Tonight I got to attend the Club Bud private Burton party with Allan at the Commodore Ballroom.

As many of you know, I’m a huge Burton fan so it was a dream come true to see some of the snowboarders! The inside of Club Bud is really neat, and it has completely transformed from the Commodore Ballroom into a pretty awesome party venue.

The inside is pretty amazing. It’s totally ice and winter everywhere, with lots of good looking people and sexy dancers.

We got to hang out on the red carpet and snap some pics of the athletes and celebrities coming into the party, along with Miss604 and Keira. My absolutely FAVOURITE athlete to see was Gretchen Bleiler. How cool is that! I’ve seen tons of her snowboarding movies, so I was totally fangirling over her. She is gorgeous!

Also present were Vernon Davis (Curling/football), Lindsey Jacobellis (SBX), Chris Spencer (football), Graham Watanabe (snowboarding), Carl Lewis (major Olympian, wow!), Bonnie Blair (figure skater), Elijah Teter (boarder and Hannah’s brother) and Mike Jankowski (snowboarding coach).

It was also pretty neat to see Seth Wescott after winning his gold medal…

… and Johnny Weir! Haha. He definitely made a big splash on the red carpet with his outfit.

The venue was really fun and Allan and I had a great time.

Not to mention it was completely open bar!

Totally loved the snowboards with the art painting going on.

WARNING: NSFW BELOW

Warning: NSFW... nude Club Bud girls with body paint and a Club Bud dancer.

It was absolutely NUTS outside on Granville Street… there was a huge lineup to get into Club Bud (even with invite-only tickets) and just the general insanity of the crowd.

An extremely fun night, and I can’t wait to go back to Club Bud tomorrow for the NHL party!

I am super excited to finally announce that I have been selected as the Club Bud Party Crasher! Wohoooo!

Club Bud is going to be hosting some of the most exclusive parties here in Vancouver during the Olympics so I am very pumped to be able to attend some of them. The other Party Crasher that has been selected is Chris Walts, so you can follow him and follow me on Twitter to get all the updates from the parties when we attend. I also understand that Miss604 is going to be attending some of the parties as well.

The Commodore Ballroom is going to be transformed into Club Bud, so it’s going to be an awesome venue. It’s about 19,000 square feet and they are expecting over 1,000 celebrities and athletes to attend the parties. It’s going to be seriously epic!

Here is the rundown of the Club Bud parties… I am going to be attending some of them… stayed tuned on my blog and Twitter for coverage:

Friday, February 19: The Burton party! This is SUCH a perfect fit for me as you know I’m a huge fan of Burton. They are saying Shaun White might attend!
Saturday, February 20: The NHL party. Chris and I will be attending this one!
Thursday, February 25: The famous Budweiser party. I’ll be at this one! Super excited.
Friday, February 26: Under Armour party… another Chris party!
Saturday, February 27: The Lululemon party… I’m going to this one!

I get to bring a guest to each event… so if you are interested in attending… just hit me up on Twitter or leave a comment on why I should bring you!

In other news, Allan and I got to attend the Team Canada vs. Sweden Women’s Hockey Game at UBC Thunderbird arena.

We had really amazing seats… Row 1 right beside the Canadian player’s bench!

The game was a bit of a blowout, but we had an amazing time cheering on our team and it was impressive to see the skill level of the Canadian team.

We ended up seeing tons of goals.

Meghan Agosta had an incredible game and ended up with a hat trick.

Hayley Wickenheiser is an icon, and I loved getting to see her get a goal and see her lead the team.

Megan Agosta and Jayna Hefford celebrate after a goal.

Donald Sutherland was spotted again at the game.

Here’s the coach going over a play with Agosta. I loved being able to see this!

Wickenheiser and Carla Macleod smile.

Here’s Marie-Philip Poulin giving us a wave and a smile.

Kim St. Pierre watches happily as the clock counts down to zero and Canada wins! Kim St. Pierre shut Sweden out for two periods, and then they let Charline Labonte play a period. Kim was such a sweetie on the bench… she smiled for photos and even made sure she wasn’t blocking our view during the game! Thanks Kim!

Here’s Team Canada celebrating.

This little girl and a couple other kids managed to get some sticks from the players. I thought it was awesome they took the time to throw their sticks over the glass.

Canada ended up winning 13-1. I am really happy that we got to experience women’s hockey at the Olympics and I can’t wait to see them progress throughout the tournament!

Every year one of our groups of friends organizes a Christmas Party… I’m sure some of you remember pics from last year. The party is technically called the “Erection Party”, to celebrate the erection/raising of the Christmas tree. The premise — everyone wears an ugly Christmas sweater or Christmas getup!

It’s always a lot of fun…

Amy and Kim did an amazing job of decorating their place…

I always enjoy the festive slippers and socks the most!

Christmas isn’t complete without a little tequila and a gift for the gift exchange game!

The gift exchange is always hilarious… as you can “steal” from each other a limited number of times and there is a definite strategy!

Allan wasn’t too happy since he always ends up with the most ridiculous gift every year… this year was no different… you can tell from the smile on his face that he loved his Jonas Brothers make-up gift pack.

I ended up pretty stoked about my red Olympic knit mittens! I actually wanted a pair. Yeah, I ended up wearing them the rest of the night.

The party wouldn’t be complete without several group photos, of course!

——-

In other news, I am flying out tonight to the Calgary airport where Allan and I will rent a car and drive to Golden, BC. We’ll be snowboarding and sightseeing two days at Kicking Horse Ski Resort for their opening weekend… and possibly even doing some backcountry hiking and boarding with Canadian Powder Adventures! We’ll be staying at the Canyon Ridge Lodge for two nights and the Copper Horse Lodge for a night. Then it’s a mad dash in the morning to drive back through Banff and snowboard at Sunshine Village, and then fly back to Vancouver!

