NEW YEAR, NEW LOOK Redo your interior vibe
C O LO R A D O JANUARY 2021
HEALING TRAUMA
Reclaiming psychedelic medicine
SNURFING USA
The origins of snowboarding
DON’T OVERDO IT No-effort resolutions that are easy to keep
Cannabis Consciousness Connections The Key
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Thank You! TO OUR INCREDIBLE FAMILY & COMMUNITY
FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO! TO OUR CUSTOMERS
I want to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU. I appreciate your support during these uncertain times while we work to keep our stores safe, clean, shelves stocked, and open. The Maggie’s Family has been humbled by the kindness you continue to show us, and more importantly, to each other.
TO OUR ASSOCIATES
I am astonished with your operational excellence and grateful for you, you are the real heroes in this story! Your commitment to Maggie’s Farm and our communities is absolutely inspiring. From our Support Staff to our Farmers and all of our Retail Associates working on the front lines, we couldn’t do what we do without you, THANK YOU. After 10 great years in business, we know we can get through any challenge together. Bill Conkling & Your Maggie’s Farm Family
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COLORADO SENSI MAGAZINE JANUARY 2021
sensimediagroup @sensimagazine @sensimag
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FEATURES
40
Redocorate
50
Reclaiming Recovery
Refresh your space with a new look for a new year.
Psychedelic therapy could help ease the constant wounds of racial trauma.
DEPARTMENTS
17 EDITOR’S NOTE 28 THE LIFE Contributing to your health and happiness 20 THE BUZZ #GOALS Easily achievNews, tips, and tidbits to keep you in the loop RAD IN PLAID New shirt has built-in bottle opener and vape pen pocket. ARE YOU SURREAL?
New Dalí exhibit coming soon to the Botanic Gardens HIGH DESIGN Jonathan Adler collabs with Higher Standards. GOOD-NURTURED Wellness nexus opens in Highland POTS AND PAIRINGS Mason Jar Event Group invites you to its next dinner series—at your home.
able resolutions
GEAR UP Eight products
to help you tackle this winter in style HOROSCOPE What the new year has in store
62 THE SCENE
Hot happenings and hip hangouts around town SNURF’S UP! Sherman Poppen invented the precursor to the modern snowboard in Michigan.
ON THE COVER
Yes, 2020 was hard. Make 2021 a little easier with resolutions that don’t require a gym membership. PHOTO BY HEFTIBA, UNSPLASH
70 THE END When a psychedelic experience goes wrong? There’s a hotline for that.
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b e g o od: tO g o: this hOliday seas On
EXECUTIVE
Ron Kolb Founder + CEO ron@sensimag.com Mike Mansbridge President Fran Heitkamp Chief Operating Officer Lou Ferris VP of Global Revenue Chris Foltz VP of Global Reach Jade Kolb Director of Project Management BRAND DEVELOPMENT
Richard Guerra Deputy Director of Global Reach Tuva Hank Music Director, Sensi Presents Neil Willis Production Director ADVERTISING
Nancy Reid Director, Team Building, Sensi East Joel Bergeson Director, Team Building, Sensi West EDITORIAL
Stephanie Wilson Co-Founder + Editor in Chief stephanie.wilson@sensimag.com Doug Schnitzspahn Executive Editor doug.schnitzspahn@sensimag.com Robyn Griggs Lawrence Editor at Large John Lehndorff Dining Editor Helen Olsson Copy Chief Mona Van Joseph Contributing Writer MANAGING EDITORS
Tracy Ross Michigan Debbie Hall Nevada Emilie-Noelle Provost New England Jenny Willden Northern California Dawn Garcia Southern California
DESIGN/PRODUCTION
ADVISORY BOARD
Jamie Ezra Mark Creative Director jamie@emagency.com Rheya Tanner Art Director Wendy Mak Designer Josh Clark Designer
Agricor Laboratories Testing Lab Aspen Cannabis Insurance Insurance Services Canyon Cultivation Microdosing Cartology Corporation Cartridge Filling Equipment + Hardware Colorado Cannabis Company THC Coffee Concentrate Supply Co. Recreational Concentrates Emerald Construction Construction Green Edge Trimmers Trimmers Higher Grade Boutique Cannabis Hybrid Payroll Staffing & HR Benefits Jupiter Research Inhalation Hardware Lab Society Extraction Expert + Lab Supplies marQaha Sublinguals + Beverages Monte Fiore Farms Recreational Cultivation Northern Standard History of Cannabis PotGuide Cannabis Culture Source CO Wholesale Consulting Terrapin Care Station Recreational Dispensary Toast Mindful Consumption Uleva Hemp Products Wana Brands Edibles Witlon Inc. Payroll Processing
PUBLISHING
COLORADO Liana Cameris Media Sales Executive liana.cameris@sensimag.com Amanda Patrizi Media Sales Executive amanda.patrizi@sensimag.com Nicholas Sheppard Media Sales Executive nicholas.sheppard@sensimag.com Tyler Tarr Media Sales Executive tyler.tarr@sensimag.com SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Rob Ball Market Director Angelique Kiss Market Director NEVADA Abi Wright Market Director NEW ENGLAND Richard Guerra Market Director Jenna Scandone Media Sales Executive MICHIGAN Jamie Cooper Market Director Ernie Butcher Media Sales Executive Chelsea Carter Media Sales Executive Kile Miller Media Sales Executive Leah Stephens Media Sales Executive Constance Taylor Media Sales Executive NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Nancy Birnbaum Market Director Toni Malvesta Media Sales Executive Sam De La Paz Media Sales Executive
MEDIA PARTNERS
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We invite you to go deep in to The Woods
SMALL BATCH GROWN • EXOTIC GENETICS EXTRA LONG CURING PROCESS
W
EDITOR’S NOTE
Magazine published monthly by Sensi Media Group LLC.
© 2021 Sensi Media Group. All rights reserved.
Welcome to
whatever’s next.
