Getting Stoked

The End

2010-10-17T16:35:00.001+11:00

To finish, a quote from the final entry in my travel journal:

So, this is it. I think this is my last entry. I don't want to end it because the end of this is really and truly the end of the trip.

But, it's time.

This is the end of the best year of my life.

Stu.
August 10 2010

ADVENTURE!!!

Wedgemount Lake

2010-08-05T09:00:00.001+10:00

After a week and a half of going insane trying to sell my van, Deckers said 'Stu, let's go hiking'.. and so we did.

Two days of glacial mayhem, sweat, port, and canned chilli. Mmmm yeah we smelled good.

Anyway, click read more for the story.

I was really excited for this hike, I wanted to do something epic before I left and all the ideas that I had were proving to be impossible to organise on a limited budget and with little time left. This was exactly what I was after.

So Wedgemount Lake is a pretty steep hike up about 900 vertical metres, ending at a glacial lake quite a bit above the treeline. It's quite a bit harder with overnight packs, especially when your pack isn't actually designed for multi-day treks.

The hike starts in the trees like this:

and continues through the treeline to this, with the final leg to the lake up that boulder field:

We toughed it out and hauled butt up to the lake, getting there some time after lunch:

After a long lunch break we decided to continue the adventure (ADVENTURE!!), and under heavy persuasion from Deckers I agreed to attempt to climb the glacier and see what was at the top of the ridge (SPOILER ALERT - more glacier).

Turns out it wasn't the most fantastic idea, with us getting stuck on a rock ledge about 50m short of the ridge for about two hours, having to slide our packs down the glacier and somehow not die on our way down. It's kinda cool though, whenever you fear for your life, when you get out of it alive you feel like you've accomplished something awesome, when, in reality, all you managed to do was survive your own stupidity.

Regardless, we got some cool pics out of it, some scary/fun memories and a good story for the grandkids (I'm of the belief that when travelling any experience is worth it as long as you get a good story for the grandkids).

Other glacier (we hiked up the one opposite this):

The intrepid explorers:

And on the way back to the lake:

Upon returning to the campsite, weary, tired, relieved, scared, hungry etc etc, we called it a day and feasted and feasted and feasted, then drank port and wine and collapsed in front of a very small fire.

Our campsite, bang on the lake, provided some beautiful scenery, especially when the sun set over the mountains:

Day two we woke up early and felt surprisingly sprightly given the pain of the first day, and we decided we were going to conquer a mountain before the morning was out. The mountain was Wedge Mountain, one of the many peaks looming over the lake. The hike itself was hard, well above 2000m so the air was a bit thinner and quite a bit colder, and there was no defined path so a lot of it was scrambling up progressively steeper rock. On the plus side we had no packs, which felt like heaven, so we made it up in a few hours.

Part of the hike up (if you look closely you can see Deckers in the bottom right):

Deckers on the way up:

Deckers at the top:

On top, someone buit an Inukshuk on top of a cornice.., yeah, that's safe:

Glacier!

And finally, a view from the top out across the valley - that's Whistler on the left with all the ski runs, and Blackcomb is the next face closer, but it's kind of facing the wrong way for this pic:

Yosemite

2010-08-04T09:00:00.000+10:00

Yosemite was so rad that it needed a whole special post of its own.

Mark & I had three days of adventure (ADVENTURE!!!) in Yosemite, starting with a wicked (wicked as in awesome and wicked as in WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO MY THIGHS YOU EVIL PIECE OF CRAP) hike to the top of Yosemite Falls and on to North Point, some bouldering action and another sweet hike up Nevada Falls, via Mist Trail, rattlesnakes and bears.

Click read more for the story.

Day one was gruelling, there's no other way to describe it. We drove into Yosemite Valley about 11am and didn't really have any idea what to expect. As you come into the valley, it's like you cross some invisible threshold and enter a world of pure, unedited awesomeness. Everywhere you look could be a postcard, but is usually infinitely cooler than what a photographer could convey. Please take that on board when looking at the pics! We decided to hit the Niagara Falls trail, after a quick Rotunda shot (we both agreed this was in the top five Rotundas we saw in Yosemite Valley):

And this is Yosemite Falls - the second largest waterfall in the world, no less, and our destination for the day was the top of it:

A couple of views along the way -

Half Dome in the distance:

The falls from halfway up:

Even this photo gives me vertigo - this is what it looks like from the top, leaning out over the rail (check out the rainbow):

Ever feel like you're on top of the world?

And the view from North Point:

After that epic hike (think it was somewhere between 6-8 hours but the thighs thought it was closer to 6-8 days) we needed an easier day, so we cruised into the valley and went looking for boulders. Mark found a problem and spent a while on it, I was happy to sit around, take photos and juggle pine cones (turns out they're spiky).

On the last day, we did the Nevada Falls trail and took the long way back, and it was probably an even better hike than Yosemite Falls. Unfortunately, the first part is called the mist trail - where you pretty much get hammered by a waterfall for 10-15 mins, meaning the camera couldn't come with us or it would not still be kicking today.

On the plus side, as we drove towards the valley that morning, we did see a BEAR!:

So that was Yosemite, someone once described it as God's Playground, and I think they were pretty close to correct. I can only think of one or two places I've ever been to that can compete with the beauty, the awe and the blow-your-mind wow factor that Yosemite has. And if that's not enough, there's bears. BEARS!

Mt Doug sunset

2010-08-03T09:43:00.001+10:00

It's been a long time (part 3)

2010-08-03T08:50:00.001+10:00

It was with a weird sense of excitement and relief that I crossed back into Canada. The time in the States was awesome, I had so much fun, but it never really felt like MY country - it always felt like it was a little too different to be normal.

Canada, on the other hand, feels like home, and so it was a sense of homecoming that I crossed the border back to the Great White North.

Click read more to see just how flipping rad Canada is in summer!

Having spent a bunch of time in cities towards the end of the US portion of the trip, I was keen to escape the people and the concrete and get back to nature (not in a nudist sense). Luckily, Canada is pretty well equipped for that, so I headed straight to Kelowna after crossing the border.

Kelowna, ah, umm.. yeah. Beautiful town, has loads going for it, on a magnificent lake, really warm and generally sunny, all this good stuff, buuuuut the hostel was swarming with Australians. That's not a bad thing in itself, but it was the kind of Australian you're like 'man, how did you get through customs?'. The permanently drunk, talking up the accent to sound cool, generally dickhead-like type of Aussie who sometimes decides to travel.

Regardless, Kelowna was fun, and although I only took one photo from my week there, I liked it (especially the bagpiper):

From there it was a quick stop in Revvie, back to our old stomping grounds, and some serious nostaglia as I went back to our old house and all the places we used to hang out.

Barry Rd:

The ski hill in summer:

After Revvie it was time to cross into Alberta to what is pretty much the hub of awesomeness in the world, the Banff/Lake Louise area. I said earlier that Yosemite had few equals in the world, this area is definitely one of them. I don't really have the words to describe how amazing the hiking is in the Banff National Park, except that it can and will change your life, but where words fail me (lucky I'm not in the communications business) pictures will do the job.

First, Lake Louise:

And again from along the Plain of Six Glaciers hike, with the ski hill in the background:

And gratiutous self-takey with a bit of a glacier (top right) and mountain and stuff in the background:

Aaaand a marmot:

What the pictures don't really convey is this remarkable turquoise colour that the lake has. The higher up you get above the lake the more the turquoise shines through - apparently it has to do with the rock the glacier scrapes off as it shifts, and the tiny rock particles are carried in the glacier rivers into the lake. It's science and stuff.

Anyway after Lake Louise I headed to Banff, and met Julia who became my hiking buddy and recipient of many anti-German jokes (I still wasn't over the World Cup thing).

I hiked Johnson Canyon by myself, then headed up Sulphur Mountain with Julia later in the afternoon.

The Canyon:

Waterfall in the Canyon:

Julia & me at the bottom of Sulphur Mountain (little did we know what a slog it would be to the top):

Success! Probably 99.9% of the people at the top had taken the Gondola up - the lazy buggers carried Starbucks up and were wearing thongs. They didn't appreciate it the same way we did..!

And the view from the top out across Banff:

And a squirrel chilling out on top of the world:

Fast forward a day and we went to Moraine Lake, just near Lake Louise, and we agreed by mutual vote that Moraine Lake is even cooler than Lake Louise, despite being the far less famous of the two:

We hiked from there to Eiffel Lake, which was awesome because we had it to ourselves, and, well, see for yourself how beautiful it is:

Oh and it turns out marmots like to do this in the snow:

Breather. Fewf. Cool, so after all this we decided to drive up to Jasper for a couple of days, see the sights and drive the fabled Icefields Parkway. It's called the Best Drive in the World or some other similar marketing slogan, and it's pretty flipping radical. I don't know how many drives you've been on with glaciers oozing down the sides of mountains, but I personally hadn't done many.

Anyway, the Icefields Parkway:

Athabasca glacier:

Bear!:

So, Jasper. Um, it was cold. We couldn't do much because it was raining and miserable, so we stayed a couple of days, walked around a bit, camped, went to a (very cool) wilderness hostel, and left. On the way back we began a hike to Nigel's Pass, got about 500m in and found some lovely, fresh bear poo, also known as a DON'T GO THIS WAY sign:

Fast forward a bit, stayed at a really cool hostel near Salmon Arm (on the way to Vancouver) on Shuswap Lake, the rooms were in train carriages, the hostel had free canoes to use, aaand best of all there were pet llamas. Yes, you read that correctly, llamas:

Hostel rooms:

Sunset over Shuswap Lake:

And a wee bit more fast-forwarding, I arrived in Vancouver and went to stay with Deckers, who promptly took me up the Grouse Grind. The Grind is a not-for-the-faint-of-heart type thing, also known as the Stairmaster From Hell, or Nature's Stairmaster, whatever you prefer, which is a hike up a ski hill (Grouse Mountain). It's hard, sweaty, unrelenting to the point that it actually gets steeper the further in you go, which is delightful.

Halfway point (as noted by the halfway sign.. duh):

Success in 51 minutes:

The view from the top:

And that is pretty much stumps on the wrap-up, covering nearly three months in three posts. Whoa. It's been an epic, epic journey, there's been so many amazing people, so many amazing places, and so many awesome memories. As I write this there's about six days left on the trip, it's scary to be heading home so soon, but no doubt it'll be another awesome adventure.

Keep an eye on the blog over the next week, there's a bunch of things I have coming to wrap it all up!

It's been a long time (part 2)

2010-08-02T16:00:00.004+10:00

The recap continues!

From here we head back to San Fran and Santa Cruz, to Yosemite, and then up north through the States to Canada again.

Click read more to come along for the ride and experience my awesome ability to fit over a month of adventure into about two minutes of reading time!

So Mark arrived amid much fanfare (there was an airport arrival sign and a disco ball man made purely for the occasion), we hung out in Sacramento for a couple of days then hit the road to San Fran.

San Fran mk. 2 turned out to be as wicked as the first time, with early highlights including a pub crawl with a free bar (ouch) and then $1 drinks for the rest of the night (ouuuch), and a wicked bike ride across the Golden Gate:

Mark cruising:

The gang in front of the Golden Gate:

The Golden Gate:

From the outside:

Don't jump!

After that, Mal arrived from San Fran and pretty much rocked the hell out of our trip, getting us into Flight of the Conchords for free at Berkeley. I should point out at this stage that Mark did spot Bret on the street in SF the day before, and then thought he also spotted David Bowie a minute or two later, before realising that the guy didn't actually look much like David Bowie at all.

Check out Jermaine's wings:

Oh and yes, Arj Barker did come on for a 20 sec solo rap and then left the stage, never to be seen again. Awesome.

