Tree Shots :: Old Randomer

Tree Shots

By: Goo

Winter in the Making :: Old Randomer

Winter in the Making

By: Goo

Action Shot :: Old Randomer

Action Shot

By: Goo





I think the snowboarder is Riley Bayer. (sp?)

Snow Making Machine :: Old Randomer

Snow Making Machine

By: Goo

The following taken 12/18/05











The following 2 taken '03-'04 season.

Bruce Mound is Open! :: Old Randomer

Bruce Mound is Open!

By: Goo
Written: 12-18-05

Well, it has been a while since I’ve written something expressly for Randomer. I guess I should.

Bruce Mound just opened for the season this past Friday. I was so excited Thursday night, even though I had a whole day of school to go yet. I was off the walls. I mean, I had already had 8 days on the snow... 7 of which were hiking. The other one was snowboarding, so I hadn’t had any great skiing yet. I journaled about it a bit...

Hey lets go off on a tangent shall we? We will...

I took up journaling again sometime around the beginning of this school year. I used to keep a journal like back in 1997ish... so it has been a while. I used to write about what I had done that day yahta yahta yahta. Well, now my writing is focused more towards expressing ideas I have and feelings that I experience. It has really helped me express myself to me, to understand myself more. Its crazy. I’ve learned things about myself. It is so weird. I hope it has helped my writing. I’ve done a lot more deep thinking about things, and then I have been expressing them in writing in my journal. So it has been awesome.

Anyhow, skiing. So yeah I had journaled about it a bit, and then I decided to call Nathan and get ride details lined up with him (he was mooching off of me, as usual) and we ended up like talking... and for quite a while (at least longer than I’m usually on the phone). Well I was excited.

Oh yeah! I was really excited because we had just received about 8 inches of fresh pow, so there was going to be powder skiing for opening day!

Friday was spectacular! Powder everywhere, the sides of Old Main were coated, and we destroyed them. We made sure to poach the closed slopes several times (snow hadn’t been made on them yet).

For some reason ski patrol didn’t want people to do that. I thought that was odd. They don’t have any problem with people going out of bounds, but on closed slopes? Oh no, that’s a crime. The thing was, there wasn’t even any snowmaking going on. So it was safer than going through the woods. Crazy, huh?

So Saturday comes. I could only ski for an hour and a half. But it was awesome because they beefed up the lip on the biggest jump in the terrain park, and shaved off some of the lip of the first one which created a big roller, and enabled you to get sufficient speed to clear the bottom jump. And the bottom jump is pretty stinking big. That was some of the biggest air I’ve gotten in that terrain park in a long time. That was great.

So today, Sunday, I ended up teaching a snowboarding lesson. So that chewed up a whole bunch of my skiing time. And I didn’t get to poach any runs because the snowmaking equipment was all set up and running on them. I did get some killer pictures, though. I’ll be sure to post a whole bunch of them on here. Anyhow, someone had built a kicker on top of the headwall again, and I just love hitting those because you can just fly forever. The longest hangtime I’ve ever had anywhere was off of a kicker on top of the headwall last year, I think.

So post-opening weekend, and I’m already up to 11 days on the snow. It was one of the best weekends at Bruce Mound that I’ve experienced in recent history. What a great way to start what will hopefully be an astronomically enjoyable season!

Hey, Its Snowing! :: Old Randomer

Hey, Its Snowing!

By: AJ

Levis Mound :: Old Randomer

Levis Mound

Written: 5/22/05
By: Goo

Yesterday, I went mountainboarding out at Levis Mound. Levis is a big mountain bike/cross country skiing/hiking place... and it has some absolutely killer single track. Single track has to be one of my favorite things ever to do on a mountainboard. I just love it.

But, yesterday was different, because it was the first time I have ever gone there without my mother coming with me... which was nice.

It was also the first time I have ever really gone mountainboarding with a group of friends. I brought both of my mountainboards, and one of my friends brought his digital camera which takes much better quality vid’s than my cam... but back on topic.

