Silverstars on the Horizon

Gotta start this one with a big shout out to Surface homie Neil from Alberta. We met Neil while shredding around Apex. He then trekked right along to Big White on our coattails and hooked it up with power tools and saw horses, key to any demo. Now we’re at Silverstar and Neil might as well be part of the crew. In the parking lot with us as soon as we get there and ready to shred around for the day.

Neil, loving life and rocking out with Surface

No demo today so the shred was on and shred we did, in fact so much shred that just about zero photos or frames of footy were taken. Low light, snow coming from the skies, and cold cold weather. Soul shred is damn good, love it, live it, do it.

So much stoke on the New Life, get on it

All you really need to know about Silverstar is that the park is immaculate, the trees are pow filled, and the houses resemble gingerbread houses.

Mild sampling of the crazy colours of Silverstar

This was also the first stop we actually decided to assemble our BBQ grill. Some parts went unused and other were broken in the assembly process, but everything seems to work and nothing has blown up yet so I’m calling it a success.

Assembly required, this may be trouble

Leftover pieces, NBD

Final product, very worth it

Unfortunately Neil will be leaving us today due to a wallet and cell phone lots to Ullr. I have no doubt he’ll be back and ripping in no time, send it buddy.

Finished off the night with a visit to Attridge Ski and Board in Vernon (fun shop with shred sticks of both the single and double variety), a hot tub at Andrew Strains parents place (Shayne got his backpack stolen out of the truck, bummer), and finally a warm nights sleep in non other that one of my favorite places to ever be touched by snow, Revelstoke.

Big and White

Off through Kelowna in the dark once again, destination, Big White. Bluebird morning was complimented all too well by the harmonica rendition of Piano Man by Andrew Strain with Shayne Metos playing a backup snoring machine.

Sing us a song, you're the piano man

Big White is defiantly something else, just as you think you’re on the mountain, the hill becomes a city in itself. We found a nice spot between all the shops, stops, and props to finally nestle down in for the day.

Nestled in tight but still looking fresh

Dark figures about to drop in off the ridge behind cliff chair

More stoke, more demos, and more shred were to be had by all. Took a couple laps with Mr. Strain and after a lap through the banger park we found ourselves on possibly the windiest ridge of our entire lives. Boards had to be tied down, shred sticks were flying through the air, and I’m pretty sure I saw at least one small child soaring through the sky.

Windy much?

Yup, definitely still blowing

Once we dropped off though we managed to find some real fun snow and cliffy-poppy zones to mess around in for the afternoon. Amped on the freshies two days after a storm, always a sign of a chill resort.

Sunny pow slashes, always the best

Once again we packed up late as our new homies rode their skis to the bitter end of the day, and then we were back to Kelowna.

Moustaches for all!

Shop of the day definitely goes to Venture Sports in Kelowna. Any shop can sell touring gear and skis but Venture has Alyn, the head honcho heading out for 6am tours before coming into work for the day. Also got some good knowledge on backcountry access in the area for future reference, those guys know their ISHT.

Last night in Kelowna and stocking full of candy and junk food are on the menu. I’m too excited for words right now.

Very excited, yes. Very tired, also yes

Apex is Spelled E-P-I-C

Up early once again and the boys are already feeling exhausted with the schedule. Driving through the sunrise in the Okanogan always has a great vibe about it. Maybe it’s the massive lake, sprawling hills, or maybe just the fact that the towns have epic names like Peachland (delicious) and Summerland (kind of boring in winter).

Looking to be a very familiar scene

After a quick stop at Cambodian tire for some BBQ supplies, delicious brats, and some random thievery we were off to the winding road of Apex Mountain. The always knowledgeable Andrew Strain told us all about the Natives creating road blocks around the reserves as a silent protests, and we immediately became convinced that we going to be trapped in the mountains for weeks.

Looking too good, these needed to be shredded and shredded they were

Gettin' pumped for a day at Apex. SPORTS!

Luckily this never happened and we soon found ourselves in the bluebird pow that was Apex mountain.

Pulling right up to the hill, very literally

Quick laps to the ridge with sun and beauty on all sides

The riding was great, yes, the snow was awesome, true, but the people here are something else. Everyone was so excited that we were there and just stoked to get out and ride on something new and fun. By the end of the day I’m pretty sure everyone on the hill had ridden every ski at least once and all of our arms were just about as sore as our legs.

Everyone stoked to shred and our forearms getting sore

Looking back down the majestic mountain

Poppin' pillows

Made a quick stop by Pentagon Board Shop in Penticton, and aside from finding some coffee to keep us alive for the drive home we also ran into some awesome Ontario folk running the spot. Not to mention a sneaker wall that can’t be beat.

By the time we hit the road we had given out more bandanas, stickers, and stoke than we thought was possible and thankfully a hot dinner was waiting to meet our exhaustion back in Kelowna. In fact I’m off to eat that right now. See you in Big White.

