Coming up for Air /// Part I

The act of forgetting is the best part about coming into a new season. You are able to fool yourself into thinking you left off well beyond your reality. Simply allowing fear to leave, instinct to take over, and that all too familiar cycle of ‘turn, turn, slash, drop’ to just fall back into place.

New season, blank canvas. Time to get paintin'

P// Adam Clark

This past season was no different, with La Nina taking all the hype, literature, and speculation surrounding her and simply backhanding it with a non-stop flurry of early, mid, and late season precip.

End of term finals were re-scheduled, papers were postponed, and doctors notes were forged; all in order to match up with the unruly nature of the winter season.

At this point reminiscing is kept strictly to photos, videos, and my own daily comments, which do the job of bringing me back to those moments in the simplest ways.

(DAY 17) Whistler Classic Pow Shred, VD gnar with Miz, Callum, and Nathe. Epic bonzo lap with former crew plus Leboe and Bibby. FUN!

-Exerpt from my Daily Journal

Day after day of hot lapping with friends new and old, quickly melds in my mind with sled missions, and filming sessions.

Dendrite Studios Winter 2011 Storm Season from Whistler Blackcomb on Vimeo.

Dendrite Studios 'Storm Season' edit. What a storm season it was

Before I know it I’m back in Utah and after 24 hours of straight driving, 0 sleep, managed to score 22 inches of fresh pow, and 1 pissed of Mom who realized I’d bypassed saying and hi and giving her a hug, as I raced up to Brighton to meet all the old friends and Surface crew.

The homies, very similar to a bag of skittles about to get dropped

P// Mike Brown

This tree broke three of my ribs two seasons ago, figured I owed it one

P// Mike Brown

A one-week trip home quickly turned into two and a half, as someone left the snow faucet running. Going dawn to dusk everyday, and shooting with the Surface boys and the perpetually stoked Adam Clark for the new catalog. Always some of the funnest days of my season as it’s no different from adventuring out around the local stomping grounds with your best friends.

Surface Catalogue 2011 from Adam Clark on Vimeo.

Surface Catalog Shoot edit, AC is the only person who can shoot a catalog and an edit at the same time

F&E// Adam Clark

Behind the scenes of making photos look extra sexy

P// Mike Schneider

If you want more than one, you've gotta work for it. Or through it

P// Mike Schneider

Going for the tree 'high-five', and feeling the love

P// Adam Clark

Coupled that with some time with on the Sweetgrass program around Alta and Brighton, where the endless young, middle-aged, and young at heart talent seem to be doubling every season I come back. Not to mention seeing those amazing friends you grow up with, start to break out and strive their own creative path wherever it may be. All you can do is toss out a high-five and a ‘hell yeah’ as you watch the potential run wild.

Vibes B (alternativevision) from Shayne Metos on Vimeo.

Grouphome December edit, look out for these boys killing it for some years to come

F&E// Shayne Metos

Onto the next one

P// Adam Clark

And so went the cycle for the first part of my season, running back and forth from Whistler to Utah, time after time, coffee after coffee. Living a double life for that wintery mistress, and loving every minute of it. Getting of taste of victory in my first comp since I was 14. This time in Whistler with Mr. Andrew Strain at the Deep Winter Photo Competition. We ripped, we roared, lughed, froze, and yelled. At the end of it all we walked out with a 3^rd place finish, but more importantly we walked out as a group of friends together. Team Strain. aka Steamtrain!

Team Andrew Strain Deep Winter Wrap Up from Ryan Regehr on Vimeo.

Behind the scenes of Deep Winter with STEAMTRAIN

F&E// Ryan Reger

Homies, lunch in caves, and snowball fights. Best comp ever

P// Andrew Strain

Yeah, pretty stoked, like really pretty uber f'ing stoked!

P// Andrew Strain

But as with all good things, realities of life have to be faced, trial and tribulations dealt with, and rolling with the punches is the name of the game. Now that I look back at it, the act of forgetting is always great, but it’s the act of learning that really defines us.

And the most important thing I learned this season?

“It’s only after everything goes wrong, that the real adventure can begin.”

- Yvon Chouinard

(Continued in Part II)

Coming Up for Air /// Intro

In seed time to learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.

- William Blake

Recalling the winter season has become an annual tradition of sorts amongst nearly everyone I have met who calls this seasonal sport a passion. A time to take those daily recollections amongst friends and strangers alike, and extend them to an entire winter of trials, tribulations, and travesty. To look back with the 20/20 lens of hindsight and remember the fun times, failed attempts, and experiences you never thought would come about in your wildest dreams.

