Rally 4 Riley!

If you are in the Boulder, CO area... Come to the Rally 4 Riley this Saturday! It is going to be a fun gathering of friends and supporters, with an auction of goodies (signed skis by Pro Skiers, outerwear, nikes, prints from various photographers and much more) to raise money for our dear friend Riley Poor. So come on out and support a great cause!

Touring the NW...

After WCS (West Coast Sessions), LJ Strenio and I drove from Mt. Hood, OR to Stevens Pass, WA to meet up with the Rage Films crew. The crew consisted of Keri, Gus, Schlopy, Mertion, Fabio, Bennie, LJ, Joss, Schuster, Cosco and Spong. Also filmers Hennie, AJ and Dan. It was some good times in the cabin, kinda brought me back to the summer camp days.

It turned out to be nice weather one of the days I was there. Here is a shot of the table they set up... Lofty.

I just remembered about this photo and had to stick it in. I took this at the falls you pass on the way from Whistler to Washington. There was so much water rushing off the mountains. CRAZY!

West Coast Sessions...

I am at Mt. Hood, OR for the "West Coast Sessions."

I had so much fun lapping the Timberline Park today!!!!

Fun in the sun with a crew of talented kids...

check them out Day 1 (I wasn't here yet).

More edits to come...

TEAM USA live show!

I WAS THERE... NO BIG DEAL!

check out the live video

WSI Pipe Finals...

The Whistler Ski Invitational Pipe Finals went down today and the sun was shining. It was a beautiful and fun filled day to end the competition season on. The WSI, marks the end of the winter competitions, being the last on the schedule. 

I came in 2nd, had my family there to watch and...

I went bigger then ever before (as seen in the photo below)! :)

Congrats to Dania Assaly (in photo below) for the win and Megan Gunning coming in 3rd!

Vote for TONY!

I received an email from my buddy Tony the other day, telling about how he's a part of a contest in which the prize is a new Nissan car! Nissan is putting on this contest to find creative, unique people. And I think Tony embodies both these qualities to a "T"... being a professional skier, small business owner, painter and all around talented guy. He started a innovative ski pole and glove company Joystick, that has brought a unique style to the ski industry.

Part of the finals is online voting. Please follow the link below, check it out and vote for Anthony Boronowski. You can vote once a day. 

http://hypercube.ca/en/Canvas.aspx?id=ee075d18-0937-4687-bccf-be1c6771ef7a&lang=en

:)

EARTHDAY in 3 days...

This Wednesday is the day we give special thanks to Mother Earth. She provides us with all the things we know and have in life. Even the manmade stuff, it once came from the earth in some way or another. 

A friend of mine was talking to me about energy a while back and brought up a simple but amazing point I had never thought about. 

If everything is made up of matter, atoms and at the center of each atom is a nucleus which is essentially energy. Then everything is made up of energy at it's most raw form. When you broaden that thought into everything you touch, use, drive etc. day to day, the miracle of life can blow your mind!

The example she used was cars. The oil used to fuel the car, once came from deep deep in the earth and is millions and millions of years old. This old energy, propels us and we can move at unbelievable speeds with only the tilt of your foot on the gas pedal! Outrageous! Amazing! When I think about driving cars in this way, it is just mind blowing. 

If we all took a little time today, or better yet everyday, to really marvel in the wonders of life around us, the world would be full of inspired people.

Nike ID!

VanLaanen... that's my name! And yes my first and middle names are on my new shoes thanks to Nike ID. 

This year at Dew Tour, they had each athlete make their dream pair of shoes. Here are mine. White and purple wood grain, turquoise, simple but bright, and something unique (my name on the back). Angeline Allain was my Great Grandmothers full name. This name was very popular in my family and who ever had the first little girl, got to pass it on. Lucky me I was born first! I am very proud of my name and am told I'm just like my name sake. She was a very independent, motivated and artistic little french woman. :)

Thanks again Nike 6.0 for making these shoes happen!

A belated congratulations to...

