The end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011

Happy New Year!

It’s incredible how much has changed within a year.  A year ago I was living in Colorado and now I’m living in California.  I left my year round job with Steamboat, worked at Windells Camp this summer and now am incredibly happy to be working for Mammoth Mountain.  I moved away from friends I’ve made in the past four years and moved to a completely new town where I would have to find all new friends.  It’s been an amazing journey, a fresh start that was needed and I am so ready for what 2011 brings.

I want to thank you, the reader, for making 2010 a great year!  I am incredibly lucky to have people who support this blog and tune in to the World of Snowboarding.  Thank you!

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To sum up 2010 for the blog, here’s the info:

• Site traffic grew 65%:   I surpassed 2 million visitors in 2010 (passed 1 million in 2009) since I began the blog.   In 2010, shayboarder.com received 1,259,454 page loads, 701,543 unique visitors, and 160,984 returning visitors.  An increase in page loads, unique and returning visitors.

• My blog has reached 175 countries around the world.

• The most popular content in 2010 was reviews, features and product information from SIA.  The top companies for traffic were Union, Capita, Oakley, Never Summer, DC, Forum, GNU and Technine (in that order).

• I’m in control of my own advertising and increased the number of ads you see on shayboarder.com.  I’m happy to work with some great companies to support and have a brand presence on my blog.  I work with small and big companies.  Since I have advertising, the costs of running this site including free stickers, traveling, gear like cameras/computer stuff and SIA is all paid for.  I am very thankful for those who choose to advertise on shayboarder.com and I love working with them.

• A huge thanks to Mike Heath who helps behind the scenes of this blog.  He’s the man who designed my blog layout, helps with hosting and is a tremendous asset to the popularity of this blog.  I write, he designs and allows me to focus on the fun writing part.

Content this year was a blast.  The year started with SIA coverage to product coverage, then over the summer I wrote about snowboarding at Mt Hood everyday from Windells Camp and now I’m blogging from Mammoth Lakes covering whatever happens in snowboarding.

Here are some of my personal favorite posts from this season.

• Company Visits:
  • Unity Snowboards
  • Spacecraft
  • Evo
  • Zumiez
  • Frequency Magazine
  • Casual Industrees
  • K2 Snowboards

• FUN Opportunities
  • Riding Buffalo Pass with Zumiez & friends
  • Bruizzapalooza at Steamboat Board Meet up
  • SIA is always a blast, 4 days of insane fun
  • Asymbol Opening Party in Whistler
  • 9th annual Mervin Party
  • My Summer at Mt Hood
• Interviews
  • Industry Profiles
  • Blotto Photo
  • Super 8 Chilean Film
  • Aaron Draplin
  • Mike Basich
  • Mikey Leblanc
  • Kevin Sansalone
  • Jesse Burtner
• Contests
  • Holy Oly
  • Beaver Creek’s Love for the Ladies Rail Jam
  • Ride Shakedown in Washington
  • Two Rails, One Cup
  • Grenade Games/Telus Festival
  • America’s Next Top Pro Model
  • Pipe to Pipe
  • Rome SDS Premature Jibulation – Mammoth
  • Volcom Peanut Butter & Rail Jam

• Personal Experiences
  • Behind the Reviews
  • A look back at 09-10 season
  • The Stagnant Snowboarder
  • Goodbye Steamboat, hello Mt Hood
  • No-back experience
  • Pursuit of Happiness
• Blog Applause
  • Westword’s Best Of List!  Best Blog!

What is coming up in 2010:

• SIA in Denver!  My first trip back to Colorado to check out the 2011-2012 products and see old friends!

• Still working hard to demo 10-11 gear, look for more reviews soon and of course trying out 11-12 gear as well.

• Continuing with writing about snowboarding, interviews, fun times, company visits and experiences along the way.

• Summer 2011…Industry Profiles are coming back. I’m putting together some ideas for people and will start getting the ball rolling on the 30 individuals that will be interviewed this summer. Also if you have anyone in mind or someone you know who would be up for it, let me know by emailing me, shayboarder@gmail.com

• Meeting more of my readers, handing out stickers and getting stoked on riding every day!

I wish 2011 to be a great year for everyone and I’m looking forward to what it brings for myself and shayboarder.com…it’s been an amazing journey so far!