Shred Tunes

If I asked you what the best part about snowboarding is, what would you say? You probably say “Everything. duh!” Well, you’d be correct. However, there are a few aspects that stand out more to me, personally.

One of my favorite things about snowboarding is the freeing feeling. Nothing can stop you when your riding – well, besides large trees and children.

However, the thing I love most about snowboarding is the incredible feeling of stoke you get when one of your favorite song graces your ears. It’s just a perfect combination of music and pow. That being said, I’ve decided to post my Shred Tunes 2k13-14 playlist. It doesn’t get much more self absorbed than this, does it?

In no particular order:

1. Anything Can Happen – Ellie Goulding
2. Sympathy For The Devil – The Rolling Stones
3. What’s my Age Again – Blink 182
4. The City – The 1975
5. Crooked Smile – J. Cole
6. Figure 8 – Ellie Goulding
7. Girls – The 1975
8. Heart Out – The 1975
9. Joy – Ellie Goulding
10. My Blood – Ellie Goulding
11. Feeling This – Blink 182
12. Settle Down – The 1975
13. Sex – The 1975
14. She Way Out – The 1975
15. Talk Dirty – Jason Derulo ft. 2 Chainz
16. First Date – Blink 182
17. Does He Know – One Direction
18. Jump Around – House of Pain
19. ***Flawless – Beyonce
20. Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix
21. Burn – Ellie Goulding
22. Haunted – Beyonce
23.  Wake Me Up – Avicii ft. Aloe Blacc
24. Started From The Bottom – Drake
25. We’ll Be Fine – Drake
26. Headlines – Drake
27. We Can’t Stop – Miley Cyrus
28. Underground Kings – Drake
29. Make Me Proud – Drake
30. All The Small Things – Blink 182
31. Menswear – The 1975
32. Goodbye Copenhagen – New Politics
33. Baba O’Riley – The Who

You know how they say don’t judge a book by it’s cover? Well, don’t judge a snowboarding playlist by its boyband. Be advised, beginning boarders, no playlist can make you shred like Mark McMorris…

Image from funny-pictures-blog.com

12 Months: October Teaser

If you know anything about me, you know I love UNC more than just about anything else. Yes, this includes One Direction. Currently UNC is actually BEATING Miami in football. I’m apologizing for the short post because of this game. And also for procrastinating it all day.

Rome Snowboards released 12 Months: October teaser today. I’m pretty stoked on this because October is my birthday month. Enjoy the video below.

This is also my 100th post. I’d just like to say thank to everyone who takes the time to comment, like or just read. You all are awesome!

Shred Tunes.

What makes a good shred tune? THIS is something your friends, probably, won’t tell you. None of mine did anyway. I like to think they did this as a way to allow me to explore the realm of snowboarding – shred tunes included – on my own. However, in a less philosophical way of thinking, they probably didn’t tell me because shred tunes are purely based on your opinion. Almost every snowboarding movie in existence will tell you M83 makes great shred tunes. And I’m sure they do, but they are not on my playlist. Snowboarding community, please don’t shun me for that comment.

That being said, here are my favorites to shred to. It’s not the entire playlist, but it’s my top five tracks. A word of advice to the (hopefully) newbies reading this – make sure you can successfully get off a chairlift before you start shredding to music. It just becomes one big traffic jam when you fall and then your headphones rip out of your ears. Not to mention, it’s embarrassing. I may or may not be speaking from personal experience. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

Kate’s favorite shred tunes (in no particular order):

1. First Date – Blink 182. I love shredding to Blink and this is by far my favorite song by them, so I figured why not?
2. Jump Around – House of Pain. I’m a U.N.C fan, duh! Okay, let me back up and drop some knowledge on you – Jump Around is, basically, U.N.C basketball’s theme song. It was made popular because the now-NBA-record-holding Danny Green would dance to it before tip-off.
3. Underground Kings – Drake. I wrote an entire post dedicated to Drake, so obviously I love him. This song just pumps me up a lot so it made the cut. You’re welcome, Drizzy.
4. What’s My Age Again – Blink 182. I turned 23 two months before last season started. I quickly realized that no one really does like you when you’re 23 and I decided to remind myself of this during every run on the mountain.
5. What Makes You Beautiful – One Direction. Don’t judge me, man. Not only do I have a massive soft spot for the British boyband, but one of my favorite memories from shredding Breckenridge was riding down a trail where all you could see was the beautiful blue sky and the mountains in the distance – just as Harry Styles’ solo hit my ears. It was a beautiful experience. No pun intended.

Here is proof I wasn’t lying about Danny Green. It’s not snowboarding, but it’s still pretty cool. And who knows, maybe Danny Green snowboards.

The Rivalry: Skiers vs. Snowboarders

I’ve been a part of many rivalries in my 23 years. I’m a Temple grad, so I had to deal with Penn State. I’m a U.N.C. fan, so I still have to deal with Duke – and N.C. State attempting to butt in every chance they get even though they are not apart of the rivalry. You hear that State? You aren’t part of it. Please stop trying.

That being said, where would sports be without rivalries? Rivalries keep things interesting. They keep the drama going strong but there is one rivalry I question and it is the infamous one of Skiers vs. Snowboarders.

When I first started boarding, I was conditioned to believe that skiers are rude people who will cut you off on the slopes and steal your car. That sounds pretty irrational, don’t you think? That’s because it is.

Just like there are snowboarders out there that act like complete tools, there are skiers who do the same. I’m not 100 percent sold on the notion that because you’re a skier, you feel rich and entitled to every trail on the mountain, just like I’m not 100 percent sold on the notion that all snowboarders are wild and careless people who say “dude” and “gnarly” a lot. In fact, I actually have a bunch of friends who are skiers. Sue me.

I know if you’re a snowboarder and you’re reading this, you’re going to bring up ALTA. I get it. ALTA did and still does rile me up too. But it’s important to remember that that isn’t every skier in the world – it’s just a select group.

Incase you don’t know what ALTA even is, here’s the video. Most days I’m all about peace and love, but if you want to hate someone as a snowboarder, these people make a pretty outstanding case for it: