Laziness and What Have you

I hope everyone out there had an awesome Thanksgiving and enjoyed the extra days to screw around after stuffing your faces with food. I spent Turkey Day with my buddy Brian and his family and then went to the mountains for some tasty shred action.

We had a couple sick days of riding and I have lots to talk about but I actually had to do some homework tonight and it took longer than expected and I'm falling asleep as I'm typing this so my shred recap will have to wait for tomorrow. Procrastination at its finest. Dig it.

Snow Realms Episode 2-3

Episode 3 of the Snow Realms is ready and I just missed being in it! Ah shit! Haha, I'm kidding of course, but really... I met up with TJ and crew on Saturday at Breckenridge and had such a sick day. TJ filmed the previous 3 days at Keystone for the new episode and got some nice footy in the Area 51 terrain park. That shit looks like so much fun...

I mentioned before that TJ was singing Cry Me A River all morning and he told us he was going to use the song for the opening in the new episode because there were a bunch a douche bags talking shit in some forums about what TJ had to say in episode 2. Fucking kooks.

Peep Thesnowboardrealms.com for more on the Realms.

The Only One That Fucking Matters

So by now you've all undoubtedly heard that Habitat rider Silas Baxter-Neal has won the only legit award in skateboarding, Thrasher's Skater of the Year. No surprise here really. The dude was all over the place this year with like 4 video parts, a bunch of interviews, and ads in seemingly every issue of every skate mag. Plus, he kills everything he touches and has incredible style. If the voting by the people actually mattered, Silas would have gotten my vote. I'm sure Phelps had his mind made up weeks ago. None the less, Silas is very deserving of this award, and I'm so happy Sheckler didn't win.

I thought Dennis Busenitz had a good chance of winning and Billy Marks made some moves to put him in the running.

After watching the little video Thrasher put up to honor the newly crowned SOTY, I noticed that there were a couple clips filmed in Reno at the Rattlesnake Mountain Skate Park, one of which was this back nose blunt. So sick that he was in Reno!

Peep Phelps announcing Silas as the winner and some shredding.

Shredding Breck With TJ and Shay

Well, this will definitely go down as one of the best opening days I've ever had in my illustrious snowboarding career. I've been fiending to get on the mountains for a few weeks now and despite the temptation to take advantage of the awesome weather in Fort Collins and skate, I finally got my shit together and made it up there. There were however, some ulterior motives involved...

If you remember the second episode of The Snowboard Realms, (which you all should have watched) TJ mentioned that he was going to be in Breckenridge this week and that people should come out and ride with him. I was a little on the fence about whether or not to go since it hasn't snowed much up there and I figured it would be a complete zoo and I'd have to wait in the lift lines all day. Plus, I didn't really know if I would be able to meet up with TJ. That all changed on Wednesday night when Shay from Shayboarder hit me up on Gmail chat and asked me if I was going up. She said she had talked to TJ and was going to meet up with him and basically told me to get my ass up there. Ehhhhh, okay geez, twist my arm I'll go... Ha! After talking with Shay I was super stoked to go meet up with her and TJ and get my shred on. Plus, my best friend Grizzly Adams was up in that area fishing and we made plans to meet up.

I made the drive from Fort Collins in a little over 2 hours and was very pleased at the lack of traffic on the way up. Weekends are usually a shit show in the mountains but I think the lack of snow is keeping people away. I pulled into town, got my shit together, and met up with Shay, TJ, and the rest of the crew for the day at the gondola on Peak 8. I did an interview with TJ a while back and I've only talked to him and Shay through email so it was so awesome to finally meet both of them. We rode up, strapped in, and my 08/09 season was finally underway!

