That was end of day #4, great way to end the season :)
One more nice storm before the likely end of season for me (due to trips in April)? Yes please!
With more than 30 inches in the forecast, drove up wednesday before the storm arrived, and rode a couple of hours to confirm that there was plenty of snow but it was kinda icy, like I expected it would be.
Got to see ski patrol load up a lot of bombs and heard lots of them the next few days early in the morning :)
After that, I just ended the day and waited for the good snow ot fall.
Thursday, a solid 9 inches, although it was pretty firm and only felt like 2 or so. It was a bluebird, so I used the day to charge my car:
nice but not very deep
Firt run on chamoix was nice, but you can see it's not super deep:
I never get tired of this view :)
I went to check out the cave skiiers left of the wall ridge, it's very filled:
I went to the backside to check it out when it opened:
usual line at chair2
the wave looked super nice
nice fast run since it was pretty firm:
As usual Fawn Ridge was the best snow on the mountain:
a bit of work get out, though :)
Friday, day 3 for me, was a ok-ish day, the new snow didn't fall until late in the day and it got a lot better then. Got to do a few runs with Maze before the storm hit hard:
Saturday, day 4 was the best day, the best for last for sure. A solid and soft 12 inches, and half bluebird:
not crowded for a saturday
First run was really good:
very very good snow
happy :)
The top of the wall ridge was hard, so I lost my edge, but once in the forest, plenty of good snow left:
Met Eric who did a much deeper Fawn Ridge run than me :)
Then it was time to head out to the back side, usual little line on 2:
fawn ridge was excellent
oops, I had to walk out on that run :)
I'll leave you with the last Fawn Ridge run, which was excellent:
It was not my first Beyond Wonderland, but definitely the best one yet, as Insomniac made it even bigger at NOS this year, adding more rooms and more stages. They definitely went all out on the decors, and it totally sold out.
The small lake looked even better this year:
Festival Grounds
As I said, even bigger this year, especially a new Factory93 techno stage in the back:
Chesire Woods in the middle had dreamstate on day2 and was beautiful
The pond was split in two with a big bridge in the middle decked out with LED patterns
about as beautiful as it's been
their LED guy did good work
A fun thing was the half useless maps and directions, to help you get lost:
the map was very approximate, but pretty :)
Queen's Domain VIP (aka mainstage) was nice:
Plenty of nooks and crannies to find fun stuff:
Passport was very nice:
And the usual fun vendors:
And the part my non night festival friends sometimes miss, is how different (and not as exciting), festivals look during the day without all the lights:
the calm before the storm
big chairs to sit in ;)
People
The insomniac performers were top notch again:
And people brought very nice costumes too:
led2rave4 backpacks are awesome
Great to run into friends again:
pixxie.poly was easier to recognize this time :)
Ulrich, in his official work outfit :)
All the way to the Trancefamily Meetup
Day #1
Anyway, let's not get to the two days of festival. This year, beyond started earlier, 14:30 with a pre-party before everything else opened at 16:00. We did arrive too late for that on the first day due to pretty bad traffic delays at SFO airport, which is worse than usual right now, but arrived just in time for sunset, which is the magical time for beyond anyway:
new factory93 techno stage this year
cheshhire woods was a beautiful stage
After the event was over, went to check out the after party, but it was 2 guys playing basic EDM that wasn't too exciting, so it felt like a better idea to try and find an uber to get back to the hotel that was not walking distance ($70 with tip for a 10mn ride, that was not fun...)
Video of Day #1:
Day #2
Day 2, came back early to check out the grounds before they got mobbed, and see the Trance DJs:
nice!
Gareth played a nice classic set, I liked it
Bryan Kearny closed the trance stage
Video of Day #2:
Should you go? Would I go Back?
I was supposed to go to Miami Music Festival/Ultra this year, but it didn't happen in the end, and they ended up getting a lot of rain, which dampened the event somewhat. Still, I do want to check athat out too. Hpefully next year.
Back to Beyond:
Honestly it was cold this year, and the light rain in day 2 didn't help. Maybe it's time to consider moving the event a bit later in the year?
Decors were fantastic again, and the event was even bigger this year. Best one yet.
The many theme appropriate performers were still there, maybe more even, and it really added to the event.
I'll repeat other insomniac festivals, like EDC and Dreamstate, all the staff truly cares and goes all out. Many small details that get sometimes missed elsewhere, are usually flawless
Security was more than reasonable as usual, thank you
San Bernardino still worked out for me. I definitely preferred the bigger venue compared to the more limited footprint of Queen Mary where Dreamstate got moved last year
It was extended from 17:00 to 02:00 to 14:00 to 02:00 plus an afterparty until 06:00. That's more than you can do :)
8 stages this year? Definitely a lot...
There was only trance on Day #2, but that gave me a chance to go explore all the grounds and see other kinds of music.
Like last year, I'll respond to: Is it worth flying across the world for? I would go to EDC first, and then Dreamstate for the music (despite lesser decors and costumes compared to BW), but if you are able to fly there, it's definitely a fun festival to attend. If you cannot afford EdC Vegas, as it's not cheap, BW is probably the 2nd festival in the world I'd recommend after EDC if you're not looking for a trance only festival. It is really good and just a beautiful atmostphere.
