Hot, Hot, Hot

I have never been so grateful for cool, San Francisco summers as I was when I got back from Bonnaroo last week. Manchester, TN in early June is likely what it feels like at the gates of Hell. No, I'm not being dramatic.

I have no idea how (or WHY) 90,000 people manage to survive this epic music festival. Here's the daily schedule of your typical Bonnaroo festival attendee:

8:30am Wake up, escape tent--otherwise, you will literally bake alive

8:33am Begrudgingly put on your bikini and grungy flip flops

8:40am Walk to festival area, stand under water fountain to "shower"

9am Sit comatose in heat until music starts, smoke weed

12pm Watch first show, take 1294657th trip to nasty porta-potties

2pm Watch next show, start drinking, smoke weed

2:07pm Realize you're still alive

4pm Take 1294658th trip to nasty porta-potties

4:15pm Eat vendor food, smoke weed

5pm - 4am Watch shows, drink more beer, smoke weed, do other drugs

4:27am Go to sleep in bikini

8:27am Wake up, escape tent--otherwise, you will literally bake alive

As for my schedule, replace tent with "RV", add shorts and t-shirt over bikini, swap in public shower stalls for public fountain shower, leave comatose and porta-potty, include some shows, take away all drugs but ice cold beer, and add in "WORK"--it was, well, epic.

And what, exactly, does it mean to "work" at a festival like this? Well, Emily and I roamed the festival grounds with a giant cardboard "picture frame" with a Sierra Nevada logo and asked folks to pose for a photo. Yes, we got used to rejection, but successful shots looked like this (Emily and me after we'd taken our LAST photo of the weekend):

Also, sharing an RV with your colleagues is a fast way to really get to know them. Thankfully, Emily and I get along swimmingly. She even grabbed a photo when I woke up with perfect "Elvis hair" from all the dirt and grit.

Now, don't be fooled. Despite the late-nights and general party-like atmosphere, it did not feel like some giant drug-fest with zombies walking around. People were under control, mellow (yes, they smoked a lot of weed), and generally happy to be there. I actually enjoyed myself! When all 90,000 Bonnaroo-ians were squished together in the masses in front of the main stage, we got VIP access to the beloved bleachers, where we could sit and listen without rubbing against people's sweaty armpits or inhaling 3-days-with-bathing stench!

When I got back, I got to grab a few days up at our family cabin with my parents and Chris and Erinn (and the peanut!), then it was down to Big Bear lake for a mountain bike race. I'm here in San Francisco on a sunny, clear day until 3pm today, when I head up to Chico for a team meeting tomorrow. Then I'm off to Oregon for a week for the next music festival.

It is certainly life in the fast lane, but my farmer's tan is growing worse (better?) by the day!

Escape! From Alcatraz

I know, I know. I have been entirely delinquent and haven't posted anything since the end of my winter season. But I've actually been busy running around to different events the past couple of months, though not with the same intensity as the winter. However, summer is upon us and the event season is picking up once again!

Last weekend, I finally got to work an event in my home city--San Francisco! We were sponsoring the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, which is an iconic event in the Bay Area and around the world.

Yes, it's true. There are 2,000 crazy athletes who jump off a ferry boat (all 2,000 within 8 minutes!) and into the freezing cold water on their 1.5 mile swim around the Bay and towards the shore. Then they grab their bikes for a nice 18-miler out through the Presidio towards Ocean Beach, then start up the run towards Baker Beach and back to the Marina Green.

Despite the torrential downpour on Saturday, it was absolutely one of my favorite events of the year. Sunday brought a decent amount of sun and warmth as we all milled about the Marina Green watching the athletes take on this incredible course.

I should probably note here that my colleague Emily and I are NOT draft technicians--we are marketers. When we go to events, we are not pouring beer--we are standing in a booth and talking to folks about our brewery. For this race, we posted signs outside our booth for the athletes to pose with:

Though we come from marketing backgrounds, we are both fiercely committed to learning as much about beer as possible. This weekend, the two of us executed an entire beer garden and 3 VIP pouring stations all by ourselves, setting up the draft systems, switching out empty kegs, and problem-solving for the volunteer bartenders if the beer was too foamy. We are, admittedly, quite proud of our achievement. And it's also a pretty serious workout! Maneuvering 170 pound barrels is no joke.

Here's Emily in her full rain gear, wheeling around a keg.