TJ and Shay


Guerrilla marketing, Snow Realms stickers everywhere

Like I said before, this was one of the best opening days I've ever had. The weather was awesome, blue bird and sunny, and the snow was a lot better than I thought it would be. I was expecting a concrete-like slab of ice but contrary to my assumptions, the snow was soft and fast. The only places that were icy were the areas the sun wasn't shining. Other than that, the hybrid real/made snow was awesome for this early in the season. I was expecting to be a little rusty and worried that I would fall getting off the lift (A-hem, Shay? Haha!) or scorpion down the mountain and embarrass myself in front of everyone, but I was on point from the first run and felt like I never stopped riding. Before the first run of the day however, as we were strapping in at the top of the lift, the toe strap on my right binding broke completely off and I had to ride the whole day toe strap-less. I thought I was screwed but it really wasn't a big deal. I could hardly tell a difference riding without the toe strap. I took it to Broadcast Board Shop when we were done riding and the hommies there jimmy-rigged me a new strap out of a Rome binding part. Nice.

Now, the main reason this was such an epic opening day for me, obviously, was being able to ride with TJ. He's one of my favorite pros and it was super fun hangin out with him all day. We rode the chair up together a handful of times and talked about a variety of things, including the Snow Realms, traveling, shredding, the Oakley incident, how cool methods are, and a bunch of other shit. He was also singing the song Cry Me A River, by Justin Timberlake the whole morning, (you'll find out soon enough why) which consequently was stuck in my head the rest of the day. It was very interesting talking with him and getting some insight into his life. The coolest thing about TJ though, is he's just a regular dude who happens to be really good at snowboarding. He didn't have some big entourage with him, or act like he was better than everyone else. He was very genuinely stoked to be on the mountain riding with all of us and was just out there having fun. Snowboarding is fun, no matter what level of riding you're on. Such a cool guy.


TJ, Shay, and me on the chair

Although I must say, the dude can rip. There wasn't all that much to ride other then a little park with a couple jib lines, a wall ride, and a log jib/hip, but you can tell just by watching him ride how good he is. He's got a super smooth, effortless style with just the right amount of sketch. There were these pretty steep rollers he was launching off and he aired this gap in the park that was pretty rad.

TJ and crew were in Keystone before Breck filming for the latest episode of The Snowboard Realms and he told me they got enough footy so they didn't film when we rode together. I was so close to making it on the realms! Hahaha. I could've pulled a tasty method out of bag O' tricks...


TJ Stomping a landing


The Breck park... Wait what's going on here?

Let's zoom in a little....


TJ rad air


TJ gaping a human - Photo: Shayboarder


The crew


Sneak attack

After about 20 laps it was time to call it a day, almost. TJ said he was taking off so we all hugged it out, he bounced and Shay and I took a couple more runs. Such an awesome day of riding.


So stoked!!

After riding, we decided to go to Mi Casa for some happy hour food and drinks. $1 tacos and PBR? You can't beat that anywhere. I met up with with Zach and we were on our way.


Zac(h) attack. Yeah, and Grizzly Adams had a beard....


Shay and ....?

We ate, we drank beer, we had a great time. We hit the town for a little while but I'd been up since 5am and was super tired. We all parted ways and Zach and I went to our hotel room. And by hotel room, I mean the back of his Ford Ranger. We posted up in the City Market parking lot and were fast asleep until a security guard came pounding on the windows at about 2:30am and told us we had to move. We ended up in the free skier parking lot behind Breck Terrace and passed back out. I've never slept so close to another man....

By this time the camera battery was dead so I couldn't get a good photo of our plush accommodations. But here's his truck/apartment from another photo...

The Ford Seasons

We woke up and crawled out of the truck to the surprised and confused looks of all the people in the parking lot getting ready to hit the mountain. Zach took of for home and I took off to Daylight Doughnuts, the best place in town for breakfast. While I was waiting for my #5 with ham and drinking my coffee, I did a little mental recap of the previous day and was still so stoked. It really was such a good day of riding with awesome people. A definite sign of an epic season to come!

Active Am Live Webcast Today!

