Friday, September 4, 2015
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Lately:
It turns out this blog still get a few page views. I'm happily surprised once or twice a day someone stumbles on here and checks it out. In the last few years this blog has almost been forgotten. So instead of being apologetic and making promises to myself and followers I'm just going to write today for the first time since mid winter.
My last post featured a video I made on Feb. 18. My workplace gives me some free lift passes to pass on to friends as a Christmas gift every year, and my friend Tom was living in Whistler with no pass (bad decision making). Tom took the lift ticket but would spend his whole day on the camera. It hadn't snowed in a long time and since then we'd experienced all sorts of thaw/freeze cycles so calling it hardpack was almost an understatement. Regardless, weeks of skiing in these conditions made everyone adapt and ski in different styles and take new lines. Largely a lot of fast skiing and landing in transitions. So it wasn't super conventional and I'm happy with the end project.
It was dry for a while until mid March when Whistler was hit by some snow. By this time people had lost faith in skiing and stashes were left every where, Whistler had been abandoned. I got a few more shots in this period but regrettably didn't get any in the backcountry.
Right at the end of March I went to Kicking Horse for Wrangle the Chute without yet being registered. I literally begged and thanks to the organizers got in the night before. I had an ok qualifier run and ended up sitting in fifth. The finals run ended badly. There was a little drop I chose to hit last minute above my main feature and got stuck in the landing in some heavy snow and skied past my main source of points. Somehow I ended up tenth. There was a good party and my cousin was there randomly so I got over my losing attitude pretty quick.
Also, I met into the TGR crew in Kicking Horse, the conditions weren't ideal for filming in the area so they were skiing the resort. I was trying not to be a fanboy but I probably was. Thanks to Lauren, Connor, George and Camilla for letting me tag along on that trip.
After kicking horse, I had just one week skiing left before I had to got plant trees. Due to the low snowpack the ground was ready to plant almost a month earlier than normal. We started out around Kamloops. This was my third and toughest season of planting. I was on a contract so hard my average earnings dropped 40% from where I had left off the year before. A week in I dislocated my shoulder rollerblading and missed 6 days of planting. April just sucked and I wanted to quit the contract badly. Eventually things improved but I never got to the earnings I had in the year before, even though I was more experienced. I've learned to love planting trees though and was willing to do an extended contract in Ft. St. John. so I could make the money I needed to get a snowmobile. Our crew was tight though and I came out with a bunch good stories. Money isn't everything.
After finishing with Dynamic reforestation I managed to tag on two more shifts at the end of the season with another company called Artisan. This camp was in Mackenzie and had some extremely fast and sandy land. I manage to get a personal record with 4320 trees in a day. I was tired but happy and healthy at the end of season.
In another post I'd like to get into treeplanting a bit, because it's almost as much fun as skiing in the sense that you're in the outdoors pushing yourself mentally and physically. I also had to switch phones in the middle of the season and am now missing a bunch of great photos.
My truck was in rough shape for the journey back to Vancouver but with some white knuckle driving, a spare fan belt and luck I made it pack from Prince George in a day. I would've continued planting in Northern Alberta for August but I had a date for shoulder surgery.
Over the years of skiing and abusing my body doing other activities I've dislocated my shoulder somewhere between 20-30 times. This means that it had become unstable and was due to come out increasingly often. I had a Arthroscopic Labrum Repair aka the Bankart Repair. Basically, the cartilage that lines my shoulder socket that had been ripped out after all the dislocations was re attached via anchors buried in the socket. I'm now 14 days out and feeling pretty good. My arm must stay in a sling but at this point have no pain and it's a fight not to use the bad arm. What's most remarkable is that the three entry points are almost completely healed.
So these days I'm not doing a whole lot. I've just started to get out of the routine I had the week after the surgery. I was on painkillers and didn't work on anything, even my progress in the plot of GTA V was negligible. I'm focused again though, and about to finish my season edit.
So that was my summer. Manual labor and surgery, all for skiing though.
Everyone knows summer sucks anyways.
