# TR: DrnknZag's First Split Adventure



## DrnknZag (Feb 7, 2010)

So I finally got my splitboard setup put together and have been itching to get out and test it. I got the perfect opportunity yesterday before heading up to my parent's place for Thanksgiving.

Stevens Pass opened earlier this week, but only opened the Brooks and Daisy chairs (the two lowest lifts). Knowing the rest of the inbounds terrain as well as I do, I figured I'd do an inbounds split mission would be the perfect way to get my first turns of the season.

Thankfully, Stevens groomed a trail from the top of Daisy over to the bottom of Tye Mill, then up to the top of Hogsback. This definitely made it easy skinning, especially for my first time. It did get a little interesting between Tye and Hogs. I decided to head up a steeper section that happened to be too steep and I got myself into a little trouble. I tried to turn around and 'ski' back down and hit a different trail up, and really got myself twisted up (I've never skied before). Made for a pretty good show for the guy working on the Tye lift below me. It was a mess. Eventually I made it back down to the lower trail that got me up to the top of Hogsback.

After 15 minutes of resting my legs I headed back down for my first turns of the season. With the low coverage and being by myself, I stuck to a mellow open run back down to the lodge and off to Thanksgiving dinner.

Overall, it was a really fun quick trip up with the splitty. I'm definitely hooked, I actually really enjoyed the skin up just being out there in the snow and enjoying the scenery. Can't wait for the next mission.

Now to the pics........









Yup, winter on Hwy 2.









American Alps.









Heading up.









Feels kinda weird at first.









Heading up the trail, looking back towards Tye Mill.









Cowboy Ridge in all her glory.









Cowboy Ridge & 7th Heaven.









Top of Hogsback looking back towards Tye Mill.









Lovin' it.


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## StreetDoc (Dec 24, 2011)

nice! Great pictures, jealous of your snow!


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## ShredLife (Feb 6, 2010)

:thumbsup::thumbsup: and a happy Mo'vember to you sir! that base graphic is so fucking perfect for splitboarding... except that the best thing about it that there's no one else there :laugh:.... and them G3 skins are titties.

steeper stuff: gotta use switchbacks or just boot pack it going straight up the gut.

good shit. what camera you using?


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## DrnknZag (Feb 7, 2010)

StreetDoc said:


> nice! Great pictures, jealous of your snow!


Thanks man!



ShredLife said:


> :thumbsup::thumbsup: and a happy Mo'vember to you sir! that base graphic is so fucking perfect for splitboarding... except that the best thing about it that there's no one else there :laugh:.... and them G3 skins are titties.
> 
> steeper stuff: gotta use switchbacks or just boot pack it going straight up the gut.
> 
> good shit. what camera you using?


Thanks! Skins are Sparks, but really the only difference is the metal Spark tailclip.

Yup, switchbacks. I tried to do that on the steep section I was heading up, but kept slipping off my edge (DIY split w/o inside edge). I used switchbacks on the other trail I headed up and it worked great.

The camera I use during winter is Olympus Stylus Tough 6020. Used a little editing magic to make the pics pop though.


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## ShredLife (Feb 6, 2010)

yea i;m pretty sure the sparks are just rebranded G3s... pretty sure i read that on SB.com

on them switchbacks (with your factory sidecut on the inside of your feet) you gotta get used to weighting your downhill foot and that edge... but its all good... the best stuff is just too steep for skinning 

those oly p&s are so great for PNW weather! i've tied mine on the end of my flyrod in place of a hook and high-sticked it thru a steelhead run (underwater, bouncing off rocks) and it survived it fine :thumbsup:

if olympus made a Tough with an APS-C sized or a 1" sensor to compete with the sony rx100 they would have a serious game-changer....


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## DrnknZag (Feb 7, 2010)

ShredLife said:


> yea i;m pretty sure the sparks are just rebranded G3s... pretty sure i read that on SB.com
> 
> on them switchbacks (with your factory sidecut on the inside of your feet) you gotta get used to weighting your downhill foot and that edge... but its all good... the best stuff is just too steep for skinning
> 
> ...


Yeah, my Olympus has been a trooper. It does take some decent pics on the mountain, but anything low light is AWFUL. I always throw a bit of editing for color/contrast/whatever on all my pics I take with it and they usually end up pretty good. My crew has a tradition of taking pictures with the Olympus inside a pint of beer whenever we go up to Whistler. Gotta make sure you clean it up a bit afterwards though.



Snowolf said:


> Sweet! Glad you had better weather and snow that Killclimbz and I did today! Rain below 6500 foot. Decent snow above but 20 yards visibility in total flat light. The ride down was "interesting" and when we did break out of the clouds, the snow was like Elmer's glue!
> 
> I did get the chance to try out my new Sparks Blaze binding! Wow! So responsive that I damn near threw myself over the handle bars the first few turns and so light. I used them on my Voile and it was like a new board! Can't wait to try them on the Billy Goat!
> 
> Stevens looks great! Just wish it was closer to me! When the conditions finally get good, we need to meet at Paradise or White Pass for a day of splitting!


We had lots of rain up here today too. I was planning on making the trip up to Baker tomorrow, but it's not looking too right now. Might wait and do some resort riding at Stevens on Sunday. The snow was really good yesterday though. A solid 18" of unconsolidated fluffy pow up top. Not anymore after this rain today though.

I've been chatting with Kill's buddy Ale_Capone over on the splitboard forum, I'm hoping to get some tours in with him in the Hwy 2 zone around Stevens this year and get to know the area better. You should come up sometime and take a tour with us.

