BACK

I moved back up to Whistler on the 28th of November. I'd have posted earlier but I wanted to to kick this off with some photos. I'm back skiing everyday now so expect material to start flowing again. Today the focus was definitely on skiing the steep and skinny terrain and getting used to a new pair of skis. I found that a lot more is covered in the alpine than I had thought. It hasn't snowed in a while but the stable and crusty snow served as a good training conditions for comps.  My friend Tyler took some photos on his iphone (thank you Tyler).

back in black on Excitation

Elevator. Barely covered.

Photos - Red Mountain Canadian Open 2010

I came across some photos back from little more than a year ago. Reminiscing like this reminds me of how much I've developed my skiing abilities since then. The learning curve seems to have become exponentially progressive in this last season, I can't wait for the next one. I had my first moment of lust for skiing the other day while walking down a street in Vancouver. It was an epiphany of sorts, I was just suddenly awakened to the idea that "skiing is awesome!". Next year I plan on breaking out of all the conformity that has controlled my freeskiing since I've started watching other people ski. Thinking outside the box isn't that easy. It doesn't happen after one decision, and you suddenly stop skiing like everyone else. Often when people want to "get creative" they model their work after an original artist, despite that this is inherently unoriginal. How does one truly work independently when everything seems to have inspiration? is true originality possible? if not, what are sources of inspiration that can provide unique work in action sports?

Rolling

I've spent a lot of time recently on rollerblades. Getting groovy, trying to think outside the box, and attempting translate some of that originality in my skiing. I found a rollerblading edit that provides a good show to those who don't know much about freestyle rolling.  Lot's of big jumps and stuff.

CJ Wellsmore - Vine St Remix from Dom West on Vimeo.

The Long Way Around

Roughly a year ago when I decided I wanted to commit my life to skiing for at least one season and I had started to tell people about my plans, the typical response was that they thought I would be taking a "year off". In a society that expects all of it's youth to instantly jump into post secondary education after high school, any dreams or aspirations that they might pursue are seen as some type of break from real life. This last year has been more challenging and interesting than any of the other 18 years I've experienced, not to mention I have learned more than I did in any one my 12 years of school. 

The possibilities that lie outside of post secondary education when one is a young adult are endless, however they hold a massive amount of responsibility. It can be very easy to wake up in a room paid for by your parents, and follow instructions and schedules all day. I endured 5 years of high school much like this, and though I accomplished very little regarding grades, all the stresses and challenges that I experienced existed  because I didn't understand myself and how to motivate myself. My self discovery came when I left home, worked my ass off all summer and skied almost every day for six months. It's after this journey that I learned more about myself and how to self motivate. 

This year hasn't been easy. In the last month I've started to question why I'm doing construction labour 10 hours a day and skimping on purchases so that I can save money for next year. I'm wondering why I'm feel anxiety about my health, why I should go to the gym everyday come fall, why I'm paying rent and not just living at home, why I'm constantly buying new skis because the old ones just seem to break. I'm wondering I'm doing this when I could crack open my student savings account, go to University and drink 4 nights a week and still manage to ski once in a while. The reason why is because I'm sticking to my goals. I want to ski all the time, and I want people to witness and enjoy my skiing. Beyond that goal I'm not really sure what I want, maybe I'll stop when I've got some establishment in the ski industry, had some decent film segments, maybe I'll quit once I've been on the national ski cross team and have been in the Olympics. Regardless, I don't plan on ever not skiing and when I do stop it will just mean that I'm not changing the rest of my life to do it so intensely like I am right now.

I feel that I've made a lot of sacrifices this year, and that not having people telling you where to go, and what to do can make life confusing and intimidating. However it's all worth it.

BCSX Red Mountain Ski Cross

A picture of myself that I very much like showed up on BCSX's facebook page. Finally tucking in something of a more pinner fashion. 

Goals

-ski fast
-build jumps 
-ski steeps
-do urban
-learn tricks 
-straight line often 

LATELY: Failed Consistency / My Room

Life has been good during the last little while. At the very beginning of April I went to Lake Louse for the Ski Cross Nationals, I had the pleasure of going against some of the best racers in the world. (Chris Del Bosco, Davey Barr, Dave Duncan, and Brian Bennet).The trip also included a satisfying result, 12th place. Lake Louise also hosted some partying during our presence. After Nationals I stayed in Calgary for a night, meeting up with a good friend and exploring the frigid city. After a couple days of work in Vancouver I found myself back at home. 

The skiing in whistler is excellent right now. I've lost a lot of interest in skiing park. Because of the soft, chalky snow that hung around in the alpine last week I  found myself shredding the steeps and bowls. Since then we've had a couple solid dumps of snow and I've simply been having to much fun using natural terrain to go anywhere near the park.


Today I felt inspired to take some photos of my room. I have gained interest in design lately. My room is fairly small and I've been moving stuff and changing it to make it comfortable and interesting.

I've been looking through a book called "Tokyo - A Certain Style" lately. The book focuses on tiny spaces and how Tokyo locals have coped with lots of stuff and little space. I don't have a lot of stuff, however the style of chaotically stacking stuff that dominates Tokyos apartments appeals to me, largely in my closet space. 

On another note, after seeing a brightly colored group of Japanese snowboarders on the hill today, I want to start a snow sartorialist.