The Frends Crew seriously knows how to throw a party. They get it done in such an awesome way that it was a definite necessity for them to throw an annual gathering. Even more necessary was to expand this West Coast Frendly Gathering to the East Coast -- 2011 marking the first time The Frends Crew "officially" threw this rager in Vermont.

Live music, camping, no shirts required, face paint, and good friends are the usual themes of The Frendly Gathering and the East Coast version was no different. Unfortunately, I could not teleport across the US to party with this cool crew however, SNOWBOARDER provided a detailed account of how rad things got.

Words & Photos: Avert Guldemond

Screaming north on the highway from Rhode Island on a soaking 100+ afternoon, I couldn't help but think, "What have I gotten myself into." Leaving the Ocean State's breezy coastline for inland adventures, I was setting myself up for one sweaty adventure. I came prepared, packing my battery powered fan and as much energy as I could muster for something completely new to my realm of experience, a real deal multi-day music festival. What could be better than a music-filled camping extravaganza? Well that's an easy question. One hosted by snowboarding's favorite wild boys, The Frends crew of course.

Full recap and photos...

Unless you have the capability of growing whiskers on your face then you truly can't understand the hassle that comes with riding on a powder day with a serious mustache and/or beard.

The gory details include but are not limited to frozen strands of hair everywhere. Snot busting out of your nose and freezing on top of these icicle 'staches. Sharp razor blade edges, deadly to the touch. So my guy friends tell me.

February served as an amazing month for Mammoth Mountain, with storms rolling in and out like Charlie Sheen's grasp on reality. A few of their riders scored fresh tracks and proper lines and documented it all for us to salivate over. Although they did experience the grueling feeling of frozen stubble - it looks like they managed.

Follow Mason Aguirre, Gabe Taylor, Garrett Warnick, Alex and Jared Dawould as they slash the entire mountain - dropping cliffs, mobbing chutes, and absorbing some serious faceshots.

Our thoughts go out to their facial hair.

Mr. Mason Aquirre has added a new sponsor to his list and is now on the K2 International Pro Team. Aguirre made the announcement just before the Winter X Games and said he couldn't be happier about the move.

Aguirre rose through the ranks as a Burton team rider, but this summer his contract with them was surprisingly not renewed, so he has looked elsewhere for sponsorship opportunities. This fall, Aguirre announced his partnership with Nike 6.0 and currently rides for them head to toe. Along with these two new sponsor deals, Mason also represents the Frends Crew, Amp Energy, Smith Optics, and Nixon.

Congrats Mason on the new deal!

GrindTV Newswire: Killington, Vt. - January 22, 2011 - Louie Vito, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, won his second straight snowboard superpipe Winter Dew Tour final, further securing his lead in overall rankings heading into the final stop of the 2010-11 season and putting him as one of the leading contenders for Toyota Athlete of the Year. On the women's side, Vermont's own Kelly Clark of West Dover secured her first snowboard superpipe win of the 2010-11 season in her hometown state. The best snowboarders in the world battled it out on Killington Resort's brand-new 22-foot superpipe, which debuted at the Winter Dew Tour event.

Vito, age 22, was at the top of the leader board heading into his second run, but that didn't stop him from going all out. After throwing out tricks that included back to back double corks, a frontside 10 and a frontside tailgrab, Vito earned the top score of 93.00 on his victory lap. Breckenridge, Colorado's JJ Thomas, 29, placed second with an 88.00 and 23-year-old Mason Aguirre of Duluth, Minn. finished third with an 86.50.

"I feel great about landing a solid run out here. The pipe was good and everyone rode really well overall," said Vito. "I feel good heading into Snowbasin next month, and hopefully I can just stay on my feet."

Clark, 27, earned the highest women's snowboard superpipe score in Winter Dew Tour history with a 95.75. Showing huge amplitude throughout, Clark's run included a front 9, back 5, front 7, cab 7 and front 5. Following behind in second place was Aspen, Colorado's Gretchen Bleiler, 27, who earned a score of 92.25. Span's Queralt Castellet, 21, rounded out the podium in third with an 86.00. Castellet's finish is still enough to keep her in the lead in overall Winter Dew Tour rankings heading into the Championship event.

"It was a great event today, and I'm glad to be back home in Vermont and to do so well," said Clark. "I was really happy with my riding and to get the highest score in women's halfpipe in Winter Dew Tour history is amazing."

The four-day competition is the second of three stops on the 2010-11 Winter Dew Tour featuring men and women's snowboarding and freeskiing disciplines. The Winter Dew Tour will continue tonight with the men's freeski superpipe final under the lights and conclude tomorrow with the snowboard and freeski slopestyle finals.

Winter Dew Tour at Killington
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Killington, Vt. - Killington Resort

Men's Snowboard Superpipe - Finals
1. Louie Vito, Bellefontaine, Ohio, 93.00. 2. JJ Thomas, Breckenridge, Colo., 88.00., 3. Mason Aguirre, Duluth, Minn., 86.50. 4. Steve Fisher, Breckenridge, Colo., 83.50. 5. Spencer Shaw, Stratton, Vt., 83.00. 6. Matt Ladley, Steamboat Springs, Colo., 82.00. 7. Ben Watts, Bend, Ore., 75.25. 8. Trevor Jacob, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 71.50. 9. Zach Black, Breckenridge, Colo., 58.00. 10. Jack Mitrani, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 55.50. 11. Brennen Swanson, Stillwater, Minn., 26.00. 12, Greg Bretz, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., DNS.

Men's Snowboard Superpipe - Tour Rankings
1. Louie Vito, 200. 2. JJ Thomas, 174. 3. Matt Ladley, 166. 4. Mason Aguirre, 166. 5. Steve Fisher, 152. 6. Trevor Jacob, 140. 7. Greg Bretz, 136. 8. Spencer Shaw, 123. 9. Luke Mitrani, 107. 10. Jake Mitrani, 99.

Women's Snowboard Superpipe - Finals
1. Kelly Clark, West Dover, Vt., 95.75. 2. Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen, Colo., 92.25. 3. Queralt Castellet, Spain, 86.00. 4. Elena Hight, South Lake Tahoe, Calif., 81.50. 5. Soko Yamaoka, Japan, 80.25., 6. Kelly Marren, Hillsborough, Calif., 46.25.

Photo: Nike

Nike really out did themselves with last season's D-Pad Session. We brought you the teaser from this bang-fest and now for your viewing pleasure, Nike 6.0 has dropped the full length video.

The cinematography coupled with the insane level of riding is our definition of progression.

Get ready to get your mind blown.

Words: Nike

The venue, Folgefonna, Norway. The aim, to create a session that ends the season on a high and to get some of the great snowboarding minds together to push creativity and progression in the 20 hours of sunlight that Norwegian summers have to offer. With a set up created by legendary shaper Lars Eriksen, everything was in place to pretend we were back on those old computers experimenting with what was and wasn't possible. Bring on the 'The Nike 6.0 D-Pad Session'.

The dozen riders selected for the task was a mix of established names who gave their take on modern snowboarding and next generation riders who did their part to kick snowboarding into the future: Gjermund Bråten, Ethan Morgan, Gerome Mathieu, Ståle Sandbech, Jamie Nicholls, Terje Håkonsen, Jake Blauvelt, Matt Ladley, Mason Aguirre, Eero Ettala, Kevin Bäckström and Erik Botner.

And after seeing the footage, it is safe to say that the future of snowboarding is in safe hands.



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