Board Meetings

The team has been at Jake & Donna's Long Island abode the past few days for meetings. Boards, boots, bindings, outerwear, gloves, bags, beanies, thermal, marketing, RED helmets, we went through it all! I can't post pics here of the new product since it's 2011, you'll have to wait to glimpse it on the team next season. Hannah, Kelly, Natasza, Ellery, Spencer, Gabi & I have been having a blast here. From a night out in NYC, to pool-side meetings, food at all hours, skating the mini ramp, and golf cart hide&seek it's been quite the week!

Smells Like Team Spirit

Once the rain passed, the Tahoe shoot was epic. Everyone worked hard to get the shot(s) and in-between sessions Mads & the Mitranis rocked out on Mikkel's guitar. Mikkel, we missed you at the shoot, but at least your guitar was here! I like to think of Jack Mitrani's music as a cross between Jack Johnson & Adam Sandler. Hopefully some of his songs are released as bonus material with the Burton movie. This music needs to reach the masses. Here Jack serenades the crew along with some other random pics from the shoot.

Take a Hike!

Last week's shoot in Tahoe was on point. We had an A list crew of riders, park builders, photogs, filmers & crew. The only one who brought their B game was the weather. Rain hit for the 1st part of the shoot which equalled some serious down time. Luckily we were staying in a beautiful spot with plenty of hiking trails behind our house. And many vacant vacation homes... seems wasteful that so many beautiful homes are uninhabited this time of year. Nat and I explored the Sierras and enjoyed some clean mountain air.

Family Dinner

Life on the road consists of many meals out. Staying in a house together and making family dinners is our preferred style.
Maybe the Burton wms team will move in together somewhere next year... could be fun!

Spring Travels

Haven't blogged in a while.... much has happened. Contest season wrapped up with Kelly winning 3 titles:
TTR, Grand Prix & Dew Tour. Kelly and Spencer shared Dew Tour Athlete of the Year for the women. Spencer took the slope title. Hannah had some strong finishes and got some Hawaii healing time after she tweaked her shoulder at the last Grand Prix. She is feeling much better now and taking good care of herself as always with organic nutrition.
Kelly, Ellery and Maddy all threw down at Gretchen's Snow Angels comp and lately it's been photo shoot time.

I came directly to Aspen from Mammoth where the Chicken Jam went down & Ms. Superpark at June Mtn. Always fun going back to a former home. Gabi, Nat, Ellery, Hannah, Kelly, Spencer and I have been posted up in Colorado getting some shots you'll be seeing soon! We are staying in a beautiful 70's style Aspen house with playing cards on the ceiling (random), a life-size Lois Armstrong statue and a baby grand piano. Blotto Photto even made an appearance here. Life is good.

April Snow today, looks like January here.

Burton Girls Throw Down in Mt. Snow.

Photos by Adam Moran.

The 2nd stop of the Dew Tour took us to Kelly's hometown, Hannah's home state & near Ellery's school, SMS. Hannah's hometown is really close to Mt Snow which meant she got to enjoy some family time and pancakes with the Teter's homemade maple syrup of course! Kelly's family restaurant TC's was packed every night. The girls put on a great show and took home 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Congrats to all for the strong riding and fun times! Kelly even found the time to bake me a birthday cake before her big win. I was blown away! And thank you Ellery and Spencer for making me 23 again. haha!

Spencer killed it at Mt Snow too, taking 2nd in slope.... which was darn near 1st.... but a missed rail caused her some points, that will happen!  Spencer is the women's points leader for slope and I must say has the styliest switch backside 180 in women's snowboarding! Kelly leads the Dew Tour standings for women's pipe. Right now Kelly is at the Burton European Open where she qualified 1st in pipe yesterday with a 12-point lead.  Nicola Thost even strapped into her snowboard and ended up 4th. Amazing!

Next we go to the X Games in Aspen.

Until then....

Congratulations Spencer!!!

Spencer O'Brien wins the Dew Tour Slopestyle!
Spencer took 1st in semis, which is always a nice place to be as she earned the coveted last person to drop spot in the final.

Spencer washed out on a backside 5 on her 1st run, which meant the pressure was on for her 2nd and final run. With Jenny Jones, Bev V, and Jamie Anderson in the top 3 spots, Spencer had her work cut out for her. Wind gusts started to flair and Spencer patiently waited out the weather to drop. When the wind settled, Spencer settled it, throwing down a winning run that consisted of a smooth gap to boardslide to 180 out on the flat-down rail into a switch backside 180 mute over the 1st jump, followed by a backside 3, into a clean backside 540 melon off the biggest booter, to a 50-50 on the final rail.

Not only did Spencer win the 1st Dew Tour stop, this is Spencer's 1st win in a major pro contest. Congratulations Spencer! Way to start off the season with style!