After the Disco we went to Santa Cruz to stay with Mal's friend Rachel, and I have no pics. I should point out here that I got pretty lazy with the camera. SC round two was awesome in so many ways, we played Bocce at a bar, hung out on a dog beach where I saw the coolest dog in the universe, Mark & I had some serious Street Fighter showdowns on a 25c machine, and we soaked up the Bro culture of the Cruz for four or five days.

On the last day there Mark & I went up to the uni campus, searching for the fabled Tree 9 - a magical tree that is perfectly designed to be climbed, with big branches spreading out all the way to the top. Turns out that so many people have climbed it that all the branches are smooth, and the top is a REALLY long way up. Regardless, with some trepidation (moreso from Stu than Mark) we climbed the tree, clinging for life to each branch.

Here is the tree (it looks so small in photos!):

Once Santa Cruz was done, we hit the road for Yosemite, which I dedicated a post to because it was too awesome to summarise quickly!

Next stop from there was in Northern California, we headed to the Redwoods after hearing a rumour Forest Moon of Endor scenes from Return of the Jedi were filmed there.. You know, with the Ewoks:

Aaaand I think we were right. Check out Mark on his speeder:

In related news, we camped on the beach and a woke up to an Elk chilling near our campfire:

We found a Crows beanie and a banana slug - fun rumour about banana slugs, apparently if you lick them your tongue goes numb, but you may also contract hepatitis. So you've really got to weigh up how badly you want a numb tongue..

And we also went to a place called Fern Canyon, which is a Canyon covered in ferns. Oh and apparently part of Jurassic Park 2 was filmed here, but it was a crap movie so who cares..

Aaaand from here there's pretty much a time-warp. We crossed the border into Oregon and took a grand total of zero photos while we were there, but Portland in particular was awesome. Eguene was memorable for our first (and last) Taco Bell experience and the fact that we climbed through a moving train, but Portland was where the fun was to be had.

Our most awesome Couchsurfing host Sarah made sure we had a rad time, always coming up with fun things to do (many of which involved beer or vodka slurpees), and we spent much of the time there watching World Cup games, crying after the dirty Germans pumped Australia.

Fast forward, Mark went to NY, I went to visit Jesse in the yurt for a few days and continued on my merry way towards Seattle, stopping by Mt St Helens on the way.

For those who were alive in 1980 (I'm talking to you, people over 30), you may remember a giant volcano that went crazy in Washington and killed a bunch of people and did its best to destroy itself. Fast forward 30 years and it's freakin amazing, this enormous volcano looms out across Washington, in all its snow-capped, half-destroyed glory.

And then Seattle. Mark came back for four days of glory, we played lots of Jenga, we both fell in love with the supermarket girl, and we learned about tennis from a 1960s book:

Seattle is wicked, there's stuff going on everywhere, including stoners trying (in vain) to get weed legalised:

There's penises with moustaches:

And sometimes the little guys get a victory:

And Seattle, the home of grunge, was Kurt Kobain's home. Despite it being 17 odd years since he killed himself, well, he's as popular as ever. So the Seattle Art Museum decided to put on a display about him, which, as Nirvana fans (like uh.. everyone) we decided to go check out:

Now I don't claim to know a great deal about Kurt Kobain personally, but walking into a wanky art gallery, where all the walls are white and they play elevator music and fat rich people walk around saying 'oooh' and 'aaaah' all day, I couldn't help but think if Kurt was alive and he saw the display about him, he'd take a guitar and smash the shit out of it. It was so against everything he represented - it was neat, clean, ordered, sophisticated and stuck up (like most galleries), it was - I thought - a really shit way to use his image.

Anyways, this post is really long and as Seattle was the last stop on my US adventure, I'll end it here and look out for part 3, which - if I may say so - has some of the most mind-blowing pictures in the world. And that's no props to the photographer (me!), the scenery is just so awe-inspiring that as long as you have the lens cap off it's pretty much impossible to take a bad shot.

It's been a long time (part 1)

2010-08-02T10:46:00.007+10:00

Whoa heeeey time flies! Getting Stoked has been MIA for two and a half months! You know the saying.. Time flies, and all that.

So, as my epic voyage comes to a close, it's time for a quick recap of all that's happened since the last post.

Click read more for it.

So, jumping back in time, mid-May was the time of Team Awesome:

(L-R) Fil, Eva, Stu, Cal, Tom, Kristen, TJ, Lucy, John.

The crew began before San Fran but was whittled down to Stu, Cal, Tom and Fil by the time we hit the Fog City, leading into a week or so of fantastic adventure. Team Awesome was known for its insanely competitive beach volleyball games in Santa Cruz:

The Winnie:

The black and white attack of the balloon lady:

Fil's fake glasses, nicknames (Sven, Jonas come to mind) and some very awesome ladies:

..

And then, as quickly as it started, Team Awesome ended when everyone (except me!) went home. As is the thing with travelling though, as soon as one chapter ends another opens. The chapter immediately following Team Awesome was the incredibly outrageous Bay To Breakers festival in San Fran.
Apologies to those who have seen the photos, I'll only post a ton.
Basically, Bay To Breakers is an excuse for San Fran to take its reputation for colour and enhance the crap out of it, everyone dresses up and gets really drunk and walks around the city, vaguely following a path laid out which some daring creatures run. Everyone else does it in costume or naked, sometimes starting with one and working towards the other.

Fireman Brendan and the gang:

Kira steam-rolling a horny couple

Mario and Luigi's beer bong:

My kidnappers (hey don't look too enthusiastic girl on the left):

Aaaand a very angry Bride-man:

After Bay To Breakers, it was up to Sacramento to hang with the Coachella gang and two of the biggest legends in the universe, Kari & Mal. It was a few days of sunshine, parties (some featuring up to five live bands), and radical food.

Kari:

Mal (and Mark):

This seems like a good point to split this post into a second one, because it was about here that Mark arrived, and, well, mayhem. Look out for part 2!

Swan Lake

2010-05-16T05:05:00.003+10:00

** Pretty sure it's not a swan, given it a) does not look like a swan and b) does look like a goose.

Nature's evil side

2010-04-28T05:57:00.004+10:00

This post's all about how mother nature wants to kill you. And me. She's got it in for humans, particularly Californians, and she's got some pretty sneaky weapons to get us with.

I can't really think of a better preamble to this post than that, so click read more, spare me the pain of using my brain.

I went for a quick hike up a hill called Bishop's Peak in San Luis Obispo, a college town halfway between LA and San Francisco, and stumbled across some of the evils that California's wilderness has to offer.

First and foremost, the ever-dreaded poison oak:

'Oh wow, what a harmless looking plant' I hear you say. Until you touch it. And you get itchy and rashy and horrendously uncomfortable for a week.

My favourite description of it so far goes to Kari, who said: 'I pity the unsuspecting couple who decides to get frisky in the bushes...ouch.'

Anyway, I walked to the top of Bishop Peak, yeah yeah, here's proof - only an unfit man at the top of a steep hill can produce that much sweat:

And on the way down, I saw this bad boy:

I, not knowing what sort of snake it was, froze, stepped back a metre or two and whipped out the camera. Obviously the safe reaction. But the awesome thing about the US is unlike Australia, most of the snakes here can't kill you, they just scare you then slither off to wait in surprise for the next unsuspecting human.

It was my second snake sighting in as many hikes, and from what the wise world of Google tells me, I saw a Gopher snake, which seems to be pretty harmless and dull. Still, awesome. I love snakes.

Oh, did I mention the mountain lions, rattlesnakes (those ones will hurt you), coyotes, gun-toting rednecks (yes you can buy guns from Walmart) and a variety of other crazy things? Cactus, anyone? Those things are made to hurt people. Big-horned mountain sheep? What the hell? Why do sheep need big horns?

Flying Solo

2010-04-27T15:01:00.003+10:00

I've been travelling alone for a bit over two weeks now and although it's not that long, I've been driving a looooooooot and had plenty of time to contemplate life, the universe and everything (thanks for the line Mr Adams), and I wanted to write a bit about travelling solo.

At first I was nervous, it's kinda scary to head out on your own to a place where you don't know anyone and have no plans, but at the same time it's really good because it puts you in a position where you're forced to meet new people and make friends.

The second part to it is Couchsurfing, a website that has changed the way I travel and has made this trip, and my life, so much better.

I don't want to clog up the home page so click read more if you're interested, if not, then, well, that's okay... I guess. Enter sad smiley =(

I guess for most people hitting the road by themselves, they camp and they stay at hostels, both of which are good ways to meet people and find entertainment. I've certainly done both and I think they both have a place on any road trip. Hostels are a great place to recover from whatever it is you've been doing, whether it's party at a music festival, hit the town with new friends or hike or camp or whatever, you know what to expect - a bed, a shower and a kitchen, the luxuries of home.

Camping is another cup of tea, you get to see more of the country-side and for the most part you meet fascinating people: the mountain-folk who run the sites, the retired Navy seal and his wife who are touring in their RV, the research scientists who headed out from the city because they wanted to give camping a shot. And it's fun, people come and go and you make new friends every day.

But for me, Couchsurfing is the centre of it all, it's the meat of the travel sandwich. You get to become a part of a person's life for however long you stay with them, and you get to see the city through their eyes. Their friends become your friends while it's not permanent - you'll move on, like any good traveller does - the best hosts stay with you, and leave you with a memorable experience of that place. Then there's the fact that it's free accommodation too, and that never hurts.

For a person travelling solo there's nothing better than coming to a place, making a whole new group of friends and feeling a part of something, it's what makes travelling so great.

Maybe the best thing about it though is that people are so giving, whether it's buying you dinner, giving you a hat or taking time out of their day to show you around, they always want you to leave with a positive experience of their city.

Travelling alone can be hard, there are always nights where you're by yourself, feeling lonely and alone in a foreign place, but at the same time you learn to be comfortable being alone and - to use a really poor figure of speech - to enjoy your own company.

I've found that whenever I explain to people what I'm doing - a three month road trip up the west coast - they want to help me along, give me tips and in a way share my adventure. That positivity, the generous and giving spirit that I've found all along the way so far, is something I never expected to find in the U.S and it's blown my mind.

Life is good kiddies, life is good.

Coachella

2010-04-20T12:14:00.004+10:00

You can pretty much throw the thesaurus at Coachella.

Massive. Enormous. Awesome. Timeless. Insane. Excessive.

Okay so I planned for that to spell Meatie. I don't know why, I was bored.

Click read more, there'll be text and pictures and things..

Coachella, for those not in the know, is a big music festival in the middle of the desert, about three hours east of LA. It's awesome for a number of reasons, but partially because of the number of people who migrate south for the festival, escaping a long winter and showing their pasty bodies off in the burning heat.

Coachella is this amazing place. You're in the desert, watching these amazing artists, surrounded by people just everywhere, swarming like locusts, at this place that is ringed by snow-capped mountains. Then you look up, there's a mile-long chain of helium balloons, planes flying ads across the sky, circus acts, water stages, a fire spiral, a roller-skating rink, bike-taxis cruising around, marshalls on horseback, just everything you can imagine.

Oh and there were these amazing art installations all around, including these walls where anyone could add their graffiti to it:

And this thing. I don't know what it is but it glows blue at night, and I saw a dude lying underneath it for a good 20 mins, smiling his brains out the whole time.. Mushrooms much?

To compare Coachella to an Australian festival would be unfair because it's on a different scale entirely, but think (Falls + Pyramid + Splendour) x5. I.E biiiiiiig.

I met up with a bunch of kids in Sacramento and we made the epic journey south on Thursday, which took about 14 hours door-to-campsite, and then the beers began.

Before the festival rundown, I should add that one of the coolest things about the festival was being adopted into the Sacramento family-gang-hybrid-thing, who were so awesome letting me stay with them and being legends and cooking me food and stuff.

The gang:

(L-R) Kevin, Jenna, Stu, Kari, Jalal, Brendan, Omar.