I absolutely loved watching the athletes come down the finish chute as they made their Escape from Alcatraz official. Here's a shot of the winner--yes, he's quite fit, as was everyone else in the race:

Overall, it was a successful weekend and an incredible event to be a part of. I'm already looking forward to next year. Hopefully the Beer Garden will be even MORE packed than this:

In the meantime, I was pretty inspired by everything and I'm playing with the idea of training for this thing next year, but I'll need one helluva swim coach!

Spring Thaw

At long last, my winter events season is officially over. And I have to admit, I am ready for some warm sun. The past couple of months have been amazing, but I won't miss my snow boots...

That being said, I had a great time back in my old stomping grounds in Utah last weekend. The Freeskiing World Tour Championships wrapped up on Saturday, so I took up an offer from a friend of mine to join her in Park City for a day of snowboarding. It was a bluebird 60 degree day, which led to some mashed potato snow at the end of the afternoon, but we got in some solid hours of good riding (along with a few beers, but of course!).

Snowboarding has definitely been a fun new challenge. Ashley absolutely kicked my butt, but she also gave me some helpful hints. Overall, it was the perfect way to wrap up my winter season. When you have views like this, you really can't complain....

Next stop: Santa Cruz! Bring on the mountain bikes, soft sand, warm water, and sunshine!

Kirkwood Parts I & II

So far, all I can think about from last weekend is the tragic outcome of Sunday's competition. Big mountain skiing and snowboarding is obviously full of risk, but you rarely see it take someone's life during a competition. On Sunday, Ryan Hawks, a 25-year-old competitor from Vermont, attempted a backflip off of a 40 foot cliff, but wasn't able to pull his body around fully for a solid landing. Though I wasn't up there myself to witness this, many people I spoke to described it as what equated to a belly flop off a huge drop-off. Ryan gave the crowd a thumbs up before being carried away in a helicopter, but sadly he passed away Tuesday morning due to the injuries he sustained on the mountain. You can read more about the accident here.

The entire community has been shaken by this tragic accident. It will be interesting to feel out the mood up at Kirkwood this weekend as we gather there again for the big mountain snowboarding competition. My heart is definitely heavy this week as I think about all the incredible athletes I've met throughout the season and how much passion they have for their sport. I have to give credit to the event producers at Mountain Sports International who always make safety a top priority for their competitions. I guess some things are just beyond your control.

Aside from this tragic accident, the rest of the weekend was pretty good for me. Sierra Nevada was sponsoring Squaw Valley Prom (picture a huge party for big kids who like the mountains), so I was able to enjoy that with a few friends after making sure our brewery business was all taken care of. We spent the night in Truckee and woke up to a bluebird day in Squaw. This time, I grabbed some skis and finally got to test out my new boots! It felt good to be back on skis where I didn't have to think so much about what I was doing. The snowboarding is on hold again til next weekend...

Meanwhile, just one more weekend in Kirkwood, then off to the Freeskiing Championships in Utah, and then my winter season is essentially wrapped up. I should have a few weekends in a row at my house in San Francisco, so I'm looking forward to a little down time before the wave of warm-weather events is upon us. I have to admit, I'm ready for the thaw after months of ice and snow!

Small-town Colorado and Lake Tahoe

The town of Crested Butte hosted me for a whole 5 days last week for yet another stop of the Freeskiing World Tour competition. This resort was the birthplace of this tour 20 years ago, so there was a lot of love surrounding the entire event.

I flew in and out of Grand Junction, Colorado, which isn't too far from the Utah border. And just 20 miles from Crested Butte is the town of Gunnison, whose basketball and volleyball teams we played many-a-time during my years of high school athletics at Rowland Hall. Small world.

The highlight of my week was undoubtedly the amazing home-cooked meal I enjoyed with the VP of Marketing and Events for the Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce. He's organizing a mountain biking competition in town this summer, and rather than doing a standard business call or meetup for drinks, he invited me into his home. His wife made homemade pasta with alfredo sauce, and then we dug into homemade berry cheesecake for dessert. Now THAT is the way to do business!

Here are a few pics from the awards ceremony...the one of the three female winners swigging their Sierra Nevada Pale Ales is probably my favorite photo of the season thus far.

Now I'm finally local, with the next two weekends in Kirkwood, CA. A huge storm is predicted to blow through tonight and tomorrow, so we'll have some fresh "pow" for the weekend. I've got an event at Squaw Saturday night, and I'm hoping to get in a full day of snowboarding on Sunday with a few friends for a welcome day off.

And just because I work for Sierra Nevada doesn't mean I can't enjoy other brews. In case you're looking for a seasonal recommendation, I had a super tasty beer from Deschutes Brewery up in Oregon. Their Red Chair NWPA is definitely one to try while it's on the shelves.

Expert Terrain Only...

