Smalls Portugal?

One of our favorite young rippers studying abroad in Portugal for this school year. Ben Smalls is an up-and-coming snowboarder, kayaker, mountain biker, and awesome dude. While Ben is in Portugal he is maintaining a really cool blog, so we wanted everyone to check it out!

The link is: Ben in Portugal

We hope you enjoy!

Crater Lake Part 1

Last weekend was Travis and Verelle made their way to Crater Lake for the celebration of Travis' grandparent's  50th Anniversary. This was truly an epic trip thanks to Travis' father, Bob, for planning the trip, and Kettle Foods, for very generously providing sufficient supplies of Kettle Chips! 

The weekend started out beautifully on thursday with a hike on Annie's Creek Trail, just inside the south entrance of Crater Lake Park. The trail has a steep descent to the creek, then follows the creek, allowing for spectacular views of wildflowers and tumbling brooks. The entire trail is an easy 1.7 miles, round trip.

The Caldwells are a competitive bunch. Here they are competing in the cold foot contest! 

Next on the itinerary was a picnic in Goodbye Campground. We munched on Kettle Chips and finger foods. Here is the happy couple posed with their favorite flavors. 

With a little exercise in our legs and food in our belly, we were more than ready for a little rest. We stayed at the lodge at Crater Lake, which is perched right on the rim of the lake, and is spectacular both inside and out. 

Thanks to Kara Caldwell for this photo!

Early the next morning the whole crew gathered for a hike to Garfield Peak. The trail begins at the lodge and finishes at a crest that overlooks the lake. Round-trip, this trail is 3 miles and a moderate climb.

The views from the top are spectacular. Just don't forget to bring some Kettle Chips to snack on at the top. 

After finishing the hike on Friday, we had plenty of time to unwind and enjoy lake, lodge, and all that surrounds it. Travis rode from the lodge to the north entrance of the park.  Verelle enjoyed the views and played an eventful game of Cranium with other Caldwell's.

To be continued...

Scarlet't Birthday! oh yeah, and Travis & Verelle's 1 year anniversary

So, last year Travis and Verelle got married. The date that they had picked happened to be Scarlet's Birthday. Scarlet very politely put the wedding ahead of her birthday and did not celebrate it. Team Kettle has felt very indebted to Scarlet for her roll in the wedding and have been very great full to her for sacrificing for the team. 

Therefore, the decision was made to delay celebrating the anniversary of the wedding and to make Scarlet's birthday the concentration of the day. Travis and Verelle started the day by taking Scarlet to Water Works Park in Redding California. 
 

After Water Works Park the crew went and ate at the In & Out Burger joint and made the drive back to Ashland where they went out to Thai Pepper for dinner with Travis's work crew. After the very tasty dinner the threesome, and a few new recruits continued the fun at Standing Stone. With the night progression being fairly typical the group then ended up at the Hong Kong for Mojito's! The group and severally shrank, but the enthusiasm had not. But, all good things must come to and end, and eventually the group had to split up and go to their respective homes. Despite the evening being complete a good time had been had by all and all had a good time!

Happy Birthday Scarlet! Oh yeah, and happy anniversary Travis & Verelle.

Graduation '08

A post by Travis:

Graduating has stirred a long time love-hate relationship within me. I have wanted to graduate for quite some time. Of course, that is to be expected when it took me six years to complete my degree. However, I cannot say that I was excited about the ceremony of graduation. Graduation ceremonies have seemed like a pointless tradition that was outdated, overrated, and awkward. 

As I stood in alphabetical order within my major before we were escorted into the football stadium awkward was the best way to describe how I felt. Hot might be a better adjective, but that was more due to the black robes. But once I was sitting out in the field with the rest of my graduating class I felt more pride then I had expected to. As the guest and student speakers gave their spiels I couldn't help but feel proud for myself and all the other graduates that day.

As much as I had been dreading going through the ceremony I ended up enjoying it that much more. Now, don't get me wrong, the ceremony was long, hot, and I wanted to be somewhere else. However, I could not be happier that I sat through the speeches and then walked across the stage to receive the piece of paper that says "this is not your diploma."

Lava Beds National Monument

Team Kettle made a quick trip this weekend to Lava Beds National Monument along with our friend Emilie. Lava Beds National Monument is in Northern California and Southern Oregon. It is about two and a half hours from I-5, just about an hour outside of Klamath Falls in Southern Oregon.
The first stop in our trip was at Petroglyph Point. This is where the Modoc Indians, that once inhabited the land, paddled out in boats on the lake that used to exist to a volcanic tuff island, and carved symbols into the soft rock.