The Active Am competition is going down today and you can watch a live webcast of the event today, right here. There will undoubtedly be some sick skating going down so be sure to peep the event starting at 11am Pacific time. Dig it.

Active Am! webcast!

Epicly Epic'd

For all you slackers out there who didn't buy the epic pass before the deadline, you're in luck. Vail Resorts is extending the sale of the pass... Again. You now have till December 1st to make your purchase, but the price was raised a bit to $629. Shit, still a sweet deal.

Go to Snow.com and get Epic.

From Vail Resorts

Many of our most valued customers have expressed great interest in the Epic Season Pass during its introductory year. However, some guests were unaware of the purchase deadline and have continued to express interest. Therefore, we will continue to offer the Epic Season Pass for another two weeks at a slightly higher price, but still at a great value to skiers and riders.

Don't miss out on the best deal for skiing and riding this season. Six resorts on one season pass for only $629 — unlimited and unrestriced, all season long. For the cost of a seven day lift ticket, you can have unparalled access to Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly and Arapahoe Basin. Visit as often as you want, whenever you want.

Inside The Actors Studio - That's It, That's All Webisode 3

Webisode 3 of the TiTa behind the scenes series is all about T. Rice growing up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I'd have to imagine riding this mountain your whole life would make you pretty good. My shred crew and I are planning on road trippin it up there for a few days this winter... Hopefully. I want to get in that pow so bad!

Peep the vid and if you haven't already, check out my review of the film.



Webisode 2
Webisode 1

These Boots Weren't Made For Walking

Just when you think things are running smoothly and life couldn't get any better, the often invisible, but always present "Man", feels it necessary to flex its power abusing muscles and strike your ass down... just to remind you who's boss. In my case, the "Man" comes in the form of the dashing,(gasp!) the daring,(oh my!) the dangerous,(Ahh!) the often imitated but never duplicated, Fort Collins Parking Enforcement Agency.

Seriously, fuck these people. Why would anyone ever want to work a job where you're automatically hated based solely on your job description? "Parking Enforcement Officer" just has such a negative connotation. It's beyond me really. Now in all fairness, I'm sure the majority of employees working for this prestigious branch of the city are good people just doing their shitty job and trying to make a living, which I respect. However, the actions of one of these parking nazis has forever solidified the utter disdain I hold towards the Fort Collins Parking Enforcement Agency, and so again I say, Fuck these people.

My little run in with the Fort Collins B-squad came a couple weeks ago on November 3rd, the day before the election. This is important to know, since I was at the courthouse downtown picking up a replacement ballot because my original ballot failed to arrive in the mail. So really, I could blame my misfortunes on the county clerk for not mailing me my ballot. Had I received said ballot in the mail, I would not have had to make the trip down town, I would not have parked in that space on 100 West Mountain Street, and I would not have gotten a fucking boot put on the Love Bus.

But, I digress. I could probably blame me being down town at that moment on a handful of different events that occurred during the day.

So long story short, I parked the bus across the street from the court house, went inside to get a new ballot, was in there for no longer then 15 minutes, and came out just in time to witness the finishing touches of the boot installation. Sweet.

Apparently I had an outstanding ticket for expired tags dated February of 2007. Which by my calculations was 21 months ago. Hmmmm.... not sure how that one slipped through the cracks. One of the only things I hate about the city of Fort Collins is their vigilante-esque approach to catching parking fugitives such as myself. They have these trucks with two cameras mounted on both sides in the back angled down so they can see the license plates of parked cars. These trucks slowly creep around town peeping at plates, just looking for anyone who might have an outstanding ticket or expired tags. They also have their goons walking about in rent-a-cop uniforms doing the same thing. Is the city really hurting for cash that bad? Must be, cause that's how I got pinched.