My last post featured a video I made on Feb. 18. My workplace gives me some free lift passes to pass on to friends as a Christmas gift every year, and my friend Tom was living in Whistler with no pass (bad decision making). Tom took the lift ticket but would spend his whole day on the camera. It hadn't snowed in a long time and since then we'd experienced all sorts of thaw/freeze cycles so calling it hardpack was almost an understatement. Regardless, weeks of skiing in these conditions made everyone adapt and ski in different styles and take new lines. Largely a lot of fast skiing and landing in transitions. So it wasn't super conventional and I'm happy with the end project.
It was dry for a while until mid March when Whistler was hit by some snow. By this time people had lost faith in skiing and stashes were left every where, Whistler had been abandoned. I got a few more shots in this period but regrettably didn't get any in the backcountry.
Right at the end of March I went to Kicking Horse for Wrangle the Chute without yet being registered. I literally begged and thanks to the organizers got in the night before. I had an ok qualifier run and ended up sitting in fifth. The finals run ended badly. There was a little drop I chose to hit last minute above my main feature and got stuck in the landing in some heavy snow and skied past my main source of points. Somehow I ended up tenth. There was a good party and my cousin was there randomly so I got over my losing attitude pretty quick.
Also, I met into the TGR crew in Kicking Horse, the conditions weren't ideal for filming in the area so they were skiing the resort. I was trying not to be a fanboy but I probably was. Thanks to Lauren, Connor, George and Camilla for letting me tag along on that trip.
 |
| The location of our first planting camp: Adams Lake |
After kicking horse, I had just one week skiing left before I had to got plant trees. Due to the low snowpack the ground was ready to plant almost a month earlier than normal. We started out around Kamloops. This was my third and toughest season of planting. I was on a contract so hard my average earnings dropped 40% from where I had left off the year before. A week in I dislocated my shoulder rollerblading and missed 6 days of planting. April just sucked and I wanted to quit the contract badly. Eventually things improved but I never got to the earnings I had in the year before, even though I was more experienced. I've learned to love planting trees though and was willing to do an extended contract in Ft. St. John. so I could make the money I needed to get a snowmobile. Our crew was tight though and I came out with a bunch good stories. Money isn't everything.
 |
| Artisan's Mackenzie camp - all wrapped up really |
 |
| Mackenzie BC's main attraction - the worlds biggest log crusher |
 |
| This was one day in the North Adams area near Clearwater BC. We showed up to the super steep block in one of the hardest rainstorms I've ever seen. As you can see below, the day ended well. |
 |
In another post I'd like to get into treeplanting a bit, because it's almost as much fun as skiing in the sense that you're in the outdoors pushing yourself mentally and physically. I also had to switch phones in the middle of the season and am now missing a bunch of great photos.
My truck was in rough shape for the journey back to Vancouver but with some white knuckle driving, a spare fan belt and luck I made it pack from Prince George in a day. I would've continued planting in Northern Alberta for August but I had a date for shoulder surgery.
Over the years of skiing and abusing my body doing other activities I've dislocated my shoulder somewhere between 20-30 times. This means that it had become unstable and was due to come out increasingly often. I had a Arthroscopic Labrum Repair aka the Bankart Repair. Basically, the cartilage that lines my shoulder socket that had been ripped out after all the dislocations was re attached via anchors buried in the socket. I'm now 14 days out and feeling pretty good. My arm must stay in a sling but at this point have no pain and it's a fight not to use the bad arm. What's most remarkable is that the three entry points are almost completely healed.
So these days I'm not doing a whole lot. I've just started to get out of the routine I had the week after the surgery. I was on painkillers and didn't work on anything, even my progress in the plot of GTA V was negligible. I'm focused again though, and about to finish my season edit.
So that was my summer. Manual labor and surgery, all for skiing though.
Everyone knows summer sucks anyways.
Monday, March 2, 2015
SUCH AN ICE DAY
I spent a lot of time searching for the right ice pun for this video. I even watched compilations of Freeze's puns circa Batman & Robin (1997). It's a horrible movie and I didn't get any puns from it. This was all me. Thanks Tom for being the red button pusher and filming with me.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Best big mt. competition run EVER
I haven't written about it much lately, but I ski in big mountain competitions. I haven't done one in two years but I'm pretty set on the Crystal FWQ 4* this March. I had a scary fall at the last competition I entered (maybe the reason it's been a while), however it did offer a moment of glory before that fall. The glory that can come out of Big Mountain competitions brought me to write this post. The first thing I saw on Facebook when I got home from work tonight was Sam Smoothy's run in the Andorra Freeride World Tour yesterday. It was simply amazing, he dove into one of the hairiest lines I've ever seen, in our out of competition. He won that day, though only with a score of 91.25.