We also stopped to enjoy the beautiful scenery of this area.

Next we arrived at our camp site. For only $10 a night this place is a steal, and has a truly incredible view.


Finally we got to explore the caves. The caves vary greatly in difficulty, from a cave with a lighted path to those where you must duck and crawl.



This was a fantastic overnight trip for Team Kettle. The geology is stunning. The history is fascinating. The views are breathtaking. We strongly recommend this trip. And we strongly endorse enhancing the trip with a bag of Death Valley Chipotle chips!

Willamette Pass

On Friday March 13th Team Kettle went on a team trip to Willamette Pass Ski Resort . We were accompanied by our good friend Angela Bombacci on this trip, and it was the first time riding at Willamette Pass for all of us.
Angela, Verelle, and I left Ashland around 10 pm and arrived in Corvallis at Dan and Cullen's place around 1:30 am. Going to bed right away was not an option because Thursday was the fourth annual Irish Car Bomb night. After a couple beers and a Car Bomb we all crashed on the living room floor.
We had a late start to the day due to the late night we had, we managed to be at the ski resort by 11:30 am. Even still there was plenty of fresh powder to spare.
The snow was amazing. It was very light and plenty deep. The forest that Willamette Pass is in is very mature and had little to no underbrush which meant amazing tree runs for us. The tree's are spaced out perfectly and we got some of the best tree runs we have ever had. Willamette Pass is also home of the steepest run in the state of Oregon. Dan and I ventured down the 52 degree slope, and it was definitely steep.
We rode hard until 4 pm and then jammed it back to Corvallis and dinner at Mcmenamins. The combination of good snow, good friends, and awesome hosts (thank you Cullen and Dan!) made for an awesome trip. Willamette Pass is a resort we will definitely ride again soon!

Enjoying a lunch break.

The lodge at Willamette Pass.

One of the many beautiful trails.

Bavarian Night!

You all voted on where Dan would sleep on Bavarian. The majority of you voted on Dan sleeping in Jail, but he out foxed you again. Dan did sleep in a tent, with two other, not so stranger, people from the Mt. A ski school. Zana brought so many blankets she could have survived a night on Everest, and Colin well Colin made it into the tent mostly. Colin decided it would be best for him to sleep half-way in the tent and with his goggles on. Good decision Colin.

The two main highlights of Bavarian night are the Torch Light Parade (drunk skiers and riders are entrusted with roadside flares that have ski-poles attached to them) and the fireworks that proceed it. Mount A Ski School Director Robert directed the parade this year, and while it was not as organized as it has been in the past it still wound its way majestically down the mountain. The fireworks went off in a big bang. The fireworks almost didn't happen this year due to the high wends experienced earlier in the day.

After the "official" festivities were over the majority of the participants still hanging out went to the back side of the mountain where a bomfire lite up the nights ski. The party went deep into the night and the hangovers went through the next day.

Well see you again next year Bavarian night!

Christmas, epic as ever!

Verelle and I gave each other the gift of snowboarding this Christmas. However, that entailed what turned out to be an epic adventure.

I got off work on Christmas eve at 4:30pm. Verelle had loaded up the car with gear, kettle chips, and the ever important gas while I was at work. We left right from the store. We were headed to Bend, Or. which is normaly a three hour drive from Ashland. That night it was not. By the time we were in the little town of Prospect, an hour out of Ashland, we were driving on icy and snowy roads. The road conditions did not improve. All the way over the Diamond Lake pass, past Crater Lake, and even on Hwy 97 we were cruising along on ice and snow covered roads. Add all of that to being in the dark equalled us driving for four and a half hours to get to Bend.

The drive was worth it! We checked into the Old Saint Francis McMennemins Hotel around 10pm, and went directly to the restaurant because we were starving. Verelle had salmon and I had a burger. The food at McMennamin's is always good, but this time we were more impressed witht the service and the fact that McMennamins is the fourth largest wine producer in the state of Oregon. After stuffing ourselves and indulging in a bottle of wine we found our way to the Turkish Soaking tube. With its dark steamy atmosphere and its warm water Verelle and I found ourselves soaking for quite a while. It was a perfect Christmas eve and precurser to a day of snowboarding.


We didn't wake up or get going perticularly early on Christmas, because, well, it was Christmas. We were up at on Mount Bachelor by 10am. It had been 9 years since I had ridden Bachelor and Verelle had never, so needless to say we were excited to do some exploring. The first thing I have to say is that their runs are really long. We are not used to having to stop half way down the hill to rest, but we did. There was so much terrain to ride and so much untouched powder easily accessed on the sides of the runs. We managed to get lost almost every run and not be sure exactly how we ended up where we did, but man we had a blast, and by 2pm we were ready to call it a day.

