It was planned for 2 days of straight chaos to get to the states. Fly, Drive and get to South Lake Tahoe by 7pm to see all the kiwis and go celebrate. Mission Accomplished!!!!!

4 bags for 3 months…..

Tahoe had already had 12 feet in a week and so I was amped to leave, bags packs, said goodbye to Namu and Mama and was ready to go. A quick flight to Auckland and met up with my Wanaka buddy Mads for the flight to San Fran. Being a big rig I needed some more leg room etc so tried out the Premium Economy Class. Was a great step up from the normal cattle class economy where my knees usually hit the seat in front. Stoked!!

The view flying into San Francisco, USA

13 hours later we arrive in San Francisco, USA and we got picked up by Dick Schultz who had just got back from the European Open. The kiwis had done alright over there and by the sounds of it Ben Stewart is BLOWING UP!! Beating Shaun White in the semi finals halfpipe to get 5th. The kid is 15!!!! Watch out for that grommet!

The drive from San Fran to North Lake Tahoe

Another 4 hours later and we were in North Lake Tahoe, it was snowing already and we were exhausted but the kiwis were all in South Lake Tahoe and ready to party. So we picked up OJ (my truck) and drove another 2 hours through a mini snow storm to South Lake and checked in to THE BLOCK AT TAHOE – Marc Frank Montoya’s Hotel. That place is seriously a snowboarders dream, free tuning, drinks, dvds, wireless and the staff are all super relaxed and down for the cause. It’s sick to go stay at a place that is really supporting the sport so if you get a chance go check it out.

The Block At Tahoe – A Hotel for Snowboarders in South Lake Tahoe

Seeing all the kiwi crew again was awesome including Bevan Hall, Jody Blatchley and even Spencer Falls aka Usher was in the house. We call him Usher because 1. He’s a grommet so we can give him nicknames 2. He has a big earing 3. He dances like Chris Brown, Micheal Jackson and Usher combined. Anyways…. we hit up the nightclub Vex in Harrahs Casino and thanks to Aimi X from Heavenly Ski Resort we rolled the VIP line and even got our own booth. What can I say next…… well, I was jetlagged and traveled for 2 days so the nightclub was pretty much the best EVER!! Usher threw down some next level dance moves which impressed even a couple dudes, Rangi came out and pretty much everyone had a great time.

Jody, Usher and his ‘bling’ in Vex Nightclub

The next morning after a big group breakfast I caught up with fellow Kiwi Blair McLeod and got my trailer all set to go so I could pick up my new snowmobile. It’s a 2005 Ski Doo Summit Highmark 1000 with a 151 track. Blair had recently crashed it in a Ditch for me so it was in getting fixed!! Shot Blair!!! ahha.

Back to North Lake and I got hooked up with and Paul and the crew at Thin Air Motorsports picked up my sled. Those guys pretty much have the best customer service and know all the ins and out with anything and everything, motorbikes, seadoos and ski doos so I was in great hands. Let’s hope this new one doesn’t blow up like my one from last year. I even bumped into Gus St Leon and his mate Kendal who are also getting some sleds so will be awesome to get out with those boys too and have some fun.

The Setup…..

So that’s it, I’m in Tahoe and all settled in up at Truckee, North Lake Tahoe, the snow is amazing and as I look outside it’s still coming down. There is more snow here now than the whole of last season so no doubt it’s going to get crazy with some sick riding.

Peace.

- Holler, NZsnowboard.com

A Special THANKS to:

Marc Frank Montoya, Charles and Maggie at The Block at Tahoe – www.blockattahoe.com
Aimi X from Heavenly Ski Resort – www.skiheavenly.com
Paul at Thin Air Motorsports – www.thinairmotorsports.com

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