Summer, Winter, Fall, and Spring.  The Midwest has all four, and I want to snowboard during every single one of them.  If you are a reader of this blog there is a good chance that you want to do the same.  Let me help you out with this because I think I have found the answer.

Powderpak

Not many people have it, some don’t need it, and until a few years ago I didn’t have the slightest idea what it even was.

Now I have rode it, tested it, and bought more of it.  Want to know what “it” is?

“It” is a carpet like material that is made out of plastic.  There are two different types of “it”.  One type is like a berber carpet with tight loops, and the other type is like short turf or grass.

With “it” you can ride on flat ground and use a Banshee Bungee to pull you.  You can roll it out on a hill and slide down.  You can build a drop-in ramps with “it” attached.  You can let your imagination roll and do anything you want with “it”.

Powderpak is an artificial snow surface that will allow you to snowboard, ski and sled all year.  I plan on using it for all three.  What would you do with it if you had it?

Would you have a year round backyard terrain park?  Would you build toboggan runs?  Would you open a year round terrain park in the Midwest?  Would you have it at your corporate event as something new to due, something to spark the interest?

Powderpak has made it possible for us all to Board the Midwest All Day Everyday.  Heck even Texans will be able to board with this stuff!

If you want to know more about the pak, shoot me a message and I will be happy to answer any of your questions.

Picture Taken by: David from Think Feel Pictures

You have heard me talk about wakeboarding.  You’ve heard me talk about wakesurfing, and you might have even heard me talk about ocean surfing.  What you have never heard me talk about is Bungee Surfing.

Bungee Surfing

It’s a whole new animal.  Anywhere there is a river, or a body of water with a current to it, you can bungee surf.  It’s wild, and I am still trying to figure out exactly how it all works.

Even Surf company has mastered Bungee Surfing, and this is what I know so far.  You use a skim type surfboard like you would use for wakesurfing.  Along with your board you use a bungee that is around 20 feet in length.

From here you anchor the bungee to the side of the river and jump in.  As you float down the river, the bungee will stretch up to 200 feet.  At this point you attempt to get on the board and ride it at 30 miles an hour back to your starting point.

The board is specially designed so that the bungee attaches to the bottom of the board, and then at a certain point the bungee will release from the board as you cruise on by.  Sounds like fun doesn’t it?

;

I know I am going to give it a try. Once the water warms up a bit I will break out one of my Shred Stixx Boards, my Banshee Bungee, and take it to the river.  I can’t wait to give this a shot.  Why not??  After all it’s another way we can all Board the Midwest All Day, Everyday!

Here we are….  The Midwest Slump.  Winter is over, the snow is gone, and summer is not yet here.  We are in it.  What are we who love to snowboard, wakeboard, and wakesurf to do?  Do you feel stuck?  Do you really want spend outrageous prices on gas to travel 4-5 hours up north to snowboard?  The water is still frozen, how can you even think of being on it?

Midwest Board Slump

What do we do??  Skateparks, hiking, canooeing, mountian biking, long boarding, training, traveling out west, and  moving, are all options.  During the spring and fall we can do any of these, but who really wants to ride this way?

I want to snowboard, I want to wakeboard, I want to wakesurf, and I can’t.

Yeah there are many other ways to solve this issue, but I really don’t like any of them.  To me the Midwest slump is one of the biggest issues people in the Midwest have to deal with.  The slump is an issue I am passionate about solving and one I have been trying to solve for a couple of years now.

This is where I am at in solving this issue.

The picture above shows day three of testing a way to beat the slump.  As testing continues, a new company is also under development.  I’m super pumped and super excited to bring you a way to connect the summer to winter, winter to summer, and to help you beat the slump.

As I move forward with this idea, I will keep you posted on my latest findings and I would love to hear what you think of Boarding the Midwest All Day, Everyday because I am going to make it happen!  Actually it is happening, so let me know what you want to see, and I will try to make that happen for you!!

Here it is Ladies and Gentlemen.  A sequel to one of our only urban snowboard sessions this year.

Think Feel Pictures

I talked recently about the Urban Shred Night we had, but what I never mentioned is that David from Think Feel Pictures was there filming the whole night.

David and I met this year and I have to thank him for putting in the time to put this video together.  If you have not watched the vid in 1080 yet, you need to.  And blow that crap up, because it is one minute of a full blown HD movie.  So sweet, and I am pumped to have some more fun with filming as we continue to Board the Midwest All Day, Everyday.

In a post I wrote earlier this year, I stated that I was not sure if the Outlaw Slinger from Banshee Bungee was going to be able to pull me across the water.  Well it did!  One the flip side, we found a problem.  It did not pull me fast enough to do anything that I would want to do.  Now before I create a problem, I have always been told to solve the problem first, so I am going to take that route.

To solve the Banshee Bungee problem, I have came up with a few different solutions.

1.  Buy the Federal Offense.  This would give us twice the power, and is sure to get us across the water in order to hit a rail.  Need more people to pull this thing back!

