# Epic race - life time pass



## Argo

The Epic Race | EpicPass.com

I'm looking at flights now.


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## killclimbz

Hahaha! When I saw this you were one of the first people I thought of.


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## BigmountainVMD

By the time you pay for travel and lodging, you've spent 20 years of epic passes already. Probably more.

That would drive me crazy, because if I paid to visit each mountain, I would want to stay for a few days at least... Now you have to worry that 10 others are doing 1 mountain per day...


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## Noreaster

BigmountainVMD said:


> By the time you pay for travel and lodging, you've spent 20 years of epic passes already. Probably more.


By the time you pay for travel to and lodging at Courchevel *alone* you've spent close to 20 years in epic passes.


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## AcroPhile

Can you imagine how pissed off the 11th place finisher would be after all that time and money? :blowup:


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## poutanen

BigmountainVMD said:


> By the time you pay for travel and lodging, you've spent 20 years of epic passes already. Probably more.


Fuck lodging! If one town has one resort only, fly/bus in and out the same day, take the redeye to the next resort. Stay in hostels. The key would be getting to resorts on their opening days.

I wish the resorts in AB/BC did something like this for the Rocky Mountain Passport. I'd be on that shit!


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## BigmountainVMD

poutanen said:


> Fuck lodging! If one town has one resort only, fly/bus in and out the same day, take the redeye to the next resort. Stay in hostels. The key would be getting to resorts on their opening days.
> 
> I wish the resorts in AB/BC did something like this for the Rocky Mountain Passport. I'd be on that shit!


Are there a lot of hostels in the alps?


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## poutanen

BigmountainVMD said:


> Are there a lot of hostels in the alps?


Neni? :dunno::dunno::dunno:


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## Noreaster

BigmountainVMD said:


> Are there a lot of hostels in the alps?


No. And the few that are there mostly charge as much as mid-range hotels. You'd hardly find a $25/night bunk bed. Not easy to "redeye" it from one resort to another either. It's not like most of them are within short driving distance from the nearest major international airport.


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## Argo

We'll it will be 3 of us. $1050/ticket/ea to Zurich. 10 days with a rental VAN and sleeping bags $700. The resorts are covered on epic pass so no lift tickets. For about $50/day eating poor, I'm gonna budget $1000 for food. That's under $5000. Right now I pay $2070/ year for my passes.

In 3 years I'll more than pay for the trip and have many more years of epic passes ahead of me for 3 people. Plus I get the fun of the trip and experience of the euro riding. 

Should be fun.


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## Argo

We will miss a couple of competitions in early December but fuck it.

Park city is 6.5 hours away. Tahoe is like 14. I can hit those all in a 6 day round trip from here. 

Michigan is a shit drive of like 20 hours. 

Breck, keystone, abasin, BC.... Easy.

Eldora is the one I'm really looking forward to.


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## AcroPhile

Argo said:


> We'll it will be 3 of us. $1050/ticket/ea to Zurich. 10 days with a rental VAN and sleeping bags $700. The resorts are covered on epic pass so no lift tickets. For about $50/day eating poor, I'm gonna budget $1000 for food. That's under $5000. Right now I pay $2070/ year for my passes.
> 
> In 3 years I'll more than pay for the trip and have many more years of epic passes ahead of me for 3 people. Plus I get the fun of the trip and experience of the euro riding.
> 
> Should be fun.


If you really end up doing this you gotta keep us updated. :eusa_clap: :thumbsup:

If it were me, I'd be hella nervous about spending $5K on a very rushed tour of 26 mountains. With all the thousands upon thousands of people getting the Epic Pass there has to be more than 10 people going to try to hit every opening day, so at that point it's anyones game.


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## Argo

I think I may wait and see where the race is at in mid December. By that point I should have all the US mtns covered. We have trips to Tahoe and park city planned already in early dec. if no one has done it yet, I'm buying tickets to the closest/cheapest airport in Europe for 3.


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## killclimbz

Watch the maggots on TGR. As far as the online world goes they will be the biggest competition. I'll say, to pull this off, you are probably not going to get great conditions most of the time. The experience though will be awesome.


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## hktrdr

Argo said:


> We'll it will be 3 of us. $1050/ticket/ea to Zurich. 10 days with a rental VAN and sleeping bags $700. The resorts are covered on epic pass so no lift tickets. *For about $50/day eating poor, I'm gonna budget $1000 for food*. That's under $5000. Right now I pay $2070/ year for my passes.


Good luck with trying to get by on $50/day for food in Europe - that is not going to be enjoyable...
Plus, is 3 x 10 x $50 not more than $1,000?


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## Deacon

Rad! Good luck! If nothing else it'll be a great experience! Let me know when you're gonna hit up afton. :thumbsup:


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## ShredLife

yeaaaaa there's no way you get this done with only 5gs


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## hktrdr

ShredLife said:


> yeaaaaa there's no way you get this done with only 5gs


Indeed. Gas not cheap in Europe either...


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## SnowRock

I have a feeling that most of the folks that might do this are the sort that "need" a free pass the least... so definitely make sure you can win if you give it a go!


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## Deacon

SnowRock said:


> I have a feeling that most of the folks that might do this are the sort that "need" a free pass the least... so definitely make sure you can win if you give it a go!


I don't think this is true... The people that are eligible already have epic passes, and have the means to pull this off. I suspect most of the winners are going to be people with a fair amount of disposable income already...


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## hktrdr

The Deacon said:


> SnowRock said:
> 
> 
> 
> I have a feeling that most of the folks that might do this are the sort that "need" a free pass the least... so definitely make sure you can win if you give it a go!
> 
> 
> 
> I don't think this is true... The people that are eligible already have epic passes, and have the means to pull this off. I suspect most of the winners are going to be people with a fair amount of disposable income already...
Click to expand...

Read it again - that is exactly what he was saying.


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## SnowRock

That's what I meant by needing a free pass the least... Some dude with a ton of cash and a lot of free time can bang this out super quick just for the experience.


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## Argo

I was poor for most of my life. I have no problem eating on $50/day for 3 people total. Water, A loaf of bread and peanut butter is no problem. 

I'll let you know if I manage to do it. I'm not rich by any means and I'm not a poor college student or mountain worker either. $5000 is still a lot of money in my book but $2000 a year x the rest of our life for our passes is a lot more. If I see that no one is doing it then I'm going for Europe. Until then I'll spend the gas money to see the canyons and go back to Tahoe in early December. 

Our lives pretty much revolve a around snowboarding so this is an acceptable expense. We travel a shit load and are pretty good doing it on the low $ end.


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## Argo

SnowRock said:


> That's what I meant by needing a free pass the least... Some dude with a ton of cash and a lot of free time can bang this out super quick just for the experience.


Also, it is a huge time constraint since you are limited to one US resort a day, two euro resorts. It will be awesome to do it though....


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## Cr0_Reps_Smit

I think you should fly out to europe on the first day of the competition.


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## Kevin137

You need to do your resorts 1st that is for sure, as i believe they open ahead of the EU resorts, but planned correctly and flying into the correct place in Europe would be the key i think, the opening dates should all be available soon, so that will help, but you could in theory of completed all 26 before xmas...

If you need any help with planning routes finding info on dates etc for Europe give us a shout, sure we can be some help this end with more info...

Between 3 of you if all can drive, then you could be driving through the night and sleeping between resorts, so sleeping bags in the back would work...

HOWEVER, be careful with some of the strange laws we have over this way, the french can be particularly brutal on drivers...!!! So i would suggest hiring in France, and driving from there as the vehicle should be better equipped, and flying into Paris would be cheaper than flying into Austria or Switzerland as an example... Motorways are really good here and you could do from Paris to Switzerland in under 12 hours, so literally start the same day you land almost...!

Hiring would involve all of you declaring your licenses so you can all drive, and you would need to agree with the hire company in advance for EU use and not country limited...!!!


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## Argo

Thanks for the info Kevin. The EU inclusive is something I would not think about for sure. 

I was thinking that the EU resorts opened in early Dec. It will be easier for me to do Europe than Michigan. More personal reward for going to EU.


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## Deacon

hktrdr said:


> Read it again - that is exactly what he was saying.


Dammit. My bad. Lol


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## Noreaster

Argo said:


> I was poor for most of my life. I have no problem eating on $50/day for 3 people total. Water, A loaf of bread and peanut butter is no problem


It's not that you have a problem doing it, just that it's not entirely possible. Your budget of $5000 is unrealistic. If you really want to pull this off, make another 5 grand available to you. If it turns out you won't need it -great, but you don't want to find your family stranded on another continent and cut your trip short because you're not really making it on bread and water in alpine winter.


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## destroy

I've done 20,000 KM in like 20 days in an old van, gooning around all my own gear, playing gigs for next to nothing, sleeping on floors and in the van, eating garbage...

So you, whoever the prospective you maybe be - can definitely do this!


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## neni

Try to find a flight to Lyon, thats the closest international Airport to 3 vallée (be sure you search for the right 3 vallée, including the name of the town , there's another place far west in France called like that). From there, it's about 3-4 hrs drive to Verbier and 6-7 hrs to St.Anton in Austria. You'll need to drive through entire Switzerland to get from 3 vallée/Verbier to Austria, most of the time you'll be driving on the A1, the traffic aorta of our country. Try to avoid the stretches between Geneva and Lausanne, and between Bern and Zurich during the week between 4pm and 6pm and on Saturdays, these are the traffic jam sections the little 170km can take you 3hrs+ then.

Rent a car with Europcar, they're by far the cheapest I know of.

Youthhostels in Switzerland cost about 40 $p.P. for a 3 bed room. Closest to Verbier would be Sion, a bit further away Montreux (yes, the smoke on the water Montreux). Sion - Hostels - Swiss Youth Hostels

Switzerland is by far the most expensive country of the three, but also here you can easily stuff 3 guys with 50 $. You won't eat in restaurants, but loaf of bred 3 $ and a pack of 5 (very nice!) Cervelats sausages 5 $ will serve as dinner. Don't eat on the mountain, the food there is insanely expensive. Bring your sandwiches and beer. If you're not fussy with beer, you can buy a half liter can for 1$. Chocolate is very cheep here and has a lot of fat (I lived many years from chocolate, bread, pasta and sausages for 6 $ a day). In France, however, nutrition is very cheep, about half the price. There you gonna get beef for the price of sausages here .

A liter gasoline costs 2$. Diesel is even more expensive, so don't rent a diesel car. Be aware, that the French highways are private, so they charge you for using them. My father drives theway from Lyon to Geneva very frequently, so if you want, I can ask him for the exact price of this stretch. Highways in Switzerland are for free, only thing you need is a "Vignette" (40Fr. for 1 year) but I assume, the rental car will have one. If not, you'd need to buy it at the frontier. 

Other possibility would be to fly to Zurich and rent the car there. Zurich would be in the middle of your three destinations. Depends on which resort you're going to ride first... Zurich is 120miles from St. Anton and 180miles from Verbier. Guess, on US scale, that's close together. 

Er, and be aware, Switzerland is not part of the EU. Own currency. They'll accept Euros in resorts and motorway service areas, but for a bad exchange rate.
Wether or not you rent the car in Switzerland, do the booking over europcar.com and not .ch! Saves you again some bucks (strong Fr.).


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## Noreaster

Speaking of rental cars, be prepared for an extra charge of €50-80 if you pick up at the airport, I think they call them premium fees or something like that. If you're picking the car up at any other rental company lot in the city you will avoid the fee. If you're traveling one way (and you are) be ready to pay €500-900 on top of your rental fees, that's a surcharge for returning the car to the country of origin.


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## Argo

Driving 12-24 hours isn't anything at all in my book. We do looooong (>1000 mile/1600km) road trips all year long about 8-10 different times. Once I hit 30 hours I'll stop for a hotel or roadside nap. My wife can drive too. Zurich seems cheapest right now, I'll do round trip from wherever I start at. I'll fly in and go to the furthest resort and work my way back. 

Neni, great post, thanks for the info. I'll msg you if we end up over there and maybe you can show my wife how a woman should snowboard, lol.


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## neni

Sure, do that. You'll be driving through CH two times. Depending on the days and how much time you have, I may know some "shortcuts of scenic value", to avoid traffic jams and see some beautiful mountains (the main highway is located in the flat lands, so not, where our country is nicest). Verbier Mont Fort is on my to do list this season .

BTW: Don't expect heaps of snow in December... the season only starts then, most resorts open mid Dec. But expect bluebirds


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## neni

Some opening days:
Verbier: Lift Operating Hours - Plan des pistes - horaires - VERBIER - 4 Valles
Austrian resorts: Season starts Austria - Season openings Austria
And France: Season starts France - Season openings France


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## Argo

Either way it seems I will have to wait until mid December.


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## koi

would be awesome if i could get the time off from work...maybe four years from now this would be possible.


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## snowklinger

I wonder if they will do it every year. They should.


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## Pigpen

Whoever decides to do this.. Make a thread before you leave! And post tons of updates and pics/vids of the adventure!


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## IdahoFreshies

Bad ass adventure! we are all pulling for you! make sure you keep us updated!


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## Argo

Starting to make the plans and get life lined up. The rules were changed to include under 18 so it's more intriguing now. I'm trying to pool family for free tickets and miles before buying. Rental SUV is. ~$600 usd for 11 days. Tickets $1250/ea to Zurich. Food is negotiable. Memories with the family will be awesome.


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## poutanen

Argo said:


> Starting to make the plans and get life lined up. The rules were changed to include under 18 so it's more intriguing now. I'm trying to pool family for free tickets and miles before buying. Rental SUV is. ~$600 usd for 11 days. Tickets $1250/ea to Zurich. Food is negotiable. Memories with the family will be awesome.


I hate to use the word, but EPIC is appropriate in this case!!!!! :eusa_clap:


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## Argo

If anyone wants to donate miles for united flights then I'll make a trade for some days slope side. If you are a front range rider I'll break it up in to nights. My place is under 2 minute walk to the lions head gondola in vail. I have a spare room. PM if you have the miles to trade......


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## lucky13

I wonder what Vail Resorts plans to do to prevent people from teaming up to accomplish this. As in, me and my buddy partner up with two dudes in Europe. Me and my buddy ride the US with Euro dudes' passes on us, collect video and do a little write up. Fed Ex all passes to Euro dudes and they do the same over there...

