When you think nothing else matters, winter does.

Winter, is both loved and loathed by many. Love it or loath it, it is still very much important; it matters. To that end, our mission is to share with you various matters that pertain to winter. As snowboarders we think it's important, and whether you're a winter sports enthusiast, or just looking for a stop-gap between summer activities, we hope you think it matters too. After all, the Ying does not exist without the Yang...

Matters

Expedition: Alaska - Chapter 1

While I was in Alaska for the World Freeride Festival (better known as Tailgate Alaska), I brought along a GoPro HD Hero camera to document the occasion. I wound up taking more than four hours of video footage while I was there — which might have been more were it not for dying batteries and filled up memory cards — so in the last few weeks I've been sorting through it and putting it together for your enjoyment. The following video is the first chapter of the Shred Labs: Expedition Alaska video series.

Tailgate Alaska: Day 14 - World Wide Freeride

Marc hiking back to camp.

Friday was a cold, bluebird morning which was as good a day as any for my last full day in Thompson Pass. Although my heli budget was completely exhausted, I was planning on making use of the Big Mountain Taxi service as much as I could since I had to return the Spark R&D bindings to Erik, and I was too lazy to put my Betas back on the plates (and frankly not interested on going back to riding plates after trying the Fuse bindings).

Tailgate Alaska: Day 13 - With my own two feet

Thursday was another bluebird day on Thompson Pass Alaska. Although I had exhausted my heli budget, I was determined to get some snowboarding in. Plus I still had the Fuse bindings that I borrowed from the Spark R&D guys the day before. I had already tested them going downhill, but I figured today would be a good day to test them going uphill as well.

Tailgate Alaska: Day 12 - A little goes a long way

Eric Themel on Gobbler's Knob.

I woke up on Wednesday morning to the wonderful sight of bluebird skies and the feeling that I would be blowing the rest of my heli budget. However, since I only had a few runs left, I had to wait until the afternoon to get the rest of my time in to give priority to the full day groups. In the meantime, I planned on making use of the Big Mountain Taxi service as much as I could.

Tailgate Alaska: Day 11 - One and done

Bad weather looms over Ryan.

It was still snowing on the Pass on the morning of day eleven of Tailgate Alaska. The clouds had rolled in and it was impossible to see the peaks of the mountains so it seemed unlikely that the heli was going to fly. However, Happy, Badger, and Patrick were milling around at the base thinking that the clouds would break and that we would get to go up. So Justin and I put our names on the fly list for the day. I was hoping that it would be a good one to use the last half day of my heli time. I got lucky, the clouds broke and the decision was made to scramble the helicopters.

Tailgate Alaska: Day 10 - Don't hate at Tailgate, snowskate until the weather breaks.

Snow skating on Thompson Pass

I woke up on day 10 of Tailgate Alaska to total greybird skies. It seemed unlikely that anything was going to go down, even Big Mountain Taxi was grounded; the light was really too flat to see any terrain features whatsoever. I've learned, from watching the movie “Lines”, that when in Alaska, you should expect strings of days like this. The trick is finding something to do on them.

Tailgate Alaska: Day 9 - Easter Showers

Thompson Pass, Elev. 2678'

The NOAA forecast for Valdez on Sunday called for snow showers in town, and snow in the Pass. This time they were right because I woke up on day 9 of Tailgate to see snow falling to the ground. On the one hand I was glad since the Pass could use a little bit of cover to bury the tracks from the past week, but on the other hand I was a bit disappointed because it meant I couldn't go snowboarding. However, since it was Easter Sunday, I thought I should go to town anyway to call my family and wish them a happy Easter.

Tailgate Alaska Day 8 - Return of the King

Briefing the kings.

The King of the Hill is a contest that was started by Nick Perata in the 90s. Although the last one was held ten years ago, it seems like the time is ripe for the return of the big mountain snowboarding contests as is evidenced by the growing popularity of the North Face Masters series. Tailgate Alaska seems like the perfect event to bring back one of the original big mountain snowboarding contests: the King of the Hill.

Tailgate Alaska day 7 - So long and thanks for all the fish.

I woke up on day seven of Tailgate Alaska to bluebird skies, however, I decided not to fly for two reasons: 1) I had worked my shoulder the day before taking a nose dive in the sun crust, and 2) I wanted to get some runs in with the New York boys who were heading back to Anchorage the following day to catch their flight home. So I gave up my spot on the heli list to Gabe, and got some chips for the Big Mountain Taxi to do a few runs with Paul and Rob instead.

Tailgate Alaska Day 6 - Flat light city

Flat light city

I woke up on day six of Tailgate Alaska freezing my butt off. Apparently the heat in the RV stopped working again so getting out of my sleeping bag was a tedious affair. On the plus side, the sky was looking only slightly overcast, similar to the morning conditions on Tuesday. I was hoping the sun would burn away some of the clouds and we would get to go up. The ABA guides seemed positive about it so the decision was made to fly on day six.

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