SHOPPING FOR ACTION CAMS TODAY

Heading down to L.L. Beans to do some action cam shopping today. My wife and I are heading to the Loaf tomorrow for some goggle tan and spring condition snowboarding. It looks like it's going to be bluebird skies and 64 degrees. Possible video (probably unwatchable and poorly edited) to follow.

OLD FRIENDS AND NEW COMPANIES

Thanks HEEEEEEEAD!

Thatdangthing New Art!

New Art from TDT! Look for it on mousepads, teeshirts, beer coozies, and fish rulers soon!

FRESH TRACKS AND ORANGE PIE PLATES

My buddy Chris and I got an unusually late start on the hill yesterday. Usually we're on the road and drinking coffee while it's still dark out, especially if there's some fresh to be had. There was some debate as to which form of water we were going to play in. Frozen or liquid? The buoy's were 13' and cranking and the snow reports were at a solid 12"+. After some debate we both figured  sliding down hill on some fresh pow was a better choice than taking 13'waves and 40 degree water on the squash. Fast forward an hour and a half ride and one stop at an Irving later, we roll up to Mt Abrams to see a quarter full parking lot and some deep looking pow carves on the hill. For anyone that skis or snowboards you understand the adrenaline you get just knowing what's on the hill waiting for you to play in. It's our Christmas, New Years and birthday all rolled into one. It just doesn't get any better. We gear up and make a run to warm up the legs, hitting some fresh on the edges and scoping out the woods for some stashes of untracked goodness. The second run in we find an opening at the edge of the trail and drop in for some fresh tracks and a whole lot of bush wacking. Most of the stuff we ride isn't "gladed" or thinned out woods. All the dead wood and small willy wack trees are still there and waiting to hook a ski or snowboard tip. If you're a skier and you're unfortunate enough to get your ski's on either side of one of these 4' trees it'll remind you why we call these little saplings the "willy wacks"! Painful if you're the skier. Hilarious if you're the skier's buddy listening to him get abused by a juvenile maple tree. After many bomb runs and more pow turns than we could handle we both spot a potential stash of fresh that looks better than anything we've hit so far. There's only one draw back, it's "out of bounds". Normally I have no problem ducking "the orange rope" or the equally scary "plastic pie plate on a stick" ski areas like to use to deter you from scoring a few turns, but some times the ropes there for a reason. You can get in trouble pretty quick by ducking the rope and ending up in waist deep snow a few hundred yards off trail. It usually results in 20 minutes of post-holing your way out of the woods while sweating through, and cursing all that moisture wicking long underwear you were praising 30 minutes before for keeping you so warm. We did the smart thing (for once) and took a run next to the potential stash checking to see if it ran out next to a lift or on to a trail below. It did and it was on for the next run. One chair lift ride later and we both drop off the trail and past the impenetrable pie plate barrier to score one of the longest untracked pow runs either of us has ever had. We popped out on to the trail at the bottom grinning like idiot's. Needless to say we rode the section for the rest of the day by ourselves scoring possibly the best hour and a half of snowboarding I've ever had on the east coast. Thanks for reading.

LINED UP AND CONVERSATING

It had been about two weeks since my last surf session so when I checked the online report and the buoy's read 3.9'@ 4-6 seconds with a south west wind I figured it was worth a go out. To all the non surfing folks out there those wind and swell measurements on a sunny 50 degree day in February translate to 2 hours in the water and a whole lot of fun. When you get a day like that smack in the middle of winter in Maine there's good vibes all around. Dogs are getting walked, kids are running around and just about everyone is walking around with that dopey, good weather perma grin plastered on their face. I suited up and paddled out and immediately caught a couple of fun little zippers. It was during a lull when a dude on a paddle board came out settling just off to my left in the line up . I said hi and commented on the stand up paddle  board he was riding as it was a little different than the usual size and shape that you see out on the water. I asked how it surfed and he replied,"I don't know, I just finished building it and this is my first time out". Nice man, "first paddle board ?" I ask. "No, first board ever!" We proceed to talk boards and shape for the next few minutes while alternately catching waves. Conversations in the line up are usually pretty broken by nature. You'll be in the middle of a full on conversation about the last movie you watched when a set rolls through and one or both of you catch the wave, ride it in, paddle back out and resume the chat you were having like nothing happened. Some of the most interesting and memorable conversations are often broken up by 5-10 seconds of surfing, which in turn makes the conversations that much more memorable. Just talking to this guy who designed, built and surfed his own board was pretty inspiring. One more broken conversation and one more session where I left the ocean more relaxed and stoked than I went in. Thanks for reading.

VIENNA SAUSAGE, OPEN WATER AND AL GORE'S INTERNET

Not only did big Al single handedly create the internet he also created global warming; thereby extending my fishing season exponentially. I may have gotten my facts wrong in that opening statement (I actually created the internet, you're welcome) but what IS a fact is, if the weather keeps doing what it's doing, ice fishing will become a thing of the past. I'm not a huge fan of drilling holes in the ice and waiting for that flag to tip but it beats sitting home watching golf on the idiot box and finding reasons not to paint the master bathroom walls. Just a random example by the way, egg shell white exists for a reason. For me ice fishing exists solely for the excuse to go outside, hang with your friends, and cook some deceased animal over a fire. No matter what you're eating, it always tastes twice as good cooked outdoors. Vienna sausage? Fire it up! Spam? You put enough mustard on it and you'd swear you're eating a flattened hot dog. And don't forget the pinnacle of pulverized animal byproducts, the polska kielbasa (no mustard required, although appreciated). Anyone of these delights cooked over a camp stove or even better, a sterno flame, you're in ice fishing heaven. All the open water this time of year has got me fired up to drag the kayak out of the basement, reline the fishing poles, and oh, wait, forget all that I just watched the weather and it's going to be 12 tomorrow. Get a pack of ball parks, some shiners and just a hint of ambition and let's drill some holes. Thanks for reading.

TDT FREE T-SHIRT CONTEST (because, let's face it, no ones's gonna pay for one of these).

More shameless self promotion and  a completely unoriginal marketing idea from the folks at TDT. Alright, technically you need employees to be "folks" but I thought that might make it sound more legit. Here's the rules: I'm a huge (and freakishly tall movie geek). Come up with an alternative line or ad lib on to one of the most quoted lines from one of the best movies of all time JAWS. "We're gonna need a bigger boat". No disrespect to the late Roy Scheider , and I don't think you can improve on perfection but give it a shot. As far as the rules go, be creative. And obviously spelling doesn't count (it clearly doesn't on this blog). The contest? will be open until 6:00 pm this Friday and the winner will be judged by the folks at TDT (just me really) at 6:01 pm and will be notified within a certain amount of time. Said T-shirt will arrive at your doorstep shortly thereafter. After it goes through the mail etc.....