We left around 10am after stopping by Starbucks of course. Anyone who knows me knows how addicted to coffee I am so there will be many more references throughout this post. The skies were blue, the road was clear, and we had my one and only Highlander set at a comfortable 78mph cruise control.Tthe speed limit is 75) With about 500 miles of open road in front of us, we thought it was necessary to set out at a diligent pace. Fortunately for me, I just got an I phone, thanks to my stepdad, so I had lots of entertaining things going on during the drive. I have become an instragram user as well so we took a ton of pictures.

Upon arriving, I was devastated to see how little snow there was in Tahoe, I had heard there wasn’t any, but it’s hard to believe until you see it! We checked into our place at the base of Northstar, and got to bed early to get ready for training the next morning.

Another beautiful spring-like morning in California had us up on the mountain around 9am. The course wasn’t open until 10, so we had a bit to check out the other features on the mountain. The rail line that was setup before you got to the course was really fun to play around, and get warmed up on, but the course was the place to be if you were trying to ride park.

I had a great day training on the course, and felt pretty good. Considering I didn’t compete until Friday, I didn’t want to push it too hard. A few more days of fun in the sun and Friday had already snuck up on me.

It was a crisp bluebird morning the day of the 13th, and the course was incredibly fast. I had no complaints about the course which consisted of; two options up top, on the right was a down box to a flat-down box, and to the left was a down rail, to a really fun wall ride. To finish it off was two jumps. I chose to hit the left side because the judges had determined it was the “more difficult” line of the two. I had a blast weaving my way through the course, and got two laps in before the contest started.

I was 3rd to last in the heat of about 30-40 girls, so I had a long time to try to stay warm, and focused. Being so early in the morning, I knew people would have trouble putting a run down due to the shady conditions on the course, so I played it pretty safe on my first run, and qualified 2nd for finals.
When finals started the top 6 ladies were gathered at the top around 11am the sun was just peeking out around the trees to light up the course for us. Again I was 4th to drop so I had to stay entirely focused, and warm while waiting for my other competitors to take their runs.

I stomped both of my runs, but in the end I played it just a little too safe. I took third on the podium behind some very talented girls that were really fun to watch. Lots of respect to all of the other women throwing down on this course, it was wildly entertaining! I did my research before awards and found there was a Starbucks conveniently located right in the village where awards were being held so once again, I got some coffee.
We left early the next morning to head back to Park City, arriving a little later than expected we were both so tired at the end we had to hit the hay. Now, off to to Breck for some training, big jumps, and S.I.A.

Thanks to everyone at the REV TOUR and NORTHSTAR for putting on a wonderful event, as well as a thanks to all of my sponsors for your support (Gatorade, Capix, Akinz, Fydelity)

And one special thanks to ECHELON SNOWBOARDS for making this trip possible for me!

If you find a mini beanie, you will win either a $5 off coupon, $10 off coupon, free t-shirt, free t-shirt with beanie purchase, or free custom beanie. If you take a picture with your mini beanie and send it to us at suzanne@akinz.com then you’ll also be entered to win a free hoodie. Keep an eye out around town and on our Facebook Page for hints to nab one.

Party details:

When: Thursday, October 13th 6:00pm – 10:00pm
What: Sales, deals, and free bevvies (for those 21 and up with a FB rsvp).
Why: To celebrate the start of winter and our new permanent custom beanie creation station.

Please RSVP on Facebook: Beanie Bash Facebook Event

and please ride your bike if you plan on drinking.

One of our favorite items from the upcoming fall/winter line is our acid wash hoodie dress. Each one is acid washed by hand, so the variations in pattern and coloring between each one is absolutely unique. We kept them pretty simple by letting the colors speak for themselves and just adding a print of our wings on the lower back left. I wore mine nonstop last winter ever since we made the first samples and they seem to be everyone else’s favorite too since my team riders keep nabbing them from me everytime they see me. (Evidenced below by the pic of Erika Vikander (left) and Claire Hewitt-Demeyer (right).

And the ones we sent to Woodward at Copper as an early release for their summer camps sold out in the first few weeks of camps. I just sent Woodward a new box of freshly acid washed hoodies, so if you are lucky enough to live close to The Cage at Woodward at Copper, go snag one while they’ve got them. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait til they hit our site around September. Although it seems like everyone’s favorite is the aqua acid wash colorway, it will also be available in fuchsia, a navy-pink acid wash, and bleachout black.

First Run at Kirkwood!

On my way to Tahoe we hit snow storms driving over Sonora Pass, a pass near my house leading you into Nevada, upon arrival in Tahoe the snow was still dropping and really starting to accumulate. You can only imagine my feeling of stupidity rocking sandals for this shred trip. I mean one would think it being Memorial day weekend that you would be able to get away with some summer threads.  But, I didn’t let my stupidity hold my rush of excitement back from the fresh falling snow.  All this meant was that’s the last day of the season would be a powder day at Kirkwood!

Chairs 10 and 11 were open only, so the Wall was going off in full effect. If you haven’t ridden Kirkwood’s Wall you really need to get over to Tahoe and check it out. You see some of the best riders cruising this wall and blasting through the chutes.  I’m not going to lie, it took some female balls for me to get down the Wall, it was steeper than it looked from the lift.  Here’s some advice: never talk something up until you have tried at at least once…riding up the lift I was telling everyone that the Wall looked easy and would be no big deal. I may have given myself way too much confidence, because when I got to the top and looked down I may have saw the fear. So I had to female balls it  big time to get down, and trust me I was shaking in my outerwear…but it was awesome!

In all, both days of riding were pretty good conditions for being the end of May, and gaining a goggle tan in the spring time was also a major bonus. I highly recommended adding as many days on to your season as you can, this is not one to miss.

