Shred-Tastic East Coast Weekend! (cc:@thecanyons)

WOW!! Did it feel good to get on snow this weekend or what?!?!?! On Saturday, my sister and I went to Killington which had 21 trails open (we were able to hit every single one of them!) Surprisingly, conditions were great for early season even though it was windy and in the mid-20's with no sun. They were blowing snow on a few of the trails and we even got a 2-3" fresh snow treat from mother nature. There was a small park with about 6 features, kinda/sorta short lift lines, and some people going off the trail, which wasn't good... for them!!

I honestly didn't think people in jeans came out until at least Christmas time, but I did see 1 dude rockin jeans tucked into his boots!! Also, saw a lot of gapers and kids trying to look cool by not wearing goggles. Now, I know there is a lot of pressure to look good snowboarding, but c'mon no goggles when they're blowing snow... really?!?! I have no idea how they could last even 1 run!  Anyway, here is a couple pics from Killington on Saturday:

 (Me at the top of K1 Gondola- giving a little point)

 (Chillin on the lift)

(my sister- employed FT, Part-time white Ninja)

Killington's Run of the Day: Great Northern to Mouse Run (not too challenging, but soooo much fun!!)

Our Sunday "Funday" was then spent at Okemo Mountain Resort. Okemo is right down the street from my grandparents house in Ludlow and is also the place I learned how to ski. We got a late start as I had to return my boots at Darkside because they hurt my feet (from my last post). Finding a pair of boots is very hard for me because my feet are oddly shaped. Anyways, after we returned the boots, got warmed up and the sun came out it was a great day... no lift lines, Bluebird and a lot of soft snow was found on the sides from the couples inches Mother nature helped out with on Saturday!!

 (Kelly at the peak, planning next Ninja move)

(on the lift- New Bandana's from Temple Snowboarding)

(Okemo Summit)

Okemo Run of the Day: Upper Chief to Lower Chief... (hands down!!)

Such a great weekend!!!
-Kev

Riding tomorrow... (cc: @thecanyons)

Finally made it up to Vermont and get to go riding tomorrow!! It took a few more hours then expected with some extra stops to Dunkin Donuts and Best Buy, but on our home stretch, I stopped at Darkside in Ludlow, VT to pick up some new DC Boots:

(Breaking them in while writing this blog post)

Luckily, I get to ride for the first time this season tomorrow at Killington and I can't wait! Even though it's going to be crowded and not many trails, I'm pumped to get my first turns in. Many photos and videos to come after my weekend on the slopes... I feel like a little kid on Christmas right now.

On a side note this was another successful Black Friday with minimal shopping on my end, but here is a clip I was able to get from my trip to Wal-Mart at 12:01 am Black Friday Morning. Glad I got out of the way of most of these people haha:

-Kev

Happy Thanksgiving @thecanyons (It's Snowing!!)

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Not sure if it's snowing by you, but it is in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs... 1st snowfall of the season for Philly! Here is a pic from when I woke up this morning...

Today is the last day to submit a video for the Ultimate Mountain Gig. I'm not sure when they announce the winner, but I will be sure to let you all know! In the meantime enjoy the holiday with your friends and family... and relax, check out my video again!!



A few things I'm thankful for: Family, Friends, snowboarding, health, and snow (especially on Thanksgiving!!)

-Kev

Nitro Team Shootout 2010 (Canyons Resort)

The 2nd Annual Transworld Team Shootout took place this year like it did last year, at the very end of the season. 4 Teams get together with the top parks in the country to build a unique set up. This year's match-ups were:

Team Rome with Bear Mtn (Reigning Champs)
Team Nitro with The Canyons
Team Salomon with Keystone Resort
Team Volcom at Mammoth

Check out Team Nitro at the Canyons below:

Apparently, there is a lot of plans for their parks this year... Really excited to see what's in store!

-Kev

Recommendations for Mountaining

Here are a few recommendations for my Ultimate Mountain Gig...


Recommendations from Kevin Casey on Vimeo.

-Kev

How I Mountain Video is up!!!

Lots of hard work and editing. Here is the final result:

VOTE HERE

You can also watch the video here:


I hope you all like it!

