When I heard that A-basin was opening I was like, “What, for mountain biking?” I’ve been wearing a T-shirt the past week and honestly, the thought of riding hadn’t even begun to creep into my mindset yet–it was obviously a lie. Who opens Oct 10th? I did hear it from a skier too, yet this one was uncharacteristically credible and it ended up being the truth. So me, Gary and Basher scrounged up some gear and made an impromptu visit. I am always down to ride and judging by the opening day crowd so are quite a few others. Conditions were perfect with temps in the mid 50’s I would guess; this proved to be a bit clammy for Gary and his new puffy. As for the rest of us, the smart, normal, and less hairy ones–it was great. There were a couple rails and boxes and preseason rollers and all kinds of goofy bumps off the sides of the runs that were highly entertaining. Truthfully, it was a great time. I have had worse openers, far worse. I have had better too, but October 10th? Come on! My only fear is that now that I got the itch, what if it doesn’t snow for another two months?
-Nate Deschenes

Finally, after a summer that felt too long (they all do), shred time. Nothing like opening day, especially when you're riding the first place in North America to open. There's a feeling of satisfaction knowing that you're one of a few getting turns in, regardless of the snow. Gravity + P-Tex + snow=AWESOME!. We were in the final process of finishing our Decemger issue on Tuesday, when at about 2 O'clock, we heard that A-Basin was opening the following morning. It was too good to be true, and maybe too early (for us). Tuesday morning, none of us had the idea that we were going to be riding the next day. We had to go, though. Gary Hansen was in town from SoCal, Jeff Baker, from Seattle, and Pancho from Portland, but Jeff and Pancho were already set to leave town.

As the "Product Guy" my job on Tuesday night was to gather gear for Nate and Gary to go out and get it on. When we got there, it was a scene of throwing screwdrivers and discovering that setting up your board in the parking lot with first run jitters don't mix. They powered through, and we had a great day.

The line. Living in SoCal for the past several seasons has made me numb to lift lines. They're a fact of life. A-Basin's triple chair hauled people up hill quick enough, though.

First run jitters. It was a long morning, but we were finally there.

Second run. All smiles. It was good to be back.

Thanks God for snow guns. Low temps at night for the past few weeks have allowed most areas in Colorado to start the early season snowmaking process. Otherwise, this was the scenery. Pretty, though.

The parking lot was mighty full.

Casanova was in the house.

A-Basin had two jibs set up. A double-barrel down rail and a flat box. Being the first day, added with a five minute line to drop in, we opted for lapping. Here are a few shots from the jib zone.

Front board.

Line.

Another front board.

5-0, 180-out.

...and another front board.

Enough of that. Outside of the jib zone, you had plenty of space to blow the dust off. There were a bunch of sweet little natural kickers scattered around, as well as some bamboo jibs.

Getting to the "top."

Gary...getting it!

It was the White Ribbon of Death, but we all had enough room to do our thing.

Get your jib on!

Gary, myself and Nate. Stoked as Hell.

Rash guard guy.

The Burton CO crew snuck out of work for a few hours, as well. Doug E, John D (the captain), Ryan Queen, & Chad Everheart.

Ins+allation and Satellite shop guy Seth Bruce.

Nothing like a parking lot BBQ.

Big thanks to A-Basin's Peggy Hiller and Leigh Hierholzer, for the big smile, and hooking us up with passes for the crew. Until next time...

Words by Nate Deschenes and Mike Basher.
Photos by Drago, ozskier and Basher.