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I hope you enjoyed the ride to get here as best you could. We’re closing out the final days of 2020 as I’m writing this, and January can’t get here soon enough for my tastes. I’m ready to close this chapter and turn the page and start writing about the start of a new age. I was turned onto the idea of this forthcoming modern era of enlightenment while reading the not-yet-trending report from Pinterest, which uses data on rising search terms to predict the ideas of tomorrow. In the foreword, the pinning platform’s CMO Andréa Mallard sets up what’s to come by providing insight about what was. “Turns out, when everything breaks, so do the norms,” she writes. “This year won’t be about ‘back to normal’ or even ‘the new normal.’ Nobody cares about ‘normal’ anymore. … After the plague, came the Renaissance.” This is the Renaissance revisited—a rebirth, a revival, an artistic and intellectual movement of improvement. The year we just endured has caused a shift in our collective consciousness to begin, forcing us to slow our harried pace, to be home and be still without the constant pressure to do more, to be elsewhere, to seek what’s next. With nowhere else to be, we were left alone with our thoughts (and our pets, who just had the best. year. ever. with their humans at home all the time), and we thought a whole lot about how to make things better. For many of us, myself included, our journey began where we were, taking stock of what we have and looking for ways to improve it. For me, that meant finding space to create. One night in March, I cleared my living room, moving the furniture, rug, plants, and decor out so I had a clean slate to build a better space. Once the room was reassembled, I moved on to the next one. The longest year ever afforded me the time to carefully consider my surroundings, to purge what was unneeded, to repurpose what was unused. That process gave me the space and the desire for items to enhance my space. With limited funds and no real plan, I began hunting for treasures discarded or donated by people just like me. And in what some saw as trash, I found treasures that I’ve used to turn my apartment into my personal wonderland—a colorful haven of creativity born not from the acquisition of fancy new furniture or bland name-brand decor but a mindful consideration of accents I made with new-to-me items scored at vintage, antique, and thrift stores in Denver. In this month’s feature, we share tips, tricks, and recommendations to help you thrift some treasures of your own. Your home is your sanctuary, so treat it as such. Creativity flourishes in times of chaos— you’ve just got to capture it. Grab 2021 by the ... whatever you think is appropriate, and let it lead you to places unknown. From here, we can go anywhere. Let’s resolve to enjoy the ride.
Creativity flourishes in times of chaos—you’ve just got to capture it.
Stephanie Wilson @stephwilll J A N UA RY 2021
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This hip flannel shirt is on trend, tricked out, and ready to party. In the ’90s, baggy plaid shirts added a retro touch to the grunge aesthetic. Three decades later, plaid is back, though how many times it’s come and gone since it first emerged in Scotland in the 1700s, we cannot say. It’s now the shirt of record for hip urbanites, latte-sipping millennials, and anyone, really, in the outdoor industry.
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The High Sierra up-levels the genre as a wearable happy-hour kit. With classic flannel on the outside and a cozy waffle-weave thermal inside, the shirt comes with a bottle opener built into its own dedicated pocket. At the shirt back, a reinforced holster pocket will hold a bottle of your favorite CBD-infused IPA,
while a water-resistant interior pocket with a hydrophobic zipper protects smartphones from spills and precip. The pièce de résistance for the cannabis connoisseur: a slim pocket built discreetly into the breast pocket holds your vape pen at the ready. High Sierra Shirt / California Cowboy $148 / shop.californiacowboy.com
REQUIRED READING
Denver’s venerable Tattered Cover bookstore (with two locations plus two on the way) was sold to a local investment group led by David Back and Kwame Spearman, making it the largest Black-owned bookstore in the US.
PHOTOS (FROM TOP) COURTESY OF CALIFORNIA COWBOY / TATTERED COVER BOOKSTORE
Rad in Plaid
CONTRIBUTOR
Helen Olsson
Are you Su r r e a l?
PHOTOS (FROM LEFT): ©2020 SALVADOR DALÍ, FUNDACIÓ GALA-SALVADOR DALÍ, ARS / COURTESY OF HIGHER STANDARDS
Salvador Dalí exhibit comes to the Denver Botanic Gardens in April. Denver Botanic Gardens announced its 2021 exhibitions, and while dates are subject to change because of COVID-19, you should go ahead and mark your calendar now for the main event: Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Mind. The exhibition features FlorDalí and Surrealist Flowers, two rarely seen series of fanciful color lithographs of flowers and fruits on loan from The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Mixing flora with the artist’s signature motifs, these pieces underscore Dalí’s ongoing infatuation with his native landscape of Catalonia and the intriguing images of his surrealist works. The images of fruits and flowers unsettle what we think we know about reality by juxtaposing what would seem to be incompatible elements. That’s what the guy did: he played with our minds. And our minds could all use some playtime right now, so keep an eye on the Denver Botanic Gardens website for info about how to get a glimpse of the fun exhibition of nearly 40 works, organized by Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and The Dalí Museum. Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Mind / April 10–August 22 at the Denver Botanic Gardens / botanicgardens.org
Salvador Dalí, Soleil (Helianthus solifer) from FlorDalí, 1968, photolithograph with original engraved remarque and color. Collection of The Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, FL, 2021.
BY THE NUMBERS
$1.5 BILLION The valuation of cannabis deal and discovery site Weedmaps, which is going public through a merger with Silver Spike Acquisition Corp.
80 PERCENT
How much higher cannabis sales were on “Green Wednesday”— the day before Thanksgiving—compared to the daily average for the year SOURCE: Business Insider
3
DECADES Length of time America’s longest-serving nonviolent cannabis prisoner Richard DeLisi spent behind bars after receiving a 90-year sentence for marijuana trafficking in 1989. Thanks to the efforts of the Last Prisoner Project, DeLisi was released in December 2020.
HIGH DESIGN, HIGHER STANDARDS Iconic designer Jonathan Adler teamed up with cannabis accessories brand Higher Standards to introduce a new standard of luxe-living—the handcrafted Jonathan Adler X Higher Standards capsule collection. Available in two head-turning designs, Smolder and Hashish, these must-have additions to your bong cart sport heat-resistant porcelain trays, boxes, and coasters to house your smoking accessories and everyday items. Fiery red lips set the Smolder pieces ablaze for a hypnotic black and platinum smoke design, while the striking Hashish edition, lacquered with glazed black enamel, is carefully etched with a textured platinum leaf. Get yours before the limited-edition collection sells out, as most Adler items tend to do. Jonathan Adler X Higher Standards Capsule Collection $40–$80 / higherstandards.com
“AFTER THE PLAGUE CAME THE RENAISSANCE.” —Artist Corie Mattie
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For info: Andy@montefiorefarms.com
THE BUZZ
BILITIES BY STEPHANIE WILSON, EDITOR IN CHIEF
1 NEW YEAR, SAME YOU, FRESH PURPOSE: The arrival of 2021 is a chance to make a change. The year in our rearview torpedoed everything we thought of as “normal,” and there’s no going back. Not that we want to—the old normal and even the new normal isn’t good enough. We all were grinding away, but we weren’t making progress. And we’re all about progression.
2 MOVING ONWARD: It’s the only direction into the auspicious year of 2021, known as the Year 5 in numerology. According to Astrofame’s summary of Year 5, “We often feel freer and more able to make changes that we have been thinking about for a long time. We will pursue new initiatives and could even feel like we are growing wings. Curiosity and desire for freedom will be present, as will the desire to go beyond our limits.” 3 BORN AGAIN: According to Pinterest Predicts, an annual notyet-trending report, in 2021, we can expect “routines to be remixed. Expect regular to be reinvented.” Pinterest says 2021 will be a rebirth, not a reset. “After the plague came the Renaissance.”
4 PLANT POWER TO THE PEOPLE: We’re at the beginning of a new Renaissance—a modern period of cultural, artistic, political, and scientific rebirth. At Sensi, we spent the past year undergoing a transformation to better serve our founding purpose: to break cannabis out of the chains of stigma, to be the bridge that connects cannabis with the mainstream, to tell the stories of the plant and of the people impacted by the plant, to stir people’s curiosity and their desire for freedom to use the plant—and inspire demands for the freedom of people suffering in prison because of cannabis prohibition.
PHOTO COURTESY OF NUTURE
5 MUSIC MAKERS: This modern Renaissance will provide relief … releaf … ReLeaf. As in, Sensi Presents ReLeaf, the Compilation Album Volume 1, a Benefit for Last Prisoner Project is the next bold step in Sensi’s journey, part of our rebirth. It’s the first release from Sensi’s new record label, and we are so excited and honored to introduce it to you. In the coming months, we’ll have ongoing coverage of the album and the artists who lent their talents to the project, and we’ll also shine a light on the important accomplishments of the Last Prisoner Project—both in the magazine and on the newly rebirthed sensimag.com.
Better Nurture Where Speer and Federal Boulevard meet in the Highland neighborhood, the old Highland school building has a fresh purpose as the home of Nurture, a new community-based wellcare marketplace. A what? The Denver Post describes it kinda like a WeWork coworking space for wellness-centric businesses that pay a fee to join the Nurture community and enjoy its amenities, of which there are many, including a Himalayan salt cave and an infrared sauna. Since opening its doors last May, Nurture has amassed a community of loyal followers who find the wellness collective to be just what the holistic doctor ordered. More than 60 of such wellness businesses and practitioners are currently operating under Nurture’s roof, offering everything from physical therapy and psychotherapy to massage, acupuncture, Reiki, nutrition counseling, fascial stretch therapy, fire cupping, psychic readings, energy healing, IV therapy, hair care, teeth whitening services, and divorce classes all housed on the second floor. On the first, Nest Cafe + Bar serves dishes built around immunity support, while fitness and movement studios host a variety of class options like yoga, barre, dance, breath work, and wellness classes. Center Strength Studios, one of the oldest Pilates studios in Denver, even has an outpost in the new venue where it offers private and group classes in Pilates equipment, barre, yoga, and Pilates mat. There’s a lot to love about the peaceful enclave. And it’s all easily accessible via the well-designed Nurture app that allows you to view class schedules, book beauty services, purchase packages, and find contact info for member businesses. A handy onestop app for the one-stop wellness shop: how fitting.
WORD OF THE MONTH
EN·THE·O·GEN (n) A psychoactive substance, typically derived from plants, that is ingested to produce a non-ordinary state of consciousness for religious purposes or spiritual enlightenment. (See “The Road to Reclaiming Recovery,” p. 52.)
Nurture / visitnurture.com
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THE BUZZ
January 28 Lineup THE FOOD
The Regional, Chef Kevin Grossi THE DRINK
Upgrade to include The Cocktail, Beer, and Wine THE MUSIC
Grammy-nominated G. Love THE GOODIES
Organic Alternatives ++
Pots and Pairings
Mason Jar Event Group’s premier cannabis-pairing dinner series has been reimagined for you to unpack at home.
There’s nothing quite like the elegant elevated experience of attending a Mason Jar Events cannabis pairing dinner, but the pesky pandemic keeps us from gathering for such events. Good news: now you can get a taste of the company’s signature magic in your own home thanks to Mason Jar Unpacked—Experiential Dining in a New World. This virtual and live-streaming series will highlight a musician, a chef, and some of our favorite cannabis artisans for an experience designed to be enjoyed at home. 24
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The day before the event, each registered guest will pick up a prepacked three-course meal from The Regional in Fort Collins as well as a perfectly paired goodie bag from Organic Alternatives, also in Fort Collins. Included in the ticket price for each registered guest is a link to the evening’s entertainment; the menu, with loads of information to help attendees enjoy a Mason Jar event at home; a Spotify playlist to enjoy after the live content; and instructions on how to win prizes from participating sponsors.
Why? Mason Jar founder Kendal Norris explains, “These times are staggering, and we wish each of you good health and prosperity as we collectively navigate the surreal experience of COVID-19 and its lasting effects on our society’s psyche, our economy and how we gather, celebrate, and coexist.” ++ masonjareventgroup.com / Because laws prevent cannabis-consumption events from being open to the public, you can’t just purchase tickets online—you have to request an invite, which you can do at bit.ly/masonjarunpacked. Access code: Unpacked (case sensitive).
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A Trusted Voice of the Industry Every weekday J and Paul bring you the latest news and info on the cannabis industry locally and globally. Tune in to hear from industry leaders and take advantage of The Daily Dose deals on our webpage. Broadcast live on Gnarly 101.3 FM Monday-Friday, 6-7am and 6-7pm
For more information or to listen LIVE, visit our website www.TheDailyDoseTalkShow.com 26
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You don’t have to overexert yourself to keep these goals for the new year. TEXT STEPHANIE WILSON
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PHOTO BY TOA HEFTIBA, UNSPLASH
Highly Achievable Resolutions
• Don’t be racist. • Try not to be an asshole unless it’s definitely warranted, which it probably isn’t, so you should avoid it at most costs. • Move your body a little every day. • Stand up, right now. Try to touch your toes. If you can’t, work on it every day until you can. If you’re already there, you don’t have to do anything but bend at the waist. Keep that up.
• If you’re only going up one floor, FFS, take the stairs. • Call your mom if you can, because you can. • Wipe front to back. • Bookmark sensimag.com. Return often. Share. • Stop humble-bragging. It comes across as insincere when you downplay your accomplishments. Go ahead and outright brag if you have something positive to share so we can celebrate with you. • Less scrolling. More doing. • See something you like? Say something. Compliment strangers. Your kind words could make someone’s day. • Don’t be creepy about it. • Just don’t be creepy. • Listen to NPR’s Life Kit podcasts and learn how to life better. • Try to live by William Makepeace Thackeray’s advice: whatever you are, be a good one.
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• Robert Mondavi’s too: hear about bong carts messages for prosperWhatever you do, pour this year. At least not ity sake. “Select all” yourself into it. if you’re reading this and mark as read. Sigh • Whatever you’re up to, magazine (unfortucontently when that own it. nately not in print yet, number drops to zero. • Read things printed but that’s OK—you Try not to let it climb on real paper—physdidn’t resolve to read as high in 2021. ical books, tangible only things in print. • Sign up for unroll.me magazines. You’ll • Get yourself a(nother) and unsubscribe to retain more info, and plant. Water it when unwanted emails with you won’t get distractit needs it, fertilize as abandon. ed by the constant the instructions advise, • Clean out your closet barrage of notificamake sure it has the but do it with discretions or the gravitalight it needs, help it tion. The standard tional pull of all the grow, and breathe in rule of thumb is that world’s information the clean oxygen it’s if you haven’t worn on the world wide web. giving you in return for something in a year, • Get a bong cart, or conyour TLC. get rid of it. But if we vert your bar cart into • Open your personal all did that this year, a hybrid model. email. Take a screenthere’d be no pants • Don’t expect this to shot that shows the with zippers and zero be the last time you number of unread shirts with buttons in
•
•
PHOTO BY THE CREATIVE EXCHANGE CZIIH, UNSPLASH
•
• •
•
our closets. Eventually, we’ll have to dress like the adults we really are again, so don’t toss the heels or the ties just yet. Buy yourself some fresh flowers once a month at a minimum. Why? Because they’re pretty, and everybody likes pretty things. Save some money and get them from Veldkamp’s on Colfax in Lakewood. Flowers are sold by the stem, and during the daily Flower Happy Hour, all stems are buy one, get one free (weekdays from noon to 6 p.m., open to close Saturday and Sunday). Get more sun. Vitamin D is imperative to both mental and physical health, so find a chair and some of that printed reading material you’ve committed to and bask in the warmth while soaking up the goodness. But be smart about it and wear sunscreen so your dermatologist doesn’t yell at you. If you’re feeling unwell, stay home. If you’re feeling just dandy, sorry: you’ve got to stay home, too, until Fauci tells us otherwise. Call your mom again if you can. Because you can. J A N UA RY 2021
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THE LIFE GEAR
Gear for Snowriders In pandemic times, skiers and snowboarders need to change up their game—and their gear. TEXT HELEN OLSSON
PHOTO COURTESY OF PHUNKSHUN WEAR
Sipping an après-ski hot toddy in front of a roaring fire with all your besties? That’s a mirage of a long begotten era. That’s so 2019. This ski season, with new COVID-19 protocols in place at ski resorts in Colorado, you’ll want to approach your day a little bit differently. Crowding into packed ski lodges is now passé. Booting up on a mat behind your car in the parking lot: on point. Your car is now a mobile ski lodge. And your backpack is a picnic basket for slopeside nibbles. This new modus operandi requires a new gear set too. You’ll want heated boots to stay out longer, mittens that protect from the cold and the germs, and maybe a sleek new flask with enough cheer to share around.
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THE LIFE GEAR
SporTube Toaster Elite Heated Boot Bag Boot up in the parking lot with warm boots and you’ll extend your ski day. This heated boot bag holds two pairs of boots, has three temp settings, and can toast boots up overnight (and in the car) to a cozy 130°F.
High Camp Firelight 750 Flask with Orox Leather Holster This handsome flask holds your whiskey, wine, or cocktail for alfresco $225 / sportube.com après. The three-piece bar set has two 6-Shooter tumblers that magnetically secure to the flask. Elevate the container with a handcrafted oil-tanned leather holster from Orox. $125, flask; $90, holster / highcampflasks.com
Rossignol Pure Pro Heat Ski Boot Cold toes send skiers running for the lodge. This ski boot has integrated heating technology with three temperature settings that are adjustable via Bluetooth. Warm piggies are just a smartphone touch away. $600 / rossignol.com
Seirus HeatWave MagneMitt Summit Eliminating the need to fuss with a zipper, this new insulated leather mitt features a clever magnetic opening that lets you slip out your fingers to check texts or snap a photo—and then it snaps back to close. The thin inner glove liner has smartphone-compatible fingertips and uses reflective technology to keep hands warm. $160 / seirus.com
RovR RollR 45 Cooler With ski lodges offering limited grab-and-go fare (if at all), you’d be wise to pack a picnic. The RovR RollR 45 cooler will keep your lunch and bevvies chilled, and its 9-inch pneumatic wheels mean you can roll it around snowy parking lots to set up your tailgate. $370 / rovrproducts.com
Maloja Face Mask Comply with ski-resort mask-wearing protocols in style with a printed three-layer mask from Maloja. The fabric is treated with Polygiene ViralOff, a finish that killed 99% of SARSCoV-2 in lab tests in two hours. Per EPA regulations, ViralOff is considered an “antimicrobial” treatment here in the US. $15 / malojaclothing.com
Phunkshun Wear Double Tube You’ll need to cover up your face in the lift maze, and two layers are better than one. The Double Tube from Phunkshun has a breathable moisture-wicking liner and a DWR-treated exterior to shed moisture. Made in Denver, these whimsical neck tubes come in fun prints, including this homage to the Centennial state. $25 / phunkshunwear.com
Black Diamond Guide BT Avy Safety Set With reservation systems limiting resort visits, skiers and riders will undoubtedly head for the backcountry. Stay safe with BD’s avalanche kit (and take an avalanche course so you know how to use the gear). The Avy Safety set includes the Diamond Guide BT Beacon with PIEPS technology, Evac Shovel, and Quickdraw Tour 320 Probe. $550 / blackdiamondequipment.com
