California Snowparks

I  photographed my most recent round of production today.The boards look really fun.
We think about snurfing every day and want to get the goods early season before there is to much snow.
Just around a foot so far in the sierra, another foot and it should be perfect to test this production run.

We discovered that you can camp overnight in you vehicle at california snowparks, the permit is only $25 for the season. Much cheaper than a season pass and we can discover new snurfing territory.

Reached Board #50

For this round of production I have made Board #50, it may seem a trivial thing but it took alot of time and energy to get to this point. It isn't my first time and won't be my last. I like to make things as a kid and that just stuck to me like whats next. I digging and cutting and glueing  and all manner of stuff you do as a kid and eventually I found the snurfer. It along with my other activities, cycling, kayaking, skiing, rockhopping, climbing, exploring and all the things I did up to the point of now. I started working with  Flite Snowboards around 1976 later went to work for Sims in 1985, following a time at college, university, aspen, and even 2nd place in the worlds in snowboarding. We guided evolutionary snurfing into boarding, into snowboarding and what a miracle. After Sims it was starting the Skriss Factory in France, then the Rocky Mountain Factory in Aspen, then I bailed out on manufacturing for a while. Here we are in 2011 and I have my latest venture "Grellboards...", I am building modern Snurfers, they are wider, better grip on the top deck, built of fibreglass and fun to ride. It is such a great feeling, finding a good hill and shredding it up. No a bindings, lightweight shoes, basic winter wear, whatever makes you comfortable and no lift tickets. I say a movie recently that said a good writer should just write, often I have held back my writing trying to find the right things to say but that isnt my goal here. My goal is to introduce people to a really fun snow sport that you don't have to live at a ski resort to enjoy, all you need is a slope, snow and a board. Its surfing on snow and that is exciting. The next question is how do you get a boards.

Order one from Snowsurfing:
and you go on our production list, you get a numbered board,
 three designs to choose from,
escape58,
bumpattack48,
Thruster50.
then we have to look at weight range,
under 100,
100-199,
199+.

No orders as of 11/18/11 but then I haven't tried to advertise.
I wonder how fast the next 50 will take to build.
Production starts when I get 50 orders. of each model board.

Calgary, fis update clinic

I've been doing snowboarding events since 1982, starting with the first US open of snowboarding originally held at Snow Valley, Vermont. Alot has happened since then, the sport is now a recognized olympic sport, and I am a technical delegate for the FIS. Hence, my reason for being in Calgary. The update clinics are informative, dry, sometimes helpful and required to maintain certification. This event is being held at the Canadian Olympic Park, there isn't any snow yet however the event is attended by about 40 people from Canada, the USA and other parts of the world. Right now we are talking about Halfpipe and Jumps, we covered Snowboardcross and Skiercross earlier. The clinic goes for one more day and I will head home sunday evening.

Raining but snowing

When it rains a my office, my old 1951 Spartanette trailer, the sound off the roof is relaxing, it is dry inside and makes me appreciate how we used to build things in the USA. I just rebuild my shop and can now hold up to ten molds for my summer building project. My goal is to fabricate 100 Grell Snowsurfboards and sell them at ten shops around the USA. So the first ten shops to contact me will each get ten boards to sell. They will each be handmade by me. Perhaps starting a business should be a fun adventure and the rewards will go to those who seek out rare but valuable creations.

A couple of days in the Sierra in mid April, 2011

I got to take a trip up to the Sierras to work on the house in Placerville, I installed a new door and did a bunch of cleanup around the house and studio. The studio is being rented out starting May 1st and I had to get it ready, this trip put me 42 miles from Sierra at Tahoe resort and I spent the day Friday catching up with winter. There is still 25 feet of snow on the mountain and it looks like there will be snow until mid summer and for sure at the higher elevations. Once the resorts shut down it will be my turn to go up and hike on the slopes and test my boards. On saturday I went a bit farther to Kirkwood and met up with my friend Peter Loughlin of RSN and Outside Magazine, he was busy working so I took advantage of a day on the mountain. By 2 pm my legs were burning and it was time to take a break. The drive back on highway 88 was fascinating, the snow is piled deep along the road over 20 feet in some places. There is alot of water up there and its going to be a beautiful spring in the Sierra.

Building a boarding business

Somewhere along the way I started building boards, I think it started to happen in 1976. I was always making stuff out of whatever I came across and seemed to loose focus of the things that I thought I was into but end up not. The I kept coming back to boards, it was probably my first visit to Flite Snowboards Factory in Tiverton, Rhode Island. It was like a mad scientists shop of creativity, the skateboards, early snowboards, skifers and the sheer energy of this group. I was hooked and just wanted to go ride and then I realized no one was really making what I wanted to ride. Flite came close, then later Barfoot and Winterstick then Sims and then I was off building Boards, it really started with Sims, as production manager we built a bunch of boards in 1985-86 along with the first commercially produced Highback Binding. All for now. jg

Getting started

It was in 1970 when I got my first "Snurfer" that one event would shape the rest of my life. I didn't realize it at the time but slowly and surely the impact effected my thoughts and actions which has lead me to this point. We should probably start at the beginning and that give this audience a better perspective of how this author got to where is today. We had just moved back from Coture St. Germain, in Lanse, Belgium after two years since leaving our home town, Bridgewater, Connecticut. The reason for leaving was that my dad was taking a job with my grandfather in the hotel business in Brussels, Belgium, this was 1966, I had just gotten out of the second grade and we were moving. In Belgium, it snows in the winter and we had this great wooden sled that we used when there was snow, along with ice skating, it was in our genes to play in the snow. Sledding, toboggans, ice skates, skis, snowshoes, snowboots, winter clothes, that drove us through the winter. Anyway, life has its ironic twists, we left Belgium after a year in a Belgium School and another year in a Catholic english speaking school, by the way we were American Kids, Derek, your author and Jay. Jay was youngest and it was considered no big deal he would just learn the language, in my case and Derek's, we were launched into the Rik San Sarde public school, where we really learned self defense, we were the only American kids in the School. Things weren't really working out so we were leaving Belgium and moving to Florida to live with my Aunt and Uncle, there we were back in and American School, we got Frisbees, went fishing for Barracuda and caught some and eventually found out we would be moving back to Bridgewater. So where with this Snurfari start or has it already, its already started. When we were in Florida, we went to the beach alot, there were great tidal flats and one day we found a home made skim board, it was shaped like a disc, round and painted with marine paint on one side and fibreglass on the other. Once we knew what it could do it became one of our favorites action sports vehicles. Well as things work out that was a relatively short lifespan on that sport as we soon after loaded up the old 1960's wagon and were driving north to Bridgewater to move into the house my Dad had found, back in Bridgewater, Connecticut. We we coming home, I wasn't in second grade anymore and would be going into fifth. The impact of the Belgium experiment had already made its impact as we re-entered life in our old home town. I remember asking my parents why we couldn't move to Colorado instead, because we grew up Connecticut Yankee's and were stubborn. It was  soon after this we discovered the Snurfer and with a life growing up with all the winter stuff, it was a welcome addition to the quiver. All for now. Another posting soon.