Yarrr, this old barnacle don’t like t’ sound so ‘motional, but ye mateys done me proud! 81 of ye commented that ye’d like a Booty Bag, and near e’ery one of ye’s got a proper salty tongue. Fer that, we’re givin’ away not one, but two Bags o’ Booty from the Mystery Ranch Treasure Chest.

One o’ these gems we’s givin’ away ‘t random. Our apologies, but our crab trap got ‘eld up in customs, so we’ll have t’ do this one with the help o’ Random.org.

The other, we’re givin’ t’ the scurvy bilge rat who spoke in the most pleasinest pirate parlance.

So let’s get t’ pickin’. Anchors away and raise the sails!

Yarrr! 66 be a fine number. And the 66th urchin t’ comment be:

Greg Stucky, you’s goin’ to make Cap’n in no time with all the booty ye’ll be able t’ haul. YO HO to ye!

The second part o’ this ‘ere’s giveaway was a tough one. Ye all spoke such perfect pirate that this ol’ mango heart o’ mine got tenderized, like ye t’rowed it into a Booty Bag with a heft o’ cannon balls. But not t’ worry, I toughened up t’ make me pickin’s!

Fer mentionin’ me t’ree fav’rite types o’ booty – AARRR-gyle socks, AAARRR-rated DVDs and AAAARR-madillos – and fer callin’ the Booty Bag a “portable treasure chest,” Tim Hoffer be the other winner t’day. A hearty YO HO to ye!

That be all fer t’day mateys. Now off with ye! Don’t ye have some pillagin’ or plunderin’ to look after?

Dana Gleason and Luke Buckingham at the Official Ribbon and Tie Cutting Ceremony!

Moving into a brand new building this January was quite the event!  We captured the three day process through the camera lens… it only took 10,369 photos stitched together to make this video!

Dana had more fun than should be allowed... check it out!

Did you win?!  Watch the video to find out!!!

The entries have been received, the chads dimpled, ties settled with sewing machines at 20 paces and recounts recounted. We are proud to announce and showcase the winners of the 2011 Mystery Ranch photo and video contest. Congratulations to grand prize winners Ryan Krueger, Matthew Irving and KGB Productions and thanks to everyone who entered your unbelievably awesome photos and videos.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Photo by Jay Beyer

So after a few injury laden weeks from an episode involving a stubborn tree and my hip, I finally made it back into the mountains.  Tradeshows brought me down to Denver for SIA and Salt Lake City for OR, to ride some pow with my good friend Jay Beyer (jaybeyer.com)  The Wasatch doesn’t disappoint even with an ice layer from a rain sequence the week prior, as we found good snow on the backside of Mt. Superior.  Sunny skies and decent wind deposited enough new snow to cover up parts of that ice layer and make for some good photo opportunities and easy skinning.

My Fuze and I are attached at the hip throughout most of the winter and finally got a chance to ride my new DPS Lotus 138′s after staring at them for weeks.  A few laps on the north side of Superior on wind affected, but silky smooth snow, and a final push back down to Little Cottonwood.  If you haven’t ridden in the Wasatch….  You know what exclamation comes next…

That night, forecast called for a mild storm to roll in and we aimed our sights at the Y-Not Couloir on the North side of Little Cottonwood.  Coming from Montana, where approaches usually take up most of the day, I felt spoiled by the leisurely morning, short drive, and minimal skinning to the bottom of the Y Couloir which would take us around the mandatory rappel in the Y-Not.  Jay, Dillon and I negotiated the adverse climbing conditions up the Y, as the rain from the week before had completely solidified all the debri that had slid weeks prior.  We climbed through a mix of frozen death cookies, bulletproof ice layers, and thigh deep snow.  The storm came in hot that night, and we were moving through wet dense flakes, soaking us all to the bone, and obviously loading the snowpack rapidly.  1,000 feet from the top of the Y, I noticed a spin drift making its way around a corner, quickly followed by a increasingly fast moving avalanche, that fortunately we could escape from.  It was a perfect storm; adverse climbing conditions, increasing avalanche activity, and 3 completely drenched skiers.  Knowing when to hold em, and knowing when to fold em; it was an easy answer.

My first couple days back in the saddle and I couldn’t be happier.  Good skiing, exciting climbing and good people.  Here’s to the first day of the rest of the season.

Photo by Jay Beyer

Click here to view the embedded video.

During my visit I wore the Booty bag on a day hike in the Red Hills, biking up Signal Mountain, shopping around Jackson & kicking up festivities at a Grand Teton Brewing Company event.  The Booty bag worked well in all environments.  It rides well on my shoulders & carries both rain jackets, camera & snacks quite well.  Once the pack is on your shoulders, it slides closed so no need to worry about anything flying out of the bag when hiking or biking.  It is a perfect pack for short day hikes, town & trail bike rides & for cruising around town.

