ESCAPE

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You learn a lot from going snowboarding: the changing of the weather and the seasons, the ability to read terrain, the limits of your own physical capabilities; all those valuable skills that we pick up from years of riding. To some these lessons seem insignificant. They are certainly a far cry from what I learnt in my tertiary education. But I think what we learn in the mountains has an application that can reach far beyond the limits of the snow line. The sum total of all these lessons is experience. I sit here writing this looking at reports from another massive dump in NZ almost a meter just this week are blanketing the peaks. Almost the reverse of last year. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realised that it’s not the depth or quality that defines my enjoyment in the mountains, although it certainly helps! It’s the feeling you get when the mountains fill your windscreen and the lights fade in your rear view mirror and the high country opens up before you. I’ve stopped worrying about how much snow we will get when we head for the hills. The snow will come and all our worries will be forgotten, and all

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Rescue in Revelstoke

Panic…. No don’t. That’s the first response you have when you realise you have a friend lost out on the mountain. Revelstoke B.C isn’t just your regular ski resort. This mother of a hill is a free riders wet dream. 5620 feet of vertical fall line with the very best of British Columbia’s famous snowfall almost 18 meters annually and that’s what makes this a destination for any skier or rider worth their salt. This mountain is anything but forgiving. The regulars for any of our road trips Matt, Tom, Del and our friend Joe who was visiting from Oz. We were meeting with our friends who call the town of Revelstoke home. These guys are the real deal. Living day to day and meal to meal. As long as they got on the mountain they sleep better than any baby,and they know the mountain like the back of their hand. After a massive day on the hill. Which involves a non stop top to bottom thrashing of our legs we were all ecstatic with the day’s conditions. Blue bird day and 30cm of fresh blower pow! So we regroup and decide to do one more. A wee hike into

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Aero Plane Food

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Aero plane food. Late 2011 I was on my way back to The Northern hemisphere  for my second full season in the Canadian Rockies. This one was going to be different. I spent the last 6 months working crazy long days to save as much as I could. I was doing a ski bum season! This was the dream. Halfway through my second flight, Auckland to Vancouver the long haul, I started to feel quezie in my stomach. “It’s ok I thought” “I’ve never had food poisoning” oh wasn’t I wrong. I’ve never had food posing that I can remember and definitely in my adult life. Never had I grasped the full scale of what people meant when the say “it was coming out of both holes” but yep that’s where I was in the cramped aeroplane cubicle with it coming out of both ends. Not the nicest clean up. Geez I smelt. But what did I eat? I’ve heard that it can take 6-12 hours to kick in, so I can only put it down to three meals. You know what it’s like when you fly- you get bored so you eat. 1st meal At the Brisbane airport with mum

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Why your riding playlist is the most important thing to pack.

Hank Williams Jr., Slayer, MGMT, Steel Panther. Besides being good old fashioned legends these artists are a few of many that make up my Snowboarding playlist. That’s right! I spend hours over the summer months compiling a 200+ song playlist that will be my companion every day of the season. It never asks for anything either, just a little power and and this little guy keeps me singing on every chair and tree run from November right through till May. Feeling nervous on top of a jump run in the park? Or had the perfect song come on floating through the trees? That’s the difference a song can make! The purists out there who say “I need to hear my carve bro” have never had deaudmau5 aural psynapse  while hammering tree lines or Midnight Oils ‘Beds are Burning’ blaring at the top of a freshly blanketed groomer run. Take it from me friends, it’s hard to top! Combined with this must have essential you must also be aware of the risks. 1.    During your rigorous check list of pockets before heading up you take one step off the gondola and realise that your faithful but shoddy apple headphones that are holding together

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Powder and Ramen in Japan

Quiet possibly my two favourite things in this world, and not necessarily in that order. In another life I was a Chef. And food has been a passion that has never left even after I left the kitchen, so coming to Japan I had a list in my mind of food conquests I was going to consume shortly after landing. The list didn’t consist of the extreme or exotic like Fugu or Horse sashimi. But on top of that list was Ramen! Without a doubt the king of all foods in Japan is the mighty bowl of “Ramen”. It sits on the throne ruling over all the other dishes. Being such a regional dish there is no end to the variety of different interpretations of Ramen as we made our way through the country chasing legendary snow. Imagine this; being up before the sun and stretching out your not so fresh legs for the day ahead to ride another textbook tree run in Japan’s famous snorkel deep snow with your buddies and coming in cold and wet after being outside in wind and snow for 6 hours to the smell of a life giving, restorative and decadently delicious bowl of Ramen.

