Well, first off I have been asked to inform everyone that backcountry is having a sale and that if you click on this little link here than you will get early access to the sale (as in, today, instead of next Monday) so click on it and check it out, and if you buy anything than the BC guys will think I’m doing my job… Thanks..
Ok, on to travel time. A coupe of weeks ago I ran into Grant Gunderson out in Denver and he asked me if I wanted to come out to Shasta (CA) for a Powder feature that he was shooting out there in the near future, but he wasn’t sure exactly when. Well, the near future turned out to be right after I got back from Colorado, so I took one day in SLC to get my life together a little bit and then jumped behind the wheel of the Corolla for a long drive west. Er, a kind of long drive. The first leg was Salt Lake to Tahoe for some shooting in a zone that Grant’d had success in before. History became tradition, and we killed it about as hard as you could possibly ask to for two days in any zone. After two days though the cosmic vibes of Shasta were calling out our names and we had to hit it for a few more hours north. Decent snow + bad weather + good photographer = Great photos. Another two hard days of working what we could, and we came out with surprisingly good photos for a Powder feature about Shasta. Shasta is a mellow little town, away from most things, with a surprisingly backwoods feel for the fact that I-5 runs right through the middle of it. Upon arriving into town I showed up a little bit before the other half of the crew, so I wandered around for a bit, and within just a few minutes met the Uncle of a good friend from back in SLC, who owns a really rooty little ski shop right in Shasta called Shasta Base Camp. If you find yourself in town there is no better place to get your gear fixed up, and you might just get invited to climb on their shop bouldering wall and if you’re really lucky the local brewmeister will bring by some of his latest fare.
After two days in Shasta with no improvement in weather ahead we figured we could either stick around and try hard to get more of the same shots we already had, or we could call it and if we really need more we’ll come back in the spring to hit the summit. Easy answer there and we’re back to Salt City..
Here are a select few snapshots from along the road.
Boom Boom! Winter park (rugged) and done. Asked everyone that I could think of for a ride home and it finally paid off! I got a ride home with a rep that peddles discrete and got to see my lady for a day before she high tailed to Telluride for the big mountain comp there. Salt City has been a busy bit of business however, because in a day I am leaving for Shasta to go stare at crystals, search for alien gods and ski pow while shooting for a Powder Mag story… Here’s a couple of photos of the Discrete booth and the Ghostland Observatory show in Aspen because I’m not in the mood to write a thousand words.
Salt City -> Denver.
SIA and some meetings with some good people. I’m feeling good about this. My agent and I hit it hard for one day and got some good work done. I met some really good people and I played a little music, but after three days in a giant convention center expansive enough to get lost (and I did) I was ready for a beer and some ski time.
Denver -> Aspen.
Powder video awards to a long and fun party with some of my favorite people in the ski industry. The awards that went out went to some total badasses that deserved every one of them. Durtschi continues to be a badass, and Sean P deserved every bit of his award as well. There were a lot of awards given out, and it was good to see everyone being recognized for their work. After a long night of partying there is no better cure for grandpa’s swine flu than a good day of skiing, no matter how rugged the conditions. High speed, small jumps, long gondolas. Pack up the Magnum.
Aspen -> Winter Park
Here we are (the 4Frnt team) in winter park sitting down for the first moment in a while relaxing before the SIA on snow demo tomorrow where the entire ski industry will be getting together to test out how damn awesome our skis are. For now though, dreams.
Finally! Utah got some snow! And by ’some snow’ of course I mean several feet of snow which has broken the 100 inch mark for the season, which is nice, but mostly it has broken my timidity for the season. Until just this last week I have felt like an Old Guy on his first week back after years off, but this fresh coat has brought to light my dormant confidence, and it has been a hell of a time! Confidence is a beautiful thing.. During the interim pre-snow I was building some skis over at 4frnt, which is a whole new perspective on my skiing. I feel like I have a much more social interaction with my skis now, which allows a whole new species of trust and thus new confidence.
In the morning I hop on the boring direct drive I-80 East to hit Denver Colorado for some Ski Industrialism, then on to Aspen for X-games and Powder awards, and I’ll be in touch from the road..
Love always,
Cody
Hey, so I know that I just posted a minute ago, but I had an idea: in an effort to make myself post more often I am going to start putting up little reviews of gear that I use and like if for no other reason than because I like gear and I like writing. So, here is my first review, and I know what you might say; “that’s not gear, it’s food, Cody, what in the hell are you doing writing a gear review of some food?? You use it one time and it’s gone, doesn’t sound like a very good description of good gear to me…” Well I’ll tell you, you’re probably right, but I really don’t care because this is far and away the best food bar that I have ever had, and right now they are on sale, so you can get them cheaper than usual.
Here’s the thing. Somehow they guys at Probar managed to put a whole bunch of really really delicious flavor into this bar all the while putting in a bunch of whole foods and making it vegan! If you’re going for a long hike in the backcountry, or if you just can’t get away from school long enough to get a proper meal, this is just about the perfect thing to have in your pocket.
Dig it.
Love, Cody.
