Strictly off limits to the public, the DC Mtn. Lab was conceived in 2000 as a direct extension of their mission to create some of the best gear available to riders worldwide. In essence, the lab represents the dream a place where riders, employees and guests can test products, effortlessly do photo shoots, and basically have a ball. Few have glimpsed beyond the Mtn. Lab's gates. Lifelounge's Jamie spoke with pro snowboarder Ryan Tiene about his experiences there.
No one even knows where it is. Ryan is very casual while talking about the world‚s most luxurious snowboarding park, but then you would too if clearing a 70 ft (21 metres) road gap, with a completely blind take off was all in a days work. In Europe‚ Ryan describes to me, I had to jump over this massive cat track from the top of a cliff. I had to jump 70 feet across the track, you couldn‚t see anything but a lake down the bottom so it was just like you were jumping off the end of the world.
Ryan's definition of luxury is never getting hot or too cold, always being comfy and never being bored‚. For the rest of the professional snowboarding community I would assume that the Mtn. Lab would easily fit into their definition of luxury.
In essence the Mtn. Lab house is a research and development centre, resort and satellite DC office rolled into one. It's located in a remote area with its own security patrol, and has rooms for its elite visitors. There is an office for team meetings and product workshops and almost every boot and advertisement DC has ever produced adorns the walls.
When asked about the creature comforts of the Lab Ryan reflects, the place is pretty cool, it's just got everything you need, you don't have to go anywhere if you want to do something, they've just got so much stuff you can do. This to me sounds like a relatively large understatement as the living room is loaded with all the entertainment you‚d expect in a world-class resort, from video and board games to a custom-made ping-pong table. The living room walls are decorated with images from snowboarding's and DC's history, with posters, photos and enlarged magazine covers. A pair of high-powered binoculars, taken from a Cold War-era Russian submarine, are mounted on the deck.
While the creature comforts are upstairs, downstairs, the Mtn. Lab is equipped to handle the technical side of snowboarding. Custom-made board racks and boot shelves sit on the mudroom wall. The five-car garage has a fully functioning pro shop and the walls of the garage also have custom made lockers for DC pro riders.
I absolutely had to ask Ryan about one thing though: the skeet shooting. Don‚t know what it is about a clay pigeon being slung out of a machine on the command of pull‚ but whatever it is, I needed more info. The following is our banter:
J: What was it like?
Ryan: It wasn‚t actually too hard, it was harder when we were shooting two out, just shooting one out is pretty easy, it's nice.
J: So you didn‚t find the hand-eye coordination that difficult?
Ryan: It was alright actually, I think I only missed one pigeon
J: So if someone were running away from you it would be really easy to take them down?
Ryan: I could probably take someone down from 100 yards.
J: Hmmm.
Although the Mtn. Lab has been around for four years now, the terrain park underwent serious enhancements for the 04/05 season. Previously, obstacles were moved around to create whatever jumps and hits riders wanted, a labour made easier by the Lab‚s snow cat. But for 2004, they wanted everything permanent. So they hired Chris Gunny‚ Gunnarson, the world's premier snow park designer, and the rest, as they say, is history.
So where to from here? Will DC stop at a snow park, or will they build the Animal Chin ramp within a skate Mecca while peacocks roam free everywhere? Time will tell, but for now, you can rest assured that they have taken the snowboarding industry to the next level with their huge, luxurious investment.