Hunt Hollow: Berms, Bruises and Brews

I walked through the early morning fog into Hunt Hollows main lodge with a six pack in hand. The beer was part of the registration fee for “Berms, Bruises and Brews” an all snowboard banked race event.

first chair

The divisions were separated by decades and the top 3 fastest of each division took home a portion of the beer. Part of the money raised was also being donated to upgrade the park at Hunt Hollow.

After registering I caught up with Alex who had already taken a few runs. The visibility was not great, as fog eclipsed the upper 3/4 of the mountain. We rode down Fox run and dipped onto the course to check it out.

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Swain Mountain Jamming

There’s always this looming feeling of dread for skiers and riders as we enter the month of March. The sun may be shining and the weather warmer but that means the snow will soon melt and our season will be over. You want to make every weekend count.

Swain base area

Swain hosted its spring carnival last Saturday but it could have easily been mistaken for a mid-winter day. A bit of lake effect dusted the mountain the night before and the temperatures were in the mid teens. Swain is one of the mountains I grew up riding so I was excited to get back and see what was new.

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Bristol Brings It

What a season so far. Despite everything, this year has been on pace to be one of the best in the Northeast. Everywhere I’ve been the conditions have been prime and I’m starting to forget the icecoast mantra.

I never need an excuse to snowboard, and last weekend I had more than enough. My friends Alex and Katie wanted to ride, and I had to make it home for my mom’s birthday. The logical choice was the mountain that was my first Valentine: Bristol.

My last time at Bristol was the day all ski resorts shut down in March 2020. Since then Bristol has changed quite a bit. They expanded their main lodge and added an outdoor patio area.

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