A few years ago the judging format in big mountain contests was largely changed. Due to the increasing popularity of freestyle moves, the format changed from style, fluidity, etc all being added or subtracted from the line score, intto the line, style, aggression, etc all being separate categories. I strongly believe a 91.25 is a poor score for the run I saw. Despite this, it may have been as good as possible with the modern format.
Although on a lesser level of competition I once scored a 96.0 with the modern judging format, because my line wasn't my strongest component. I was consistent in all the categories. For me that worked out but now I'm witnessing the greatest big mountain line of all time getting a low 90's and for the first time I'm questioning the new format.
I haven't decided that it's bad, but it's negative aspects are definitely now apparent.
Regardless, Sam Smoothy laid it down and is on my radar. The level of confidence he has in his own skill here is unparallelled.
-Kudos man I hope I meet you someday.
A few years ago the judging format in big mountain contests was largely changed. Due to the increasing popularity of freestyle moves, the format changed from style, fluidity, etc all being added or subtracted from the line score, intto the line, style, aggression, etc all being separate categories. I strongly believe a 91.25 is a poor score for the run I saw. Despite this, it may have been as good as possible with the modern format.
Although on a lesser level of competition I once scored a 96.0 with the modern judging format, because my line wasn't my strongest component. I was consistent in all the categories. For me that worked out but now I'm witnessing the greatest big mountain line of all time getting a low 90's and for the first time I'm questioning the new format.
I haven't decided that it's bad, but it's negative aspects are definitely now apparent.
Regardless, Sam Smoothy laid it down and is on my radar. The level of confidence he has in his own skill here is unparallelled.
-Kudos man I hope I meet you someday.
Monday, February 9, 2015
The Truck
In high school I didn't care for cars. To get around every day I would ride my bike. In a densely populated city like Vancouver cars don't offer a lot of convenience. Because I was passionate about biking, I could get to school in less time than it would take to drive. If I had driven a car with the same style I rode my bike each day, I'd probably be in jail. But as much as bicycles provide freedom, I came to realize cars offered freedom like no other technology does.
Somewhere between youtube, episodes of top gear, and learning stick in my moms hatchback, I started to lust for a car. At age 20 I bought a red Acura Integra, not the best car for a skier, but very fun to drive. I had that car for two years, and it offered some great experiences. In retrospect a Subraru may have been a better choice but I won't dwell there. I all over BC and back, got pretty close to the cars top speed, and almost completely wasted the handbrake drifting in the snow.
I'm a skier though, and I've been chasing owning a snowmobile for a few years. Owning a snowmobile necessitates having a truck. So after two months of planting trees I bought this:
It's a:
'94 Ford F-150
4x4 with a regular cab and an 8 ft box
5 speed manual w/ low range
driven by a 300 cu straight-six
the colour is Calypso Green
and it's awesome.
*disclaimer - personal automobiles are not only largely responsible for climate change, but also a money pit and a large source of stress for any owner.
Somewhere between youtube, episodes of top gear, and learning stick in my moms hatchback, I started to lust for a car. At age 20 I bought a red Acura Integra, not the best car for a skier, but very fun to drive. I had that car for two years, and it offered some great experiences. In retrospect a Subraru may have been a better choice but I won't dwell there. I all over BC and back, got pretty close to the cars top speed, and almost completely wasted the handbrake drifting in the snow.
I'm a skier though, and I've been chasing owning a snowmobile for a few years. Owning a snowmobile necessitates having a truck. So after two months of planting trees I bought this:
It's a:
'94 Ford F-150
4x4 with a regular cab and an 8 ft box
5 speed manual w/ low range
driven by a 300 cu straight-six
the colour is Calypso Green
and it's awesome.
*disclaimer - personal automobiles are not only largely responsible for climate change, but also a money pit and a large source of stress for any owner.