So yeah... we headed out. I decided to show them all my favorite places to ride. We went up to Porky Point first, and took some video of me riding off a 4 ft. cliff. Then we took a break. We took a lot of breaks, between filming and watching other people ride. And then, I decided to ride this like wooden bridge thing that some mountainbikers had set up so the wouldn’t have to ride up/down this big section of rocks (wussy bikers). So that was pretty sweet, took some vids of that.

Then, I we took some video of my riding down the rocks that the mountainbikers are too wussy to ride. (Ha!) That was pretty awesome. That whole section probably has a vertical drop of about 10 feet over the space of about 10 ft. or so, so basically it was like riding down a big rock pile. Also, there’s a tree growing right above these rocks, and its as if all of the roots growing over the rocks are holding them to the hillside, as a natural erosion preventative. That added a little more in the technicality department.

Next, we went over to North Face, one of the best downhill single tracks. Its long, with several very different sections in it. It also has a rock garden section rather like the one on Porky Point, only easier. We hung out there and rode for a while.

Then, we headed over to my newest favorite singletrack, Corkscrew. Corkscrew is just basically switchbacks all the way down. The top section is riddle with roots, and a 2 ft. drop off, then to a left hand turn/switchback. Then, there’s a straight section with a big rock in the middle, creating a mandatory ollie. Next, right hand hairpin turn, perfect to powerslide through to shed speed (if you ride goofy foot like me.) Now, the best thing to do is to cut off the next switchback and go cross country down to the trail and continue. Next obstacle, a stump in the middle of the trail. If you’re going slow, you could probably ride over it. But if you have ridden the top section about perfect, you should be screaming right now. After the stump, the trail continues straight, or you have the choice to turn sharp left and take a less used trail through the woods that is a bit longer than the right path, and much more brushy.

Then, we hiked back up Corkscrew, rode North Face again, and hiked to the best downhill cross country ski hill, Jack Rabbit Draw. There, I tried to give some turning and powersliding pointers to my friends, but the powersliding didn’t go over so well.

The only good mountainboarding place that we didn’t go was to Pile Driver. Never descended by a mountainboarder, Pile Driver is probably one of the longest downhill sections of any single track at Levis Mound that I know of, and its one of the most technical too. Once upon a time, their was a horse race held that went up and down pile driver, and all the dirt got pushed off of it. Since that time, it has become one big erosion ditch. The bottom is completely covered in sandstone boulders, with barely any dirt/sand at all. Over the middle of the bottom section, there’s a huge log lying... with about 2 1/2 feet of clearance below it, maybe enough to squeak through. I have hiked Pile Driver before, and for me to even feel partially comfortable, I’d have to assemble a brake for my board. The moutainbikers rarely ride it, if ever. It is the king of gnarly, guaranteeing death to any bomber. But, I know I will have to conquer it eventually, first with a brake... and then without one. Once I have done that, nothing will pose a threat.

So, that’s my day at Levis... pretty much an overview of Levis Mound, but that's OK.

Chapter 3: Grikto the Enlarge :: Old Randomer

Previously on Randomer (written by Ben):

Chapter 3: Grikto the Enlarged

By Ben.

Shakka and Cortan had reached the village of Clearrock in the Stone Kingdom. The goblin leader Grikto was clearly visible, standing at least 15 ft. tall.

“When they said he was a big goblin, I thought they meant he was human height!” said Shakka. The average goblin was about 4 ft tall.

The village seemed abandoned except for two people fighting Grikto. There were goblin bodies everywhere, but no human bodies.

“Was the entire goblin race here?” wondered Cortan, looking at the massive amount of dead goblins.

“Why do you think that?” asked Shakka, perplexed.

“Because there are far more of them dead here than I’ve ever seen outside of Thud, their village.”

“Who killed them all then?”

“It must have been those two.” Cortan pointed to the two humans fighting Grikto.

However, when they got closer, they saw that the two were children, probably younger than Shakka. One was a girl, about Shakka’s age, with purple hair. She wore black pants with a sleeveless black shirt. She had a big, silvery, square shield in her left hand. She also seemed to be dripping silver blood from a cut below her eye.

The other fighter was a boy, younger than the girl. His clothes were the same as hers, but he had steel shoulder guards and leather padding on top of his shirt. He had a greatsword strapped to his back, but was using a katana to fight. He also carried a shotgun, though he wasn’t using it. He was covered in blood, tingeing his jet-black hair red, but he was moving as if he was unhurt.

The girl saw them first. “Thank Dushyk, finally some help,” she said. “That big goblin has some sort of enchantment shielding him from projectiles, and we can’t get close enough to hit him with our swords.”

“I’ll take out the shield,” Cortan said. “Shakka, you try to do some damage.”

Sir Shakka nodded as Cortan began to build up the magic needed to cast his spell. He drew his sword and dug his heels into his charger’s side. The horse galloped straight at the giant goblin and leaped up towards it. At the peak of the jump, Shakka leaped off the back of the horse and lunged into the green flesh of Grikto’s belly. His sword stuck in, but the goblin was so huge that he hardly noticed. He reached his huge slimy hand down and flick Shakka onto the ground. Shakka’s sword sank hilt first into the ground next to him. Grikto lifted his foot to stomp the knight, but Shakka rolled to the side.

Grikto stomped full force onto the sword Shakka had left stuck in the ground.

“AAAAAAAAAARRRGGAAAA!” he roared in pain. The blade of the sword had broken off in Grikto’s foot.

At that moment Cortan finished charging his magic. “DISSOLVE SHIELD!” he cast.

The boy and the girl saw their opportunities. The boy shoved his katana in the ground and pulled out his shotgun. The girl’s arms dissolved and reformed into machine guns. Only, these were the type of machine gun that you usually saw on top of a castle or fort’s stationary turret.

“Die you dirt bag!” the boy yelled. Both of them opened fire at the same time.

The girls twin machine guns erupted. The fire ripped across Grikto’s torso while the boy’s shots hit in the area of the head. Grikto’s blood spewed everywhere as he fell. The Big Sword fell from the hand of the creature and landed in front of Sir Shakka.

“Thanks for your help,” the girl said, shaking Shakka’s and Cortan’s hands. “I’m Krysta, and this is my little brother, Byshakka.”

The Mountainboarding, 2005 Movie

Mountainboarding, 2005

This is the Mountainboarding, 2005 movie just as it was originally intended to be: all in one piece. When I originally made the movie, the computer I was working on didn't have the power to crunch the whole movie. But now, I've got it.

Mountainboarding 2005, Part 4

By: Goo & Accomplices







Please Note:

This was filmed fall 2005, and is the 4th part of the Mountainboarding 2005 movie.

Mountainboarding 2005, Part 5, the Biffs

By: Goo & Accomplices





Please Note:


This video has all of our biffs, falls, and crashes from 2005. Watch this for a good laugh!

Mountainboarding 2005, Part 3

By: Goo & Accomplices





Please Note:


This was filmed fall 2005, and is the 3rd part of the Mountainboarding 2005 movie.

The Mountainboarding 2005 Movie, Part 2

Mountainboarding 2005, Part 2

By: Goo & Accomplices







Please Note:

This was filmed spring 2005, and is the second part of the Mountainboarding 2005 movie.


Please disregard the credits at the end... the movie isn't done yet!

Mountainboarding 2005, Part 1

By: Goo & Accomplices









Please Note:

This was filmed spring 2005, and is the first part of the Mountainboarding 2005 movie.

Self Portrait, a photo gallery

One of the assignments that we received in my photography class was to take a self portrait. Here's what I came up with:


This one is the one that I ended up turning in for my assignment:




And here are all of the other half way decent ones I took:

Spot guide update

I added Arrowhead Bible Camp to the spot guide.

I was writing something, but...

I was working on writing a good bit about mountainbiking while at work the other day last week, but I had to go do something, and I lost my rythym. So now it still isn't done.

why blog

I also blog because I love to write, but there is a bit more to it than that. I feel like I have an excessive amount of creative juice sloshing around in my body, and my blog is an excellent way for me to exhibit the creative side of me, and to let other people enjoy it in their spare time. That’s why my blog isn’t just writing, but also includes an abundance of pictures, and even some videos, which I have taken/created.

http://ignorminious.co.uk/index.php?a=193&textonly=false

Track Meet at Nekoosa