-Kev

How I Mountain "Writing Sample"

On top of creating a video for the project, each person needs to submit a writing sample on how you will blog about your experiences. I literally just submitted my video and figured I would let you guys all read what I submitted. Feel free to let me know what you think!!

There are two important components to being a successful blogger - understanding your audience and being passionate about your content. Once you've nailed down those two aspects, the rest will follow. People will feel your energy, become addicted to your work, and help you make your content viral across other social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.  When I blog for the Canyons I will achieve these two objectives fairly quickly because of my own passion and lifelong immersion in the mountains. As president of the Temple University Snowboard Club (TUSC), I understand the skiing/snowboarding community and have always been passionate about being on snow. My diverse experiences on the snow over the last 21 years allow me to connect to any Canyons' blog follower. I can ride POW, drop huge lines in the back country, lap the park and pipe all day, hold my own in the trees, but most importantly I can handle customer relations while doing all of these. I have experienced the mountain with people from all walks of life. I’ve ridden with College kids, children, grandparents, and middle-aged businessmen. I can connect to any reader because I have not only a lot of experience, but a lot that I’d still like to learn and share with others. I can even write several posts on riding the bumps on skis! My intention is to show the Canyons’ community of followers that the Canyons Resort is for anyone who has a passion for the mountain skiing and snowboarding.  Followers will become connected to my experiences on the mountain by sharing eye catching photos and posting video content. My goal for the blog is to entice followers by giving them a taste of the experiences they are missing out on by not riding the Canyons day in and day out.

Canyons, I am here to tell you that I will be able to provide those an endless amount of interesting stories coming day in and day out so people continue coming back for more on the Canyons. 
I’ve put 100+ days on snow in multiple seasons before so I will not have any trouble coming up with appealing Mountain experiences to blog everyday, whether my followers are skiers or snowboarders. Just remember- Think Mountains, Think Canyons, Think Kevin Casey!

To see some other examples of how I Mountain AND how I blog, please visit: www.howimountain.blogspot.com

-Kev

"Mountaining" with Snowboard Club Members

I learned more with my involvement in TUSC than I did in most of my college classes.I was President of The Temple University Snowboard Club for '09-'10 season. Some say it was the best year by far the club has experienced and by no means am I going to disagree with them.  I can bore you with a long story, but I'd rather just list them out with links to click... who doesn't like looking at photos and watching videos? That's what blogs are all about...

First Meeting (well over 200 in attendance)...

Forum Video Premier "Forever"...

Organized 3 Club Trips (Killington, Mont Tremblant, Stowe)...

Organized first Club Gear Swap...

Ima Betta Jibba WINNERS
Rome's visit to Philly
Snowmageddon

Brought a Mini Ramp to campus for the day...

Rail Jam:

JFBB Street Team

Relay for Life (raised over $4500 for Cancer in 3 weeks)


Collaborated with EESA to make TUSC snowboard Sox

Made endless amounts of T-shirts

This was a great year because we were able to get a lot of new faces out to lot of NEW events that the club has never seen before. The club is definitely one of the largest collegiate clubs on the EAST Coast, one that has gone under the radar for way too long. This past year we were able to put the club on the map and get recognized by the right people in the industry.

-Kev

"Mountaining" in Bariloche, Argentina- Getting to the Mountain (1 of 2)

Traveling down to Argentina was easily 1 of my top 3 snowboard trips. I met the guys who started South America Snow Sessions during the 2008 Nationals at Copper Mountain. John, Luke and Travis really made this experience one I would never forget…

I took the journey to South America with my sister Kelly and we headed down August 5-27. It all started out with a 20 hour plane ride from JFK to Houston, then from Houston to Beunos Aires. It was my first overnight flight and if you’ve never been on an overnight flight… bring something to help you sleep!!! You never know who is going to snore, listen to loud music, or talk with their neighbor ALL NIGHT!

Upon our arrival we were greeted by Luke, with a sign that said: SASS. After we loaded all of our equipment up in the van (pictured below), we headed to a local farm for our first of many Asados.

 (this bus took our gear to the Asado)

If you have never been to Argentina, you may not know that they are known for Amazing Steak and Outstanding Wine (inexpensive too) and ginourmous Asados. Asados are another term for BBQ, but in Argentina it’s a BBQ on steroids. After our Asado, we then packed up the bus and prepared ourselves for the 20 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires to Bariloche. This bus had seats that lay down so you can sleep!!

(everyone at the Asasdo)

The next morning, after the crazy 20 hour bus ride, we finally arrived at our destination: Bariloche. Check it out on the map: SERIOUS ROAD TRIPPIN'.

So we finally made it to the Hosteria, which was right outside downtown Bariloche and the mountain: Cerro Catedral. Basically 10 minutes to each!! Throughout the day we were all introduced to the counselor’s and given the guidelines for the 2 weeks we would be staying there. We were treated like royalty at the Hosteria.

Stayed Tuned for Part 2 of 2

-Kev

The Art of HomeBrewing

About 5 weeks ago, I started my own home brewing. My Uncle Tom used to homebrew very religiously so when my Aunt Debbie said I should really get into it I quickly jumped on the opportunity. Little did I know was that she was almost willing to pay me to take all of the equipment out of their basement. Here is what a home brewers basement will generally look like:

Bottles upon bottles, buckets, carboys (clear glass jar), bottle caps, tubes, bottle filler, etc... Uncle Tom hooked me up with a great starter kit. I am very thankful to have an Uncle that would be willing to donate all of this equipment to me!! He doesn't know this yet, but he will be getting a delivery this week with "Fragile Christmas Ornaments."

The first brew I started 5 weeks ago was finally ready this past week:

My first brew was made with a pre-assembled kit and it's a hoppy dark ale. I named it "The Uncle Tom." It came out wayy better than I could have asked for my first home brew. Here is a picture of it poured:

For my second homebrew I decided to pick up some ingredients for a more intermediate brew. I have a contest coming up at The Draught Horse, a local bar on Temple's Campus. The brewmaster from Yeungling will be judging the contest. Everyone is required to brew a Brown Ale. For my beer I will be brewing an English Brown Ale and it should be ready in time for the competition on December 7, 2010. Here are a few pics over the past 3 weeks of my progress:

Sunday, 10/24/10

 (All the ingredients- Pre- Boil)

(Pulling out the Tea)

10/31/10

I racked the beer from the primary bucket into the carboy (that's the glass container from the 1st picture above)

11/14/10

 

I racked the beer out of the carboy into the bottling bucket

Then sanitized my bottles while the Sugar Dextrose boiled on the stove

Then I bottled and my sister Kelly helped me cap

We got about 27 bomber bottles out of this brew. The beer will now sit in my basement for about 2-3 weeks while the dextrose sugar does its job and carbonates the brew. 6 bottles will be going to the judges in the contest and the rest will be drank by my friends, family, and of course myself!

Brewing is definitely something I will continue to do. Drinking a good beer is just one of those things you don't appreciate until you understand all of the work needed to put into a great batch. I had no idea how beer was made until I started doing this. 

Stayed tuned for an update in the beginning of December on my contest results.

-Kev

How I Mountain in the "off" season

Today I went golfing with my family... We killed it! There were no hole in one's, but my Grandpa chipped in from about 45 feet off the green on hole #3 at Middletown Country Club!

My swing

And a picture of me, Dad, and Grandpa

Here's a video of my swing... went a little right, but I still got a Par!!

Golfing is just one of the ways I mountain in the off season. Here are some other ways I mountain when I'm not on my snowboard:

  Skateboarding

Wakeboarding

Fishing

Traveling:

St. Marten 2006

Dublin, Ireland 2009 (Sky Bar)

Camping (Sequoia Nat'l Forrest, CA) 2010

Hiking (General Sherman, CA) 2010

Skydiving (2007)

I like staying active in the off season.

-Kev

I brought the biggest mountain EVER to Philadelphia!!

While I was President of the Temple University Snowboard Club, we had a solid 2 weeks of non-stop action packed snowboarding for 2 weeks.

1/28/10- 2/11/10 were probably the best 2 weeks I've experienced in my 4 years with TUSC and it was all under my Presidency. In no way am touting my own horn as everything kind of fell into place after a lot of hard work (from me and the officers) and dedication in bringing the mountain to Philadelphia.  Let me break it down for you...

So on Thursday, January 28th we had the 2nd annual Bell Tower Rail Jam:
For a full recap on this event please see the Bringing the Mountain to the Streets of Philly post!!!


TUSC 2nd Annual Rail Jam at the Bell Tower from Temple U Snowboard Club on Vimeo.

As soon as the rail jam was finished we hustled to bring all the snow from the event to the jib park or Project J (short for Jib) within a few hours of tear down. The school's maintenance crew helped us load up the snow into our rental Budget trucks, but we had to work fast because we were paying the maintenance crew by the hour (limited budget). Here is the result of our hard work:


Ima Betta Jibba TUSC from Temple U Snowboard Club on Vimeo.

We also used this video for TUSC's submission to Rome's Ima Betta Jibba Contest. This video was filmed Friday, Jan 29th - Jan 31st, edited Jan 31st and submitted next day on the deadline: February 1, 2010.

So we waited...

And on Friday, February 5th I got a call from Ron at Rome Snowboards in the AM letting me know that we had made TOP 3!! I was so pumped and called all of the officers. Being the tricksters they are, Rome released all of the videos submissions throughout the day on Facebook. The were realeased based on what place they landed, leaving us sweating bullets ALL DAY since the first place team was last. They finally released our video as the winner at 5PM (we ended up beating kids from Vermont, Utah, Colorado, California, and Washington).  After finding out I got another call from Ron who wanted to discuss the details of their visit. So we're talking and I'm thinking they will probably come down end of February, maybe early March, but he mentions the team is leaving for Japan so they want to head down Tuesday, February 9th and film!! Here is link to their Philly Trip Blog Post: YEAHHHH!!! And here is the video they made from their visit (we had a LOT of fun):


Rome comes to Philly!!! from Temple U Snowboard Club on Vimeo.

Rome ends up getting into Philly late Tuesday night as they drove down in the heavy storm that hit Philly, school ends up getting canceled Wednesday and Thursday. Please keep in mind that Temple has never closed in something like 62 years!!! I still find it hilarious to this day that Rome showed up and they close the university down the 2 days they're in Philly... EPIC!!!

-Kev

Video progress

Video is coming a long and should be ready by the end of the weekend!!! Just putting a few finishing touches on it and learning a few new editing techniques.

-Kev

Bringing the Mountain to the Streets of Philly

With the help of our local sponsors (Big Boulder Park, Buckman's, Banchi, PNC Bank, and Skullcandy) we had our Annual Temple Bell Tower Rail Jam 1/28/10. This is by far the biggest event the club has thrown and it was going off all day with a TON of great riders from southeast PA!!! Above is a photo of the set up the night prior to the event. After all was said and done we then took all the snow for a contest Rome was having:

Stay tuned for another blog post to follow about the contest.

-Kev

Skydiving Video!!!

I went skydiving with a few friends and was finally able to rip the DVD I paid so much money for as a digital format.

As you can tell from the video I am the most hyped kid in our group. Everyone that went up in the plane with me was pretty nervous. I asked my jumper (Dean) and Filmer (Pancake) 3 questions:

1) How do we jump first out of the plane?
2) Can we please do a gainer out the back?
 *Gainer is a running backflip*
3) Is it cool if I jump shirtless?

As you can see when you watch the video all 3 of my questions were answered and this jump has gone down as one of the top 5 coolest things I've ever done.

Skydive Video from Kevin Casey on Vimeo.

And here is a few pix Pancake took, while he was also filming:

-Kev

Pictures from the Art Museum shoot

Here's a couple shots from the intro to the video. After watching most of the videos it looks like I am the only person with somewhat of urban lifestyle mixed in with my mountain life (so far). BUT I'm ok with that!!

And another one:

I will be getting a lot more footage this weekend. I was going to head up to Killington to get some VT shots with snow, but it looks it's going to rain so I'll be hiking up to Big Boulder in the poconos instead.

-Kev