It was going to be a classic Ocean Beach day. One of those days that you always here about siiting in your car with the heat blasting, looking out at a foggy mess of an ocean trying to talk yourself into paddling out. Forever this is what Ocean Beach meant to me. So many times I had made the 3 hour drive from Tahoe in the heat of the summer full of surf stoke as I fight my way threw the 100 degree heat with visions of perfect waves waiting for me. The closer you get to the beach, the more the anticipation builds. The moment of true is approaching fast but seemingly out of nowhere you run into a wall of fog, the temps go from 85 to 50 as you pull inot the parking lot.

There is no visible sign of life on the beach and just getting out of your car is scary. After a while you talk yourself into getting wet. This is Ocean Beach most of the time. People who call OB there home break are hard core. There is always surf, in fact it is often too big to surf. In the winter you watch the surf reports waiting for the surf to come down to a ridable size.

Four years ago I final caught one of the fabled OB days. I had been in Mexico for a month and had very low expectations when I came over the hill and saw a sea of perfectly formed feathering A frame peaks. It looked like Indo and it was three hours from my house.

I had seen the light. A couple of times a year OB holds some of the best surf on the planet. There are so many peaks and the swell is so consistent that every one gets waves. The comradery that is formed in the line up on those cold grey days shines threw on days like today. People are hooting and hollering for strangers as they stroke into a bomb.

This is one of the reasons I live in Tahoe. I went to Indo for the day and was back at home at 9:30 at night.

Thanks for the call Steve….I will return the favour this winter when Squaw is pumping.

There is always current at OB. You think you are in position for the lefts when a perfect right pops up.

The off shore winds kicked up as the swell built in the afternoon turning a good day into an epic one.

If you made the drop there was a good chance you were getting barreled.

Scotty is often my go to guy when I need a wing man for a surf or snow mission. He runs his own business and is super busy but he is not afraid to drop it all if nature calls.

It took one of these waves to make the drive worth while.

I would love to tell you how my last wave was one of these bombs but after a full day of surfing, OB felt my weakness and pounced on me. I got caught in a rip, eventualy made it back to the line up, missed my drop, took five on the head and washed up on the beach with hardly enough arm strenght to carry my board. Non the less the drive home that night was full of shock, awe and stoke. Coming over Donner and dropping into Truckee Scotty and started to wonder if it was all a dream or not.

Summertime leaves me with long sunny days that need to be filled with something. I resort to mountain biking, surfing, climbing, wake surfing and skating hills. The feeling of chasing my buddies down a rocky single track on my bike, catching a good wave surfing, bombing down mountain pass on my skateboard or leading a new climbing route are fun for awhile, but I would trade them all in for a day of snowboarding.

By the time September rolls around the novelty of all these sports has worn off. Pavement hurts to much, the waves are overcrowded, the bike trails are covered in a foot of dust, and the boat wake is too small.

I find myself daydreaming of snowboarding and standing on top of peaks looking down lines. My daydreams do not include long lift lines on a powder day, high avalanche danger, wind-scoured peaks, or countless days when I am holed-up in a cheap hotel room waiting for the weather to break.

It is the days like when these photos that get me threw the never ending summer months. Having your stomach knotted with fear, breathing through that fear, dropping in with total confidence, seeing nothing but the task at hand, flying out the bottom with uncontrollable joy and relief, and then looking back at your track and being totally content for a moment.

No matter how hard I try I can never totally duplicate these emotions in summer. So here is a little teaser to get you threw this last stretch. One month and counting until life gets easy again.

Bottomless pow. No exposure, stable snow and not a breath of wind. No warm up needed to rip these.

The view from the top. So many options, not enough time. First I need to get my glove.

The weather came in as we were getting set up to ride these lines. This face had me pacing the lodge for ten days hoping for a break in the weather that never came. It is beasts like this that get me adding an extra loop on my bike ride or an extra set at the gym.

Old man Snowboading, Celime, 62 years of riding and going strong.

90% of the town rides, no one has ever skied there and the equipment and the style has stayed true to its origins. We met up with the oldest rider in the village, Celime.

He is seventy years old, and started riding in 1946. He has been riding almost daily for 62 years and it shows. Gimpl and I dropped in next to him he took of effortlessly, standing tall and proud as we did all we could to hold on.

It took a little while but Gimpl and I started to get the hang of it.

The sport was started out of necessity to get around the village in deep snow. The boards are so perfect for the terrain and snow conditions that the equipment had hardly changed in 150 years.

We sessioned the local hill for awhile and then headed up to the mosque for some aprs tea around the fire. I couldnt get the questions out fast enough.