The internet makes something like this sooo easy..

I'd be willing to bet that this thing is over on opening day of the 26th resort...

But maybe not..


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## Argo

Yeah, I'm interested to see the rules when they come out. I'll finalize plans when we see how that plays out. I'm guessing an actual check in, in person with identification


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## lucky13

In my opinion, it would be much better if they took the "race" part out of it. I think it would be better if they gave people the whole season, then had a contest (maybe voted on by public), for the best video edit.

I feel like Vail would get much exposure this way, and many more people would participate in this format.

Imagine how cool the video edits would be across a full season of riding that covered 26 resorts...


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## NoOtherOptions

lucky13 said:


> In my opinion, it would be much better if they took the "race" part out of it. I think it would be better if they gave people the whole season, then had a contest (maybe voted on by public), for the best video edit.
> 
> I feel like Vail would get much exposure this way, and many more people would participate in this format.
> 
> Imagine how cool the video edits would be across a full season of riding that covered 26 resorts...


Best video edit? So basically let's pay the pros to do the best? Because guys who arn't pro won't have the money to travel, and those that can travel probably arn't the best riders. They should just do a drawing. Not a fan of this race shit, seems too prone to abuse.


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## MarshallV82

Didn't see this thread. I seen that when I bought my pass last month. 

I was pretty interested in this too. I had to work in Alberta this year because they took on a ridiculous amount of work. Hopefully they have this going on next year, I plan on taking the winter off again!

Sounds like Argo is gonna have an awesome winter!


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## Argo

My son just told me that he made a donation page. If you wanna donate, great.... Im sure it would make him happy, me too since it will help fund our trip. If you dont then cool. 

Matthew's Epic Race Fundraiser by Matthew Walence - GoFundMe


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## NoOtherOptions

Argo said:


> My son just told me that he made a donation page. If you wanna donate, great.... Im sure it would make him happy, me too since it will help fund our trip. If you dont then cool.
> 
> Matthew's Epic Race Fundraiser by Matthew Walence - GoFundMe


I might donate a few bucks. One issue though, the 500 in rooms for Tahoe and Park City. Early season won't be anywhere near that. Lakeside Inn has a 50 dollar a night groupon good till December, well after when the resorts open in Tahoe. 600 in Gas from Vail? If you get an average rental car, or have a car with average mileage (assuming 25mpg) is 400 miles. Gas is running what, 3.40 on average? (its 3.20 here so I'm overestimating) so is about 60 bucks (actually 54.40) to get to Park City. Reno is 600 from there, so that's 80 bucks. Let's assume you're actually going to drive, that's 200 bucks to get to and 200 bucks back. Where's the extra 2 bills coming from? I'm being pretty liberal with all my estimations. If you're driving a Tahoe that gets 10mpg, that doesn't seem like a great idea if you're really trying to do this on the cheap.


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## Deacon

Remember that it's three people with all their gear. And Argo is a big dude... Don't think they're going to fit in a Prius.


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## Argo

I gave home nominal amounts to put in there, we also have to drive to Michigan and Minnesota. The only rental car will be in Europe. Gas is for diesel in our truck. Winter driving in these Regions isn't exactly compact car Friendly. 

As for hotels, no idea of the cost, he is 13 and asked for a quick number. I know when we went before there was nothing under $100 in north or south lake..... No argument on costs of anything, they were just numbers of rounded costs that it cost me in the past to drive and stay there.


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## NoOtherOptions

The Deacon said:


> Remember that it's three people with all their gear. And Argo is a big dude... Don't think they're going to fit in a Prius.


I'm 6"2, 220 and I've fit 3 adult males in my Audi a4. It's not hard if budget's an issue. My gf's mom drives a hybrid highlander, that thing gets 25 MPG and has a 3rd row. Should I go on? If you're asking for donations, it only seems fair to try and be as economical as possible. I'm not hating, because honestly I want Argo and his family to hit the epic race and be in the top 10. I'm just trying to make their dream more realistic.


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## NoOtherOptions

Argo said:


> I gave home nominal amounts to put in there, we also have to drive to Michigan and Minnesota. The only rental car will be in Europe. Gas is for diesel in our truck. Winter driving in these Regions isn't exactly compact car Friendly.
> 
> As for hotels, no idea of the cost, he is 13 and asked for a quick number. I know when we went before there was nothing under $100 in north or south lake..... No argument on costs of anything, they were just numbers of rounded costs that it cost me in the past to drive and stay there.


I've been looking at Tahoe. To help you guys (seriously go kick some ass), Lakeside Inn in S. Lake Tahoe is about 50 a night on groupon, 79 a night in like January. Park City has a ton of hotels, and if you really want to be cheap stay in SLC and drive up but I'm pretty sure early season there's a Days Inn there that should be cheap. I can't even remember all the damned hotels there.


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## Argo

Also, we will be posting all of our journey from registration to completion wether we win the passes or not. We will also be shooting a lot of video of the travels, flights, road fun and riding. I'll post a link to the FB account when we start all this for anyone that wants to follow. The Europe trip will be 10 days and a whirlwind.....


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## Argo

My son said they only give you 40 characters for the descriptions so he could put the Minnesota and Michigan part on there for the gas and hotels. 

He also undershot the airfare, the lowest right now is into Zurich and is $1250/ea. so there is give and take on the $$$ from section to section.


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## jtg

I've had good results with the bing flights price predictor thing. Never tried with international flights though. I've heard tuesday is the best time to buy.

Your biggest pricing problem is going to be if it spills into the mid-late weeks of December. Buy and book before then if at all possible. Prices get insane very quickly, and delays/cancellations go way up both due to increased travel and winter weather.

You should also start a blog or something to document it. Even just a few pictures would be cool. No need to write essays. Or just wear a gopro the whole time and release it on youtube


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## Argo

That's gonna happen. Photos, videos, some words....


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## MarshallV82

Argo said:


> My son said they only give you 40 characters for the descriptions so he could put the Minnesota and Michigan part on there for the gas and hotels.
> 
> He also undershot the airfare, the lowest right now is into Zurich and is $1250/ea. so there is give and take on the $$$ from section to section.


That's cheaper than I figured, I was going to fly into Germany like 8 years ago for a wedding. The cheapest flight I could find at the time was over 2500 bucks. I didn't make it.


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## jtg

Eh, just saw the fundraiser...



> Will you help Make a kids dream come true? We are trying to raise money to take Matthew on a trip to cover a number of ski/snowboard resorts around the world. He will get great exposure for his hopeful career and also get a wonderful life experience. He can win a season pass for life if he gets to all 26 of the resorts before the end of this season. Going to Europe will be the most expensive. His mom and dad will have to go with him because it is a requirement of the competition. Being that he is a competitor and travels alot already this will be a cost that would be hard to do without the help of others.


I'm not sure that wording is a good idea. That's pretty shameless.


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## Argo

jtg said:


> Eh, just saw the fundraiser...
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not sure that wording is a good idea. That's pretty shameless.


Not sure what you would prefer over what the truth is. :dunno:

He made the page, some people will like it and might choose to donate, others will not like it at all.....


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## AcroPhile

MarshallV82 said:


> That's cheaper than I figured, I was going to fly into Germany like 8 years ago for a wedding. The cheapest flight I could find at the time was over 2500 bucks. I didn't make it.


I bought same day of trip tickets to Warsaw last April for just over 1k. Sometimes you get lucky sometimes not. 

I fly several times a year and purchasing tickets months in advance isn't always the way to go. (Not that it applies to this particular situation, but I thought I'd just throw that out there.)


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## Argo

AcroPhile said:


> Can you imagine how pissed off the 11th place finisher would be after all that time and money? :blowup:


Just saw that comment. I would not be sad. It is going to be awesome. 

That would mean i would have to try again!


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## Deacon

Argo said:


> Just saw that comment. I would not be sad. It is going to be awesome.
> 
> That would mean i would have to try again!


+1 to that attitude. The prize is merely the impetus to embark on an epic adventure. I'm stoked for you, and I hope they do this for years to come!


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## Argo

The Deacon said:


> +1 to that attitude. The prize is merely the impetus to embark on an epic adventure. I'm stoked for you, and I hope they do this for years to come!


Me too, just in case I don't get it done within the top 10 this year!


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## jtg

Argo said:


> Not sure what you would prefer over what the truth is. :dunno:
> 
> He made the page, some people will like it and might choose to donate, others will not like it at all.....


Well it's not true that the rules of the competition requires parents to go, and there's a little more subtle untruth to the rest of how that is presented.

I'll just be blunt with you. I'd be a little bit pissed if I donated to some kid's sob story to later find out that I was paying for his parents vacation as much as anything. You're going because it's going to be a blast and there's nothing wrong with that. You're not going "because you have to" in order to make a "dream come true" for a kid. Just be straight with people, especially if you're asking them for money.


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## Argo

jtg said:


> Well it's not true that the rules of the competition requires parents to go, and there's a little more subtle untruth to the rest of how that is presented.
> 
> I'll just be blunt with you. I'd be a little bit pissed if I donated to some kid's sob story to later find out that I was paying for his parents vacation as much as anything. You're going because it's going to be a blast and there's nothing wrong with that. You're not going "because you have to" in order to make a "dream come true" for a kid. Just be straight with people, especially if you're asking them for money.



I will remind him of that for his next good deed. I edited his nominal amounts but I am not going to edit his words, he is 13. Like I said before, either you like it or not. :dunno: We will go one way or another.... regardless of the amount he raises. :yahoo: 

Also, it is a bitch to fly an unaccompanied minor on an international flight. it would be even harder to negotiate his transportation once he was over there. 

http://www.gofundme.com/4rwh44?pc=fb_dp&r=82866


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## Argo

whoa, DevelWithin, thanks for the big donation! I think Matt pissed himself when he saw that.....


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## Argo

Thanks for the donation Wrath.

We did put into the Baker lottery. We will have to ditch one comp to go to it if we get in but it would probably be our choice competition...... It would be Legendary.....


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## wrathfuldeity

irrc your big guy is 13...? so "next generation class" and also iirc the next class...? amateur level the comp gets really stiff...and when my daughter was 14?...gawd I don't remember this stuff anymore. Anyway she decided to do the women class instead of the amateurs and having to compete with the boys. And I think the top 3 finishers of each division gets an automatic qualification for the next year's race.


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## Argo

Yeah he is 13. He was racing the course at hood with the pro guys and was relatively close in time.. we are doing a big race at bachelor in December too. He is pretty big and super dense so he flys... we will see how he does though. Competition is probably really great at baker....


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## AcroPhile

Bump.

Almost at 10% of your goal in just three days! k: :thumbsup:


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## Argo

Yeah man. Thanks!


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## Argo

Just curious how many people live around Afton alps, Mt Brighton.... Any other non Colorado vail resorts? That may wanna ride for a day. Probably be in Tahoe the dec 14/15/16 time frame and the canyons the weekend after that. 

I am hoping to hook up with Neni and her husband in Switzerland. Maybe make her ride Verbier, I think she said it scared her. It would be awesome to get some local knowledge of 3 valles, verbier and arlberg areas.... Also would be cool to meet some international forum members.


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## Deacon

I'm 20 minutes from Afton.


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## hardasacatshead

Hey Argo if you're still looking at flights have a look at gotravel123.com

A couple of weeks ago I booked flights from Jackson Hole to London (via Dallas) for $480 USD. They were the cheapest I could find, I'd imagine flying to Zurich/Geneva would be comparable.


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## Argo

The Deacon said:


> I'm 20 minutes from Afton.


Cool. When the time comes, ill msg you.... I'll meet you at the hill!


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## Argo

hardasacatshead said:


> Hey Argo if you're still looking at flights have a look at gotravel123.com
> 
> A couple of weeks ago I booked flights from Jackson Hole to London (via Dallas) for $480 USD. They were the cheapest I could find, I'd imagine flying to Zurich/Geneva would be comparable.


It comes out to the same price. Well, $50 less but I would have to change airports in NJ. Got me excited for a minute! Thanks for the thought.


----------



## DevilWithin

Very cool to see the contributions coming in for your son! 

Happy to support him in doing this. Donating time and going out of your way to help someone like you did means so much more than typing in a credit card online, but I couldn't think of a more solid family to support based on what I've seen you do for others on here. I hope others do as well.


----------



## neni

Argo said:


> I am hoping to hook up with Neni and her husband in Switzerland. Maybe make her ride Verbier, I think she said it scared her. It would be awesome to get some local knowledge of 3 valles, verbier and arlberg areas.... Also would be cool to meet some international forum members.


Ha, reverse psychology always works  
Actually not scared. It's just not a place where we normally ride (too far away - Swiss scales are different ). Heard ppl say it's crazy steep, that's why I would like to go and check. Whatever your plans are after the 8th, you're welcome at ours/we'll join you.


----------



## Argo

I may take your advice and hit Austria first. I'll have to do 3 days there, then verbier, then 3 valles. Probably crash your pad jan 12. Jan 9 may be our last day in verbier then we could meet up if your not beat up from your travels. By mid January my family is going to have forgotten what home looks like.


----------



## snowklinger

Argo I think you need me to come document the trip for you guys.


----------



## Argo

snowklinger said:


> Argo I think you need me to come document the trip for you guys.



I'll think of you if some company sponsors the trip and I have camera guy funding.... Lol

Here is the link so people don't have to dig if they wanted to donate 

Matthew's Epic Race Fundraiser by Matthew Walence - GoFundMe


----------



## snowklinger

Argo said:


> I'll think of you if some company sponsors the trip and I have camera guy funding.... Lol
> 
> Here is the link so people don't have to dig if they wanted to donate
> 
> Matthew's Epic Race Fundraiser by Matthew Walence - GoFundMe


sweet my phone takes hella good pictures


----------



## Argo

Instagram the shit outta everything....


----------



## snowklinger

#NeniChalet


----------



## Argo

snowklinger said:


> #NeniChalet


I have had PMs from numerous people for places to stay, thanks for lookin out for the community. It's amazing how many people care enough to reach out. I will definitely hit some of you up along the way. 