We woke up in the morning sweating our various parts off, revelling in the burning heat (low 30s.. shut up) of the desert sun - a nice contrast after being in -22 at the top of the hill at Revelstoke six days earlier.

You'll notice I don't have lots of pics to accompany this post - that's because I'm lazy.

Here's the lineup by the way:

So Friday was only a half day in the music sense, and a half day bumming around..

Highs: Vampire Weekend, She & Him (damn she's awesome)

Lows: Dun dun dun dunnnn... Jay Z. Was expecting an epic show from him, but after a bit his voice was too much to handle, so we left. Apparently Beyonce came on for a guest spot later, but too little too late.

Saturday was what I was thinking would be THE day - the lineup looked fantastic, and it was. Same deal as earlier, smoking hot, shade = awesome, the water spray stage = even better.

Highs: Muse - I had big expectations for Muse, they've got that BIG sound that I thought would just go nuts, and they did. Lasers, light show, smoke machines.. and just big music. So cool.

Faith No More - Man for an older band they knew how to rock a younger audience, was so cool with all those songs you have heard for years but never really put a face to.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes - their music was just perfect for the day.. so folky!

Temper Trap - 'This one's for the Australians in the crowd' 'woooooooooooooo'

Lows: MGMT - maybe I wasn't close enough or something, but they played a whole bunch of new stuff and mixed some old stuff in, just didn't get into it.

Sunday.. Holy crap, Sunday already? That was my waking thought anyway. Time flies. Sunday was the best day, hands down. The bands were so incredible, Kari & Stu's gourmet breakfast was almost as good, everything was wicked.

Highs: THOM FREAKIN YORKE - damn, he was amazing. Played almost all of Eraser, then a few solo acoustic songs, then the band (with Flea, i might add) came back on and they killed it with new stuff and some Radiohead songs too. Man.. mind-blowing stuff.

Jonsi - the dude from Sigur Ros. I knew the Sigur Ros style of music but had never heard his stuff. Oh man, he gave the whole crowd goosebumps. The amazing headdress didn't hurt either.

Phoenix - Who couldn't like these guys? Their lights guy couldn't fly out of Europe so they played pretty much the whole set without a light show, which at sunset was an awesome turn of events, and the whole crowd was into it, so good.

The Middle East - first band of the day, amazing and Aussies to boot. I now have a highly developed crush on the girl in the band.

Florence and the Machine - I only caught her last two songs but she turned Rabbit Heart into a 10-15 minute wig out on stage and it was truly something that had to be seen to be believed. She was epic, wish I'd seen the whole set.

Lows: That it was the last day of the festival.

Stu's Musical Top Five (with number one being the most radical of radical):

5. Phoenix
4. Muse
3. The Middle East
2. Jonsi
1. Thom Yorke

Ahh yeah, so not many pics. Here's a few for kicks though, I took a couple of sunset shots:

Barry

2010-04-16T06:00:00.000+10:00

Named after the great Barry Rd Massive, Ronnie's successor, Barry, is here to say hello.

1997 is a great vintage for the Plymouth Voyager, with subtle, fruity aromas often leaving the owner confused as to where the apple might have rolled to, and the unusually springy suspension rendering anyone who spends too long driving feeling rather intoxicated.

Like any good bottle of wine, Barry is awesome.

** I really couldn't come up with any wine/car jokes.. I shouldn't have tried to begin with.

The Map

2010-04-14T16:35:00.004+10:00

Here's a map of the Great American Road Trip, as it stands so far. I'll update this each time I write new blogs, so those fanatics and/or stalkers out there can keep track of my every move.

Yay for you!

View Stu's Great American Road Trip in a larger map

** You can also come back to it at any time via the link at the top of the blog.. Everybody likes easy access.

Road Trip: Pacific North West part 1

2010-04-14T14:46:00.003+10:00

The Great American Road Trip is finally underway, starting off with a whirlwind trip from Vancouver down to Indio, California, via Seattle, Portland, Mosier, Ashland and Sacramento, among others.

There'll be a map to explain, fear not.

There's also pictures and crap, click read more to see them.

The Great American Road Trip began in earnest with a quick drive from Vancouver to the border, where I was greeted by the ever-friendly (can you taste the sarcasm?) US Customs Officials. After being called an illegal immigrant, shouted at, scared into submission and other related fun activities for 2.5 hrs I somehow managed to scrape through the border, getting my first taste of US air in a good five months.
I also got to enjoy the delightfully cheap petrol (gas) rates in the U.S, something that almost - but not quite - made the border journey worthwhile.

I eventually found a hostel to stay at in Seattle that night after arguing with the maze of one-way streets and the sheer impossibility of parking there on a Saturday night (think trying to score a park on Chapel St on Saturday night). The next day I had to hit the road to Portland, but swung by the seemingly world-renowned Pike Place Market before I left Seattle, expecting to be awed and wowed by North America's 'greatest' market.

Man that sounded sarcastic. It wasn't an awesome market. I think the most popular and famous thing is the fish stall - anyone who has worked at Myer, DJs, Subway or any retail/hosp. industry job will know the training video where the guys throw the fish to the customers and are generally loud and entertaining.

Oh and Pike Place is home to the world's first Starbucks (I didn't care either), which importantly has the world's worst busker (and I'm aware that there's a lot a candidates for that title), who happens to rock a very cool hat.

From Seattle it was down to Portland, Oregon, where the camera remained shut in the car the entire time - which was barely 24 hours - I was there. But Portland was awesome, I couchsurfed with the very cool Sara, we pubbed, failed dismally at board games and came up with the list of Great American Cliches to tick off during the trip, some of which I have already nailed:
* see obese woman yell at McDonalds server
* see cowboy wearing cowboy hat (scored a bonus point cos he was riding a quad)
* French toast for breakfast
* Be confused with a Canadian, then be told all Commonwealth people are the same

After Portland I hauled butt East to visit Jesse and his cousin Arlene in Mosier, which is about 100k east of Portland on the Columbia River. It was an amazing drive, through rainforests with waterfalls and stuff going on everywhere. Have some pictures:

AHH IT'S HIDEOUS:

The view from the lookout down the Columbia River:

Latourell Falls (there's two parts, one takes a bit of hiking to get to):

It was about a 20min walk to get to the second falls, and there was plenty of stuff to waste camera battery on along the way. Namely, tree:

Stream #1:

aaand Stream #2:

Finally, Arlene's place. It was awesome, she had her property split in two by the road, so her house was on the high part of the hill and she had a yurt on the lower half, a block which has a creek running through it and looks out towards the amazingly awesome Columbia River.

Also got to catch up with Jesse which was sweet, reminiscing about the good ol' days at Barry Rd Massive (a name which he coined, I might add).

Yurt:

Boys inside yurt:

Tree outside yurt:

Yurt.

Revel-henge

2010-04-06T07:47:00.001+10:00

How to save the world, Canada edition:

2010-03-29T06:00:00.000+11:00

A ferry good time

2010-03-24T06:22:00.000+11:00

Sorry about the title. That's horrible. Even I cringed and I wrote it.

For those without a mental map of Western Canada (i.e most of the Southern Hemisphere and most Americans), just off the coast of Vancouver is a big-arsed island, creatively named Vancouver Island. On Vancouver island lies the capital of BC, Victoria (oh wow, that's original). To get between the cities you need to get a ferry, and not some pansy Sydney ferry, I'm talking baby cruise ship size.

Anyway, it's an hour and a half from Vancouver Island to the mainland and the ferry winds its way through the Gulf Islands to get there, giving stoked first-time passengers (like myself) ample opportunity to waste camera batteries.

Mine are rechargeable, so ner.

Click read more to see some pics.

These things take like 250 cars and a buttload of passengers, so loading is quite an experience. It looks something like this:

Rival ferry at the dock (ours was bigger, not that I was comparing size or anything. But it was bigger. Much. And more impressive. Ladies...)

Oooh how'd that get in there?

Apparently they don't race ferries, which is good, because we'd be losing in this pic.. and it'd be a pretty crap spectator sport:

One from the 'sun deck'..:

Aaaand finally, somewhere between the islands:

A jolly stroll through Stanley Park

2010-03-21T06:33:00.002+11:00

On a balmy (well, balmy for Canada in March), sunny day in Vancouver, Stu avoided the assortment of homeless dudes, religious zealots and the cheap pizza temptation trap, and headed out to Stanley Park to get some forest fun in the midst of the big city.

Click read more for some pics and stuff.

Stanley Park is this awesome natural escape from the big city vibe of Vancouver, wedged at the top of Downtown, separated from North Vancouver via some body of water (it probably has a name, but I'm too lazy to Google it). The park has it all, big lakes, rainforest, open beaches and some sweet views of snow-capped mountains across the North Shore. You can walk, bike, or - awesomely - rollerblade around, or if you're an idiot you can get a tour bus through and miss all the cool stuff, but not burn any energy on the way (The Fatty Express).

With no other way to present the photos, they're on here in a vague order in which I took them.

First stop was at the Lost Lagoon, at the bottom of Stanley Park and the first thing you see as you cross the void between city and park. It's not actually a void in a Bill-and-Ted-in-the-phone-box sort of way, which is a shame because that would be cool.

Anyway, the Lost Lagoon:

And the customary self-takey:

Before we continue, a word of warning: there will be more self-takeys. I make no apologies, it's really an opportunity to show off my mad crocheting skills - check out that beanie.

Next stop was some birds.. Umm, there's not much else to say about them. They were birds:

Then a weird, mangled tree stump:

I saw the horse and cart cruising around (another means of transport for Those Who Are Too Lazy To Walk) and had a very unco moment trying to get the camera out before it (the horse and cart, not the camera) disappeared, then get it on black and white, work some settings magic and snap away. Sort of successful:

Surprisingly Vancouver (and Vancouver Island, for that matter) has a lot of cherry blossoms. Not a tree I would associate with Canada, but I'm no horticulturist (thank you spell check).

From there it was a trek around past the aquarium, the kiddie rail, through some rose gardens littered with couples doing.. couply things..

Self-takey in rose garden (and yes, I am aware those are cherry blossoms, not roses):

.. and to Beaver Lake. Canadians seem to like the name, there's a Beaver Lake in Montreal as well, but that one is probably still frozen. If this lake froze there'd be lots of angry ducks, and having owned ducks previously, I know you don't want to piss them off. They get nasty.

Beaver Lake with sentry duck keeping an eye out for trouble-makers:

Annoying give-me-some-of-your-cheese-and-bacon-roll-or-I-won't-go-away duck:

After the duel with the ducks (two dead, no human casualties), It was up to Prospect Point on the northern point of the island. It's a really cool spot with views out across the north shore with the mountains in the background, the ocean out to the west and more water to the east. Oh, and this tree:

Bridge out to the North Shore/failed attempt at time lapse photography (it was way too bright to do it, obviously...):

Then it was out along the west coast of the park, down to third beach, where I turned to the self-timer to get a ponderous pose:

The final stretch of the day was back through some rainforest to get back to Lost Lagoon, then back to the city and hostel goodness. On the map it had 'Big Trees' marked, this being one of them (suffice to say, it was big):

Bam. Done. Stanley Park is awesome. Next time I'm rollerblading.

Paul

2010-03-21T06:20:00.001+11:00

For those who've followed this blog since rockclimbing days back at Arapiles in Victoria, Australia, you may remember hearing about Paul Bailey, a friend of ours who had a serious fall.

Five months on and he's still doing it tough, but I believe he's finally made it back home to the U.S where he will continue his recovery.

Recently a journalist in the States recently did a story on him, which is well worth a read.

His family has also set up a blog following the accident.

All the best dude.

Why I hate snowboarding

2010-03-10T07:04:00.005+11:00

This blog has been overwhelmingly pro-snowboarding since its inception, with colourful pics and happy stories that paint a picture that snowboarding is a good, fun, awesome sport.

Lies. All lies.

