Gallery: Winter Camp Diary: Day 1 — Travel and Blood Sacrifices
01heading-out
*Michael Calore stands in the Wired parking lot, ready to hit the road.*
02load-out
*From left to right, Jim Merithew, Michael Calore and Roberto Baldwin carry boxes of test gear out to the cars.*
03mountain-of-boxes
*Karissa Bell squeezes in the back seat of the Ford Flex with test gear as the team heads to Lake Tahoe, CA.*
04el-guapo
*Rocking some tunes from Roberto's phone.*
05sandwich-spot
*The team stops for lunch en route to Lake Tahoe, CA, at the Sandwich Spot in Sacramento.*
06el-guapo-part-two
*Roberto drives across the Bay Bridge, out of San Francisco.*
07ground-zero
*Karissa picks out some Roxy bindings at Ground Zero in Sacramento, CA.*
08arrival
*Roberto and Karissa pull up to the Village at Squaw Valley.*
09load-in
*The team unpacks all the gear at the lodge.*
10bunks
*Roberto tries out the bunk bed at the lodge.*
11supplies
*Billy Brown and Karissa stock up on snacks and breakfast food for the week.*
12board-madness
*Gear, gear, and more gear. We're ready to hit the slopes.*
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