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Ride Agenda Snowboard

My Agenda for today was one of the better ones this week. I was fortunate enough to hit up Mt. Hood Meadows today for a little sample of Ride Snowboards overlooked dream machine. The Ride Agenda 152 snowboard. This is much shorter than I normally ride but thought I’d give it a whirl in the snowboard park since it was finally a Spring day up there. Not that it’s a bad thing, but it has been snowing eternally this year and we’ve been waiting for some Spring sessions. The day was perfect, sky’s were blue, wind was light and the temp seamed to be a perfect 32 degrees. It was just cool enough to not get hot while riding and kept the snow an ideal consistency. I’d call it packed powder, the groomer’s were soft and the snow off trail was just light enough that you could throw it around a bit. Not only were the conditions great, but there wasn’t anybody else around. Empty chairs, empty groomers, empty lift lines. Anyhow, I wanted to head straight to the park to test this Ride Agenda Snowboard out first hand.

(Vista Express)

The Agenda snowboard was super playful in the soft stuff and held a decent edge on the groomers. Due to it’s soft flexing nose and tail, the Agenda didn’t hold a rail the way I really prefer, but it gets the job done. It’s a true twin in shape and rides equally switch as does going forward thanks to the radial sidecut. I was very impressed with it’s ability to handle the terrain while riding backwards. The blunt nose and tail geometry made for great release off the transitions in the park and presses on rails. The ABS sidewall construction proved to be a good defense against the rails wrath. Takeoff’s were smooth and predictable, and spinning was effortless due it’s low swing weight and obviously shorter length. The board is soft because of the Biaxial glass weave, so it didn’t necessarily help to much with landings, as I found myself washing out on the larger jumps. But this is just my point of view, because I tend to ride stiffer boards. You just need to make sure you land square over your bindings and you’ll be fine. Graphically, the board is youthful with an edgier punk rock look to it. I think it looks great and not to mention the die cut base graphic is flawless. Speaking of the base, it’s only a extruded 1500 blend, but it was definitely speedy enough to get me over the 40ft. step up feature. Didn’t hurt to have a fresh wax job too. All in all, I rate this one of my favorite underrated boards under the $300 price mark. As I said before, super fun, playful, and a great snowboard park weapon. Can’t wait for next year’s 2009 Ride Agenda Snowboard!

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Check out all our new Women’s Spring Clothing at trusnow, featuring awesome spring styles from Billabong, Ezekiel, Hurley, and more.

Billabong’s line of Jr’s Clothing offers amazing pieces at unbeatable prices. The spring line is inspired by summery feminine styles, like the Billabong Frisco Top (shown above). Billabong Women’s Clothing includes a great assortment of knit and woven tanks and tops that showcase plaid, floral, and geo print trends. The Billabong Nina Tank and Billabong Solid Tube Tank (shown below) are a couple of our favorite spring basics. Billabong Women’s Boardshorts collection features polka dots, plaids, and mixed media prints and are some of the best looking boardshorts for this season. Shop Billabong Women’s Clothing now and get what you need for spring.

Ezekiel’s spring clothing features a strong line of dresses, tanks and flowing tops with a good mix of bold and pastel colors. We’re most stoked on some of their unique jersey knit tops (Ezekiel Ellie Top) and their light cotton tanks (Ezekiel Simone Cami) and dresses. Ezekiel’s women’s clothing has always been rooted in unique streetwear and their spring collection definitely reflects that. Shop Women’s Ezekiel Clothing at trusnow and be ready for spring style.

New Spring Clothing has been arriving daily at trusnow.com. Women’s Boardshorts, Women’s Tees, Women’s Hoodies and Women’s Tops are just a few clothing categories that have been infused with new spring styles. Shop Now!

If you haven’t ever had the chance to ride Mt. Baker, consider it one of the top resorts to visit on your list. This place is a freerider’s dream location. With advanced technical terrain from trees, chutes, cliffs and perfect backcountry, this place will fill all your desires and leave you wanting more. Mt. Baker has set world records time and time again. During the 98/99 season, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Mt. Baker hit a winter’s season snowfall of 1,140 inches, not to mention their average annual of 650 inches which is the most of any North American ski area. Surprisingly enough the resort is not located on the 10,778 foot volcano of the same name, but resides on the 9,127 foot Mt. Shuksan Arm which is one of the most photographed mountains in the world. Steep and deep is the name of the game at Mt. Baker with a summit elevation of 5,050 ft, vertical drop of 1,550 and 1,000 ridable acres. Most of the time the mountain is socked in with low visibility and dumping snow. We were fortunate enough to have the most rare conditions the mountain has ever seen, especially for April! We’ll get to that in a bit though, let’s start from the beginning….

K2 snowboards are one of the best companies in the industry. This year they planned a four day event called Kamp K2 at Mt. Baker Washington to show appreciation for all their supporters and retailers across the nation. Luckily we were among the group of many stoked shredder’s on the list. K2 snowboards managed to throw an all time snowboard bash by renting out the resort specifically for our enjoyment. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a mountain specifically tailored to your needs, with so few people, but this was one of my all time favorite trips. Put it this way, I had moments on the chair where I was the only one around. There is something kind of eerie yet deeply satisfying knowing you are the only one on the side of an intensely good mountain full of the deep stuff. These are moments that have been tattoed into my memory banks for eternity. In a way, it is that feeling that drives us all as snowboarders. The freedom. Anyway, I got lost in thought there, on with the story.

Day one started out making the long six hour solo trip from Portland Oregon to Northern Washington fueled by the tantalizing vocals of “Maynard” from Tool’s new 10,000 days album all while slugging Red Bulls to keep my motor skills in check. The drive on I-5 is not exactly the most interesting stretch of highway to be running solo on an early spring morning but thoughts of face shots and straight shots blurred my reality and kept me focused on what I was soon to experience. I couldn’t wait to get to highway 542 where the scenery is much more pleasant and at roads end Mt. Baker awaits. After a few pit stops at roadside gas stations and a quite enjoyable lunch at Subway with a strange women named Ursala, I arrived at my destination in the snowy hills of the North Cascades. I evidently didn’t get the memo on what time to arrive at the mountain as I was the first person to pull in and the K2 staff was still frantically trying to get the scene set. I felt kind of dumb, but nonetheless, I was the first person to register and get my new 2009 K2 Turbo Dream snowboard equipped with limited edition Kamp K2 graphics. I was stoked. I couldn’t wait to get the party started and was looking even more forward to the next two days of riding. K2 not only wanted to show their appreciation for their retailers by renting out the mountain, but they also threw in the 2009 K2 Turbo Dream snowboard as a friendly reminder of how awesome they truly are and how well they make great snowboards. For those of you who don’t know, the Turbo Dream is K2’s new rocker snowboard that will be coming out in the 2009/2010 season. It is a mellower version of this years K2 Gyrator (with less rocker) that handles all of the mountain with more comfort and ease and still handles the deep stuff like no other. No wonder it’s Wille Yli-Louma’s snowboard of choice for next year. It’s also a great rival to the ever popular Lib Tech Skate Banana.

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