The Spread

Check out the Nimbus blog or Chris Benchetler's site to find out what happened with the Mammoth jump. I'll leave those guys to tell that story.

As for my post Mammoth story, we hit the road and headed back to Hood. We're in our last stretch of the season, which generally means spring time slush jumps and sunny day park features, but nearing Mt. Hood we had a pleasant surprise that kicked our heads back to a mid-winter mindset...

The video doesn't do the amount of snow falling much justice, but for any of you that have experienced or love driving in one of those Star Warsesque light-speed heavy winter storms, this was one of them. Love that Star Wars! Naturally our next move was to check weather and find out how long this storm was going to hang around...One more day of clouds, then the sun was scheduled to break. Good timing to build a nice jump in the clouds, followed by some fun in the sun.

Essentially I guess we followed true to the plan, but definitely had to have some patience while hitting the jump today. Sun was in and out, which can cause some mental anguish. Clouds are out, you can't jump, body temp drops, focus is in and out, losing patience, potential break in the clouds, quick panic, gear on ready to drop, waiting, waiting, wind is gusting, clouds break, check light, seize the moment, focus, mental clarity, dropping in 3,2,1, execute, happy?, content?, angry?, beat up?, hurt?, healthy?, stoked?, self criticism...repeat. The highs are highs and the lows can be lows, but I love it.

Johnny Air Time

After those couple days of maxin' and relaxin' we hopped back in the truck and once again went south to Mammoth Mtn. Lucky enough for us, Chris Benchetler and his outstanding reputation around these parts, allowed us to piggy back some of the snowboarders on this little feature...It was a bit of a task to figure out, but by the end of the day we had a few good ones under our belts. Sunsets, sodas and shots about 24 hrs from now on that beast. More after the jump...

Between

Had a few zero obligation days. Playoff games, horseshoes and barbeques. Seattle x Portland x Hood River. Saw my brother. Katie and Megan showed me around their cities of choice. Dog days.

Half Steppin'

Time to pick up where I left off earlier.

After having a successful hunt at Crystal Mountain I jumped back in the ship and followed my nose north. Time to link up with the rest of the Surface Collab (or at least the ones that made it through the border. Sorry Ian!) and have some fun in Whistler, BC for the Orage Masters and Telus Fest. We were able to have one nice day of sun before the typical Whistler weather showed its face and unfortunately that day of sun wasn't during the competition. But regardless of the weather and my less than optimal first competition experience of the season, I had a nice time and it was great to see some long lost faces. Big thanks to Lande and Banks for the plush accomodations in a primo location (seen below) and to Cody for his tireless efforts with the Masters.
For a bit more info about the event happenings try those links a few lines back. Other than that I'll let the photos tell the exit story...
Adios.

The Sea to Sky Highway between Vancouver and Whistler is a rad drive. I feel like this photo does a decent job of encompassing its scenery.

Banks Gilberti has a lot of love to give.
This is a good day skiing gone bad. Had a problem keeping my wings healthy this year. Luckily this one is manageable.
We spotted this rare beauty just inside the US border. Good welcome back sighting if I may say so.

Socialisn't

The Daily Show has the best satire on television. Hands down.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
The Stockholm Syndrome
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The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
The Stockholm Syndrome Pt. 2
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Ketchup, Catsup, Catch Up

Made a few stops since I last came on this thing; Enumclaw, Crystal Mountain, Whistler, Seattle, Portland and now back in Hood River. I've got some stories and photos/videos from the latter so for this time around I'm going to focus on the stories/photos/videos with the former.

We heard about some snow falling in Washington and didn't want to give up on our powder hunt quite yet. Another couple hundred miles is starting to feel like a breeze after being on the road for this long, so we made our way to Crystal Mountain Resort just outside of Seattle. And surprise, surprise, this time around our decision looks like it could pay off. Thanks to some prior sweet talking with the marketing department, we had some real nice zones that had been closed for the season opened up for us to film on. And we were also able to stay in one of the slope side cabins, which was a nice stay might I add. So a couple days of skiing and a couple nights stay, thats about as descriptive as I'll get right now. Good trip. I'll let the photos/video exit you out.
Enjoy.

Nimbus - En Route America

I'm super super happy to be able to show this and be a part of this crew. For those of you who don't know about Nimbus Independent, please click on the link and learn more about this project and the group of individuals behind it.
They've put out two previous webisodes this season and just released their third and final webisode before releasing the full length film this fall. Thankfully for me I was able to join in with the crew for this last webisode and am able to continue to work with them for the remainder of the year (Which is what the majority of the latest posts have been about). I hope you enjoy and I'll continue to share my stories over the next months while finishing up my season. Thanks.