Yeaaaaah… I ended up packing way too much stuff. All you really need is your board, boots, and jacket right?

Phew! It’s going to be a busy weekend. We’ll have lots of photo and videos. Wohooo! Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Yes, November is almost upon us… and already in many parts of the continent people are starting to snowboard (Darn you, Mammoth, darn you!).

For us here in Vancouver and BC, we are patiently waiting for the temperatures to drop and more snow to fall on the mountains. Realistically it is only weeks away, but it feels like forever.

Whistler Blackcomb has announced its opening day is November 26th this year. Cypress, Grouse, and Seymour have yet to report opening dates. Hemlock is reporting an opening date of December 10th, and over on Vancouver Island, Mount Washington is slated to open December 11th. Big White and Apex are saying December 5th, and Sun Peaks is early with an opening date of November 21st.

Ugh. So far away.

So in the meantime, why not fantasize about all the new gear coming out this year? It’s no secret that I’m a little biased towards Burton, so I’m going to kickoff my gear previews with them. This post will just be snowboards, I’ll be featuring other hardgoods and softgoods in a follow-up post. I’ve posted a selection of boards here, feel free to check our their full product lineup at Burton.com.

Note: All images credited to Burton.com

2010 Burton Custom X

Definitely one of the best boards that Burton has put out this year. Not only are the graphics absolutely GORGEOUS (the snowboarder/surfer in me loves the trees and ocean design), but the tech is darn good. It’s got the Channel, which most of the new Burton boards have this year… basically allows you to configure your bindings in any stance you can possibly think of. It’s a super light board and is generally a good board for any condition. Good in pow, the park, free riding and even groomers. So sexy.

2010 Burton Fish

Ah, the Fish. A board I have lusted after for a long time. Who doesn’t dream of adding the Fish to their quiver and having a true powder board? For those of you just getting into snowboarding, you probably don’t need a Fish just yet. But for those of you who skip work on powder days, spend all day hiking for the good stuff… this is the board for you. Light, tapered with a swallow tail, and the addition of an S-Rocker really makes this board float in the powder. It’s also super fast and even has a surfboard-style rail. It’s pretty much like surfing on the snow.

2010 Burton Custom V-Rocker

A little cheaper than the Custom-X, the Custom now comes in Regular and V-Rocker. The Added V-Rocker puts a centre rocker between the feet, which brings the tip and tail off the ground… so basically it’s better in pow and let’s you jib and ollie a little easier. This is a fun, fun board if you like to pop and hop around the mountain, either in pow or park. I wouldn’t recommend this if you’re JUST going on groomers though. I really like the design this year.

2010 Burton Supermodel

This year I think the real sleeper hit is the Supermodel. Not a lot of people talk about it (the Customs are super popular), but I personally think this is the perfect board for a BC boy. This board can be used on the whole mountain, and is light and fast and has the Channel as well. I REALLY love the design on it… the reds are so vibrant (and the blues on other sizes) and they’d look great in photos… a must if you’re into snow photography or video with your friends. It’s slightly tapered so it’ll work nice in pow, and it’s got great control for groomers. It’s got a mid-range price too.

2010 Burton Joystick

I’ve been hearing a lot about the Burton Joystick this year for the park. It’s got a new Freestyle Scoop which makes it super easy to do tricks in the park, and also has a V-Rocker to put that rocker between your feet as well. It’s a pretty aggressive board for the park, but Burton says it is forgiving and fun as well. The reviews are coming in now, and it is looking like a really strong contender for a park board this year.

2010 Burton Malolo

Ah the Malolo, my board of choice for this year. It’s technically a unisex board, as I have the smallest size at 149. It goes up to 166. I actually purchased my 2010 Malolo last year at an event, and I’ve been pretty much waiting all year to ride it. I’m so excited. It’s the perfect board for me… from the surf-inspired graphics to the name.. (Malolo means “flying fish” in Hawaiian). It’s got an S-Rocker for the snow, which helps with the speed and float of the board. I love the powder and the trees, so the Malolo is going to be a significant improvement here. I’ve tried it out on groomers and it’s actually pretty good. I think for real hard-pack ice days though, I’ll bring out my old Burton Feelgood (it’s 2 years old).

Speaking of girls… I also wanted to showcase a couple women’s boards out there for all my lady readers.

2010 Burton Women’s Supermodel

An absolutely stunning board design for a girl’s board. I love it… it’s girly but also colourful and cool. This is a high performance girl’s board. Same as the men’s super model, it’s a tapered board that will ride well in powder. It’s extremely versatile… you can ride it anywhere on the mountain. It also has the Channel if you have EST bindings. No worries if you don’t, it’s got a conversion kit as well.

2010 Burton Women’s Feelgood ES

The Feelgood ES (and the Feelgood) are top-of-the-line women’s boards. This board is SUPER light. It has the Carbon Vaporskin, as well as the Channel. If you’re looking for a fast, beginner to intermediate board (I learned on a Feelgood no problem), this board can SERIOUSLY hold an edge in the groomers. It’s not skittish at all. Note: If you’re wanting to eventually ride this in powder, you may want to get a couple extra inches on the board to hold some float… I found this board wasn’t great for deep powder.

2010 Burton Women’s Lipstick

The perfect board for a girl in the park, the Lipstick is super poppy with a V-Rocker and Elliptical Kicks. It’s light and has super cute graphics… not to mention the Channel and Pressure Distribution Edges (helps you on groomers and also on landings). Unfortunately I’m not much of a park girl, because I would really love to ride this board.

——–

And that’s it for now folks! What do you think of the boards that are out this year? Any particular favourites in the Burton lineup? Anything you’d like me to cover in future posts?

Cheers!

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.