Jackson Hole-January 22nd-Feb 1, 2011

So we decided to drive to Jackson Hole, WY for my birthday this year. With 10 days to play we agreed to the 16 hr drive as opposed to a 500$ flight with extra charges for 2 snowboards each. The drive went OK....I started it off in Port Angeles at ~6 and made it over Snoqualmie Pass (which was raining cats and dogs and was hydroplane central), and well along I-90. Lily took over until around 2am, then I drove one more rest area before calling it at 3:30am. We crashed out at the rest area and slept ~6 hrs. We cruised into Missoula, MT for breakfast at a pub that was tasty, then back on the road. We arrived in Jackson around 7PM. We found Brady and Lily's house (which is in a gravel quarry) and settled in. We then cruised down to The Cadillac and caught up with Brady at work. After a couple beers we called it good and headed back to get some Z's.

Next day Brady, Lily H, and I went to the Village and I bought a ticket for the day (92$.....ouch!!!). We rode the Tram up, which hold 100 people at a time. It's kinda crazy how they load it. You basically start moshing until everyone is in!! Just when you think you can't fit one more person, 10 more push in!! I could see a powder day being a bit of a gong show!! We ended up getting a tour and still hiking for some pow. We did The Crags twice and Four Pines once. It's kinda cool that there is boot pack everywhere around the side-country off the resort.....even skiers rock the bootpack for the most part. We had beers and watched some football before heading back to the house for dinner # 2!! Brady has a LOT of Elk meat and did up some tenderloin for us...with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies....pretty dank b-day dinner!!

The next day (Mon, Jan 24th) we rallied up to Teton Pass and hiked the Glory Peak (3) times!! It's a solid 2000 ft bootpack and a really fun descent!! We did the shoulder and bowl the first lap, 3rd turn (further than we meant to go) the second lap and then first turn the last lap. There were a good number of people hiking it and most were in pretty damn good shape!! Some girl passed Brady and I, stripped down to her sports bra in 30 sec and was GONE!! Pretty impressive!!

On Tues, Jan 25th we decided to head over to Grand Teton National Park and do some touring. We set our sights on Mt. Albright which was 10,252'. It was over 2500' of elevation gain and took us ~4hrs of HARD WORK to get up it!! From the top we looked up at the actual summit of Albright and decided against it (it was wind loaded as hell, and looked like a death wish). The run we did was called Wimpy's Shoulder and I would beg to differ with the name!! It was really fun and long with some treed shoulder skiing that opened up into a couple of large faces of fresh snow!! We took some vids and pics of the lower pow face and lavished in our efforts. Afterwards we cruised to Dornan's for pizza and some tasty beers. It had an amazing view of the Tetons and we stared at our line on Albright for a couple hrs. Wahooo!!

Wed. we "slept in" until 9:30, made a phat breakfast and headed off for the Village again. Brady got me the Cadillac's transferrable pass and we headed for Cody Peak off the Tram. It was actually a pretty gnarly hike. We wove our way through different rock and cliff bands and across the ridge. The wind picked up and we were buffeted around as we made our way up to the summit. We passed a group that was scared silly. Lily dropped in first and rallied No Shadows. I hiked up a bit more and dropped into a steeper entrance. The snow was pretty good and we traversed out right after dropping Cody. We bootpacked back up the shoulder of Cody and around No Name Peak. It was quite the cirque traverse and I even had some snow peel off the cliffs overhead and tinkle down over my head. That made me pick up the pace a bit!! I was b-lining towards a larger face, but Lily convinced me to drop in early since the snow looked better. I watched her drop the line, then I started to traverse back towards her start spot. After a few seconds of traversing back, I turned it down slope and made a couple turns before realizing I was about to air off a cliff. Without thinking I straight lined it and sent it right off the cliff!!! I was surprised by the size of it, and took a pretty good sized impact, but hung on!!! I had to take a couple look backs to make sure I did what I thought!! From there we ended up doing Pinedale which was the next peak over from Four Pines. It was pretty tracked out, but I found some descent snow in the trees before doing the mandatory long ass traverse back to the resort (to Union Pass). We were close to calling it good, but decided to go for one more lap. We rode the Tram back up, then headed out to Four Pines. Another good bootpack and some last turns of the day. By the time we got out of the traverse the lift was closed and we had to hike up a groomer before gaining enough elevation to descend to the base. We hit up the Red Line bus back to Brady's house, changed, and went to the Cadillac for a beer and appetizer. We walked over to Thai Me Up and had another drink and some tasty Thai food before heading back to the crib and chilaxing for a bit. Halfway through the trip and we've already done quite a bit!! The legs go to bed worked every night and surprisingly have popped back to life the next morning!! We may end up going to a hotspring in Yellowstone as a reprieve from the bootpack and skin track, but then again, we might have to use the free passes and go tear up the mtn some more!! Stay tuned!!!