Friday, February 6, 2015
A typical day
A while ago I thought of the idea of doing a POV day in the life video. It's the POV part I have a problem with. Putting an ugly go pro mount on my helmet deters me from making the commitment. I also carry some odd grudge against POV edits, maybe because I want to be filmed so bad. Regardless, that edit is something I'll be trying eventually this season.
Instead, why not write about a day in the life? especially when I've taken the photographs already. Our day in the life starts at 9 AM Wednesday February 4th. It then starts again at 10 AM because I wanted to sleep more. Tired from closing the bar at 1 AM the night before, I cook my typical breakfast while tuning in and out of Bill Burrs Monday Morning Podcast. I'm a sucker for routine, and as a result my daily breakfast varies little: 2 strips of bacon, 2 eggs, a big handful of spinach, ever-changing salsas, and two slices of whole wheat make a healthy and satisfying sandwich. I wash it down with a glass of OJ and some french press coffee and I'm ready to go.... to the washroom. Then that I take my skis and walk to the truck.
If there's any fresh snow I usually get a little sideways on the drive to the hill for fun. My plan for the day was to rock solo and explore the alpine stashes. It hadn't snowed in a few days but the mountain was empty, not a bad thing when you're alone. Crowds make me angry for no reason, but when I'm with a crew the time I'm wasting waiting isn't as noticeable. Highlights of the ski day include a classic washout bail trying to straight line the tight entrance to Cirque, redemption the next run, a few fresh lines, and a chicken chickpea rice bowl.
I've been finishing up with a cold (don't know why I procrastinated) so there's not much to write about from that night. The evening consisted of a stretching session and some pasta that I feel guilty about because it sucked.
Instead, why not write about a day in the life? especially when I've taken the photographs already. Our day in the life starts at 9 AM Wednesday February 4th. It then starts again at 10 AM because I wanted to sleep more. Tired from closing the bar at 1 AM the night before, I cook my typical breakfast while tuning in and out of Bill Burrs Monday Morning Podcast. I'm a sucker for routine, and as a result my daily breakfast varies little: 2 strips of bacon, 2 eggs, a big handful of spinach, ever-changing salsas, and two slices of whole wheat make a healthy and satisfying sandwich. I wash it down with a glass of OJ and some french press coffee and I'm ready to go.... to the washroom. Then that I take my skis and walk to the truck.
 |
| I could tell it was going to be a good day. |
 |
| If you look closely you'll see the the lines. If you don't want to look closely they are the two obvious ones. |
 |
| Where was everybody? I was the first into any of the lines off of little Whistler. I knew I was taking a risk, not just with the chance of popping an avalanche but also the mandatory air in. I think I just answered my own question. |
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Lately:
The last few days have been exciting. Whistlers snowpack constantly provided surprises. With 20 light cm's on top of blue ice, every turn is a gamble. On and off the hill I've had unexpected experiences.
There's a blind jump I hit everyday off of the top of Red Chair. It's in the trees and you can't see the landing until you're well into the air. I mindlessly aired it only to realize an instructor had taken his kids directly under it and I was jumping half his class. After some explaining and apologizing the instructor and me were both more weary. His class of little girls was really stoked.
Then, that night I took up a random doorman shift at the bar where I work. It's not a position I usually do, but they needed someone and I didn't have anything planned. The night went smoothly until the very end when I had to physically break apart a fight between two middle aged brothers. Talk about 0-100. Buddy didn't even thank me for breaking a headlock off of him.
Anyways, two interesting moments in one day. I also ripped the heel piece out of my ski today. That's not really interesting though, just a pain in the ass.
There's a blind jump I hit everyday off of the top of Red Chair. It's in the trees and you can't see the landing until you're well into the air. I mindlessly aired it only to realize an instructor had taken his kids directly under it and I was jumping half his class. After some explaining and apologizing the instructor and me were both more weary. His class of little girls was really stoked.
Then, that night I took up a random doorman shift at the bar where I work. It's not a position I usually do, but they needed someone and I didn't have anything planned. The night went smoothly until the very end when I had to physically break apart a fight between two middle aged brothers. Talk about 0-100. Buddy didn't even thank me for breaking a headlock off of him.
Anyways, two interesting moments in one day. I also ripped the heel piece out of my ski today. That's not really interesting though, just a pain in the ass.
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