Strain is hilariously tired

Big thanks to Jonathan and everyone at Apex, Neil from Alberta for just being awesome, the Orage boys for some new threads, and the entire Pottinger family for putting us up and putting up with our shred stank.

Fast Times at Grouse Mountain High

So many skis to mount, so little time. Big thanks to everyone at North Shore Ski and Board for not only letting us demo out of the shop but also help out in mounting the entire fleet for the tour. Epic shop over there with some really great people, go check it out if you’re ever in Van.

Last of the mounts, so many screws to tighten

After a couple of skis had been demoed out and a couple homies had shown up, including Sir Andrew Napier (official title pending) of 4bi9, and Big Chuck D Grinell of Stigsby Enterprises, we made our way up the hill. Fun park day with some real clean setups all over the hill.

Decisions, decisions by Max B

Hold up…

Shayne’s Side of the Story:

I awoke in a hazy stupor to Eliel craning over me, aglow, basking in all the uncontrollable stoke his ADD can bring at 7 AM. Rain down on me all the fury the Ass Crack of Dawn can bring! 45 minutes later, enraged and intoxicated from last night’s party I left a slimy trail from my comfortable nook on the couch to Eliel’s Lumbering Dodge Ram. Immediately upon entering the vehicle I passed out awakening once again to Eliel demanding I help him apply a giant //SURFACE sticker to the side of the car while we got a bed cover for the ram. Eventually he gave up, (bad choice) and we moved onto Northshore Ski and Board (Holler!) to mount the skis.

Animal 4bi- Tees

So dirty, so good

Blacking out once again I awoke around two hours later to see Up Chuck Grinnell aka Casey Stigsby the 3^rd rummaging for snacks in and around the car, I think he found a pulled pork sandwich under Eliel’s seat which would make my day too (May or May Not be True).

Laying down the vinyl for the Surface-mobile

El was in hustle mode so I grabbed some sushi and we were off to SHRED grouse.

Breakfast of champs on the tailgate

Tram ride getting us above the clouds

The team was all time. Strain on the photo, Nasty (Andrew) Napier slaying all the rails no one else could, Max on the new lifes, and myself…uhh…there. (Sort of).

More animal tees. This time... KITTENS!

The weather was prime as was the snow. We slayed. See Pics for the explanation.

S-Slayage over the city (Napes)

Killer backdrop at Grouse, always mind blowing (Eliel)

Lean Back

New Lifes in the park and killin' it! (Max B)

Grouse is sick. End fragment/Shayne Blog Hi-Jack

…umm yeah. So now we’re on the road headed towards Apex and the deep snow that just got laid on them in the last system. Until then!

Whistler Days and Cinnamon Bear Nights

Always feel all too fortunate to roll back into my home away from home, and have a great crew of friends to ride with and an epic set of storms lined up.

Pow shots, even in the gondi

Came back to find a nice blanket of fresh and plenty of good friends to ride with every day. Whis pow, whis pillow, whis, cliff, yatta yatta yatta. The real joy here always comes from finding those epic people to share those amazing places with. Whether it’s old friends like the Nuu Life Cinema and UBC homies or old heroes like Anthony Boronowski, it’s those people I get to share these times with that make this lifestyle so amazing.

Front Flip!

Shayne 'Sketchy Stache' Metos sending it

Alex Filler, going mondo method in Whistler BC

New Years came and blew through with good times around Whis village avoiding $100+ covers and raising as much hell as possible via late night snowball brawling, hot tub shinanigans, and general drink scamming.

Zero gravity tram ride with Jake Cohn, Alex Filler, Shayne Metos, and myself

Filler taking grease shots for the team

www.jake-cohn.com enjoying some dirty snacks

All the pow has been shralped and a new system is on the way but we’re off to Bellingham to meet up with Steve Anderson and smuggle a couple more Surface Skis goods across the border. Moustache tour tomorrow!

“What on earth do you need 17 pairs of Skis for?!”

Beat the sun to the front door this morning, and made one last trip to Causwell for some massive Surface stickers and way too many lil’ ones to pass out along the Surface Canada Tour.

View out the front window of the car en route to Causewell (p:Shayne Metos)

The always stoked and always legendary Mike Schneider (p:Shayne Metos)

Have made this drive too many times now it seems, but it always keeps me on my toes. After some eight odd hours of the divine, diverse and delightful state that is Idaho we finally found snow. Oregon got even better with a massive snowstorm and about twenty plus cars in the ditch along the highway.

Favourite direction for sure

This is pretty much how Idaho looks from start to finish on the I-84

The mode o' transport and the all too necessary energy drinks

Finally hit the border around 4am and tried to explain to the border guards why two college students on vacation needed seventeen pairs of skis, a snowmobile, and way too much energy for that hour of the day. Thankfully they let us into the country after an hour or so of questioning, a full car search, and some general harsh words.

Crazy waters and weather outside Portland (p: Shayne Metos)

‘O Canada!’ Off to a bowl of poutine and a long days sleep. Night.