The Valley Sun

Step one: fill out the form

At our house, “pass day” is an annual rite of passage. We make the pilgrimage to the River Run Lodge, ready to embrace the change of season that securing our ski passes signifies. In the 15 minutes or so it takes to process all of us (paperwork, photos, handover of finished pass on its Sun Valley lanyard), we officially put summer behind us and stare longingly through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows at what will soon become a busy pastiche of skiers and boarders at the base of the mountain.

River Run Lodge is open for business

Getting our passes means it’s time for other annual rituals, too. We clean out the garage, put the bikes in the corner and put ski equipment front and center.  Ski edges and bases are checked; helmets are fished out of storage; clothing, mittens and socks checked to see who has outgrown (or lost) what.

As the weather finally shakes off any vestiges of Indian Summer and commits to cold, snow-making nights and fat clouds ready to drop some winter magic, there is much to look forward to.  Thanksgiving is right around the bend and Sun Valley is a lovely place to spend it.  The Resort is offering great room rates, a lavish buffet and both Bald Mountain and Dollar will open on Thanksgiving Day. I enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at the Lodge Dining Room two years ago. It was the most elegant and delicious I have experienced in a long time. And the best part?  No clean up! Early season prices and packages continue through December 20 so get those ski passes ready.

Step two: take a photo in front of the mountain map

The mountain will open for a pre-season race camp even earlier than Thanksgiving. Kicking off the Resort’s 77^th ski season, young alpine and freestyle skiers from all over the west will convene on the hill from November 17-21, taking advantage of Baldy’s perfect pitch and great training conditions.

Preparations for a new Winter Wonderland at Sun Valley Village are well underway – a festival of sights, sounds and tastes that will combine to create a memorable, magical holiday. Think of the most iconic, beautiful holiday story you can, imagine it coming to life, and you get the idea. Come and stay and remember what the season is really about.

And don’t forget your ski pass.  Whether it is for one day or a full season, when it is scanned for the first time this winter, I bet you will be as excited as I will. When I was a part-time Sun Valley resident for 20 years, I kept my ski tags on my coat for months after my trip ended – a proud badge of honor and a daily reminder of the amazing ski vacation that was.

Step three: get your pass

My children’s ski passes from years past have become a nostalgic display of sorts – five years of memories hanging on hooks in my home. They were all so young during that first season in 2007-2008. That was a good year.  They have all been good ones, actually, as the children grew in size, confidence and ability and I carved out (no pun intended) time almost every day to take advantage of at least a few runs on our mammoth backyard playground.

—RES

Smiles all around

More smiles all around

This is the face of Sun Valley Ski Patrol you probably recognize — one of uniformed, highly capable men and women keeping you safe on Baldy and Dollar. Ski Patrol boasts a team of more than 50, including firefighters and paramedics, explosives experts, mountaineers and some of the fittest, most determined, most amazing skiers on the map. I love seeing Ski Patrol on the hill, which I do numerous times each day I am up there. Just a glimpse of their jackets makes me feel safe and cared for.

Here is another face of Sun Valley Ski Patrol, one that makes me feel safer yet. Yesterday, under a typical Idaho bluebird sky, three weeks before the slopes officially open to the public, members of Ski Patrol were preparing for any and every inevitability. Like the safety announcement made before a plane taxis down the runway, Ski Patrol has to consider many “in the unlikely events,” including gondola evacuation.

The methodology? Climb a tower carrying a 10-pound titanium “cable glider.” Position the wheels of said cable glider onto the high wire. Clip in and attach yourself in about 20 different ways. Do not tangle your ropes. Swing your body onto a small bike seat. Release the brake and “ride” down the cable to the first gondola car. Unhook. Evacuate occupants. Repeat.

When Mike Lloyd and Mike Davis of Ski Patrol explain the process, they make it sound quite matter-of-fact. From below the tower, looking up to the platform dozens of feet overhead, surrounded by the stunning panorama of mountains, to me, it looks intimidating at best. But that’s why they are the pros.

The pros featured in these photos are ‘Whiz’ McNeal and Troy Quesnel, who both look forward to this training.  “The Patrol does this drill a few times each year and they like to get as many ‘touches’ on the equipment as possible,” said Lloyd. “Everyone gets to practice riding, belaying, climbing, opening the doors. It’s a great time to get hands on and make sure it becomes second nature.”

