Get on Shred Union!

December is here already!

From coast to coast, most of the United States is tasting finally the fresh stuff. Gear is being taken out of storage and dusted off; calendars are examined as folks begin checking off the days they will snowboard this winter.

In preparation for getting turns this season some of us struggle with finding equipment, some of us struggle to find enough heads to make accommodations affordable and some of us struggle with just finding a ride to our local mountain.

You aren't trying to start trivial arguments with teenie-boppers or hitch a ride with unlicensed 13 year old kids, so the snowboarding forums aren't going to help you. Where can you go to meet some like-minded shredders?

Why not create a profile on ShredUnion.com?

Shred Union is a growing social media network for snowboarders. Think about Facebook or MySpace if you deleted everything and everyone except for snowboarders and things snowboard related...that's Shred Union.

Creating a profile gives you a snowboarding space all your own. Post pictures of your exploits and keep a journal of where you've ridden and when. Let users know what setup you are rocking this winter; meet up with riders by adding your local resort hangout. Gain access to countless user-submitted reviews on anything from the best terrain parks, to the friendliest snowboard shops, to the warmest first layers.

The crew over at Shred Union is top-notch. They are working with a ton of user-input to constantly improve the site. New and current members have a lot of new features to look forward to, like the ability to upload and rate your snowboard videos.

This site also has an entertaining forum to chat with other riders. The majority of posts are engaging and at least somewhat relevant to what's happening in snowboarding today. If you like to talk snowboarding a little deeper than who was "first" to comment on a post, there are definitely more stimulating conversations going on at Shred Union.

Starting a profile doesn't cost a dime and right now they are giving away weekly prize packs, so this is your chance to get even more out of signing up. If you've got a couple seconds to spare head over to http://www.shredunion.com and create your account; "In Riders We Trust"!

Bear Mountain 11.19.09

Bear Mountain, Snow Summit, and Mountain High are often the victims of an inversion, an unusual rise in temperature at increased elevation. This is why for the past couple of weeks it has a been a crisp 20ºF nightly at my house but a wopping 40ºF on the hill, far above snowmaking temperatures (especially with humidity, but that's another post).

Last night there was finally a break, and good one at that: Bear Mountain cranked the guns at just about 8pm and ran until early morning...

If new snow wasn't reason enough to head out there, today is day three of Bear's complete overhaul of their park. Everything is now completely different, and the best part is these changes supposedly came from rider feedback. Thanks Bear Mountain!

The first phase of the park change-up was the addition of a rail area. There were no surprises with this decision; Bear is notorious for having the best rail riders in attendance, and with the likes of Joe Sexton, Jake O.E., Jed Anderson, Gabby Maiden, Chris Bradshaw, Zak Hale and others shredding up here today was not any different. Now we all have a thin rail, fat down rail, ledge/shotgun rail, and a double-barrell down rail to play on.


Along with the rail park, Bear put rider progression in mind and expanded the line of boxes, starting thin and going as wide as the dance floor box. The down tube that once lay where the rail park is now was a popular feature, so the park crew switched out the corrguated tube with the down tube to create a tube-wall ride combination. I managed to snap this awesomely amateur shot of the infamous TOBY on said feature.

A pretty neat addition to the park in preparation of the Ashbury team and some Bear team riders coming out to visit is the up-flat box paired with the ledge box, officially dubbed the "Up Flat Box- Side Car with a 30-foot Press Box" via Bear Mountain's website. Only at Bear Mountain I guess...

All in all it was another excellent day on the slopes. If you live locally and haven't visited Bear because one run doesn't seem that fun, do reconsider. Tickets are still discounted, the snow is fresh-like, the features are fun and if those reasons aren't enough than how about getting your riding legs back so you aren't all rubber-legged when the good stuff does open?