MEG OLENICK, KERI HERMAN and WHITNEY WICKES!

The Spring Massive Slopestyle event went down at Breckenridge, CO... and any coverage on the event has been nonexistent or hidden so deep in the web, that I have yet to find it. So I am going to post what I know of the results and give a big CONGRATS to my girls holding it down in Summit County. 

The day of competition was stormy and some of the worst weather to be hitting the Freeway terrain park. Despite the conditions, the comp went down and Meg took home the win! 

Her run was switch 180, 3, 5

up down rail doing a swich up to switch

down rail, 270 out

flat down box with a barrel in the middle, she did switch on, swich up, swich out.

Keri and Whitney also got themselves on the podium, rounding off the Woman's Slopestyle event with some banger runs! Yeah ladies, way to have a crew sweep at Spring Massive!

Easter Weekend in Utah...

At the end of last week I took quit a fall shooting a swinging log jib at the Canyons up in Park City. Being a bit sore, I decided to take the weekend to rest up for the upcoming competition in Whistler, BC... The World Ski Invitational.  

My easter weekend was full of R&R, sunny days, lounging at the park, pencils and paper, a lil skateboarding, baking sweet treats, a lovely Easter dinner hosted by friends Tim and Kristen, bowling (I got a 129!!!), learning to play Catan, hanging at the hobby shop, driving RC gas powered monster trucks and dune buggies, burning my middle and ring finger getting extreme with Pep's truck... oops, sleeping in, good food and great people. It was just the weekend I needed before taking off to Canada. 

Doodling at the park.

The new hangout, South Valley Hobby.

The line up...

Pep with Black Thunder.

It's a great morning when your pancake is smiling at you!

NASCAR recap...

Nascar was quit the experience! I was in a sea of automobiles. Trucks, cars, trailers, double wides, RVs, scooters, golf carts etc... and the fans! The stadium and surrounding area was packed with die hard Nascar fans, all wearing these snap-up jackets covered in the sponsors and numbers of their favorite racer. Everywhere you looked, there was an advertisement, colorful and bright! The noise from the 25+ cars was so loud I wore these yellow ear muffs the whole race (featured in the picture below). It was a sensory overloud, but I sure did have fun!

We were of the lucky few to be allowed into the Nascar pit area. This is where the real action is to been seen. The Red Bull crew went through 3 sets of tires in the 324 lap race. Below is a before and after of one set. They would burn through tires so fast and the rubber particles would wisk around the stadium, often landing on your face or in your drink!

I attended the race with my Red Bull Team Manager Adam and a few other athletes. Below are the boys, Terry Adams (RB pro BMX flatland rider), Adam Bebout (our RB TM) and Heath Frisby (RB Pro Snowmobile rider).

The pit crew.

Nascar fireman.

Some random pit crews and characters. 

A look from across the field. Look at that crowd!

I found a mini UPS truck!

Entering the VIP zone.

Terry giving a demo to the RB energy station guests.

RB Nascar Driver Brian Vickers giving some pre race words and introducing newest RB team member, Reggie Bush. ps. the Nascar drivers are Gods in this community. Everywhere you looked there was another posters of a driver looking like a "rock star." It reminded me how vast the world of sports is... seeing as I had never heard of these guys before.

Carting around.

Terry turned out to be quit the dancer... Here he is below impressing the Texas style dance party.

RB had a street car custom made with a Nascar engine. After Reggie got dropped off at the hotel by this flashy whip, we were all to get rides... maybe even drive it! But the hotel unfortunately called the police on the noisy not street legal car.

Overall it was a great weekend hanging with the boys and getting to see what the most popular sport in the US is all about... Fast Cars and Rock Stars. 

Texas for NASCAR?!

I am currently in Fortworth, TX with the Red Bull crew to see the NASCAR event go down in Dallas tomorrow.

I don't know much about this sport, but when I heard "we'll be so close to the track on race day, there will be rubber in our drinks" (said my RB Team Manager Adam) I knew I had to come!

Here are my fellow Red Bull Athletes to root for: