THE BIG ONE



It's that time again. The season is winding down, the sun is out, the snow is soft and life is good. For the Savy skier, spring is the time to deck yourself out in the best gear at rock bottom priceces. This weekend, March 20-21st we are going to be having our biggest sale of the year. Everything will be priced to sell. We're going to set up a tent outside the lodge and offer Skis, Boards, Beanies, Outerwear and Street clothes at up to 50% off. For instance, we are clearing out or selction of Rossignol Bandit B1's with a binding for just $189 with our promised free lifetime wax. You'll also find the lowest prices anywhere on neversummer snowboards as well as a great selection beaver shirts and hoodies. It's the kind of sale you'll regret missing. We'll see ya this weekend!
-duke

Story Contest entry: Surfin the Beav'

I left Florida in 1977 to move to Utah. I had grown up surfing and wanted to expand my horizons. I wanted to learn how to ski. I took several group lessons at Beaver Mountain and then struck out on my own. It took several seasons and I learned how to ski the mountain.

In addition, I had met Dmitri Milovich who owned Winterstick and had bought a swallowtail snowboard from him. I learned to hike, climb, and snowshoe to access powder. Then, the day came that I could access the lifts at Beaver. Once that happened, I rode as much as I could to relive my old surfing days. Remember when Ridge was closed to boarders?

Now, many years later, I can be seen surfing my standing wave on lower Redtail on crispy groomer days. My heart is at Beaver Mountain as a surfer, snowboarder, and skier. Thanks for so many good memories. To all of the staff and owners and fellow seekers of the carve.

Many happy turns to come!

Mark

Adventure.

A good friend and former ski shop employee passed away recently, His passing put me in a contemplative mood about how short life is and how we can squeeze every last drop out this experience. Our friend had an infectious spirit of adventure. He saw the world as his playground. To him, life was not an experience that was to be endured; it was an experience to be enjoyed. He will be missed.

There are always a few people we know who seem to understand something the rest of us miss. Work, while necessary, is not the purpose and destiny of life. It is a means to an end. If we take a day or two occasionally and go have an adventure, whether that is skiing, hiking, climbing, road tripping or anything else adventurous, we will be happier. The happiest people I have known in my life aren’t the ones who have the most cash or the most fame, they are the ones who ski the most.

So, with our season coming to an end in the few weeks, get up here and come ride, the snow is still great, the sun will be shining and it will be a lot more fun than you are having sitting on your computer reading this. See you soon!

-duke

Got a story? Win a t-shirt!

Since Beaver Mountain opened in 1939, we've had lots of stories. A few days ago while I was working in the retail shop, I was looking around at pictures of Harold and Luella. Over the course of the morning, several of our “old timers” came in. Each had a special story of a bad snow year or great snow year or how hard it used to be and how things have changed since the early days.
So today for all you blog readers I have a challenge. Leave us your favorite Beaver Mountain story. It could be a family memory, an epic powder day or a day gone horribly wrong. The best ones will make the blog. Get creative with it! Our top 3 stories will all get a limited edition “Beav it all behind” t-shirt.

You can post your stories HERE or email them to shop@skithebeav.com. The contest will close on March 10th. Happy storytelling!

-Duke

Why I ski

A wise man once taught me that skiing isn’t all there is to life, but it sure as hell makes it worth living. I’ve accepted that as truth. Whether I’m choking on blower pow or laying trenches in the corduroy, I can honestly say I’ve never had a bad day of skiing. (Even the day I broke my leg, I felt so hardcore that it was totally worth it.) Mountains have a way of slowing our minds down and encouraging us to forget about work, school, celebrity gossip and whatever else is cluttering our brain. When it just you, your pals and the snow, its gonna put a smile on your face. I’m sure of it.

I found it can be a challenge to get up here and get my fix of skiing as often as I want. Even though I work 15 steps from the slopes, life gets crazy and it seems like there is not enough time in the day. I don’t ski nearly as much as I should.

So as a (not-so) new years resolution, I’m making skiing a priority, truthfully I’m a better employee, husband and person if I had a few days a week playing in the snow. I’d wager the same is true for you.

Luckily, Beaver has made it easy for us. Season passes will go sale the March 9th and stay on sale till mid April. For $270 bucks you can ride as much as want, anytime for the rest of this season and all of what is sure to be an Epic 2011 season. Get out there and ride, you’ll never regret it. For more details on the season pass sale visit www.skithebeav.com

Shop Rat's pick Episode 1: Duke

There are lots of ways to find out what gear is best. You can ask you buddies at the office. You could read a Ski Magazine Gear guide. You could google. You can also ask someone at a ski shop. But let me tell you a little secret, If you want to know what gear is really the best you need to check out what the shop rat's are using. We may be wierd, and we may spend a lot of our hauling old ski boots and handing out kids skis, but among our shop employees are some of the best riders on the mountain. While we're in the shop, we get paid to tell you that all of our gear is great, which is true, but not all of it is created equal. Every year I get to ride close to 30 skis, and I only buy the best one.
Over the next few weeks, Ill have some guest bloggers post about their personal gear favorites. You'd be wise to listen.

Duke's picks
Ski Choice: K2 Obsethed with Look Px 12 binding. This ski is the single most versatile ski I have ever ridden. Rockered tip and tail with camber under foot makes it fantastic in soft snow with out leaving me helpless back on the groomers. k2's full sidewall construction makes the ski durable, Stable and all out rippable. If they are good enough for Seth Morrision, they are good enough for me.

Boots- Full Tilt Bumblebee Pro with Intuition Powerwrap liners
I used to get such bad shin bang, it would leave me crying at the end of every run. That's not the case since I switched to Full Tilt. With a consistent forward flex and Stiff lateral feel coupled with a Liner that wraps itself snugly right around my chicken legs.I can ski all day pain free.

Helmet- Smith Holt W/skull candy audio
this helmet is light and warm and it was relatively cheap. I paid an extra few bucks to add audio right into my helmets ear pieces so I can make pow turns to the beats of soothing melody.

thanks for reading.... More to follow!

ESCAPE


There is a new ad from sprint that says something to the effect of “three skiers are trapped on a ski lift, luckily to save them from such a boring experience they have awesome phones so they can text and browse the web and make phone calls.” Every time my I see this ad I offer up a silent prayer of thanks to the ski gods that cell phones don’t work up here at the beav. Nothing is worse than having to listen to a guy tryintg to buy and sell stock on a powder day. If I were in charge of that ad it would go a little something like this… “ 3 people are trapped by there cell phones and unable to actually enjoy the winter wonderland that god made for them”

Truth is you’ve missed out on the full beaver experience if you haven’t ridden the lift with someone you’ve never met. It could be a 6 year old that is skiing for the first time and wants to tell you all about how awesome the sport is. It could be an inebriated snowboarder who calls you bra, and doesn’t mean you are a piece of underwear. Perhaps you’ll ride with one of the famous weekday morning crew who are still skiing even though they are pushing 90. I hope you’ll find some common ground in the love of the snow.

Speaking of snow…. There is a reason the blog failed to be updated last week. IT SNOWED 4 FEET. If there is one thing I love more than blogging about skiing, its skiing pow. Seriously, the snow is great the sun is out up here and the only thing missing is you.
By the way come in and see me to try out one of our awesome demo fleet. Here is what we have to offer:
K2
Free luv
Lotta Luv
Burnin Luv
Got Back
Side Stash
Hardside
Obsethed
Extreme
Pontoon

Volkl
AC 30

Atomic
Blackeye
Crimson

Line
Afterbang
Prophet 90
Prophet 100
Sir Francis Bacon
EP Pro

Rossignol
Phantom SC 87
Never Summer
EVO
SL-R
Legacy
Infinity
Lotus
Titan