Shred Jobs

Since I was younger, I've always been jealous of the people who lived in the mountain towns and worked on the hill, at the restaurants, the shops, etc. I figured they were riding all of the time, knew the sickest secret spots, super relaxed and basically, living the dream. Boy, was I wrong.
I lived in a mountain town, Truckee, CA. I worked at Northstar. I even worked on the snow. You would think I was riding more then anyone else? Well, I was riding before AND after anyone else but no one gets ultimate full days of riding in while living in the mountain town... With some exceptions.

Liftees- Work on the snow all day, in their snow gear. Pro: They get 1st tracks and get ride breaks all throughout the day. Con: they have to watch you and all of the other joeys ride around all day and tell you what you're missing out on. Duh.

Retail Jobs- You'll have the same tourist problem. Pro: working in a snowboard retail shop is you should get plenty of riding time in with sweet deals on gear. Con: selling product to tourists who have no idea what they're doing and working during peak hours

Restaurant jobs- Definitely pay well with tips. Pro: you get to ride all day and work nights. Con: your social life will suffer from working nights and riding all day. With little sleep to be had.

Night Park Crew or Groomers: You pretty much get to ride all day, every day. Pro: you'll get first chair and last chair any day you'd like. Con: Working till 7:30am for 1st chair at 8am will leave you sleep deprived and set your body clock off.... alot

Ski/Snowboard Instructors: You get to ride all day. Which is awesome. Pro: you'll probably get some big tips from those brat's parents after you had to deal with them during their week vacation. Con: you have to deal with brats riding all day. On green runs.


There are so many other jobs, these are just ones I was very familiar with. No matter what, you move to a mountain town to ride. So make sure you find a job that will allow you to do so without letting your social life or sleep schedule suffer. After all, riding all day and enjoying what the mountain has to offer isn't as fun unless you have friends and an active social life to share it with.

Christmas Cheer...

I know Christmas was yesterday so I'm a little behind in posting this but its still the Holiday Season! Hope everyone has a great holiday season. And everything is still 30% off in enclave except for the Uggs!

Author Unknown:

‘Twas the day before Christmas, when all through the state;
The snow was softly falling, riders couldn’t wait.

The chairlifts were hanging by the slopes with care;
In hopes that the lift-ops soon would be there.

The skiers were nestled all snug in their beds;
While visions of powder-shots danced in their heads.

When out on the hill there arose such a clatter;
They sprang from their beds to see what was the matter.

Away to the lodge they flew like a flash;
Put on their ski hats and grabbed their goggle sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow;
Gave the luster of mid-day to moguls below.

When, what to their wondering eyes should appear;
But a miniature gondola, and eight sets of ski gear.

With a little round rider, so lively and quick;
They knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his powder turns came;
And he whistled, and shouted, and called resorts by name.

“Ski, Powderhorn! ski, Echo! ski, Stowe and Mohawk!
Ride, Sunlight! ride, Telluride! ride, Sugarbush and Northstar!

Ski, Cooper! ski, Bolton! ski, Crested Butte and Magic!
Ride, Powder Ridge! ride, Okemo! ride, Buttermilk and Killington!

Ski, Loveland! ski Heavenly and ski Winter Park!
Ride, Aspen Highlands! ride, Bear and ride Mammoth!

To the top of the mountain! To the top of the run!
Skiing and riding in the US is fun!

And they heard him exclaim, ere he skied out of sight,
Happy holidays to all, and to all a good-night!

Holiday Hang Over Throw Down

Contest time! This one is at Ski Sundown in New Hartford, CT. On Saturday, January 3rd from 10am to 4pm get ready to show off what you got. The winner gets a FREE entry into the Burton Main Event series. This contest is for snowboarders ONLY, sorry two plankers.
The winner of the Main Event series gets a U.S. Open slope style wild card. To be qualified for the heavyweight division at finals you must place top ten at one event or attend two or more events prior to Waterville. Check out www.maineventseries.com for all of the info, dates and entry fees. The next Main Event contest is at Wachusett Mountain (http://wawa.wachusett.com). Good luck!

Discover Liftopia

For a snowboarder on a budget, buying lift tickets is painful. Some places charge you almost a hundred bucks. That's a lot of money for a rider on a budget who doesn't make that much. It's awesome if you can clip tickets or find a hookup but sometimes poaching a mountain can get you in trouble (legal fees are not fun). So if you are looking to travel to a mountain where you aren't "in" with the locals, check out Liftopia. It's a website that finds you the best deals and resorts to help you save anywhere from 15% to 48%! It's sort of like expedia.com or one of those cheap airline ticket websites, but for lift tickets. Way awesome.
So, check it out. www.liftopia.com. Find some deals. Don't use being broke as an excuse as to why you couldn't get out on the mountain because there are plenty of ways to get around paying full-price. This website being one of them! Get your shred on.

New News!