Click read more for an enthralling journey on Why I Hate Snowboarding.

As you may have heard, I busted my knee on the hill a couple of weeks ago and have been stuck at home ever since.

The beautiful thing about people is that whenever something goes wrong, we always look for a scapegoat to blame - 'Oh no I've got cancer from smoking, lets blame the evil Tobacco companies not me for being a moron'. As a result of this, I'm laying the blame firmly on snowboarding - and not me for pursuing the sport - for leaving me stuck at home and bored shitless.

Without further ado, Why I Hate Snowboarding, presented in annoyingly formal numerical format:

1. It sucks you in with promises of high speeds, cool tricks and fresh, limitless, untracked pow, then often fails to deliver.

2. It makes you quit your job, fly halfway around the world, gives you two months of awesome, amazing snow, building up your expectations so that whenever it's not a powder day you're annoyed.

3. It helps you meet awesome people who are also oblivious to the web that snowboarding is weaving around them, more future victims of its evil plans.

4. It gives you the best times of your life, moments you'll never forget, only because it knows how jealous you'll be looking back on those times when you can't have them any more.

5. Because every day on the hill is awesome, and when you're stuck at home with a shit knee while everyone else is having a wicked time, it sucks. It really, really sucks.

I love snowboarding...

Will they, won't they #5

2010-03-04T08:00:00.000+11:00

Will they make it? Won't they make it?

Dave with a cab 3:

Click read more to find out!

A cracking read

2010-02-28T07:38:00.000+11:00

I've been reading a lot of travel writing on the net lately, and I've found some gems among the epic pile of crap that gets passed off as journalism.

Here's a link to one of my favourites, just a excerpt from a piece in Men's Journal about skiing the highest peak in Death Valley, CA, and I believe (but could well be wrong) the highest peak in the States.

Anyway, here's the link, have a read if you've got some spare time, and let me know what you think.

Sun and Air

2010-02-25T06:00:00.000+11:00

Dave with a Method.

Beer Air

2010-02-23T08:00:00.000+11:00

Forget spins, forget grabs, all the kids are doing Beer Airs now, as coined by Stu:

Earning your turns

2010-02-21T03:00:00.001+11:00

Slackcountry - Using resort lifts to reach a backcountry area - i.e hiking to an area outside the ski boundary from the top of the resort's lifts. As opposed to Backcountry where altitude gain is done entirely by foot and is not within a resort boundary.

As I write this, Revelstoke's out of bounds victim tally stands as follows:

* Two dead
* 13 nights spent outside
* 12 helicopter rescues

It's a haunting reminder of how easily things can go wrong outside the ski boundary, when people head out unprepared, without the right gear, or in stupid conditions.
It also weighs on your mind when you duck the rope for a hike out of bounds, even if it's just outside the controlled area.

Click read more for my perspective on hiking out of bounds.

One of our regular places to hike is up to the Mt MacKenzie summit, just outside the resort boundary. To get there, you have to endure a 10-15 min slog up to the sub-peak, then haul butt for 25 mins or so out along a ridgeline before another slog up to the top of MacKenzie. All up the walk is anywhere from 45 mins to an hour, depending on speed and visibility.
MacKenzie itself is outside the avalanche-controlled terrain, but gets a hammering from skiers because it's close enough to walk to and you can hook back to the gondola easily, meaning you don't have to hike out.

Despite the traffic, it's still uncontrolled terrain on a steep face, which, if nothing else, sews seeds of doubt in my mind whenever I hike out there.

When was the last fall? What did the avalanche report say? Why don't I have a beacon?

Hiking to the top of the sub-peak is one thing, you are still within the resort boundary and know that the only thing you have to worry about is riding down safely, navigating the gnarly chutes, comfortable in the knowledge that the snowpack isn't going to slide out from under you. But as you hike out to MacKenzie, with the eerie silence that comes from such an isolated place, you have plenty of time alone with your thoughts for the doubts to creep in.

Looking out along the ridge towards Mt MacKenzie

When was the last fall? What did the avalanche report say? Why don't I have a beacon? Oh that's right, I can't afford one...

You arrive at the base of MacKenzie, wondering if it'd be better and safer to drop in where you are. But the best lines are taken, and as you look up to the peak you spot your perfect run, wide, open, untouched powder, and the doubts you have slide to the back of the mind.

As you hike up towards the summit you're working hard, but still conscious of the snowpack - how is the snow responding to your foot? Does it look stable? You try and draw on the things you've heard about snow safety, but without proper training it seems like a silly risk to be taking.

You make it to the top, breathe heavily and soak in the views. There's only one way down now, so you might as well make the most of it. As you strap in you make a decision: 'I'll just boot it and hope for the best'.

The beauty - and danger - of slackcountry is that as soon as you start the run the adrenaline kicks in and you forget all your concerns. What could go wrong? You're riding the best line of your life, again! That beautiful floating, surfing feeling kicks in as you lean back and open the board up, pointing it straight down the steep, steep vertical and bomb down the face, drawing open S turns across the previously untouched face.

Fresh lines down MacKenzie face.

You scream, shout and whoop and get lost in the moment; it's a rush that has few equals in the world.

The feeling of being completely in the moment, the adrenaline, the pure magic and the realisation that I was exactly where I wanted to be.

It's at that point you decide whether or not the risk, the effort and the time, was worth it. Overwhelmingly, the massive smiles, the cries of pure, unrefined joy, the laughter of someone who has had a life-changing moment, say yes, it was.

There's a couple of points to this story, and they should not be overlooked:
1. While nothing has gone wrong with us, plenty of people have been found out in the backcountry. Yes, MacKenzie sees a lot of traffic and is a comparatively safe area to hike to, but for those wanting to head outside the resort boundaries, make sure you know what you're doing. Always travel with someone experienced, get the right equipment and for the love of god, pick your day. Two people died because they chose a bad spot on a bad day, use your brain.
2. The saying 'Earn your turns' is bang on, if you put in the effort you'll be rewarded with some amazing lines, breathtaking moments that you'll never forget. I sure as hell will always treasure the memory of my first run down MacKenzie, the feeling of being completely in the moment, the adrenaline, the pure magic and the realisation that I was exactly where I wanted to be.

Pyjama blogging

2010-02-17T06:00:00.000+11:00

My workplace..

Why my life is better than yours

2010-02-15T06:49:00.003+11:00

The title says it all.

Every time I meet someone new the conversation always goes the same way:

Person: 'So, how long are you here for?'
Stu: 'Oh, I'm here for the season then doing a road trip through the US.'
Person: 'Okay, so what are you doing here?'
Stu: 'I'm snowboarding.'
Person: 'Yeah, but what sort of work are you doing?'
Stu: 'No, I'm just snowboarding.'
Person: 'I don't understand...'

Click read more to continue...

Since quitting work in September I haven't worked a day, and I can safely say, it's better than you can imagine. The feeling of getting up whenever you want and having absolutely nothing you have to do that day, it's really liberating. I can't think of a more stress-free lifestyle in the world, and when you combine it with something you love - snowboarding - it makes for an awesome existence.
I'm just past 40 days on the hill for the season, and while the conditions may have been less than ideal in recent weeks, it's still fantastic up there and the desire to ride every day hasn't waned at all. Progression is what keeps it interesting, learning a new trick, bombing a tree run that previously took ages to get down, getting the nose higher on a shitty tail-press, as long as you keep improving it stays fresh and fun.

The obvious downside is the hit to the bank account, and anyone in Revelstoke will attest that work is nigh on impossible to come by, even halfway into the season, which makes for an interesting trip. But the cost of living in the town is so small - riding on the hill each day, all you pay for is a sandwich in the backpack and the petrol (gas) it takes to get to the hill and back, and if you want to rock it super cheap, get the free shuttle instead.

Everyone makes sacrifices to ride a full season, whether it's working a shit job in town, putting your normal life on hold for six months or watching the bank account take a massive slashing; but the end result, if you love snowboarding like everybody here does, is definitely worth it.

The snows are a comin'

2010-02-09T05:43:00.004+11:00

Apologies for a lack of posts, there's a whole bunch of photo-related things but they're on a memory card which does not want to share its electronic delights with my laptop...

Anyway, in better news, the snow is about to arrive, and arrive biiiiiig:

Powderrrr daaaays ahead (ignore the brutally high freezing level... damn you El Nino)

Forecast courtesy of snow-forecast.com and some awesome print screen/paint skills. Wait, no, skillz. Yeah.

Meeting some Neighbours

2010-02-04T12:31:00.003+11:00

Paz slaying a drop near the top of Meet the Neighbours. Fair to say the neighbours were suitably impressed.

Pray to Ullr

2010-01-29T16:47:00.003+11:00

It hasn't snowed in a while at Revelstoke, the hill is crap, moguly and hardpacked and it's about time we do something about it.
In times of crisis, there's only one person to turn to... God.

Or, more specifically, Ullr, the Nordic snow-god.

Description, courtesy of Breckenridge's website - which has a week-long festival dedicated to Ullr:
'In Norse mythology Ullr (pronounced Oool-er) was the winter god. He was the son of Sif and the stepson of Thor, the "God of Thunder." Ullr loved the cold, and delighted in traveling over the country on his skis or skates. He also delighted in the chase, and pursued his game through the Northern Forests.'

Let us pray:

* Crap video, sweet prayer
** Snow is coming tomorrow night so something must be working!

Happy Australia Day!

2010-01-27T07:47:00.002+11:00

To everyone at home and travelling around the world, Happy Australia Day/Hottest 100 Day!

I spent the night listening to the Hottest 100 couped up in a hostel in Toronto with a bunch of Australians, praying the Internet connection would last long enough that we could hear who won. Props to Mumford & Sons for the win, but massive props to Bluejuice for squeezing in the top five and the Hoods for coming in third! Rad!

Yes that is an Aussie flag tattoo and a Sauv Cellars stubby holder

Niagara Falls: A Tourist's Perspective

2010-01-27T07:27:00.003+11:00

What do you name a post about Niagara Falls and not make it sound ultra lame? It's impossible.

On a cloudy, rainy but relatively warm day in Toronto, I jumped on a bus tour and headed towards the border to check out the ultimate in cheesy tourist destinations, and also the ultimate in radical waterfall goodness: Niagara Falls.

Click read more for a few cheesy photos, if you're into that sort of thing.

What to say about Niagara? Everyone knows about the place. Massive waterfalls, lots of touristy crap, and it's pretty cold in winter.

Lots of people don't realise there's two sets of falls, the U.S and Canadian ones, split by an island in the middle of the river. Naturally, the Canadian ones are the wicked ones, called the horseshoe falls cos of the shape.

Enjoy some cheesy pics:

Canadian falls:

Oh wow someone forgot to take the black and white setting off the camera:

Stu with the glorious touristy pic at the U.S falls:

Aaaaand looking down the river from the Canadian falls towards the U.S falls on the right with the rainbow bridge at the end:

Will they, won't they #4

2010-01-24T06:00:00.000+11:00

Will they make it? Won't they make it?

Dec:

Click read more to find out!

Montreal, with words

2010-01-22T13:48:00.004+11:00

The trip to Montreal is just about over, I'm off to Toronto tomorrow morning for five days, mainly to watch the Raptors get their butts spanked by Australia's very own Andrew Bogut (that's a basketball reference for those non-sporting kids) when they take on Milwaukee, maybe squeeze in some Niagra Falls and possibly a few bar fights, Canadian-style.

Montreal has been a wicked city with everything, from the beautiful Mont Royal with outdoor ice skating on a frozen lake at the top to the hustle and bustle of downtown to the snow-covered parks to the shady sights of dudes breaking into houses out in the 'burbs.