#swisscheesecaserole
#nenisplace

If anyone wants to follow the journey feel free to like my sons Facebook page, we will update it and also the epic race site. I have no idea what that site will look like though. We will be posting videos, pictures and updates along the way. Probably do a backflip across vail edit, backflips in every vail resort..... :dunno:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Matthew-Walence/187227181383343?ref=hl

Here is the fund raiser site of my sons again too. Thanks again to everyone that has donated. Every little bit helps. Wrath, Acro and devil went big on donations, my son really wants to say thanks. I thank you too for makin him ecstatic!! :yahoo:

Matthew's Epic Race Fundraiser by Matthew Walence - GoFundMe


----------



## Argo

I will also post up on here if I can. I'm taking my iPad for Internet access and it won't upload pics on the forum.... If there is a trick lye me know. Also, the offer still stands for people that can donate united airline miles for international tickets.... I'll trade you for a week of a room in vail. My spare room that is, we home cook meals every night too.


----------



## Deacon

Argo said:


> *I will also post up on here if I can. I'm taking my iPad for Internet access and it won't upload pics on the forum.... If there is a trick lye me know.* Also, the offer still stands for people that can donate united airline miles for international tickets.... I'll trade you for a week of a room in vail. My spare room that is, we home cook meals every night too.


I post pics from my iPhone, but I have to pull them from face book. If you open Facebook with safari instead of the app, then go to the picture you posted, click on "view full size photo", then just cut and paste the URL to the upload photo button here. 

Jeez, that sounds like a PITA. It's not terrible, but I guess that's why I don't post more pics. :laugh:


----------



## hardasacatshead

You could also set up a flickr account, upload the pics to there and paste the BBCode directly onto a post without needing to use the image url function. 

At least this way you've got a backup of your photos on flickr as well, you can upload full res files there and download them later on if you need to.


----------



## Kevin137

Any ideas as to dates roughly for Europe, i am going to look at pricing a drive down from Norway to do some of the Europe leg...

It depends on price and dates, and i am not stressed about accommodation, as i have a car plenty big enough to sleep in for a week if i have too, that and backpackers accommodation and i'll be sorted, but ferries would need to be sorted in the next month or so if i can do this...

It's just an idea at the moment, as i am looking at Sochi for the Olympics as well, so hoping the dates are close enough together to be able to drive it all...


----------



## Argo

My plan currently is jan 1-14. Fly in to Zurich, hit arlberg for a few days, then verbier for a day or two, the 3 valles for 4 days. Stay a night near Zurich before flying back and most likely hang with neni that night. Not sure if we are flying out jan 13 or 14, that's dependent on airfare. I will be buying tickets in 3 weeks. I'll let you know the dates then. I will likely be car camping a lot of nights too, I'll be way too broke to afford a hotel by that point!


----------



## Argo

Actually we would not land until jan 2.... over night flight and probably our last good sleep of the trip! Lol


----------



## Kevin137

Cool, it may be far too early in the year for me to be able to do, will look at costings, and ferry availability into Germany from Norway and see what the costs are for that... But i would love to do some resorts with you if i get can swing it, the other problem i have is my son normally comes over for xmas, but he will be skiing with his mum, so was planning to do new year instead, and he has to be back in the UK for UNI on the 7th or 8th... May get him to fly somewhere in Germany and pick him up and have him there with me instead...


----------



## Argo

The resorts/ski areas look unreal. We have been looking at videos and pictures of all of them. Should be an amazing trip, grueling timeline but it will be a lot of fun.

It would be fun to meet some more international members...


----------



## Kevin137

It's a 2 hour drive, then 22 hours on a ferry then 12-16 hours drive each way...!!!

Trying to work prices now, but the ferry is looking like around $800 return on it's own with the car...

Will be interesting to see how it could be done, but have to work out a schedule and costs more accurately...


----------



## Argo

Damn, that's some crazy times! I drive a lot but when it starts hitting 30+ hours it's a long haul......


----------



## Argo

We will probably hit verbier Switzerland on jan 5 and drive through after checking in and making a run or two, drive to France immediately and stay in 3valles for 4 days. Then after we knows them all off we will go back to verbier for 3 days of riding/exploring the area.


----------



## Argo

Oh and I am just gonna rent a compact van or SUV and spend some nights in it. If I can manage a cheap room I will but none of us really care too much, we are road warrior dirt bags.... Ok, my wife requires showering....


----------



## Kevin137

I can drive the lot in 24 hours, but the ferry is actually cheaper than fuel and road tolls, so it makes sense to do that and get to Germany around 10am in the morning so the drive would be 1 hit, and rest when i get there, ready to board in the morning... 

Not stressed where i start, it is all roughly the same for me, and the more slopes i can hit the better, it is all an experience that is for sure.

Will get back to you if i can pull it off...


----------



## Argo

The euro resorts look huge..... Gonna be fun!


----------



## Argo

Learning to post from the iPad.....


----------



## Argo

Anyone know why I can only post one at a time from iPad?


----------



## Toomeyct

So I believe you said your son, yourself, and your wife are going. If you all do it and you are all in the top 10, then you all get passes for life right?


----------



## Argo

Yeah. Depending on the rules. If they only allow one pass per family. It Will go to my son. The official rules come out November 1


----------



## Argo

Man, I'm so pumped about doing this. I could scream like I just got done with a chest deep pow line..... I think we all have our schedules worked out and everything lined up. Matthew has paid for his own ticket with donations.... Super stoked about that... Registration is this Friday. I'm interested to see how many people register for it since there is very little hype around it. I had one PM on here from a German dude that's going to do the race. We will try and meet up when he is in vail. Give him a little tour if there is more mtn open than just front side.... I'll post the Facebook link when we get rolling in November for anyone that wants to keep up with the "race". 

Watching ski/snowboard movies is killing me too...... I'm glad I have abasin to take the edge off.

Here's the link again for my son.
Matthew's Epic Race Fundraiser by Matthew Walence - GoFundMe


----------



## snowklinger

fucken sweet


----------



## Pigpen

that's great man, I really hope you guys do get in the top 10, it'll be a rad experience nonetheless!


----------



## Argo

Me too! Time to go ride now......:yahoo:


----------



## Argo

Abasin today was not bad at all.....:yahoo: My son taking the drift out and playing with it a bit.....


----------



## Argo

...........


----------



## chomps1211

I _really_ want to hate you for that!  ...but then I remember your offer to crash and I put aside my petty jealousies for the sake of selfish, self interest and personal gain!  LOL! :thumbsup:

Looks like fun! You're going to be getting another dump that way this week aren't you?

Btw, do you have a time table for when u expect to be at Mt. Brighton on the 6th? If it's early enough in the day, I might b able to meet up briefly before heading up to Boyne that weekend. I'd hate to miss the chance to meet up with another SBF member. Especially one who's come so far, (...for so little as far as hills go!)


----------



## Argo

Hopefully be there first thing in the morning, by noon at the latest. 

Supposed to snow tonight, just the occasional flake right now. 

Make the drive out this way in February. You won't be disappointed, well maybe you will be in your home mtns,......


----------



## klaus79856

.....the first details are already online!


----------



## Argo

klaus79856 said:


> .....the first details are already online!


Awesome. I'm happy the rules are fairly strict. Have you made up your mind to do it yet?


----------



## klaus79856

I´m just back in my hotel after the Halloween party and reading the rules.....


----------



## Argo

Fairly strict rules. Im registered and ready to go.


----------



## NoOtherOptions

I don't really have time to read the rules. But want to give a little encapsulation? Good luck Argo!


Sent from Verticalsports.com Free App


----------



## Argo

Registration closes Nov 17. At each resort you have to visit at least 3 predesignated check points. You need 15 sec video at one and 2 pictures at the others. at the European resorts you have to.visit the tourism offices and get the person there to sign and stamp your epicrace card. You have to upload all info by midnight on the day of your visit.


----------



## trapper

I still think it's hilarious that you have to come Mt. Brighton, lol. Granted, we have nothing here in Michigan compared to out west, but by no means should you let Brighton be your only impression of Michigan.


----------



## Argo

I will be so tired by then.I probably won't remember anything about it.....


----------



## klaus79856

Anyone else who want to make the race ?

Have my air ticket, detail plan with backup and hotels booked.
I someone also is interested in to join just contact me, will start 21NOV in DEN.
The "final" day in DEC I suppose I do not have to mention.


Klaus


----------



## Argo

I'm ready.... See you guys On The hills...


----------



## freshy

Argo said:


> I'm ready.... See you guys On The hills...


Good luck dude. Least you still win even if you don't.


----------



## Deacon

freshy said:


> Good luck dude. Least you still win even if you don't.




This. :thumbsup:
Remember to enjoy yourselves!


----------



## neni

Good luck! Have an EPIC journey :thumbsup::yahoo::eusa_clap:


----------



## tradnwaves4snow

Yeeeeeewwwww!!! good luck bro. Wish I had the opportunity to give this a crack. maybe next year.


----------



## ankkassa

I feel bad ur gunna have to snowboard at mt.brighton. its better to call it hill brighton it has about a 300ft vert and is poorly taken care of.


----------



## Argo

Well eldora was bigger than I thought and it had fresh snow today......


----------



## chomps1211

Argo said:


> Well eldora was bigger than I thought and it had fresh snow today......


You're looking real good for Mt. Brighton. The locals are all making snow right now and we got real cold conditions forecast all week this week. I predict you will have something to ride for the opening on the 6/7th!!! Might even be some pretty decent conditions! (...for early Dec. in S.E. MI. that is.)  :thumbsup:


----------



## Argo

Sweet. If it's crowded I'll just walk to the top! Lol.


----------



## Kevin137

Your off too a good start then, keep it up...!!!

How many of you doing it together...??? And how does it work if you all do it together and some fall outside the top ten but completed at the same time...???


----------



## Argo

4 of us together. 

We will see what happens at The end. 

The leaderboard isn't always up to date but it is close. 
https://epicrace.epicpass.com/leaderboard

I'm in a debate with the epicrace people letting some racers slide on the rules. I don't think there should be a slide.... Rules are there for a reason, follow them. I emailed them back when they told me they were letting the rules slide and am waiting a response. 

Here's the email.

Epicrace officials,

Being a serious racer in this event I would like to say that I totally disagree with this. The rules were and are clear. 15 second video, 2 photos, during operation hours(some are shot when the mtn is clearly closed, others you can't tell) at predetermined checkpoints.... Clearly visible face(a lot are not with goggles, helmets, even full face helmets). 

Sorry but rules need to be followed when people are "competing". It is all in good fun, sure, but there are prizes and money at stake including money spent to travel. If it came down to the end and I got second place to someone that clearly broke the rules then I would absolutely fight it. The race has started, people have invested a lot of time, money, thought and their lives into this race. This is not an easy undertaking for a lot of people, myself included, and I would respectfully ask that you take your rules seriously also. If I break a rule I expect to be told and have to Go back another day to correct it. 

Thank you

Epic Racers

---------------
Hi,
Since it's the first couple days, we're cutting all racers some slack in the issues with "goggles on" in photos. We'll be sending out an email to all racers on Monday with a few key reminders, including the "no goggles" rule.
For race purposes, you are only allowed to submit one resort per day. We have no control over skiers/boarders visiting more than one resort per day on their own outside of the race.
Thanks
-------------------------
Couple of questions
I'm seeing alot of racer videos with goggles or sunglasses on, is that acceptable? I thought it was a rule that you had to take your goggles off.
And
Are you allowed to ride "check in on epicmix" two resorts on the same day as long as you only officially check in the race One US resort a day or does any double check in during the race disqualify you?
Examples 
1) check in at Eldora and ride 3 hours for the race, come home to vail and make a couple runs.
2) check in at a closed(due to weather like Kirkwood currently) resort for the race then go ski or ride another mtn near by.
Thanks for always replying so fast.


----------



## Argo

How do you people feel about the "rules" being overlooked?

There is at least one other forum member doing the race.....


----------



## Kevin137

I think that there needs to be a little slack the 1st couple of days, but emails sent out to offenders warning them of there exclusion should it continue should be enough regards to goggles face clearly visible etc...

As for how many resorts in a day... that should be firm, if you can only visit 1 a day, and it has to be open, then clearly that has to be exactly what it is...!!! You cannot do more than you are doing, and think you will be hard to beat that is for sure...!!!


----------



## West Baden Iron

Argo said:


> How do you people feel about the "rules" being overlooked?
> 
> There is at least one other forum member doing the race.....


I agree with Kevin that there should be a little slack at first. Now that you have pointed it out to them, that should be the end of the slack.

After the email was sent out, no one should be able to claim they didn't understand and should be disqualified for any rules violation.

Jason


----------



## kaborkian

Argo said:


> How do you people feel about the "rules" being overlooked?
> 
> There is at least one other forum member doing the race.....


Rules are rules. People (like you) planned according to them. Some plan better, some worse. Good planning according to those rules are part of the reason you're going to win.


----------



## Argo

They sent out numerous emails before the race started. One email specifically stated the goggle rule. I wouldn't argue it if the rules were seemingly lax. They are very thoroughly laid out and were reminded to all races via e-mail prior to the race.

I'm all about the run of it but they should stick to their own rules. Still waiting on a reply


----------



## Toomeyct

How do some people have 4 check ins? It's one per day right and it's only been going on for 3 days.


----------



## kaborkian

Argo said:


> They sent out numerous emails before the race started. One email specifically stated the goggle rule. I wouldn't argue it if the rules were seemingly lax. They are very thoroughly laid out and were reminded to all races via e-mail prior to the race.
> 
> I'm all about the run of it but they should stick to their own rules. Still waiting on a reply


"Fuck it. First person to get his cardboard cutout sent to all of our resorts and have someone take a photo wins."

Where does the bending stop? It's rule, you follow it. Want to change it? Change it next year.


----------



## ShredLife

Argo said:


> They sent out numerous emails before the race started. One email specifically stated the goggle rule. I wouldn't argue it if the rules were seemingly lax. They are very thoroughly laid out and were reminded to all races via e-mail prior to the race.
> 
> I'm all about the run of it but they should stick to their own rules. Still waiting on a reply


if that's the case they need to be set in stone. with as many people competing for so few finishing spots, everyone dropping $$ to try and make it happen - shit is gonna get ugly. its gonna get uglier if they're making concessions to some people and not others. rules are rules. no exceptions.


----------



## Kevin137

Toomeyct said:


> How do some people have 4 check ins? It's one per day right and it's only been going on for 3 days.


