Braden Dean Dot Com

So after we rolled up to Aspen the X games were already in full swing, it was amazing to see 30,000 + people all crowded around waiting to see Shaun White drop in and stomp a double McTwist, the energy in the crowd was ridiculous. The X games highlight for me was definitely watching young Halldor Helgasson compete in Snowboard big air for his very first time. He dropped in and stomped 2 perfect scores in his first 3 hits. Double cork FS 1080, Double BS 1080, Double BS 1260. Stomp. Check out the video of his Big air runs here.

We spent the next couple days scoping features to hit around the aspen/snowmass area and it was stacked. Tons of urban drops, ledges, rails and gaps. The best part? We didn’t get kicked out of ANYWHERE. We literally had cops drive by our sessions and nod to us respectfully as 2 people were passing off a bungee to a rider strapping up in the middle of the road. Ridiculous. The original plan was to spend the first couple days after X-Games up in aspen and then head down and shoot some park/pipe action in the Breckenridge/Keystone area. Plans change and due to an abundance of features in such a small area and some “unprecedented” hospitality in Aspen we ended up staying there until our return home on the 27th.

Here are a couple of the features we sessioned in the area:

After we left Aspen our adventures were definitely not over, I still had to figure out how I was going to get back to Canada Feb 7th when my ticket was booked March 7th (Oops!). Fortunately I have apprenticed in Schwankism for the last couple years with the Schwank himself and I made some plays. I saved myself over approximately $500. Details are as follows:

-When I first booked my ticket I tried to save $200 by booking a “non-direct” flight to denver, this saved me money but increased the length of my trip from 3 hours to 9 hours. LAME.

- I also messed up and as a result of my ADHD I missed some important details and my flight was booked for 03/27/10 as opposed to 02/27/10 with everyone else. When I called United they told me it would be $165 USD plus applicable taxes to cancel the ticket and $100 USD plus applicable taxes to change to flight. Total $265 plus taxes.

- After booking my ticket I was also made aware that “excess baggage”, anything longer then 158 cm would be subject to a baggage handling fee of $150 USD plus applicable taxes.

Now my discount, $400 expedia ticket to Colorado had turned into a $950 plus USD ticket and I still had a 9 hour home journey. Not stoked. How did I play it off? Here it goes:

When I arrived at Denver airport (late) I realized that EVERY east coast airport had been shut down as a result of excessive snowfall (2 to 3 feet!!!) and there were massive line ups of extremely angry and rude customers trying to get home. I waited in line and realized I was really going to stand out to the agent if I was the nicest, happiest, least stressed, smiley person she talked to all day. I also made a point of approaching a female agent that looked likely to have a son/daughter my age. Obviously I made best friends with her in the first 30 seconds, and made her aware that a terrible mistake had been made (no blame put on either side) and that it was extremely important that I make it back to Vancouver TODAY because of some “Olympic related activities” that I had to take part in. Obviously she was impressed with how stress free I was (I’m sure the Olympic plug helped as well) and she told me she would see what she could do. Ten minutes later I had a DIRECT flight home, no cancellation fees, no flight upgrade fees, and all I had to do was pay the $150 for excess baggage. Pimp. Roll with confidence, stay collected, and you’ll be fine. Always.

I’m back in Canada now, doing some Olympic related promo work in Vancouver over the games, riding the locals as much as possible. Hopefully I’ll get another update up of a Seymour/Grouse shred before I head to Revelstoke in March.

Finally, Big thank you’s to Michelle Wilson for the hospitality in Aspen. The Voleurz family loves you, always!

BD