Get ready for some snow! CT will finally get hit with some snow which is supposed to amount to something. Which is just pretty much awesome. I hope you put your snow tires on!
On another note, Mount Snow is hosting the DEW tour January 8th to 11th. This is going to be an awesome time with great riders, wild parties and features BOTH freestyle skiing and snowboarding. It is the ONLY east coast stop on the tour. Mount Snow is only 2.5 hours away from New Haven. So if I were you, I would start planning in order to catch the best freestylers play around on the 95 acres of freestyle terrain Mount Snow has. Elena Hight, Danny Kass, Hana Beaman, Keir Dillon, Kelly Clark, Mason Aguirre, Kevin Pearce and Pat Moore will all be there plus others! Check out http://www.allisports.com/events/mount-snow for all the detailed details.
ALSO, we got some fresh new gear in from Mishka, RVCA and Burton. Some come and check it out! This is the new Mishka Varsity Jacket that we just got in.... And don't forget that everything is 30% off except for Uggs!

World Snowboard Day

Everybody start gearin' up. EuroSIMA and the World Snowboard Federation present the third edition of the World Snowboard Day on Sunday, December 21st 2008. At participating mountains you could enjoy a whole variety of snowboarding activities for FREE. Includes environmental awareness, product testing, demos, contests to win sweet stuff, concerts, parties and whatever else that specific mountain has lined up for you and your knuckle dragging friends.
Here are some participating mountains in the United States .... Check out www.burton.com or www.world-snowboard-day.com for some more information and a list of other mountains from all over the world!

-Kirkwood is offering $55 tickets and deals on demos 12/21
-Tamarack is offering 2 for 1 lift tickets with an on-line coupon 12/21
-Gore
-Camelback
-Mountain Creek
-Winter Park
-Seven Springs

Boarding for Breast Cancer

Boarding for Breast Cancer (B4BC) is a non-profit, youth-focused education, awareness, and fundraising foundation. They are advocates of breast-cancer awareness, the importance of early detection, and the value of an active lifestyle. Many snowboard companies including Burton, Volcom, Vans, Roxy, Sessions, Electric, Nixon, Skull Candy and more have developed products that donate part of the profits to B4BC. Not only is it for an awesome cause but the products are pretty fresh too. So from now on, when you are out shopping be sure to keep an eye out for the B4BC logo!

Check out www.b4bc.org for lots more information and how to get involved and donate or shop!

Red Bull Snow Scrapers

On February 5th, 2009 head down to New York City to watch 16 of the world's best snowboarders (including Shaun White, Travis Rice and Pat Moore) compete on the banks of the East River. This will be the largest snowboarding contest held in an urban setting in North America with a $100,000 prize purse! This also includes top music acts (they have yet to announce them) and a spectator village.

Snowboard-mag.com has this to say about the set up of the contest, "For the first-time ever, Red Bull will create an amazing 90-foot state-of-the-art structure for top riders to own the iconic Manhattan skyline. The athlete’s will drop in from a nine-story building before flying off the specially constructed kicker toward an immense 80-foot long hip. The innovative hip built by world-renowned designers Frank Wells and Mike Bettera of Snow Park Technology allows riders multiple angles of trajectory— frontside or backside, landing on either the right or left side of the massive 45-degree spine."

Holy cow. This is going to be intense and awesome to be a part of. And yours truly has media passes coming her way so please believe I will post all of the pictures and awesomeness from this event! Make plans to head to the big apple, you don't want to miss this!

For more information please visit RedBullSnowscrapers.com. or ttrworldtour.com

Boy Beats up Coyote with snowboard

Oh geez, listen to this one! So, these boys in Colorado like to snowboard on the golf course behind their house. While they were out one evening, doing all the fun tricks little grommets do, a coyote came up to this one boy, Tony. The boy kept the BURTON snowboard in between himself and the coyote, then the coyote kept circling him. When he went to attack, the boy attacked back with his snowboard! Check out the video for his story! Burton's upside yo' head. yo.
The little grom says peace out at the end. so funny. But of course, it's awesome he is safe and sound!

The CNN coyote link: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/12/07/haythorne.coyote.attack.kmgh?iref=videosearch

HOLIDAY SALE! 30% off.

Yes, you read the headline right. 30% off everything in the store (minus Ugg classic short and classic tall). This is an awesome opportunity to get your holiday shopping done with some great deals. You won't find other 2009 snowboards, boots or bindings on sale anywhere around.
Burton, Nixon, Anon Goggles and sunglasses, Oakley, Special Blend, Quiksilver, Married to the mob, Women's Quik, Element, Lucky Denim, Matix, Mishka....

Hats, goggles, watches, beanies, oh my! Come down and check it out. Awesome savings at an awesome time!