Are there any contest? Yes. Do you hit jumps? Yes? When was the first time you saw a modern snowboard? Three years ago. Do you have any desire to use new equipment? No.

Has anyone in the town ever skied? No.

What really overwhelmed me was how content they were. There seemed to be little desire to progress the equipment or their riding. They hit jumps but do not have specific tricks.

You never know what you will find when you travel. Once again, the bond of sharing a few powder turns breaks down language barriers and cultural differences. Big thanks to the locals for letting us into there lives for the day.

All photos Bernard Ritzer.

Things had gotten away from them and although there last release “Lost and Found” was a great movie the people on the inside new that TGR could do better. In the words of TGR’s producer Josh Neilson, “it was time to step up, or step out.” Those who were left stepped it up in a big way. Camera men started hiking the pass before work to get in shape for the shooting season, new technology was purchased and a new energy was put into all aspects of the company.

Days like this is why TGR refused to close the doors and made the months of sleepless nights and endless hours at the office restructuring the company worth while. There is none better at “getting it done” in the mountains then my brother Todd.

On the hill where it mattered most it was clear from the start that whether you were a camera man, guide or rider you better be bringing your “A” game. Everyone fed of off each other and by the time we got to AK things were on a different level. I would find myself pacing on top of my linecontemplating a 20 foot air when I would watch Se th Morrison drop into his first line in days and throw 70 foot flip and stomp the crap out of it.

Josh and Todd putting the “jib arm” to use.
Now I had ridden with Seth before and had always been impressed but after a few days of this “off the couch” charging I had to ask what was up. He related his new intensity back to riding with Kye Petterson earlier in the year. He told me story after story off how Kye left it all on the table every run and every day filming. From the sounds of it, if Kye was not bruised and battered at the end of every day he was not trying hard, or in his words, he was being a pussy. As more riders showed up to AK with the same intensity they shared similar experiences about filming with Kye and there was a new tone among riders that if your not icing bruises at the end of the day then your not pushing it hard enough. Iguess the fact that most riders were now travelling wi th there own ice packs summed it up best.

Check out Seth’s two tracks in the middle. The big air was his first run in 5 days. He second “double skipper” line was out of a video game.

Whether I new it at the time or not I too was indirectly being pushed by Kye through the riders I was with. By the end of my trip I had lost three pairs of goggles in falls, gotten two bloody noses, hit my biggest air maybe ever, bruised a rib and later found out I had fractured my arm.

Jim “the Sarge” Conway assesses the snow in hopes of us getting us on the terrain in the background. He has been the head guide for TGR for the last 10 years and is a keyingredient to the program. Together we continue to evolve our protocol in the mountains that safely gets us riding the goods soon after storms. This year Jim developed “Excalibur” the cornice cutting weapon that allowed us to do the ultimate slope tests by dropping huge cornices on slopes we wanted to ride. Mad props to Sarge!

Now I do not know what the end result of all this new focus will have on the final product but after viewing the latest TGR teaser, http://www.tetongravity.com/undertheinfluence/tgr_uti_trailer_medium.mov it is clear TGR is on the up and up and stronger then ever before. Regardless of the out come of this years movie it was a pleasure being surrounded but a bunch of people who were totallycommitted to taking things to the next level. TGR’s, “Under the Influence,” will be released this fall. Pick up a copy at www.tetongravity.com

Roner paying the price of progression. Check out sick POV footage at www.erikroner.com

I am fortunate to work with a lot of amazing production companies and the one thing that stands out most about my time with TGR is there level of passion and stoke they have for the mountains. From the beginning they have totally committed themselves to setting up an environment that provides a setting for riders to safely charge as hard as possible. They are also not afraid to put the cameras down and get some themselves.

The caption read “In this crowded world, a surfer can still seek and find the perfect day, and the perfect wave and be alone with the surf and his thoughts.” John Severson


I later found out Hollister ranch was closed to the public and one of the most exclusive surf spots in the world. I had been close to getting the golden ticket and the opportunity to get through the gates at the ranch but it always fell through at the last minute.

Yvon and I on an early morning surf check.

Fast forward to last week… Here I am at the Ranch staying with one of my biggest life heroes Yvon Chouinard. As a grom, it was the Patagonia catalogues that filled my head with dreams of the wide open west and the adventure lifestyle. Over time, the more I learned about Yvon the more impressed I became. I still cannot comprehend the vision it took to make his own climbing protection and tackle the unclimbed 3000 foot walls of Yosemite. He was also the first person who brought my focus to environmental issues in a way that no teacheror newspaper could.

Yvon’s car is twenty years old and does has more sand it then some beaches.

