Warm weather and the end of winter sport travels and shenanigans means it’s time to dust of the parachutes, wingsuits and gravity toys. I cannot express how great it feels to get back into the air. Things are lining up great for an amazing summer!
Thanks Skydive Ogden for the continued altitude adjustments!
All finished up and ready to get nasty.
For the past year or so my passion for FXR’s grew insanely out of control, but was tamed by their high price and rareness. It was always a pipe dream of mine to own a early 1990’s FXRT or FXRP, but with the recent popularity increase in these nearly extinct machines, I never thought I would ever in a million years for under $10k. Well, my assumptions were wrong, and one fell into my lap last fall and went straight into the garage for a make over.
Huge thanks goes out to the boys at Bonnevillains Speed Shop, Dirty Rat MotoCyco and Harley Davidson in SLC. Also cannot thank the homies at Death Squad for the most proper parts.
Welcome to the family 1992 FXRT. Time to get nasty!
Well, now that the winter has slowly come to an end, the warm weather is more than welcome for me here in Utah. This weekend I was able to head down to central Utah, Moab to be exact for some BASE jumping and summer-like atmosphere…and most importantly, trade-in my Dalbello ski boots for my Five Ten 5/10 Dome hiking shoes.
I can not describe how amazing it felt to be back at Mineral Bottom, Castle Valley and the surrounding Moab red rock play land. I am ready to turn back around and head straight back there for some more slider-down BASE jumping madness!
This winter I got the opportunity to travel the world with the Swatch Freeride World Tour by The North Face. It was an amazing few months, jam-packed with travels all over the globe to Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada, Courmayeur, Italy, Chamonix, France, Kirkwood, California, Fieberbrunn, Austia, and Verbier, Switzerland.
The schedule was crazy, and the jet lag took a while to recover from, but the experiences of travel, freeriding, and events were unbelievable. I cannot wait for what 2014 has in store for the FWT.
Now I have a few free months of warm weather in my agenda, so let the parachute and flying sports begin!
Revelstoke Highlights
Courmayeur Highlghts
Chamonix Highlights
Kirkwood Highlights
Fieberbrunn Highlights
Finally, ONE unified tour!
2013 will be an epic season.
Currently in Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada ready to kick this season off!
August I got the amazing opportunity to do a GoPro and Harley-Davidson ride from Seattle to Sturgis with Chad Kagy, Aaron Chase, Eric Jackson, Ashmore Bodiford, Brian Lopes, Christian Schauf, Wes Nobles, Zach Schauf and many more.
The video just dropped and I couldn’t be more stoked. Check it out! #epicsturgis #hd110
Thanks again to Harley Davidson, Go Pro, The Schauf brothers, and everyone apart of this once in a lifetime ride.
Couldn’t be more stoked to grab another magazine cover! Thanks Liam Doran for the amazing image and Alta Ski Resort for the amazing snow and terrain. Great way to come back from an injury plagued year and a half.
For most, the summer months are a time to embrace the warm climate and praise the fact that winter is months away. For freeskiers, it’s a time of restlessness, waiting for those wintery months to return, blanket the mountains with snow and embark on the powder highway of which, we the freeskiing tribe, all dream. Traveling to the South America in search of snow has become an annual summer task for many athletes, especially those on the Freeride World Tour (FWT).
For four years, the FWT has been traveling south of the equator to expand the sport of freeskiing into the South American region and ski culture. La Parva and El Colorado have hosted past events but this summer’s tour headed to Ski Arpa. Slated as the first stop of the 2013 Freeride World Qualifier (FWQ). Unfortunately, due to unsuitable conditions, the event was cancelled. With many individuals head and heart set on getting their South American fix, The North Face Chile and the FWT management put their heads together resulting in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; to travel to Southern Chile, to the northern Andes of Patagonia, to the small resort of Antillanca for a week of backcountry volcano skiing. In true “Never Stop Exploring” fashion and the family-like mentality of the FWT the adventure was sure to provide a strong kick off for the 2013 season.
Getting to Northern Patagonia is not for the weak traveler. A 12-hour plane ride will get you to Santiago, Chile (from Salt Lake City, Utah) where the FWT athletes and staff cultured themselves by walking the city streets, dining on the local cuisine, taking in the Chilean lifestyles and enjoying true South American cervesas. But Santiago is only the halfway point in the travel adventure to Patagonia. Add a 12-hour bus ride and a two-hour van ride through dense rainforest vegetation in Puyehue National Park, and we finally reached our mountain paradise at the base of the Casablanca Volcano. The skiing terrain is only accessed by a few T-bar style chairlifts and one double chairlift (which was not in operation). Antillanca is beyond unique when it comes to ski standards.
For five days, FWT athletes from all over the world, dressed in bright multi-colored freeskiing attire, loaded the T-bar along side the camouflage covered Chilean military and Junior Chilean race teams, but the common bond of skiing easily bridged the culture and language barriers. The athletes planned to explore terrain in and out of the resort boundary, documenting full days of action from first chair to the incomparable Andes sunsets. Side-country and backcountry lines were accessible in all directions from Antillanca’s summit, terrain not usually explored by the locals. A quick hour-plus tour puts you on the summit of a volcano, with surreal panoramic views of volcanic peaks. The next step is to pick a line into a snow-covered crater or onto picturesque exposed terrain that would challenge the best athlete out there.
Antillanca, although more of a vacation than a ski event, was the perfect way to start off the 2013 Freeride World Qualifier athletes and stoke the fires that are sure to fuel the most exciting series in freeskiing history. The January launch of the 2013 tour at Revelstoke Mountain Resort in British Columbia does not seem that far away.
Let’s do this.
Hopping on a jet plane once again. Stay tuned.
4 days. Seattle to Sturgis. Open road. Great people. Mountain Biking, Kayaking, Skydiving, partying.
How could I say no?!
Such a killer trip and experience. Thanks Go Pro, HD, and the Schauf Brothers.
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