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THE LIFE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mona Van Joseph is a professionally licensed intuitive reader in Las Vegas since 2002. Author, radio host, and columnist, she has created the Dice Wisdom app and is available for phone and in-person sessions. mona.vegas
PHOTO BY JOZEFMICIC, ADOBE STOCK
2021 Vibe
the government), which will make it attractive to wait until that month. The numerals in 2021 This is the year that you get what you want. add up to a 5 in numeroloTEXT MONA VAN JOSEPH gy, resonating to fast-moving communication, the The year 2020 was a vised unless it’s presented planet Mercury, and the Foundation Year designed (in writing or contract) to Norse God, Loki. It is the to show us what’s most benefit you authentically. Year of Media—the truth important. It was spiritual Patience with yourself and and the trickster. Both awareness to our growth, others right now will do the truth and the manipand in many ways, we you a world of good when ulation of the truth in any were forced to recognize the energy shifts. issue will be present. Make and honor our priorities. Make your plan for your own conclusions Isolation, loss, and money forward movement when and decisions on what you worries were (and still are this energy shift begins in know to be your truth. for many) center stage. May. This will allow you Make the first quarter There will (still) be to attend a baseball game personally productive. Reholding back energy on or concert in July, the member, this year is about gatherings until the end of power month this year. connections and commuMarch and awareness of It will enable you to get nication. Do your best to money issues until April. that promotion or launch connect with people who People will be deciding a new beginning. The best you’ll want in your wheelwhat they want to do with month to retire would also house moving forward. their careers or finding be in July. There will be Connect with everyone ways to fill up their days in offers made to those close you’ve met on LinkedIn, the first quarter. Action in to retirement age in July especially if one of your the first quarter is not ad- (either by an employer or goals has to do with a new
HOROSCOPE
career opportunity. Remember that nature abhors a vacuum, and the practical cleaning out of things in your living space will allow new things to present themselves. Make it a goal to have one drawer, one shelf, and one cabinet in each room empty so you are setting up the energy to receive. Hang all of the hanger hooks in your closet backward to see what you’re actually wearing (and decide in six months what you’ll keep or donate). Spending time with ourselves in 2020 was to show us what truly makes us happy and purposeful. This will be an action year as soon as you decide what that looks like for you. It’s truly that simple. Speak aloud what you want, and do not speak aloud what you don’t want.
MULLIGAN For the coming year, Mona is offering a 9 Day Energy Reset. To learn more or participate, visit 9dayer.com.
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NEW YEAR, NEW YOU? A fresh look for a fresh year is sure to be refreshing. TEXT AND PHOTOS STEPHANIE WILSON
THRIFT STORE STYLE When it comes to home decor trends, maximalism is the new millennial pink—and you don’t have to max out your credit cards to achieve it.
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hances are you’re reading this at home, where you’ve been riding out this pandemic for what feels like ever. With 2020 in the rearview, you’ve committed to having a fresh start, to forgetting about what was and celebrating what is. You’ve resolved to never use the term “dumpster fire” ever again (and I promise that’s the last time you’ll see that phrase in this magazine; I’m so over it too). But if you’re so sick of your surroundings that you want to take everything in your place, toss it in a dumpster, and set it on fire, I feel you on that too. Even the most change-averse person you know is probably ready for some change right now. It’s safe to say that amid the pandemic, our homes have become more important than ever before. If you’re like the majority of Americans, you’ve already spent some time and money redecorating since the pandemic started. According to research from interior design platform Modsy, 69 percent of people engaged in a home redesign project in 2020, with many customers opting to reorganize, move, or change the aesthetic of their spaces. Some people turned coat closets into home offices, some people finally cleaned out the garage, others went ham decluttering their closets. Personally, I played Tetris with every piece of furniture and decor I own, which is a lot—my apartment takes maximalism to the max, and there are very few surfaces that are still unadorned.
Like the ceiling, which hopefully will no longer be so by the time you’re reading this, because the temporary wallpaper I plan on sticking to it arrived today. Tomorrow, the peel-and-stick vinyl floor tiles I ordered after seeing photos of Jonathan Adler’s New York apartment in Elle Decor inspired me to layer some blackand-white geometric patterns under my collection of boho rugs. Some might call it excessive. I call
it an evolution. Whatever it is, it’s certainly not boring. And it certainly won’t be the last project I tackle around here. When you’re working from home (or is it living at work?), you owe it to yourself to do what you can to make your home as great as can be. If you’re thinking, “OMG , I can hear my bank account laughing at me for even thinking about decorating, let alone re-decorating,” I hear you. My account just
OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEWTO-YOU At the end of every year, thrift stores see a flood of donations come in after people spend time during their holiday breaks cleaning out their closets and storage units— making January the best month to go hunting for vintage treasures.
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about LOL-ed itself to death for the same reason, but I showed it what I’m about to tell you: where there’s a will, there’s a cheap way to do it. Here are some of our favorite spots to treasure hunt for our home furniture and decor.
JUNK OF ARC This Colorado-based thrift store chain is just the best—best prices, best selection, best range. And I’ve found some of the best things ever at one Arc shop or another. At the South Broadway location, I snagged a five-foot-tall framed painting that looks so much like my pup, Gidget, a friend of mine saw it and thought I had paid a couple grand to commission a custom portrait. Best. Score. Ever. Which Arc is the best, you ask? That’s a toughie. Depends on the day; depends on what you’re hoping to find. But whatever that is, the location off County Line Road in Lone Tree is probably gonna have it.
