Thanksgiving.

A few things to think about on this day of thankfulness...

I like this quote: 

"Black Friday: Because only in America do people trample others for sales exactly one day after being thankful for what we already have." 

But now we do this on Thanksgiving day too?? I could never go out shopping on Thanksgiving day, making others miss their turkey dinners with their family and having a nice relaxing day just because I wanted to save 5 bucks on something I probably don't need anyways. I know everyone likes a good deal, but do society a favor and at LEAST save it for Friday. No stores should be open today, and everyone should have the opportunity to spend it with the people that means the most to them. If you didn't plan ahead, that's your own fault. I'm sure you'll survive the day without that one item you forgot on your list, and it will be a lesson for next year to double check ahead of time. 

I know Thanksgiving is all about being thankful for what we have, being with friends and family, and appreciating every aspect of our lives, and I am so very thankful to be where I am today, experiencing such beauty and wonder in this amazing part of the world. I'm thankful to have a loving soul mate to share it with. I'm thankful to have friends and family that support me. I am thankful to have good health to be able to live my dream. I also can't help but to think of the true history of Thanksgiving. 

When people think of the history of Thanksgiving, they usually think of Native Americans and Pilgrims sitting at the same table, feasting themselves on turkey and corn, telling jokes, dancing, having a grand ol time. If only the truth was really that warm and fuzzy. If only the colonists didn't steal land that wasn't theirs, spread disease and famine to the native people, slaughter anyone who didn't follow their orders and fought to protect their way of life. When you look at the facts, this country was founded on terrorism. I would go into more detail explaining myself, but Google was created for a reason. Read THIS article, THIS one, and THIS one to get a better grasp on what I'm talking about.

I'm not saying we shouldn't celebrate Thanksgiving. We just need to detach ourselves from the excessive amount of greed and capitalism that revolves around this holiday, as well as all the other holidays. We need to appreciate the good things in life every day, not just focus on it one or two days a year. We need to spend time with friends and family as much as possible. We need to educate ourselves, because knowledge is more valuable than anything. Learn the truth, don't just go on what 'society' has led you to believe. Open your mind, open your heart, and strive to do good in the world.

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING Y'ALL! :)

Street Skinnin'

So yesterday we had these big plans of meeting some friends at Eaglecrest, hiking, and getting some awesome face shots from all the fresh, fluffy snow that was dumping on us. We were in the car, ready to roll, pulled out of the driveway (that we had to shovel 30 min just go get the car to move) and what happened? We went nowhere. We sat and spun, slid, and slung snow everywhere just trying to get more than 15 ft away from the house. Usually I have no problem in the snow with my car, but my tires aren't the greatest this season, and they hadn't plowed the road yet and the snow was above the bumper, so essentially I was plowing the road. Once we managed to 'slide' the car back in the driveway and realized we were going nowhere fast, it was time for beers. Oh wait, we didn't have any beers! :(

This is where the next plan of action was born. Why don't I just split to the beer store? Yeah, why not?! So I did. It was interesting. I had people waving and yelling with excitement as they passed. I guess they were stoked SOMEbody was enjoying the snow lol. I also managed to capture on my GoPro an Evergreen taxi van going way too fast on the snowy road, then pulling a 180 and slamming into a concrete retaining wall. By the time they hit the wall, they weren't going very fast at all and it was really only a light 'tap'. Just enough to know nobody was hurt and it was ok to laugh. They were obviously going WAY too fast for the turn they were making.

When I finally got to the Breeze In, about 2 miles one-way, this guy from the Juneau Empire just so happened to be hanging out taking snowy photos and asked what I was doing and if he could take my photo. Sure, why not?! So he did. He said it would be in the newspaper tomorrow (today) but I haven't gotten one yet to check. It was on the Juneau Empire website though. My 15 minutes of fame...

And for the record, I was skinning, not skiing. And I bought beers. Plural. Not a beer. Think I would go all that way for a SINGLE beer? Does a bear shit in the woods?

