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Wednesday
September 12, 2007 Park City, Utah NEW ZEALAND REDUX On the
very last day of my 28 days staying in Wanaka I
decided to do a Heli day with Harris Mountain Heli.
The snow was pretty good in spite of avy conditions keeping us from
being able to do the steeper
terrain. It was my first time in a helicopter and snowboarding via helicopter
and I felt no anxiety during the experience whatsoever. All of my previous
terrain experience translated seamlessly into what was a very natural unfolding
of fun-having. The guide shot some video of me on his camera but it didn't
come out, the tape was blank, so alas I have no riding footage to show
for my New
Zealand
trip ( I did get some nice clips of inside the heli etc. on my still camera).
It was important
for
me to to
take this action, to make the move to make this day happen during this
trip. The whole energy of my trip shifted when I committed to doing this
during the days leading up to it. I did ten runs. It was a sick day.
The next day I headed to Queenstown where I hung out for
a few days and rode at Coronet Peak and The Remarkables.
I also visited a Bird Park and saw a live Kiwi bird in a
nocturnal kiwi bird house and had a drink at an ice bar
while I was over there. (Photos: Coronet Peak, Remarkables, Remarkables,
Remarkables Range view from Queenstown, ice bar)
Before heading back to Christchruch for my flight home I had to honor of
seeing New Zealand Fur Seals and a Blue Penguin in
the wild out on the Otago
Peninsula near Dunedin. The next day in Dunedin
I checked out the Otago
Museum to see some Maori Art and I visited a large swimming pool
complex. (Photos: Fur seals, Penguin Beach, Maori art)
I got up at 4 o'clock in the morning on the day before my flight home
to make the drive to Mt. Hutt in the Canterbury
region of the South Island near Christchurch. Having had some
days off from riding I realized how much being
on the snow meant to me and decided to sneak in one more day before flying
back to North American summer. It was a long foggy drive up the East
Coast, but the skies cleared as I was arriving in Methven,
the town that is the gateway to Mt. Hutt (and some well known
heli-operations
in the surrounding
ranges). I arrived to a sunny day at Mt. Hutt and had some nice laps
on their new top to bottom six-seater lift. Good terrain (with
a big crazy
gully at
the bottom with banks to fly off of) and a nice park. Unfortunately the
storm came in and blanketed the mountain in a zero-visibility cloud only
a couple
of hours into my day there. It started snowing and wasn't going to stop.
After one last run in the white-on-white conditions, I loaded up my car
and called it a day. I was lucky enough to ride 26 days while I was in
New Zealand.
A solid trip, but the way that last day at Mt. Hutt ended I am left craving
more, and I will try to get back on the snow as soon as possible. (Photo:
Mt. Hutt 8/28/07)
After turning in my mud-coated rental car (I tried to get it washed but
every car wash I stopped at was out of order) and checking in my luggage
at the
Christchurch airport I visited the Antarctic Center on
the edge of the airport's grounds. The United States launches its flights
to Antarctica from the hangars
and runways across the street from the center. The center is currently
hosting some Blue Penguins rescued from bad situations and recuperating
from injuries.
SInce it was not the right situation to photograph the penguin I saw in
the wild, it was nice to see these guys up close and be able to take pictures
while they had a feeding, swam and played. From there I walked back to
the
airport and began the first of my three flights home.
Thursday August 30, 2007 Park City, Utah Finally got home last night after a long day and a half of traveling. I have a lot of good pictures and stories from the second half of my New Zealand trip that I will try to get online as soon as possible. Taking some time to rest and re-organize before taking a trip next week to find a new place to live. Going to be working extra hard for awhile to get myself positioned to make the most of the Northern Hemisphere winter when it arrives.
Sunday August 19, 2007 Wanaka, New Zealand Day 20 of riding this season (Snowpark.nz) Assorted days of riding at Snowpark and Cardrona this past week. Mostly pipe and quarterpipe (when it has been open) at Snowpark plus some random kickers, Cardrona a mix of off-piste terrain, park and pipe. Some really nice dry powder last Monday at Cardrona and getting more confident in the relatively crowded and high-pressure pipe scene at snowpark. Still not really getting much "done" at snowpark but I am riding there and sometimes I like it and it is fun. Watched some heavy helicopter filming action go down with a kicker gap to top of quarterpipe last week at snowpark, captured some clips of helicopters but not much of the riding action came out visible on the photos I took in the sunlight. Also watched some of the Billabong Slopestyle competition on Saturday. My favorite T6 kind of died yesterday (aluminum core snowboard) -- the layers just started to peel apart at one end...so now I am riding my Custom X and it feels heavy and stiff. I am anxious to warranty that T6 and get a new one.
Thursday August 9, 2007 Wanaka, New Zealand. Day 12 of riding this season, I went to Cardrona. Great day with good snow conditions and stimulating natural terrain with a bit of park thrown into the mix. I just wasn't connecting psychologically with the competition scene at the NZ Open halfpipe qualifiers...my practice runs had some amplitude and felt good but when it came my turn to drop in I wasn't able to put it all together. Not enough practice, not enough tricks. I will keep trying.