Anyway, the point of this whole thing really is the encounter I had with officer FCN-320. This rat bastard... A little preface first, I am an extremely laid back and mellow person. I rarely ever get worked up or angry or stressed at anything, almost to a fault. That being said, I've never had a stronger urge to punch someone in the face than I did with this douche bag. When I came out of the court house, I saw from across the street the parking truck and the bright orange sticker on the driver's window. I ran over there, thinking the ticket was for parking in the 30-minute zone, but then noticed the boot. WTF?! And so it begins... This all went down at about 4:50pm-ish, right before the city offices close. Just my luck.

Me: (Utterly confused) Hey, what the hell is this for?!
Officer FCN-320: (Quite smugly) What do you think it's for?
Me: (Still confused) I have no clue dude....
Officer FCN-320: (Matter of factly) Unpaid parking tickets.
Me: (Completely baffled) What?? What unpaid tickets??
Officer FCN-320: (Condesending, talking slow as if I'm a fucking idiot) Unpaid expired tags ticket dated February 7th, 2007. Remember that?
Me: (A bit taken back, blood starting to boil) Obviously I don't remember that. That's from almost 2 years ago, I had absolutely no idea about this! Or else I would have taken care of it.
Officer FCN-320: (Pompously, with a smirk) Right buddy, I'm sure you had no idea. We sent you notifications in the mail, didn't get any of those I suppose?
Me: (Rage building) I didn't have any idea... And no, I didn't receive anything about this. Like I said, I would've taken care of it had I known. I've lived in two different places since then... Where did you send the notifications?
Oficer FCN-320: (Rudely) I have no idea. Not my job.
Me: (Closer to the edge) Shit! Can you take this off today if I go pay the ticket?
Officer FCN-320: (So pleased with himself, getting in the truck) Probably not.
Me: (Enraged) So how the hell am I supposed to get home!?!
Officer FCN-320: (Laughing as he drives away) Pssshhh, not my problem! Why don't you go pay your tickets on time for once?
Me: (*$%^@$#*^&!!!) Fuck you!!! I hope you like your job you fucking ass hole!!!!

And cut....

As it turns out, this chick parked right next to me also got a ticket from this dude and was talking shit to him too during our pleasant exchange. I can't remember what she said though...

Now, if officer FCN-320 would have simply said, in a somewhat remorseful tone, "You have an unpaid ticket for expired tags. I'm really sorry man, I'm just doing my job. If you go pay it right now we can take this off today," I would have still been mad, but not as much, and not at the dude. Just at the bull shit system of collections. But no, this self-righteous, arrogant mother fucker had this air of superiority about him, like he was so much better than me because of the minuscule power he possesses. The ticket and boot are not what set me off but the patronizing tone in which he spoke to me. Like I said, never have I wanted to punch another human as badly as I wanted to officer FCN-320.

So $125 for the unpaid ticket and $50 for the boot fee, for a grand total of $175. They stick it to ya every way they can. I went and tried to pay but it was like 4:57pm and of course only cash and checks are accepted, neither of which I had, and there wasn't an ATM in the building. No dice. I had to wait until the next morning, and I was hoping so bad officer FCN-320 would be the one to remove the boot so I could have a few more words with him. I wasn't that lucky though.

I wish I would've talked more shit to him during our conversation but I was so mad I couldn't think of anything quick enough. You know, something really mean and funny that would have made him feel like a piece of shit instead of the parking enforcement hero he thinks he is. Maybe something like, "What'd you fail out of the police academy?? You weren't good enough to be a cop so you work this garbage job?? Sweet life dude!"

Although I was visibly angry for a few moments, I managed to laugh at the situation and chill out. Luckily, a buddy came and picked us up and we didn't have to skate home. I even got a couple super cool cell phone photos of the boot n' me!

Moral of the story... Always think of funny shit to say to people so you're prepared for situations like this!

Snow Realms Episode 2-2

Episode 2 opens with a sick montage of all TJ's shred footy from last season, with such an awesome song playing, Bitch Lagoon by Flayboyant Gods. The main focus of the episode though is the sponsorship changes TJ went through this year.

