A Taste of Haines

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My buddy Mikel is working on the official video, but in the meantime here’s a quick cut of some of my own GoPro helmet-cam footage from our recent heli snowboarding trip in Haines, Alaska. The title of this video could also be: Steeper Than It Looks. 😉

On many lines in Haines the terrain oftentimes rolls off over knolls and you can’t always see what lies ahead. Sometimes the guide would be below on the walkie-talkie guiding us to the correct spines to drop in on; but mostly you just take it as it comes, making split decisions along the way. So much fun!

Happy New Year!

Cheers to a 2016 of chasing dreams and loving life! Here’s a great example via The Provo Bros:

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Steelhead and Spines – Volume Two from The Provo Bros on Vimeo.

Want more? Here’s a few more faves from the Provo Bros:
Steelhead and Spires, Volume One
Mining Powder at Retallack
Rock Stone was my Pillow

Ice Fest!

Ouray Ice Park climbers, Colorado

This weekend is the Ouray Ice Festival, with lots of ice climbers and fun stuff going on! I walked up and took this vertical panorama today; I look forward to seeing the competitions tomorrow!

And, here’s a nice video “Ice” presented by the Ouray Ice Park from Outside Adventure Media on Vimeo.

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Chasing Ice

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Chasing Ice Trailer from milkhaus on Vimeo.

To celebrate the Mayan apocalypse in proper fashion, last night we went to see Chasing Ice, the new documentary movie about acclaimed photographer James Balog and his monumental efforts to document the receding glaciers of Greenland and Alaska.

Anybody with their head out of the sand can clearly understand that our planet is in turmoil; nevertheless, it is still utterly shocking and sobering to actually SEE through Balog’s cameras and time-lapses how rapidly these enormous glaciers and ice sheets are melting away. We are witnessing a planetary transformation of stunning speed and scale, and it’s difficult to imagine “smooth sailing” for our civilization in the coming decades. How many wake-up-calls do we need as a society to realize that we need to get our sh-t together and move forward with more sustainable energy policies?!

I encourage you to go see this movie as soon as possible. Go SEE how our Earth is transforming while we all go about business as usual. Go SEE for yourself.

Garth Lenz: Images of Beauty and Devastation

“The boreal forest is perhaps our best defense against global warming and climate change. The boreal forest sequesters more carbon than any other terrestrial ecosystem, and this is absolutely key. So, what we’re doing is we’re taking the most concentrated greenhouse gas sink – twice as much greenhouse gasses are sequestered in the boreal per acre than the tropical rain forests – and what we’re doing is we’re destroying this carbon sink, turning it into a carbon bomb. And we’re replacing that with the largest industrial project in the history of the world which is producing the most high-carbon, greenhouse-gas-emitting oil in the world.” – Garth Lenz, photographer

Ski Argentina

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Argentina: A Skier’s Journey EP3 [Season 2] from Jordan Manley Photography on Vimeo.

I’m digging this Argentina ski/travel video by Jordan Manley; I recognize quite a few places and sights from our recent adventures in the Andes: the Santiago subway, the trucks along the highway at Penitentes, hot springs, roadside shrines, Fernet, asado, empanadas, volcanoes, and of course, wind!

The wintery snow scenes remind me of the winter I spent with mis amigos in Las Leñas, Argentina way back in 2002. Good times! See my photos from Las Leñas here.