December 30 get all my stuff organized for my next couple trips starting today. I have a flight on the red eye to Vegas for new years. I had to go for a red bull party and I decided to bring my brother. Then after a few days we head to Jackson Hole, WY to snowboard for a week.
31 as we arrive in Vegas we check get picked up in the palms personal escalade and they drive us to our hotel and we check in to rest a bit for the big new years party. We cruise for a bit and end up getting no rest and go to lunch with what would become our wrecking crew for the next two nights. Travis Rice, Mark Carter, the red bull bosses and my brother.
As the day goes on we get ready and head to another hotel where red bull has a jump set up for a moto guy to launch 350 feet on his dirt bike. So mental! we do some interviews and then start to party and watch this jump. After the jump we are already getting pretty sloppy and jump on the double decker bus red bull sent for us, that had a dj, bar and dance floor on it to drive us back to the palms where they had the whole second floor booked out for us to party! It went crazy! Then we all headed to another club in the hotel! I couldn’t believe how crazy everywhere was going and we had VIP entrances and tables at all the clubs we went to. Something that’s a very far cry from our little town we grew up in on Maui! I broke my phone and my digi camera some how. All the boys got so loose this night! Crazy fun!
January
1 New years day! Wake up around 10 to about 30 text messages from by broken phone and get my brother up and head to breakfast with Rice and Carter. The stories start to unfold. Such a crazy night. By far the best new years of our lives! As the day goes on the 3 of us head to the spa for a sauna and steam, to see if it brings us back to life. Which it very much did. I was really ready for another huge night.
Then we went to a really good dinner with everyone and the party started again! We went to a friend’s suite room and had a few drinks. Red Bull dialed us with VIP everything, no lines, a table and what ever we wanted to drink all night! The place was nuts.
2 woke up and packed our gear for check out. Went to lunch and red bull got us a limo to the airport to take off to go snowboarding for the next week! On the way out I put the rest of the money I had in my pocket on black and lost! Vegas you win.
3After arriving Jackson Hole, WY, we didn’t get to bed till about 3am, and I was booked to get in the heli the next morning for my first day in a year without snowboarding! I was psyched but super beat from the last few days.
4 I just got up at 7 and pushed on through. The day was crazy, me, Dorian, Corey Gavitt, Scott’s friend Stoney, and Scott Blum, who paid for everything, he owns buy.com and dropped like $5k on the day! We rode perfect powder all day!
5 woke up beat from riding all day yesterday. But billabong had booked the heli for today, and it was 7am again, and was going to be the last sunny day for the next week because the forecast was as good as it gets for snow to come! So we rallied and jump in the heli again, it didn’t take much for me to get psyched, as it is my favorite thing to do! There is no better way to spend your time or money! Bottom line! All the boys were here today, and I paid for Luke to go for his first time ever! It was some of the most fun I have ever had!
6 it had dumped snow all night! We were so stoked, we got up at 7am again and were on a VIP gondola to the top of the mountain that only pros and workers get that TGR hooked us up with. So when the mountain opens at 9am we are already at the top! We rode waist deep fresh pow all day. Couldn’t be any better! Then we jumped in the jacuzzi for a while and had some ice-cold beers.
7 it was as if the snow had reset itself! Fresh pow again and the early treatment. We had weeklong passes that cost $80 a day for free thanks to TGR and a sick condo at the base of the mountain we were all staying at! We rode all day long! Did a big backcountry hike for a new run and it was crazy. Then did the same program, jacuzzi and beers. Then we went to a mental dinner and went out for way too many drinks.
8 woke up a little hung from the night before and headed out early again. The snow was so good again. We rode all day and Shane ended up getting hurt after following me off a cliff jump about 10 feet high. he nailed his back on a rock. The thing swelled up so much, it was like he had a water pack on his back! Everyone else had to leave to go home today. more to come soon!