Thrifting is Uplifting Discovering funky retro items that radiate cool quality is such a thrill, and finding vintage goods that I can repurpose gives me purpose. And keeps me busy and out of the house without draining my bank account, because the thrill is in the voyage of discovery. It’s in the hunt. (As long as that hunt is done early in the day when crowds are scarce but even then, only in a socially distant way while wearing a mask and washing your hands frequently.) Compared to buying new things online, thrift shopping is a) cheaper, b) better for the environment (no shipping, no packaging), c) a way to support small local businesses, and d) keeps items out of landfills and gives them new purpose. It’s a great way to save money and buy quality items that will last for years to come. And here’s where we love to do it: H & E FURNITURE Here you’ll find gently used furniture and one-of-a-kind accessories at extremely affordable prices—so low they feel like a steal. Find a little bit of everything for your home, including used books, vintage furniture, retro accessories, and interesting antiques. The selection changes often, so swing by often. 6443 E. Evans Ave., Denver / handefurniture.net
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Mid-Mod Mall Mid-Mod Mall has groovy midcentury furniture and decor, a vast selection of vintage art, great discounts, an ever-changing storefront packed with treasures from one of the most aesthetically interesting periods in history, and owners who just want everyone to have a home filled with things they love. The gallery is overstocked right now, so all prices are negotiable. Bonus: you’re all but guaranteed to have fun negotiating with the owners, both of whom are a delight. 1351 W. 38th Ave., Denver / midmodandmore.com
Brass Armadillo Antique Mall The Colorado outpost of the fantastic chain of markets showcases antique and collectible merchandise from more than 600 of Denver’s finest dealers. It’s the ultimate vintage shopping adventure with millions of one-of-a-kind treasures in all price ranges. You’ll find merchandise from every theme— farm house, sports memorabilia, pottery, old books and magazines, tons of records, and retro furniture. Row after row of stalls are packed with sought-after vintage and repurposed items, and you can spend hours if not days browsing through it all. Luckily, the place is
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open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, so you can get lost wandering the memory lanes (aka the aisles). 11301 W. I-70 Frontage Rd. N., Wheat Ridge / brassarmadillo.com
Habitat for Humanity ReStore (Pictured on Previous Page)
These home improvement stores and donation centers sell new and gently used furniture, appliances, lighting, home goods, and building materials—at crazy low prices, a fraction of what you’d pay at Home Depot or Lowe’s, and a lot of the items are brand-new. If you’re embarking on a project— putting up new tile backsplash in the kitchen, installing a new pendant light in the entryway, or redoing your bathroom—ReStore probably has you covered. And if you’re looking for fun projects to tackle, the ReStore blog is full of DIY tips, tricks, and how-tos. Such as: upcycling cabinet doors into plant stands, transforming repurposed tiles into a new doormat, making your own gallery wall with repurposed vintage frames. So much to make, so much to love. Various Locations / habitat.org/restores
TREASURE HUNTING TIPS 1. Start with a clean slate. Before you go looking for more items to bring home, donate what you no longer want or need. 2. Go without expectations, keep an open mind, and remember it’s all about luck and chance. And it’s a good way to get out of the house for cheap—just wear a mask, go early in the day when the stores are mostly empty, keep socially distant, and wash your hands often. 3. Ask about markdown or discount policies. Many thrift stores offer steep discounts on certain days of the week based on the color of the price tag. 4. Don’t just focus on what you see; imagine what it could be. Put another way, keep repurposing on your mind. See that vintage magazine or that coffee table book filled with stunning photos of pretty people doing interesting things? Imagine those photos framed and hanging on your wall. While you’re at the thrift store, pick up some frames for your new art pieces.
ABOVE: Thrift S LEFT: Face it, you need some funky new decor, and you can find plenty of it at Brass Armadillo.
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Psychedelic therapy could help ease the deep, constant wounds of racial trauma, but stigma and the movement’s unbearable whiteness keep people away. TEXT ROBYN GRIGGS LAWRENCE
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THE ROAD
ORIGINAL PHOTO BY BEN SCOTT, UNSPLASH
TO RECLAIMING RECOVERY
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n her vision, NiCole Buchanan is lying on a mat on a dirt floor, watching the woman sitting across from her morph into her ancestors through multiple generations, women she recognizes as legacies of her own history. They tell her they have survived brutal lifetimes as Black women so that she could be. They tell her she’s doing everything they’d hoped and dreamed. In Jamilah George’s vision, she’s riding a lapa (an African skirt) like a magic carpet, looking down at her ancestors working the plantation fields. A face that looks like hers turns toward her and reaches out a hand, and George pulls her up to the lapa. As generations of her ancestors pass by below, she continues to reach down and pull them up until her lapa is full of beautiful Black women from her lineage, all holding hands. “I’ve never felt so much warmth and support in my life, ever,” she says. Buchanan, an associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University and founder of Alliance Psychological Associates in East Lansing, Michigan, and George, a Detroit native who is studying the potential of psychedelic medicine to heal the psychological effects of racial trauma while pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Connecticut, shared their psychedelic experiences during an emotional segment of “Black Lives Matter & Psychedelic Integration: Pathways to Radical Healing Amidst Ongoing Oppression.” The webinar, sponsored by the Chacruna Institute (a nonprofit that provides education about psychedelic plant medicines) in
November, is one of many such events that have come online recently to explore how entheogens (plants that inspire non-ordinary states of consciousness and spiritual enlightenment) may be able to uproot and heal deep, embedded scars from generations of systemic racial oppression. Oyi Sun, an Atlanta-based martial arts master and coach who produced the 2020 Detroit Psychedelic Conference, explains it this way: “The white man has been selling trauma for generations, and here’s the terrible part—we’ve been programmed to receive it. And when you’re dealing with earthly trauma, entheogens are the best therapists in the world. There’s been a spiritual suppression going on for over 2,000 years, and now with the help of entheogens, there’s about to be a renewal of spiritual power.”
Sun stepped in to run the conference, with the theme “Entheogenics in Urban Environments: A Journey into the Mysteries,” after its founder, Baba Kilindi Iyi, died in April. Kilindi, one of the world’s foremost experts on psychedelic science and healing and the master of mushroom megadosing, was often the only Black presenter—if not the only Black person—at conferences and events on the psychedelic circuit, and he created the Detroit conference to bring the conversation home. “The faces that look like Kilindi—the brown faces—have not been represented in the entheogenic community,” Sun says. The conference took place at the Bushnell Congregational Church, a prewar Colonial Revival building on four acres in Rosedale Park, over a long weekend in August. Diverse speakers from around the world J A N UA RY 2021
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shared their expertise on everything from subatomic particle research and hyperdimensional realms to psychedelic justice, culminating in a memorial for Kilindi that Sun describes as “four hours of emotions, laughter, speakers, heart pouring, drumming—and more drumming and more drumming and more dancing and martial arts exhibitions.” It was a template for future events, Sun says, and they’re already brewing in Oakland, Denver, and Portland, Oregon (where voters recently legalized psilocybin for therapeutic use and decriminalized possession of all drugs).