2.  Get a bigger board.  This would help get us on top of the water, and hopefully help create more speed.

3.  Use a skim type board.  A skim board would help us keep the speed because skim boards have less rocker than a traditional wakeboard.  I believe the rocker that is designed into a wakeboard causes a lot more drag, and having less of this would defiantly help keep our speed to the rail.

4.  Use a better starting platform.  By using the grass as the starting point, I lost a lot of the initial pull that the bungee needs to get me going across the water.  A nice plastic surface would have been perfect.

5.  I could always loose 20-30 lbs, but I doubt that is going to happen.

So what do you think?  Do you have any ideas on how we could make this work?

Either way, I put together a short video for all of you to enjoy.  It was rainy and cold, dealing with the apartment manager was not fun, and thank you to my buddy Andrew for helping me out.  We had a blast testing the Banshee Bungee out on the water, and I am determined to figure out how I can make this work.  From there the possibilites are going to be endless.  Enjoy!

Really this snowboarding video did not take place last night, but it did take place on a cool night in early March 2010.  When you watch this video you will see an obstacle we like to build into our parks every chance we get.  What is this obstacle you ask?  It’s a wall ride.  The wall ride is a feature you can add to your backyard park with ease, and one that can be utilized in many different ways.

The way we set the wall up came from a trip we took to Killington Mt. in Vermont.  While riding Killington we found our way to The Stash.  The Stash is one of many parks at Killington, and it is unique because it is set into the woods with natural features such as log grinds and natural hits.  While riding through The Stash one of my favorite hits was a huge wall that you could hit from the side, which is exactly where I got the idea.  This is one and only one of the many ways you can use a wall in your backyard park.  So get out there, get creative, build yourself a wall ride, and enjoy the video of us shredding Last Night.

Over the past few years of my life I have developed a passion for building backyard snowboard parks.  So what you will start to see throughout my blogs are, the different ways to set up a park, obstacles you can use in your park, methods to gain speed for the obstacles, and everything else I have learned from shoveling snow for hours upon hours.

In the two videos posted, our set up consists of a jump that runs into a 12 foot flat rail, and as you will see, we used the Banshee Bungee for acceleration.  Because we had a shortage of snow, this is not our best set up.  On the plus side, we were still able to feel the speed, float through the air, and grind some metal all in one run.  Not to mention we didn’t have to pay for an expensive lift ticket!!

The first video is of myself, and the second is of my buddy Andrew.  We rocked this day out until we couldn’t pull the bungee back anymore, so sit back and enjoy the footage!

Snowboarding can happen anywhere at anytime with the tool I describe in this video.  Nothing more needs to be said, just go out and get it!

If you hear expensive, that means inexpensive.  Also make sure to Subscribe below so you can see the latest videos  of us using the Banshee Bungee.  Enjoy!

To start off the 2010 snowboarding season, it was my goal to pick up a Banshee Bungee;  so I did!  In the middle of January I received the Bungee in the mail, and my snowboarding life immediately changed.  The hits that I thought were never hittable, now are.  I can’t stop looking and thinking of different ways to use the this thing.  It seems like the possibilities are endless, and I can’t wait to try it out on the water this summer.

The Banshee Bungee comes in three different bungee packages.

1.  Urban Assault – Which consists of a 10ft bungee with a handle and 30ft lead line.  ($149.00)

2.  Outlaw Slinger – Which consists of a 20ft bungee with a handle and 30ft lead line.  ($215.00)

3.  Federal Offense – Which consists of two 20ft bungees, two handles, and a 30ft lead line.  ($425.00)

It is easy to see the difference in the three packages, and I would recommend the Outlaw Slinger for newbies to the bungee phenomenon.  If you want a shorter bungee you can tie the Outlaw Slinger off at a shorter distance.  This will allow you to still be able to ride the areas where 180ft of stretched out bungee is not attainable.  If you are looking to skim water and hit your secret water spots, I would recommend the Federal Offense.  I do not believe that you will be able to get enough speed to hit the water with the other two packages.

In the end, if you can see at least one spot where you can use the Banshee Bungee, I would pick one up.  As soon as you get the bungee you will be amazed how your eyes and imagination open up and you will start to see the many different uses for the bungee.  It has been one of the best purchases I have made, and I will continue to use the Banshee Bungee for a long time!

This VIDEO is just one of the great ways to use the bungee; at least I thought it was!!

In the midst of 50 degree weather, torrential downpours, and every local trash mound in Michigan shutting down.  It is looking like our snowboarding season is over.  I hoped our local hills could make it another week, and I am sad to say that they did not last.  We are done, and need to move on with our lives, right??  Wrong!  All it takes is that overdue grocery trip you have been meaning to accomplish for the last three short months you have been snowboarding.  Wouldn’t you know it, Meijer, was the only place that was left to snowboard.  If all of your local hills, mountains, or watering holes are closed due to poor weather and a short season, look to your nearest shopping center for left over piles of snow and your snowboarding season may  live on.  Watch this video as this is exactly what my boy Andrew and I have done.  We made the best out of what we had and we won’t quit until the snow is gone.  Enjoy the show and get it while the gettin’s good!