Eight inches of moist fresh made it so we had to peer through our goggles as we charged the slopes of Okemo, Vermont where the vibe is chill and only the basics are required. Surrounding the resort is a cafeteria, a pro shop, some condos, mucho maple trees, and well that's about it — so we collected our tickets and greeted the down-home lifty who's well off his rocker. We nodded and smiled as he labeled us knuckle draggers and boarded the low speed quad that shuffled us up to mid-mountain where the runs were untouched well into the afternoon. Needless to say, we took full advantage.
After a hard day of work and some buttery muffins, we headed to The Loft for some Buffalo Wangs and scoped some of the local flavor. After we slurped all the local beer we could and managed a meal we headed to American Pie where the locals skated the "eye bowl" and behind the coping, they were serving wood fired pipin' hot pies for your silly appetite. After donuts in the parking lot of Grand Union we headed in for some groceries and heckled the attractive check out girl. Bedtime came next and we woke to blue skies, bright sun and a monster tube.
Pipe quals began bright and early and the top pros seemed to hold back a bit, just trying to land in the finals. The likes of Trycia Byrnes, J.J. Thomas, Ross Powers, Xavier Hoffman, and Shaun "The Egg" White were a few that qualified and threw the crowd some shakas. Everyone was boosting head high methods and the icy superpipe was easing them down.
Up the hill, the alpine racers were preparing for Sunday's giant slalom with hard boots, skin suits (grrrrrr) and carving boards. The course is fast and icy and the skills have arrived — the US Snowboard Team has rolled into town and their edges look tuned.
Okemo by the way, redefines courtesy. Diane and her crew buff the condo each day and they fixed the bottom bunk, which, just like summer camp, my roommate Angus broke with an off the top rope atomic elbow drop. He thinks he can fly. This afternoon he was fighting the demons of the slopestyle park, which was going off as the sun dropped and the clock struck dinner. The SS course includes a school bus (you heard me,) a rail, a box for jibbin and bonkin', a backside quarterpipe with an eight foot gap and a Hollywood chairlift so grandma can get the eagle eye view.
Tonight hosts the rider's celebration party — free beer and food should stew the competitive juices. I overheard one rider threaten his bro-brah, "I'm gonna puke in your boots if you don't get up off me." Fierce lime is the flavor.
The maple syrup is flowin' and I'm on my third pint of Ben and Jerry's...pipe finals begin tomorrow, followed by the slopestyle exhibition.
— Grandpa Angus and Luke Dawg, MountainZone.com correspondents
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