We made the drive from Mammoth Lakes, to Marc Frank’s house a.k.a. The Block, arriving at around 9:30 pm. Crawling with pro shreds, joe shreds and a couple lurkers, The Block at Tahoe sits a ‘bow’s throw from cheap drinks and bad decisions known as the California/Nevada state line.
The following morning we made the short drive up to Heavenly, whereabouts we met up with Tahoe loc Ryan Baca, minus one Dirk Dye. Apparently Dirk went missing after the previous nights South Shore Soldiers bash at the nearby bowling alley.
The weather sucked—we were faced with grey skies and hard ground. The conditions were unwavering, and apparently Dirk was not the only soldier left behind. The South Shore park wasn’t quite popping, this being the last day of the session. I can’t blame ‘em though, if there ever was a good day to be hung-over, this was that day. We took a few guided laps around the mountain—through Soldiers, through the public park and down the cat-track where Baca almost ctrl+alt+delete-ed his life bonking a snow machine weeks earlier. Better than a day in the office, but harsh still.
Later that night we met friend and avid boarder dude, Robbie Sell across the street for drinks at the uber sheik Nineteen, atop Harvey’s Casino. After about two hours, we left in a failed attempt to get more work done back at Marco’s joint. The Internet was out. That meant two of two things—two-dollar you-call-its at Lakeside Casino and a five dollar cab ride there. Upon arrival we met up with amigos and the good times were a rollin’. Next stop on the party train was a little club inside of Caesars Palace I like to call Nero’s, where we started another tab and proceeded to cut-rugs. Dancing machine?
Saturday morning was pretty stormy—we were officially over it, but had plenty of work to do. And work we did. We clocked out/logged off at two o’clock and headed back to Heavenly for the Sessions Lumberjack Log Jam. The call was made to shut down the jump-line due to weather, so a rail jam it was. Everybody was stunting, and riding like bats out of hell. In the end, the littlest homey Zak Hale took home the win; which included a blank plane ticket and trip to Snowboarder Mag’s SuperPark—big ups to Zak, check out his clips in the South Lake web video.
Feeling like we’d made the most out of the day, we had the evening to look forward to, and not just any evening. Ever since Mammoth we’d been hearing that the Girls Gone Wild crew was making an appearance at Nero’s, and we we’re getting in on the kick down program. F—k yeah.
As luck would have it, girls did not go wild. No, I regret to inform you as much as I regret reminding myself, that the crew did not make it up the hill apparently due to weather and a fallen tree.
Unfortunately well rested, we gave Heavenly one last chance and had a hell of a time. All the riders we’d lined up to shoot with earlier in the weak had headed to North Lake to hit backcountry so we brought an Elph and hit it. A day off was good, and we thankfully left South Lake on a good note—not Girls Gone Wild good mind you, but good none-the-less.—Evan LeFebvre
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