The Courier bag is smaller than our Outsider, but performs super well on uphill, downhill & flat land bike riding & commuting.  Due to the foam, it also is great for keeping your lower back warm on these cold Spring days.  The extra waist belt is extremely handy for keeping the pack from not moving on your back when riding.  Biking around Bozeman on both road & trails, my sister Mimi (Mystery Ranch production crew sewer & artist) tested the pack on the dirt trails through town & it held up well along the bumpy & muddy terrain.  The courier is also a solid pack for early Spring time condions on our Memorial Day trail bike ride to Mystic Lake.   All of this tied into National Bike to Work week & Bike to Work day on Friday, May 21st. Throughout the week, a group of Mystery Ranch employees biked to work, stopping by local businesses that provided coffee & breakfast to those commuting via legs & wheel power.  It was definitely a great way to jump start the outdoor Spring season & Summer sports activities!  So, get outside, grab your favorite pack of choice & embrace the wild Spring weather of the GYE or wherever you call home!

The first thing that one sees when the bag is closed is what I call the Darth Vader Mask. This is a source of much rejoicing, specifically for coastal and mountain golfers that aren’t afraid to play in the elements, but really for all tournament golfers that have had to play in the rain at one point or another with a bag that didn’t cut the mustard. The lid entirely covers the mouth of the pack and has rain gutters that extend down the sides so as to keep out rain, sleet, or snow (and whatever else Mother Nature might have up here sleeve depending on where you play).

This will keep dry those of your precious children you have chosen to live in the main compartment of the bag, but don’t worry about your babies – they are safe and sound in the rain fly that extends to keep those putters of yours nice and dry, and as an added precaution you can buckle them in at the base of the bag, locking in the rain fly.

How many discs can YOU carry?

Though the Golf Mahal has water bottle pockets on either side that hold even the largest of water bottles/drinking vessels and are easily accessed while walking the fairways, the bag is set up for hydration, namely a hydration system. One can easily fit any size bladder in the side compartment, and with this pictured 2 liter/70 ounce bladder there is plenty of room for whatever else you might want to store above your water. The hose of the bladder runs directly through a velcro loop as it comes out of the side compartment and continues through a piece of elastic at the top of the shoulder pad and then through what we call an egg roll (aka hose holder). This will keep your mouth piece off the ground and in your mouth, a phenomenon that will have you drinking a hell of a lot more water than you would expect, in turn keeping you hydrated and increasing your performance.

Golf Mahal detail shot

When the Darth Vader Mask is unveiled, it reveals a main compartment that can hold anywhere from 15 to 20 discs depending on your concoction of drivers, mids, and putters (here I have 6 mids and 11 drivers to make 17 discs). Though in this current model the lid then stores in the zippered pocket above the discs, the final model will roll and velcro above what will then become a score card pocket that will be made from a clear vinyl material, so as to allow viewing and rain protection even with the lid open. The unveiling of the mask also reveals the putter pocket, which nicely holds two, and the mini pocket which will hold even xl minis.

The large side compartments are not only your ticket to hydrationville, but can also store anywhere from 7 (all mids) to 10 (all drivers) more discs per compartment. This pushes the maximum disc capacity of the lavish Golf Mahal beyond even Feldberg status to just over a whopping 40 discs. Though one might say that this is unnecessary, that this is a feat of ridiculous proportions, that one could never possibly use so many discs, that you’d be insane to lug such a load, I say to you, “Try it on!” Once you put the Golf Mahal on your back, even with 40+ discs, you’ll be a believer, a man, or woman, of the Mystery Ranch Cloth so to speak (well, actually in this case it’s mostly 1000 denier nylon and a sweet 500 denier nylon laminate called X-Ply, but you’ll be preachin’ the truth nonetheless).

If there’s one thing that the Mystery Ranch has that no other pack company in the world can compete with it’s our harnessing system. The web site has plenty more on this, so in brief, the bag is comfy as hell, and contains a yoke system (aka the piece that the shoulder pads are attached to) that telescopes up and down to fit any size torso, creating a near perfect fit for any size person.

But, returning to the large side compartments, note the 2 black compression straps that run the width of the pockets. This means that if and when your name isn’t Feldberg you can make the compartments simply disappear, creating a sleek, slim line pack that will still hold 20ish discs. In all seriousness though, I know there are many of you out there that will want to hold more discs than will fit in the main compartment and these side compartments will allow for that overflow. Also, it’s great to be able to load this thing to the guns and take it out to a field, or to the course, for practicing purposes. The bag also contains 2 smaller, yet still sexy storage compartments located directly on the side of the large side compartments. These are subject to change slightly in appearance, but will continue to excel at holding cell phones, keys, snacks, and the like.

