vermont
Posted in snowboarding | 1 Comment »

RideVermont Insterview w/ US Open veteran Tricia Byrnes

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Tricia Byrnes is a fan of emoticons. During the course of our Insterview, she used 9 variations of them, including an animated winking smiley face, a mouth-taped-shut smiley face and a ninja-guy that was poised like Daniel-Son from Karate Kid. Fitting, since our conversation covered everything from her happy memories of snowboarding in Vermont as a kid to her role as Kelly Clark’s agent to her favorite 80s movies.

Who is Tricia Byrnes? She’s an agent, a Twitter addict, an action sports broadcaster, an Aspenite. She’s a lot of things. But for the purpose of this interview, let’s just focus on the fact the she is about as veteran as veteran gets when it comes to pro female snowboarders. Last year she competed in her 20th straight Burton US Open at Stratton – the upcoming Open next weekend will mark her first year as a “retired” rider as she watches from the sidelines instead of wearing a bib. It’s tough to consider Tricia retired, though, considering she’s as busy as ever.

RideVermont says: yo

Tricia Byrnes says: hey

RideVermont says: are you an emoticon user?

Tricia Byrnes says: unfortunately I do like them because I think they are lame and funny.

RideVermont says: so let’s kick it back to the 80s. where did you grow up?

Tricia Byrnes says: i grew up in Greenwich, CT.

RideVermont says: and do you remember your first time visiting VT?

Tricia flanked by Olympians Greg Bretz (left) and Louie Vito (right) in Vancouver.

Tricia Byrnes says: yeah my mother convinced my father to go on a family ski vacation when I was in 3rd grade and we rented a house on Stratton and it poured rain the entire time. my dad fell in love with skiing and, come February, we bought a house on the mountain. but actually before that I had come up to Bromley with my best friend and Vermont felt so cool. I mean I was in kindergarten and first grade so it felt far away and awesome.

RideVermont says: and when did you decided you wanted to snowboard?

Tricia Byrnes says: being at Stratton while Burton was doing a lot of early pioneering in the sport, I had the chance to see it and then my brother started doing it and it just looked awesome and fun. i had to get certified and I failed the lower mountain certification like 5 times but I think the snowboard instructors just wanted more beer money.

RideVermont says: the “older brother” reasoning… that seems common. isn’t that how Kelly Clark and Hannah Teter both got into the sport?

Tricia Byrnes says: it’s pretty common, I mean kids either want to do exactly what their older siblings do or the exact opposite 8-) haha.

RideVermont says: speaking of Kelly, you have the job of representing her as her agent, right? how and why did that job come about?

Tricia Byrnes says: yeah I manage her onsite and media appearance sort of stuff. when I was competing I was represented by Octagon [a sports agency] and then when I started to edge towards retirement they offered me a job as a client manager. It’s been great and I of course love working with Kelly.

RideVermont says: when did you start competing as a pro yourself?

Tricia Byrnes says: I started competing officially as a pro in 1992, right after I won the US Open. i was like “well I guess I can hang with the good girls”

RideVermont says: were you a straight-up halfpipe rider all the way through?

Tricia Byrnes says: no. I started snowboarding in the late 80s when everyone did everything. the first year I competed I won the amateur slalom thingy at the US Open….pretty funny how far this sport has come

RideVermont says: did you wear the tight racing suits?

Tricia Byrnes says: of course….my teenage heart is still scarred from it.

RideVermont says: speaking of teenage hearts, i had a huge crush on Barret Christy in the 90s. did you hang out with her?

Tricia Byrnes says: yeah, still do. I’ll let her and Temple know.

RideVermont says: crap. that sounds like a husband.

Tricia Byrnes says: oh yeah, mother of two, husband and all… Temple Cummins, snowboard legend, Baker-style.

RideVermont says: she’s so rad. back to topic: you competed as a pro from 1992 – 2009, retired, and jumped into the media game. what caused you to finally retire last year?

Tricia Byrnes says: I hate the word retire because I just want to do what’s fun and snowboarding is still so fun and so I’m still doing it. But in terms of the contest grind and all that, I just felt like I wanted to develop other

"Check out my tweets". Arguably the best Twitter avatar in actions sports history.

aspects of my life and create a new exciting niche for myself and the webcast commentary role is pretty sweet for that…..so is Twitter. But it was really important to me to stay involved in this industry when I knew the end was near and to tell the story of the sport and its athletes in a voice that is authentic and also can speak to the history. I mean, it’s so quick moving, people can’t even remember who came 5 years before them.