Seeing the simplicity of his lifestyle first hand was really cool. At first look his house has the feel of an old European farm house. Upon closer look it is the environmental gold standard for sustainable living. This did not surprise me. What really had an impact however, was the genuine stoke he has with surfing. We would wake up each morning in the dark and drink tea as we waited for enough light to see the ocean out his window to decide where we would get the best waves. The day would then be filled with surf, good food and more surf until the sun set and we were forced to wait until the next morning.

Find a good sand bar, stop the car, suit up.

One session that I will never forget was an evening session at one of his favorite breaks. Yvon and I paddled out together to an empty ocean and took turns riding the most perfect head-high reef break and cheering each other on as the setting sun lit up the sky orange. It was a dream come true.

Gerry Lopez ranks high on the list of insperational people for me and after two days of surfing with him my admiration grew even more. He is in his late 50’s and as surf stoked as ever. The only time he got his hair wet on this day was dipping it in and out of small tubes.

The spring melt down came sooner then I wanted so I was really fired up to get in some more riding. One line I was really looking forward to all season was the moon collier and I finally had my window of oppertunity. Mountain biking is cool but I will take a day of backcountry riding over biking any day of the week.

The Crew. Mike Parzialy, Chris Ednunds and Mike Basich get a first look of the peak.

The line. June 1st. This is the best this line has looked in almost two months.

Mike Parzialy, the master of grease, and captain of the SOS tour had never snowboarded a chute before in his life. He kept saying,”I do not feel good about this,” and I kept saying, “Your riding it.” He rode it.

The view from the top was totally blind and there looked like an air into the chute. This turned the mood from mellow summer riding to, “when was the last time I rode…should I be doing this?”

Our tracks down the two chutes. The main one and the lower left one.

There are few better feelings then taking off the boots for the last time of the year.

Special thanks to Mike and Marty McFry (the van) for getting us to the mountains on veggie oil. Mike said it best, “The SOS tour must be working because we just rode powder in June.” Keep up the good work Mike.

About CLIF BARs Save Our Snow Winter RoadtripPart of CLIF BARs Natural Energy Tour Series
The CLIF BAR Save Our Snow Winter Roadtrip is part of the ongoing CLIF BAR Natural Energy Tour Series, designed to inform and inspire people about using their natural energy to create simple changes to fight climate change and protect the places where we play.

Learn more about Grease Not Gas on the below link.

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The other harsh reality is that for 6 months I have brushed away all outside responsabilities and have been totally consumed with snowboarding, weather and mountains. My desk is over flowing with unopened mail, half full boxes fill my spare bedroom. The whirlwind of winter is over and it is time to pick up the pieces.

The best part however is the spring riding. It is the only time I can be 100% stress free and just a regular snowboarder. Especially on the sunny days. In AK the sun is gold and most be taken advantage of. In Tahoe sunny days blend together getting warmer everyday. It feels more like being at the beach then the mountains.

It is this time of year that is truely special in Tahoe. In one day you can easily swim in the pool, ride perfect corn chutes, play a round of golf and barbaque at the beach.

All the lower lifts are closed in the spring but the North Faces are still smooth corn to the bottom. This turns half of Squaw into a backcountry resort. I wish the bottom lifts were always closed.

Scott Tenyke is one of my favorite people to ride with. He has a mean back hand hack both on the mountain and in the surf. This is our last run of the year at Squaw.

Reggae pool party at High Camp. This day I mixed two pool sessions in between laps on the Pallisades, (the long flat ridge in the sky line.

Celebrating a long cold winter

Sand Castles and snowmen.

The other thing I like to do after AK is hike Mount Tallac. It is the highest peak on the lake and has some of the longest chutes in Tahoe on it.

It is hard to find people stoked to hike this late in the year but Chris Edmends(My Own Two Feet Producer) has never turned down an opportunity to hike in the backcountry.

It towers above the rest of the Chugach and sits all by itself as if other mountains were afraid to get close to it. Whenever I am around it I feel it gravitational pull and can not take my eyes off it. The fact that it was ridden in the early 90’s by Trevor Petterson and Eric Pehota proves to me that I was not the only one to feel Pontoons pull. At the time terrain like this was considered unridable and most of the Chugach was unridden. To top it off Trevor and Eric had to sit on the skids(Pontoons) in order to land the peak. It was so far outside the realm of what people where doing at that time that they must have felt like astronauts exploring outer-space.

I do not know when Trevor said these words, ‘THERE COMES A TIME WHEN ONE MUST RISK SOMETHING OR SIT FOREVER WITH ONES DREAMS,” but there is a good chance it was siting on the pontoons of the heli moments before being lifted to the top of Pontoon Peak.