Dustin took this one of me as I was leaving the house...

Overall it was a fun adventure. I love my split, even though I've only used it in split form. I'm sure it rides like a dream though when in snowboard form! It took me a few minutes to get the hang of skinning. It's a weird feeling, like I have to drag my toes almost. And man, was it a workout! By the time I got back to the house (with a heavy backpack full of beer) my legs and feet were on fire. Definitely one hell of a workout! And I like it! :) 

I can't wait to go on a REAL splitboard adventure!

Elite 8 | Eaglecrest vs. Revelstoke

Holy crap. We did it! We beat Red Mountain, last years Ski Town Throwdown champion! 

That means we are thrown into the next round, TODAY, against Revelstoke BC! Now we are in the Elite 8, and if we win this round we will advance on to the Final Four! Once again, the voting lasts two days this time around. At the time of this post, we are leading by around 300 votes! Woohoo!

Here is a screen shot of our Eaglecrest fans showing all their love!

I could go into a big long blab about how awesome Eaglecrest is and list a load of reasons why you should vote, but I won't, because I'm sure you've already heard it from me. :)

Anyways, enough chitty chat. Click this: VOTE FOR EAGLECREST! and show your love!

Show Your Eaglecrest Love!

It's that time again folks, we are in the Sweet 16 of Powder Magazine's Ski Town Throwdown! 

We are up against last years champs, Red Mountain, so we need all the help we can get! Stroll on over to THIS PAGE and VOTE for EAGLECREST! This time the voting lasts two days, so you have plenty of time to tell your friends to go vote too! :) Oh, and you can vote BOTH days!

It only takes a couple seconds, so why not? 

Eaglecrest has got more soul than a man playing the blues on a Memphis street corner. 

Yes, that's a lot of soul, and I've seen it first hand. People love snow. People love sliding on snow. People love powder. People love great terrain. People love EAGLECREST! Now click this link and show your love!

vote. vote. vote. vote. vote. vote. vote. vote. vote. vote. vote.

Adventures of Alaska Vol. 1

I'm sure most of you have seen the photos and videos that are in this lil video I made today, but I'm posting it up on here anyways! I made this video to burn to DVD and send to my grandparents and other family members who do not use the internet so they can see some of the amazing adventures I've experienced so far in Alaska.

This video only touches the amount of photos/videos I have on my computer, but I don't want to bore them with a multi-day long session in front of the tv :) Everything on here can be found on my facebook page or somewhere in this blog.

This is also my first video using Final Cut Pro X, a new video editing program I'm using. It's much, much better than iMovie, which was what I always used before. I'm still a video making newb, so don't be too much of a critic please :) 

Also note that all photos/videos were taken by myself or Dustin, except the first three aurora photos which were taken by Frank Pierce, and a few of the Sheep Mountain heli trip photos were taken by Bill Glude.

Be sure to view it in HD, it's much better!

Week 1 Complete!

Today marks the end of week one of P90X! I survived yet again! The first few days were hell... I was sore in places that haven't been sore since my last round of the workout over a year ago. Even though it's just been a week, I already feel more energized and just good all over. I'm excited to continue the workout and hopefully feel (and see) some more results soon. I know you guys probably don't want to hear about my workouts on a weekly basis, but by blogging it I feel more motivated to finish and workout even harder to get better results. 

Now that the soreness (well, most of the soreness) is out of the way and my muscles are getting used to all that moving around, I can push it further in my workouts and make myself sweat even more. 

Enough sweaty talk...

The snow is flying at Eaglecrest and I can't wait to get some altitude on my splitboard. Dustin is working late tonight and helping make snow. Eaglecrest only has a handful of fan guns, but every little bit helps and the more we can get on the lower mountain, the sooner we can open up terrain. There's a good amount of snow up top, so I've heard... I might have to check it out myself tomorrow :) I have a 'rock board' just itching to get some early season turns. 