Smithers!!!

Woke up to Gus rocking the van. It was 9....I had managed to sleep in a bit....even though it was a late-ish night. We got to have dinner at Pat and Patty's on a sweet lake. We had ribs, salad, potatoes, etc. We met them at the high school at 4pm. Patty gave us shuttles on When Pigs Fly (Crank it up w/ less brake bumps), Charolette's (wicked flowy long DH run....did I mention flowy?!!), and Full Bore (more full on DH run w/ some steeps and some loose rocks)....wow!! Stuff sure has been working out in our favor lately!! We had also ridden some wood to wood stuff in Piderny w/ Simon, and Briget. There's free camping at Kager Lake, and the fire squad has been putting a LOT of work into the area. There are 10 walk in campgrounds around the lake, plans for car camping areas, and the trails are wicked!!! Gravity Logic did the trails here, and it was quite amazing to be standing there on a run that belongs at Whistler, but instead it's out in the middle of nowhere in BC!! The town and community have totally embraced the sport and are making things happen. There has been over 400k dumped into trails in the past year alone!! We met an Austrian group of three- Armen, Mariam, and Young Boy. They are on a 5 month BC bike trip, and have already been on Vancouver Island, Whistler, Squamish, etc. They only have one working bike right now, so we have been lucky and have had Mariam shuttle us. We rode 2 laps this AM- Full Bore, and Charlets, then sessioned the Bike Park trails- Smells Like Bacon and it's hard ass skinny that I finally got after a good number of tries. There were wallrides in both directions, a bunch of medium jumps, etc. Squeelin Wheels was a bit jenky, and Gus and I had to hit the moves a few times to hit them smooth.

The last night in Burn's Lake we got together with a couple of the rec rangers, and had some beers by the lake at one of their wicked camp sites. The next AM we got the Rec Rangers to shuttle us on Charolette's Web once more, then we bailed to Smither's. We stopped at COB bike shop where one of the owners is hopping around with a broken leg, got some work done (new cable/housing- blew). Gus and I rode Huckin Eh (sweet flowy trail w/ one bigish drop and a cool rock roll), then Piperdown (the DH race course)- complete w/ off camber rock drop to fast choppy run out, an off camber rock roll w/ fencing to stop you if you fall (I guess there's a CRAZY 60' cliff), and the plane wreckage gap. It was a good run, except I ate shit twice on stupid stuff. Then we finished w/ Backdoor which required a 15 minute push uphill in a gauntlet of black flies. Not cool. The run was super fun and LONG, plus had a 15' high logride, and a ton of flowy logrides in the trail, as well as the log to drop section. We met up w/ Christian and had dinner w/ the WORST service I've ever had (at Boston Pizza- only thing open at 10pm), and ended up crashing at his place. We'll see what happens from here......