Lets be Practical

Yesterday, I was reading the New York Times and they had articles about ski resorts, hotels and spas, new lifts and gondolas, resort food, events and most of all, the airline fees and prices to get you to these fabulous vacation spots. As if planning a ski or snowboarding trip wasn't expensive enough, now the airlines are charging even more for an extra bag or any bag over a certain weight. Last winter, when I was traveling from Tahoe to Vermont regularly, I was not charged for my bulky snowboard bag that I would stuff my boots, stinky socks and outerwear into. This winter, things have changed!
American, Continental, Frontier, Northwest, United and US Airways have started charging coach passengers $15 to check the 1st bag one way and then an additional $25 for the 2nd bag! What! It would be a dream if one going on a ski vacation could pack everything into one bag but alas, no dice. Think of all the layering pieces, the gloves, the outerwear, the socks, the toiletries, the cute apres outfit every ski bunny needs PLUS footwear! This will all add up to a hefty pound amount that you could get charged even more for.
Some resorts understand this will turn away potential customers so they are offering deals. The New York Times says, "Kimpton Hotels, including the Sky Hotel in Aspen, Colo., and the Hotel Monaco in Salt Lake City, is offering up to $25 in credit to guests with proof of payment for a second checked bag. Crested Butte Mountain Resort is offering up to $30 in baggage credit to travelers who book a ski vacation at www.skicb.com. And Vail Resorts, which operates the Vail and Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone Resorts in Colorado and Heavenly in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada, is offering unlimited ski or snowboard rentals for the season for $359 a person."
So, don't pack a bag that's over 50lbs because it can cost you an additional $50 charge. Be smart. Look on-line for deals and try to pack light. If you come across any sweet deals please send 'em this way! With the economy already bringing us down, a ski vacation seems like an awesome getaway until you look at all of the additional rip offs the airlines have. Let's start shipping out luggage to where we are going to vacation! And you'll see me carrying my boots around the airport with me if it'll make my bag that much lighter and give me the possibility to fit it all into one... Okay, maybe I'm dreaming on only bringing one bag. But I still feel bad for you if you have to sit next to me with my snowboarding boots, they're what we call 'funky'. That'll show the airlines!

Coat Drive!

Enclave, along with neighbors Denali and Trailblazer, are running a coat drive from November 29 to December 14. We are collecting clean, reusable coats. AND when you bring in a coat you will receive an instant discount of $20.00 off any new coat valued over $115.00!
One Warm Coat started out in 1992 as a Thanksgiving Weekend coat drive in San Francisco. Last year more than 2,000 coat drives were held across the country throughout the year. Each coat drive has the same intent -- to collect coats that will be GIVEN to those in need. It's a great idea so find that old coat that you outgrew 2 years ago that you are still sittin' on and bring it down to enclave. We have tons of warm coats to chose from.

Mount Snow:: Carinthia

We were lucky enough to have a day off to head up to Mount Snow to shred some. We were also lucky enough to have a beautiful sunny day that kept it above freezing temps. I wanted to check out the re-designed Carinthia mountain face that is entirely dedicated to freestyle terrain parks. Once the snow really starts falling they will have 125 different features scattered about 12 full terrain parks. It's every jibber and jumpers dream. But meanwhile, the place was still covered in features! It was awesome. Jumps, rails, boxes, rails and barrels. They had enough for beginners to test their courage out and for the "experts" to take off on the big kickers. Every trail we went on had some feature to play around on and since it was the middle of the week it was pretty mellow with people. That gave me room to embarass myself as I tried the bigger features!
Making Carinthia an entire freestyle park was a smart move. In my opinion, freestyle skiers and snowboarders are one of the largest groups and growing. It's exciting to have this giant park on the east coast and now along with The Stash at Killington, you won't have to go out West to find the sickest parks.

Trail map:

New December Product

I know everyone is on a little bit of a tighter budget lately because it is the holiday season but enclave has some great product to give or receive. We received some new footwear for men and women! For the ladies, we put out some fresh new Nikes that have a red/black plaid print all over. They're very "festive" if you will. We also got a new colorway in the Viking-hi Gravis shoe (Spicy orange), a new es and Chocolate colab shoe, along with new styles from emerica and es.




Also for the ladies we have a new Burton Guardian Down jacket. It is SO warm! With a satin and micro fleece lining, pit zips, removable hood and faux fur all for $269.99. This jacket will last you well into next winter, and then the winter after that and that...
We keep everything reasonably priced and I doubt you'll be able to find better deals then what we have. Come down and do some holiday shopping. Oh and of course, we received a new shipment of Uggs. So we have every colorway in (again). I know you are excited.

R.I.P Ronin

As always, Burton is changing up the game. The 2008/2009 Ronin line will be the last and in its place, they are working on a new line called Burton Restricted that will be available to select Burton dealers. This new line of pants and jackets will be focused and designed for the "die-hard" rider, aged somewhere in between 16 and 25.
Burton's vice president of softgoods, John Lacy, had this to say about the new line,

"This Burton Restricted Collection is a small offering of jackets and pants with very competitive prices. We wanted to be able to offer our riders and retailers something very similar in price to our main Burton line, but with a younger progressive edge. I think customers will be stoked on the value of these products."

Burton's always ahead of the curve! Definitely watch out for this new line and watch out for riders; Mason, Keegan, Kazu, Yale, Luke Mitrani, and Jack Mitrani who have all been working with Burton to help design the new line. Check out http://business.transworld.net/ for more info and an interview with John Lacy.