Some of them are actually posted twice, if you look at them, they are duplicated...

What is the situation with closed resorts then...??? Do they qualify...??? Or have to go back and do them when open...???


----------



## Deacon

Toomeyct said:


> How do some people have 4 check ins? It's one per day right and it's only been going on for 3 days.


It looks like everybody with four has a double check in from today. Clearly the same photo for each of them. 

They really had better get this right. People are investing a crapload of time and real cash to make this happen. They're going to open themselves up to quite a bit of litigation if they don't abide by their own rules.


----------



## Argo

Yeah. It will definitely get ugly if some retarded ahole that bent the rules the whole way takes a top 10 slot. I'll fight for anyone that follows the rrules regardless of if I know them or not. 

There are some technology issues with double uploads, they are by stupid people using the same computer for two people and not logging out, then back in with a different user and others double uploading on accident ....they tend to be cleared out once a day so far.

There are however others that uploaded their videos late and have two submissions On the same day because they were too lazy to do it by the rules. Uploading has to be done by midnight the night of your resort visit. Not the next day. All times are mtn time....


----------



## NoOtherOptions

Argo said:


> 4 of us together.
> 
> We will see what happens at The end.
> 
> The leaderboard isn't always up to date but it is close.
> https://epicrace.epicpass.com/leaderboard
> 
> I'm in a debate with the epicrace people letting some racers slide on the rules. I don't think there should be a slide.... Rules are there for a reason, follow them. I emailed them back when they told me they were letting the rules slide and am waiting a response.
> 
> Here's the email.
> 
> Epicrace officials,
> 
> Being a serious racer in this event I would like to say that I totally disagree with this. The rules were and are clear. 15 second video, 2 photos, during operation hours(some are shot when the mtn is clearly closed, others you can't tell) at predetermined checkpoints.... Clearly visible face(a lot are not with goggles, helmets, even full face helmets).
> 
> Sorry but rules need to be followed when people are "competing". It is all in good fun, sure, but there are prizes and money at stake including money spent to travel. If it came down to the end and I got second place to someone that clearly broke the rules then I would absolutely fight it. The race has started, people have invested a lot of time, money, thought and their lives into this race. This is not an easy undertaking for a lot of people, myself included, and I would respectfully ask that you take your rules seriously also. If I break a rule I expect to be told and have to Go back another day to correct it.
> 
> Thank you
> 
> Jason Walence, Nora Walence, Matthew Walence and Kameron Weakley
> Epic Racers
> 
> ---------------
> Hi Jason,
> Since it's the first couple days, we're cutting all racers some slack in the issues with "goggles on" in photos. We'll be sending out an email to all racers on Monday with a few key reminders, including the "no goggles" rule.
> For race purposes, you are only allowed to submit one resort per day. We have no control over skiers/boarders visiting more than one resort per day on their own outside of the race.
> Thanks
> -------------------------
> Couple of questions
> I'm seeing alot of racer videos with goggles or sunglasses on, is that acceptable? I thought it was a rule that you had to take your goggles off.
> And
> Are you allowed to ride "check in on epicmix" two resorts on the same day as long as you only officially check in the race One US resort a day or does any double check in during the race disqualify you?
> Examples
> 1) check in at Eldora and ride 3 hours for the race, come home to vail and make a couple runs.
> 2) check in at a closed(due to weather like Kirkwood currently) resort for the race then go ski or ride another mtn near by.
> Thanks for always replying so fast.


Hey, you want to post the email up? I'd be willing to write a civilized e-mail on your behalf. Rules are rules. Especially when thousands are involved, there is no "slack" to be cut.


----------



## snowklinger

People who fuck up even a little should be eliminated from the list as the race goes.


----------



## NoOtherOptions

Also, I'm an attorney licensed in Arizona, with reciprocity in Colorado. My character and fitness is pending in Colo but I'd be happy to give non binding non legal "advice" to you if you wanted to get a little chippy. I know you don't intend on suing, but don't let people bowl you over on this shit.


----------



## Deacon

Argo said:


> Yeah. It will definitely get ugly if some retarded ahole that bent the rules the whole way takes a top 10 slot. I'll fight for anyone that follows the rrules regardless of if I know them or not.
> 
> There are some technology issues with double uploads, they are by stupid people using the same computer for two people and not logging out, then back in with a different user and others double uploading on accident ....they tend to be cleared out once a day so far.
> 
> There are however others that uploaded their videos late and have two submissions On the same day because they were too lazy to do it by the rules. *Uploading has to be done by midnight the night of your resort visit. Not the next day. All times are mtn time....*


That's gonna wreak havoc with the European leg...


----------



## Kevin137

The Deacon said:


> That's gonna wreak havoc with the European leg...


How? if you ride, you take the pics, make the video and upload the same day surely, no different, and if before midnight of that day, then that day would be mountain time... No havoc, just common sense... 

And as times in the EU are before the times there, it would never be late, and could not actually be early because of the time difference... Haha


----------



## Argo

NoOtherOptions said:


> Hey, you want to post the email up? I'd be willing to write a civilized e-mail on your behalf. Rules are rules. Especially when thousands are involved, there is no "slack" to be cut.


If they don't handle it appropriately I'll definitely pm the info to you. I'll give them a day or so. 


For those that don't know or realize . FirSt submitted video and pictures is first for the day and being faster is better. That being said, if a resort opens at 9 and someone submits their data at 910, that's impossible with the layout and check-ins needed. You candidates take a picture at 9 at the main keystone sign, run to the gondola to shoot a 15 sec video and then take a 12 minute gondola ride to the top for another video in 10 minutes. 

They are obviously shooting video and pics outside of resorts hours.


----------



## Deacon

Kevin137 said:


> How? if you ride, you take the pics, make the video and upload the same day surely, no different, and if before midnight of that day, then that day would be mountain time... No havoc, *just common sense...*
> 
> And as times in the EU are before the times there, it would never be late, and could not actually be early because of the time difference... Haha


common what?
People are not... smart. Argo said people already fucked that up, and it's only day 3.


----------



## Deacon

Oh, and you might want to keep an eye on the kid who's last check in was Afton. Son's already doing some traveling, clearly committed.


----------



## Kevin137

The Deacon said:


> common what?
> People are not... smart. Argo said people already fucked that up, and it's only day 3.


What i mean is the day for the resort is local time, as in the time for thee mountain, so there can be no misunderstanding, and as long as done before midnight LOCAL time, then you will never be after midnight in the USA... It is always about LOCAL, how can that be misunderstood...???

The time differences in the EU are not so different for the resorts in question maybe an hour across them all... And who would be doing that before midnight, you do that shit the minute you finish as that gets it in earlier than others surely... Haha

Image there are 20 people coming up for the end, and they all have on resort done, it is 1st lift, laptop in the backpack and done as soon as you have completed the minimum requirement...!!! If you wait until the end of day you may be last of the 20...


----------



## Argo

The Deacon said:


> Oh, and you might want to keep an eye on the kid who's last check in was Afton. Son's already doing some traveling, clearly committed.


Yeah, he is too early in the Midwest unless he is visiting family or something. Mt brighton isn't open yet. He is going to have to make another trip. He lives in Denver so it is doable. Most I have talked to planned them the same two days for logistical reasons.....


----------



## Argo

There are about 15-20 people to take serious as competitors in this race.


----------



## neni

Rules are rules. There will always be ppl who try to bend them and sneak. You take part in a comp, you need to know the rules. Slacking the rules is spitting into the face of all those, who seriously prepared for the race. I'd be pretty upset.


----------



## Argo

The number one guy on the board is serious. He is from squaw and a total mtn town guy. The Kim chick seems serious too, from park city. We will see what's up in7-8 days. The serious ones will have almost all US resorts done. Klaus Vogel! forum member is another one with his partner that are taking it serious and going for the finish line on dec 20.


----------



## Argo

neni said:


> Rules are rules. There will always be ppl who try to bend them and sneak. You take part in a comp, you need to know the rules. Slacking the rules is spitting into the face of all those, who seriously prepared for the race. I'd be pretty upset.


Their lackadaisical reply is really what got me brewing on the rules. My son competes and came in second because he slid under the finish line in a comp and was "not in control". He wasn't mad, it was his fault, he accepted it. It's competition and that's why there are rules..... Not to be broken. Either take it serious or go home!


----------



## jtg

I'd say relaxing on the goggle rule is ok for those first days *IF* they can audit the RFID scan logs and confirm that person used the pass. Just because there isn't a real advantage to be gained from that. But in theory, your friends can switch out and sleep and you can alternate or something, so I'd say after they send the reminder, then no more second chances on that rule.

In fact, as a competitor I would demand that they post the logs from when any winner's pass hit the RFID gates at all locations. Anybody can upload something to a website that was filmed who knows when, but you can't fake when your pass was scanned.

As for anything that doesn't follow the timing rules, there should be no tolerance for that if it provides an advantage. If they really want to let it slide because they feel like it was an honest mistake, maybe those people can get a "consolation prize" or whatever and they don't rank in the top 10 officially but give them a pass anyway. That way they aren't taking the spot of a competitor who lost out and played by the rules. But if they're cheating timelines by checking in twice in a day, accidentally or not, that's a huge advantage and there's no way they can allow that.

Edit: Also, can't you save time by shooting all 4 of you in the same video/pics?


----------



## Argo

Everyone has to do it seperate or at least upload it seperate times to different YouTube channels. 

Regarding the RFID. I could take pictures and video in all 6 Colorado resorts in a day then send my pass with friends when I work. Easy way to bend the rules. The pass is never seen, just throw in a backpack and the scanners scan through everything. I could have done all the leg work last weekend except beaver creek and then just worked all week as usual.....

They should stick to the rules and allow one check in per day in US resorts.


----------



## tradnwaves4snow

i know it would be stressing me too if I were a competitor. but they have the email now, you've voiced your concern in writing early so you have that for later if someone beats you that has not followed the rules. Just worry about having fun on the slopes now mate.
And good luck to you and your family, we are all cheering for you (and immensely jealous)


----------



## Argo

tradnwaves4snow said:


> i know it would be stressing me too if I were a competitor. but they have the email now, you've voiced your concern in writing early so you have that for later if someone beats you that has not followed the rules. Just worry about having fun on the slopes now mate.
> And good luck to you and your family, we are all cheering for you (and immensely jealous)



Yeah man... We are still having fun regardless. how could we not when we are snowboarding different places every day!!


----------



## chomps1211

Well, I for one think that if you follow the rules, to the letter, and come in 11th behind _anybody_ that bent, broke or otherwise mis-interpreted the rules? I suspect there will ensue a shitstorm to end all shitstorms! Most likely spearheaded by your brethren here at SBF! We got your back Jack!!!!

...until then, Enjoy!! :thumbsup:!!


----------



## Argo

Hit keystone today. That was #4. Breck first chair tomorrow


----------



## Argo

Bad hair day


----------



## West Baden Iron

Argo said:


> Bad hair day


Hope you are having the time of your life with your kids. Looks like a great time.

Be glad you have hair to have a bad hair day. A bad hair day for me is my eyebrows are out of place.

Jason


----------



## BoardWalk

Keep the pictures coming.


----------



## ARSENALFAN

Mr. Avenger is stirring up some controversy today on his facebook page….lol. At least we know Argo isn't rich and certainly isn't boring :laugh:


----------



## Kevin137

ARSENALFAN said:


> Mr. Avenger is stirring up some controversy today on his facebook page….lol. At least we know Argo isn't rich and certainly isn't boring :laugh:


I guess that is true though, not a race for everyone that is for sure, and something that you may only ever get the chance to do once... Because i can't see it happening again... As much as i would love to do it... Haha

The downside for this is there is no benefit for anyone who doesn't buy a season pass anyway, but one day, i will travel like this... Haha

I still think the people that will win will be deserving, and i know that Argo and family are certainly in with a shout...


----------



## Argo

Yeah. He isn't way far off for the.most part but he is off. I'm not rich, I'm doing it and it's Costing the four of us a total of around $7500. I took out a small loan and raised some money. 

Another guy doing it is homeless living out of his car for the duration and also took out loans. He is from squaw and I'm sure I will see him at the finish line. 

we spent all day filming with a huge Crew in Breck Today and they were so happy to have real people riding with them and dropping cliffs of the tbar flipping, spinning and shit. They couldn't keep up and they were happy to have that problem because most are richer vacation skiers.


----------



## Argo

It was my sons birthday last night too.


----------



## Argo

Sorry for shit grammar.... New phone and keys. plus the dreaded autocorrect


----------



## Kevin137

Well fun is definitely what is about, and i think you are approaching it with the right attitude, i would love it to be ALL people like yourselves that won just to shove it where the sun don't shine on the money people... Haha

And a belated Happy Birthday from us in Norway to your son...


----------



## NoOtherOptions

I LOVE whoever posted the comment about BA getting out of his basement. Was there a diff article on FB? I just saw the one on his blog.

Also, why is it catered to skiiers? Someone explain to me here.


----------



## Pigpen

Keep the pics comin! 
Good luck my man! Looks like you guys are having a good time, and that's all that matters.
Hope the people that don't follow the rules get a nice swift kick right in the nutsack.


----------



## Argo

View while waiting @ tbar in Breck this morning


----------



## Argo

ARSENALFAN said:


> At least we know Argo isn't rich and certainly isn't boring :laugh:


A lot of these mtn town guys and chicks would think I'm rich because I can afford to pay my rent on time and live in vail without having 15 roomies. I chose my profession wisely based on potential income and where I can live and do my work. In the city I'd be an average run of the mill middle class guy that works too much. I just get to play a lot more living up here. Being able to snowboard daily before work is a blessing for sure and beats the hell out of the alternative. 

I still can't ever afford to buy anything around here. I'll keep renting until I can't any more. 

I hope I beat these guys that are flying around on private jets or door to door first class tickets. I'll be driving to them all and sleeping in the car at times but fuck it, you only get to live once and this trip is fun in itself. :yahoo:

Round trip airfare to Switzerland was $1100 a pop. X4
Rental car there was $650 for a 4x4 SUV
Food, who knows but pbj is pretty tasty
Gas for us locations will end up somewhere around $6-700


After buying tickets and the rental car I have about a $3000 limit to spend. Hopefully I don't spend that much......


----------



## neni

Happy birthday!


