Whistler 4/26/09

26 Apr, 2009


The trip is winding down and coming to an end with today being the last day of snowboarding before traveling back to Colorado.  This trip hasn’t been about the nightlife, but just enjoying friends company and snowboarding together.  Today we were up early, to pack our gear up and get out of the condo for a day of riding.  

Evo and Shayboarder stickering up the mountain
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I hit up the mountain with Mike, Kendra and BJ to hit up the demos and try out boards again.  Today I rode the Bataleon Riot and Drake DF One.   All of the boards plus others will be coming up in reviews soon.  


I come to Telus Festival to ride the demo days, unlike other demo days they tend to be shorter and I end up taking the boards for only 2 runs each because of the lack of time and length it takes to get each one done.   I was hoping to ride a Burton as the third board today, but the reps closed it off at noon and my monster jacket was not winning them over.
Playing with the tail flex on the Bataleon Riot
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Taking the carve uphill with the Bataleon Riot
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Kendra carving it up

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Last year Aspen was the winner for best one-pieces on the mountain but this year it was Whistler…I got to see a lot of people decked out in their best attire for skiing at Whistler.  This guy even had the full white face of sunscreen going on and made gangsta talk with his friends behind us.
whistler426_5 The day of the boots…I am trying to finish off my season with my Rome Vamps and they won’t be going onto season 2.  I am practically swimming in them now with the day’s I’ve put on them and they’ve softened up more than I’d like so onto the next pair of boots for 09-10 season.


Kendra has been talking about new boots for next season and her 32 boots today have some major wear and tear going on.  No wonder her boots have been soaked after riding, snow is getting in from the tear on the sides from her days in them.
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As the demos winded down, I was able to meet up with Allie…Vancity Allie.  Allie does an amazing blog on Vancouver living, snowboarding and the most amazing photos.  Definitely go check it out and be amazed!  


We were able to take some laps together, she did some filming for her blog which will be cool to see how it turns out.  I’m used to being behind the camera, not so much in front of it.  
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Allie riding down with her camera setup
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Allie capturing Allan riding down
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The season is definitely coming to an end in Whistler, lower mountain has been losing snow fast and plenty of slush/puddles to go ride through today.

whistler426_10 Ended the day with getting ready to head to Vancouver.  I spent the afternoon after riding with friends at GLC bar in the base.  I had missed Molly from evo earlier in the week but was able to meet up with Gorio to enjoy some final drinks and food before taking off.

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7 comments

About the author

Shay

From the beginning of time, I was Shannon. From the beginning of snowboarding, I was Shay. From the beginning of online communities, I was Shayboarder. In the end, I’m the writer, photographer, editor, publisher, guru of sorts, product tester, curvy girl, and most importantly the snowboarder behind it all. Follow me on this journey through snowboarding, mountain biking, traveling and fun experiences!

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7 Comments

  1. Anonymous
    April 27, 2009

    So stoked about the Bataleon Riot. Can’t wait to read the review. :)
    Greetings…

    reply
  2. VancityAllie
    April 27, 2009

    Shay, you are the COOLEST! It was so great to meet you yesterday… I had a great time riding, hopefully you and your friends did too :)

    Do you mind if I use a couple of the photos on my blog? I didn’t realize you took some photos of me shooting! That’s awesome, I NEVER get those :)

    Hopefully I’ll get my post up soon.

    You rock, chica!

    reply
  3. Shayboarder
    April 27, 2009

    Anonymous. It’s definitely coming up. To be honest, I thought the Riot that I rode a couple years ago was more fun…they stiffened it up since I rode it last but it was still solid but I liked the more fun, softer flex version.

    Allie! Thanks! You are damn cool yourself! It was awesome to ride with you and meet up! I am emailing you more of the photos including some of Jay riding and Allan to give them. I figured I’d get shots of you since as the one behind the camera, it’s harder to get them…so glad you like them! Can’t wait to see your post and sorry my riding wasn’t crazy, haha

    reply
  4. Anonymous
    April 28, 2009

    Yeah, from what I’ve read in your reviews you definitly like soft boards more. I guess what you felt was the kevlar enhancement they added like 1 or 2 years ago which should give the board more pop. This of course also stiffens the board up. But imo this board, just like any other board, will have a break in time and after that it will get a bit softer. I’ve also read that in reviews of the 09 version and I didn’t hear they changed something in this years edition. I also think you got a pretty brand new board because most people are distracted by the flower design which could explain why it was hard to flex. Also I’d be interested how you compare it to next years Bataleon Evil Twin(which is a bit softer and doesn’t have the kevlar enhancement), Omatic Awesome or Omatic Extr-Eco. I got a bit distracted off Omatic after I heard that their boards lose their pop pretty fast and get noodley, of which I’ve never read in any reviews. Maybe that is because testing many boards can’t get along with doing a long term test on each. Any other fun rockered boards I should try out for next year? (Not so into Burton because I want to use Salomon binders for my F22)
    So far I have the Bataleon ET/Riot/Airobic, Omatic Awesome/Extr-Eco, Signal Park/Omni, Capita Horrorscope, Gnu Park Pickle on my to-demo list… Any additions?
    Greetings,
    Phil

    reply
  5. Anonymous
    April 28, 2009

    Yeah, of course I forgot to mention the Never Summer SL-R and Evo-R and maybe some Salomon boards for my demo list.
    Will be hard drag with my twelves I guess..
    Greetings…
    Phil

    reply
  6. Shayboarder
    April 28, 2009

    I used to be a fan of stiffer boards, definitely spent more time riding them and this year I’ve found myself liking the more fun, softer flex boards.

    At Bataleon, they mentioned the riot would break in after some riding. It was really brand new when I rode it, which explains a lot. The kevlar made it stiffer than when I last rode it. The flowers were funny, I wasn’t expecting that graphic on the riot at all, haha. Comparing it to evil twin, evil twin would be park and riot I’d ride everywhere. The riot really handled the whole mountain, and I was riding it at Whistler from sheet ice, to hardpacked in spots. It did better than the evil twin on outside of the park riding. Evil twin was jus a bit more playful, easier to press and butter for me.

    I haven’t heard that about Omatic’s. I have a friend Steve who picked up his Omatic Wiig and loves it, it’s lasted him 2 years so far and now he’s about to pick up another Omatic because it was really happy with it and his riding is all mountain is a park riding.

    Yeah with size 12′s could be close, try the revolver over the evo then. Any reason you aren’t looking at wide boards, don’t want you to have issues with toe drag. At least the demos will help out.

    reply

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