This winter has been a good one in the MidWest, if you like snow. I like snow when its white, and fluffy, before it gets boring and brown. Snow makes me enthusiastic to get outside and go snow boarding and to just be outside experiencing it all. Some people hate snow and the mess it creates on the street, but I don't let the nay sayers get to me. I've enjoyed the hills in Wisconsin this season. And while I do long for the days growing up in Vermont, when many great ski resorts were just minutes away, I'm content for now, enjoying what I have.

A company I continually come back to throughout my life is Burton. Growing up in northern Vermont, Burton was hard to avoid. My first board was a Burton Air. Jeff Brushie went to my high school, long before I was there. But I'd think about this every day when we'd pass the half pipe that stood as monument to his achievements in his parents yard.

Burton has an exciting past, pioneering the way for modern snow boarding and culture as we now know it. The thing that never ceases to amaze me it that Burton has always payed close attention to their design. This statement is inclusive of everything from their catalog, to their clothing and products, which are always well engineered. I keep coming back to Burton throughout my life for many reasons. For one, it wasn't until recently that I began snow boarding again. I think for many years while I was in school in Milwaukee I was resentful of how small the hills are here. But lately I've taken the attitude that I have to snowboard because it something that I still love to do. And any riding is better that no riding at all.