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Getting fit for the POW!

Getting fit for the POW! The ultimate at home program designed to reduce injury and have you shred ready! Unfortunately some of us can’t be hitting the snow year round meaning snow trips are limited to a couple weeks of the year and the body isn’t conditioned to Snowboard… I’m going to keep this simple, to the point and easy to apply in a 2 x a week program to get you ready for your kick ass snow trip What needs to be strong? It starts with the feet! Your whole body’s structure begins with the feet, effecting everything form the knees, pelvis, shoulders and even your breathing! We have weak feet due to wearing shoes from a young age which can cause knee pain and bad posture in some cases… I’ve got 2 awesome exercises that will help you 1. Build the connective tissue surrounding the joints and reduce your likelihood for injury 2. Develop stronger feet, ankles and knees to have even better control of your board… What else do I need to do? Well your CORE is super important when it comes to boarding… 1. The lower back needs to be strong 2. The bodies ability to

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What is the “Flow State”

Imagine for a moment that you are on your board or skis and you’re at the top of a 10,000 feet wide open mountain and you’ve just dropped in. Your attention is focused on the movements of your body, the tension in your muscles, the force of your lungs breathing the brisk mountain air and the feel of the snow beneath your board or skis. You are living in the moment, utterly absorbed in the present activity. Time seems to fall away. What you are experiencing in that moment is known as flow, a state of complete immersion in an activity. Flow State is described as the mental state of flow, as “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.” Snow boarders and Skiers are some of the best know examples of people being in the flow state, you are living in that moment. Whether you are competing in slope style, big mountain, in the powder or just out on the hill, Flow states are common place. Benefits

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Farewells & Faceshots

At some ungodly hour we are up and saying see ya later to Benny and Hamish. They are homeward bound and leaving behind a devastated Epic Snow crew. Del,Marty and I are hot on their heels but to Tokyo! We are meeting up with Epic Snow Japan’s ambassador Kimmy and his wife Miyu. After a day seeing the sights of downtown Tokyo we bid another farewell to Marty who is off to surf the North Island of NZ. Del and I are scanning the weather radar looking for the next storm. Kimmy gets word that there is a storm heading for an area 3 hours north of Tokyo, at 4.30 am the next morning the Van is packed and the 4 of us are heading north! The prediction was spot on….SNOW all the way down on the valley floor too. We are frothing! We meet Kimmy and Miyu’s friend Hayato who is a Pro Shredder who lives and owns business in the area. Hayato placed 7th in the Japan Big Air comp with his trademark “Tayo Grab.” Del and I are the only westerners on the mountain and loving a true Japanese ski hill. Iwakura has a gondola and we

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Niseko in the North

Twas the morning of the night before, the hang over was real. Climbing out of my hostel built timber capsule at 1am with a very sore head, I released we are in the North of Japan! Ricky and Del who were very spritely from the minimal amounts of shochu they drank, dragged us that afternoon to the Sapporo Beer Brewery for and afternoon of beer tasting, which the sore brain did enjoy. Up early and on a bus to Niseko, where our crazy english friend Duncan picked us up and took us to the hostel in East Hirafu the Popcorn lodge!. Ramen for lunch then night riding at Grand Hirafu. Head phones in, Major Laser blaring, Hard and fast. The new snow on the groomers was a little tracked out although it was fun to bomb the hills. There was however still 20 centimetres of fresh in the trees. The next 3 days we changed to our short boards for a bit more of a freestyle throw down, as the snow forecast wasn’t predicting the 50-70 cm’s a day we were getting in Myoko. There was only around 10-15 cm’s of new snow each day, that on the groomers did

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