Rest assured, all these skills do become second nature to Ski Patrol. The gondola training exercise is only one of many that go on year-round. Ski Patrol’s motto is “Haulin’ the Fallin’ since 1936.” I guess a list of all the other things they do doesn’t rhyme.

When you see a Patrol member on the slopes, be sure to give him or her a big smile. They are there for you and are, collectively, some of the nicest people in Sun Valley.

And they know how to evacuate you from a gondola – bonus!

–RES

Ski Patrol teamwork and expertise in action

Part I – The Jacket

Come on in, the shopping is fine!

It’s the question on everyone’s lips, or at least the glossed lips of women skiers who love beautiful clothes. What will be hot on the slopes of Baldy this season? We’re glad you asked, because this week, the dedicated staff at the Brass Ranch boutique in the Sun Valley Village is busy unpacking and hanging exquisite pieces that will make you look as great as you ski. There is something for every taste, as well as amazing accessories that can be layered – turning one jacket and pant combo into lots of different looks.

Pretty, bright layering pieces by Bogner

Lee McCune and Rebecca Fundy, who have been with Brass Ranch for many years, are enthusiastic, giddy even, about the season’s ski togs. “There are bright colors, there are subdued neutrals, a little bling, a little fur, simplicity or lots of details – it’s a year where everyone will see something they love,” Rebecca enthused.  Indeed, if you can’t find something to like this season, you may have to dig out your one-piece or stirrup pants from the 1980s.  Everything else is on the racks in an updated, trendy incarnation.

Here are a few of the jackets that caught my eye and may make my holiday wish list:

This Rossignol jacket typifies the direction the storied company is headed this year – back to their roots. The look worked for decades and I am glad it’s back, better than ever.

KJUS is on the cutting edge this season as the first ski wear designer to use dyed down.  This parka features pink/purple down covered with transparent fabric.  The result is lovely!

Natural fibers are making a comeback, from traditional ski sweaters to coats like this one that incorporate wool for warmth. A true classic from Bogner’s timeless line.

Cozy and chic

Over-the-top is one way to describe this special coat from Bogner. From shred to street is another. This stunner is reversible: fur on one side, a gorgeous fire engine red on the other.  Turn heads on the slopes with the weather-proof red shell; turn it inside out and you’re ready for Gallery Walk, a drink at the Duchin Room and a night on the town.

My friend and I decided we needed to test this reversible luxury coat for ourselves.

I have a good friend who skis as much as I do (not my friend pictured above. She is very glam). We joke that our trail preferences (she lives for bumps. I don’t) are as different as what we wear on the hill.  We liken ourselves to the Spice Girls – she is Sporty Spice, I am Posh. Her picks run to the classic functional KJUS, featuring bright colors, geometric designs, lots of zippers and specially purposed pockets.  I am a Jet Set and Bogner kind of girl.  I have never met a pair of ski pants featuring a dragon snaking up the legs and across my lower back that I haven’t loved.  My favorite puffy parka is bright, aluminum foil silver. But this year, judging by what is appearing on the racks at Brass Ranch, both Sporty and Posh and everyone in between will find something to make them look and feel stylish this winter.

No matter your ski fashion look, if you want to wear the outfit of your dreams this year, shop early. Lee reminded that each ski jacket and pant at Brass Ranch (in the Village and at the base of River Run on Bald Mountain) is stocked in only one of each size. Get them while you can!

Some of the season’s pretty details –

–RES

Stopping on the bridge on a snowy Monday

They are perhaps the two best words in the vernacular of a ski town – it’s snowing! And it is. A lot. The Halloween pumpkins and fall’s golden aspen leaves are covered with a layer of white and I know I was not the only mother in town scrambling to dig out woolen hats and gloves still in summer storage this morning. The excitement wrought by the season’s first snowfall was palpable on the drive to school. When Lower River Run came into view, the slope was suddenly clearly delineated. Turning the corner, we stared at Upper College, now readily identifiable between the evergreens. As dawn broke, the snow guns were working hard, Mother Nature was cooperating and skiers rejoiced!