Quesnal and PG- July 5-6, 2010

Yesterday we drove from William's Lake after a nice breakfast that Gus made (eggs and cheese topped w/ chives and tomatoes- all cooked together. Nice presentation and not overcooked. We drove to meet Mario in Quesnal. After driving around a little bit we found a short shuttle run that turned interesting really quick. After making it about 2 "clicks" I came upon the first mud hole. I punched it into the mass of water and came out laughing. Then I stopped. There were more. Lots more. I weaved and drifted my way through sure doom. I stopped after one crux and decided to pull the plug. I turned around (barely) and got us back through the same mudholes/troughs/gnar. The van violently bounced a couple of times, but nothing fatal. We had actually passed the trail and none of it was really necessary. Nice. we rode a short trail, w/ some quad track into the field below. We met the landowner and he seemed really nice. We then drove to Dragon Mt. It was a gloomy morning and there had been patches of downpour on the way to the trails. Sure enough, it started to rain. Gus decided to ride the "hardest if it's wet" trail first. WOW. That was interesting!! It was really gnarly and had supposedly been there for ~15 years, making it way ahead of its time. There were rock slabs, off-camber rock outcroppings, the works. Then we rode the DH course and its plethora of steep, loamy goodness. At the bottom, there was a stepdown to this crazy stunt. You had to slide down a steep section, then let off the brakes and hit a small jump onto a platform that then sends you off a HUGE air. I really didn't want any part of it at first to be honest. Gus hit it twice in a row, and I decided to get a little more serious. I took one run into the move, then pushed back up and HIT IT!! It was HUGE!! I was really stoked and let out a bunch of screams of joy!! Then it finishes off with a 25-30' stepdown to a huge table top w/ a super steep landing. What a run!!

Second lap, and the rain mellows out. Everything was still damp, but the sun was shining. Ah yes, BC!! We reset the shuttle and rode the "new trail." It was right off the tower and had some sweet boulders that were strewn together with wood ladder bridges. Of course, the mandatory drops and rolls were there. As well, the trail in between was kick ass. Fresh and loamy it was like riding powder. We dipped in and out of trees and up and down steep terrain features. All three trails share the same bottom section. It is super long and fun, with tons of natural flowy sections and jumps. There was a cool step up to step down that I guinea'd. We sessioned the huge stunt at the bottom a few times and got some great footage!! We had a beer and some yummy leftovers and watched some videos while getting devoured by mosquitos. We drove for a while and ended up crashing off the highway a bit. Gus in the tent and me in the van. I barely even noticed that I parked on a slant.

Rolled into PG- Prince George- and headed over to some of Gus's friends house. We had coffee and refreshments, and ended up building the 9 yr old, Simon a little stunt course in the backyard, complete w/ table, 2x4 ride, then berm, and two rollers to pump. It was awesome watching him rip it over and over again!!

Then we rolled to Cranbrook and drove up the rather short road. We parked in the middle of a corner off to the side and dropped in. There was a sign that said park along the road, not in the corner. Whoops!! We dropped in and immediately there were a bunch of doubles. We were just COOKING along through the forest hitting jump after jump. After a bit we came to a double stepdown section that also had an even bigger jump OVER this trail. WICKED!! We sessioned the double stepdown a couple of times, then pushed up the big line. We dropped in and were HAULING at this long wood takeoff. I came up a touch shy and kind of cased it, but not too bad. A little scary though, as it was probably 30' out. I chased Gus through a couple more jumps, then backed off on another big stepdown that used to be an A-frame. We pushed back up and hit it again- this time I REALLy hit it hard, and flew like a birdie!! Yeehaw!!!

We kept on hooking up rides back up super easy, and ended up riding ~9 laps, including the last one that his buddy Rob built. He joined us for a lap on that trail- Holy- with Canadian touch- more like Hole-ee. We rallied back to his friends house for dinner.

Looks like we're off to Burn's Lake tomorrow to meet a guy at 4 for some laps- his wife is shuttling!!! We're going to go rip up Cranbrook some more tomorrow too!! Wahoooooooooooooooo!!!!

