T-minus 30

I'm appropriately spending a few of the last minutes writing about - well who really cares?

It's bed time and I'm riding out my 20s in style with a wonderful wife lying next to me, beautiful daughter sleeping down the hall in our rented Olympia house where I also spend too much time working on school, work, Navy and screwing off with an incomplete bachelors degree and budding career.

So I'll start my 30s the way I started my 20s - skiing. Only this time I'm sharing my little tradition with my family.

What more can I ask for?


Bring on the rest of my life!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My Night Before Christmas

It's about to end as I turn for bed. Morning will come no matter what and Hannah will wake up and open her presents. Then this all goes into history.

Any of you ever realize you will remember something forever - as it's happening?

That's what happened to me this evening while reading five stories to Hannah before bed. One of those stories was The Night Before Christmas.

We decided after a long night at Nana and Grandpa Dusty's house, we'd head home and get the milk and cookies ready for Santa. Then we'd read stories till Hannah got tired. She's listening to Bing Crosby and racked out - thinking of Santa Claus and presents in the morning.

I knew this point would come sometime and imagined it a lot. Now there's reality.

We have no snow for a white Christmas and there's none in the forecast. I'm turning 30 tomorrow, behind on work and about to take the gratuitous bite of cookie and drink of milk before waking up to the best present a person can get - watching your child go nuts Christmas morning.

I'm just glad I thought to take the time to document this incredible feeling. It's everything I ever hoped it would be. I really have a family - one so much better than I could ever have imagined.

Merry Christmas to all - and to all a good night.

Christmistory

I've always enjoyed studying history. It's the story of existence. Everything we know can only be relearned by studying history. It's fascinating - especially when it's true.

Here's a recent post from a former history teacher of mine. It's perfectly fitting considering all the perceived truths surrounding Christmas. Everyone in the world can celebrate one universal theme no matter what you believe - spending time with loved ones and taking at least one day out of our busy lives to share joy.

Here's what Joe Cavalli has to say about it:

"Sol Invictus! Happy Birth of the Sun...The date affixed to the birth of Jesus has varied and still does. Early Egyptian Christians celebrated Christmas in April, and the Armenian Church still rejects the 25 December date in favor of 6 January (Epiphany). - The most popular ancient Roman festivals were Saturnalia (1-2...3 Dec) and the Birth of the Sun, 25 Dec. celebrated by those in the Cult of Mithra.

In a pragmatic move, 4th cent. Pope Julius I set the birth of Jesus on the same day as birth of the sun. - The first religious nutjobs, not the last in America i.e., Puritans, banned Christmas since there is no mention of the date of Jesus' birth date in the Bible. St. Francis Assisi gets credit for inventing the Nativity scene and St. Boniface was... See More first to cut down the god Thor's tree(yule). Martin Luther revived the popularity of the pagan Yule tree. Don't forget to thank a pagan today. Most of our Christian traditions, dates and celebration originate with them. Merry Christmas."

Last Call?

Every time I hear this track, I think of my fucking incredible struggle to make a splash in the ski industry. Much like Mr. West - I've made the impossible happen while destroying it in the process. His Last Call track always catapults reflection of my own developing story as I break into the ski industry.

Much like any of these hip hop icons, I've been breaking into my own industry. Every up and every down feel equally substantial - everything could build or bust off this move.

Bottom line is there's something that makes my heart beat about the whole thing - skiing. I don't know how I ended being driven to this sport or the industry and lifestyle surrounding it. Sometimes I just wish I could have a coaches' rating to gauge my influence. Those guys don't realize how fortunate they are to see their record or true rating or a quantifiable number.

I can travel from 95th to 40th in a matter or hours. So can anyone, but it's stressful - no doubt.

Whether it be going from Navy deck ape to journalist and public affairs specialist or from measly Powder intern to account executive with Hayter PR - it's a success story and it's all mine. Maybe my story doesn't sound like Kanye's, but it certainly sounds similar and feels likewise.

In my own defense  - I'm still yet to meet anyone who's gone from my beginnings to my current state. Yeah, that statement could be considered arrogant or conceited. But in reality, I did it - no one else.

Fair nuff I guess. As much as I don't wanna finish this press release tonight, my previous work bought me the ability to push it off till the a.m. - if nothing else.

I wonder what that alone puts my rating at...

Revelstoked

The closer to 30 I get the closer I get to Revelstoke!

It's hard to believe I'll wait till I'm 30 to go cat or heli skiing. Not that anyone should feel a heli skiing trip should come before the big 3-0, but because I've worked so close to the industry for so long and so many of my friends have gone already.

Well by no means am I bitching. Once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and events come - well you get the idea. And the fact I'll be doing both likely more than once this season leaves me more than humbled. I'm a bit disappointed in myself for being out of shape for next week's Revelstoke trip. But let's be honest - I'm really celebrating being 30 and still skiing - two things that just didn't seem like they'd be mixing.

Lastly, I think it's about high time I celebrate success. I'll dive into this a bunch more in a later post, but 2009 is clearly the best year I can remember. It just hasn't stopped and I'm finally starting to believe I can continue doing it. I've never been this far down the road before and the scenery is beautiful.

So I'm sending 2009 out the way it deserves - from Nelson, BC at Revelstoke. May it be from the chairs, cats or helis - I'm sure to have a trip to remember!

