that us open beer garden look -2

The months just click by, and when March hits in southern Vermont you will inevitably hear the words "is the sap running yet?" quickly followed by "is it The Open already?" This is referring to the USOpen Snowboarding Championships held at Stratton; this year from March 16-20. Won't knock you over the head with it but this is a longstanding event that positions itself as a sort of good-time/season-end/local-vibe affair and it pretty much is.

Being 3 hours from the nearest major airport it must be a bit of trek/pilgrimage for a lot of the pros and bros though... maybe that adds to the mystique. Of course as The Open gets bigger each year people grumble it is not like the old days, some truth in that. (e.g. there are no timed/racing events anymore; no slalom, no GS, no boardercross. I hear there might be a race on the Friday though, more on that later.)

I posted a similar blurb last year -saying that the one place you are guaranteed to meet up with your buddies (or the guys and girls you only see this one time a year) is the beer garden after the pipe finals... See you there.

Jacket: Mine. Carhartt blue duck Detroit with snap-on hood. Older red quilt lining. Vest worn over the top in the patented 10e draught excluder system or DES.
Shirt: Post O'Alls wool/flannel.
Pants: Johnson Woolen Mills. Icecutters.
Gloves: Kinco. 100% de rigueur, must have, solid gold. To paraphrase Lebowski; "ties the whole look together".
Knife: Case Bartender.
Reading material: East Coast Snowboarding. This is a direct descendant of Eastern Edge right? Thought so...

For S&G, including last's year look below. Not a huge hell of a difference, and that is sort of the point. So what have I learned in a year? PostO'alls are a huge find, crepe soled boots still rule (though admittedly maybe not the best traction in snow), and a good old hat and snowglare shades still go a long way... Grungy prepster out.