I definitely want to make my way down to Paradise and White at some point as well for sure.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

:thumbsup: Drnkn, looked nice. I'm itching to give skinning a try. I've rode inbounds with Ale quite a few years ago and he coached me on my first and only big jump back when they had the bigger jump line over by chair 8.


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## DrnknZag (Feb 7, 2010)

^^Thanks! I'll be heading north your way this winter for some Baker touring at some point. I'd love to tag along with you and your kids and get the feel of the Baker BC.

I know a few of you guys are over on the splitboard forum, I'm 'jgusa' over there.


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## DrnknZag (Feb 7, 2010)

Snowolf said:


> I will look for you. I am on there too same name. Don`t post much as they are kind of "different" over there.


Haha yeah, every forum has their own feel/attitude. I'm on TGR too, but don't hardly post there either. They're definitely different there haha.


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## volcom21d (Sep 11, 2012)

Headed up to Stevens tomorrow with the wife. Never been there before and a bit of a drive, but we're both itching for some turns since White hasn't opened up yet. Anyone else gonna be there tomorrow?


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## DrnknZag (Feb 7, 2010)

volcom21d said:


> Headed up to Stevens tomorrow with the wife. Never been there before and a bit of a drive, but we're both itching for some turns since White hasn't opened up yet. Anyone else gonna be there tomorrow?


I'll be there with a couple buddies lapping groomers and drinking some Rainier, haha.


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## mixie (Mar 29, 2011)

DrnknZag said:


> Haha yeah, every forum has their own feel/attitude. I'm on TGR too, but don't hardly post there either. They're definitely different there haha.




the best reason to read TGR is so that when you see one of those douchbags with stickers on their skis (and they all have them) you can totally fuck with them. The best is to let them prattle on about how fucking RADICAL they are, then right before unloading slip in something about one of their little inside jokes right as they ride off the chairlift. total win. 

I actually took a gondola ride with one of them yesterday, he spent the entire 10 minute ride telling me just how awesome he was. Not only at skiiing but downhill mountainbiking...uh huh.....I was saying the most obnoxious shit back to him. He was probably thinking "dayum this chicks a fucking ****!



uh, but back to your thread. fucking awesome pix and it's making me realize I need to move. Thanks :cheeky4:


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## Grizz (Nov 10, 2008)

Snowolf said:


> Yeah there is a "core" group of splitboarders who are to snowboarding what telle skiers are to skiing. Humans are funny creatures with a instictual need to feel superior to their fellow man. I hate seeing this attitude developing with snowboarding and I hope that the increased popularity of splitboarding will help keep it real and not go the way of the telle kooks.


What are tele skiers to skiing?

It's ironic that you hate seeing a superior attitude towards others in splitboarding and then talk about keeping it real compared to those tele kooks. :dunno:

All the telemarkers I know are pretty low key about it. Small sample size I guess?


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## oneshot (Oct 8, 2010)

Snowolf said:


> I will look for you. I am on there too same name. Don`t post much as they are kind of "different" over there.


yeah! like fly fishermen.. completely different in a bad way.. splitboarding is awesome but its not just for the elite.. 

great report! thanks for the pics! skinning up a groomed road is probably a good way to get used to the setup..


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## StreetDoc (Dec 24, 2011)

whats wrong with the buzz?!!


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## mixie (Mar 29, 2011)

Snowolf said:


> I am seeing this in splitboarding as well. Some "hardcore" splitboarders are starting to have this elitist attitude and look down their noses at resort riders.



Funny thing is I've seen it the other way too. I've heard 'hardcore' resort riders talk about how back country skiers can't be good since they only do two runs a day. That was heated gondola ride fo sho, I think it was 6 skiers (mixed tele and alpine) and me. I just sat there with my ear buds in pretending to rock out and try to not laugh....

The dude I mentioned in the post before even said that about mountain bikers (when I told him I mtb but I am too cheap to pay for lift ticket for my bike) he said "well, you're never gonna get good that way. You can't get enough runs in. Just like back country skiers" 

OMG I'll never be a PRO mtn biker. I will go sob in my coffee now I guess. 


I don't know what it is but I seem to attract freaks like moths to a flame. I need to stop riding the singles line, I swear. I should start a "over heard in the gondola" twitter account!


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## Grizz (Nov 10, 2008)

Snowolf said:


> Obviously I KNOW that not ALL tele skiers are elitist snobs but as Onseshot pointed out, like the elitist fly fisherman who looks down his nose upon other fishermen and god forbid a bait user (see it all the time on the Deschutes), some people who tele think they are superior to their alpine brethren.


There's bad apples in every group, same would apply to boarders, split or otherwise. Why would you single out one group when the issue you describe is spread evenly? You were generalizing a whole group of mountain users as "kooks".

That sticker has been out for a while. I can't attest to what happens in CO, I've only been in the PNW. If that's the prevailing attitude it's just one more reason why I don't want to visit.

Flyfishing is the same deal. A few bad apples but mostly good people. But I will say having a popular movie come out upped the douche factor a butt load. BTW: no bait on the lower Deschutes. 



Snowolf said:


> I don`t know what you find "ironic" about this


Now you're being obtuse. You were doing exactly the same thing you called others out for. Who needs permission to post.....you've got almost 15k showing you definatly don't.


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## mixie (Mar 29, 2011)

Grizz said:


> What are tele skiers to skiing?



tele skiers : skiing

patchouli : deadheads


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## ShredLife (Feb 6, 2010)

i flyfish and splitboard and my dad is a tele skier and fuck all of you dicks.


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