Things are in full swing on both Bald Mountain and Dollar in preparation for the rapidly approaching season. According to Marshall McInnis, an expert on all things Sun Valley, there is a lot to look forward to when the lifts start running on Thanksgiving Day. In addition to the beginning of snowmaking in earnest, other improvements are well underway to make this the best ski season ever in Sun Valley. Work undertaken by the Forest Service to ensure the health of the forests on Baldy provided an added bonus of creating a new tree run between Upper College and Limelight. “When you ski down I-80 this year, the sun will shine through the trees and there will be new opportunity for skiing above it,” said McInnis. He also said that two new Adventure Trails, one off the top of Seattle Ridge and one on the Cold Springs side of the mountain, will also provide new terrain opportunities. “There are more places to play this year,” he laughed.

First Snowfall on River Run

With only 30 days remaining until Baldy and Dollar officially open, this early snowfall has everyone scurrying to prepare. In addition to digging out the winter clothes, it’s time to get your ski pass, tune your skis or board and get in some pre-season conditioning. Really, it’s time. Look out the window.

There is snow forecast for the next four days, adding up to perhaps a few inches on the Valley floor and hopefully quite a bit more up on the mountain. Around town, everyone is smiling and laughing that Jack Frost is making his first appearance of the year. It looks like it will be a year of trick-or-treating in puffy jackets and snow boots with warm hats pulled down over costume wigs. But that is a small price to pay for a great early season on the slopes.

Check out the latest conditions in Sun Valley by clicking here.

Let it snow!

–RES

Dreaming of a White Halloween

Early morning at Dollar Mountain

At 7:40 this morning, on the way to drop off my children at school, there was frost on the ground and the outside temperature read a brisk 18 degrees. That can only mean one thing — snowmaking! In response to the first really cold night of the year, the snow guns that dot Dollar Mountain fired up and began to lay down a blanket of white. As the sun rose behind the Lodge and the Pioneer Mountains, John Matteson, Brian Callahan and their team were starting to put down a foundation for the amazing season to come at the Terrain Park and on the trails.

By the time I saw it “snowing” on the hill (thrilling, truly), a crew had been hard at work behind-the-scenes for hours, arriving as early as 3 a.m. “This early-season temperature drop gives us the chance to crank up the guns, trouble shoot and solve any issues early,” Matteson explained. The man behind Dollar’s vast snowmaking apparatus, Matteson is thrilled at today’s taste of winter. “This is the earliest we have been able to start the process,” he said. “We look for consistent temperatures generally below 23 or 24 degrees, so last night was perfect. Getting going in early October means that all the literal and figurative kinks will be worked out early and snowmaking will be right on schedule.”

On schedule for the 2012-2013 season means that plans to have Terrain Park features operational by Thanksgiving Day are a “go.” If the weather continues to cooperate and nights stay cold, Matteson said they will undertake the alchemy that turns water into snow every night from now on.

To help make this process as seamless as possible, Matteson has new “toys” in his arsenal. This year, he installed a few individually automated snow guns that will communicate with the Resort’s sophisticated computerized system. Most of the guns on Dollar are still managed manually. Snowmaking is a true science, based on temperature, humidity and all kinds of other variables and the automated guns will help everything run smoothly. Matteson is sure the entire system on Dollar this year will be up to the task of making skiing and riding even more eye-popping and fun.

Callahan, who is in charge of the Terrain Park, said he, too, has new toys this season and cannot wait to unveil them (more on that in a later blog)!

It is always an exciting day when the snow guns kick on and preview the season to come. I cannot wait to watch the team on Dollar build that mammoth playground and then cover it with snow.  Game on!

Sun coming up, snow coming down.

Alice Schernthanner, July 24, 1938 - July 23, 2012. “Alice does ski here forevermore in our hearts.”

Sun Valley can lay claim to many icons. From movie stars to literary giants, world-class athletes to world-wide leaders, hundreds of inspirational people have graced the hallways of Sun Valley Lodge since its birth.

But beneath the glamor and behind the facade of fame lies another legacy – an unforeseen outcome of Averell Harriman’s million dollar palace in the snow – that of the birth of a community in the heart of Idaho’s mountains; one with icons of its very own.

This past Sunday that community came together to celebrate one of those icons. Not an olympic skier or a nobel-prize wining author, but a woman whose life had a much greater impact on those who live in the Wood River Valley.

“The name Alice Schernthanner will remain on the lips of this community for a very long time,” Amy Federko said in her eulogy to Alice, reading from a letter written by Amy’s son, Josh.