Tuesday
August 7, 2007 Wanaka, New Zealand 8:40pm NZT Registration
and Practice for the New Zealand Open were today,
I compete in the halfpipe qualifiers tomorrow. Snowpark has been overwhelmingly
crowded and it has been difficult to get enough or quality practice time
in the pipe. The longest lines to get in a halfpipe I have ever experienced.
The quarterpipe has been the fun feature there for me. I hit a bunch
of boxes and jibs etc when I first got there to feel out if I wanted
to do
slopestyle or not as I was registered for it -- I ultimately decided
this morning that I will only do the halfpipe as I am not feeling completely
confident with rails (they are just not my thing) and I am busting a
gut
to go and ride some "actual mountains"...As much as I want
to qualify for the semifinals, I have a deep need to go and ride at Cardrona
and/or Treble Cone at least a couple of days through the weekend. Snowpark
can be fun, I think the pipe to quarterpipe run there will be a good
scene
for progression next week, just not so much until those features completely
reopen and the crowds start to disperse. Snowpark
and Snowpark View Photos from last week are here: Snowpark Photos (NewZealand1)
I was at Treble Cone on Sunday for about 6 inches of powder (much
more in some places) on the crust, a truly epic riding experience for any day
of the calendar
year (particularly so for August 5). Lots of steep terrain with natural features
that were fun...virgin wind lips, that sort of thing. Photos from Sunday
are
here: Treble Cone Powder Day (NewZealand2)
In other news, I am seriously rethinking what I want to do in terms
of
competing this winter. I really like the whole TTR concept and its execution,
I just question
whether women's competitive snowboarding is the place for me. I simply do not
find most women's competitive snowboarding to be sexy or artistically charismatic
along the parameters that I need something to be to remain engaged with it
and focus
my
energy on
it.
Sunday
July 29, 2007 Wanaka, New Zealand 8:15pm NZT I am finally
in New Zealand. I left Salt Lake CIty last Wednesday evening (local
time) and arrived in Christchurch on the South Island Friday morning
local time. Then I drove (first time driving on the left side of the road)
to Wanaka. My board bag didn't make it here until Saturday night so today
was my first day riding. I opted for Cardrona, more of a regular ski mountain,
instead of Snowpark for today so I could get used to riding again and take
some longer runs. It was really foggy, the hill was in a cloud most of
the day. I think there is some weather happening tonight and the next day
or two, hopefully we will get some snow accumulation. Here is a link to
some pictures from the trip so far:
New Zealand Photos 1: Christchurch to Wanaka, Wanaka Days 1 through 3
Saturday July 21, 2007 Park City, Utah It appears that the 2007 Burton New Zealand open is going to be an all-out-mega-event of monumental proportions. I am down to my last few days before the big trip, final preparations are underway and I am full of anticipation. There will be some celebrating in airports and on airplanes but then it is time to focus and make things happen.
Wednesday
July 4, 2007 Park City, Utah 1230am MT I have been working
extremely hard, not only when I am "at work" at
my job but also when I am home doing ebay and other things, to make enough
money to make my New Zealand trip happen this summer. In three weeks
I plan to be on my way to the island nation in the South Pacific for
about
five weeks of snowboarding. I also plan to do some surfing and to visit
and photograph some fur seals and penguins.
During the hours when I am not working to make money for my trip I have been
doing everything I can to exercise and make the most of these non-snowboarding
days. Lots of running/biking/swimming, power yoga and plyometrics. It is a bit
hot for outdoor stuff in the middle of the days, but I have managed to run on
some bike trails and even went running in Deer Valley a couple of times. I feel
like I am penetrating North Korea or something when I run up there. I try to
jump off of some ledges and concrete fence things and be rowdy at least a little
bit.
Wednesday
June 27, 2007 Park City, Utah 11pm MT Summer so far has
been sleepy and busy at the same time, I like to sleep in and watch
tennis while I am asleep, it is a summer tradition...and I like
to exercise, swim, run and go out and play as much as possible. And I
have been working lots, in order to be able to snowboard later this
summer and
then again a little bit right before the actual season starts and get
myself moved to a new place, out of Utah, in the days/weeks between
those times
on the snow. It is becoming evident that I need to figure out a work
situation with more flexibility and profitability than working miscellaneous
jobs in
whatever ski town. So I am working extraordinarily hard to figure out
a system of creative profitability that will make it possible for
me to fully use
my talents while remaining fully dedicated to the snowboarding thing
during the seasons, trips, times when that is the task/play at hand.
Speaking of dedication to riding, I was getting some runs together during my
last few times when I got to play in the pipe, especially at Squaw back in April,
and in other places:
I think, given a few days, weeks in an actual winter-conditions pipe I am going
to be very happy.
It is a hard call to make, whether to work on some way (not work and hemorrhage
money) to be on the snow at Mt. Hood for a month before going to New Zealand
to "train" on the "snow"...or to physically and mentally
engage with the various Asanas of snowboarding yoga off the snow while doing
what I need to do to make money that needs to be made. And as I have chosen
the latter and I had to make do with much less
on-snow
time
than some people are getting, I find myself becoming a much more skilled
player of my inner game and a much more evolved snowboarder on many levels.
Or maybe
I am just doing too much hypoxic swimming in the pool in preparation for
some surfing I plan to do
in the near future.