a scab keeps getting ripped off a wound, the wound can never heal. “If someone is assaulted, for most of us, that happens once, then you have some time to heal,” says Undrea Wright, who co-founded The Sabina Project last year to provide Black-led psychedelic education, training, and harm reduction. “For people of color, we don’t have any time to heal because when we come out of ceremony, reality is still there.” Psychedelic therapy, one of the hottest healing modalities to emerge in decades, shows a lot of promise in treating PTSD, and many see its potential for treating racial trauma
Ottawa, has found psychedelics to be highly effective at treating racial trauma. She is the clinical director of the Behavioral Wellness Clinic in Tolland, Connecticut, where she and her colleagues offer culturally informed ketamine-assisted psychotherapy as a means of treating racial trauma. They find that many Black people refuse to even consider it, because they can be “fearful of a psychedelic medicine and the vulnerability that comes with it,” Williams explained during a Chacruna Institute forum on diversity in psychedelic medicine in February 2020. In 2018, Williams and three
The Pygmy tribes of Central Africa discovered the psychedelic properties of ibogaine, an indole alkaloid extracted from a rainforest shrub called Tabernanthe iboga, thousands of years ago and shared it with people who practice the Bwiti religion in West Africa. Still used as sacred medicine in Cameroon and Gabon, ibogaine opens doors to mystical experiences and communion with ancestors and spirits, often taking people on dreamlike journeys through their lives and offering transformative perspectives. Ibogaine is being studied as a treatment for drug addiction (opioids in particular), and clinics offer ibogaine-assisted detoxification in Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, South Africa, and New Zealand. In the United States, ibogaine is a Schedule 1 narcotic.
PSYCHEDELICS AND RACIAL TRAUMA Racial trauma is a lot like PTSD— with symptoms like nightmares and hypervigilance—and it develops over a lifetime of injustices and abuses. But racial trauma is more insidious than PTSD because people of color continue to experience the same threats and humiliation that triggered them in the first place on an ongoing basis. When 56
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as well. “Right now, what’s taking up all the space for Indigenous and Black people is trauma, and the opposite of trauma is creative,” Sun says. “When entheogens come in and start clearing up that trauma, there’s going to be a void, and that void will be filled with creativity.” Monnica T. Williams, PhD, an associate professor in the School of Psychology at the University of
colleagues published their findings from a methodological search of psychedelic studies from 1993 to 2017. In those studies, 82.3 percent of the participants were non-Hispanic white, 4.6 percent were Indigenous, 2.5 percent were African American, 2.1 percent were Latino, and 1.8 percent were Asian. Selection bias is a factor in this, certainly, but just as importantly,
many people of color have little trust for medical trials (one word: Tuskegee) and illicit substances (two words: Drug War). They’ve been exploited and abused within the medical system and targeted in an immoral war that has decimated communities. Many don’t have the expendable time and money it takes to participate in clinical trials. George was one of few Black participants in clinical trials for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to treat PTSD that were sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and it was anything but a healing experience for her. (MDMA is an acronym for the synthetic drug 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine, more commonly known as Ecstasy and Molly.) After her session with two white therapists, she was sent home with a white night attendant, but she continued to feel alone and terrified. “I remember feeling so lost, so out of touch with my body, and psychologically, I didn’t have control of my thoughts,” she said during the webinar. “I was scared to call anyone. How do I tell any of my Black friends I just did an MDMA study?”
“THESE MEDICINES ARE PART OF OUR CULTURAL BIRTHRIGHT, AND I BELIEVE WE LOSE MORE WHEN WE STEP BACK AND CHOOSE NOT TO ENGAGE.” —Monnica T. Williams, PhD, University of Ottowa’s School of Psychology
RECLAIMING PSYCHEDELIC HEALING Beyond the clinic, underground psychedelic experiences like ayahuasca circles have become a thing in communities across North America—and every one of those circles is overwhelmingly white, says Wright. The few people of color who do participate, he says, find it uncomfortable because white people often (wittingly or unwittingly) gaslight them. “If I’m in a space that’s supposed to be safe and available to my story, and people are telling me my story is not real J A N UA RY 2021
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or valuable, that I just need to move past it, now I have an additional layer of trauma,” he says. “This is the story we kept hearing over and over. People of color had the wherewithal and learned about the medicines, finally found the circle—which is cost-prohibitive for most of us— then they had to do this dance in the circle. It can be retraumatizing.” Wright and Charlotte James co-founded The Sabina Project because they recognized “how healing it would be to be able to share our experiences and extend access to these medicines with our own communities, especially during these incredibly challenging and isolating times,” James says. People have been flocking to their workshops, trainings, and virtual ceremonies throughout the lockdown, seeking both community and information as they confront the demons of isolation.
“WE JUST WANT TO GUARANTEE THERE IS SOME SAFE, JUDGMENTFREE SPACE TO PROCESS JOURNEYS.” —Undrea Wright, Co-founder of The Sabina Project
The Sabina Project’s ceremonies are open to everyone, but integration circles are only for people of color. “We just want to guarantee there is some safe, judgment-free space, free of the white gaze, to process journeys,” she says. Fearing a judicial system that’s stacked against them, Wright and James facilitate only ceremonies with substances that are legal in the United States. Citing an ACLU study in Maryland that found African American men 900 percent more likely to be arrested for simple possession than white men, Wright says, “The consequences for us to do anything illegal are severe.” Those consequences are why many Black parents warn their children away from all drugs, psychedelics included. Buchanan said during the webinar that when she was growing up, everyone knew the story of her father’s best friend Lonnie, who tried acid after he returned from Vietnam and went crazy. “Every Black community has one of these stories,” she says. “What’s crazy,” Wright says, “is that most of these [sacred earth medicine] practices come from people of color. They convinced us to denounce these very powerful tools and replace them with pharmaceutical drugs that are killing us.” “These medicines are part of our cultural birthright,” Williams said in her lecture last February. “And I believe we lose more when we step back and choose not to engage. It is true that it has not always been safe for us, but I hope we can come together as a people, create our own safe spaces, and become empowered to reclaim psychedelic healing for ourselves, our loved ones, and our community.”