The next leg of our trip took us to McMinnville. We made it quickly out of Bend, but by the time we were in the town of Sisters the roads had gone to crap again and it was snowing heavily. From Sisters all the way to Salem we averaged 25 miles per hour. It made the drive over six hours long. It was brutal. Luckily, it was only dark for the last two hours. At last we made it to McMinnville and to Verelle's mom's house for holiday celebration. Unfortunatly, we were not done driving yet. After being with Verelle's family for a couple of hours we made last portion of our driving for Christmas day to my brother and sister-in-law's place. Once there, it wasn't long till we were sound asleep.

While in Portland, we had a chance to visit the Henry's 12th Street Tavern. It is located in the trendy little section of Portland known as the Pearl District and is certainly worth the stop if you are in the area. The place is huge, complete with the full restaurant, large bar, and even an entire billiards room. There is also a beautiful deck that would be a great for socializing on summer evenings. But what struck us most was the beer list. Henry's has 100 beers and hard ciders on tap! AMAZING!


After hanging out in the Portland area for a couple of days, and doing a lot more driving we made the return drive home south. Finally we made it home to Ashland signalling the finish to an epic Christmas!

Snowboard Video Review

Here is a collection of the team's favorite snowboard video's so far of the 07/08 season complete with teasers. We have had a lot of time to spend watching video's because we have not received enough snow yet for our local knob (aka Mt. A or Mt. Ashland Ski Park) to open for operation. A signifigant storm system is moving through over the next two days with another one on it's hells, so hopefully we will be shreding before Christmas.

If you don't think chicks can rip check out Float the all girls video.


#6. Capita's First Kiss


#5. Mac Dog's Picture This


#4. Were People Too


#3. Mountain Labs 1.5


#2. Think Tank


#1. Child Support

Honeymoon

After all of the work, stress, and fun of the wedding was over we were off to Spain for our Honeymoon.

The location of the Honeymoon was not easy to pick, and after some persuading I talked Verelle into allowing me the freedom to plan the Honeymoon and surprise her with my decision close to our departure. Spain was not the most obvious choice for me, but the more I thought about it the more it fit.

On our way to Spain we flew Portland to LA, LA to London, and London to Madrid. It was not a short flight by any means, and we were not excited when our luggage did not show in Madrid. We did not let the loss of our luggage slow us down.

We quickly made our way to our hotel downtown Madrid. The beauty, age, and history of the city was more then we could have dreamed. Shortly after checking in we mosied down the streets looking for the best place to have our first meal in Spain. The perfect street side cafe came on a quaint ally. With our first bottle of wine and fresh sea-food dinner we were in heaven.



The next morning we strolled back down the street and picked up the bicycles I had reserved for us. Something you should know about Spain is that nothing is that easy to find because the old allies are not labeled and they wind from street to street in obscure angles. Now armed with bikes we were unstoppable. The bikes let us see more of Madrid then any other form of transportation would have and we took advantage of them. That day we saw the historical bull fighting arena, the Real Madrid Soccer stadium, and rode past countless other historical sites. While we got around quickly on our bikes we did not move to fast that we could not still enjoy good tapas and wine, and before we knew it was time for us to return our bikes and get ready to head to our next Honeymoon destination.

On our last day in Madrid our luggage showed up, which was a huge relief. We took a train from Madrid to the city of Barcelona. The train ride was one of my favorite experiences. The mass transit system in European countries in incredible and the Spanish country side is as beautiful as it gets. The plains, sharp cliffs, and rolling hills rival in other country side I have ever seen for beauty.

Barcelona is a lot different then Madrid. Madrid's beauty comes from its age, but Barcelona's beauty comes from its blend of age and modernism. Barcelona is the best example of how street art can coexist with museums, and how old building can be taught new decor.

Our first day in Barcelona we tried to do a lot, but then we slowed down. We started drinking and eating more, and going to less museums. The food, wine, and cheese quality in Barcelona was more then we could have ever wished for. With Verelle prodding me we spent more time laying in the sun on the beach and less time walking around. But, we still managed to see a lot of sites and experience the best of what Barcelona had to offer.


The next thing we new our 10 day Honeymoon was concluding and we were making our way back across the Atlantic via London a night in LAX and then Portland.

I could not have asked for a better trip to start our married life together!