A singular woman, Alice was both “famous and infamous, a legend in her own right,” Amy told the packed crowd at Carol’s Dollar Mountain Lodge, and there was not a murmur of dissent.

Alice’s legacy in the Wood River Valley community could be measured in the number of pancakes she’s flipped for the Papoose Club, which she formed in 1954 as a baby sitting co-op for skiers and went on to transform into a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting local organizations that serve children. Or it could be measured in the number of times she proudly led her Warm Springs Riding Club along the Wagon Days Parade route. It could equally be celebrated for the foresight she had in starting Blaine County’s recycling program from the back of a semi-truck, or for being a vocal and active advocate for affordable community housing – to the extent her and her husband, Andy, built some on their own Warm Springs property.

But it will be measured in the hearts and minds of the thousands of children she taught to ski both on Dollar Mountain as the children’s program supervisor for close to 30 years, and through her tireless promotion of the Blaine County School Ski Program.

Hundreds of those children, now grown up with children of their own, gathered at Dollar Mountain Lodge on Sunday to celebrate the life of this remarkable woman, who blazed a trail for modern homesteaders: building her own home from the ground up, skiing for a living and raising six children, all while living life on her own terms in the Wild West. The lodge she helped create was full to bursting on a sunny Sunday afternoon, the peals of children’s laughter emanating from the grassy knoll at the base of Dollar making a fitting tribute to the woman who helped create their perfect playground.

The lodge’s namesake, Carol Holding, wife of Sun Valley Resort owner Earl Holding, offered her thoughts on her friend and colleague Alice to the assembled community. ”Listening today I was happy to hear she really had a happy life away from this cabin,” she said with a smile. “I’d been under the illusion all these years that she lived in this little cabin.”

Mrs. Holding went on to say how it was Alice’s persistence that brought this 26,000-square-foot state-of-the-art children’s skiing facility into being ”When Earl built River Run, Alice and I were so upset with him. We tried everything we could think of to get him to build a children’s school there, but he wouldn’t. But she said to me, it’s ok – give it time, it’ll work. It took 15 years, but we got it. And this lodge here is Alice’s lodge as much as it is mine. It wouldn’t be here without Alice and through it all she suffered many hardships to get it here and changed so many children’s pants… .”

Local folklore has it that the lodge was almost named after Alice, but she wouldn’t have it. “I told them, if I don’t own it then I don’t want it named after me.”

Mrs. Holding’s touching and laughter-filled remembrances were followed by a free-for-all as friends, family and former students of Alice shared their memories. What emerged was a portrait of a strong-minded, high-spirited woman with fantastic earrings, who took life in her stride and always told the truth, whether you wanted to hear it or not.

Two of the many stories shared at the celebration of Alice’s life paint a technicolor picture of what was important to Alice: skiing, children and family.

“I would come here from Florida in the winter to ski with Alice,” said her friend Sherry. “One year she was pregnant, just starting to show, and she had the first daughter in a backpack on her back. As we came down the mountain we could hear people at the bottom whispering, aghast, saying ‘That’s child abuse!’ Alice looked at me, clearly baffled, and said ‘I don’t understand. They know I’m only skiing the groomers don’t they? I’m not skiing the bumps.”

Alice’s daughter Heidi shared a favorite story she had heard in the days following her mother’s death on July 24 (the day before her 74th birthday and 50th wedding anniversary).

“Alice was looking after a sick girl at the lodge, she had just come out of the bathroom with her when a grand woman in a mink coat swept in demanding service. Alice said to her ‘Let me just help this little girl lie down, she’s not feeling well.’ The lady replied, ‘Well, she doesn’t look sick.’ Then the girl projectile vomited all over her.”

Alice at home in Dollar Mountain Lodge ski school. Photo by Cody Doucette, courtesy Sun Valley Magazine

Rest in Peace Mrs. Schernthanner. In the words of the condolence book laid out for the hundreds of mourners to sign: “Alice does ski here forevermore in our hearts.”

Mrs. Sun

Share your memories of Alice and read other’s here. Read her obituary here.

By Mike McKenna

Like many of us who are far less famous, Academy Award-winning actress Jodie Foster is a big fan of skiing in Sun Valley. She regularly brings her family to carve turns here–though she’s yet to visit in the summer (if she only knew what she was missing!)–and has professed quite a fondness for the area and local community.

