Hey fellers. This is Sean reporting in. The night before the session,

the news was calling for 1-3 inches of snow but due to the lack of knowledgeable weathermen in PA, they were wrong. We ended up gettin

around 10-12 inches. 

The next morning we woke up to covered grass,

driveways, ski equipment left outside from the night before, and NO

SCHOOL!. Immediately me, and my friends Jordan, Kenny, and Ben had the

same idea. We were going to have an old fashion jib session in Jordan's

back yard. So I went up to Jordan's around 12 o'clock to set the rail

up. Me and him got an early start on the rail before the other 2 showed

up.

When 2 o'clock rolled around Kenny and Ben arrived with an old

motor oil barrel that would be ideal for bonking and some rad

handplants. When they first got there we were considering going up to

our local mountain Big Boulder but the 45 minute drive and the 20$ cost

was getting old, fast and we decided to take advantage of the snow we

had. Last year we didn't see snow until mid-January! So after everything

was set up, which took about an hour, we started seshing. My friend Ben, who is not usually into pushing himself, decided that he would

start trying some stuff that he is not accustom to doing, while Kenny

and Jordan continued to do multiple rail completions with a variety of

switch-ups.

After hitting the rail for a little we decided to start on

the barrel jib. First off we just nose/tail tapped  it a few times with

some 180's and what not. After that we started adventuring into the

handplant apparatus, soon finding out they are a lot harder than they

look. Me and Kenny started getting the hang of them while Jordan and Ben stuck to some gnar grabs over the barrel.

After getting a few good

handplants and bonks I decided I wanted to misty over the barrel, only

to realize half way through the air i was definitely not goin to make

it. All in all we got some decent shots with aunts old

digital camera and had a super fun session regardless of what we

did. Stay tuned for some more updates from the quiet town of Moscow.

MEANWHILE... Out of Desperation:

“Desperate” isn’t the right word but it’s the

first word that comes to mind. This is definitely a slow starting winter in

Colorado. It’s almost December and by this time, the Front Range has usually

gotten a proper, school-closing dump or two. When Boulder saw its first real

accumulation of three inches (five if you’re really

optimistic), Hartman had decided he was finished with waiting and was

determined to kick off the urban exploits of a new season. The day before

Thanksgiving, Jon was able to coax Jake Szarzec to join him, Daryoosh Ardalan

to tag along with his video getter and the mini-crew set out, with Jon’s sights

set on a big chunk of concrete glory.

You have to give Jonny credit. I don’t think

there are a lot of people who would step to this double kink ledge as their

first target of urban de-beautification. Especially considering the ensemble’s

rookie behavior with one shovel. We were able to get another shovel in on

the action but all the snow farming only made one thing painfully clear- speed,

or a lack thereof, kills. Jake was grumbling the whole day that we needed a

drop-in ramp.

Whatever though, next big dump and this thing is

done for! Jon got close a bunch more times once I got in on the pole whip,

incapacitating me from shooting. This spot didn’t get busted for a good two

hours even with our long set-up and extensive surrounding surveillance.

Laybacks cause we don’t cheat! Get up there Jon!

You see that pole there? It’s just for a security camera. No lights, just a

camera with obviously very little attention paid to it.

This rail was, like the buckle of Hartman’s new

boots, a bust.

From there, the caravan of vandals-to-be headed

to a spot embodying urban dirtiness. A passage through a fence with an actual

solid door cut out was at the top of a wobbly rainbow to flat with a mega kink

in between. The area looked deserted until, of course, we started shoveling

snow. The man who sent us on our way was quite nice and told us when we could

come back but the door was probably locked by then.

We took these pictures to make it look like we

weren’t being sketchy before getting kicked out. Swear to god, we’re just

tourists.

Daylight was running out. Against all scruples

the crew decided, “Screw it. We don’t care if the Casey Middle School rail is

played. Let’s see if we can make it happen.” Some kids had set this popular

spot up to cheater mode, packing snow down the first set of stairs to jump on

after the kink. This made set-up super easy after transporting the snow up the

steps. Once again, though, velocity was our downfall. With stills taking a

backseat to potential video, I became bitch while Jake and Jon alternated

taking turns and helping me push and pull. Jon gave ‘er for awhile, falling off

once after nosebonking that piece of plumbing to the left. Jake kept at it

until Dar deemed the video not worth it as dusk set in.

Jake on an attempt while I attempted the

infamous polewhip-to-protect-the-camera-to-frame-and-get-the-shot trick.

I had to get off to work, cold and tired. I

realized that this would not be the typical Boulder dump, as night set in and

the temperatures continued to drop. Normally, we get about one day after a dump

before the weather goes schizo and the mercury climbs to 60. I told Jon that I

still wanted something and Thanksgiving, after all, is a time for friends and

family. Dar came along too and I pointed our smaller set toward my secret

little garden of urban goodness. If there’s one thing Jon Hartman likes to ski

on (aside from spleeze), it’s bomb drops.

This shot would be so stoic if Jon were skinning

up some remote ridge.

We decided on this man-made cliff band that was

just feet from a crazy ledge (which you’ll probably see around the same time

that double kink is slayed.) It was a quick set-up as we scraped the

diminishing snow into a landing pad while Jon stomped out an in-run. It only

took a few times before Jon was satisfied, despite overshooting the landing pad

a few times. Moving down the street a little, we almost had the next part ready

to go when another uncharacteristically friendly security guard rolled up.

“What’s up, guys?” he said quietly, leaning out the window

of his truck.

“We’re thinking about doing some skiing.”

“OK… are you guys employees?”

He explained that, while he didn’t understand

the whole insurance liability, he couldn’t let us do this. That’s OK, sir.

Thanks for not getting in our faces. You have a good Thanksgiving.