April 26th 2006

Eastern Surfing Magazine - Rodrigo Miranda

Our Mission:Surf ripper, Rodrigo Miranda!!!

April 21st 2006

Greetings everyone,

The cold Low that swept across the upper intermountain west, the same storm that delivered 32" in South Dakota on April 18th, gave us 18-22" of light, cold snow on Saturday and Sunday of last weekend. On Monday through Wednesday the cold temps lingered and created a couple days of classic Utah riding. And this is the last week of the season, it seems like it just got started...












Tuesday, April 18th 2006, Brighton Backcountry

The picture above is Tuesday, April 18th. I put in 5 runs on stupid chute, 1000 turns gully, figure-8 hill and the lower wolverine bowl headwall. I couldn't stop the snow was so good. I mean, take the best snowboarding you've ever done and times it by 5, that is how good the snow was. By the 5th line, about 2000+ vert of riding, in a couple of hours, I was ready to head back to the resort and call it a day.

Wednesday, April 19th 2006, Wolverine Cirque

The next day, Wednesday, I was getting over the head pow shots on Wolverine Cirque. You can see the remnants of the turns on the lower apron, but the best turns were in the trees above. Every turn, faceshot, turn, faceshot-I had to wear my neck gator the whole run. I couldn't believe how good the show was...

Wednesday, April 18th 2006, Wolverine Cirque

Here's a picture of Paul Sherman pointing to the chute he just skied. If you look close enough, you can see the turns coming out-the chute is the widest one in the picture. Epic!

Wednesday, April 18th 2006, Figure-8 hill

Last runs of the day-Paul's turns on the left, mine on the right. You can see the powder spray on the visible 2nd-4th turns coming down off my line...

As the temps begin to rise, and the valley warms-the eminent melting of the cold snow is a sign of the advancement of spring. For these days, we claimed the best spring season snow of the month, and for the winter for that matter. And with our changing weather patterns, the threats of global warming and other factors that produce anomalies in storm patterns, you never can tell what the future holds for the next snow fall. We could get another week like this one starting on Sunday-that is the glory of living in Salt Lake with the Wasatch out my back door. There are so many mountains to climb and lines to snowboard-I hope the week we just had stretches into June. Time will tell...

Live passionately,

Max

April 16th 2006

Greetings everyone,

Today is my Mom's birthday!!! Look at her shread. She has amazing style and grace, doesn't she? What mom do you know shreads barrels like Slater? For all of my friends that have met her, you know what a special woman she is. This picture reflects her zest for living life to the fullest. Happy Birthday Mom!!!

On a mission films note, it has been a while since my last blog. There hasn't been much to report on recently. We have been working steadily collecting as much video, interviews and gear reviews before the end of the season, which is moving up on us fast. Brighton and many of the resorts in the cottonwoods will be closing in another week or so, Snowbird will be staying open through May. The conditions have been rapidly changing from pow conditions to corn. This is a difficult transition for most, I am looking forward to the warmer temps and smooth, buttery corn snow conditions...We will have more pics, video and details up soon...

Happy Easter everyone,

Max

April 5th 2006 - Avalanche Death @ Pioneer Ridge

A snowboarder was killed yesterday on Pioneer Ridge located outside the Brighton Ski Area boundary. The cause of the accident was from a cornice collapse. The snowboarder, Atilio Giorgio Cremaschi Yazar, 27, was on the ridge and got close to the very steep slope while standing on a very large cornice. The large swing of temperatures from Sunday to Monday, almost 20+ degrees and the late hour sun-baking weakened the cornice to unstable conditions.

It is very unfortunate and a sobering reality of how quick conditions can change in the backcountry in the spring time. Even if the backcountry has been skied and is only a short 20 minute walk outside of the ski area boundary, you still have to treat it like a serious backcountry trek. It is imperative to educate yourself with the knowledge of avalanches, mountain weather, wilderness survival and first aid. It is important not only for yourself but for the other around you. This death could have been easily avoided. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the Yazar family.

For additional info about the event, click the links below...

Deseret News

Salt Lake Tribune

Utah Avalanche Center

KSL News

Maxwell

April 3rd 2006

As part of Nissan's X= campaign, we have decided to show the rest of the ski/snowboard community what Utah in March looks like...March has been epic, beyond epic. This picture was taken at a Utah resort and as you can see, I had a fresh dump of new snow and no one on the chair ahead of me. X= no people in chair + new snow = fresh tracks all day for me...Right after this run I ran to the car to get out my Winterstick Swallowtail, it was too deep for my 164 Wasatch... The day was all time Utah!















Just to give you an idea of how much snow Utah is getting, this is the sign at the Brighton Lodge that stands about 25' above the parking lot. We broke the 500" mark in the 3rd week of March with it snowing about every day for the last 2 weeks. The backcountry has been amazing, even the in bounds resort skiing has been good. Now that April is upon us and spring has sprung, the days are getting longer so we are able to stay out more hours and get that wonderful evening light-in between all the storm cycles of course...

For all those not getting it, eat your hearts out...

More pictures of the first week of April to come...

Max