Last month, Foster was kind enough to do a fundraiser for the local award-winning theatre group, the Company of Fools.

Here are some of the jewels that Jodie Foster shared about acting and life.

On her dreams when she was a child actress: "I didn’t think I would be an actor (it wasn’t a ‘real job’) … I wanted to be a writer."

On first meeting and working with actor Robert De Niro: "I thought he was sooo boring."

After working with De Niro on "Taxi Driver" and earning her first Academy Award nomination: "Now I get what this job is."

On work and career: "Anybody who does anything has a love/hate relationship with it. It can’t be too challenging and it can’t be too boring."

On children: "When kids get bored doing what they’re doing they just stop doing it. I think that’s great."

On driving through the Valley: I drive "slowly, very slowly."

On Sun Valley and it’s surroundings: "Can I just say I love Idaho. There’s just something so touching about this community. So I keep coming back … it’s just a special place."

[To read the full coverage of the event, please check out: An Intimate Evening with Jodie Foster.]

Photo courtesy of Marrit Wolfrom

By BlogSunValley staff

Sun Valley and its surrounds have long been known for world-class hiking. To help get hikers of any age on the right path, we’ll spend the warm weather months highlighting local and regional trails of all kinds.

Here, we offer up some great hikes for little feet.

Three Easy Hikes (for kids up to 5)

Sunnyside Trail/ Adams Gulch

Close proximity to Ketchum and numerous trail options make the Adams Gulch trail system a local fave. Wee walkers will love chasing grasshoppers down the gently rolling Sunnyside Trail, which winds through sage fields and aspen groves. (2 miles; modest vertical gain). Getting there: From Ketchum, drive north on Highway 75 for 1.6 miles. Turn left onto Adams Gulch Road and continue 0.9 miles to the trailhead. (Open to hikers, bikers and  horses.)

Waterfall Trail to Fall Creek Falls

A short, easy stroll along a gravel path takes you to a wooden platform overlooking a spectacular 25-foot waterfall. Bring binoculars to look for mountain goats, frequently spotted on mountains to the north. (1.2 miles; 280 ft. vertical gain). Getting there: From Ketchum, head east on Sun Valley/Trail Creek Road for 22.5 miles. Turn right at the Wildhorse/Copper Basin turnoff. Go 2.2 miles and turn left at the T-junction for Wildhorse Canyon. Go 3.4 miles to the Left Fork Junction. Turn left and continue 0.4 miles to the trailhead. (Open to hikers, bikers, horses and motocross.)

Prairie Creek 

This relatively flat out-and-back weaves through shady forest and sprawling meadows. After 1.6 miles, you’ll hit a small gravel beach that’s a fun destination (and perfect turn-around spot) for fledgling hikers. Warning: Toddlers may need to be carried part way and over stream crossings. (3.2 miles; modest vertical gain). Getting there: From Ketchum, drive north on Highway 75 for 18.6 miles. Turn left on Prairie Creek Road and continue 2.6 miles to the trailhead. (Open to hikers, bikers, horses and motocross.)

[For more information on these and a dozen other family friendly hikes please check out SVM 360o magazine's "Take A Hike"section.]

Top 5 Ways to Spoil Mom in Sun Valley this Mother’s Day

By Laurie Sammis

Mother’s Day is nearly 100 years old. Declared an official national holiday by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914, Mothers Day began in the United States after Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia began a campaign to set aside a day just for mothers. Her mother had died and Anna wanted all mothers to be remembered with a day of quiet reflection and family. But mother’s have been celebrated since the time of the ancient greeks, who used to honor Rhea, "Queen of heaven" and "mother of the gods" in the springtime with flowers, sweet honey cakes and fine drinks at dawn.

Perfect. It sounds like the beginning of the Mother’s Day tradition of breakfast in bed.

But if you really want to indulge mom this Mother’s Day, book the special Mother’s Day Package at Sun Valley Resort and give her a weekend to remember. This exceptional weekend package includes Saturday night’s lodging in the Sun Valley Lodge or Inn, Sunday Brunch for two and a one-hour massage. The Sunday Brunch is not to be missed and offers a lavish display of breakfast specialties including omelet and crepe stations, seafood, an array of gourmet salads and a symphony of desserts.