Day 1, stoked

P///Scotty Titterington

So here in a short medley of parts are those moments, remembered, pieced back together, enjoyed, and probably embellished. I make no guarentee that they will reach the present moment before life sweeps me away again, but that just goes with the territory of the vagabond I guess.

Day 100, not much has changed

P/// Self

Some call it a 'best of', others simply say it's gloating, but I'll be honest with myself and call it like I see it. That is, being swept up in everything and everyone that makes each and every Winter so amazing, and only having the rare fleeting moment to slow down and look back when all you really want to do is keep charging forward.

Splash to the Face

Coming into the winter season, nearly everyone who makes the winter months the center of the rest of their year will tell you about the crushing emotions associated with the wait. The anticipation, anxiety, longing, and the endless attempts to ignore the whole thing in hopes that the season will just sneak up on us without realizing it.

The methods of coping are endless and well documented; the urban ice rink lurkers, the weather report addicts, the shred movie groupies, the a lil' too-early grass and rock shredders, and the notorious and often self-deceiving 'I don't care and it will come when it comes' folk.

I've been guilty of all of the above, and I'm sure I'll try a thousand more before my times up.

But once those first sights of snow finally do show up, it's something magical. A little click occurs in the brain and I feel like a different person, a complete person once again.

With that in mind I headed up these past few weeks to enjoy some early season turns outside of Squamish in the Diamond Head area. Dropping freezing levels and optimistic forecast checking prompted myself and a few hungry friends to hike through the mud, rain, and fog in hopes of finding a thin layer of snow to quench our thirst.

Old Skicks, Fresh Look, Fresh Precip

P///Aaron Schwartz

Strapping up and hoping for snow

P///Aaron Schwartz

A few hours, and several ponderings on what the hell we were doing here, we were greeted with the first sights of snow. A vision that was compounded more and more with each step until we arrived at the conclusion that 'holy shit winter is here!'

First steps, looking real artsy

P///Aaron Schwartz

Snow line, slap dem' skins on

P///Aaron Schwartz

Simply seeing those first fresh layers of snow on the ground, gave the feeling of a fresh start and a new year in myself. A new snowfall, you've ridden it before, but never this exact one. Hell maybe even a few of the flakes in this one have already found their way under your skis or into you face during another pow day of a season past. Then traveling the world via jet stream and gulf stream alike, only to make it right back here to play once again.

Jake-Cohn.com getting deep on day one

P///Aaron Schwartz

Shredding was accomplished, slashes were thrown, flips and spins stomped, pillows were popped, leg hair was lost, and blisters were gained. At the end of the day it was the same old fun, as if we'd never left. A quick splash of water to the face to wake us all up and offer a kind reminder of why we keep coming back.

First Backflip of the season!

P///Aaron Schwartz

Colin, already stacking that footy

P///Aaron Schwartz

Stoked, just stoked

P///Aaron Schwartz

Big thanks to Aaron Schwarz for all the photos, fresh doodles on the skis, and good times. I'll miss ya this season homie. This one's for you.

Splash to the Face from Eliel Saarinen on Vimeo.

The Twitching Monkey

If you have a passion in life you know the feeling. If you're also hyper and have way too much energy then you really know the feeling.

That severe emotion that follows not the act of doing, but the act of not doing. That little bit of emptiness and unrest that comes from not being able to partake in whatever true joy you may find in your own life. It's a sensation that leaps and bounds around one's mind, startling in it's power to affect your actions, emotions, and overall view of the world.

For me it comes in the dead of summer, right when everyone is out enjoying the sun and bounding about in summer activities, I find myself with a little reverse seasonal mood disorder. No snow equals no ski, no ski equals way too much unfocused energy and a want for something that I know won't arrive for months and months.

Over the years of I've luckily found a way to mature in my dealings with this by well... being extremely immature. Genius right?

Monkey in action

Monkey reaction

Jumping, playing, climbing, slipping, sliding, flipping, spinning, surfing, skating, and a whole plethora of actions that keep me sane during the summer months. Usually this still translates into a vast excess of energy that keeps those around me either highly entertained or increasingly annoyed.

The 'monkey' as he is referred to by those who hang around with me the most, and getting swept up in any and every moment is what he does best. Whatever the consequence I have a good time letting that inner primate run wild in the summer and no matter the ends it always seems to bring a smile to face and a giggle to my voice.

