Features

Shay Update: Holy Oly, Utah, Whistler

This winter has been really busy which is great but also a lot of time away from home (also great and sometimes bad). I know my dog Capita misses me and my friend Amy tells me that her heart breaks every time I leave town. It does make me appreciate home when I’m here.

Between keeping a full time job and running off to do snowboard things, I’ve been on the mountain and enjoying some time off the mountain. I haven’t rode as much as I’d like but I’m still riding, still have a job that pays the bills and looking forward to more riding as the season progresses. I’m lucky that Colorado has consistent seasons and the longevity is good to have.So I’ve been planning on some awesome trips to end the season out. Here’s a look at what’s coming up and unfortunately the season will end on a bad note but until then I’m gonna have fun and enjoy it!

Washington Shred-A-Thon

I was born and raised in Washington state and I’ll be heading back there to snowboard February 20-28th. I’m quite aware that I’ll be leaving light fluffy powder for not the best WA season.

I fly in late Friday, hit up Holy Oly on Saturday for shayboarder.com and writing an article for it. Despite the Holy Oly having to be moved from Hyak to West (big mudslide issue) I am really happy to be finally attending it! Oh yes, Scott Sullivan will be there playing…that made my year!

Then after Holy Oly some family time, rad time, then shred time at Stevens Pass to ride boards for a new website coming out. Then ending the week with family time before flying back home.

Backcountry

I’ve been really slacking on getting up on Buffalo Pass and Rabbit Ears this year. I still need to take out the splitboard, I feel really bad that I haven’t yet. So after I get back from Washington, i’m gonna take some trips out splitboarding with my dog in tow.

Park City Me Up

I’m heading to Utah and I’ll be bringing my own damn beer. March 13-15th I’ll be heading to Utah to spend 3 days in the magical land to compare the snow samples from Steamboat. Nah I’ll be staying with rad Stephanie, K might drive out with me and riding Utah.

Super Secret Breck Fun

It’s super secret with decoder rings…at Breck and I should be there for the historic event right before I fly out to Telus Festival. I’ve been writing an article for a while, did research and still compiling what I’ve been writing about so this event will be the end task to check it out in person and see how it goes.

Whistler Telus with canadians…eh!

Continuing my yearly tradition of being the only American in a house of Canadians, I’m heading back to Whistler-Blackcomb for the amazing Telus Festival/Grenade Games. It’s a double whammy and stoked on it. Plus I’ll get to spend time with my Canadian friends who I love dearly, we shred and drink for days. The best perk of it, is the demo’s that go on during Telus Festival when I can ride some Canadian companies like Endeavor and Prior.

Summer
This year I won’t be able to hike to ride year round because in June I’ll need to go in for surgery. In December I wrote about a women’s issue I had that required a hospital visit. I found out this week that the issue never went away on it’s own and now it requires surgery to get it removed. Luckily for me, it can wait until June (when the Colorado A-Basin season ends) unless something major happens to make it worsen quickly. The surgery won’t be too bad and I’m optimistic that recovery won’t be too bad. They say it’s about 6 weeks recovery till I’m 100% and I could go back to work within 2 weeks since my job is a desk job. If I do the surgery in June, then maybe by August I could ride at Hood like I try to do each year. I’m a strong person and sometimes things suck but it could be worse. Other good news is i’ll have full devotion to the blog while I recover 🙂

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  • apartment 4
    February 20, 2009 at 11:38 am

    If you have the chance to make it down to Hood this week shoot me a note as I’d be happy to ride. (Never Summer boards are demoing on Hood this week, too – so excited!) Too bad there’s rain in the forecast this weekend. Rain?! The weather this season has been such a bust, but I’ve still been able to get in 20 days so far – yay!

    – sarah

  • Anonymous
    February 20, 2009 at 12:14 pm

    You know, you don’t need to bring your own beer to Utah. Full strength is available at the liquor store and at any bar. Not to mention that the difference is actually not as bad as the numbers initially suggest- the percentage is done by weight instead of volume, so it ends up being basically equivalent to 6 beers having the same alcohol as 5 full strength beers. I realize that it’s ridiculous, and truly I sympithize, but I’ve found that it really isn’t noticeable, especially at the higher altitudes in PC and at the resorts. Just sayin…. Oh and you should stop by Brighton while in Utah, much more fun than PC unless your love is big giant park jumps.

  • El Hefe
    February 20, 2009 at 12:47 pm

    Good luck with the women’s issue.

  • Susannah
    February 20, 2009 at 2:21 pm

    Sorry to hear about the surgery. Been there – I tore my abdominal muscles snowboarding a couple of years ago, and then had two hernia surgeries six months apart. Totally sucked! But I recovered just fine and I’m way older than you (41). 20 days of the strongest riding ever so far this year. Good luck with it!!

  • BigNolDogg
    February 20, 2009 at 5:32 pm

    Yes, good luck with the surgery Shay! Hope the rest of your season is epic though!

  • Jack
    February 20, 2009 at 6:38 pm

    come ride with us while you are in park city…
    Jack
    http://www.badboysodas.com

  • bryce defoe
    February 23, 2009 at 1:58 am

    ya, the badboysodas want to hang with steamboat royalty.

  • gags
    February 23, 2009 at 9:14 am

    Call me and Dodes when you get closer to surgery, especially if you are having it down here in Denver. If there’s anything we can do for you we will. I know we’ll see you well before then on the hill. 3 weeks to Baldface!

  • Shayboarder
    February 27, 2009 at 1:23 pm

    Thanks everyone!

    Apartment. Hood is a possibility, depends on the snowpack and how long the season goes for summer at Hood this year. Hopefully you guys got snow like WA did this week!

    Anonymous. I usually bring over Moose Drool for friends since they don’t have it in Utah. More about what specific types of beer is what Im talking about.

    Thanks El Hefe, appreciate it.

    Susannah, ouch sorry to hear about your surgeries, glad to hear you recovered fine and are back on the mountain stronger than ever!

    Big, I’ll make sure it’s epic!

    Jack and Bryce, I’ll definitely give you guys a shoutout to meet up in PC!

    Gags, Thanks so much to you and Dodie. I’ll know more in April if it’s in Steamboat or Denver. My mom is going to fly out and come take care of me when it happens so glad I have that as well. Nice on the Baldface trip! Give Johan a nut squeeze for me!