One of the cool things about Montreal is that it's a city built on two languages - French and English. It doesn't sound that strange, but it really is. French, being the official language, rules the signage around the place, but walk into a shop and the assistant will always greet you with a very weird 'Bonjour Hello' - and will roll with however you reply.
Everyone is bilingual in Montreal, but as soon as you cross into Ontario the French disappears, and barely anyone speaks it fluently, and even less do in public.

I've been hanging with a bunch of international students so it's been a very multi-cultural trip, to the point that I've barely had a chat with a Canadian the whole time. We've been to Irish pubs, Mexican restaurants, Chinese ones, hunted for a closed Chilean place, danced our arses off at overpriced, skanky nightclubs, listened to middle-aged dudes in a cover band play Oasis songs, seen taxi drivers punch on, walked for hours on a hunt for the perfect bagel, spent days searching for Montreal's greatest thrift store/op shop/friperie (that's some French/culture for you) and it's all been rad fun.

If anyone gets the chance, visit Montreal. It's such an amazing place and it's so bizarre to have a French-speaking city in North America, it's definitely a must-see.

The Seagull

2010-01-20T06:00:00.000+11:00

I may be in Montreal, but it's hard to not want to be back in Revelstoke, pulling out radical bird impersonations:

A cloudy day on Mont Royal

2010-01-18T04:09:00.003+11:00

T'was a cloudy day in Montreal and our protagonist for this story, Stu, was working off a hangover when he decided to head up Mont Royal, the hill and park in the heart of the city.

What started out as a nice stroll quickly became a test of character, a journey for redemption and, ultimately, a fight for survival.

Click read more to discover a fable for the ages!

His friend and trusted guide to the city, Tom, was nowhere to be seen as Stu slugged his way up the 233m or so to the summit, cruising the extremely steep, brutal and winding path along the way:

Mont Royal, never keen to allow strangers on its hallowed turf, threw up a variety of traps to stop Stu from reaching its fabled peak.

First, it hit him with dangerous, frightening creatures designed to test his courage:

But he was determined, and, having booted the squirrels in the face and crushed their children, Stu continued his journey forth.

Mont Royal had one final hurdle for him, testing his manliness by throwing the ultimate test of masculinity at him - ice skating.

Would he succumb, strap on those blades and pirouette his way to glory? Would he don the sequinned tights, dance his way across the ice and receive a standing ovation from the adoring fans?

Hells no! Our fabled hero (hey it's my story) charged on, finally reaching the summit of Mont Royal, and threw the ring into the depths of Mount Doom. Wait, no, wrong story.

The reward for reaching the summit? A beautiful view of Downtown Montreal:

C'est tout!

** Number of times word fable is used in the story: three

Hang time

2010-01-16T03:00:00.000+11:00

We happened across a group of paragliders at the end of a day out near Jalapeno, and with Paz on camera duties, picked up some sweet shots of a seriously awesome activity.

These shots are actually of the second dude who took off, the first guy cocked up royally and crashed on the takeoff. He was okay, his friends laughed at him.

Click read more to see the rest.

Man, this looks like such a peaceful thing to do. I hope I get the chance to do it some day, watching them glide is amazing.

Will they, won't they #3

2010-01-13T12:00:00.000+11:00

Will they make it? Won't they make it?

Paz:

Click read more to find out!

Freeskiing World Tour pt.2

2010-01-11T13:09:00.004+11:00

Part two of the Freeskiing World Tour event from Revelstoke, click read more to check out the rest of the pics.

In the previous post I talked up this dude's monster 100 foot drop, and apparently he came second. The drop was so big he caught me by surprise when I was taking photos, I didn't think he was going to drop from where he did so I missed the first part. I caught him about half-way down the drop, but I took a shot afterwards to show where he went.

This is the cliff he dropped, if you follow the snow ridge from top right across the screen, he went off that first lip and landed at the very base of those rocks. It was insaaaaane.

This drop was sweet too:

And, finally, this guy was the last competitor of the day (I think), he killed it on a big drop then stacked on this small one at the end, he lost a ski and had to ride down on one plank:

It was a fantastic day and a good chance to see what the best in the business are capable of.

As for the results, I know Arne Backstrom from USA won the men's, I'll update with all the placegetters from men's and women's when I find out the rest.

Freeskiing World Tour pt.1

2010-01-11T12:42:00.006+11:00

We headed out to Greely Bowl today to check out the final of the Freeskiing Tour event at Revelstoke, and the journey was worth it with some ridiculous skiing on show.

We settled in with a couple of beers, made some mini snow-caves and cheered our hearts out from the ridge looking into the competition area, alongside a big crowd that turned out to watch the event.

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the monster 100ft (we judged it to be anyways) cliff drop that one of the competitors did - we were too far away from the finishing area to hear the names, but I was told later it was the second place-getter.

Click read more to see some shots of that drop, and a host of other cool stuff.

I'm splitting this post in two because there's lots of pics so it'll save some loading time. Enjoy!

As you can see the lighting was less than ideal for pics, they had to delay the start of the event for a couple of hours because of visibility issues (there was some annoying cloud hanging around) and while it cleared up quite well, it was still fairly dark. Anyways, enough excuses for my bad photography. Get some radical into you:

Five shots of a drop:

These next five shots are of a dude doing a really cool backflip off a drop, he was the only competitor I saw do a flip. It's a bit hard to spot in the first shot, but he's launching off the rock on the right hand side of the shot, about halfway up. If it's too hard to see, click on the pics for high-res versions:

And four shots of another drop:

Like I said, I'll split this post into one or two more so the pages don't take forever to load, be sure to check them out, especially for the shot of the 100ft drop!

On the hill: 09/01

2010-01-11T06:00:00.001+11:00

Dec had his camera out today, it was a bit foggy so the shots aren't that clear, but they show pretty well the sorta stuff we were riding.

With a fresh dusting overnight (somewhere around 5cms I'd guess, the actual snow report is always wrong...) we rode Conifers of Gnarnia (skiers' right of the Gondola) for most of the day, which consisted of small drops, big drops, trees and more drops.

Oh, and Stu and Dec had a wicked crash... but no pics of that. Click read more to see the pics of the day.

So most of the pics are of me (Stu) with Dec on photo duties for the day, props to him.

Stu:

Croz:

Stu:

Stu again:

And again:

And Croz again in some powder:

On the hill: 06/01 pt. 2

2010-01-09T06:00:00.001+11:00

On the second run of the day we found a pre-made jump on the hike past Jalapeno, over the ridge.

After a quick glance to make sure no one was going to kick our butts for stealing their jump, we sessioned it for more than an hour, with Croz on camera duties early and everyone else sharing the load towards the end.

Click read more to check out the pics, they're pretty sweeeeet.

There's no real way to lay this post out other than chronologically, so here's some of the best pics from the session in relatively timeline-accurate order.

You'll note there's no landing shots - I could lie and say it's because the camera location was not lending itself to shooting the landings, but in reality the number of stacks would destroy what are otherwise impressive jump photos.

First off the bat, Paz looking bored (pun on board, anyone? No, no...)

A three-shot sequence of Dec tweaking the tits out of a Melon:

Stu, under-rotating a frontside 1 (the first of many):

Two shots of Paz throwing a front 3, managing a reasonable helicopter impersonation on the way:

The boys lining up for their next crack:

Stu again:

Paz with a big-arsed straight air:

Croz finally getting out there:

Paz:

Stu with a long Indy:

And finally, Croz, with a hint of Paz and Stu reflected in those goggles:

On the hill: 06/01 pt. 1

2010-01-07T12:54:00.004+11:00

It hadn't snowed in three or four days, so we all slept in anticipating icy crap on the mountain, and eventually set off on what we assumed would be a short and average day some time after 11am.

Little did we know, it would turn out to be one of the most freakin radical days in the history of the universe.

Bluebird skies, waist deep powder, a pre-made kicker and a seriously awesome nutella sandwich all contributed to some insane fun.

Click read more to see the pics from the day, and apologies about the length (I'm splitting this post in two, check back for pt. 2), but it was really fun!

Since Dec arrived on New Year's Eve, he's been hanging to hike the sub-peak and traverse out, then drop into South Bowl. Being lazy and not liking the prospect of a 30-45 min walk, we all put it off for as long as possible, but eventually caved into Dec and made the trek.

Basically, it's a 15 minute slog from The Stoke chair up towards the ridge that splits the two sides of the mountain - North Bowl and the Jalapeno area, all the way out to the cat skiing zone - but it's a beautiful walk if you have the energy to look up.

Looking down from halfway up the walk:

Stu at the same place:

At the top, the views are incredible, there's a 360 degree panoramic view to all the mountains in the distance, the photos don't do it justice.

From the top looking down towards Revelstoke:

From the top we hiked the ridge, watching a skier drop an insane chute into North Bowl, and drooling over the tracks on the South side.

Looking into North Bowl:

Across the ridge line towards the cat-skiing area:

And our eventual lines down - we ended up dropping at that last stash of trees, about halfway up the summit peak:

Paz and Dec got stoked to try a drop over a pillow line to start the run, it was... interesting (they took ages and ate shit).
Paz:

Dec:

Dec whipped out his camera to capture Croz and Stu heading down, enjoying the ridiculous waist-deep freshies. It's a shame photos don't come with sound, the cries of joy were unforgettable.

Croz:

Stu:

From there the run went into an open bowl with scattered trees, but as it was a funnel for most of the lines, it was more tracked out. Still, rad fun.

Croz getting some turns in:

A quick hike had us back in-bounds and riding down to mid-mountain, where nutella sandwiches, choccy bars and frozen museli bars provided some refuelling before round two.

I had to split this post in two because we found a kicker someone had built out past Jalepeno on the second run, and we went a bit camera-crazy, to the point that it requires its own post. Keep an eye out over the next few days to see the rest of the shots that came from the day!

What's new at Getting Stoked?

2010-01-05T17:41:00.003+11:00

There's been some big changes at Getting Stoked over the last week and plenty more to come, so it's time for a bit of an update on what's going on.

The house welcomed a new member, Declan, on New Years Eve, the crew finally got off their arses and rode Greely Bowl, as well as hiking the sub-peak and dropping into the North Bowl from way higher up.

Click read more if you're bored, and get some detail.

After Dec's glorious introduction to Revelstoke, involving some hell flips off the balcony, nasty cinnamon rum and a visit to the local jailhouse, he inspired the rest of the gang to start putting in some effort to check out the areas of the mountain they had previously ignored.

Following an epic dump on New Years Day the crew rode all over the mountain the day after, bashing out consecutive top to bottom runs, then lapping the Ripper chair before another top to bottom run, completing an awesomely exhausting day - top to bottom is 1500 vertical metres, so quick maths says we rode a freakin long way.

In the following couple of days we started working for our lines, hiking about to see some new places. The first stop was Greely Bowl, which involves an easy 10 min hike, a basic traverse which gets a lot sketchier with low-lying cloud about, another quick hike up a ridge, then open, open powder. Sadly we hit it up on a fairly warm day so the powder was quite heavy, but when the conditions are right the place would be amazing, and it stays good for days after a dump.

We hiked the sub-peak, which, apparently, involves 912 steps from the top lift to the summit up a face that closely resembles a completely vertical wall. Tough walk completed, we went along the ridge but instead of dropping towards South Bowl, we went into North Bowl and got some tasty fresh lines across the top, then traversed to Greely Bowl to complete the run. It ended up taking about an hour and a half from top to bottom, including the hikes etc.

Having ridden trees pretty religiously for the last couple of weeks, it was awesome to get out into the open bowls and ride some seriously steep stuff without worrying about poleaxing ourselves around trees. The other thing the last couple of days has shown is that despite riding Revelstoke for more than a month, there is still so much of the mountain we are yet to discover, a testament to how big (and radical) the hill is.

It seems like there will be a bit of a break in snowfall this week, with nothing much in the forecast until next weekend.

As for the blog, Dec took a bunch of pics so we'll steal those bad boys in the coming days and throw them up, and in a week I'll be heading to Montreal and Toronto for a two week trip, so the blog will take a turn in the touristy direction for that time.