I had a great trip up to Crystal Mountain this week. The resort is just a few hours outside Seattle--the area itself is pretty remote, but the mountain is pretty big and I got a solid day of skiing in with my friend Krystal who lives just north of Seattle at the moment. We caught a super clear day with sunny, blue skies and decently warm weather.

We were feeling adventurous enough to try to make it to where the competition (North Face Masters of Snowboarding) was being held. We were given directions to go to the top of one of the highest lifts at the resort, where we could catch a traverse across a huge bowl, then drop over a ridge to the base of the spectator venue. On the left is the peak they were dropping down...probably one of the scariest pieces of terrain I've ever seen.

On the right, you can see the bowl we had to traverse to get over to the competition. Let's just say it was one of the most challenging runs I've ever done in my life. We stood at the top of the lift for 15 minutes debating whether or not we should download on the lift or go ahead and try to make the ridiculous journey down and across the bowl. Needless to say, we went for it. Krystal almost made it but bailed when she slipped off the traverse path on her snowboard. I managed to keep my ski tips on safe ground and proudly dropped into the spectator area for a much-needed breather.

Regardless of the journey across the bowl, the view from the top of the lift was simply spectacular. We had a crystal clear shot of Mt. Ranier not far in the distance, and that sight alone made the whole thing worth it.

Overall, it was a fantastic couple of days to catch up with a few old friends, ski a new resort, and complete another successful event for Sierra Nevada. I've got this weekend OFF so of course I'm headed up to Tahoe with friends...making the most of the snow this winter season.

Evenin' Mountain Adventure

At about 4pm yesterday, I decided I needed to get my blood moving so I wandered down to the hotel gym. I plopped down on the stationary bike, thinking I would get some reading done while I mindlessly pedaled. Not two minutes into it, I realized I was literally in the last place on earth I wanted to be at that moment. Here I am, surrounded by beautiful mountains, and I'm in the hotel gym?! Unacceptable.

I bolted back up to my room, threw on my warm clothes, and trekked out the back door of the hotel, straight onto the ski slopes of the resort. My goal was to reach the top of the ridge in time for sunset.

Turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. I huffed it up the cat track and wound my way up past the bottom two chairlifts. What ensued over the course of the next hour was pure sunset brilliance--I was speechless as I witnessed all these brilliant colors light up the sky.

The Great Outdoors, & Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole has got to be one of my favorite little Western towns around. I've been up here a number of times during the warm Wyoming summers, but this is my first winter experience. I walked off the plane to blue skies, warm sun, and snowy mountain peaks all around.

I had a chance to wander downtown yesterday and try some local brew at Snake River Brewing Company--they had a solid Pale Ale which washed down my sausage sampler quite nicely.

I capped off the night at a local bar where I watched Obama's State of the Union and then nabbed a pool table for some quality chill time.

I took a couple of long walks yesterday, choosing to trudge through the snow-covered neighborhood streets rather than hopping on the large bus that runs between the resort and downtown Jackson Hole. On my way back from town last night, I was surrounded by cold air, huge mountains, bright stars, and nothing but the sound of snow crunching beneath my boots.

It reminded me how incredible it is to have these awesome outdoor spaces where we can play, camp, hike, explore, and generally escape from the world. I want to give a huge shout out to my family, and particularly my grandpa Tom (far right below), and Grandma Margie (far left) for making the outdoors such an essential and central experience in their children's and grandchildren's lives.

I'm the little one in green here, stoked to be up in the High Country in Yosemite, our family's favorite place in the world. The only other place that truly rivals Yosemite is Grand Teton National Park, just an hour away from where I'm sitting now. How lucky I am to have an opportunity to visit all these magnificent places...

Snowbirding Complete. Next Stop: Jackson, WY

It was a beautiful weekend up at Snowbird resort in Utah. We had two amazing, sunny days and one day with 75 mph winds and constant snowfall. They cancelled the competition on the bad weather day, which allowed me to sneak in an afternoon of snowboarding. I gotta say--I loved it, despite being dubious of the sport from my experience 8 years ago...

The competition was incredibly fun to watch and I've enjoyed meeting the athletes between rounds. They're so talented and yet so relaxed and humble at the same time. It's refreshing and inspiring, to say the least.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves for this event. Oh, and if you click on them, they should open up in a new window in your browser and they'll be all big and pretty.

Here you'll see the booth where I "live" on the weekends, some athletes, some beer, some beer showers, and the obligatory sunset shot...