Though, for many the winter season is over and there are new adventures to be had. Maybe a time to pick up a new summer hobby? Or go on an epic road trip. Whatever it is, make it a summer that you will always remember, go off the limb a bit and dig deep into your bucket list.  If you still have the shred bug, which many of us hold year round, go to your nearest ice rink and ask to get some of the groomed shavings, set up a box or rail and have a little shred fest with your friends.  But if you still can, keep adding the days! No one wants the winter to end, they may say it for a couple weeks, but once it does its over until next year. Get as much shred time in as you can!

Plus, now that we are in the month of June, local Fort Collins shoppers can choose to have their order delivered “By Bike” during checkout. This offers free shipping and we will personally bike your order to your house on Bike to Work Day, June 22nd. If the demand is there, we will be keeping Bike Delivery available as an option for the rest of the summer as well.

In addition to these things, this year we are teaming up with Big Shot Bikes and Fort Collins Emergency Vet Hospital to host a breakfast station on Bike To Work Day. Our breakfast station will be located along the Poudre Trail at Riverside and S. Lemay.

Friday May 26th I hopped on a plane from Salt Lake City up to Portland, OR. This is the second time I have attended the Cricket Campus Rail Jam Tour Finals, and probably my tenth time competing in the series. The guys at the tour do a great job keeping everything legitimate, therefore its easy to come back year after year! I landed around 7pm and my friend Janessa came and picked me up, we got some food then went to her house to rest up for the following contest day.

The following morning we woke up to some true Oregon weather, rain. Thankfully I had checked the weather prior to leaving so I was prepared. Janessa was patient and kind enough to play tour guide all day before the contest, and she took me to some pretty spectacular places around Portland. We checked out Pittock Mansion, downtown, and some other areas, it was really nice and I appreciate her putting up with me being such a tourist!

The contest didn’t start until about 3:30 after we had about thirty minutes to practice. Trying not to get too wet or wear myself out, I only hit it twice during practice to feel the speed.The girls were all grouped together, in the 3rd heat, so we had a while to hang out and socialize. I spent most of my time with Janessa and her boyfriend and fellow Shred Betties team rider Randa Shahin. Between the crowd, the setup, and those two girls my spirits were high and I was ready to get out onto the course.

With about eight or nine other girls competing, I wasn’t sure what to expect. These girls not only met, but exceeded my expectations for the level of riding. I was very impressed with what girls were doing, and trying to do. It poured rain on us the whole time, but I had enough in me to get some solid tricks on every feature which included; a down-flat-down rail on the lookers right, a launch box in the middle, and down rail with a kick at the end of it on the lookers left. The jam lasted about 30 minutes, then they announced the top 5 finalists which included myself and Janessa!

The crowd was pleased to have this going on downtown Portland and the CRJT guys always find a way to get them involved. This time they had a dance off featuring some of the very colorful people in the audience. Needless to say it was amazing to watch. After the dance-off it was time for finals to start, all the the guys and girls on ski’s and snowboard’s were at the top strapped in, itching to drop first.

In the end I believe they were looking for consistency across the board and a variety of tricks. I cleaned the down-flat-down rail a few times, got some solid back lips and 180′s on and off the down rail, and some good 180 taps over the launch box. I was very happy to take 1st and Janessa got 2nd and another lady shred friend Krysta got 3rd! It was a great event and a lot of love goes out to the guys who put this on year after year. Another successful year down, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year. THANKS FOR ANOTHER GREAT EVENT GUYS! Till next year…

My name is Erin Blaisdell and I am more than excited to start interning with Akinz. I am looking forward to being a part of a company that keeps it real and only gives us what we want, creativity with top of the line apparel and accessories. A little background about me is that I am an avid snowboarder and skateboarder who loves the outdoors, I do not think I could live my life any other way. Catching the thrill of it all is what I seek out.

I have been working around the industry as a Marketing/PR/ Sales Assistant for a few years. I have met some great people along the way and absolutely love being apart of this community. I have recently moved from the East Coast out West to explore more life and make some grand memories. And no, I do not have a favorite coast, they both have some great qualities and life that I find exciting. Ill be posting up some Blog entries about the on goings at Akinz and whatever we think is awesome that you should know about. Make sure you check in often so you do not miss out. Akinz is  constantly growing and you do not want to be the one not in the know!

One of the challenges we had as far as screen printing in the new space is that there wasn’t a separate room that we could use as a darkroom to make screens, so our solution was to build a light proof screen drying cabinet to store screens and use UV safe lighting when the cabinet was open or we were coating them. This kinda tested Bumpas’ carpentry skills. He worked on it for over a week straight, but he got it finished a few weeks ago so I could start printing summer stuff. And now, I finally painted it a couple days ago.

Everything is finally starting to come together… just in time. Now I just might have time to finish some of the shirts I wanted to print for the party. More updates as the day goes on!

As soon as I got home, I started snowboarding without my sling. I took it easy for a couple of weeks to give my arm a little more time to heal. This past week the snow conditions have been great, the snow really allowed my friends and I the chance to explore and find new places we can shoot. The black and white photo was taken in South Lake Tahoe back country. After a 45 minute hike this was the second pillow line we found. I could not stop smiling after dropping it. The wall ride photo was out by North shore Tahoe, this photo shoot never had a dull moment. We arrived at 11:30 and didn’t leave till 5, all the riders got a few great shots and I know everyone left with a smile on their face. This Last photo is of myself representing my new Flow Snowboard! The photo was taken right before we left North Shore Tahoe. I want to thank photographer Geno Fonderoli for all of his hard work and in helping me get the best shot.



I also want to give a BIG THANKS out to my sponsors; Flow Snowboards, Shred Betties Magazine, Akinz Boardwear, Onus Arts, and Essi Eye Wear!