Change in seasons

So you are telling me it doesn't blow like stink here everyday all year round? What am I to do?

Luckily there are killer mountains just around the corner that got a total of 810" of snow last season, that's almost 70 feet. Squaw has already been hit with a couple small winter storms this year; I guess whenever it rains in San Fran it is snowing on the mountains.

Local San Franciscans have been getting themselves stoked for the season by checking out ski movie tours that bring a carnival of skiing and snowboarding to movie theaters everywhere they go. This is a new experience for me that I am starting to fall in love with. My past experience with ski movies was in college where we usually watched a DVD in a dark dank dorm room to get ourselves psyched for a weekend of skiing. Watching a ski movie on the big screen is a different experience all together. The biggest difference is the audience, it is way more exciting to watch a skier head towards an epic cliff when there are 100 other people building louder and louder, "Woahhhh," then erupting in a giant cheer when the skier sticks the landing or erupts into an epic yard sale. No one is more stoked than the kids that are standing in line for autographs, grabbing handfuls of stickers and bragging about there biggest hucks from last season. The feeling is contagious and you can't help but act like a kid while you are there.

Another bonus to the ski movies are the raffles but as my friend Jeremy learned you have to earn it. Congrats on your new pair of skis buddy.

In case you need to get pumped up for this season or just don't know how epic Squaw Valley is this video should do the trick. Just about all of the epic cliffs, steep terrain and tight chutes are accessible by lifts. Ridding a lift at squaw on a powder day is like being in the middle of a ski movie to your right and left you might see a pro skier or snowboarder ride an epic line or launch themselves off a cliff.
Warren Miller's Squaw Video

Rip Curl Pro Search comes to San Francisco

Pretty psyched to have a pro surfing competition right in my new backyard but I am not sure where I should surf this weekend. Yesterday Ocean beach dished out the usual currents and one pro surfer spotted a shark coming in mid heat. Check out the competition live!

Watch live streaming video from ripcurl at livestream.com

3rd Ave. That's the good stuff

Finally got a really good session in at 3rd Ave. as the season is winding down.  For some reason the wind sensor in the channel went offline right when the wind peak but I was sailing right next to it and was completely lit on my 5.8 100L board setup.  When I first went out I was perfect but man did the wind freshened up.  Rather than rigging another sail I de-powered the 5.8 as much as possible and hung on.  The best combo for the day once the wind picked up probably would have been 5.0 85L but I didn't bring a smaller board and wanted to maximize my time on the water.  Of course today I brought the small board and the wind didn't come in at all... why do the wind gods always play these cruel and unusual tricks on us?

3rd Ave. is an amazing spot that creates a natural playground whether you or using a kite or sail.  Near the shore there are some flat spots and plenty of small chop that is close together and better suited for kitting.  As you sail further out the wind really kicks up and the chop turns into swell that you can play around with.  At this point in the season the wind doesn't pick up until later in the day and I can only imagine what the swell is like during the peak of the season.

All of the technical details aside I was really happy to get a good day in the resembled the natural breeze of San Francisco Bay.  There was a moment when I was sailing that I finally felt like my ship had landed and I was no longer an east-coast transplant but someone who found themselves at home on the west coast.

My day wasn't as epic as this one but the video shows some of the best conditions you can get at "Turd".