My identity revealed!

Was it ever really secret though?

Anyway heres this sweet article Greg Ryan wrote up on me and extreme sledding for Hudson Valley mag. I guess I'm pretty cool?

Read it up!

Oh yeah, I do have a blog

I've been reminded that I indeed do a have blog that never gets updated. For those just tuning in. You didn't miss much. Pay no attention to that MS Paint camera phone stuff, none of those spots really worked out.

I started this blog about two years ago and while I still haven't gotten that much better here's what has changed:

- I bought a D-SLR camera so now I can take some decent photos of my sledding adventures.
- I tried to hit rails last year, they hit back.
- I was starting to throw 540's towards the end of last season
- I'm a little less verbally feisty these days so maybe when I read this post two years from now I won't cringe like I did when I looked back at that other stuff.
- I'm a factory rider on the Mad River Rocket site even if Whit hasn't updated my page info there yet. I have a page, just no description. It'll get there.
- I got a free sled last year due to the above fact.
- I just did an interview for a magazine, a magazine, like, with pictures and all that.
- I'm looking to do some sick stuff this winter so check back in a few months.

Sit tight,
The Sled Baron.

Drop Dead Sled!

Though somewhat underwhelming "Drop Dead Sled" is finally out! The Sled Baron is currently seeking applications for camera people for next season so if you'd like to film let me know.

It's Like Butta', You Can Cut It With A Knife

The Sled Baron destroyed Frear Park today, buttery three's were thrown. There was much rejoycing.

R-r-r-r-r-r-rainbow!

This is just a teaser, there will be more on The Sled Baron's quest to build the rainbow connection soon. (Note: The redhead in the picture is not The Sled Baron)

Aw Man, I Hate Clip Shows

So I'd call this a winter recap but I haven't really written anything this winter to summarize. Sorry. If I have devoted fans who were just dying for an update, I've let you down. If I don't have devoted fans, oh well. Anyways, here's what went down this winter in terms of sledding.

Early February:

During break I went to Friar (sp?) Park in Troy for some sledding with the AP crew. I'd heard a lot about how nice of a spot it was so I was pretty disappointed when I got there. It was nice for casual sledding but it did not receive The Sled Baron's Seal Of Approval. The highlight was an ok jump made out of a sand trap. I threw a pretty sketchy 180 and busted my knees a few times, then I left.

Valentines Day:

So after months of being a total tease Winter finally stopped being such a damn prude. As it turns out this winter was a total closet freak, give her some time and she'll just dump 3 feet on you. Daaaaaaamn. Ok, enough of this weird metaphor. Upstate New York got rocked with a storm on V-day. Classes were cancelled but did I sleep in? Hell no! I was out sledding by 7:30 at the latest. I tried dropping one of the cliffs behind New Res but decked out. I would have ridden off but I got caught on a rock. Shale sucks. I grabbed some food then went for a little backcountry. I did a few runs up by the top of the hill and ended up back behind New Res again. I should have learned my lesson the first time, but I went for it again. I dropped a different section of cliffs this time but I still decked out. This time was a lot worse though. It was about a four or five foot drop onto another rock. The sled stopped, I got ejected, my helmet went flying and I blew the emergency pads I glued on earlier right off. My sled got a real nasty gash on the underside. It was up by the front though so I doesn't interfere with performance at all. I've heard that someone has a picture of the cliff drop and/or the aftermath, if anyone knows who that is let me know because I really want to see that picture. Anyways, that sucked. I spent the rest of the day out and about showing casual sledders up and whatnot.

The Night Of The Living Sled:

Sometime shortly after the V-day storm, me and some friends (The Shred Poets Society? I think that's a pretty good name) threw some snow on the sidewalk that I discussed a few posts down and turned the snowbanks on it into kickers. They were on boards or skis so they boosted pretty good into frisbee field, like 10-15 foot airs. Once the track got packed down I was getting maybe 5 or 6 feet up, so not bad. The snow was pretty amazing, all fluffy and whatnot. In terms of sledding a few 180's were thrown, I started experimenting rolling off the top of the jump and from there trying to misty flip. Safe to say, I didn't land it. We hit that up for a good two hours then called it a night. Here's some pictures.