BTW: birthday bump 
Matthew's Epic Race Fundraiser by Matthew Walence - GoFundMe


----------



## ShredLife

you're a good fuckin dad. :thumbsup:



go get 'em


----------



## Deacon

ShredLife said:


> you're a good fuckin dad. :thumbsup:
> 
> 
> 
> go get 'em


+1 :thumbsup:


----------



## TMXMOTORSPORTS

The Deacon said:


> +1 :thumbsup:


+2:thumbsup:


----------



## snowklinger

ShredLife said:


> you're a good fuckin dad. :thumbsup:
> 
> 
> 
> go get 'em





The Deacon said:


> +1 :thumbsup:





TMXMOTORSPORTS said:


> +2:thumbsup:


grew up travelling, best experiences ever.

++


----------



## poutanen

This link is pretty cool... There are actually more boarders than I thought on the list!

https://epicrace.epicpass.com/leaderboard


----------



## BoardWalk

snowklinger said:


> ++


++ and Happy belated B-Day to the Jr Shredder.


----------



## Argo

neni said:


> Happy birthday!
> 
> 
> BTW: birthday bump
> Matthew's Epic Race Fundraiser by Matthew Walence - GoFundMe


Thanks for the bump neni, as well as the donation! Matt text me, "who's neni!" he was happy.


----------



## jtg

Looks like Mrs. Argo missed her check-in? I see you and Matthew up there still. Unless everyone else misses a day, that might put her out of the race?


----------



## Argo

She is at keystone now. We all hit beaver creek tomorrow.


----------



## Argo

The leader status is based on check in time on that given day. I could be #100 on day 25 and #1 on day 26


----------



## jtg

Yeah but she missed a day completely I mean. You guys have a check in on the 25th, she has the 24th then 26th.


----------



## Argo

Yeah. We are still working our regular jobs, can't afford that much time off. I work evening and she works day's. She is getting the keystone day in doing the night boarding action. Her and Matt are there now.


----------



## Argo

The las. Resort to open is on the 20th in France. Just have to get the resorts done before then and get that one check in on that day....


----------



## jtg

Haha damn. That day is going to be UGLY. Imagine 100 people all lined up to hit that checkpoint, first 10 get their investment back, everyone else is SOL.


----------



## Argo

It will be interesting for sure. Not sure how Vail plans to deal with it all.


----------



## Kevin137

Argo said:


> It will be interesting for sure. Not sure how Vail plans to deal with it all.


Will be interesting, but i would try to ensure a mobile connection for data before you get there... Or at least find the availability of one...  Could prove costly not too..!


----------



## Tech420

You can always turn your phone into a mobile hot spot and bring a laptop/tablet with you for the first run. Good luck with your journey and enjoy it. I hope to one day do something like this whether it is for a pass or not.


----------



## Argo

Shot from the top of centennial lid at beaver creek this morning


----------



## poutanen

That hair is awesome! :yahoo:


----------



## Argo

Helmet hair. Here is Matt going through the early season park at keystone last week. It hasn't changed much......


----------



## Argo

Happy thanksgiving. What are you cooking? Here's mine, show me yours....


----------



## hktrdr

Argo said:


> Shot from the top of centennial lid at beaver creek this morning


Haha, this could be Argo's version of Movember - he is not going to wash/comb his hair until he has completed the race.


----------



## NoOtherOptions

Happy Turkey Day! You should see what the resorts policy is on camping out. You guys might need to have a first chair race!


----------



## Argo

Hit the canyons yesterday in park city. It was not the best for snow conditions, looks like they have great terrain when they have great snow.

Today we were at northstar and it was beautiful out, low on snow here too...... We had alot of fun though!


----------



## Argo

That picture may be out Christmas card! Lol


----------



## ARSENALFAN

Love the updates. Great pic of the family. It sure would be nice for you to win that prize. Good luck man.:eusa_clap:


----------



## Deacon

Awwwww matching coats!:laugh:


----------



## hktrdr

The Deacon said:


> Awwwww matching coats!:laugh:


That is what having a sponsor does for you


----------



## Argo

hktrdr said:


> That is what having a sponsor does for you


I wish they sponsored them.... the colors make him stand out of the group in competition so that's why we use them. they are probably the best hoodies that we have ever used so we keep using that brand. we do get a good deal on them but they are definitely Not free. even though he is a big kid, he is still young and likes to have a team behind him. My wife and I are that team and we travel everywhere with him. We will usually only wear them at comps for support but thought it would be fun to wear them today and take some pictures


----------



## lalaboard

Argo said:


> Hit the canyons yesterday in park city. It was not the best for snow conditions, looks like they have great terrain when they have great snow.
> 
> Today we were at northstar and it was beautiful out, low on snow here too...... We had alot of fun though!


Excellent picture :thumbup: sending lots of good luck your way


----------



## snowklinger

yea Argo is there anywhere else we should follow your trip?

otherwise keep posting as you have time, particularly interested in all your non-CO shots! Europe! Neni's house! Gypsies!


----------



## Deacon

Argo said:


> I wish they sponsored them.... the colors make him stand out of the group in competition so that's why we use them. they are probably the best hoodies that we have ever used so we keep using that brand. we do get a good deal on them but they are definitely Not free. even though he is a big kid, he is still young and likes to have a team behind him. My wife and I are that team and we travel everywhere with him. We will usually only wear them at comps for support but thought it would be fun to wear them today and take some pictures


Nothing wrong with that. :thumbsup:
is his coach going to travel with you guys a bit too?


----------



## neni

snowklinger said:


> yea Argo is there anywhere else we should follow your trip?
> 
> otherwise keep posting as you have time, particularly interested in all your non-CO shots! Europe! Neni's house! Gypsies!


Would have loved to meet n host them, but I'll be out of the continent when they're over here 

Good luck and enjoy the Alps!


----------



## jtg

Looks like Jay is getting his money's worth at least 

Wonder how far you can push it before Vail says something about promotion.


----------



## Argo

Kirkwood looked sick. We will be back during a squaw competition in February. it's definitely legendary for a reason.

As far as promoting, we're just riding like we do every day. My sons and coachs hoodie says smokin, ours don't. The rules say you can't say anything about brands or talk about them in posts, we don't do anything Near that. we ride the same stuff every day. My son has worn the same style hoodie For 2 years.....

It's great traveling aroun. And hitting all these places. 

His coach Is coming along for the ride.....


----------



## Argo

So heavenly was closed two days in a row while there. Still got to officially Check in but didn'. Get to enjoy the lake views.


----------



## Argo

Sorry about the sideways pics.... Uploads from my phone don't auto rotate...


----------



## jtg

So are you guys pretty much out?

You need a check-in every single day including today, from now until the 20th in order to make it for the final opener on the 21st. The top 30+ are in europe already and have plenty of days to spare.


----------



## Argo

No. You get 2 Europe resorts per day..... We are just not bothering to hang out for.resorts that don't open for another week or two. We would rather go straight through them all.


----------



## Deacon

We're still pulling for ya!!


----------



## Argo

Mt Brighton Michigan!


----------



## Argo

About 2 hours out from afton alps Minnesota now.....


----------



## chomps1211

Argo! It really was good to meet you and your family. Only wish we'd had time for a few more laps. I hope the slopes were better riding after the re-grooming. 

Folks, I never met anyone, who after spending 20+ hours in a car together, were in such good spirits n so pumped n ready to ride the moment they arrived! (...after the requisite pee break of course!) 

My family couldn't get thru a simple Sunday afternoon drive without threat of imminent Fratricide!!! Lol! Truly lovely people and a pleasure to spend time with! I hope I do get a chance to get to Vail and have them show me around the mountain!

Have fun at Afton, & a safe trip home! (...now, I gotta gear up and get to the chairs here at Pine Knob!)


----------



## Argo

Damn, left Grand Rapids at 2am Sunday. Just got to Denver. Headed out..... The road trip continues! Saw some crazy shit going on during tHe storm we drove through, hundreds of cars off the road, semis plowing through pile ups..... Fun drive! I chased the semi down because he hit and ran the pile up..... Did some 60 mph fish tailing in the process. Oh well, got to Denver in time!

Day 12 done.. - YouTube


----------



## neni

I'm glad we were _writing_ and not talking together. Would have been challenging :laugh:


----------



## neni

Awww... BTW: Watch your speed when driving in France. Been driving the route Geneva Anency Chambéry Lyon, Valence recently. You'll do part of that route, I guess. Got 5 lovely letters now with speeding fines (each 62$). Driving in France isn't fun anymore :dizzy:


----------



## Argo

Arrived in Switzerland yesterday and drove out to Austria. Rode St Anton yesterday and as soon as I strapped in my highback snapped in half. Flow is sending replacement to me overnight, free of charge.... Rode down One footed, sucked but made it without much issue. 

Rode St christoph and steuben today! Awesome.... Found some pow And cliffs. I'll post pics and videos later.


----------



## poutanen

Argo said:


> Rode St christoph and steuben today! Awesome.... Found some pow And cliffs. I'll post pics and videos later.


Sweet!!! Have fun! :yahoo: :bowdown:


----------



## Argo

Here is a video link for.my YouTube I'm using for.the race. All stops are on My channel.... #epicrace St christoph - YouTube


----------



## Deacon

Argo said:


> Here is a video link for.my YouTube I'm using for.the race. All stops are on My channel.... #epicrace St christoph - YouTube


Pretty country they have there! I was bummed I was out of town when you guys came to Afton, I didn't get back from the Dells until Sunday night.


----------



## areveruz

I was checking up on the leaderboard and I noticed that Matthew was one ahead of you and your wife so I got curious and noticed that Brighton was listed twice for him. I'm far too lazy to look at other people's logs, but I'm curious to see how accurate the leaderboard really is at this point.


----------



## tradnwaves4snow

jtg said:


> in order to make it for the final opener on the 20th.


I think this is a major mistake the competition organisers have made. there are nearly 60 people with all but the last resort to log now 25/26. and there will easily be 100 plus people with 25/26 by the time the last resort opens. 

don't know how they will deal with 100 plus people finishing on the same day.

got this from epic race website 
"Brides-les-Bains
Photo/video locations for Brides-Les-Bains will be announced on December 20th - a) posted to the website and b) available for pickup at the Brides-les-Bains tourist office that morning."

I would get there the night before and be in line for first chair making sure I had a great internet connection to uploads my pics as soon as i reached the top.


----------



## snowklinger

tradnwaves4snow said:


> I think this is a major mistake the competition organisers have made. there are nearly 60 people with all but the last resort to log now 25/26. and there will easily be 100 plus people with 25/26 by the time the last resort opens.
> 
> don't know how they will deal with 100 plus people finishing on the same day.
> 
> got this from epic race website
> "Brides-les-Bains
> Photo/video locations for Brides-Les-Bains will be announced on December 20th - a) posted to the website and b) available for pickup at the Brides-les-Bains tourist office that morning."
> 
> I would get there the night before and be in line for first chair making sure I had a great internet connection to uploads my pics as soon as i reached the top.



I would think the winners will be camped out for 3-4 days minimum.


----------



## NoOtherOptions

snowklinger said:


> I would think the winners will be camped out for 3-4 days minimum.


What makes you think that? What makes you think they'll even allow people to camp out 3-4 days. Not saying you're wrong just curious how you're estimating.


----------



## Argo

It's not being allowed and they took the tourism office out of the equation. they changed the game, again.... It's going to.be a scavenger hunt across 3 towns in this particular valley that brides les Baines is in.... They will email and post the list On Friday morning at 9am France time. Should be interesting to see who can afford the best data plan in Europe to upload the data the fastest after finding everything On the hunt....


----------



## Argo

We have all 25 of our check-in and another off day tomorrow, Thursday, before the finish On Friday. Gonna scope out all 3 towns. We know the runs pretty well now and have riden with quite a few others.... We have them on the speed while On snow.....

The adventure has been fun for sure...


----------



## snowklinger

NoOtherOptions said:


> What makes you think that? What makes you think they'll even allow people to camp out 3-4 days. Not saying you're wrong just curious how you're estimating.


my supposition was only based on NateDogggg's meaningless annual 1st chair exploits in CO, where he and his crew camp out basically for the weekend to ensure first chairs complete with stickers and t-shirts and....steeze...and cold asses...i guess....

I just hope Matt gets a top 10.

I wonder if 100+ americans running shitcrazy through that valley for 5 hours is going to piss off the locals....or go unnoticed....


----------



## tradnwaves4snow

Argo said:


> they changed the game, again.... It's going to.be a scavenger hunt across 3 towns in this particular valley that brides les Baines is in....


real! that is so stupid. should have organised their competition better. If you dont make top 10 I would consider writting a very professional letter to them pretty much stating they should give all 3 of you passes or else you'll look to take the matter further based on the amount of time and money you invested in their competition with the origional rule structure. 

good luck though! scavenger hunts can be really fun so there's that.


----------



## poutanen

Should have been: "Whoever rides 5000m of vert at each of the 26 resorts" Although that would end up with people actually racing on the last day...


----------



## NoOtherOptions

It seems like they didn't anticipate the intensity of this race. Nor did they anticipate the safety of racers. Because having 100 people running crazy trying to check in first seems like a fucking safety hazard. But I'm not surprised. Good luck to Argo's family, even if one person hits top 10 it'll be the worth the investment and memories right?!


----------



## trapper

poutanen said:


> Should have been: "Whoever rides 5000m of vert at each of the 26 resorts" Although that would end up with people actually racing on the last day...


No, nobody would have won because they'd all still be stuck at one of Michigan's smallest hills trying to get 5000 meters in.


----------



## Kevin137

80+ people all going for the same thing...!!!

It will be a question of who has the fastest available internet by the looks of it...!!!


----------



## hardasacatshead

Good luck Argo! Whether you guys win or not that's one hell of a trip you've been on and some memories you'll dine on for a long time. :thumbsup:


----------



## poutanen

Up to 118 people now on Day 25... They really didn't think this one through! Oh man, I'd be so pissed if I was the 11th guy. :dizzy:

Nevertheless, good luck!!!


----------



## SnowRock

Yeah interested in how they handle this now with 100+ people lining up for last spot


----------



## ShredLife

SnowRock said:


> Yeah interested in how they handle this now with 100+ people lining up for last spot


i'm guessing litigation.


