Snowboard Colorado giving Sims Snowboards some love!

Well to start off I want to share a link to the latest Snowboard Colorado Magazine. http://issuu.com/sbcomag/docs/january2.5_2/41
Everyone should take a gander and read the article above on Sims Snowboards History. Not only would our industry be nothing like it is now with out Sims, but they are still in the process of furthering the sport we know and love.

Rev Tour and the Holidays!

The few weeks leading up to Christmas are always a mad house around here. You have one of the biggest contests of the year (Dew Tour), another contest with some crucial points (Rev tour), tons of tourists are in town, friends are riding and trying to hang out, and my Parents are here to do some skiing and catch up. If that mouth full doesn't explain it enough, there is a lot going on.

Now I've giving you a recap of the Dew Tour, not much can be said about hanging with friends and family other than it is very necessary to staying sane. But what I haven't given the recap of is the US Snowboarding Revolution tour.

This contest is hosted by USSA/ FIS which means there is grip of rules and criteria one has to fulfill to even compete. But don't think this is some huge contest because of that. The Revolution tour is a TTR 4 star event and is basically the step between USASA and Professional contests. The fact that it is a TTR 4 star event though draws pro's from all over due to the need for TTR points (the reason I competed). Now with that said it is an open entry contest so anyone can enter, but dont think that makes it easy. Registration closes within ten minutes and the onsite wait list usually tallies in the 60's.

To the recap; as the practice day lift ticket costs money, I decided to spend my time in a more beneficial manor shredding with one of my favorite family's the Herman's accompanied by Tyler. Tommy (8) and Tyler (10) embody all that is right in snowboarding....FUN. I love riding with Tommy because he is such a go getter, not scared to blast from top to bottom but still cautious enough to know his limits. Back to the revolution tour though. At the riders meeting the night before our contest day I found out I was in heat 2 which would have a 25 min practice at 11:50, which was a nice breath of air from expecting to wake up at 6... but also strange not having to ride till 12. After a lap at the super fun Woodward at Copper terrain park I headed over to the Slope Style course to watch some of the competition.

The course honestly was medioker at best. A four feature course with a short steep down rail, 30ft, and 45ft jumps a cannon feature 20ft too close to the landing. Don't take this the wrong way, and Im sure there was greater powers at work (A boss or something) but the course was NO wear close to on par with any other 4 star TTR events. Enough with the negativism though, the day obviously turned out great and with my First podium of the year I was stoked! I got to ride with some good friends, meet mr. Triple Rodeo man (Billy Morgan) himself, and experience a new quick Slope Style course, which is good training I suppose.

At the end of the day it's just another contest, an aspect of snowboarding that is just a bit off, but necessary if your really trying to pursue  a career in the Snowboard world. So with that said here is a little video recap of the event made by Copper, and a quick shot from the podium.

http://www.snowboard-colorado.com/rev-tour_seth-hil_winner.php

Thanks to Sims Snowboards, Smith Optics, Screamer beanies, Bern helmets, Duette Watches, ThirtyTwo boots, and rafe Tunes for making this possible.

Thanks for tuning in, and may the holidays bring you as much joy as possible.

First "run" Friday/ One Crazy Dew Tour week (Part 2)

As the Dew Tour week has been over for a few days now, life has slowly settled down. The Dew Tour week is nothing short of excitement, wild nights, and amazing maneuvers. To fully sum up Dew Tour in one or two posts is impossible so I'm going to give a brief little recap of the things I was involved in or took photos of. I've already giving a recap of Snowboard Slope style qualifiers so refer to my last post if thats what your interested in. But what I'd like to talk about now is the Nike Chosen Rail Jam

The Nike Chosen Rail Jam was easily one of the coolest rail jams I've ever been involved in. Granted the conditions were a little icy, and there wasn't a whole lot of landing. But the awesome environment and unique features made up for that one hundred fold. With the enormous interest in the event, 50 riders were invited to come out at see if they had what it takes to make it to the finals. Lets just say I guess I had what it took. Of my heat of 10 I was one of 2 to make it to the ten person final where I battled it out against rail jam masters Ryan Paul, Scotty Vine, and Yale Cousino. I'm pretty stoked on the turn out granted I think I rode a little better in the Qualifier, but either way it was an awesome experience and a really fun time.

:To see my full riders perspective featured on Snowboarder magazine and GrindTV click the links below
http://www.snowboardermag.com/exclusives/nike-chosen-breckeridge-rail-jam/

I have to say the Nike Chosen rail jam was a major highlight of my weekend, but definitely not the only thing going on. After a fun night of some awesome parties, including a dope performance by Yelawolf. everyone rolled up to Breck for a sick rest the week of some amazing riding. As a rider I was allowed to practice the perfect SlopeStyle course made by Breck parks. On this beautiful Friday I had some time management to handle bouncing between practice on the course and shooting photos of Team mate Simon Dumount in the ski Half Pipe Finals. All in all pretty fun beautiful day at Breckenridge.

First "Run" Friday


Stay tuned for a link to all my photos from the Crazy Dew Tour week. Thanks again for stopping in
"If you dream it, You can do it"

My Words on Snowboard Magazine

Last weekend the Grand Prix came to a closing with the Paul Mitchell Progression Session Rail jam. Check out my Words and an awesome video from After Hours on the Snowboard Magazine web site.

http://snowboardmag.com/stories/paul-mitchell-progression-session-copper

Winter Dew Tour @ Breckenridge (Part 1)

So my time here competing in Slope-style at the Winter Dew Tour in Breckenridge has come to a wrap unfortunately... As the sun drew behind the mountains Thursday afternoon at 3PM I dropped into my first run of Qualifiers. Earlier in the day I had stomped my qualifier run in practice, but with the light dimming and speed changing I was getting a bit nervous of my first trick. As I landed the top rails I rode into the first jump ready for the switch-backside 9, I popped spun, spotted and was ready for the landing. As I hit the Snow I realized I wasn't quite center and couldn't hold onto it. As with any Slope-style run, one fall and your done. So I headed back up to the top to cheer my homies on and get ready for run 2. I had landed my run before and knew all I had to do was make it through that first jump and I was golden (I thought). Unfortunately that wasn't the case...My second run was going great all until the second to last jump. I realized immediately as I popped for the cab 9 (A trick I hadn't fallen on once) that I was going way to fast. As the day had grew late, speed had increased and my normal speed checks weren't enough. I went deep, and was unable to hold on to the landing.

At the end of the day I can be a bit bummed I didn't put my run down. But at least I'm out riding in the Dew Tour with the top pro's in the world. And with that said I'm having a blast, Breckenridge parks put together an amazing course, which I got to ride for 3 day with only the other athletes. And the fact of the matter is it's snowboarding and every moment i'm sliding on the Snow, rail, or flying through the air I can't be complaining. So with that said, I'm going to sip on my Neuro Bliss, hang out with my Parents, and have an amazing time hanging out with all my friends in Breckenridge.

There will always be more contests, more jobs, and many more real life situations. What there wont always be, is opportunities to hang out with my friends and loved ones, while doing what we love. No matter how the day turns out there is always a positive way to look at it. Life is short, so take pride in what you do and make the most out of every situation and opportunity. So thank you Sims, Smith, Bern, Screamer, Duette, and Neuro for helping me be able to do what I love 7 days a week.

Stayed tuned for my Winter Dew Tour @ Breckenridge (Part 2) where I will have photos and video from  the Semifinals, Finals, and a recap of the Nike Chosen rail Jam in down town Breckenridge (which I will be competing in)

Thank you all for checking out my recap (part 1) and you stay classy San Diego!

Heres a course break down with Eric Willett to give you an idea of what we we hitting.

See More Videos at AlliSports.com Embed

Thank you SNOWBOARDER MAGAZINE

About a month and a half ago I was sitting in Boulder waiting for the mountains to open, when I received a  message from Mike Yoshida requesting a profile pictures. For those who don't know, lets just say Mike is a big deal over at Snowboarder Magazine. With that said I got pretty excited for sure, I know Aaron Dodds who has shot all of our Sims ads forever, is on staff at Snowboarder Magazine so I directed Mike's efforts his way.

After that day I didn't think a whole lot about it. I knew I had rode fairly well at super park, and figured maybe I was getting a little shout out in the magazine. To my surprise though, about a week later I got a phone call from Pat Bridges (Editor) which surprised and excited the heck out of me! He told me that Snowboarder Magazine was doing an "On Deck" with me in the Mt. Bachelor Super park issue, and he needed me to answer some questions.

As I typed out my responses to his questions, my eyes lit up imagining the day when I get to see an actual spread with me in Snowboarder Magazine. We all have our goals in life, and for me a big one is ending up in Snowboarder Magazine. To know one of my dreams was coming true put me in the best mood ever.




From that day on, I anxiously awaited that issue to come out, watching news stands, checking online, and crossing my fingers for it to come out soon. That day came much to my surprise. While hanging out in Boulder recharging the batteries and getting ready to go hit some street rails. I noticed a Snowboarder Magazine rack in Satellite with a picture from Super Park on the cover, I flipped through vigorously anticipating the article, and there is was...page 58 with all my sponsors, a shot of my face, and an amazing photo from E-stone. One of my dreams had come true and Thanks to Snowboarder Magazine, All those photographers, Mt. Bachelor, and my Sponsors. I knew at that moment, that this was my chance to make something big out of this year, this was the exposure I had been striving for, for so long.

Thank you everyone that has helped me achieve what I've achieved not only in my snowboarding career, but life as well. And I hope I can make you all proud, and give you something entertaining to follow and watch.

Keep doing what you love!

F.T.F First Try Friday With SOS Outreach

Song: Jolie Coquine by Caravan Palace

On December 2nd, thanks to Sims Snowboards, SOS (Snowboard Outreach Society), and Loveland resort I was honored enough to be able to hang out and ride with 32 SOS Outreach youth. Jon Kelly was on site to document the actions so we figured why not get a little first try Friday while we were at it. With that said here is a little run through the early season Loveland park.

Thanks again to all of the SOS Staff, and youth for providing such an awesome and rewarding day! Please stay tuned for a full recap of the action that went down during that awesome day up at Loveland.