RideVermont says: your Twitter feed is arguably the best in snowboarding. you provide live updates at all the big events, including the Olympics. plus it’s entertaining. what’s with the profile photo? is that you?

Tricia Byrnes says: who wants to know?

RideVermont says: probably everyone.

Tricia Byrnes says: yeah it’s me… it’s supposed to be funny, like “check out my tweets”. but then people just think it’s slutty. i haven’t found a better photo yet.

RideVermont says: i’m sure everyone will be fine with you leaving it the way it is.

Tricia Byrnes says: awesome (hug)

Ride Vermont says: so, you’re a rockstar tweeter. which brings us to your “job” now. explain to the kiddies at home what it is you “do” these days.

Tricia Byrnes says: it’s complicated, but basically I am running a webcast production company called We Media Project. we aim to webcast events in snowboarding and beyond.

RideVermont says: awesome. so you went to Saint Michael’s College up in Colchester, Vermont?

Tricia Byrnes says: Yup. I won the US Open and then started college because my mother basically forced me into it. But get this…..my mother was right! I loved St. Mike’s from the minute I got there and still have my three besties from day one. Pretty funny. So I went to St. Mike’s fall and summer sessions and competed on the World Cup tour in the winters and graduated with a double major in Psychology and English. And for the record i lived in Ryan hall freshman year, with a bunch of sophmores and like 20 odd ball freshmen….

RideVermont says: sick! i rocked Joyce Hall 4th floor in the 1999-2000 year.

Tricia Byrnes says: that’s amazing! St. Mike’s was awesome.

RideVermont says: did you get any Vermont riding in during the St. Mike’s years?

Tricia Byrnes says: yeah, I mean I have always felt like Vermont is home to me in many ways. I would snowboard in the early season at Stowe and Sugarbush and then of course Stratton. There is something really great and soulful about riding in Vermont regardless of the weather. I mean that even though I am now spoiled here in Aspen. If I am in Vermont you will still find me riding in the rain and ice and snow. I just love the east coast especially Vermont and its people!!

RideVermont says: now you’re living in Aspen, where the beer flows like wine, what are the biggest differences between VT-life and Aspen-life?

Grete Eliasson, Louie Vito, is that... 50 Cent? yup that's 50 Cent, JJ Thomas and Tricia.

Tricia Byrnes says: well, so many things I don’t even know where to begin… the mountains, the snow, the people the outfits. it’s crazy what people wear when they come to Aspen….it’s like a bunch of wing nuts from LA decided to get some western moon chic outfits to rock around the slopes and streets. then there is the whole contingent of people who think we are in Europe and do the whole European ski thing. it’s all awesome, I like the diversity and the fact that it’s like NYC in a way, where anything goes and no one really bats an eye at what people wear. so there is a real freedom of expression.

RideVermont says: do people wear those ginormous furry yak boots? are those a real occurrence?

Tricia Byrnes says: every-effing-day. no joke. and the mini dog scene is out of control.

RideVermont says: how does a girl from CT with VT roots keep it real in such an environment?

Tricia Byrnes says: i just love snowboarding and being outside and it’s a pretty amazing place for that and I love that I can live in a town that has more going on than just snowboarding or skiing but makes an attempt to have real-life things like music, art, writers, film etc… but I do find it hilarious that I live here. but keep in mind I travel A LOT, so it’s always fresh.

RideVermont says: what’s your favorite 80s movie?

Tricia Byrnes says: so many, I love that genre. Caddyshack, Pee Wee Herman’s Big Adventure, Sixteen Candles….I still quote most of those on a regular basis.

RideVermont says: favorite cereal?

Tricia Byrnes says: i’m gluten-free, so I avoid all grain product. smoothies (boring). and eggs.

RideVermont says: Simon or Garfunkel?

Tricia Byrnes says: Simon. Diamonds on the Souls of her Shgoes is a classic. and American, Only Boy Living in NY. and what has garfunkel done?

RideVermont says: he got arrested for pot posession in New York a few years ago. so there’s that. do you have a pet?

Tricia Byrnes says: no, I like animals but don’t feel like picking up hot steamy crap on a regular basis.

RideVermont says: last question… what’s open on your internet browser right now?

Tricia Byrnes says: i always have five windows open, facebook, twitter, my blog and then some random stuff I was gonna research about Africa, unicorns or whatever.

RideVermont says: any parting words on the current state of snowboarding?

Tricia Byrnes says: so many words on the current state of snowboarding but I’m just proud of the progression and hope people are still keeping it fun….