Must be crazy to be with a company for 10 years and all of a sudden get the ax. Oakley is blowing it Big TIME... Kooks.

Peep the goods in HD.




And peep this time lapse vid of a painting TJ did... It's rad.

Epicly Later'd Lakai - Episodes 3 & 4

Episode 3 - Explosivo!



Episode 4 - Everything Mike Mo

Winter Is Finally Here!... Or Is It?

It's now the 11th of November and it's finally starting to get cold here in Fort Collins! Well, colder then last week that is. If my memory serves me right, and it always does, it was freezing balls and snowy this time last year. After the past two weeks being absolutley epic weather wise, like 70-75 degrees and sunny everyday, it has finally cooled down to an unbearable 55-60 degrees. WTF?! Where's the freezing cold temperatures and snow storms? I mean it's really bumming me out that I can still skate in short sleeves in one of the snowiest states in the country in November. This is terrible. If the temppertaures don't plumet soon and make walking outside physically painfull, I'm just going to snap. I'm so tired of being able to ride my bike all over town and skate untill it gets dark. It sucks so much having to wear only jeans and a flannel or hoody to stay warm. It doesn't feel right to not have to wear sweats over my jeans, and three big jackets just to stay warm while driving the Love Bus... Or spend 20 minutes de-frosting the windshiled, since the Bus's internal heating systems are not functional. I don't know what I'm going to do......

(Insert copious amounts of sarcasm here)

I can't believe this shit. It's been so incredibly nice in Northern CO for this time of year. I was in Denver a couple days ago and it was awesome there too. As long as the mountains are getting snow, which they are, I could care less if it ever gets cold or snows here. It's supposed to stay pretty nice for the next few days according to the Weather Channel's 10 day forcast so there is still a lot of concrete surfing and shredding to be had. Who knew we'd still be talking skateboarding in November?

There are a hand full of snow resorts open here CO, A-Basin, Loveland, Breck, Keystone, Copper... to name a few, and snow is in the forcast. Stoked!

I wanted to make this winter post a couple weeks ago when it got super cold for a couple days, but then it warmed up to 77 degrees, and I was out working on my tan. I was on campus one evening and had some time to kill before my class started so I went on a nature photo hunt sesh. I got some pretty awesome shots of a few trees in transition... Fall in Colorado is fucking beautiful! Just a side note, my mom is going to be so stoked I am noticing all the natural beauty around me.

Colorado and Epic Pass On Sale Through the 16th

The Colorado 5 mountain pass is the absolute best pass deal in the country, hands down. I almost shit myself when I came to CO and found out about this. Especially coming from the Tahoe shred scene here this is unheard of. With the Colorado pass, for only $459, you get unlimited, unrestricted access to A-Basin, Breckenridge, and Keystone and 10-days to Vail and Beaver Creek. Unreal. Single day adult lift tickets to Breck are about 75 bones so let see... carry the one, square root of 64, times pi... if you go 6.12 times you've paid for the pass. It's almost like stealing....

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, Vail Resorts introduced the Epic pass this year. Unrestricted, no black out dates, shred any day you want, unlimited access to All 5 mountains, and even Heavenly in Tahoe for $579. Again, ride 7.72 days and it's paid for. I know, epic right?!

The passes are only on sale through this Sunday, Nov 16, so get your ass in gear and pick one up.

Snowboard Mag has all the info you could want on the passes, including where you can get yours. If you're too lazy to go out and get one, you can make your purchase at Snow.com.

Time is ticking, so hurry up! The snow is already falling....

Mini Shred!

So I got an email from my 9 year-old cousin Reese today telling me all about his new snowboard. It was awesome to see him with his new gear and I'm so stoked he's finally giving up that skiing nonsense and getting on a board. (A-hem, Chase?) This little dude charges hard and will be force to reckon with on the mountain. We'll be shredding soon for sure buddy!