Aerial Views

Well, I had a phenomenal weekend in San Francisco, where the sun was out and the weather was warm. I spent a few hours lounging on Baker Beach and soaking in views of the Pacific with friends. We manged to get 5 people, 3 dogs, and 3 six packs in the car for the drive over there--not too shabby.

This morning it was back to the races. I flew out to Salt Lake City where we've got two events on the menu this week--the Outdoor Retailer show downtown, and The North Face Masters of Snowboarding up at Snowbird resort.

I wasn't expecting to have much to post in the way of photos early in the week, but I had the unexpected pleasure of capturing some shots from my window seat on the plane. After 3 hours of delays due to heavy fog, when I finally got up in the air, the perspective on San Francisco was incredible.

I also got to snag a shot of snowy Lake Tahoe when I accidentally opened my shade and looked outside.

But this last view was the one I was anticipating the whole flight. I remember so vividly when our family moved out to Utah in March of 1995--I was a curious little 11 year old, waiting to see what this new city would bring to our lives. When we began our descent towards our new home, I peeped out the window and I felt my jaw drop as I looked around at all the majestic, snow-covered mountains surrounding the urban sprawl. That memory has stayed with me all these years, and although I exclusively take aisle seats these days on my journeys, I will always opt for the window when I know I'm coming to Utah in the winter. The magic is still there.

Looking forward to a week full of old friends, new events, and stunning scenery.

Oh Canada, I will miss you!

Well, I'm on US soil again in Seattle, waiting for my flight home to SF. It was a fantastic weekend and a great way to kick off my winter travel schedule.

It was absolutely freezing this morning in Revelstoke, but the air was clear and the sunlight hitting the range was a soft, inviting pink.

As I sat in the terminal booking through emails from the week, I looked up from my laptop just in time to catch an amazing sunset over the airport in Seattle. I think it's really important for all of us to savor these little moments in the middle of all the craziness of our daily lives. If you can't take a second to catch your breath and enjoy it all, what's the point?

Wishing you all some quiet moments this week to soak it all in.

What is freeskiing anyway?

It's not far-fetched to think that some of you probably don't know what freeskiing is. I'm still learning more about it myself!

I wanted to share some video from the qualifying round of the competition to give you a glimpse of what kinds of things these athletes are pulling off. Basically, they're attacking the toughest parts of the mountain--you know, dropping off rocks and threading the needle through trees--and they're getting judged on how well they ski their "line" down the mountain.

Last night, I attended the athletes meeting, where the judges broke down what they were looking for from the winners. This involves a combination of technical prowess, style points for big air or aerial tricks, and "fluidity" in the run--meaning how well the whole thing falls together to feel like a smooth, solid takeover of the slope.

Two things really struck me about how this event all comes together. First and foremost, safety is always on the minds of the event producers. The truth is, these athletes are taking on risky parts of the mountain where they can seriously injure themselves in a heartbeat. Judges emphasized the need for everyone to stay safe instead of attacking the hill with overly-aggressive and risky stunts.

The other thing that has struck me this week was something a member of the event production team mentioned to me over a Pale Ale on the first night. He said that their goal with these events is to provide the mountain as a stage for these athletes to perform. They want to showcase the athletes in these stunning outdoor venues, allowing them to do what they love and share that passion for big mountain skiing with the rest of the world.

It's been an incredible first stop on the tour, and I can't wait to follow it through the rest of the winter. Today I got a chance to hit the slopes myself again in the morning hours, and I settled into my room just as an amazing sunset graced the tops of the peaks across the valley from the resort.

Life really is good.

And so it begins...

Well, it's official! I'm on the road and sprinting full speed ahead towards March, with a packed winter events schedule. This blog will be a fun way for me to document my journey keep y'all informed of all the amazing events I get to be a part of on behalf of Sierra Nevada.

I'm super excited to be up here at Revelstoke Mountain Resort, British Columbia for the Canadian Freeskiing Championships with the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour.

I headed up the mountain to check out the venue for today's competition and wow--I've never skiied anything quite like this. The runs are incredibly long so although the resort only has a few lifts, you can literally ride forever down the mountain. I got to try out some fat skis for the very first time, and I was pleasantly surprised by their performance. Needless to say, I didn't really do them justice...but this season is all about pushing myself to take on bigger and badder slopes so I can hang with this awesome crew of athletes and outdoor event rockstars.

But it can't be all play and no work! We've got an athlete's meeting coming up to recap the day, go over tomorrow's event plan, and enjoy each other's company over some fine Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. British Columbia is a brand new market for us, and we were able to move the beer up here just in time for the event. Apparently the stuff is literally flying off the shelves.

Cheers, Canada!

For now, I'm settling into my "office" away from home...