----------



## Bones

Here's hoping they see the light and increase the number of prizes.


----------



## ETM

Good luck guys!


----------



## Zone

Hope you find it, this is pretty intresting i wish i was there to see the 100 + people looking for it :LP


----------



## tradnwaves4snow

Bones said:


> Here's hoping they see the light and increase the number of prizes.


if you look at the leaderboard, it could be argued that out of everyone that has entered and actually tried (done more than their close-by 10 resorts) 95% of the competitors are on 25/26 and all 130 of them should effectively tie tomorrow because picking winners based on position in a chair line, finding a few items and internet connection is just not right.

I hope they at least give all the people that finish 26/26 tomorrow a free epic pass for next year.


----------



## mhaas

> Yeah interested in how they handle this now with 100+ people lining up for last spot


Being that they are a mega corporation, they will spend 8 times the cost of giving everyone the lifetime pass fighting 11-130th place in court, and then jack up ticket prices to cover their losses.


----------



## IdahoFreshies

Argo said:


> It's not being allowed and they took the tourism office out of the equation. they changed the game, again.... It's going to.be a scavenger hunt across 3 towns in this particular valley that brides les Baines is in.... They will email and post the list On Friday morning at 9am France time. Should be interesting to see who can afford the best data plan in Europe to upload the data the fastest after finding everything On the hunt....


so wait what exactly are you racing around to find?

i think that is partly bull shit. you go through all this work to ride all the resorts and they throw in new rules to almost negate the work you have put in fairly and honestly. 

best of luck!!!!!


----------



## john doe

If it was me I would have double checked the official rules that were posted at the start of the race and finish in that way. Skip the added scavenger hunt and be the first to check in. Then just be an asshole until they gave me the passes.


----------



## kaborkian

IdahoFreshies said:


> so wait what exactly are you racing around to find?
> 
> i think that is partly bull shit. you go through all this work to ride all the resorts and they throw in new rules to almost negate the work you have put in fairly and honestly.
> 
> best of luck!!!!!


I think it's all bullshit. Can't change the rules at the end, especially if it means more days out of country for contestants.

Is today the day?


----------



## poutanen

kaborkian said:


> Is today the day?


Looks like a 6:4 skier to boarder ratio in the top ten. I thought it was going to be a bunch of two planker wankers!!! :dizzy:

Also, the leaderboard shows 129 people finished today! I hope they give every finisher at least SOMETHING to take the sting off...


----------



## Kevin137

I haven't read the rules that closely, but i can see that you had to post to Facebook with your photos as well, to snow.coms Facebook page, if that is the case, then the shit will hit the fan, as not many have actually done this...

And going by the timeline from the Facebook it looks like about 4 or 5 have done that...!!!

So being that it is Argo and his family, i would think they have a very good chance of picking up 4 of the passes...

And if not, i would be screen dumping everything and seeing a lawyer...!!!


----------



## Argo

There was a bunch of bullshit throughout the race. Rules changing, rules not being followed, officials looking the other way when bs was happening.. ... 

There are about 15 people that followed the rules. Us being 4 of them. I doubt that Rob Katz knows what is going on. Probably some PR / marketing dipshit that is gonna get fired now. 

Rules are rules. This is a competition and they should have stuck with their posted rules. They are givin. Everyone an epic pass for next year. 

The trip was amazing, apres aawesome and riding was meh, icey..... Steeeeep loooong runs....


----------



## IdahoFreshies

Argo said:


> There was a bunch of bullshit throughout the race. Rules changing, rules not being followed, officials looking the other way when bs was happening.. ...
> 
> There are about 15 people that followed the rules. Us being 4 of them. I doubt that Rob Katz knows what is going on. Probably some PR / marketing dipshit that is gonna get fired now.
> 
> Rules are rules. This is a competition and they should have stuck with their posted rules. They are givin. Everyone an epic pass for next year.
> 
> The trip was amazing, apres aawesome and riding was meh, icey..... Steeeeep loooong runs....


so...did you get the passes???!?!!!!


----------



## NoOtherOptions

Argo said:


> There was a bunch of bullshit throughout the race. Rules changing, rules not being followed, officials looking the other way when bs was happening.. ...
> 
> There are about 15 people that followed the rules. Us being 4 of them. I doubt that Rob Katz knows what is going on. Probably some PR / marketing dipshit that is gonna get fired now.
> 
> Rules are rules. This is a competition and they should have stuck with their posted rules. They are givin. Everyone an epic pass for next year.
> 
> The trip was amazing, apres aawesome and riding was meh, icey..... Steeeeep loooong runs....


So wait, what happened? who won?


----------



## NoOtherOptions

Again as I've stated before, I'm an attorney in Az. But not in Colo (not yet at least I'm pending my BG check there) but all the same don't accept any shit from them if you think you might have won fairly. If you accept anything, it can be seen as a form of settlement or an admission of guilt (on their end). That's why when people get hurt in hotels or dining establishments generally they try to profusely apologize and avoid comping shit. So decide what you want your end goal to be BEFORE you say yes to any offer they give.


----------



## Argo

I'll wait until I'm home to make that decision. we would be top 10 but apparently they are stickers for the rules on the last day, just not the first 28 days. We were finished quickly but didn't have the epicrace stickers visible in out pictures, which was a new rule for last day, so we had to do the photos Over again. 

The snow.com upload was supposed to be mandatory, clear face and visible location also mandatory through the whole race. There might be 10-15 people that had all of the rules followed. The guys in #1-2 skinned up to the first location, against the rules.... They uploaded in 28 minutes from start time which is impossible without cheating. lift times alone are 35+ minutes.


----------



## Deacon

Hopefully Vail's poor management of the race doesn't rob you of the joy of the experience. Also, hopefully hopefully they get their poop in a group. Nice job regardless! :thumbsup:


----------



## legallyillegal

rules changing to benefit the privileged few?! NO FUCKING WAY!


----------



## chomps1211

My 2₵,... 

If they (Vail) have been even the slightest bit inconsistent about the rules at ANY point during this race? If they've allowed ANYONE in the top ten to slide on a technicality,.. at any point in the race? Then they need to give _everyone_ who finished an Epic pass for life! _EVERYONE!!!
_ Even if that involves giving those lifetime passes to over 100 finishers/participants!!!

What would that cost Vail in reality over the entirety of their Resort Empire? What could that possibly put them out monetarily over the entire course of the 100 or so participants visits over their lifetime?

....*Nothing*, that's what! 

Their resorts will _still_ open every year. They will _still_ have the same operating expenses & overhead they always have! They will _still_ rake in Millions of dollars in lift ticket and Pass sales, along with all the other monies spent by all their usual customers/visitors! _And_ that's not even considering any of the money that all the Contest's Epic Pass holders will likely spend in/on and around their resort properties!

If they wind up going the "Buttweasel" route and disqualifying some but not others in order to only give out original number of 10 Lifetime Epic passes, after fouling up the implementation of this race and the rules governing it?

....We here at SBF and anyone else in the ski/snowboard community should mount a full on, social media negative public relations nightmare for Vail Resorts, the likes of which they have never seen!!!!!

Now _THAT_?!!? _That_ might actually wind up costing them something! Certainly a lot more than giving out a few dozen more lifetime passes would, that's for sure!!!


----------



## mojo maestro

legallyillegal said:


> rules changing to benefit the privileged few?! NO FUCKING WAY!


Where do you live? It's always been that way.................'merica........fuck yea!


----------



## Deacon

What are they, $650 for an individual pass? So, it'd be like $65,000 a year... Probably cheaper than the lawyers and PR to clean it up if they give em the shaft.


----------



## chomps1211

The Deacon said:


> What are they, $650 for an individual pass? So, it'd be like $65,000 a year... Probably cheaper than the lawyers and PR to clean it up if they give em the shaft.


Exactly!!!! $65K won't even cover the retainer for a high priced team of corporate lawyers! ...and that's assuming all the race participants are/would be regular Epic pass purchasers, which I doubt they all are!

Vail fouled up thinking thru the implementation of the rules for this race. For them to now penalize anyone who spent a fortune out of pocket to actually end up making it as finalist? That's some serious Buttweasel BS!

Now, for them to admit their mistake(s) in that regard and reward everyone who made it to the final check in? _That_ buys them some serious PR karma & goodwill! 


They can either be the Snowsport equivalent of Santa Clause,... or they can be the Scrooge! With all the PR headaches that will entail! Their choice!


----------



## DevilWithin

Hey Argo -- really glad you and the family were able to complete the Epic Race. I'm sure all of the memories from that experience are worth more than any lifetime pass or the money you spent doing it. Happy for you guys!

Sorry to hear about the rule changing BS though. Let's all hope they do the right thing and give you guys lifetime passes. If not, you've got hundreds of people on here that would be happy to voice up against Vail Resorts. Nothing like bad PR to help a corporation find some religion.

Happy Holidays! I'm stoked to be heading out tomorrow for my 2nd trip snowboarding...I hope all of you enjoy whatever it is you have planned.


----------



## Argo

There are quite a few already Talking about lawyering up. they have not posted final results or the outcome of it at this point.

The experience has been awesome though. Fucking great apres that should.happen in the US.... I think everyone should experience this type of trip at some point in their lives, the European Resorts part... Not necessarily the Midwest. Although it made me respect what I have in my backyard more!!


----------



## snowklinger

Argo said:


> There are quite a few already Talking about lawyering up. they have not posted final results or the outcome of it at this point.
> 
> The experience has been awesome though. * Fucking great apres *that should.happen in the US.... I think everyone should experience this type of trip at some point in their lives, the European Resorts part... Not necessarily the Midwest. Although it made me respect what I have in my backyard more!!


how is it better/different? :dunno: 

I would think you being a Vail guy would have higher standards to compare than most?

/curiousnoob


----------



## Kevin137

snowklinger said:


> how is it better/different? :dunno:
> 
> I would think you being a Vail guy would have higher standards to compare than most?
> 
> /curiousnoob


The Europeans ski/board until the bars open, then the mountains become deserted while everyone gets mad drunk... Haha


----------



## snowklinger

Kevin137 said:


> The Europeans ski/board until the bars open, then the mountains become deserted while everyone gets mad drunk... Haha


sounds like normal behavior....


----------



## Argo

At the particular places we visited, it's like a club explodes onto the side of the mountain at around 3pm. not just at the base area.... I'll post a picture of where we were last night.... Maybe a video too.


----------



## Kevin137

Argo said:


> At the particular places we visited, it's like a club explodes onto the side of the mountain at around 3pm. not just at the base area.... I'll post a picture of where we were last night.... Maybe a video too.


That is most places in Europe, even in Norway where the beer is expensive that is the same...!!!

$15 for a beer and you can't get near the bar...!!!


----------



## Argo

And when I say club. I'm talking full On dj, live music, dancers, light shows, debauchery that would get you jailed in Vail or anywhere in the US.


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## Deacon

Argo said:


> And when I say club. I'm talking full On dj, live music, dancers, light shows, debauchery that would get you jailed in Vail or anywhere in the US.


Soooo... You're moving then?


----------



## lalaboard

Argo said:


> And when I say club. I'm talking full On dj, live music, dancers, light shows, debauchery that would get you jailed in Vail or anywhere in the US.


There is a tv show here in the UK that gives a very good insight into the craziness Argo has described "Snow, Sex and Suspicious parents" 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03hy7qs


----------



## Kevin137

I am still gobsmacked by the way this comp was organised and run, so much so, that i emailed them... And gave them a piece of my mind.... 



> Hello
> 
> Having watched the fun from the start, and followed the progress of many a participant, and having thought about actually involving myself, i would now like to pass comment…
> 
> I am really glad i did NOT involve myself with what appears to be a sham of a marketing ploy that costs people thousands in the process…! i know some people who where involved, and put hard work into this, made sacrifices and had a lot of support, to only see rule changes, flagrant breaches, and downright ignoring the most basic of rules…
> 
> As a company of your size, and with the rules clearly stated, i believe that you have 2 very simple choices, upset an awful lot of people by giving the 10 lifetime tickets to people who did not follow the rules, or swallow and give ALL the finishers lifetime passes…
> 
> I can see this becoming a nightmare for you with litigation, and bad press, i suggest you have a nose around some ski and snowboard forums to see just what impact this could have on you…
> 
> I am guessing that the bad press and defending any possible litigation could possibly cause you a hell of a lot more damage than the choice to award 10 lifetime passes to people who have not abided by the rules…
> 
> Rules are there for a purpose, why have them, if you as the competition organisers are not going to follow them…
> 
> Your business could suffer big losses as a result, but hey that is only my opinion, and it is your business to damage after all...
> 
> All i have left to ask is…
> 
> Are you gonna man up, follow your own posted rules for the winners, or get a really bad time when the shit hits the fan…
> 
> I’m curious…
> 
> Regards
> 
> K Hancox


----------



## Argo

Kevin137 said:


> I am still gobsmacked by the way this comp was organised and run, so much so, that i emailed them... And gave them a piece of my mind....


Nice letter Kevin.

Deacon, the thought has crossed my mind but we will likely travel here a few more times. Zurich is a great city too, been here the past day or so. Flying out in a couple hours.


----------



## IdahoFreshies

Argo said:


> I'll wait until I'm home to make that decision. we would be top 10 but apparently they are stickers for the rules on the last day, just not the first 28 days. We were finished quickly but didn't have the epicrace stickers visible in out pictures, which was a new rule for last day, so we had to do the photos Over again.
> 
> The snow.com upload was supposed to be mandatory, clear face and visible location also mandatory through the whole race. There might be 10-15 people that had all of the rules followed. The guys in #1-2 skinned up to the first location, against the rules.... They uploaded in 28 minutes from start time which is impossible without cheating. lift times alone are 35+ minutes.


what a complete cluster fuck!!! Anticipating how this plays out like everyone else


----------



## Kevin137

Maybe more people should email them, if they get enough they will realise the error of there ways, but at least they will see it coming...

And it takes no time at all...!!!

I'm all for Argo and his family getting lifetime fro FOLLOWING THE RULES CORRECTLY that is for sure...!!!

The address is [email protected]

So easily done...


----------



## DevilWithin

Good thinking...I just sent the following email:

Dear Vail Resorts,

Season's greetings from an Epic Pass holder, visitor of your resorts, and a patron of your hotel properties. I'm writing you to provide some feedback and express some concerns over the Epic Race that just concluded.

