The 686 crew just recently got to roll out to Bend, Oregon to participate in Snowboarder Magazines Superpark 16. The sun was out in full force and the mountain was off the hook. With park resorts like Boreal, Loon, Seven Springs etc… Building monster features and the worlds best snowboarders ready to throw down the scene was set. Everyone on the crew rode super hard and it was great to see the progression of the sport. I would just like to send a special thanks to Snowboarder magazine and Pat Bridges for putting together such an amazing event. One more thanks to everyone from 686; Forest Bailey, Madison Ellsworth, Kyle Fischer, Ryan Paul, Phil Jacques, Ben Thomas Javid, Brandon Davis, Joe Bosler and myself (Patrick McCarthy) for making the trip such a success.

Check out this edit from 686 dealer Allbro’s. They just had the Sun and Style contest go down for 2012 looks like good times were had by all!

Loose Snakes
The band consists of three fellows by the name of Daniel Mead, Paul Roach and James Barak. A little history about them would start something like this:
Daniel or Dan depending on the roughness of the neighborhood you may find him in grew up on the east coast surrounded by a family of older brothers who happened to all be musicians of one sort or another that influenced him immensely. Think partridge family but without the silly costumes and cheesy smiles. More like long hair and calloused fingers. He made his way to Portland and played in various bands before moving to San Diego. He has a wide array of guitars in his collection ranging from his go to electric facemelter favorites to his selection of Taylor acoustics to lap steels, dobro’s, banjo’s and whatever else his fingers can flitter on.

Paul Roach, once the lead singer of a local heavy metal band named Niner has made a habit of picking up an instrument and realizing that as Rocky said to Clubber Lane “you aint so bad” and poof like that, he has mastered another style of music weather it is a djembe drum, Turkish banjo, the old faithful’s of acoustic or electric guitars and last but not least the tasty Bass lines that hold Loose Snakes together.

James Barak began his love for music early with his father being a studied opera and folk music singer heard on cbs radio back in the day. He turned his passion into a dj career that sent him all over the state either by himself or with a 6 piece jazz band accompanying his selections. He could be found one night with a local Santa Barbara Hip hop duo and the next opening for the English beat or Les Nubians. With a wide array of musical genres in his back pocket he began his growth of music learning other rhythm percussion instruments and now you can’t tear him off the drums. If he doesn’t have a drum in front of him, his foot and the floor beneath will do.

The three have come together to form a unique sound that can be defined by not defining it at all. The depth of song writing and the backgrounds of each member in the group have made Loose Snakes music a challenge to pigeon hole. You may hear some southern rock guitar or Greek plate breaking undertones while getting a jazzy funk blues reggae riff thrown in there for good measure. Enjoy!

This year has been something to remember up in the Northwest. With storm after storm pounding the mountains with no end in site and almost 20 feet of snow up there this last weekend was closing day for us Mt Baker locals. The spring conditions were out the infamous Mt Baker wall hits were prime time and some of the Northwest best made it out in style to tear it up. Each year we snowboard it brings new joys and experiences. This year I was able to show the snowboarding experience to my lady Bethany as well as my four-year-old nephew Milo McCarthy. Having a chance to share your knowledge and ability is part of what makes snowboarding so sick. From a little guy like Milo linking his first turns to a stomped double cork in the backcountry it’s all-relevant in my book. Another seasonal notch in the belt goes down. I hope to continue to see snowboarding progress and push itself to levels we never thought it could reach. Thanks Mt Baker and all the mountains for allowing us the freedom to roam your runs and experience the great out doors.