The Rest Of February:

The rest of the month had sledding on and off. Nothing as spectacular as The Night Of The Living Sled but we did hit up the snowbank a few more times. A pretty wonky attempt at a 360 led to my sled coming up and hitting me in the face. It wasn't fun but its always nice to have something to show for your efforts. As a friend of mine would say "chicks dig a black eye". Actually, I don't think she'd say "chicks dig" anything, but she still thinks its cute when a guy gets hurt. That's kind of fucked up isn't it? I suppose its better than the people who like to laugh at guys getting hit in the nuts though. I actually didn't have a black eye, but it was red and a little bruised. Close enough, ok? Anyways, after the spinning mishap I took a break for a few minutes. I tried a few mistys but I kept on loosing my tuck about halfway through and landing on my back. Of course my sled then hit me in the chest, but you know, whatevs. I decided to call it quits after catching a little too much of the landing towards my head. I was glad I had my helmet, but The Sled Baron left that jump a little defeated. I think there may have been a few solo sessions on that jump after that, nothing too exciting. I tried jibbing a little bit on a wooden 12 stair or so but was having problems with my jump and couldn't get up on it. Well, the jump and the fact I was being a wuss and didn't want to totally commit just so I didn't fuck up and end up in between a railing or something like that.

The next, and possibly last, real good session I had this winter was hitting up the gap in front of the commons. The best part about the gap is that frisbee field had a ring of snowbanks around the outskirts that made for an excellent quarter pipe after hitting the gap. I was knuckling out on the landing a little bit due to some snow pokiness but the quarter was consistently dope. By the end of the sess I was spinning threes off it. I don't know how much the sled was off the ground but I still kind of spun a three, so I at least half satisfied one of the goals I had for this year. As usual, showmanship was abound. The Sled Baron impressed many Commons-bound students with his daring aerial prowess. I also hit that jump up again during the Winter Carnival. The snow was pretty slow and I was decking out pretty good so I left after an hour or so. All in all, February was a pretty good month for The Sled Baron.

March:

I haven't sledded at all this month. Sorry. I might try to scrap together a jump tomorrow. I'll be home this weekend so maybe I'll have a homecoming session there. I'll keep you updated. Well, actually, don't count on it, but maybe I won't dick around and write something after I go sledding next.

PS: I added a link for my youtube page. Its not very impressive, camera phone and all that.

PPS: If anyone is interested in being The Sled Baron's personal photographer let me know.

PPPS: Isn't this a sweet photo? Props to Tasia!

Beggars can't be choosers...

and sledders can't be lugers? Maybe, I don't think I'd trade sledding for luging. You can't luge in the woods, or off jumps for that matter. Regardless, what the hell is this post about? Well, on Wednesday I took the first sled of the season. First sled on January 24th? That's preposterous! Absolutely, but better late then never you know? Anyways, it wasn't fantastic, we only had an inch or two, but it was sledding damnit. The first run was down the infamous Leitzel Hill, this kind of terraced monstrosity that dumps off into a parking lot. I bombed it just as a car was coming up the stop sign at the bottom. They totally thought I was going to hit them, until I hockey stopped that shit right next to their car. It was pretty dope. From there we went behind one of the dorms. It was just a nice relaxed hill, nothing too exciting but there is a giant gorilla sculpture in the middle of it. It's fun to sled under it. Next stop was by the aforementioned "Stairway To Nowhere". I didn't hit the rail, I tried to jump one of the terraces on the hill though. Bad call. I more or less dropped 4 or 5 feet flat and completely decked out. My knees slid off my pads and hit the plastic on the sled. I've got paint transfer on my snow pants actually. I more or less called it quits for that hill after that. We hit a few more alright spots, ate shit trying to spin a couple times. Other than that it wasn't that eventful. I took a couple runs back and forth from class on Thursday and waited for better snow on Friday. I was in NYC for most of the day yesterday, but when I got back I had a glorious fluffy inch or two of snow waiting for me. So I was out from like 12:30 to 2ish sledding. Mainly Leitzel, my second or third run I tried to spin off one of the terraces but over rotated and busted my hip up pretty nice. I've been gimping a bit today, which sucks, but it's nice to have something to show for a hard nights sled. I also dropped in from the road and rode across the Gap Of Incomprehensible Dankness (working title). I didn't have a jump or anything, but I did try to hop the bushes before I got to the second half of the hill. That met with mixed results, I kind of did, but I'm also not sure if they'll grow as well when spring comes around. I took a few more runs around campus, but nothing too phenomenal. Hopefully we'll get some more snow soon. I'm itching for a jump. Speaking of things I could do with more snow, I've found another spot. Give me a foot or so and I could turn the Van Ess building into Van Esstreme. Check it out:

The hill is steeper in person, but I could easily build a nice little jump there. I could be out sessioning that all day. But wait, there's more!

The building is perfect for a quarter pipe right up against it. If that's not enough, imagine if you put two quarter pipes. Oh snap!

I think Hartwick should invest in a snowgun.

PS: Wu Tang!