Evenin' Mountain Adventure

At about 4pm yesterday, I decided I needed to get my blood moving so I wandered down to the hotel gym. I plopped down on the stationary bike, thinking I would get some reading done while I mindlessly pedaled. Not two minutes into it, I realized I was literally in the last place on earth I wanted to be at that moment. Here I am, surrounded by beautiful mountains, and I'm in the hotel gym?! Unacceptable.

I bolted back up to my room, threw on my warm clothes, and trekked out the back door of the hotel, straight onto the ski slopes of the resort. My goal was to reach the top of the ridge in time for sunset.

Turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. I huffed it up the cat track and wound my way up past the bottom two chairlifts. What ensued over the course of the next hour was pure sunset brilliance--I was speechless as I witnessed all these brilliant colors light up the sky.

The Great Outdoors, & Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole has got to be one of my favorite little Western towns around. I've been up here a number of times during the warm Wyoming summers, but this is my first winter experience. I walked off the plane to blue skies, warm sun, and snowy mountain peaks all around.

I had a chance to wander downtown yesterday and try some local brew at Snake River Brewing Company--they had a solid Pale Ale which washed down my sausage sampler quite nicely.

I capped off the night at a local bar where I watched Obama's State of the Union and then nabbed a pool table for some quality chill time.

I took a couple of long walks yesterday, choosing to trudge through the snow-covered neighborhood streets rather than hopping on the large bus that runs between the resort and downtown Jackson Hole. On my way back from town last night, I was surrounded by cold air, huge mountains, bright stars, and nothing but the sound of snow crunching beneath my boots.

It reminded me how incredible it is to have these awesome outdoor spaces where we can play, camp, hike, explore, and generally escape from the world. I want to give a huge shout out to my family, and particularly my grandpa Tom (far right below), and Grandma Margie (far left) for making the outdoors such an essential and central experience in their children's and grandchildren's lives.

I'm the little one in green here, stoked to be up in the High Country in Yosemite, our family's favorite place in the world. The only other place that truly rivals Yosemite is Grand Teton National Park, just an hour away from where I'm sitting now. How lucky I am to have an opportunity to visit all these magnificent places...

Snowbirding Complete. Next Stop: Jackson, WY

It was a beautiful weekend up at Snowbird resort in Utah. We had two amazing, sunny days and one day with 75 mph winds and constant snowfall. They cancelled the competition on the bad weather day, which allowed me to sneak in an afternoon of snowboarding. I gotta say--I loved it, despite being dubious of the sport from my experience 8 years ago...

The competition was incredibly fun to watch and I've enjoyed meeting the athletes between rounds. They're so talented and yet so relaxed and humble at the same time. It's refreshing and inspiring, to say the least.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves for this event. Oh, and if you click on them, they should open up in a new window in your browser and they'll be all big and pretty.

Here you'll see the booth where I "live" on the weekends, some athletes, some beer, some beer showers, and the obligatory sunset shot...

Aerial Views

Well, I had a phenomenal weekend in San Francisco, where the sun was out and the weather was warm. I spent a few hours lounging on Baker Beach and soaking in views of the Pacific with friends. We manged to get 5 people, 3 dogs, and 3 six packs in the car for the drive over there--not too shabby.

This morning it was back to the races. I flew out to Salt Lake City where we've got two events on the menu this week--the Outdoor Retailer show downtown, and The North Face Masters of Snowboarding up at Snowbird resort.

I wasn't expecting to have much to post in the way of photos early in the week, but I had the unexpected pleasure of capturing some shots from my window seat on the plane. After 3 hours of delays due to heavy fog, when I finally got up in the air, the perspective on San Francisco was incredible.

I also got to snag a shot of snowy Lake Tahoe when I accidentally opened my shade and looked outside.

But this last view was the one I was anticipating the whole flight. I remember so vividly when our family moved out to Utah in March of 1995--I was a curious little 11 year old, waiting to see what this new city would bring to our lives. When we began our descent towards our new home, I peeped out the window and I felt my jaw drop as I looked around at all the majestic, snow-covered mountains surrounding the urban sprawl. That memory has stayed with me all these years, and although I exclusively take aisle seats these days on my journeys, I will always opt for the window when I know I'm coming to Utah in the winter. The magic is still there.

Looking forward to a week full of old friends, new events, and stunning scenery.

Oh Canada, I will miss you!

Well, I'm on US soil again in Seattle, waiting for my flight home to SF. It was a fantastic weekend and a great way to kick off my winter travel schedule.

It was absolutely freezing this morning in Revelstoke, but the air was clear and the sunlight hitting the range was a soft, inviting pink.

As I sat in the terminal booking through emails from the week, I looked up from my laptop just in time to catch an amazing sunset over the airport in Seattle. I think it's really important for all of us to savor these little moments in the middle of all the craziness of our daily lives. If you can't take a second to catch your breath and enjoy it all, what's the point?

Wishing you all some quiet moments this week to soak it all in.

What is freeskiing anyway?

It's not far-fetched to think that some of you probably don't know what freeskiing is. I'm still learning more about it myself!

I wanted to share some video from the qualifying round of the competition to give you a glimpse of what kinds of things these athletes are pulling off. Basically, they're attacking the toughest parts of the mountain--you know, dropping off rocks and threading the needle through trees--and they're getting judged on how well they ski their "line" down the mountain.

Last night, I attended the athletes meeting, where the judges broke down what they were looking for from the winners. This involves a combination of technical prowess, style points for big air or aerial tricks, and "fluidity" in the run--meaning how well the whole thing falls together to feel like a smooth, solid takeover of the slope.

Two things really struck me about how this event all comes together. First and foremost, safety is always on the minds of the event producers. The truth is, these athletes are taking on risky parts of the mountain where they can seriously injure themselves in a heartbeat. Judges emphasized the need for everyone to stay safe instead of attacking the hill with overly-aggressive and risky stunts.

The other thing that has struck me this week was something a member of the event production team mentioned to me over a Pale Ale on the first night. He said that their goal with these events is to provide the mountain as a stage for these athletes to perform. They want to showcase the athletes in these stunning outdoor venues, allowing them to do what they love and share that passion for big mountain skiing with the rest of the world.

It's been an incredible first stop on the tour, and I can't wait to follow it through the rest of the winter. Today I got a chance to hit the slopes myself again in the morning hours, and I settled into my room just as an amazing sunset graced the tops of the peaks across the valley from the resort.

Life really is good.

And so it begins...

Well, it's official! I'm on the road and sprinting full speed ahead towards March, with a packed winter events schedule. This blog will be a fun way for me to document my journey keep y'all informed of all the amazing events I get to be a part of on behalf of Sierra Nevada.

I'm super excited to be up here at Revelstoke Mountain Resort, British Columbia for the Canadian Freeskiing Championships with the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour.

I headed up the mountain to check out the venue for today's competition and wow--I've never skiied anything quite like this. The runs are incredibly long so although the resort only has a few lifts, you can literally ride forever down the mountain. I got to try out some fat skis for the very first time, and I was pleasantly surprised by their performance. Needless to say, I didn't really do them justice...but this season is all about pushing myself to take on bigger and badder slopes so I can hang with this awesome crew of athletes and outdoor event rockstars.

But it can't be all play and no work! We've got an athlete's meeting coming up to recap the day, go over tomorrow's event plan, and enjoy each other's company over some fine Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. British Columbia is a brand new market for us, and we were able to move the beer up here just in time for the event. Apparently the stuff is literally flying off the shelves.

Cheers, Canada!

For now, I'm settling into my "office" away from home...