Sat. June 27th, 2010- Elbow tweeker and ripping w/ Ben and Gus

Sat. June 26th, 2010. Riding bikes again in WL. Gus and I ripped a morning lap on Fox Mt. before hooking up w/ the 13 yr old up and comer, Ben. We went and rallied Snakes and Ladders into Dead Sailor proper off the radio tower (nice xc pedal to get there). I tweeked my deraileur on a skinny and had to do some trail side tweeking. The DH was loose and a bit sketchy. I took one tumble and bumped my shoulder into a tree. Ben and Gus went down once apiece as well. Then we went to Fox and rode Gus's trail AgentSkully. We were having sessions on the various moves in the beginning- the step up, then the gap through the trees which I didn't think was possible. I ended up blowing the berm the first go, then sticking it second go. We got some cool pics!! Then we moved on to the 2 DJ's. Ben was casing the second one pretty good but was still given'r pretty good for being only 13!! Then the downturn of the day occurred. I followed Gus off the 3-pack that leads into a stepdown hip into a gully. I got kicked a little weird on the last set-up jump and sent the step down HUGE. I realized in the air that I was screwed. I got kicked a little weird and landed tipping over to my L side. I let out a huge HUUUUUUUUUUUUH when I landed. I luckily landed on the bike, which slowed me down a bit, but I landed awkwardly on my L elbow, then I smacked my head HARD. I was sooooooooo lucky that there wasn't a rock, root, stump, or any other hard object where my head smacked because I was at the full mercy of the wreck. I rolled over onto all fours once I realized I wasn't knocked out, and shook out the cobwebs. Ben stood on the jump and asked if I was alright. I got up and dusted myself off (I landed in a pile of duff). My head was ringing a bit, but my elbow seemed to turn into the main problem. I took my time shaking it off, then turned into photographer for a bit as Ben and Gus worked the gap into the massive, natural gap (35'). Ben was the only one who went for it. He knuckled it hard twice (I was kind of shocked the first time, and didn't even get a pick since I was standing there slack jawed w/ my camera in my hands), and barely road away. He did the classic both feet off pedals, ass on seat out of control exit move. I pulled it together after getting photos of Gus hitting the pit gap at the end, and hit it myself a couple of times. We ended up hanging out at the house that evening- Megan was busy making granola and energy bars, I made some baked tofu. I did some good MFR/body work on Gus for a good hour and a half. He is all gnarly from tree planting. Off to the good bed again!!

