Being from the Midwest I know a little bit about how hard kids out here charge and how hungry they are for snowboarding. Our first stop in the Midwest at Buck Hill, Minnesota was proof that sliding sideways is alive and well in the land of 10,000 lakes. Rope toes, ice and variable weather all come together to help create some of the most dedicated snowboarders around. Check out the kids at Buck Hill as they showed us what’s up with some Minnesotanice!
The Tour is now in full swing and we recently have had some days off to recover from the first 2 stops, edit and snowboard some ourselves. This year I’ve been fortunate enough to have a “minion” working with me so we have been able to divvy up the responsibilities. The minion, “Cody Potter,” has taken over editing the Shred Circuit contest videos while I continue to edit the camp videos. Having the two of us running around shooting both events has proven to very beneficial if not a little overwhelming when we find out just how much video we shot at the end of the day. Regardless, good things are happening and plenty of documenting is happening. So, without further adieu I present Stop 1 of the Mighty Midwest Snowboard Camp Tour and Stop 1 of the Shred Circuit at Echo Mountain, Colorado.
It was Luke’s last day in town and it was his choice of where we should go ride. After shuttling Loveland pass for the past couple days Luke wanted to return to explore a little more and to share the good snow he had found. For those who have no idea what I’m talking about I’ll do my best to explain…
A friend of mine recently came out to Colorado to catch the first few weeks of the new season before heading back to Michigan to catch the start of their season. Bringing the Midwest luck with him Luke arrived to a snow covered Denver as we had just received a second fall storm. After an interesting day of attempting to film, a trip to the ER (not for us) and some epic mini shred, Luke still wanted more. So off we ventured through neighborhoods and up mountain sides looking for something, anything that looked like it could help us have fun on our snowboards. Finally, we stopped at the base of a very worn out looking sled hill and Luke giving me the look that says “well, how bout it?” stepped out of the car. Here we are on the edge of the Mile High city, at the base of the Rocky Mountains and of all the places we could have chosen to go snowboarding, we picked this haggard looking hill. Turns out, it was the best pick of the day. Dodging mini boulders and cacti, we dropped in on the sled hill and a blast of nostalgia hits…
Somewhere along the line, a couple of very good friends of mine decided to get together and start making music. When they told me about their band, the Sailor Kicks, I knew right away that this was gonna be good and I hadn’t even heard the music yet. We all pretty much grew up listening to the same music, skated together and went to school together so I thought I knew what to expect, but what I heard was way better!