I've been following the Epic Race since I know a family that participated in the event. It appears that you continually changed the rules during the event and didn't even enforce them properly until the end. There are hard working people that took time off from work and spent a good bit of their savings to compete. It reflects poorly on Vail Resorts and has me reconsidering my future plans to vacation at your properties. 

I would like to suggest that you do the right thing and grant everyone that completed the event on Friday a lifetime pass. This will more than pay for itself in the goodwill and customer service it demonstrates. The positive press you receive will more than compensate for the expense in the long run. The alternative will result in a lot of negative PR and backlash from your customers. I'm also reading about participants pursuing legal action, which is costly and damaging to an organizations reputation. I'm already reading quite a bit of negative press on the snowboarding / skiing forums. Please do the right thing.

Have a Happy Holiday!

Sincerely,

-Kevin Gallagher


----------



## kaborkian

Dear Vail resorts,

My family and I have vacationed at various ski resorts in Colorado over the last several years, including: keystone, copper mountain, winter park, sol vista, etc. This year we have chosen to visit breckenridge not once, but twice. Each outing costs my family thousands of dollars, and brings money into the Colorado economy. This year specifically, we have purchased 6 epic passes, will be renting gear from vail resorts on both trips, staying in vail resorts condos, eating at vail resorts restaurants, etc. In short, a lot of our annual expendable income will go to vail resorts. We are planning to continue our twice annual ski/board trips to colorado for the foreseeable future. Conservatively, I would estimate we have spent $50,000 in the last 6 years, and will spend in excess of $100,000 over the next decade at Colorado resorts.

The reason I'm writing to you is to express my concern about how the epic race is being handled. I have been following the epic race journey that has taken place over the last few weeks. Many people have spent tens of thousands of dollars to participate. They have taken this race very seriously. I can't say the same about vail resorts. The rules have been bent, ignored, and flat out changed during the course of the race. In fact, the first 2 finishers posted final pictures earlier than was possible had they used the lifts (skinned or hiked up when the rules specifically say this is not acceptable). Others have posted pictures with covered faces. Others still have not met the minimum time in videos. I'm sure there are other examples. My key point here is that this contest was poorly run, and rules were changed at your whim. People who followed the rules explicitly were in fact penalized for doing so, and therefore did not place in the top ten.

I look forward to seeing how vail resorts handles this travesty of PR, as is a large online snowboard and ski community. It will have a direct effect on my choice of where I spend my hard earned $100,000 over the next 10 years.

Regards,

Epic pass holder x family of 6


----------



## NoOtherOptions

I'm glad the forum is reaching out. Any chance BA could post some more of his thoughts? He already railed against it once.


----------



## jtg

Maybe I'm a cynic, but I doubt Vail cares about what this forum thinks, and the "legal fees and PR damage" won't cost nearly as much as giving everyone a lifetime pass. They're a very large public company that does over $200M in revenue. They don't know or care what angrysnowboarder.com is. Argo is going to have to fight his own battle on this one, possibly in arbitration. Court isn't an option apparently, because contestants agreed to waive that right in the contest rules.

"Interpretations of these Contest rules and determinations of the final Winners will be made at Sponsor’s discretion."

"Arbitration; Choice of Law. Except where prohibited, participants agree that (1): any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, or any prize awarded, or the determination of the winner shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by arbitration pursuant to the J.A.M.S. Rules of Arbitration, then effective, and (2) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering the Contest but in no event attorneys' fees; and (3) under no circumstances will participant be permitted to obtain awards for and participant hereby waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased. "


tl;dr whatever Vail decides, goes, BS or not. If it's true that Argo's crew were among the first to properly complete the tasks, then I'm totally on his side, but looking at the situation objectively, it's going to come down to Vail doing whatever they want. MAYBE if someone went to the media they would cave in and be fair, but until then, a handful of emails are not going to be persuasive.


----------



## DevilWithin

You might be right. I've also seen first hand how bad PR can influence a positive outcome. Who knows...I just figured the 2 minutes it took me to send a note might make a difference and help out a cool family. Worse case is 2 minutes of my life was lost while I was on a flight out to Colorado to stay at one of their resorts. If everyone spends 2 minutes it becomes something much greater than any one letter in isolation. I prefer to focus on a possible positive outcome, but I do see your pragmatic perspective. I just prefer to live my life by taking action...it's all good.


----------



## Argo

Thanks for the positive feedback.

JTg, Going in to it we did note these waivers.... You just don't ever expect a huge Corp to be grossly negligent about following their own rules(ok, maybe not). Rules that never changed through the entire race. They just chose to enforce Some rules when the wanted and waive them at other times.


----------



## Argo

Anyhow, chillin in D.C. Waiting to fly home so we can hit the powder tomorrow


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## Unkept Porpoise

I smell a class action suit.


----------



## NoOtherOptions

jtg said:


> Maybe I'm a cynic, but I doubt Vail cares about what this forum thinks, and the "legal fees and PR damage" won't cost nearly as much as giving everyone a lifetime pass. They're a very large public company that does over $200M in revenue. They don't know or care what angrysnowboarder.com is. Argo is going to have to fight his own battle on this one, possibly in arbitration. Court isn't an option apparently, because contestants agreed to waive that right in the contest rules.
> 
> "Interpretations of these Contest rules and determinations of the final Winners will be made at Sponsor’s discretion."
> 
> "Arbitration; Choice of Law. Except where prohibited, participants agree that (1): any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, or any prize awarded, or the determination of the winner shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by arbitration pursuant to the J.A.M.S. Rules of Arbitration, then effective, and (2) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering the Contest but in no event attorneys' fees; and (3) under no circumstances will participant be permitted to obtain awards for and participant hereby waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased. "
> 
> 
> tl;dr whatever Vail decides, goes, BS or not. If it's true that Argo's crew were among the first to properly complete the tasks, then I'm totally on his side, but looking at the situation objectively, it's going to come down to Vail doing whatever they want. MAYBE if someone went to the media they would cave in and be fair, but until then, a handful of emails are not going to be persuasive.


You realize mandatory arbitration clauses where it results from unequal bargaining power are usually thrown out right? Thanks armchair lawyer. Appreciate it.


----------



## NoOtherOptions

Argo said:


> Thanks for the positive feedback.
> 
> JTg, Going in to it we did note these waivers.... You just don't ever expect a huge Corp to be grossly negligent about following their own rules(ok, maybe not). Rules that never changed through the entire race. They just chose to enforce Some rules when the wanted and waive them at other times.


Other issues can be waived. Such as waiver of clauses, bad faith, etc. There's arguments to be made about how as soon as they broke the terms of their own contract other issues arise. Iron clad boilerplate language like what they included is often ignored and/or thrown out/edited by courts. "Take it or leave it" is not a type of negotiation courts enjoy dealing with. Mostly it's there to scare people off. But if there's 100 people, arguing over 65k yearly in benefits there's a real strong chance at a class action.


----------



## readimag

Argo said:


> Anyhow, chillin in D.C. Waiting to fly home so we can hit the powder tomorrow


That is my area bro, wish I would have know I could take you and the family out for some good food downtown on M st or Dupont circle areas.


----------



## twintipwonder

Argo,

Looking from your pictures on here - I think I ran into you in the final après ski party. At any rate;

The thing that really chaps my ass - is that the stickers were found and compromised the night before. The Liu family actually did the right thing when they found a location. They called it in. They deleted the location from the places to find. Many others found the other locations. And won. 

Oh. And add in the fact that taxis were considered public transportation. And i know for a fact a few top tens used one. 

Where were all the vail execs? How about more than an intern and a washed up Olympian? I really don't even think vail knows what a travesty this thing was. 

What we were promised is a fair shot at this thing. Which we weren't given. I'm pissed. I know many other who are too. This is far, far from over.


----------



## chomps1211

I'm guessing that Vail may just have some idea. I've done a little "Googling" and so far, No mention whatsoever of the race results. Seems odd, as well as a little telling considering their promotion of the race before the final day. 

Still hoping they do the right thing by all the ppl who finished. 

Anyway, congratulations to Argo and his family for an amazing accomplishment and adventure!


----------



## Kevin137

Looks like Vail could be on th receiving end of a shitstorm for there running of this comp...!!!

And so it should be...!!!

Looking forward to seeing the OFFICIAL response when it eventually comes...


----------



## Argo

That's another of the b.s. Things, the emails were very clear that taxis were not ok and people still used them. Twintipwonder, who are you?


----------



## Argo

Here's a shot from the last apres day in Meribel France.


----------



## kaborkian

Just received an answer from vail.

Basically says if anyone broke a rule, they are out. Taking it serious, 3 days of reviewing, leaderboard is meaningless, will publish results after Christmas.

We'll see...


----------



## ShredLife




----------



## jtg

Yeah if you read the rules, it says the list is updated automatically based on upload time, and it is "unofficial". They are going through everything after the contest and will publish the official list. Until they do that, nobody has won anything.

However, good luck proving 100 people broke rules, especially when it was stuff like taking taxis, which they can't possibly keep track of. It still sounds like it will be a shit show.


----------



## DevilWithin

I just got a reply this afternoon too...see below:

Hi Kevin,
Thank you very much for taking the time to give us your feedback. As you may or may not know, we have not announced the final winners. In fact, we are not announcing the final winners until our team has had the opportunity to verify all racer content, as well as investigate verifiable violations of official Epic Race rules and regulations.
Anyone who has verifiably broken official contest rules will get disqualified, whether their name is currently on the leader board or not. In other words, we wouldn’t put too much weight on the names that are currently visible on the leader board, as the line-up is subject to change after our verification process.

Additionally, despite having to adjust our plan to accommodate for ensuring the safety of all race participants, due to things like unexpected weather or maintaining crowd control, we are quite confident that the rules remained as consistent as possible throughout the entire duration of the Epic Race.

Your friends’ accomplishment is amazing and we hope they are basking in a celebration of completing all 26 resorts. Remember, all race finishers are getting a free Epic Pass for next season, as a reward for their EPIC achievement!

Meanwhile, we will announce the finalists by EOD Tuesday. Please rest assured that we are taking the validation process very seriously, which is why we are taking 3-business days to announce the winners.

Again, thanks for your feedback.

The Epic Race Team


----------



## Argo

jtg said:


> Yeah if you read the rules, it says the list is updated automatically based on upload time, and it is "unofficial". They are going through everything after the contest and will publish the official list. Until they do that, nobody has won anything.
> 
> However, good luck proving 100 people broke rules, especially when it was stuff like taking taxis, which they can't possibly keep track of. It still sounds like it will be a shit show.


Very aware of that, this is why I have not really done anything further about it. Waiting until they post results. 

Feel free to go through the pictures and videos with regards to rules violations. There are plenty of them throughout the race. When I emailed them about the obvious ones that are on submitted videos and photos, they said they were not worried about it and giving people slack on the rules. This is the problem.... Taxi, skinning, finding checkpoints days before and taking photos early.... hard to prove but when they submit photo and video for the race that is in violation of rules, that is where I have the problem. I went through 60 peoples submissions and MAYBE 1 in 6 was according to the rules, throughout the race. 

This is another problem that they could argue, epicrace should have told them of their violations immediately and had them redo the submission. This is how it worked on the final day of competition for the 130 people that finished that day. If it is good for the last day of comp, the rules should also be good for the first day. We were very high on the leader-board and were told to redo our submissions because the stickers were not visible in our origional pictures(the epicrace stickers were new to the last day). That put us WAY down on the leader-board. If you look through all of the peoples videos throughout the race from day 1, there are about 15 people that followed the rules to the T.... 

I dont care if we are #12-15 on that list but I want #1-10 to have followed the rules throughout the race. :dunno:

again, this is not a last day problem, this is a day 1 - the end problem.


----------



## Argo

Also JTG, the leaderboard changed constantly throughout the final day with people getting knocked off for submissions that didnt have a clear epicrace sticker in it. Alot of people will still be knocked off that list. They stopped changing it around noon on friday which is around the time everyone finished with checkins.


----------



## Kevin137

I got this reply as well.....

Hi Kevin,

Thank you very much for taking the time to give us your feedback. As you may or may not know, we have not announced the final winners. In fact, we are not announcing the final winners until our team has had the opportunity to verify all racer content, as well as investigate verifiable violations of official Epic Race rules and regulations.
Anyone who has verifiably broken official contest rules will get disqualified, whether their name is currently on the leader board or not. In other words, we wouldn’t put too much weight on the names that are currently visible on the leader board, as the line-up is subject to change after our verification process.
Meanwhile, we will announce the finalists by EOD Tuesday. Please rest assured that we are taking the validation process very seriously, which is why we are taking 3-business days to announce the winners.

Again, thanks for your feedback.
The Epic Race Staff


----------



## Argo

Who knows, maybe the extra outside input will make them look that much closer at the submissions overall.


----------



## kaborkian

DevilWithin said:


> I just got a reply this afternoon too...see below:
> 
> Hi Kevin,
> Thank you very much for taking the time to give us your feedback. As you may or may not know, we have not announced the final winners. In fact, we are not announcing the final winners until our team has had the opportunity to verify all racer content, as well as investigate verifiable violations of official Epic Race rules and regulations.
> Anyone who has verifiably broken official contest rules will get disqualified, whether their name is currently on the leader board or not. In other words, we wouldn’t put too much weight on the names that are currently visible on the leader board, as the line-up is subject to change after our verification process.
> 
> Additionally, despite having to adjust our plan to accommodate for ensuring the safety of all race participants, due to things like unexpected weather or maintaining crowd control, we are quite confident that the rules remained as consistent as possible throughout the entire duration of the Epic Race.
> 
> Your friends’ accomplishment is amazing and we hope they are basking in a celebration of completing all 26 resorts. Remember, all race finishers are getting a free Epic Pass for next season, as a reward for their EPIC achievement!
> 
> Meanwhile, we will announce the finalists by EOD Tuesday. Please rest assured that we are taking the validation process very seriously, which is why we are taking 3-business days to announce the winners.
> 
> Again, thanks for your feedback.
> 
> The Epic Race Team


Figured as much, this is a cookie cutter form letter, same one I got.

