Aaron Dodds Blogography: Spring Broke '09

Just spent a week in an RV touring the southwest in search of snow. Well, we actually found quite a bit everywhere. Most of the resorts we visited had over a 50" base, and in the desert in March thats not too shabby. We also found a lot of sun and even some fresh powder too. Not to mention sheer ice, where we took going sideways to a new level. Anyways, departing Salt lake City UT, Brian Head was the first stop and it didn't let us down. Some sick logs and tree jibs, fences to ollie, and a park to boot. Next, was Las Vegas Ski and Snowboarder Resort 45 miles west of Vegas. Yes, you can be snowboarding at a real mountain in less than an hour from the strip. Seems kind of crazy but it too was no let down. Defiently give this one a look if your in the Veags area in the Winter. Their park was good, there's crazy steep lines with cliffs and chutes within hiking range and they stay open until mid April. Next on to the Snowbowl in Flagstaff AZ. We had really nice weather up until hear and it was still good the day we rode Snowbowl, but it didn't soften up quite enough to really get anything done. Its to bad too cause there's some sick shit there. As quickly as I write this blog we were off to our next stop in Taos NM. A long haul. The whole trip was a long haul. Drive, shed and sleep. Mix in the occational gas station burrito and some beer, and that was life. Literally wake up and shred all day. Try and seek out a feature, get a shot maybe two. At most three. BBQ, then peel out to the next spot. Drive until we get there (usually 11pm or as late as 4am), hang out, sleep and repeat. With minimal sleep, white knuckles, showing up at an unknown resort, only having one day to shoot, dealing with spring conditions, trying to find a feature worth shooting and getting it done can be a major challenge, especially with no help from the resort other than lift tickets. Now a days, a park shoot consist of setting the shoot up with the Resort months in advance, the features being built, and you show up and shoot. Have catered meals. Its so easy. Most park shoots are like that these days at least. Anyways, back to the story. Flagstaff to Taos is a long Haul. From resort to resort its about 500 miles. So we showed up at like 4 in the morning. Woke up late. Found a sick feature. We were go listed, then no listed. Wasted our day. Tried to party. No listed again. Do you like how I'm writing in 2 to 3 word sentences? I do. Anyways, the next day was super cold and everything was bullet-proof. Struggled for shots. Attempted some sketchy/dangerous things that should not have even been considered. Reinvented "going sideways", and once again left for the next spot. Frustrated. Wolf Creek prove to be the saving grace. It snowed over a foot the day and night before and it was on. Some cliffs were sent and pow was had by all. After Wolf Creek a camping night in the desert of Moab was planned, but due to some rather volitile weather and the fact that the RV we rented was falling apart, we declined to risk it. It was back to Salt lake, and out of the RV. Another mellow 9 hour drive and another 3 am bedtime. Really it was just more of the usual. Stoked to be done. I had an awesome Spring Broke!

Some pics....