The email:

Hi Zac,

Guess What? I got a snowboard yesterday at the UNR Ski Swap. It is brand new, and I have been practicing on it in the house. I rented boots that don't have laces but a cool knob turning device that tightens the strings to make the boot tighter on my leg. Super easy to get on. It is a Lamar Omen 123, and is green and says Lamar all over it in cool graphics of black and white. I am all ready for snowbaording. Maybe when you come home for Christmas we can go snowboarding and you can give me some tips and lessons!

We bought season passes to Mt. Rose and can't wait to go. I will be taking some lessons there too.

So rad! I'm sure he'll be shredding circles around me in no time...

Thrasher Duane Peters Interview

This past week Thrasher posted up a 5 part video interview with one of my all time favorite skaters, the Master of Disaster, Duane Peters.

This dude is straight up, I don't give a fuck, punk rock, I mean just look at him. Tattoos all over his body, missing front teeth, safety pins for earrings, completely fucking radical. He absolutely shreds on a skateboard and has been in some sick punk bands, the U.S. Bombs and The Hunns are my favorite.

Duane pretty much embodies everything that is good in skateboarding. He skates like he lives his life, hard and fast. I wish I would have been born in that era of skating where the only things that mattered were finding the next pool to shred and a punk show to go to at night. So fucking awesome.

Be sure to check out all 5 parts of the interview as Duane is pretty entertaining to listen to. Dig it.

Part 1 - Talks about art and being on the road

Part 2 - "Thanks for coming out..."

Part 3 - L.A. is wack

Part 4 - Livin' the dream

Part 5 - "Skating my ass off"

Epicly Later'd Lakai - Episodes 1 & 2

Next up on the Epicly Later'd series is a behind the scenes look at the film that blew doors down, Lakai's Fully Flared.  You've all seen the film and know how ground breaking it is and now, for about the next month or so,  you get to see how it all went down.  Commence Epicly Lakai'd. 

Episode 1 - Fully Flared premiere, Phelps loves Lakai


Episode 2 - The most anticipated film ever, the dream team of skating, sick intro

Snow Realms Season 2 Episode 1

The first episode of the new Snowboard Realms season was released today and from the looks of things it's going to be another epic season. TJ is the man and really has an awesome thing going here. The intro to this episode is so sick, such an awesome song.

This season is seemingly all about the viewer. You can head over to the Snow Realms site and create your own team, post vids and photos, and anything else you want to really. TJ explains this in the video so just watch... It's really cool.

I'll definitely be posting all the episodes so be ready for an onslaught of the Realms. I'm super stoked for another season!

You can watch below or in HD. Dig it.

The Snowboard Realms 2-1 from tj schneider SNOWBOARD REALMS VI on Vimeo.

Snowboarders Like To Get Drunk...

Shenanigans at the That's It, That's All premiere in San Di-ago during the ASR trade show courtesy of Snowboard Mag. Pretty funny.

Remember Remember, The 4th of November

There's only one thing people in the U.S. should be doing today, and reading this IS NOT it. No matter what, or who you believe in, get your ass out there and make yourself heard! This very well might be the most important election in our nations history and having an apathetic attitude toward it is complete bull shit.

History will be made one way or another today, will you be a part of it?

Snow Realms Season 2

TJ Schneider's The Snowboard Realms is back for another season after a super successful, 37 episode campaign this past season. If you haven't seen the series or missed a couple episodes you can go ahead and peep those here. It would be in your best interest to watch all of them because they are super radical.

The Snow Realms project is a DIY style video look into TJ's life as a pro snow shred. You think being a pro snowboarder is all cab 10s, hot babes, and copious amounts of energy drinks? Well, you're wrong. The Realms project gives you a taste of what the life is really like.

Go to Thesnowboardrealms.com on Wednesday, Nov 5 at 5pm pacific time and tune in live to the new season.

TJ also makes really cool art... like really cool.