A bit of a year in review

2010-01-03T06:00:00.000+11:00

If Powderfinger can do a best-of album, then hell, so can I.
The blog may only be a few months old, but with the new year rolling around it is time to do the Bit Of The Year In Review.

The idea behind this post was that it would be a cleverly written piece of literary gold, reflecting on the trip so far in a humourous way that would make people giggle.

Then laziness took hold, and it became a 'best pics of the Bit Of The Year' compilation.

Click read more to see Stu's picks for the best of the best so far.

Starting from the end, these pics are working in a reverse timeline, tracing back from Revelstoke, back through L.A, New Zealand and Arapiles, all awesome in their own right. Enjoy!

The Sentinel, taken on the highway between Salmon Arm and Revelstoke. What the hell Paz is doing on my back in anyone's guess:

Also from the Highway, one of my favourite shots so far, looking out over Shuswap lake:

Tanner hitting a drop early in the season (pic ripped from Revelstoke Mountain Resort's Facebook page)

The first Freak of the Week, a dude in L.A. This needs no more introduction, other than to say it was taken by Jesse, very stealthily.

Croz at the rockclimbing place in NZ, it reminds me of The Shire from Lord of the Rings, and that is radical.

From Araps, the gang walking back from Kachoong (taken by Danny):

Danny being, well, Danny:

Danny again, on Kachoong:

Paz on top of Tiger Wall:

Steve on the slackline, with umbrella:

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T12:51:00.002+11:00

The beers are chilling in the fridge as the decade edges ever closer to a close, so within the hour Getting Stoked will raise its ice-cold beverages in a cheers to 2009, the 2000s and an all-round radical decade.

A lot has happened in 2009 to make it a fantastic year, though looking back 12 months I don't think I could have come close to imagining how this year would turn out.
From slaving away in an office writing sports stories to climbing at Araps to mountain biking in NZ to shouting 'I CAN'T MAKE IT STOP' mid-nightmare on a plane to smashing margaritas in LA to riding amazing powder through the Snorkel Glades at Revelstoke, it's been a very fun ride.

I hope everyone has an amazing new year's eve and makes a great start to 2010. Who knows what you'll be looking back on in 12 months time!

Streblo!

2009-12-31T12:36:00.000+11:00

Sometimes there's no way to introduce things until after you've seen them. This is one such example.
Made by a snowboarder from Whistler, Robjn Taylor. His short movies are hilarious, check more out here (Dogshirts is a classic too).

Will they, won't they #2

2009-12-29T13:05:00.000+11:00

Will they make it? Won't they make it?

Paz:

Click read more to find out!

Santa!

2009-12-27T18:35:00.004+11:00

Stu, cleverly disguised as a snowboarding Santa, hits the big time with a cover shot on Revelstoke's main page!

Check it out here, wait for the pics to scroll through to the snowboarding Santa shot, or just look below. Printscreen does wonders for lazy people:

Getting Stoked!

2009-12-27T06:20:00.000+11:00

Getting Stoked hits the big time! Check it ooooooooooooooooooooooout:

Thanks to Croz for tracking this bad boy down.

A special Christmas present

2009-12-25T10:28:00.000+11:00

Will they, won't they #1

2009-12-25T06:00:00.000+11:00

Will they make it? Won't they make it?

Tanner:

Click read more to find out!

Things To Do When The Snow Doesn't Come #2

2009-12-23T06:37:00.000+11:00

Centurion

-noun.
Pronunciation: (sen-toor'ē-un, -tyoor'-), [key]
1. An officer in the ancient Roman army in charge of 100 soldiers.
2. A test of character where each participant must drink 100 shots of beer in 100 minutes.

Guess which one this post is about.

Click read more to find out.

*** Disclaimer - there may be drinking featured in the following post. Maaaybe.

In desperate need of an excuse to have a rest day, the Getting Stoked crew took up the challenge to end all challenges, the Centurion.

100 shots of beer in 100 minutes? As said Wayne and Garth in Wayne's World, game on!

Jesse (early on):

Croz before she took over camera duties:

Paz in front of the beginnings of a beer pyramid:

Stu:

Tanner, playing catch-up after a quick break:

aaaand the pain afterwards:

Our tale is a short one, each player, after overcoming various trials, tribulations, floaty bits in shot glasses and trips to bathrooms for numerous reasons, passed the finish line in, well, not necessarily flying, but certainly colours. Though, in the spirit of full disclosure, it should be noted that Paz was crowned the winner in an admirable performance that shall stand tall, at least until the next round.

As with any good blog post, here are some action shots:

The power shot:

Stacking that bad boy:

And, in celebration of the finish line, some freestyle dancing with low shutter speed:

Finally, a favourite shot from the night. Taken by the camera-savvy Croz, I call it Legs.

On the hill: 18/12

2009-12-21T06:00:00.001+11:00

On Friday, a lack of energy to charge the hill courtesy of five consecutive days of riding combined with a lack of new snow (for once) finally persuaded Stu to take the camera up to capture some happy snaps.

Suffice to say, there was still enough fresh snow about to make him take his camera duties rather, ah, lightly.

Anyways, click read more to see a few shots from the hill.

Given it was the first time with the camera on the hill, there were always going to be teething problems.

Still, some stuff came out okay. Here's Paz getting some powder:

And a few shots from Stu, sitting deep inside Snorkel Glades, far and away the most super legendary tree run eeever. Sadly, the lens got a bit foggy, hence the blur.

Looking up (my line was through those two trees second and third from the right):

Blatant self-promotion (usually have a helmet but rode with a beanie when using the camera cos I was taking it easy):

Looking down the run (obvious line there):

As the pics kind of show, one of the great things about this hill is that even when it doesn't snow, there's still loads of fresh snow about. This day was a bit weird with temps getting close to 0, so everything was a bit heavier and wet, but it was still wicked fun.

Where the hell is the snowboarding?

2009-12-19T06:00:00.000+11:00

So the mountain has been open for two weeks, and this blog has had next to nothing on snowboarding, despite being a snowboarding blog. What the hell?

It's not my fault, honest. I was, ah, distracted. By the epic snow. I was going to get some photos the other day, and then it snowed. Again. Woops. You understand, right?

Click read more and receive a text-based illumination (and maybe a couple of, ah, borrowed, pics) into the wonderful world of Getting Stoked's time on the hill.

First up, pics and videos will be up before Christmas. A brand spanking new (cheap) video camera arrives in the mail on Monday, so the crew's riding will soon be recorded in really poor quality film, for your viewing pleasure.

As for the hill, well, Revelstoke has shown itself to be about one thing, and it's good: trees. For anyone wanting to come riding at Revelstoke, there's a few things you'd want to know:

1. It's not particularly kind to beginners.
This is about to change with the mid-mountain opening today (read: a buttload more terrain opening up) and there's some blue runs, maybe even a green or two, and better access to the magic carpet learning area. The down side? The Crew ducked a rope and rode down to mid-mountain a couple of days ago, and after surviving a back-leg burning 30 mins trying to ride the powder all the whole way down (it's a MASSIVE journey to get to the mid-mountain), Paz and Stu both copped some serious treatment at the hands (edges?) of some hidden rocks. Moral of the story? Tread carefully down low until there's another big dump.

2. Read the weather forecast.
-10 in town could quite well mean -30 with windchill on top of the hill, it gets cold up there. When it's cold, the delicious, fluffy powder turns into angry, cold, crusty hatred powder, and everything becomes a little bit shit.

3. If you can't ride trees, learn.
It's the whole point of the mountain, check out the trail map and you'll see how many gladed areas there are. For easier trees head to Clyde's Secret Glades, which are nicely spaced but get tracked quickly, if you like steep and are lazy check out Separate Reality Glades, or if you want proper tree riding and tits-deep powder, drop in anywhere around the Ripper Chair. Flat spots aside, the tree riding is completely insane, with drops everywhere, fallen logs conveniently masquerading as big rollers, and occasionally, wide open powder spaces.

4. The cat tracks are fun.
Far and away the most fun cat tracks we've seen, with little jumps all along the sides. The only crap bit is how flat Downtowner (the path from Ripper to The Stoke) gets at spots, and many an unstrapped snowboarder can be seen fuming as skiers cruise past without offering a pole. Bastards...

As I said before, pics are on their way. In the meantime, here's some stuff the mountain photographers have taken (they're all from Dec 17, or Thursday if you roll that way, which was yet another pow day), all pics ripped from Revelstoke Mountain Resort's Facebook page.

Trees:

Fresh lines, deliciously untouched by skiers:

Looking down towards Separate Reality glades:

Don't quote me, but looks like somewhere in the North Bowl:

Mid-Mountain opens tomorrow

2009-12-18T13:20:00.006+11:00

Title says it all, the mid-mountain opens tomorrow. Yaaay! That means heaps more terrain, lots of fresh lines and good stuff.

The Getting Stoked crew checked out (read: ducked a rope) the mid-mountain runs and took Snow Rodeo down to mid-mountain lodge a couple of days ago, and coverage was rad until just near the bottom, where Paz and Stu took nasty spills on to hidden rock. Pain ensued.

If nothing else, it'll keep a lot of the glades up the top more fresh for longer, which = awesomeness, and means a whole new load of terrain to explore!

The downside? One less excuse to avoid riding Kill The Banker, the scariest-looking line going around (various cliffs near Vertigo and North Bowl excluded).

A quick google search for a pic of Kill The Banker with early season coverage came up with sweet FA, except this, from skiinet.com, which gives you some idea of what I'm talking about (though I have a sneaking suspicion this isn't actually the run):

Hangin' with the family

2009-12-17T06:00:00.000+11:00

What's that under the Christmas tree?

2009-12-15T06:00:00.000+11:00

What could it be?

Click read more to find out...

It's a Parrish!

Top five: Revelstoke

2009-12-14T08:13:00.007+11:00

Revelstoke, like any country town, is full of larger than life characters that make the place special.

Whether it's the unreasonably enthusiastic burger guy, the kickass bakery or the sensationally cheap fast food, the place is full of must-sees for anyone passing through.

With this in mind, click read more to check out Getting Stoked's Top Five of Revelstoke.

1. Dale's burger shop. Ideally located in the car park with the large grizzly bear out the front, just up from most of the pubs in town, the Getting Stoked crew heard about Dale's burger shop long before they ever set foot there. A man so completely enthusiastic about his food that he tells you everything you could ever want to know about it, each time you're there, and the best bit is the food lives up to the hype (especially when you're drunk). "100% grain fed beef, man", "No one else has the time I do to make the burgers right", "Guaranteed the best burger in town", and "man, see this garlic? I roasted it myself".

** The burger shop is the silver trailer to the left of the bear... The photographer may have been distracted by the bears and forgotten to take a photo of the burger joint

2. Modern Bakery. It's the Quality Bakery (Invermere reference, tough...) of Revelstoke. You go in hungry, you come out joyous. A $4 bowl of home-made soup, a $2.50 hot apple cider (waaay nicer than it sounds), some free Internet and a disgustingly chocolatey brownie, and voila, satisfact---ioon.

3. The pool. Revelstoke, in warmer times, is less a snow town and more an outdoor sports hub. Kayaking, hiking, hunting and climbing are all big things around here, and the pool pays tribute to the latter with a small bouldering wall hanging over the pool. So. Freakin. Cool.

4. Out of bounds. Every town has to have one. Especially in a ski town, with so many young people trying to get laid. The place wouldn't be the same without it. A gross, feral, meat-markety nightclub. Load up on cheap spirits beforehand, hit the club in your best (read: clean) t-shirt/only pair of jeans you could fit in your backpack, pay a cover charge (because it's really THAT popular... cough cough) and do your best to pick up.
Class-y.
*** On the right night, The Regent can rival Out of Bounds for... the aforementioned atmosphere.