The moon is nearly full tonight and it was nice and bright out, so I went out to test the night settings on my camera again. I swear, one of these days I'm gonna get a decent aurora photo! Here are a couple shots that were surprisingly impressive coming from my little point and shoot Canon camera.

This was take on Fish Creek Rd (the Eaglecrest road) on North Douglas. No, that's not the sun, it's the moon. Really!

Shot of downtown Juneau from Douglas Island.

Here We Go Again...

FYI - this post is just me rambling about fitness goals. Proceed at your own risk. :)

A couple years ago I attempted P90X three different times... and I successfully completed it only once. Things happened and life got in the way the other two times. Well, I'm back at it and more determined than ever. Today I completed day one of the workout. I'm sure everyone has heard of P90X, but in case you haven't, this home workout kicks your ass for about an hour a day for 90 days incorporating the theory of muscle confusion to keep your body from the dreaded 'plateau'. It does work, for me anyways. The one time I did complete it I noticed a drastic difference. I didn't lose that much weight according to the scale, but I lost inches and gained lots of muscle, stamina, and endurance. That's my goal. I could give a shit less about what the scale says. As long as I'm fit and healthy, that's all that matters. 

Since I'm a snowboard instructor in the winter, being in shape is critical. If you're not in shape, your body can't take those tumbles quite as well and the soreness will stay for days, not to mention it hinders your ability to push your riding to the next level. I know I'm a bit late starting this workout since the shred season is only a month away, and sooner if I hike and ride, which is a definite :) Even one month into it I'll be able to tell a difference. I haven't decided if I'm going to try to do the workout in the mornings or evenings, but I find mornings are usually best since it wakes me up and I'm not worrying about finding time to do it after work. Before, I incorporated some extra cardio 2-3 days a week by running a couple miles a day, but that was back last summer when I was on Beech and worked mainly in the evenings. Even if I can't get that extra cardio in, I'm not worried. I'm just going to do it the best I can and whatever happens, happens. My plan is to use my juicer more, replacing at least once meal a day with juice, cutting back on sugar, bread, red meat, and chicken (unless it's organic) and eating more fruits, veggies, and fresh, wild-caught seafood. 

Enough with my workout ramblings. If you read it, awesome! I'll be posting weekly updates as the workout continues. Wish me luck!

Eaglecrest Needs Your Vote! *updated*

***EDIT***
We did it! Big thanks to everyone who voted for us and now we're headed to the next round, the Sweet 16! On Nov 18-19 we are up against Red Mountain, BC. Don't forget to vote for us again! We made it this far, can't stop voting now!
**********

Hola! Last month, Eaglecrest beat Whistler in Round 1 of Powder Magazine's 'Ski Town Throwdown'! That means we made it to Round 2 and we're up against Mount Washington, BC. It's a tight race so head on over to Powder Magazine's Facebook page HERE  or click either one of the photos below and vote for your favorite island ski area! 

It will only take a second and your vote will be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Pre-Winter Eaglecrest Hiking!

Today was bright and sunny with hardly any clouds in the sky, so we decided to hike up Eaglecrest to the ridge to get some sightseeing in for our friends that are visiting. It was kinda chilly, around 32*, but once we started that ascent we warmed up very quick. The views were amazing as always. There was a nice coat of snow about halfway up the Black Bear chairlift... one whole INCH! At least it's something :) I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Halloweeeeen!

Halloween was fun, but I was reminded yet again that hangovers are no fun. We have a couple friends from back home in town, so the boys wore masks and my friend and I painted our faces up like sugar skulls. I've been wanting to do the sugar skull thing for quite some time, so I figured this Halloween was perfect!

 

Sorry for the crappy quality. These are phone pics, but good nonetheless! 

We went downtown and ran into some more friends. Good times were had by all and this was one of the best Halloweens I've had in a while! 

On another note... we woke up with the snow line creepin' down even lower! First snow at Eaglecrest, FINALLY! Woohoo! Ready to use my split for the first time! Keep it coming Mother Nature!