I finally got a chance to edit together the video from the weekend before last. Allan, J and I headed up to Whistler Blackcomb for the end of the TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival. We met up with the famous Shay from Shayboarder.com and her friends Kendra and Mike.

Sunny, slushy, and pretty mellow conditions. We hopped around on a few things but mostly ripped around on the groomers. A really fun day. Shay is absolutely AWESOME in person and every good thing anyone has ever said about her is 100% true. I somehow managed to delete the pictures off my camera, so Shay has been kind enough to let me repost her pics. I also never manage to get photos of myself filming etc, so it’s really neat to see. Thanks Shay!

Check out the video. Hope you like it. I especially like the part where J and Allan ride over the house. I of course am wearing my Canucks jersey, as part of my “playoff beard” tradition. A little departure from my normal boarding getup, but still fun.

I have to say I’m a bit disappointed with my progression this year. I’ve been boarding for 1.5 years now, and in the past year I’ve spent more time filming and photographing others than I have focusing on developing my skills. Next season I need to make sure I focus more on that. I’ve kinda regressed, actually. But I’ve really enjoyed making little movies so perhaps a balance/compromise is best

Shay and I

Filming Allan coming down the slope

Filming J

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In other news, the Canucks play the Blackhawks tonight at 5:00 pm. It’s sure to be a big game, and I think the Canucks are going to bounce back. I’d like to see a tough road win. Really, really excited.

That’s it for now folks. Accessible Twilight filming is on a lull this week, and this is one of the busiest weeks in terms of work for me ever. Plus next week I’ll be heading to Monreal for work, so I’ve got lots to do!

Phew!

Believe it or not, this isn’t a Twilight blog. That being said, I’m super stoked about all the Team Jacob fans that are out there who checked out the pics yesterday. I can’t believe how cool the Twilight community is online! I’m a big Twilight fan, and hopefully we’ll get the chance to snap some more behind-the-scenes pics of the set… but for now, back to our regular programming!

I had some time last night to edit up a video from my day on my new Malolo board on Saturday at Whistler Blackcomb and also the last good powder day we had at Cypress. There’s a little more footage of me riding this time, and also I had to feature the rad shirt I got from Zac at Hybrid Sessions… so make sure you watch till the end of the vid. It’s pretty funny. Check out the video below:

It’s nearing the end of the snowboard season, and almost time to switch it up to surfing. I’m going to get one more weekend in at the end of April with the famous Miss Shay from Shayboarder at the TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler Blackcomb. Should be awesome.

Thanks Zac for the awesome shirt! Somehow you could predict the future that it would match my new board.

I’ve been working hard at work this week to make sure I get my time in and all my work done before the Easter long weekend. Gotta leave for the ferry early on Thursday, and it’s off to my favourite spot in the whole world… Tofino! Surfing for 4 glorious blissful days. Too bad the forecast is rain all weekend, but that’s not going to stop me from getting excited about finally getting back in the water and making some turns.

Today’s a photo post. Tomorrow — I shall post the video.

I have been eagerly wanting to ride my new Malolo around, so Saturday we went up to Whistler Blackcomb in an attempt to find some powder. We knew it was going to be hard — there was lots of new snow from the week, but all of it had been poached, and it was 2 days since the last snowfall.

We headed up to Whistler Blackcomb and had a really great, sunny day. We did a few groomer runs to start out… I really liked the feel of my Malolo on the groomers. I would say surprisingly it’s almost better on the groomers than my Feelgood. Must be the taper.

It wasn’t too busy where we were… we took the Glacier Express up… lots of little pockets here and there and really not many people to be seen. And warm enough to get a sunburn! Yeah!

We soon got bored of the groomers and I was itching to get my board on some powder, but there was none to be seen, so we spotted a spot we wanted to hike to and board down. This spot looked like it was still full of the good stuff.

So we started rode up the Jersey Cream chair and rode through some gladed runs (nice stashes to be found in there), and took 7th Heaven up. We hiked about 15 minutes before we saw this little hut. It was a great view throughout the entire hike.

30 minutes later and we still had our work cut out for us. We hiked all the way to the top of that peak and more.

Here I am, 60 minutes later and definitely getting tired. We stopped lots to take photos and videos but I was definitely huffing and puffing.

A look back from where we came. Yup.. all the way from that distant chairlift. We really didn’t do anything special compared to Tawcan and his friends but it was far for me!

Finally we got to the spot where we could drop in. The ride was short for the amount of hiking, only about 10-15 seconds… but it was glorious. My Malolo just glided over the snow… I barely had to lean back… so easy to make those powder turns. Ahhhhhh.

So I wanted to make sure my board was right for me, and I’m glad we went out of our way to try that little experiment. I’m completely in love with my Malolo for just about every mountain experience. My Burton Malolo review was successful. I was riding clouds all day… it’s perfect for me.

Video to come soon!

Ah yes, the board I’ve been lusting over for the past year. The 2009/2010 Burton Malolo snowboard. Back in October I featured the 2008/2009 Burton snowboard lineup, and I was pretty sure I wanted the Malolo. But I didn’t like the board graphic.

The Malolo has everything I want in a board: built for powder, but still good on groomers. A stiff board, but soft in the nose and with the S-Rocker. It’s tapered of course, wider than an average board, set back in the stance, Burton’s ICS system, has been reviewed to have amazing float, and is turned up in the nose… ahhhh *sigh*.

I’ve been eagerly following Hoon’s blog, hoping he’d give me some more information about next year’s Malolo. So what a surprise when early this afternoon I received a lovely package in my inbox with some photos of next year’s 2009/2010 Malolo (pictured above). And the board graphics were the coolest I’ve seen yet. Colourful bases for photos, and a clean top graphic with lots of space for custom diecuts. It comes in sizes 149cm, 154cm, 158cm, 162cm, and 166cm. It’s pretty much a guy’s board but women can ride the smaller sizes.

Later today I receive a call from Allan saying his coworkers told him there was a Burton sample sale on our side of town and he was there… and there were amazing deals on everything. Of course I wanted to go. So after work we headed over there to check it out.

Let me say this in my defense: I DID NOT intend to buy anything. I just wanted to take pictures.

So imagine my surprise when the first thing I set eyes on when I walked in the door was the Malolo.

If there is any snowboard in this world that was made for me… it is the Malolo. “A soul surfer with a heart for freestyle.” Malolo means “flying fish” in Hawaiian, and features a surfy design, with surfer dudes on it, peace signs, and even a surf van on one of the boards. My board features a surfer dude in the middle of a gladed trees up to his waist in powder. YES.

But wait — it gets better. I needed a 149cm board, and the sample sale only had ONE of each board size. The sale– $400 for a retail $800 board. Brand new. Seriously. SERIOUSLY. And the guy went into the back and lo and behold… found me the only 149cm Malolo in the city. NEXT season’s board not even being sold yet.

It was fate.

I couldn’t pass it up. It was handcrafted in Canada. The perfect colour, size, and style for me.

So I brought my beautiful new board home. So much for my budgeting. But hey — I would’ve bought the board anyway in 8 months so why not save 50%?

And even my Quaatchi Twins like them! (Yes, that is our favourite hockey playing Olympic mascot on my slippers… :))

Here’s my new quiver. One beat up falling apart board for groomers. And one gorgeous sleek panther of a board for powder.

I’m hoping to catch some pow on the weekend! TGIF!

For anyone who would like to go to the Burton Sample Sale, it’s still on tomorrow, and it’s the last day. The address is 236 West 7th, Suite #207. The sale is on till 8 PM and features only one of each new board for next season, and a number of softgoods too!

You’ll have to watch the video to find out what I mean.

So I finally had a chance to do some video editing this weekend. I’ve put together the footage from the Mount Washington snowboarding trip to Courtenay on Vancouver Island in February, as well as the huge Big White bus trip to Kelowna.

Check out the video above! Video features… tree runs, powder runs, rails, jumps, and lots of silliness of course. Oh, and leg wrestling. Make sure you watch to the very end of the video Video is totally safe for work.

Here are also a few pictures from the two trips…

Big White was great… here’s a view from the chairlift.

We had a huge group together (54 people)… it was definitely crazy.

Yup, it was Big White-out for a few moments that weekend.

The Telus Park at Big White was awesome… boarder cross, rails, jumps and tons of everything.

My friend Adrian (above) and Chris made it up from San Francisco. They are two of my good friends from university and it was wonderful to see them again.

The private hot tubs in our cabins were awesome! And frequently used.

The view from Mount Washington on the Island is probably one of the most beautiful views you will ever see snowboarding. Wow!

Amy and Tom show off their goggles in the bar.

Teddy Bear stands are necessary, even in the snow.

The tequila was incredible… and yes, many drinking games were played…

… including the now infamous “BOXHEAD” game…

A huge vat of pasta was cooked for dinner, plus a huge breakfast in the morning. Group meals!

We had a great group.