Catboardin' Ajax: Pacsun, USASA Team and Village Crips Go Catboarding in Aspen

Bucky is my parent's cat. Since I moved out West to work at SNOWBOARDER I haven’t seen him much. I really miss the poker games, beer runs and trips to the strip clubs in Montreal we used to share. Last week I spent a few days in Vermont and had a chance to hang with Bucky. Unfortunately Bucky is getting old. He isn’t that same crazy feline I remember. It is sad really. When I left the east coast last Sunday I was close to writing cats off altogether.

I am now in Aspen for the X-Games. If you are a snowboarder and haven’t heard of the X Games then you probably haven’t heard of the internet either. Regardless, once a year snowboarding and mainstream America get together to fornicate for the ESPN cameras. I know that statement may come across as a negative. I actually see both sides of the mainstream snowboarding argument. As a matter of fact, if a sports drink sponsor or car company wants to give a couple thousand dollars to a dirtbag snowboarder then I say fork over the w-9. Odds are that shred is gonna use that money to ride pow, party hard and pay off medical bills not covered by their “core” sponsors. As for the X Games, if it grows the whole snowboarding pie then pro riders who have never put a bib on in their lives will benefit.

Now back to the cat dilemma. So I get into Aspen and before I could unpack my bags (haven’t had the chance to unpack in three weeks actually) I get a phone call. My friend Stacie from PacSun called and asked if I wanted to go cat boarding with a couple USASA team riders on the backside of AJAX. I do stupid things but I’m not stupid so I said yes. Cat boarding is smart.

By 9 pm our crew was at the top of Ajax. My peeps and I were suited with pieps and ready to go. Trevor Jacob and Ross Baker were the USASA riders. I know these two pretty well. Trevor and I have been riding together for 6 years and Ross stole my toe straps three years ago. True story. I got over the toe strap incident awhile back when Trevor and I jumped Ross into the village crips. We are cool now. Joining us was a local rider named Madison. Not sure if he is cut out for the gang life so we decided not to jump him in.

Having private access to untouched backcountry terrain in Aspen during the X Games is surreal. A few miles away at Buttermilk, riders and agents were vieing for coveted spots in the X Games and dialing in their runs. Meanwhile, we were vieing for those valuable slashes and dialing in top to bottom pow runs. The only word to describe it is “cherry”.

Though the riding was killer and it is always a good time when the crips suit up to take to the snow, I couldn’t help but feel melancholy. Bucky should have been there. He is an OG Village Crip He would have been ripping farts in the snowcat the whole way up and snaking all of us the whole way down. Bucky, if you are back east reading this on the internet, I love you man and next year I’m bringin’ you to Aspen. We’re going cat boarding.