2013 Season Goals

It’s incredible to see the difference between last October living in California to this October living back in Colorado. The journey in-between the last year has been unexpected, the riding was amazing and I had one of those quality over quantity years. If there was one year to be in the Northwest and travel to the powder, it was last year and I definitely got my fix of amazingly good powder days.

I went into 2012 with a lot of goals. I wished for an injury-free healthy season (and made it despite no health insurance). I wanted to expand my tricks (did not do that, no health insurance played a role). Overall I wanted to ride harder terrain and get into backcountry (check, Alaska. check, BC. check, avy 1 training). I ended up doing most of my traveling goals when I spent the whole season traveling, checking off the bucket list of items one after one.

The avalanches of the past year and the lives lost have impacted many in the ski and snowboard community. Its impacted me. I now have a goal that I hope all my friends remain safe, that we truly live for the experiences and appreciate what we have.

Days on snow:
I lost count last year, mostly because I honestly didn’t care. I know I didn’t hit 100 days but I knew that I had more powder days in one season last year than I had ever had in a season. I hope to enjoy the mountain this year, not keep track of my days and just ride.

Heath:
Last year I was healthy (knock on wood). I didn’t have medical insurance so I knew that I couldn’t take risks on the mountain. I went into the mountain biking season the same way, hoping that some good fortune would grant me an injury-free season. I should do more to get back in to snowboarding but I’m just going to take it easy and enjoy riding again without pushing myself too hard to get tricks dialed or do anything gnarly yet.

Tricks:
Getting back into jumps, comfortable on rails and boxes again and tackling the assortment of park features that Keystone is known for.

Overall Riding:
I want to explore the mountains in Colorado. Spend more time in the backcountry, trees and freeriding. I’ll spend time in the parks since it’s fun. I foresee A-Basin, Loveland, Keystone, Breckenridge, Vail, Beaver Creek, Steamboat and hopefully Silverton in my future.

Travel:
Since so many mountains are within a couple hours drive, I’ll pretty much stick to Colorado with the possibility of traveling to other states. My heart is set on making a return trip to Revelstoke to visit the amazing team at Eagle Pass Heliskiing and get back in the heli, laughing and giggling as I ride the best powder and runs of my life. We’ll see if I can get it done this year.

Blog:
The biggest change was the new design. The switch has opened up another chapter of my life with downhill mountain biking and snowboarding. The new design also put me in check. I don’t want this blog to be anything other than my personal blog. With new opportunities, I moved back to Colorado, ended advertisements on Shayboarder and transitioned from daily to content a couple times a week. I’ll still do stories, reviews, riding reports, giveaways and whatever else I dream up but this is still a side hobby and will be treated as such.

What are your own personal goals for this winter for snowboarding, traveling?