I survived!

Wow.... wow, wow, wow, where do I even start?  It's 6:53am as I write this (I'm an early bird), I absolutely crushed it sleeping in my bed last night.  The whole SIA On Snow trip was wild and I was so busy!  If I wrote in details, this post would go on forever... so I'll just summarize the whole trip, if that's possible.



1. Find a ride.  Karl pulls through and picks me up on his way to Winter Park from Vail.  It pays off living right next to I-70.  He makes it from Silverthorne to the tunnels in three minutes.  Professional driver right there.  He drops me off at the Mervin house, I tell him I almost fell asleep during the drive and he replies, "Me too."  Ha!

2. Get settled in Mervin house.  Usual Mervin people are there: Dan, Taylor, Adam, Matt, Nichole, and a new guy I never met; Dustin.  Dustin is from Florida and is doing Sun Bum for Nichole at On Snow.  Someone shoves a beer in my hand, and we promptly begin drinking.  Superbowl ends, and we play a drinking game.  Presidents & Assholes.  I have no idea what I'm doing and I keep winning the role of President.  Everyone drinks heavily because of me.  Finally, we all pass out.  I get the futon.  Fuck yes.

3.  Rise and shine at 7am.  We haul ass to Winter Park and begin setting up.  It's cold.  Really cold.  We have a lot of snowboards.  Probably 200 of them.  Sun Bum tent is a bitch to set up, but we set it up nonetheless.  I begin thinking, "I need coffee.  Lots of it."  Dan shoves a breakfast.... thing in my hand.  I inhale it and it is delicious.

Time to get weird.

4.  I get asked to man the Sun Bum fort while Dustin goes off somewhere.  I freak out a little bit, but remind myself that I got this shit. Nichole pulls through with coffee.  I end up working at Sun Bum all day, and it was excellent!  I discover the power of a smile, and find that my smile lassos people in and pulls them towards me.  I shoot the shit with all kinds of people, slang sunscreen and chapstick, and man the skeeball station we have set up.  I also have no problem talking to people, and have no problem understanding them.  I get stoked.

5.  The day is over.  Nichole the boss makes all of us shotgun a beer to celebrate a successful first day of On Snow.

BOMBS AWAY!

 We go back to Mervin house.  No time to shower.  We go to dinner with some Mervin Mfg people, it is Mexican food.  I get chicken tacos and beer.  Someone orders all of us a tequila shot.  Down the hatch!!  More drinks follow before we finally go back to Mervin house.

6.  More drinking.  We call a cab.  More drinking in cab.  We arrive at K2 house.  I get asked if I want booze or beer.  I decide on beer, I don't want to get too hammered.  I think to myself, "This was a good choice," as I watch a girl pass out on a couch.  I mingle with friends, new and old.  It was a good time.  We take cab back to Mervin house.  I steal firewood from the neighbors and we build a nice fire with pizza boxes and PBR boxes.  We sleep.

7.  7am wake up call again.  I am the only one that's not hungover.  Everyone hates me due to this fact.  Dan pulls Adam in a wagon while Adam drinks a PBR at 8am.

8am PBR.  Sorry for partying.

 We all get to work, and I feel a hangover creeping towards me at 9am.  I crack open a PBR to ward it off.  I tell Dan, "I look like a raging alcoholic."  He replies, "I feel like one.  You're not the only one drinking right now anyways."  This is true.  I sip slowly and talk to more people who approach the booth.  I finish my beer and I feel great.  I get handed a breakfast burrito and it is delicious.

9am PBR and pepperoni stick.  Not sorry for partying.

8.  I discover that I am good at finding Stance Finders Keepers socks.  Really good.  My Stance socks collection accumulates throughout the day.  I also get RAD! gloves from K2.  Thank you AJ & JP.  An older woman barters me homemade cookies for chapstick.  I accept.  Cookies are warm and delicious.

9.  I hear a story about someone shitting in someone's snowboard boots the night before.  I find the person who filmed it and watch the video.  It really did happen.  So awesome.

10.  I finally have time to sneak in one lap.  I take the new Roxy XOXO with pickle tech for a spin, and fall in love with it.  I end up taking the board home.  Nichole & Dan rock.  Mervin rocks.

Winter Pork, my view during my sneaky lap

11.  Day ends again.  We tear everything down and put everything away.  I get thanked for all my help, and feel great.  We discover the keys to the Batmobile (one of the Mervin cars) have been lost.  Nichole calls AAA and we all leave.  I find a ride back to Scummit with Ritchie.  As we drive over Berthoud Pass, we see the other Mervin car pulled over, smoking.  We pull over to check on Dan and Taylor.  Apparently the power steering went out.  Long live Burbo!  They tell us to go home, and we proceed on our way.

12.  I arrive home.  I pass the fuck out.

It was a crazy, crazy busy On Snow, but so fun.  It was a great experience and I absolutely loved seeing everyone, and I'm so excited we had warm, sunny weather both days.  I am so grateful that Nichole & Dan let me come to Winter Park, stay with them, help out, and I am also super grateful for the new snowboard.  Thanks for supporting me, guys!