Yesterday I made a good last minute decision. I headed over to Monarch Ski Area with Pashley, Pashley's better half Erin and Gary Wyman. Having driven past this place hundreds of times and never stopping in, it was nice to finally check it off the "to do" list. We showed up to Bluebird skies, an almost empty parking lot and tons of fresh snow to track up. I have to say this place is pretty darn sweet. From the road you might not think too much of it. Probably what I have been telling myself for years, but man am I glad I finally stopped in. Like Wolf Creek it gets a lot of snow, however I have to say that there are more sustained pitches than Wolf Creek, less flats, the lifts are shorter and therefor you can make many more runs on a better pitch. There was also a lot of varied terrain for popping ollies over trees and rocks, and there was hardly any one else out on the slopes to compete for the freshest of lines with. All in all I had a blast and look forward to making it back down that way soon! A big thanks goes out to Greg Ralph in the Marketing Department for taking very good care of us! Enjoy some pic....
Headed out of Breckenridge early, but hey it's only a two hour drive, so not that early
Gary didn't want me to take a photo of his long underwear but I did anyways
Breakfast at Lodge and Spa
The drive down
First chair ride at Monarch
Frosty trees are good
Pash, getting barreled
The other chair we rode a lot of
Some of the backcountry options that exist
BOOOOM! Pashley
Wyman
Sick custom Civic!
More frosty tress
gettin artsy I guess
The top
The end
Going out with the Brain Farm dudes is a crazy experience to say the least. Watching filmer Gabe langlois zip out over a canyon 100' off the ground was pretty intense, let alone the riding of Travis Rice, Mark Carter and Kyle Calncy. But Gabe (along with the entire crew) is a true pro and it didn't even seem to faze him a bit. I can't wait to see the shots he got this day. You know they're gonna be sick!
Legends past, present and future. Carter, Rice, Warren Miller, Justin Timberlake, Scott Schmidt from left to right. Thats what the Yellowstone Club is all about though. Well sorta, but you sure do feel kind of special just hanging around there. I mean the first person we met when we arrived at the "Warren Miller" Lodge at the Yellowstone Club was indeed Warren Miller. It was weird for sure, but so dope at the same time. And talk shit if you want, this man changed the face of "snow sports". Believe me when I say we (the industry as a whole) probably wouldn't be making and basing our winters around making snowboard/ski movies if this man hadn't done what he did for so long. Seriously things would be way different and I have much respect for him. And to have Scott Schmidt guide us around the mountain was a little unreal. I mean he also changed snow sports forever. I mean do you remember the iconic black and yellow North Face suit he was famous for wearing dropping 100' cliffs in back in the early 90's? Straight up amazing, and again much respect. Or maybe it was the insanely meticulous customer service, complimentary what ever you want or whole mountain to yourself mentality of this place. With sick terrain I might ad too. Either way this was probably one of the raddest two and a half days of my life and I will definitely be back sooner than later. If you ever have a chance to, visit this place, DO NOT turn it down. You will forever regret it. Probably the biggest challenge you will face is re-adjusting to normal life after you leave.
Lonnie Kauk
Scott Blum
Ryan Thompson
Scotty Lago
