After bringing Mark Sollors into the fold and getting 'er done with redemption at Whitewater, we were all feeling stoked at Snowwater Heli's invite to come shred for our final days of the tour. We were up early, expecting to be up at the lodge and riding the same day. Little did we know that Snowwater was playing host to a special guest just before us. Ellery Hollingsworth was at the resort with an entire entourage following her aorund. And I mean this in the largest sense. Gatorade brought scientists, Nike 6.0 was there, Ashley Barker was shooting photos, not to mention James Sullivan from BNQT.com, a Fuel TV crew, and ex-pro rider cum media/management specialist Tricia Byrnes. We bumped into the crew in the parking lot on their way out and shared a few laughs before we found out the lodge had to clean up after last night's shenanigans and we'd have to wait until the afternoon to come up.

We hung in the main office watching shred flicks, inter-nerding, and, well, Dave was crashed out in the corner. We finally got the good-to-go sign and drove up to meet owner Pat Maloney at the snow line about midway up to the lodge. He picked us up in a cat and we cruised in the rest of the way. Snowwater is like a winter oasis. It's a snowboarder's dream. You've got anything and everything you could possibly want at your disposal here. From super plush private lodges and five-course gourmet dinners to your own A-Star heli eagerly awaiting to fly you in to the most remote spots of the tenure. No such thing as down days here, Snowwater has an ultra-comfy snowcat outfitted with a booming soundsystem for those times when shredding deep pow in the trees will just have to do. Snowwater's got all of this, not to mention the little things like internet, satellite flat-screen TV, cell reception, i-Pod jacks, a killer hot tub, and a full-time bartender ready to hand you a cold one at day's end. Paradise, right?

Well, we one-upped all of that when Pat said we'd have the entire place to ourselves as we were the very last group of the season. We essentially had free-reign of the place. Top that off with a forecast that was going to drop one last major dump of the season and we were well beyond stoked.

We settled in the first night watching TV and getting to know our hosts over an amazing dinner and plenty of wine. Russell and Dave had been here years ago back in the early days of the operation on a Westbeach team shoot. Pat, and his wife Maria (pronounced "Mariah") have got to be the coolest operators in the biz, and offer a very welcoming vibe to their entire operation.

Next day we woke up to a storm hammering down fresh snow. It was one of those rare times where you actually pray for the snow to stop so the heli can fly. But we happily took the fresh turns in the cat for most of the day, slashing pow fields, bouncing off poppers and searching out Snowwater's features to shoot. Near the end of the day, the sun finally poked its head out and the blades of the chopper started to whirl. Needless to say things capped off with a stellar ending. Enjoy the photos. —Dean Seguin

Our not-so-humble abode.

Not a bad wake-up call. Fresh snow and a heli waiting outside the bedroom window.

Mark Sollors got lucky snagging this piece of tail at Snowwater.

Snow puking on Larch trees.

Dave Short gets a piece of his own.

Witch's beard.

Sollors picked out a little close-to-home tree hit he sessioned until the heli was ready to fly.

Sollors getting prepped for his inaugural heli drop.

Our chariot awaits.

Paul, our pilot for the mission, making sure the bird is ready to rock.

Priceless.

Chev, our heli guide, scoping for lines to drop us into.

Dave Short poppin' one off.