June 25th, 2010 Mega Sesh w/ Gus- WL

I'm Chilling at Gustav and Megan's cozy basement apartment in William's Lake, BC. I've been here for one week on the nose now. It has been an awesome mix of cool town, tons of riders, and open arms and hearts. Since linking up w/ Gus a few days ago for some riding, we've been at it all day, often sessioning stunts and jumps numerous times. Two days ago now, Friday the 25th, we had an awesome day that started on Shuttle Bunny. I had never ridden the whole trail, and it was super cool. After getting through the tree slalom course w/ my wide bars, it opened up into some stepdowns and jumps, including the mega sniper road gap. I was happy to hit it smooth on my first go, and I happily took pics of Gus sessioning it. We ripped a super high speed gully at the bottom which was a hoot, then took the connector back over to Hillbilly Deluxe's exit. Then we cruised back into town on the road, swooping through a park and hitting a few jumps before making our way to the Gecko Tree Cafe for breakfast w/ Megan. After breakfast we boogied back up, got my van off Fox Mt. and headed over to Slater Mt. We rode Clean Slate, which is the ridge above Gutterball. It was a bit pedaly at the start and after ducking under a barbed wire fence we were off to the races. It was pretty fun with some jumps and flowy sidehill sections. Gus and I made short work of it. At the end it tied into Gutterball and we picked our way through the gnar. It's tight w/ boulders and drops in various situations and at different angles. It's also loose and dusty w/ rocks regularly flying in all directions as you pass through the walls of rock. We reset the shuttle situation and rallied onto Gutterball. We hit the opening flowy berm section into the 3-pack of 15' gaps a couple of times and set the precedent for the day- lots of sessioning. We hit up the hip over the stump stepdown, the wood drop/stepdown into the gully of 2 jumps. The DH log ride into the gap over the barbed wire fence, and then into the newest feature- a berm that turns uphill and into a hip jump that you hit over the usual step up hip line to the R of it. The landing was a tangle of logs and sticks that did not invite the would-be sender. We cleared the landing after Gus was first to hit it- sans helmet on a "run in." He nearly flew into a pile of logs downhill from the landing. After stomping down the pillowed dirt (which actually had some moisture in it), I decided to hit it. I ended up hitting the ground after 50/50ing the landing and taking the tumble. We got it dialed- a combination of railing the berm at mach 9 speeds and holding it together, combined w/ timing the pop and making sure to send it over the other jump w/o eating it. We then pushed back up, climbing under the barbed wire fence, and hit the whole line, then into the next set up double and then the big hip. It's hard to sprint, hit moves, sprint, hit moves, and keep it all super precise, which is what is needed for success. We hit the whole thing a bunch of times. I was really starting to get worked so we "hit it and quit it." We sessioned the next 3-pack of DJ's, then the step down, step up. Near the bottom, Gus hit the super sniper turn under tree to hip transfer. I didn't even think about trying it. That kid is an animal!! He didn't even have a sip of water the whole 3.5 hrs of sprinting at jumps, then pushing back uphill for another go. We then did something silly. We enlisted Megan to drive us 30+ minutes to do a Godspeed on Desous Mt's backside- at 8:30PM!! Once onto the trail Gus got an immediate flat. I gave him shit (and rightfully so) for not carrying a pack w/ all the necessary tools. Once he got it fixed up we were ripping some of the most fun, flowy trails around. We railed corner after corner on perfect dirt. No I wasn't dreaming. Then came a steep trough of gnar that claimed Gus. I went by him and rode the "not as gnarly as I thought it was going to be" section. I rode it slow and cautiously. If it was super dry it would be SKETCHY!! It opened back up and I blindly hit a 20' creek gap. Then I waited for Gus for w bit. He was getting worked on his small bike. The bottom rode through a creek bed of Soapstone, and unfortunately had been subjected to a recent mud slide. It was definitely the gnarliest stuff that I've ridden in William's Lake. A couple of times I was getting bounced around HARD- one leg flapping in the breeze trying to keep up some sort of balance as I desperately pin-balled through the creek bed. The bottom opened up for a bit before dumping us onto the road w/ the late evening sun shining down on us. Oh glorious day!! We went back to Gus and Megan's house, and sipped some organic beers before wandering around a small bit of woods nearby their house. I'm back out of the van and back into a comfy bed in a spare bedroom. SCORE!!

Thurs June 24th- Ripping w/ Gus and Kyle- WL

Today was sick as hell!! After having a great dinner at David and Juana's last night, then working on David until 1am, I slept like a baby at the trail head for Mitch's Brew on Fox Mtn. I woke up around 9am (sleeping in for me these daze), and cruised in to the Gecko (my normal routine now) for breakfast. I ordered the Hungry Hippy- 3 eggs, tofu, veggies, cheese, and other goodness scrambled up together and topped w/ avocado, tomato, and sour cream. I stuggled to put it down, but it ended keeping me going ALL DAY!! I sipped coffee and perused the internet for a bit before heading over to Red Shreds. Once there I phoned Gus who promptly came over. We went to the Southside and rode Dirty Branches to Rad Bits. It was super fun and flowy w/ lots of corners to "roost" out of. Gus is a total ripper and has been riding a Specialized Pitch (with the P covered in a B) ever since he broke his Bottlerocket. Scary thought!! We rallied back to the shop and met up w/ Kyle who had recruited his mom for shuttle duties. We rallied to Desous after picking her up and rode Prime and Endless. It was super fun and flowy up top, ripping through fir forest, then got super steep with a ton of challenging corners to negotiate (in a bit of a scree field). It finished off w/ some jumps and more steeps, my brakes making a horrendous noise by the end of it (also moving to the two fingers per brake for short bits). We sessioned one hip jump into a loamy corner that you could brap. I got a couple cool pics of Gus on this section. While waiting for Kyle's mom at the bottom I couldn't help but notice that the terrain across the valley looked prime for a HUGE jump. Well, Kyle pointed me to a huge cheese wedge at the top where James Doerfling had build just that. There was also a road gap and jump to natural wallride in the same zone. Hmmmmmm.........might have to send it to the moon!!