DOING THE MOST GOOD Support The Sabina Project by checking out its new merch collection. They’ll pay that support forward by giving 5 percent of all proceeds to the Mutual Ceremony Fund, which provides monetary assistance for BIPOC looking to explore psychedelic healing work through The Sabina Project’s workshops.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF ZEPPELIN ZEERIP
Snurf’s Up! Zeppelin Zeerip, a 28-year-old Michigan snowboarder, has just released a film chronicling the sport that predated—and presaged—snowboarding. TEXT TRACY ROSS
Last month, First Coast News reported that Sparta filmmaker and snowboarder Zeppelin Zeerip, 28, was “visiting with some snowboard legends” when those riders told him they had three hours of unseen footage from the early days of “snurfing” (the snurfer is a sort of snowboard prototype, except it requires pulling on a leash attached to the nose, and it has no bindings). They let Zeerip, who was making a snurfer movie called Made in the Mitten, borrow the three plastic bags of 8mm film to scour at his leisure. Which brings up all kinds of questions. First
off, what 28-year-old gets to hang out, randomly, with “snowboarding legends?” Second, how did said legends “forget” that these bags of film existed? And third, is the surname of these legends—brothers Bill and Tom—really Pushaw? For answers to these questions and more, we turned to Zeerip, who we found at home in Muskegon, eating lunch and prepping his next film. Why are you interested in making films about snowboarding? I grew up 25 minutes from where snurfing was J A N UA RY 2021
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PHOTOS (AT RIGHT) COURTESY OF ZEPPELIN ZEERIP
Ski-Born, Snurf-Bound
“Watch this, Mom!” yelled my eight-year-old daughter on her 50th run in three days last April. We were in month two of pandemic lockdown and trying to make the best of it. We realized how lucky we were to have two things: acres of snow-covered national forest out our front door and the possession of a new Burton Throwback Snowboard, which isn’t a snowboard at all but a snurfboard (or snurfer). In my feeble efforts to be my child’s interim homeschool teacher, we did some sniffing into snurfing on the Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame website. There, we found dozens of articles about how the sport was developed on the Lake Michigan dunes by the earliest known knuckle-dragger, Sherman Poppen. It was Christmas Eve 1965, and the Poppen kids were raising a ruckus. Bursting pregnant with their third child, Nancy Poppen told Sherm, “You’ve got to get these noisy kids out of the house!” They tried to sled, but they couldn’t find the right tool for the occasion. So Sherm took two skis and lashed them together, building the earliest precursor to the board that would later make Jake Burton a multimillionaire. My daughter got her Burton Throwback snurfer from her big brother, who won it in a drawing at an avalanche safety class in Colorado. They fought over it until he (an accomplished skier) gave it to her (an impressionable tween). My daughter says, “Snurfing: It’s more fun than skiing because you don’t need poles.” And I say it gets kids out of the house for extended periods of time, increasing the odds of their mother not killing them dead.
invented, and I always knew about Sherman Poppen, snurfing’s inventor. My home resort held one of the World Snurfing Championships back in the day, and it shut down a few years ago. I always had it in my head to make a film about snowboarding, and when Poppen and Jake Burton Carpenter both passed away last year, I had to do it. In the midst of making it, the Pushaw brothers told me they had a bag of film under the stairs. Suddenly, I had hours of footage from the early ’70s that I could incorporate into my film.
GET YOUR SNURF ON Buy a build-your-own Throwback Snowboard kit and take it for a spin at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes between Muskegon and Ludington. $99 / burton.com
My 8-year-old has taken to snurfing, but she’s a skier, like everyone in my family. Should I be worried? Oh, no, you should bring her to the dark side. [laughs] I do think snowJ A N UA RY 2021
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For info: Andy@montefiorefarms.com
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Made in the Mitten by Zeppelin Zeerip Watch it on Vimeo
boarding is way more fun than skiing. You can’t do a heel-side turn in pow on skis. It’s just such a different experience.
years behind any trend that starts there. This happened by happenstance—Sherman Poppen going out and lashing two skis together. He Snowboard culture too? did say snurfing was like It’s so ironic. This is riding an endless wave, Sensi, a weed magazine. but for a lot of these I don’t even smoke weed, guys, snurfing was their and you’re asking me first foray into standing about snowboarding on a board sideways. culture. My mom was a school administraIf Muskegon is the tor, and she bought my birthplace of the sport, board for me! why does Jake Burton get all the credit for What’s the most starting it? surprising thing you’ve Jake came to one of the learned about the birth first Snurfing World of snowboarding? Championships, and That it really wasn’t he’d put a binding on —Zeppelin Zeerip, creator of influenced by surf culthe front of his board. Made in the Mitten ture. Michigan is so far The snurfer hadn’t been from the coasts; we’re developed or changed in
“[Poppen] did say snurfing was like riding an endless wave, but for a lot of these guys, snurfing was their first foray into standing on a board sideways.”
10 years. They made him enter his own category and compete by himself, so technically he won the first snowboard competition. Then he took the Pushaw brothers to Vermont with him and they helped carve boards with a bandsaw in his garage. He put snowboarding on the world stage—albeit a very small stage at first. How is it going with your new film? The film is going great. It just got into the Vancouver International Film Festival today. It’s getting a ton of love on Vimeo— so far 13,000 views. I’m doing a Q&A with New Holland Brewing tonight. It’s all good. J A N UA RY 2021
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Trip Advisor When a psychedelic experience goes south and you need a friend? 833-FIRESIDE.
Psychedelic experiences can be enlightening, healing, hilarious, maybe even boring—but when one goes south, or even north to a dizzying degree, the last thing you want to be is alone. Starting April 14, the Fireside Project will have your back. Its Psychedelic Peer Support Line, the first hotline of its kind, will provide “real-time support—for when time doesn’t seem real,” according to its website. Fireside Project exists to help people get the most from their psychedelic experiences, says founder and director Joshua White. “These are powerful tools that can help people live fuller, deeper, more connected lives, if they have the right kind of support.” 70
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If and when you need help processing a psychedelic experience, you can call or text 833-FIRESIDE, and volunteers from diverse backgrounds, who are trained to listen deeply and without judgment, will help you through. These good people will even call or text you a week later to check in and help you make sense of and incorporate your trip’s lessons into your life. (Psychedelic therapists charge good money for this much-needed service.) “A core part of our mission is to support a more inclusive psychedelic movement,” says Hanifa Washington, Fireside Project’s cultivator of beloved community. The group will do this through coalition building with other
groups dedicated to “liberatory practices within the movement,” listening to the “needs, curiosities, and stories” of people who have historically been disconnected from the psychedelic movement, and establishing the Fireside Equity Fund to cover the costs of psychedelic education, training, and access for volunteers who are impacted by oppression. Hotline staff will undergo background checks and 36 hours of training and will be overseen by an on-call supervisor. The line will be open Wednesday to Sunday from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. during an 18-month pilot program, then 24/7 after that. firesideproject.org
PHOTO BY AZIZ ACHARKI, UNSPLASH
TEXT ROBYN GRIGGS LAWRENCE
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