Stuck in Blizzard and Told "Good Luck"

     I should have wrote this on Monday when I got home so all my rage would have come out in the article.  Oh well, too bad.  What ended as a great day at Mt. Snow, aside from the fact that I landed knee first into a rock off a jump.  I was jumping all day and having a blast until I hit this one lip and the right side of it dipped under my weight.  Threw me off balance and ate it lovely.  So now I have two knees on my right leg.
     Anyway, it started snowing mid day there, and I knew the storm was coming but I rode the day out until 4pm.  Leaving Snow it was snowing (haha) but the roads were not too bad, good time was being made considering the conditions.  I made it to the end of Connecticut just outside of Port Chester on I95 by 8:30pm.  Considering visibility was a joke, winds and snow sheets hitting the windshield, not to mention the expressway completely covered in snow 4 hours so far so bad.
     So now it is 2am we still have not moved.  In the meantime I called 911 twice to let them know that I'm running low on fuel and stuck in the blizzard with a child in the car as well. Long story short they sent me to an automated machine for the Thruway Police which put me on hold.  I mean are you kidding me? I was trying to get information about what is going on up ahead so I could plan my mode of survival and you place me on hold with a machine?!
      So, there we sat, until the tank was almost on empty.  In the meantime I was shutting the car down for periods to conserve fuel, and I guess thank God I did.  At this point it is 5am on Monday morning! No, I still did not move.  Finally like 5 minutes later Troopers are coming down the lanes on quads (how fun!).  So I blow the horn and flash my lights to get the attention of one of them.

     "Morning Trooper quick question how long until we get out of here because I have a baby in the car and not very much fuel.  Not a good combonation."

     "There are a lot of people out here without gas.  Just go as far as you can and good luck." The Trooper replies.

     "O.K. Well, what happened? I've been stuck here for almost 9 hours!"

     "Umm, There was a bus accident."

     Now between you and me his story is a crock of, well you get the idea.  Pure scum.  What type of human responds like that? I'm not here to rant and rave so, moving on.  I finally made it back to Long Island around 8am.  Funny thing is Meadow Brook Parkway was completely plowed.  However the exit on and off ramps were completely plowed shut.  Genius.

Most Snow in America: Syracuse New York

     So yesterday my good friend mpdsnowman posts that Syracuse is leading the nation in snowfall as of that day on Snowboarding Forum.  Now I am not going to lie, I did not know that, although I feel like I should, but that's what friends are for right? I did know that we are definitely getting record snowfall here in New York, but had no clue I was going to be so shocked when I saw the list of top ten.  So here is the list:

1. Syracuse, NY
2. Rochester, NY
3. St. Paul, MN
4. Minneapolis, MN
5. Spokane, WA
6. Buffalo, NY
7. Anchorage, AK
8. Salt Lake City, UT
9. South Bend, IN
10. Akron, OH

     The original article can be found at Golden Snow Globe here.

     And in due East Coast/ West Coast rivalry I must point out that the Rockies are not on the chart.  Well all I can say is that I guess I'm lucky I live in the East at the moment.  I will be going to shred some of this pow this weekend and will report on it.

Drift Session: Evo IX Inside View

  
     Here is the second video from the same sesh that I posted earlier.  Same car, cam and driver.

Drift Session: Evo IX

     I was sitting in my room watching snowboard vids (shocking) when I get the call at 11:30pm.  "Dude, look outside...we're going drifting, I'm cleaning the car now."

     So here is a little footy I shot of my homie Matt taking first drifts of the season in a certain part of town.  Car is a Mitsubishi Evo IX tuned by E-Spec Tuning and the camera is my trusty cell a Motorola Defy.

     He pulls a nice close pass at :44 and a sweet huge donut at around 1:07.  It felt great to get the first snow around here!!!

     To see more footage and shots of Matt and the car Check him out on his Facebook Page.  Next post will be a vid shot from the inside of the car.

First Pass

  
    
    

Here is another quick vid from outside the car.  Love the angle on this shot!!

Snowboarding and Wearing Helmets

     I know you've heard it a million times "wear your helmet."  That right there is part of why people don't wear helmets when snowboarding.  I mean when you've heard something that many times, it actually becomes annoying, right?  Promotions to wear helmets also suck and they are afraid to discuss the real issues.
     You don't wear a helmet because you suck, or are a beginner.  I wear a helmet every time I ride so that I don't crack my skull and die, or worse end up having to wear diapers and get tube fed all my life while consistently slobbering.
     Right I know, you have a style, and "Yo, I can't lock into my steeze with a lid, bro..I need to feel free."  Don't you dare be that guy.  That is the lamest thing any real snowboarder, or human for that matter has heard.  Just get used to it and expand your steeze.  At a minimum it's more sticker space.  You are doing it for yourself so that you can ride tomorrow, remember that.
     Now if you don't wear one because in all honesty you can't afford one or it is not in the budget you are lying. A one day lift ticket is more expensive than a lot of helmets out there.  So is a night at the bar.  Next time you see a helmet for a wicked deal think about that.
     I've experienced two concussions, while wearing a helmet both times.  I had a headache that felt like a boulder was using my head as a punching bag for a week.  Not cool.  I was lucky, because I think to myself, what if I didn't have a helmet?  Well pretty much every day of riding after that might not have happened.  Scary, but that is the truth.
     If you are boarder that people watch, and especially if you are taking shots and video, wear a helmet, because kids love you.  Knowing little Maxwell is sitting in a hospital saying "but Your Name Here doesn't wear one probably won't feel to great.

"Let's all stop making excuses and live to ride another day"

Here is a great article on a new update on the statistics that was in the LA Times. Take a read it's worth your time, and good job fellow riders/skiers stepping up and doing the right thing!