Monkey see

Monkey do

So here's to you monkey, keeping my summer's sane, and stoke for life alive.

Selkirk Wilderness Catskiing

So maybe I’ve been slacking on the ol’ blog a little bit. My reason? Nothing good really, but I’ve been busier than I ever thought possible during shred season and I couldn’t be happier. I could rattle off the events of the past few months, but that would be no fun, check out the vibrant images, colorful language, and moving pictures below to see what’s been up.

Making sure to spend any free time I have surrounded with awesome people, meet the Cambie House crew

I’ll kick things off with Dendrite’s, and my own, inaugural Cat Skiing trip.

Morning commute

The destination, Selkirk Cat Skiing located deep in the intricate system of dirt covered and furry animal littered heart of BC. Maxim Arsenault and Chris Turpin made up my car and after seven some odd hours of driving, a late night bowling trip to Revelstoke, star gazing inside the wrappers of A&W burgers (seriously try it), and 100k a dirt road driving while trying to heard elk and birds with a truck, we finally found ourselves in Meadow Creek, BC. I’d say look it up but this place is far from easy to find.

Maxim and Turpin checking out other galaxies courtesy of A&W

Every morning I was glued to the cat windows with too much excitement for my own good

I brought all my usual camping supplies and food expecting to get stashed in a side room of some distant log shed, but things panned out a little differently. Instead we were greeted with more delicious meals than I could believe, untracked pow as far as you dare to look, masseuses, yoga sessions, and even 4 o’ clock appetizers. Plush doesn’t even begin to cover it.

A far cry from the standard pasta and oatmeal

But all amenities aside, this place has the goods. We kicked things right off with deep pow, cascading pillow lines, and multi stage goodness.

Turpin and I pretty much played add on with pillow lines all week, crazy results

This trend continued for the next several days, with more stomps than I can even begin to recount. Spins, flips, drops, flaming trees, rope swings, road gaps, explosives, bloody faces, tweaked knees, and Selkirk tea sessions, all came into play but rather than go into too much detail, I’d say just watch the movie. Let’s just say it’s mo’ better than my writing.

Perspectives #9 - Selkirk Wilderness Skiing from Dendrite Studios on Vimeo.

Also for another perspective on the whole trip here's Dendrite's take on the whole experience. dendritestudios.com/2010/04/selkirk-wilderness-skiing/

All said and done now, but I can’t wait to get back up to this spot next season. Big thanks to all the guides putting up with our nonsense, and lodge crew for putting us all up and inflating our bellies well beyond the legal limit. Cheers boys and girls, cheers.

Powder Stoke! Yeah it makes me a bit crazy

Dendriite Studios

Been filming all this season with a truly inspiring and talented group of people. They call themselves Dendrite Studios and simply put, they kill it.

They've been releasing a series of webisodes throughout the season called Perspectives. Call them lil' gems of visual delectibility...with some epic shredding tossed into the mix of course. This is all leading up to their full feature release coming this fall.

Between these shorts, the footy being stacked daily, and the lines I've been fortunate enough to witness in person, I can say with serious confidence that this flick is going to melt some faces, blow some minds, and maybe even ruin some lives. We can only hope.

Anyways without any further adue, here is the most recent clip featuring myself and Chris Turpin. Head over to www.dendritestudios.com to the rest of the optically delicious goodness.

Perspectives #6 - Ten Years from Dendrite Studios on Vimeo.

Riding the Ditch to Fernie

Left Calgary after dark and started trying to get to Fernie as fast as possible for some freshies the next day. All was going well and we were enjoying the moon lit drive, until the road made a right and the truck...well the truck kept growing straight.

We killed a road sign

Two-hundred feet of plate ice, one road sign, and a roadside ditch later and we found ourselves kind of immobile.

Avy shovels, getting it done

The truck was fine and so were all it's inhabitants, so we started laughing, that was until we noticed about four or so crosses and various memorials in our impromptu ditch of death. Strain booked it up the road to try and wave off the flurry of 18-Wheelers barreling down the road and skidding right towards us in the ditch. All the while the rest of the crew was digging the truck out with images of massive semi's tipping over onto us, scary.

Not the friendliest site, in the ditch o' death

Finally the tow truck showed up, then the cops, and after convincing them that we weren't drunk and I wasn't an illegal alien we were on our way.

Getting the tow up and out

Free at last as the cops finally bail

Finally at Rob's place in Fernie at about 4am, going to try and scrape a few short hours of sleep before the resort opens. Peace

Remember, If you can't dodge it, RAM IT!