January 21st – Today I was brought to tears. I am not sure if they were tears of joy or sadness but I was catching my breath at the bottom of a line when an avalanche of emotion came out of nowhere and knocked me off my feet.

The line that did this to me is called McConkeys. It was formerly called the Eagles Nest until the recent passing of Shane McConkey inspired Squaw to change the name. The line it self has alluded me for over 15 years because it requires the perfect combination of conditions.

Hiking up to the line there seemed to be added weight to the air.  Seeing the Eagle gave me calming effect.  Dropping in the first turn was much harder then I expected but things improved quickly, I got through the crux,  got off the bottom air clean and landed in a bed of bottomless feathers.

I have passed by this line hundreds of times the last 15 years but it is so rarely in form that I never really give it much thought even though it is one of the more critical and probably steepest lines on the mountain.

This morning I arrived to the KT lift line at 6:30.  With 24 inched new and storm totals around 5 ft it was sure to be the best day of the year and worthy of a long wait.

Friends and family gathered on the peak this fall to unveil the Eagle and make the name change official with a scattering of Shanes ashes. Since that time not a day has gone by that I have not been in the valley and payed my respects to the Eagle. It has become a place of healing for many of us.

Note: Shane was a big inspiration behind the shape of the Flagship.  I  talked with him more then anyone about rocker and profile and how his shapes could be adapted to a snowboard.   It is fitting that the first serious line I rode on the Flagship was named after him.

With great excitement we made our public debut last week at the 2010 SIA Snow Show in Denver, CO!

Response was through the roof as a steady stream of buyers, media, and industry folk came by the booth to check out the 10/11 lineup. Jeremy was all smiles walking people through the finer points of the four new board models.From Left to Right: The Flagship, The Mountain Twin, The Hovercraft, The Flagship, and The Solution Splitboard.

Seeing all four finished boards in one lineup was a huge moment for us as we have been cranking non-stop for five months to pull it off. Unfortunately, the bliss was short lived as some chump stole the Solution splitboard prototype on day two of the show. Little did the thief know that the Solution he stole was virtually un-rideable as it had been hastily t-bolted just to get it on display and the bindings were two different sizes. If you ever see a T-bolted Solution in the backcountry please let us know. Wouldn’t want to ride that board in even a moderate risk snowpack with his karma…

Aside from showing off the new shred sticks, the other highlight of SIA was watching Tom Burt accept the 2010 Legend Award at the Transworld Riders Poll Awards. The Legend Award hadn’t been given out in four years and Jeremy got to introduce Tom. The crowd erupted in a standing ovation when Burt took the stage. It was awesome to see so much genuine respect for a freerider from a crowd that was undeniably 95% freestylers.

But as good as it felt to finally get the boards on display, there was no time to rest with bluebird skies forecasted for the Sierra. Six hours after we got off the plane from Denver we laced up our boots at sunrise…Jones Snowboards product testing will never end.

While the basic designs of the 2010/2011 Jones Snowboards lineup are the result of nearly two decades of freeriding experience, the finishing touches are the result of the last four months of non-stop product testing. From the first foot of new snow in Tahoe to the steep ancient snowpack of Antartica, Jeremy and the Jones Snowboards team have been slashing turns and boosting airs in every condition imaginable as they tweaked the final designs. Jones Snowboards Product Testing continued »

Mind surfing mountains has always been a favorite past time for me.  Just seeing unique terrain inspires me and fills me with a lot of joy.  Antarctica is called the white continent.  They should add steep to it.  I have never seen nor ridden so much steep terrain in my life.  The mountains were so densely stacked with the wildest terrain I have ever seen that it made sleeping hard.  Most of my time on the boat was spent circling the upper deck with binoculars drooling over fantasy lines. Here is a few that had me spinning.

Antarctica Fantasy Lines continued »