Meathead East Coast Skiing Adventure Movies & Films

Why would we ever go out West? To celebrate the East of course! Wanderland was nominated for two Powder Video Awards (“Best Powder” for Jay Bowen and Stacey Rachdorf in the Stowe segment and “Best Jib” for Pat Cowan’s crazy long/ unstable kinked rail). With the awards ceremony being held at the Hotel Jerome in downtown Aspen on Jan. 26, we knew we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go out and represent our region to the rest of the ski world.

After a full day of flying on Friday, we were greeted at the Aspen airport by our longtime amigo and former roommate, Chester Areson. As a ski patroler for Aspen Highlands, Chester stands as a pillar of the community in Aspen. So it was with no surprise that we headed to his condo overlooking the infamous Ajax mountain and all of downtown. Chester lives right next door to Bryce Kellogg!!

Anywho, Saturday was bluebird and with the help of some coupons we only had to fork over half of a small fortune to ski at Aspen Highlands for the day. Chester was patrolling but managed to scrap some time off and led us up into the Highland Bowl immediately. Neither Rooster nor I thought much of the hike until we were gasping for breath. Altitude was the culprit… we may have been in great shape but we weren’t ready for the 12,392 ft. of altitude. Soon we were at the top, however, and schralped down the face and into the woods. Not as steep as Tuckerman’s, but a still a rush.

The Powder Video Awards ceremony was a raucous good time with open bar for the first hour or so and pretty much everyone in the ski movie industry was there. We didn’t win our categories but it was sweet to partake in the event and know that Eastern skiers and terrain can hold it down with the best in the world! As a bonus, we were graced with the presence of Meathead athletes Stacey Rachdorf and Shea Flynn who added to our East Coast representation and level of rowdiness. Thanks to Powder Mag for throwing an event to celebrate all the hard work the ski movie producers and athletes put in every sesason.

The next day was spent at Snowmass, which was a flat mountain for the most part. There were sections of super gnarly terrain and some dope pillow lines but accessing them was difficult since we had no idea where to go. We did find some cool mini lines to ski though and spent most of the day in anticipation for the forecasted overnight storm coming…

Monday was the day. It had snowed 20" in 24 hours and kept dumping all day. Rooster, Shea (out there for the Aspen Open and U.S. Open), my buddy Mike Flood (from Superior, CO) and myself shredded the steep and deep at Highlands from open to close. Check out the pics.

Tuesday was sunny and more of the same deep powder. So in celebration, Mike and I busted out the one-pieces for some Aspen Extreme flavor. Mule kicks and Zutnicks were highlight tricks off the cat tracks. I think we passed tryouts for the Ashpin Ski School, reminiscent of TJ Burke and Dexter Rutecki.

Overall, it was a sick trip but we had to scramble back on Wednesday in order to continue production on our new East Coast Ski Thriller. With record snowfall this year and more in the forecast, we can’t wait to show the world once again that the East Coast is where it’s at!