“Airy” is the best way to describe the feeling of standing on top of the Peak. There is a weight to the air one can only get by standing on an edge that drops away thousands of feet on all sides. I felt myself crawling to my line even tough I had a few feet on either side of me.

Dropping in the rollover seemed to never end and I felt like I was riding on the edge of the world. 5,000 feet below I hopped over the bergschrund just as the shadow crept up the face. It would be my last run of the trip and was a story book ending to an incredible Alaskan experience.

Have you ever seen a better looking mountain? Whether is person or in a photo I have looked at this Peak more then any other mountain in the world. The line I hit 10 years ago is the center spine to cliff. Do to the conditions this year I started off the peak and faded to the right exiting just lookers right of the cliff.

So much sick terrain everywhere you look but it is hard to take your eyes off of Pontoon.

We landed on the bump in the center of the ridge. The 100 yard walk was the width of a sidewalk butdo to the exposure on both sides it felt like a tight rope.

I took at least 50 photos of the peak over a two week period.

A good view of the Peterson and Pehota line down the right hand ridge. The bottom of the photo is the halfway point.

Right before going up I talked Travis into getting in the Heli and riding it. He has the right mix of respect for the mountains and balls to deal with exposure. Look for him to carry the torch of legit Big Mountain riding. Being one of the biggest peaks in the range the Northwest face get the last light. We dropped in at 8:45 at night and did not get home until 10 at night.

THAT’S IT, THAT’S ALL! Check out the movie coming this fall. If you have not seen the teaser check this link. Check back in a few weeks for the new teaser.

http://snowboardermag.com/videos/flash/thats-it-thats-all-teaser-travis-rice/

I did have few concerns though. After all it was Alaska in April and I did not want to get stuck building jumps when the steeps were in. Travis assured me lines would be the primary goal of the trip. My other concern was who the crew would be. Travis, Curt and threw out some names and pretty quickly came up with what we thought would be the dream group of riders that had the skills and the right attitude for filming and riding in AK. Now that we have some film days under our belt I can say the mission was accomplished. What I have seen the last few days by Nicolas, Landvik, and Travis is insane. Their freestyle skills are flawless and the speed in which they have progressed their Big Mountsain Riding is incredible. Simply put, no one misses.

Nicolas has been spending a lot of time in AK and it shows. He loves to billy goat around ridges (the scariest part of riding in AK) and he has progressed from “mini shred master” to balls out big mountain rider. Nicolas hiked a good thirty minutes to this line. It looks mellow but reading cornices is super hard to do.

Nicolas moments before he lines up a f/s 360 over a spine at the bottom of his line.

Nico’s AK version of “mini shred” a 30 foot 180 into a small AK face.

A chugach classic, The Wall. (The face to the left.) When I first came to Valdez the Wall was considered the outer edge of the universe. These days it feels close to home. I hit the lookers right spine along the cliff. I would never ride over that much exposure if I had any concerns with the snow pack.

My track on the bottom half. We are now a few days into a high pressure and aspects are everything. I rode full on pow on the spine while ten feet away was sluffed out bullet proof crust.

Lando had to boot this thing. I gave him the billygoat badge after he successfully negotiated the top of this ridge over the exposure. Here he is enjoying the pay off.

Curt sits in the back directing the shot while Herma runs the cam up front and Bill flies the Heli. I have used an areal camera like this for commercials in the past. It was always used to shoot mellow ridding in bad conditions but the footage always looked great. Thanks to Curt’s efforts we are now shooting sick riding in awesome conditions and the results are mind blowing.

Instant gratification. Normally I do not see footage until June. Here I am checking out shots 40 minutes later on our way home.

My memory of Valdez was of huge lines that could be ripped top to bottom. What I have seen my first few days out has confirmed this but the avalanche conditions were so gnarly I figured I would never gain the confidence in the snow pack it would take to commit to the big lines.

That all changed with a major wind event. I always say, “take what the mountains give you.” Today they gave us the big stuff.

The afternoon menu. The big one in the back followed by the big spine just coming into light on the far right bowl.

A 3200vertical foot face. This is the biggest face I have ever bombed and ranks high in the trophy case. Think Snowbird Tram for vertical drop comparison.

The only landing for this line was in the upper right hand corner. It took me 45 minutes of billy goating over exposure to get to the top of the fluted spines on the middle right of the photo. The reward was the longest spine of my life clocking in at 2300 feat, the size of Kt Chair at Squaw. Travis and Lando stepped up and hit the face to the left.

It came at a price. My “sluff free” exit was not as clean as I had hoped and I ended up cartwheeling over the bergchrund and getting punched in the nose by my knee.

Possible lines for tomorrow? Pontoon looms in the background. If this high pressure continues I hope to ride it.