Debacle For the Holidays

I'm at Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Reno about to board my flight to Oakland - and finally on to Seattle.

My plan was to jump a much cheaper (free) flight from Travis AFB between Sacramento and San Francisco. That flight got canceled last night - just the icing on the cake for this trip. Despite my best efforts, everything from the time I first started working, turned into another ski-related story assignment failure.

Day one was relaxing after KC drove the entire trip from Olympia to Reno - via Bend, Ore. The second day brought heavy snow shile shooting KC Deane and 4bi9's Dave Eulerat at Northstar  with legendary outdoor photographer Bill Stevenson. My post-surgery knee kept me timid while dust on rocks coverage kept the athletes falling on themselves and risking it in December. Even though it was dumping - the snow just wasn't deep enough. At least Bill came away with some shots I can submit.

Luke, Andy, Mitch, Ben and other great friends from Reno took me out for drinks that night at Reno's Biggest Little City Club followed by a brief stop at 

My buddy Blake came down to Reno amidst the first storm Friday night to pick me up and head back to King's Beach and crash at his house for the night. Good plan. We got about another foot at lake level overnight and the snow took a break that morning to allow us to get to the mountain. That break, in reality, was incredibly short - so short it was more like a glimmer of sunshine for a few minutes. Then the snow resumed and continued to pound the mountains.

Best day of the year so far - and it's still only mid December. Not too shabby. I stepped it up a little too big sending it a bit more than 20 feet. Wasn't the wisest move, but I just wanted to feel out the new JJs - which are by far the best skis I've been on thus far. I missed hte ARGs a bit in the fresh pow, but for everything else it was JJ coming through - especially in the chop and crud. That skis just makes it happen!

I did one more day at Alpine w/ Luke, Andy, Ben and Mitch - which by the way are about the funnest doods you can roll anywhere w/. Partying my face off with them my second night in Reno was no exception to my previous statement. Unfortunately we split ways early on when I met up w/ Rory "The Reno Quake" Clements. Rory, Blake and I got after it for a while before that 20+footer started to catch up w/ my knee. I called it early and tended to the developing debacle of planning that became of my story at Kirkwood. We left the mountain w/ a 70-percent chance of things going close to what I intended.

Later that evening I realized the whole thing was going to implode aside from our lodging and one day's worth of passes. Rory, Blake and I hit up beers on the way to Kirkwood and ended up meeting up w/ Mandi-with-an-I. She's the girl from the Line Mothership ski. That's right - she's the one holding up the boombox. We hung out for a bit and drank a bunch of cheap beer before calling a night.

About four hours later I woke to the sounds of explosives ripping out snow in the zones we were supposed to ski. Being that the whole story imploded - I just skied around w/ Annie and Bill after his amazing photo shoot w/ KC in the permantly-closed Cirque. Despite the whole story falling through, we had an awesome time.

We all skipped skiing the last day and headed north to Truckee where I stayed the night w/ Bill and Annie in their new condo. What a beautiful place.

Just before bed I called to verify my flight status out of McChord. Good thing cause they canceled my flight and I had to purchase one out of Reno. Disaster averted and I was on  the plane the following morning.

Now I'm sorting through my notes and interviews to get something up on the skiing website. Only problem is that it's bedtime and I'm out of gas. Ugh. Maybe one story...

A Moment's Notice

 KC was turning to walk out my front door when he snickered and half-kiddingly said I should come w/ him back to Reno.

So I did.

And I pitched four stories to my editor - three of which were picked up and now I'm on assignment. Then I got the forecast for flights from Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento to McChord Air Force Base near Olympia. Looks like I'm in luck - knock on wood. KC drove from Oly to Bend, Ore., where we met w/ Rage Films' Dan Norkunas and his girlfriend Amy at the Deschutes Brewery.

We stayed the night at Dan's house in frigid Bend where the regional temperatures dipped below -25 Fahrenheit. They were still about -10 degrees this morning as we left to check out the very impressive
Rage Films offices/studios. They have everything from administrative offices to corporate conference meeting rooms and complete green screen room w/ 20-foot ceilings to a complete music recording studio. Rage has everything any media professional could ask for.

From Rage it was onward to Reno. KC ponied up to drive the entire leg while I attempted to get work done tethering internet from my iPhone - which worked surprisingly well considering we were somewhere between rural Oregon and rural California and Nevada.

And about 36 hours after 30 minutes worth of planning I'm here in Reno and ready to go. First big snow storm is scheduled for Saturday into Sunday. Nailed it yet again!

The End of the Beginning

As his world crumbled around him - he stood atop the stoop in downtown Washington D.C. - clearly intoxicated and boldly proclaimed how he was meant for bigger and better things.

Staring up at the high-rise buildings and central power of the nation's capitol - he wasn't just drunk and spewing random garbage. He was serious. He was dead serious - and from 1999 to now it finally took its course. What a struggle it's been for him. His friends and colleagues were all moving forward onto the places of their design - but not him. The road less traveled became his advantage. That road of ridicule, chastise and alienation is the strength of the thread that holds his life in balance.

So tonight I thought of him. I toasted a glass to success tonight, but my real toast was to that 19-year-old kid. Because he was right and he deserves nothing less. Yesterday and today are those days he imagined where his ideas not only mattered, but made a difference. If there was a dream come true - these past two day were it. Thanks to that kid whose energy, passion and commitment surpassed everyone's. The best part is - it's all just getting started.