The crème de la crème of the Golf Mahal has yet to reveal itself however. In similar taste to that of the magical large side compartments, watch as my arm vanishes in the space located between the main compartment and the large side compartment. “Presto!” This is truly what makes the bag unique – what some might call a selling point, but what most have simply stated as, “NO WAY!” Yes folks, this supernatural space is designed for an umbrella, and not just some rolled up umbrella you might shove anywhere in any given pack, but to carry a fully deployed-stab-your-buddy-in-the-eye-umbrella – one that even walks along as you do!!!

When your playing a casual round and it starts raining you can pack your bags and go crying to your mommy, but when it’s tournament play it’s a different story. After playing in more than just a few tournaments in which it rained, I came to realize the shear necessity of keeping my discs dry so as not to spray moist disc every which way, and consequently the shear inadequacy of current bags on the market to accomplish this goal. So, here you have it, the first bag that will carry your umbrella overhead as you play. However, not only will the supernatural space carry your umbrella, it will also carry the 3-legged stool so many of us use while playing – an instrument that will in turn become essential in the quest for dryness. With the bag on the stool and the umbrella overhead, you can keep your discs and person dry while squatting underneath to make your disc selection or simply waiting for others to throw. No longer will you be entrenched in the sick, cyclical game of put-the-umbrella-down, pick-the-umbrella-up, while trying just to make a shot that doesn’t spray into the rough. Infomercial aside though, this really is going to change the way you experience tournament play, and for those that aren’t sissies, any play that involves a little of the elements.

The author ... with AMAZING chops to say the least!

My name is Levi Buckingham and I grew up in Bozeman, MT – a place most well known for its skiing, hiking, and climbing, but slightly less known for its’ disc golf and backpacks. Well I’m here to change that. Through the fortune, or perhaps misfortune, of growing up with Dana Gleason’s sons, Dana and Paul, I have locked and lucked into what I can say without a doubt is the best pack making company in the world. Luck also has it that I happen to be a disc golf junky, one of those held in the clutches of an ever growing sickness, and I want to see the sport prosper both in numbers and in gear development. We, disc golfers that is, need a pack that can compete with the disc technology that is growing at an exponential break-neck speed – a pack that goes beyond the padded lunch box design and incorporates the needs of professional athletes playing a diverse and complex sport at the professional level. The Golf Mahal is that answer.

Sweetgrass founder Nick Waggoner pauses before lining up the last shot of the day.

January 8, 2009; After cramming 180lbs of ski gear, cameras, and junk into my packs, I jumped a flight out of LAX to spend the next three months documenting face shots, hot-springs, sushi parties and karaoke, with Sweetgrass Productions in Japan. For their sophomore release, Sweetgrass spent nearly half a year in Japan, shooting full season of backcountry skiing on the northern island Hokkaido.

MC Larivee seeing sushi.

The happy face of Kutchan.

We based operations out of the scarcely know farming community Kutchan.  With a smiling anthropomorphic potato on skis for a mascot, Kutchan is half the size of Bozeman located 15 minutes from the resort town Niseko- home to record seasonal snowfalls and six interconnected resorts.

A pissed off Shunichiro Kikuchi asks himself: “who the hell forgot to groom this stuff!?”

The snow was terrible: it fell all the time, was light, and stayed deep for days.  To make matters worse, we found that sushi was available at nearly every restaurant and roadside convenience store, an also, that almost everyone drives on the wrong side of the road in Japan.  Despite all this, the crew and ever changing team of athletes forged ahead throughout the winter and spring; strapping skins on skis and hitting the pow day in and day out.

MC Larivee dives in near Asahidake

Sweetgrass crew member Zac Ramras heading to the ‘onsen,’ or natural hotsprings after a hard days work.

Zac Ramras taking advantage of the night skiing at Niseko Grand Hirafu Resort.

Taro Tamai, a Patagonia ambassador and snowboarding legend in Japan, welcomed us into Niseko, where he has been shredding for over thirty years.  His shop, Gentemstick, where he custom designs and hand crafts snowboards and surfboards, served as a launching pad for connecting with a crew of local riders, learning about the terrain and weather.

The Gentemstick shop receiving its nightly dose of snow.

Taro contemplating zen and the art of riding.

Beyond capturing sick skiing and snowboarding, Sweetgrass places an emphasis on storytelling in their films.  This years project focuses on the connection between backcountry riding and nature, illuminating this theme through the perspectives of Japanese riders like Taro.

Looking back, it is clear that the trip rocked: we found some of the deepest snow on earth, got to know wonderful people from a warm and inviting culture, sung our hearts out in karakoke booths, and tasted some pretty mean seafood.

Check out Sweetgrass Productions at www.sweetgrass-productions.com. Stay up to date on things on their blog at www.sweetgrassproductions.wordpress.com.