And don’t forget the pre- or post-massage soak in the Sun Valley Lodge heated outdoor pool–with poolside cocktail service and the expansive blue Idaho skies, it is a unique extravagance (and a local tradition)!

Looking for some other things for mom to do while she is enjoying her weekend indulgence in Sun Valley? Here are a few ideas to help make her day.

1) Let her be Sonja Henie for a Day

The beautiful Sun Valley Outdoor Ice Rink is an original Sun Valley Story and the location for the 1941 academy award nominated musical “Sun Valley Serenade” staring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Milton Berle, Glenn Miller and Lynn Bari. Let mom don white figure skates and twirl and dip around the outdoor rink to the sounds of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Follow it up with a cocktail on the Lodge terrace or in the historic Duchin Lounge. Or bring the whole family and let mom skate with the kids for her own personalized version of Disney on Ice.

2) Enjoy a Historical Tour and Picnic at Trail Creek

The Ketchum / Sun Valley Heritage and Ski Musuem features information and historical tours of the area, along with amazing exhibits with photos and memorabilia on everything from the early days of skiing in America to author Ernest Hemingway’s years in Idaho. Visit their Hemingway in Sun Valley [http://ksvhs.com/?page_id=403] page for more information on where to go to touch a little of the history related to the celebrated author and visit a few local institutions at the same time–the Sun Valley Lodge, Trail Creek Cabin, the Casino Club, the Ketchum Korral, etc. Visit the Hemingway Memorial and picnic alongside Trail Creek (grab provisions from the Sun Valley Deli).

3) Bike to Lunch at the Sun Valley Club

The views are spectacular and the wrap-around terraces overlooking the 18-hole Sawtooth Putting Course (a great place for kids and new golfers to practice) and the Trail Creek Golf Course are perfect for sipping Bloody Marys outside when the weather is nice. And it is a short bike ride (or walk) from the lodge–with the Ernest Hemingway Memorial is just a short pedal along Trail Creek Road.

4) Indulge Her with some Retail Therapy

Don’t miss the village shopping–with 15 unique shops for every need, from specialty hand-dipped chocolates to jewelry, unique toys, gift items and designer fashions at the Brass Ranch (for the largest collection of European and American ski and sportswear, including Arc’teryx, Bogner, Canada Goose, Eider, JetSet, Kjus, Moncler, Ralph Lauren, Rossignol, Toni Sailer and more) or Panache (with big designer names like Nanette Lapore, Brunello Cucinelli, Chan Luu, Elizabeth & James and Diane Von Furstenberg, who makes a personal appearance for their annual fashion show fundraiser every summer).

Looking for the latest cool finds, local shopping deals and steals, check out Sun Valley Magazine’s weekly SWAG blog to make sure you don’t miss a thing.

5) Pamper Her with a Spa Day

Book a bevy of services through the Sun Valley Spa and give mom a day of indulgence. Start with a hike in the morning (there are several within easy walking distance of the lodge) and then give her a head-to-toe makeover with a manicure / pedicure, followed by a facial and a 90-minute Sun Stone "Hot Stone Therapy" massage or herbal body wrap. Heaven!

So spoil mom this year in all the ways she deserves and enjoy everything Sun Valley has to offer.

By Mike McKenna

Ever wonder what to do with that old snowboard? How about making it into a bench?

Turning a used snowboard into a bench is surprisingly easy and cheap to do and it’s a lot better for the environment than dumping it in the garbage.

To help get you motivated, here are the Top 10 reasons to turn and old snowboard into a bench:

10) It gives you a great excuse to use power tools.

9) It’s a great way to honor something you loved and shared many great memories with.

8) It’s gives you good place to sit, indoors or out.

7) It’s a fun and practical way to recycle.

6) It’s pretty cheap to do, wooden benches cost less than $25 to make.

A wide variety of snowboard bench kits are available from places like the Snow Source.

5) It doesn’t take very long to make one.

4) It’s a more productive way to spend an afternoon than drinking beer and watching ski movie re-runs.

3) It gives you a great reason to enjoy a beer after you’re done–and new place to sit down to enjoy it.

2) Even most "Two Plankers" (aka skiers) think they’re cool!

1) It gives you the perfect excuse to buy a new ride for next season!

To find out the basic directions for building a bench out of wood or links to some different examples of snowboard bench designs, please check out , "Building A Snowboard Bench."