Go to Nimbus Independent for more videos and higher quality.

Ch-ch-ch-changes.

A little David Bowie for you.

I had another post going, but had to put a hold on it because it looks like we're rallying to get the hell out of Dodge (aka Hood River) and head over to Crystal Mountain, WA to catch a last season storm. We've slowly been escaping the baked snow pattern and working into more of the desired lighter stuff. Lets hope our upcoming 4 hr drive isn't in vain...
Adios amigos.

Quick photo from our last adventure!
Don't worry, we made it.

*update.
Finished up the previous post mentioned at the top of this one. Read the post below for more shorts and shots. Adios.

Goonies and Goombas

A few pieces of media for you. First one is from Cannon Beach aka Chester Copperpots hideaway. Had a day off while I was still back in Oregon, so my friend Megan and I took a little trip out to the coast and saw some sights. Psyched to see some real life Goonies action.Before making my way back to Hood River, Megan mentioned this doughnut place called Voodoo Dougnut. According to her (not a Portland native), if you're visiting Portland you HAVE to make a stop off at this place. And we did. They have a donut called the "bacon maple bar" and its a maple bar with a couple strips of bacon on it. Good stuff.BUT once I made it back to Hood River I asked Pollard (Portland native) if he knew anything about this place...he didn't.

Here's a few more from around Portland as well...
And I was going to do another post about our trip to Sonora, but instead I'm going to cram it in with this one and say I went to Sonora, CA for a couple days. So here's some photos and video....MASSIVE rodeo from Chris. I think he's about 3' off the ground. Huge.
This is Murph on his sled, cleaning up where we left off. He's showing Chris how it should be done.
Couldn't ask for a better Easter meal.En Route America.

Miles

Another day, another drive. 500 miles and 9 hours. Headed due south toward Topaz, California.
Road warrior out.

*Update from the road. Experiencing troubles with Pollard's trailer. Studs have been stripped, lugs have gone missing. The fellas at Les Schwabb are diagnosing now...
More notes from the road to come.
Road warrior out.

She's Already Blown...

St. Helens

Options

Both have potential. Both are about the same distance from my current location. I'm feeling Utah, but something is telling me Mammoth. Hhmmmm.......

Winter Project

A little over a month ago I had some friends post up at my place for a couple weeks. Adam Falk and Nicke Jacobsson, aka the Swedes. Adam and I met last year at the European Open in Switzerland and then ran into each other again in Colorado last December. Adam has been putting together some webisodes about his travels and Nicke has been there capturing the content. Pretty psyched on what they've been doing. So when Adam and I crossed paths in CO he threw out the idea of coming to Utah and doing a little piece...so we did and now a few weeks later, they've edited and put it up for people to view. Nevermind some of the audio in there, but its pretty entertaining.
Yup.

Winter Project part 5 from Adam Falk on Vimeo.

Deprivation

That's my current location, Mt. Hood. Woke at 4:30 this morning, on the road by 5. We left our spot in Eastern Oregon to make our way west, heard there was some bounty to be found. And there was, but the sun found it first. No good. With the rise and rally being a let down we contemplated hitting the road again and making the 12 hour journey east to Cooke City, MT through the night. But it looks like we'll save that journey for tomorrow.

Here's a handful of photos from the past couple weeks...
Sunset outside of Yellowstone.

Craters of the Moon.

8 hours of labor on this beast. Found the problem and fixed it. Running like a champ now thanks to Andy and Frazer. Definitely learned a lot about snowmobiles after that session.

Secret zone with the crew.

Passing through the wind farm just outside of The Dalles.

Gettin' Wilde!

Finished this movie last night called "It's All Gone Pete Tong" and it was a pleasant surprise. Didn't know anything about it, but it drew me in quickly as the story developed. The movie was focused on this character named Frankie Wilde and his career and life as a dance hall DJ in Ibiza, wherein he becomes deaf and his career falls apart, but later rediscovers the ability to make music through feeling the sound (and I'm not talking that lame August Rush crap) and reinvents his career.
The catch with the film is that they make it seem like a factual documentary. They have real DJ's, producers and label managers giving quotes about Frankie and after the film I had to do some research to see if this guys story was legitimate. Turns out it was all a farce, but a well done one at that. They've gone as far as creating faux websites, music, music videos and other "stuff" to convince people that this guy and his story truly existed.
Brilliant idea and in my opinion a great delivery. Take a look.

And on a side note. I've got some content piling up from the past few days where we've managed to get on the snow and start getting our wheels turning. More on that soon.
Peas.