5. The Getting Stoked house. Where else? With snow expected throughout the week, Getting Stoked's front yard is going to turn from a boring, white field to a winter wonderland, with snowmen deathmatches set against a backdrop of fairylights and tinsel. Christmas gone wrong, or something. If you're nice and come in and check out the backyard, you may see a radical snowboard park, with old doors turned into down ramps and a conveniently placed pile of dirt masquerading as some sort of spine. Boxes too, maybe. Who knows? It hasn't snowed enough yet for it to happen.

Things To Do When The Snow Doesn't Come #1

2009-12-12T06:00:00.000+11:00

Revelstoke recently went through a dry spell on the hill, with no new snow for a week and temps hitting -35, pretty much turning the hill into icy crap.

This unfortunate turn of events inspired Getting Stoked's latest fad/craze (think marbles or yo yos in primary school), Things To Do When The Snow Doesn't Come.

Click read more, hopefully it'll make sense.

One of the funniest snow videos I've seen - may not make much sense if you've never been snowboarding. Oh, and how cool are the one-pieces!!

Go Skootching:

Ron Burgundy

2009-12-10T06:00:00.000+11:00

Well, here at the Getting Stoked house something amazing has happened.

About a week ago, Ron Burgundy, the famed newsreader from Anchorman, joined the crew and he tells us he is excited to spend a full season hanging out, drinking milk and eating wheels of cheese with Baxter.

And hey, if there's ever a full on gang fight with any rival blogs, we know Ron will have our back.

For the full wrap, click read more, it'll change your life.

Ron, Ron, Ron. You beautiful man. We at Getting Stoked have always appreciated him for his quick wick, charm with the ladies and outstanding moustache, but always felt that he could do one better.

Well, he did.

In a remarkable feat of science, nature and human engineering, Ron recently transformed into the most awesome, desirable and, well, I'm going to say it, sexual car in the world, a '91 Plymouth (read: Chrysler) Voyager, Getting Stoked's new vehicle of choice.

I know I know, it's okay to be envious of such a beautiful machine, and let me tell you, he's every bit as good as he looks.

And, just one for the fans out there:

'It's so hot, milk was a bad choice!'

The Sentinel

2009-12-08T06:00:00.000+11:00

Because snowmen have genitals too

2009-12-06T06:00:00.001+11:00

First snowman of the season!

Look closely, he's packing more than a friendly smile...

Fame! Riches!

2009-12-05T12:32:00.005+11:00

Getting Stoked's very own Tanner secured enternal fame and infamy by landing a cover shot for Revelstoke's website on opening day.

Check out the brown jacket/helmet snowboarder with a grab off a rock drop here, and be stoked!

Or, just look below... I guess. But not as cool.

Picture ripped from http://www.revelstokemountainresort.com

Highway One

2009-12-04T06:00:00.002+11:00

Just a few photos from our trip to Salmon Arm on Tuesday, passing through some of the most beautiful areas of the Canadian Rockies.

It snowed a few days earlier, but then warmed up above freezing so there wasn't too much snow around, and it gives you some idea of why the place is so popular in the summer too.

Click read more to see the pics.

The lake in the pics is called Shuswap Lake, and it is huuuuuuuuuuuuge. These shots were taken at a couple of stops, both before Sycamous, for those playing Google Map.

Looking east along the highway (towards Revelstoke):

Jesse and Croz:

Same shot, minus people, plus better exposure:

Make of this what you will:

And finally, a shot from another stop further along the highway, which was taken quickly as some unhappy looking truckers walked towards us:

** As with any post on this blog, if you want to see a higher resolution version of a pic, you can click on the photo and it'll take you to the Flickr or Photobucket page that is storing it.

Opening weekend

2009-12-02T05:56:00.005+11:00

Holy crap, that was fun.

Revelstoke opened for a sneak peek last Saturday and Sunday, and it seemed that everyone within 1000000ks showed up to check out the mountain.

Click read more to find out about it.

First up, an apology. Getting Stoked did not have a camera out on the weekend for fear of smashing it, and the decision proved to be a correct one, with some epic stacks, including a memorable mid-air flight directly into a massive tree which would have turned the official blog camera into something more closely resembling, well, dust.

The crew rolled up in the new van, Ron Burgundy, surviving the drive up the icy roads with bald summer tyres, getting to the mountain just after 8am, with first lifts kicking off at 8.30am.

It came as something of a surprise to see a few thousand people already there, with the line snaking out the resort, past the car park and towards the road up to the mountain.

A cheer broke out as we approached the line, and after graciously acknowledging the applause we realised it was for the first lift of the season. Once the embarrassment subsided, we waited for a good 45 mins to get on the gondola which would take us up the mountain, then after a quick board down to The Stoke chair, there was another 30 min wait to get up to the top.

Despite the lines, everyone was buzzing - it had been a long time coming, the first run in Canada in nearly three years, so spirits were high and we were duly rewarded with our first run.

Here's a link to the trail map which will help make sense of the rest of this post.

Paz and Stu headed left out to the Separate Reality Glades and, after planning to stick together all day, lost each other within three or four turns. Not the best planning but the powder was knee deep and the run was steeeeeeeep, a brutal welcome back to snowboarding after a looong time away.

It was clear from the outset that Revelstoke is a place that can challenge anyone. Steep lines, soooo many trees, drops, bumps, jumps, everything you can imagine, if you're game there's plenty of places to find fresh lines.

After a sketchy first run, Paz and Stu met up at the lift, waited the customary 30 mins to get a ride back up, and did it all again. The cobwebs were gone by the second run and despite losing each other again, we both came out with massive smiles on our faces and far less new bruises than the first run.

After that, a quick hike out to the North Bowl was in order and despite missing the drop in point to Meet the Neighbours, we could see how amazing the North Bowl was, with untracked lines everywhere, cliff drops, rock drops, trees, just insane stuff everywhere. We took a line along the top of the cliff (see the North Bowl trail map) which had heeeaps of fresh lines in itself, easily the best run of the day to that point.

A quick lunch break, then the crew all rode together after lunch, heading right towards Roller Coaster, hitting the trees near Iron Gladen then ducking the rope to get find the most amazing, untouched, waist-deep powder among the trees, down to an access trail which required a quick hike back to the lift.

We rode this run for the rest of the day, finding fresh lines each time and generally being blown away by the quality of the snow this early in the season.

It was an amazing start to the season and everyone is super amped for Friday, when the mountain opens for good.

Apologies again for the lack of photos, the camera will be coming up soon to show off the mountain in all its glory, but for now here's some pics from the the mountain's Flickr page, showing just how radical the day was:

Line at The Stoke:

Opening day pow:

Pics sourced from Revelstoke Mountain Resort's Flickr Page.

Freak of the Week #2

2009-11-30T06:22:00.000+11:00

Paz wasn't too happy about making the Freak of the Week, but hey, some things are just meant to be.

Shot taken by Jesse in L.A... as for an explanation, well, no words could really do it justice.

Boards boards boards boards

2009-11-28T17:20:00.004+11:00

Snowboarding tomorrow means setting up boards, putting boots on, strapping into bindings and hopping around the house today.

Click read more for a run-down of the A-Team's lineup for season 09/10!

P.S Apologies for the lack of Revelstoke/Calgary pics, we've been a bit lazy on the ol' camera/really really ridiculously busy trying to organise stuff/I'm stealing this Internet off someone and it keeps cutting out.

Read more dammit, read more!

Okay, just to give you the intro, Jesse and Stu are on new board/binding setups, Paz is on his old board with pretty new bindings, and Croz's board isn't in the photo. Despite this, there is more than enough board porn to keep you occupied throughout this post.

On the left is Jesse's new baby, an '09 Nitro Team board with '09 K2 Formulas. Paz's deck is in the middle, a Fanatic Fear board (we don't know much about it, but it's mid-flex and pretty fun) with some spanky new Salomon bindings. Stu's is on the right, a Salomon Grip with '09 K2 Formulas, the board is really low-camber, so much that it almost looks flat.

As for how they ride, that can only be answered tomorrow, when Revelstoke opens for a sneak peek for two days, closes Mon-Thurs then opens for good on Friday (freakin yay). Pics will be up Sunday night (Pacific time), not going to take the camera up on the first day out of fear of falling too much and crushing it to tiny, tiny pieces. Like, sub-atomic, given how long it's been since I've snowboarded.

And I promise shots of the house, car (who is called Ron Burgundy, and is extremely, extremely amazingly beautiful), and town in the veery near future.

Gettin' funky in LA

2009-11-26T09:00:00.001+11:00

L.A - the city of celebrities, of fatties, of cars, of cheap junk food, of ridiculously extravagant displays of wealth, of smog, of sun, of everything.

Everyone knows the crazy stereotypes from TV - the weird thing is, when you get there, the stereotypes are actually true.

Click read more to see some snaps of the city, and shake your head in wonder...

No, they're not all that bad. Jesse worked the camera on Monday as we walked up to an observatory, then cruised around Vermont near Sean's work - Sean being our most excellent host for the trip.

First, the nice photos - the A-Team showing their fame in front of the Hollywood sign at the observatory (check out Paz's dainty girly leg in this shot):

We walked up a massive hill behind the observatory, saw a fight between a mountain lion and a rattlesnake (not really, but we decided the rattlesnake would bite the mountain lion first, the lion would eat the snake and they'd both die - nature's a bitch).

Croz at the top of the hill after surviving the rattlesnake/mountain lion death trap:

Heading down to Vermont, Jesse found the classic L.A street, half-dead palm trees and all:

Enough of the normal shots. Jesse saw this in a Spanish paper left at a bus stop, bit of a 'no shit Sherlock' moment:

Aaaaaand finally, everyone's heard of it (at least people who follow the news, like drugs or watch Entourage), and to prove it is in fact real, here's a photo. Medicinal marijuana:

My personal favourite bit, on the back it says 'caution: may cause drowsiness'.

Freak of the Week #1

2009-11-25T12:43:00.005+11:00

What better way to start a new thing on the blog than a dude in leopard skin pants.
Kinda sums up what L.A is all about...

* Masterfully captured on film by Jesse.

Introducing the Revelstoke A-Team

2009-11-22T08:20:00.003+11:00

Getting Stoked is proud to introduce the Revelstoke A-Team for the next four months, the cream of the crop of the southern hemisphere, making the journey north to make Canada a better place.

Paz and Stu are representing Australia and Croz and Jesse are bringing some New Zealand to the party, and, like our Power Ranger forefathers, when the A-Team combines, awesome, destructive monsters happen.

Click read more to meet the crew.

Name: Jesse
From: New Zealand
The low-down: Sorry ladies, he's taken. Bearing flowing locks and a knack of posing like a statue whenever the camera is around, Jesse is often called 'the Kiwi Adonis' but is perhaps better compared with David Hasselhoff, as he is often sighted strutting along the beach, breaking out into love ballads.

Name: Croz
From: New Zealand
The low-down: A pint-sized snow-warrior, Croz was once - quite poorly - compared to the pink Power Ranger. Stronger than Wonder Woman, smarter than the Wicked Witch of the West and more snow-savvy than Snowoman (yes I made that one up), Croz is bringing fashion to the slopes this year with a purple - yes, purple - downie.

Name: Paz
From: Australia
The low-down: An unkempt man by nature, Paz is the flannelette eco-warrior, out to pick up a piece of litter near you. Often described as green Power Ranger meets Mr T, this green machine practically bleeds Canadian powder, despite more closely resembling a Mexican drug-runner.

Name: Stu
From: Australia
The low-down: Often compared to Inspector Gadget, both for his gangly arms and ability to save children from imminent disaster, Stu is the author of this blog and will be providing you, for better or worse, with stories over the coming months. Born the same size as any other baby, Stu seemingly kept growing when everyone else stopped, resulting in him being the central subject of Roald Dahl's book, the Big Friendly Giant.

