Noboard Cafe

Susanna and I swung through Trout Lake on our way to Baldface to drop in on the ambassadors of soulboarding; Cholo Burns and Jenna Low. Trout is very comparable to Birken, both in terms of rural population density (maybe 30 peeps in town on a busy day), and to the caliber of the surrounding backcountry.

One big point of difference is the NoBoard Cafe. Full espresso shop with Breakfast scrambles... and it has a skate bowl next door(!) This is a community with priorities.

Cholo and the NoBoard posse are riding all kinds of epic lines - sans bindings. Literally surfing on snow with no attachment to the board whatsoever. Just balance, momentum and gravity. It's fresh. It's innovative. And it's progressing rapidly. It's the most free-thinking movement in the board community in over 15 years, for sure.

Oh, there ALSO is a general store... which practically makes Trout 'New York' compared to Birken. Check out the gas pumps... I'm told the oldest working gas pumps in B.C.

Check out the first NoBoard video below 'Yes to the No'.

I'm not sure.. but I think we may have dined-and-dashed the NoBoard cafe(!!) We were deep in conversation on all things B.C., and i'm not sure we paid for our goods?!

TR

[ak] underground - Kumiko Inaba

a.k.a., Qoo

FYi : Coolest girl in Japan

Stance : Normal

Ameblo : qooblog

Favorite late night snack : Rice crackers

Favorite place to ride : Hakkoda, Aomori Japan

Going sideways since : 1994

Lifestyle in a nutshell : urban-mountain-fashionista-tranformer..

Our good friend Kumi is a bit like us; one foot in snowboarding, one foot in outdoor, and another foot in urban fashion all at the same time. Qoo spent 14 years with Burton Japan. She learned the backcountry riding with Craig Kelly and John Buffery.

Today she works at fragment design with Hiroshi Fujiwara. fragment defines Tokyo street culture, with work spanning product design, music, graphic design and more. We get to work with Kumi on both AK457, and the F.S.F. urban project, as both fragment design and FYi design are working together on both projects.

qoo & hf

qoo @ burton

qoo @ baldface

qoo curving

qoo climbing

qoo & sanna

qoo & sune

qoo @ montoak

FYi

The qoo-post.

TR

Bladerunner II

We normally have mountains and wilderness as far as you can see. In Pemberton everybody drives big pickup trucks. Bouncing to Tokyo is pretty much the polar opposite. It feels like living the sequel to Bladerunner! 

The cars don't fly like the cars in Bladerunner, but they are just as futuristic!

V10 R8

S.L.R.

Life gets most interesting with a broad contrast of experiences.

TR

CRF450R Project update.

Ok, i've been lagging on the four-five-oh project update. The bike has actually been done for awhile, and is already broken in. This is one serious piece of motocross engineering. This is actually my second 450cc, however i've been primarily riding a 250cc for the last couple of seasons.

The red RG3 triple clamps help control deflection in the forks for more precise cornering and wheel placement.

The Honda HPSD is a steering dampening system, that allows you to 'tune' the steering characteristics to your personal preference. You can increase the dampening for increased stability or reduce dampening to improve turn-in response in corners. Honda is the only company with a system like this, so far..

The steering dampener is the little widget in the center. It articulates with the steering, and helps control the front end of the bike.

This hour meter tracks every hour the engine is running, so you can keep track of all your maintenance through the life of the bike.

Carbon fiber fork guards don't actually improve anything - they just look cool.

Titanium exhaust by FMF. Sounds good. Looks good. Adds a couple HP.

The bike handles brilliently! After five hours of track time though, I've concluded I still prefer a 250cc for a couple of reasons. The 250cc can be ridden high in the RPM's and 'on the throttle' most of the time, where as the 450cc requires pro level skills to be ridden that aggressively. Another factor is the increased crank mass of the 450. It feels like a 250 until you start to roll on the throttle in a corner (the crank mass makes the bike want to stand up in corners) and then it feels like the 'big bike' that it is. I prefer the more playful feeling 250cc for my style of riding. A 450 with 50+HP on a motocross track is serious; grab a -tiny- bit too much throttle and next thing you know you are flying 120ft on a 90ft jump. It demands respect, and requires precise throttle control at all times.

Bottom line is a 450 is 'serious' while a 250 is 'playful'. And a well ridden 250 can be as fast or faster than a 450 on some tracks. So now that i've finished the 450 project, I've decided to hit the restart button and start over with a 250!?.

Anyone interested in a race ready, mint 2009 CRF450R, contact FYI ASAP.

TR

Weekend Corona post - 'SPF 9 1/2'

TR

AK - mission accomplished.

An all-time big mtn. posse of Travis Rice, Jonaven Moore, Johan Olofsson, Jeremy Jones and Tom Burt, teamed up with Chris Edmunds, Garry Pendergrass and Dan Milner to document a new approach to riding in Alaska without a helicopter. 

The crew just returned to Haines after 27 days of glacier camping deep in unchartered territory. I spent 5 days glacier camping in the Tukshinuk range back in 2001, and with that perspective, I can't imagine 27 days out! That's like mounting an Everest expedition - food, shelter, backcountry touring gear and especially with all the camera gear etc. All flown in via glacier planes with skis. This was a huge undertaking to say the least.

I can't wait to see what they produced.. 

Check out Jeremy Jones recent blog post.

Looks like they killed it!

TR

Weekend Corona post.

'Separation anxiety.'  

TR

Troy Lee Designs SE2 Helmet.

My new brain bucket.

The 2009 Speed Equipment Helmet in History Blue.

Susanna's in History Red.

TR

Weekend Corona post.

'who's missing in this picture?'

TR

[ak] underground - Yoshinari Uemura

a.k.a UE!

perspective: left foot first.

orientation: 20 degrees front, -5 back @ 58cm

milage: started riding Supporo Japan in 1990

co-consipirator: Erina Uemura

favorite snack: gummies

format: 2-stroke

favorite color: arctic cat

preference: freeriding and mountain riding with a little freestyle mix

motto: ARIGATO!

dis-likes: negativity.

movie: Ue_snowboarder

Although, Ue-san usually looks like this on the mountain...

TR, SB, UE, HF in Hokkaido.

Here is the trailer for UE_Snowboarder. The first snowboard movie in Japan focused on just one rider. It's comprised of footage from 1995-2007.

TR

2009 SoCal Moto - Team Burrito.

FYI- SoCal moto 2009 Team Burrito from tom routh on Vimeo.

Fun stuff.

TR

[ak] underground - Dave Basterrechea

a.k.a. daveB!

alias: cheetah dave

perspective: goofy foot

orientation: 15 degrees front, -7 degrees back

mileage: dropping in since 1987

co-conspirator: Vanessa Stark

favorite snack: V's Energy Balls

format: 2-stroke

favorite color: ski-doo

preference: big mountain gnar

motto: get'er done!

dis-likes: heli-stress

income: owner of Cheetah Factory Racing

CFR makes the rack systems 95% of backcountry snomo-skiers and boarders use to mount their boards on their sleds. Dave has been building these racks for years now, and they are pretty much bullet-proof. Mounting your board on your sled takes a lot of weight off your back, and allows you to thread through tight trees that your board would hang up on; if you were carrying it horizontal on your back. The racks are crucial for serious sled access riding.

Cheetah Dave is a big mtn. ripper that slipped over the border and set up shop in Pemberton.. and never looked back. 

Always gett'ner done... and always late for dinner.

TR