We couldn't convince Kyle's mom for another lap, so we dropped her off and headed over to the Rad Bits zone and onto Freshly Trimmed, one of James' trails. It had a cool step down to hip to double to step up (wood to dirt). Then another jump, before a couple corners and a big wood step down followed by another wood hip. There was also a hip step down to step up that we timed just right and actually got a shot of both of us in the air at the same time. It was really fun to sesh some jumps w/ Gus and Kyle. The trail ended on some really ripping trail, complete w/ a good few brapper berms. Kyle had to bail, but Gus and I shuttled back up and rode Bell-E. It was really fun and flowy up top w/ some pedaling, then gave away to some jumps through the trees (and a couple bigger trannied stepdowns). We veered over and hit the Westsyde Road gap- probably the biggest jump I've hit here in William's Lake. Then we trained into the rest of the jumps on the trail (me hitting them blindly). THEN we veered over and hit Sick and Nasty- named after two lines down a super steep gully, into a g-out, then off a step up hip that is a bit of a lofter. It was "adrenalizing" to say the least!! We finished the ride off w/ some pedaling and ran into Masters and Nelly who were off on a xc ride. There was some talk of Smithers, which is north of Prince George, and their crazy amount of trails that they've been building w/ grant money. I hear there's really good food in town and they love to take in out of towner. Sounds pretty damn cool!! Now if only we can get Gus a big bike, which he says is mandatory (wow- he sent everything on his Bitch today- including some BIG stuff- Smithers must be bigger!!). Now I'm chilling at the laundromat after mowing a 1/2# burger, fries, a salad, and a margarita. I'm gonna go to David's and get a massage later, then will hopefully repeat the amazing day I had!!!

William's Lake Day 3- Sun. June 21st, 2010

The next morning I stumbled into Mark and Jucinda's and had a espresso w/ them before heading to town and the Gecko Cafe (hands down the best food in WL). I met Kari and Lacey as well as Cory. We got out and rode a couple A Flo Daddy laps, then a Dog Bone w/ Colin, Kailem, and Laura. I almost died on the 40' gap jump. I had hit it previously w/ the youngsters on day 1, coming up just a touch short (no really defined landing), so I really charged off it second go. Probably a bit too hard. I got a little funky in the air and landed off the trail in some weeds. I was in the air for a LONG time!! I really wanted to grab the brakes and freak out, but I tried to hold it together as long as possible. I landed really hard, bottomed the bike out, and somehow rode away unscathed. I'll never hit it again!! Dog Bone was a crazy steep switch back trail. Kailem told me to "let it go off the wallride" in one section. I got going way too fast, pinned it through some gnar, and had to jump off the bike before flying off the trail into some rocks. Hehe!! Cory and I tried to do Snakes and Ladders, but after changing my brake pads on the top of the trail, my brake never pumped back up!! I rode most of the stunts (that were left) and all of the trail, but it was sketchy when the front tire started to push!! Out to Mark's for a sweat lodge session!! I met David and Juana (who cooks at the Gecko), another Veterinarian, Jessie, Laura, and a few others who's name evade me right now. It was the first sweat I've ever been to where they pile ALL the stones it at once (25!!!). The lodge was built underground right on the water!! Between doors we got out and jumped in the lake!! It was AWESOME!!!! We sung and meditated, and SWEATED!! Afterwards we had strawberry crisp around the fire. Then a long, deep sleep that didn't feel long enough (the sun is up EARLY, and so am I these daze!!).