Early start

2009-11-21T12:54:00.005+11:00

**Picture shamelessly ripped from revelstokemountainresort.com.

Good news keeps on rolling in - Revelstoke is opening for two days next weekend for a 'sneak peek', i.e a chance for us to track it out then wait until it re-opens for good the following Friday, December 4, by which time our lines will have been covered over!

Be sure to check in at Getting Stoked on the weekend for shots of what is hopefully a radical opening day!

Check out the info at Revelstoke's website.

Getting high(ish)

2009-11-20T10:45:00.003+11:00

J.R.R Tolkein, when writing his masterpieces Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, never mentioned how adept the pint-sized fellows were at climbing.

Keen to prove that Hobbits could in fact make it up a cliff-face, Croz, Paz, Jesse and Stu ventured out towards Hobbiton to rock climb and chase farm animals.

Click read more to see the pics, and check out the results of the our fact-finding mission.

A road-trip from Hamilton led the crew to a farm and crag called Bayley Rd, which closely resembled The Shire from Lord of the Rings.

After jumping a fence, avoiding cows and sheep, the team walked alongside a stream through some beautiful countryside towards the crag for the day, Monday Wall.

With the cows watching on, Paz harnessed up for the first climb, a grade 15 sport route, which, in all honesty, sucked.

Hobbiton:

Croz, Jesse and Stu all tackled the route and then a 16 soon after, and Paz, Stu and Croz went up a 17 after that, and while the climbs were less than memorable the surroundings were beautiful, and with the prospect of a Hobbit sighting, everyone was buzzing.

Croz climbing:

Yes, Paz was wearing a bike helmet:

Stu laybacking a climb that was, apparently, not supposed to be laybacked (it worked though). Note Paz's awesome belaying, reading the guide instead of watching:

Croz reaching:

After three climbs the team was losing faith after some average rock and zero hobbit sightings, but when all seemed lost Paz stepped up to the plate, tackling a grade 20 sport route called, wait for it, 20/20. Original.

The climb itself was on a beautiful piece of rock:

But when Paz got on it, bike helmet and all, the rock seemed to lose some of its beauty.

He eventually made it, and the crew hit the road back to Hamilton, and on the way back Jesse even managed to snap a hobbit basking in the final rays of sun for the day:

Let the good times flow

2009-11-18T14:50:00.003+11:00

Nature may have intended it, but it's still funny.

Road trip: Rotorua

2009-11-18T13:51:00.006+11:00

Paz and Stu hit the road in an extremely emasculating Hyundai for a road trip from Hamilton to Rotorua, with the simple goal of being as awesome as possible.

Goal achieved.

Read more to follow.

The trip began with a cool drive from the Crosby residence in Hamilton, our humble abode for the week, to Rotorua about an hour and a half away.

Stu:

Paz:

Yes, there were lots of sheep:

Pulling into a small town we saw this dude, proof that the mid-life crisis is still alive and kicking:

And, I don't quite know how to explain this other than a giant dog ate Paz...:

Having survived old dudes in jeeps, giant dogs and sheep jokes, we finally made it to Rotorua, and our first port of call was mountain biking at the nearby forest.
We didn't know what to expect, but as it turned out the place was one of the coolest areas in the history of the universe for mountain biking. We rode there all day, stayed overnight at the backpackers and did it all again the next day. There were drops, bumps, jumps, berms, uphill bits, downhill bits, and everything was laid out perfectly so you never had to work too hard to get to cool stuff.

Here's some pics, starting with Stu at a lookout with a geyser, some hot springs and Lake Rotorua in the background:

And Paz:

Stu on the Blue Bullet (yes, that is a small ladies' bike) heading down a hill that looks waaay more scary in person than in a photo:

And Paz on Randy's Red Rocket (also a small ladies' bike):

Here's a shot from the last trail we did, Old Chevy, which was extra massively long and extra massively awesome:

And, because the trip was so awesome, the celebratory rocking-the-hell-out shot:

Snow snow snow snow snow

2009-11-13T15:27:00.003+11:00

Revelstoke snow report:
Year to date: 136cm
Base depth @ 1950m: 89cm

Check it out here.

Wiiiiiiickedddd

The mountain has pulled out a new look website as well, and is now calling Dec 5 a 'tentative' opening date...

Here's to hoping it's earlier!

Guest photographer: Oli (round 2)

2009-11-11T15:10:00.004+11:00

A second round of pics from Oli, all people shots from around the camp.

The shot above is of Paul, an American guy who took a bad fall a few days after the photo and is recovering in hospital. He's a champion bloke and we all wish him a speedy recovery.

Click read more to see the photos.

Anyone who would like to check out how Paul is going can do so here, and his family is asking for donations to help cover his medical costs, which can also be done through the website.

Some more pics, this one needs no introduction:

Your faithful blogger:

Paz:

Oli practicing his tunes to woo the laaaadies:

And finally, Stu and Oli had facing tents, morning ritual was a cup of coffee, a magazine and a bit of a chat:

Guest photographer: Oli

2009-11-11T14:31:00.007+11:00

A selection of shots from around The Pines from Oli Delprado, squeezing the best out of his Nikon.

Click read more below to see the gallery.

Oli was a bit of a wizard with the old camera, and most of these shots are from him. Danny took a couple as well.

We had a game at the campsite, two people put cereal boxes on their heads, sit about 10 metres apart, hold a juggling ball each and take it in turns trying to knock the other person's box off their head.
Fair to say, Danny was a hell-man at the game, going undefeated throughout the tournament including a memorable bout with Canadian Dave, where he almost destroyed the box, as well as Dave's face, such was the strength of the throw. It was beautiful.
Here's a couple from the Danny/Paz round, which ended with Paz fearfully withdrawing after Danny nearly removed part of his head:

One of my favourite shots from the trip, the gang walking back after Kachoong (Danny took this):

Our home away from home, Norm and Jenny's, with their amazing $6 burgers with the lot (incidentally, Norm and Jenny no longer own the place):

A rock cairn on the walk towards Bard Buttress:

Danny slacklining... with a knife:

And finally, a sign that lasted six months from the first time Danny used it, which made a glorious return after Oli launched his guts courtesy of a bottle of Bundy red label. Yah I know, throwing up on Bundy, ultimate cliché:

Touching rock

2009-11-10T15:57:00.009+11:00

A selection of the finest pics from Araps... It's like a cheese platter of rock-based photography. Obviously, less cheese, more photos.

Click read more to see

Despite taking the camera out heaps throughout the last three weeks of the trip, most of these shots are from the last couple of days.

Mostly because Paz finally tackled Kachoong in the last week, and it is ridiculously photogenic.

A chunky roof climb, at grade 21 it scares the crap out of lots of people.

Here's some shots of Paz getting up it on his third crack, after two spectacular falls, and an equally enjoyable rest where Danny climbed it with the aim of falling, then freaking out just before he let go.

Paz working the roof:

Pulling the lip:

Success:

As previously mentioned, Danny climbed up while Paz was having a rest just to take a fall. Showing everyone how easy the climb really is, Danny holds the classic one-hander:

Kachoong was only one of many climbs for the trip. We took the camera on a bunch, this one I was half-way up New Image wall shooting across at Danny on Tarantula, a Grade 19 crack:

And the cheeky smile at the top:

Paz and Oli went up Skink one beautifully sunny (and kinda hot day), it's a beautiful climb made all the more awesome by being directly next to one of Araps' most famous climbs, Watchtower Crack (16).

Watchtower crack is the obvious crack up the left in the pic, Skink follows the smaller one heading diagonally right up the photo. Paz is in the white helmet, Oli belaying out of shot:

Finally, a shot I took of Paz as he was heading towards the top of Kachoong. I tried to get a silhouette effect going, it kinda worked but would've been nicer with less cloud:

The wait

2009-11-04T22:48:00.004+11:00

The snow is falling at Revelstoke - 71cm to date with more to come this week.

But it's not open until December 5 - lucky for some, those (including the author) who aren't arriving until the festive month, unlucky for those who have to stare at the snowcapped mountains while they cross the days off their calendars.

Worse though is the reviews from those already getting tracks - the lucky bastards in Colorado (Loveland) have been ripping it up for weeks, and the glowing reviews just make it worse for us waiting.

There's only so much a snowboarding video can do to scratch the itch, before it gets to a point where it actually makes it worse - the more you watch the more you want to go.

Hell, even watching Out Cold is making me hurt.

On a positive - Lake Louise opens on Friday and Sunshine next week, with a bunch of resorts opening in the lead-up to the important one: Revelstoke on Dec 5.

Hurry up...

Campsite shenanigans

2009-11-04T21:45:00.006+11:00

The Araps trip was definitely a climbing trip, but when you put four blokes together with a big bag of coffee, jaffles and goon, things tend to take a while.

The down side - less climbing than you'd expect; the upside - millions of genius ways to pass the time around the campsite.

Click read more to... read more

By general consensus, mornings were the best part of the day at our campsite - coffee, jaffles and talking shit in the sun, and things generally took a while to get going.

Climbing before midday was a definite no-go, and anything before 2pm was generally frowned upon.

But there was plenty to do - get a car to tow you on a bike to the top of the mountain (an arm-pumping 5k journey to the top) and rip down at 60k+ an hour; juggle on the slackline or try and catch a knife mid-turn; put a fake rubber snake on the path and watch as countless climbers shit themselves.

Here's a bunch of my favourite pics from around the campsite:

Danny bolting down the road to the summit

This shot kinda sums up our campsite - we had shit eeeeverywhere

Steve, a dude from the campsite, trying to slackline with a busted umbrella on a windy day

Sammy launching the rubber snake at the camera

And, finally, American dude Sam squeezing out an egg - because that's what happens at Araps. Check out the relief on his face

Time waster

2009-10-04T20:45:00.004+11:00

People have different ways of passing the time until the snow season rolls around.
Some work, others go to the beach.
Personally, I turn to Youtube... yeah, that's cool.

In my 'extensive' research leading to the decision to go to Revelstoke ('Hey, Revelstoke sounds wicked, want to go there?' 'Yeah, okay'), I came across a video of three Canadian dudes doing cool stuff there.

Click read more to check the video out, it (also) has a very cool opening track.

Getting artsy

2009-10-04T20:36:00.003+11:00

I'm always hesitant to have a crack at black and white photography cos people do it too much and it looks a bit, well, shit.
But when we had the camera out Paz suggested it and I got a couple of crackers (I think, anyways) of him at the top of Watchtower.

Click read more to see the pics.

And a shitty self-takey of me, just for kicks

Climbing wk 1

2009-10-04T16:54:00.010+11:00

The trip finally began last Monday when Stu, Paz and Danny hit the road to Mt Arapiles in Western Vic to climb some rock.

Paz and Stu hit Watchtower Chimney on Watchtower Face on Wednesday, a cruisey three pitch grade 12 with a lot of bridging up a chimney.

Click read more to check out the rest of the pics.

Rookies that we are, we didn't get a pic of the climb from the base.
Here's some shots from the second belay ledge

Looking up to the third (short) pitch

And from the top of Watchtower face

The salt lake in the distance that isn't really a lake at all, despite appearances

About the author

2009-10-03T09:48:00.005+10:00

About Stu:

I have a degree in journalism and worked as a sports journalist for Star News Group after graduating, until I decided a change of scenery was in order, so I packed my bags and headed off to Canada. I'm currently living in a ski town in interior BC, writing, blogging and snowboarding my life away before I head off through the US on a road trip.

I began this blog as a way to keep family and friends updated with what I'm up to, as a way to keep writing while I'm travelling and as a way to learn more about social media, which, I believe, has a big role to play in the media landscape going forward.

Work:

I worked as a sports journalist for Star News Group, working on a series of local papers throughout Melbourne.

Work samples (all PDFs):

Football

Jumps racing

Basketball