Argo, agreed. If you don't make the top ten and it's legit, then so be it. But if someone broke an original contest rule and is ahead of you, well, a shitstorm needs to be unleashed.


----------



## john doe

Argo, if you haven't already, download and store all the photo/video submissions of the other racers. Better to have that "evidence" and not need then to have Vail delete it all and leave you with no source for argument.


----------



## Kevin137

ARE THEY FOR REAL...???

They have announced the OFFICIAL results now, and it is a joke...!!!

Role on the legal action they will be facing...!!!


----------



## jtg

What do you mean it is a joke? I just see a list of names. What's the issue with the current list exactly?


----------



## Kevin137

The rules they posted where very specific, including rule 10 which states...

Do I need to post my photos and video to Snow.com’s Facebook page?

Yes, after completing your resort submission, don’t forget to share them with Snow.com on Facebook: facebook.com/snowdotcom.

And the problem with that is no more than 12 have done this, meaning the official results are people who did not follow the rules, and as such should of been disqualified, and as the rules where broken i can see them heading for a shit storm...!!!

It will certainly get them a lot of very bad press the way they have run this...!!!


----------



## jtg

Interesting. Not sure if I'm looking at the facebook page properly or if there are other places that contestants could post, but it looks like Argo's crew were one of the only ones to post to the FB page on the 20th.

Check out the arbitration form. $400 per party to even be heard.

http://www.jamsadr.com/files/Uploads/Documents/JAMS_Arbitration_Demand.pdf


----------



## Kevin137

Well i have emailed them AGAIN...

And spoken my mind, and this is what was said...

Hello

Thank you for taking the time to reply, and i was fascinated to see how you would deal with this, and how the rules where followed.

The link for SUPPORT clearly shows the rules, and as such, should of been followed. Now i know it is YOUR competition, and the rules are subject to change, but rule no 10 clearly states…

Do I need to post my photos and video to Snow.com’s Facebook page?
Yes, after completing your resort submission, don’t forget to share them with Snow.com on Facebook: facebook.com/snowdotcom.


https://epicrace.epicpass.com/pages/support

So with this in mind, please could you let me know, which of the 130 or so finishers actually followed this rule…???

I can see 10 maybe 12 might of done this, and with that being the case, and the fact that other people who are in the list clearly could no of followed the rules by either skinning or hiking up and posting pictures before the 1st lift actually arrived at the top, it seems that you may in fact of not followed your own rules…!!!

As such, and the response i received previously, which was clearly a generic response sent to everyone who asked the same questions, i will now ask, at what point does this become a cost to participants that have now been left out of pocket due to you not following the posted rules…???

I am curious because it seems very unfair when people took the time and trouble along with considerable expense to participate in what was essentially a marketing ploy, that will, in my mind seriously backfire now.

There was already a shitstorm brewing, and this clearly shows your contempt for people who invested heavily in participating.

I can honestly say, with hand on heart, that unless this is corrected, i will never visit any resort that you operate as a result. I hope that many others do exactly the same, and that you become the victim of a boycott that does YOU harm financially the way that the true winners of this have been done harm by you.

I don’t expect a reply, i don’t expect you to do the right thing, as a big corporation you probably don’t care, but the internet is a powerful thing, and you may be surprised just how much damage you can do to yourselves with this attitude.

Regards

K Hancox


----------



## jtg

The official rules do not say they have to be posted to snowdotcom's facebook page.

"Photos- Racers must be visible in all photos. Children under the age of 13 who are competing with a parent/guardian must also be visible in all photos. Photos must be uploaded to the Epic Race site and also uploaded to Facebook. Note: by uploading photos to the Epic Race site, photos may be posted to Facebook. Photos must include the Epic Race hashtag: #epicrace."

Nor does it say anything about skinning up not being allowed. In fact it sounds like anyone who skinned up was just playing smart.


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## Kevin137

I don't think they are the rules, just advisories, but it was my understanding that the rules did include those points, it would be interesting to see a full copy of the rules though...!!!

If they are included, then they really do have problems...!!!


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## Argo

Jtg I'm glad your so in tune to the rules that are not published in complete form to the public. Here is an excerpt from the rule your stating that is not in its complete form. You are right about the skinning not being a rule. If fell under the "against home resort rules" it is against the local law and resort regulation in 3 valleys to skin On piste after hours. 

§ Don’t forget to share on Facebook on your own page and on Snow.com’s page: https://www.facebook.com/snowdotcom (this is mandatory to at least post to Snow.com’s Facebook page)


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## Argo

There is a group of racers meeting about the mismanagement of this contest. they even admit to us in our email that they mismanaged it and apologized.


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## Kevin137

Argo said:


> There is a group of racers meeting about the mismanagement of this contest. they even admit to us in our email that they mismanaged it and apologized.


Lets hope you get it sorted, but i have had my say to them, and i don't think they will listen, but it can't do any harm that is for sure...

If the legal route is chosen, then ANY and ALL emails sent prior to there final decision, may be helpful as they will have no argument to the fact that they where raised as issues before they published results...

I hope it does help anyway...

Good luck with trying to get it sorted, and keep us up to date...


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## chomps1211

Can someone maybe post a link, or email address to contact the officials in charge of this fiasco? Maybe it's time for an All Out showing of support for the race participants that didn't bend, break, disregard, misinterpret, or otherwise foul up following the rules. 

A shitload of emails coming from folks who did not directly participate the race might help them to appreciate the enormity of the negative PR reaction this is generating. Might entice them to a "come to Jesus" revelation to do right by everyone involved. 

....just a thought! (I'll try to keep the "creepy" to a minimum in my email complaint to them!) lol!


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## jtg

I'm just going by what's on the site. An FAQ question was quoted as a rule. They do sound official in their wording on the FAQ, and they contradict the "official contest rules" as they are labeled and posted at https://epicrace.epicpass.com/pages/rules-regulations-and-privacy-policy so that's definitely misleading. If there is a separate set of "official rules" that only racers got, I don't know anything about that.

Here is what I would do. If you truly were in the top 10 according to the rules, get everyone in a group to split the $400 to pay for a test case. This way it only costs you each $40 to file the complaint. If the guy you choose wins, and you have a similar claim, then everyone else knows its safe to spend the $400 and make their own claim. There can only be 10 winners though, so it doesn't really make sense to have a group of larger than ten. If you're #95, you're going to need proof that each of the 85 people ahead of you broke rules. You can't just say that the whole contest went to shit so everyone is entitled to the passes. It sounds like the facebook thing might be an option though according to the non-public rules you have. It clearly shows you guys as the only ones posting there.

Even better if one of the would-be winners is from California and makes under 60k/year, then the arbitration fee is waived (see page 4 of the arbitration dispute form). If their case fails with some bullshit reason then you know not to waste your money in arbitration.


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## Argo

Yeah. That iI the problem, they say one thing and do another. Say something else and then again, do something else. The rules don't say something but it heats enforced, then clear rules are not enforced. 

Kirsten lynch

[email protected]

That is the CMO of Vail resorts.


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## Argo

Kevin, we have absolutely saved every email from the start when it was clear that it was going to be a cluster tuck...


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## ARSENALFAN

My magic 8 ball says your all getting lifetime passes. A "one and done"
:eusa_clap:


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## BurtonAvenger

NoOtherOptions said:


> I'm glad the forum is reaching out. Any chance BA could post some more of his thoughts? He already railed against it once.


I wouldn't call it rallied, more or less mocked it because it was a stupid idea. 



jtg said:


> Maybe I'm a cynic, but I doubt Vail cares about what this forum thinks, and the "legal fees and PR damage" won't cost nearly as much as giving everyone a lifetime pass. They're a very large public company that does over $200M in revenue. They don't know or care what angrysnowboarder.com is. Argo is going to have to fight his own battle on this one, possibly in arbitration. Court isn't an option apparently, because contestants agreed to waive that right in the contest rules.


Vail Resorts and Rob Katz know me well. That guy and I went toe to toe when I worked in their retail division and it cost me a job. 

Truth is whole thing was a blunder from the start. I'm going to mock it since they decided to send me a nice press release about it. Everything I thought would happen did. 

Anyone that thinks Vail is really going to care about some butt hurt individuals on line has another thing coming. It takes a lot to rustle their jollies, I've done it once before. The end result is not going to be what you want.


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## snowklinger

BurtonAvenger said:


> The end result is not going to be what you want.


:eusa_clap::eusa_clap::eusa_clap:


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## NoOtherOptions

BurtonAvenger said:


> I wouldn't call it rallied, more or less mocked it because it was a stupid idea.
> 
> 
> 
> Vail Resorts and Rob Katz know me well. That guy and I went toe to toe when I worked in their retail division and it cost me a job.
> 
> Truth is whole thing was a blunder from the start. I'm going to mock it since they decided to send me a nice press release about it. Everything I thought would happen did.
> 
> Anyone that thinks Vail is really going to care about some butt hurt individuals on line has another thing coming. It takes a lot to rustle their jollies, I've done it once before. The end result is not going to be what you want.


I said railed, as in "fuck these clowns" not "rallied." Just saying. 

Mind sharing your toe to toe story?


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## snowklinger

NoOtherOptions said:


> I said railed, as in "fuck these clowns" not "rallied." Just saying.


I noticed that...captain reading comprehension himself....smooch!

Sometimes its hard for me to read things also, just saying, brain....durr


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## killclimbz

Pretry sure ba meant railed. Or maybe he did get a bunch a cheerleaders in skimpy outfits and had a jamboree in front of VR's corporate office.


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## rider89

did anyone on here actually win the pass? Sorry didn't read through the whole thread if it was already mentioned.


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## Argo

No, it seems they were hand picked. I was initially ahead of a couple of top 10 people. Somehow they were all in the final week edit too, before the results were posted. 

There is a group of about 70 people, mostly high ranking corporate people, attorneys, rich people and a few like me that are average working people that are pissed and pushing to do something. The problem that they may not have foreseen is that a few competitors have more money in the bank than they do and took the competition seriously, like I guess they do with their own financial lives...... There will be more to this story, I'll throw my name in the group with them but I'll let them lead the surge as I have zero money to fight it.


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## snowklinger

BurtonAvenger said:


> The end result is not going to be what you want.





snowklinger said:


> :eusa_clap::eusa_clap::eusa_clap:





Argo said:


> No, it seems they were hand picked.


Even though doing it right and fair would cost them nothing but fantastic PR, they will take the easiest, quickest, cheapest way out. Typical of a huge company in our world acting with the lowest ethics simply because they can afford to not give a fuck, and they know the public is too lazy (I'm not saying ur lazy Argo, I get the money thing, I'm saying until people are willing to torch some buildings and set some cars on fire....)to actually do anything, same situation with the gov't, but digressing......

At least u guys had a cool trip Argo, maybe its time to move the family to Durango!

I could take a lifetime ban from Vail Resorts, as long as it came with a t-shirt or hat so I can brag.


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## IdahoFreshies

Argo said:


> No, it seems they were hand picked. I was initially ahead of a couple of top 10 people. Somehow they were all in the final week edit too, before the results were posted.
> 
> There is a group of about 70 people, mostly high ranking corporate people, attorneys, rich people and a few like me that are average working people that are pissed and pushing to do something. The problem that they may not have foreseen is that a few competitors have more money in the bank than they do and took the competition seriously, like I guess they do with their own financial lives...... There will be more to this story, I'll throw my name in the group with them but I'll let them lead the surge as I have zero money to fight it.


I am so sorry to hear that man! You and your family were what this contest should have been designed for! Normal people working their asses off to get a chance at an epic pass. You did everything your were supposed too and competed honestly and you got screwed for it! That pisses me off so much! I wish you the best of luck. Absolute bull shit that you spent all of that time and money for them to fuck you over. I hope it gets resolved properly.


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## NoOtherOptions

Argo said:


> No, it seems they were hand picked. I was initially ahead of a couple of top 10 people. Somehow they were all in the final week edit too, before the results were posted.
> 
> There is a group of about 70 people, mostly high ranking corporate people, attorneys, rich people and a few like me that are average working people that are pissed and pushing to do something. The problem that they may not have foreseen is that a few competitors have more money in the bank than they do and took the competition seriously, like I guess they do with their own financial lives...... There will be more to this story, I'll throw my name in the group with them but I'll let them lead the surge as I have zero money to fight it.


If they do a class action, you don't need to toss money in. As that'd be a civil suit, any attorney would be working on a commission not a fee. Additionally, if they chose to file as a class action they can't leave people out because they arn't as financially invested. It's mostly done for efficiency reasons (dont want 5 cases clogging the courts because people can't get along). So you're golden if they do file.


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## Argo

Apparently there is a large firm already involved looking over the data, changes and lack of abiding by the rules of their own competition. I'm on their radar already. Their is also some other charges in their because they did not control their competition and events. Some events got out of control and a few female kids were exposed to inappropriate behavior by some older guys, there was zero control at these events so they may hold VA liable.


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## NoOtherOptions

Argo said:


> Apparently there is a large firm already involved looking over the data, changes and lack of abiding by the rules of their own competition. I'm on their radar already. Their is also some other charges in their because they did not control their competition and events. Some events got out of control and a few female kids were exposed to inappropriate behavior by some older guys, there was zero control at these events so they may hold VA liable.


I'm curious, got any stories?


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## Argo

Which story type are you looking for?


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## hardasacatshead

Argo said:


> Which story type are you looking for?


I'm going to guess the vulgar type


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## Argo

There was a large party in meribel, I posted a picture earlier in this thread, where some people got neked. Bareass neked.... It was def a mixed crowd. It was a sponsored party but had zero control. A lot of fun for seasoned partiers but not for the faint of heart.


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## snowklinger

Argo said:


> There was a large party in meribel, I posted a picture earlier in this thread, where some people got neked. Bareass neked.... It was def a mixed crowd. It was a sponsored party but had zero control. A lot of fun for seasoned partiers but not for the faint of heart.


at least some good has been done.


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## Argo

snowklinger said:


> at least some good has been done.


The sponsored parties were def great! I had no problem with my 14y/o drinking some brew and seeing some t/a.....


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## BurtonAvenger

Oh no someone saw the angle of a dudes dangle. Fuck I hate people.


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## afuciarelli49

Any updates?


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## 2hellnbak

So I take it you didn't win? At least your mom will pay your car registration and keep you legit.


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