Sequel in Kiwi Land

Here are some Sequel stickers at some sweet New Zealand resorts. Thanks to Aroha and Mark for the renegade stickering.

Sequel stickers around the country (world?)

I've been plastering Sierra and Kirkwood with Sequel stickers for a while now. I need to spread the love to get the word out. Here are some pics from around Tahoe and Colorado (thanks Monica!).

The beach at A-Basin

Kirkwood's backside

Keystone

The gazebo at Vail

Vail gondola

Monica modeling at Vail

Loveland Pass

I would like to encourage you all to put stickers in key locales and send me a pic. I'll post it with the others and give you your 15 seconds of fame.

Ta da!

I finished up the board I've been working on last night.

Top

Base

The whole finishing process went much quicker this time around. I still made a few mistakes, in the same places that I always make mistakes. I think they're a little less noticeable this time, so I'm getting better, right? I'm hoping that the next one is nearly perfect because it's going to my first "real" customer.

Pressing day

I finally layed up a board and got it in the press the other day. Here are the pics -

Wetting the core

The top sheet of fiberglass (the hemp is under the core)

Putting the board into the press

8 hours later it's done

The base of the finished board

The next step is to cut the board out, sand the edges, rout the sidewalls, and drill for the inserts. Tonight is the P party, so I probably won't get around to doing more work until next week. The next time you see it, it will look like a real snowboard.

More snowboard work

I've been slacking for a few weeks, but getting my topsheets Saturday lit a fire under my ass. Here are some more pics of the work I did over the weekend.

Gluing the edges to the base

Gluing the sidewalls and tip/tail fill to the core

I'll be pressing a 159 Cascade tomorrow. More pics soon...

A work in progress

I figured I should add some work photos to the mix. I spent yesterday afternoon getting 2 bases and cores ready. Here are the pics.

My lovely workshop (aka garage)

A 4000 sintered base pre-cut

A routed base

An also in green

An aspen core mid-cut

All in all, things went well yesterday. I still don't have topsheets, but I'm trying to get everything else ready so I can roll when(if?) they come in. Once I get new templates, things will run more smoothly. I have a few people who'd like to help me out with manufacturing, which is rad, but I'll need to spend a lot of time teaching them the ropes. There are things that still baffle my mind (when a stance is "set back" do you slide it forward or backward on the template?!). I'll keep posting pics as these boards come along.

Waterhouse

Since I was down in Sacramento yesterday celebrating my brother's birthday (Coraline is amazing by the way), I knew the mountain would be pretty chopped up. I decided to head up to Sierra anyway, to try to find some hidden stashes in the trees. When I got up to the mountain at 10:30, all of the parking lots were full. I took the grand tour, looking for a little nook to tuck my car, but couldn't find anything. I'm not good with crowds, so I decided to head back to town. An afternoon of crafting and movies on ABC Family sounded great. I stopped by Lira's to pick up some food and ran into Monica who was on her way to hiking Waterhouse. After asking me 3 times, I caved and went home to get my backcountry gear.

Waterhouse is sort of a rite of passage for Tahoe locals. Everyone has done the hike. Everyone but me. The hike would take someone under an hour on skins, but it took Monica and I a bit longer. Close to 2 hours later, we reached the peak and got a long glorious run down.

The view from the hike up

Monica on the way down

Snowboarding loves me this much

This was my prize

What happened in Vegas

I just got home from a whirlwind trip to the SIA trade show in Las Vegas. Tana and I were in Vegas just shy of 36 hours, but it felt like a week. I'm still a little overwhelmed, but I'll try to paint you an accurate picture.

Our plane touched down in Vegas around 10:30, and the kids from Sentury Snowboards two rows ahead of me were already drunk. Tana and I followed them through the airport, and kept running into them until we were waiting in line behind them at the Luxor. It's amazing how you can see the same people over and over again in a sea of thousands.

Vegas in the daytime = weird

We checked in, got out of travel wear, and hit the show. Wow. There was so much happening in every corner of the massive convention center. We took a lap looking for people we know were at the show, only to find everyone meeting with clients. Business was being done everywhere. Since our business in Vegas was fun, we decided to go get some food and play some cards.

Our second venture into the trade show was much more successful. The serious business was done, and people commenced drinking and "networking." Cocktails were poured, and business cards were passed around. The Volcom rednecks were banging on pots and pans and singing bluegrass versions of classics. Everyone was steezed to the max - it was almost hard to tell who was in costume, and who was for real.

Vee haw!

I was wondering how the steezy kids in Vegas would interact with one another. Would the too-cool-for-school shop kids still have an attitude when snowboarding legends were around? Who becomes top dog when everyone is cool? Luckily, everyone was rad in the best sense of the word. Everyone I met at the show was incredibly nice and helpful. Here are some highlights:

Go Big or go home

Sumo wrestling at Moment Skis

Redbull flavored sno cones. Why do they still make these?!
The Electric guys definately enjoyed this
My Little Rome Pony

After the show, Tana and I headed to Moment Skis to say hello and have a few beers. We ran into her friend Dan from Rage Films, and moved the party to Tacos & Tequila at the Luxor. Then it was off to the Transworld Rider's Poll after party at the Hard Rock. We made it to 2 nightclubs, a bar and the other side of 4 am.

Do you see yourself?

We were asked to come celebrate a new business...and then found out it was GirlsGoneCrazy.com Umm no.

On Thursday morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed at the crack of 10 and headed back to the convention center. We did more company "research" and made some killer connections. I found a photographer, and Tana picked up another website. We attempted to gamble more, but lady luck was still in bed with a hangover.

I can't wait for Denver in 2010.

In the beginning...

After reading the bloggings of friends of mine, it occurred to me that my life could be somewhat entertaining. Sometimes in a "wow Britta, your life is rad!" way, and others in a "so-pathetic-it's-hilarious" way. I'll try to post lots of photos to underscore my lack of mastery of the English language.

Disclaimer: I am one of the worst spellers I know. I also spend a lot of time with snowboarders, so there will be a lot of slang - most of it ridiculous.