I moved to Park City after the winter. I wanted a change of scenery. The first month and a half it felt like I was living back home in Maine. It rained nearly everyday. Cody and I decided to travel south to get away from the rain. We found ourselves in Moab Utah! It was so nice to get away and enjoy the warm sun. We camped outside of the Canyonlands National Park at a little campground called coyboy camp. It was a nice change from the overcrowded sights in the park.
Our sunset from camp
The following day we went into the Cayonlands to check it out. That place is amazing. I think the pictures tell a better story than I do…
Our first view of the park
We decided to go on a hike down into the canyon. It was the hottest hike I think I’ve ever been on. We probably could of used a few more bottles of water. The sights made it all worth it though.
Looking down at the Green River
We made it out of the Cayonlands safe and somewhat dehydrated. After some dinner in Moab we headed into Arches National park for the the sunset.
Backcountry.com has just started up a brand new bike site! It’s all about dirt riders and mountain bikers.
Log on to HuckNroll.com/sweepstakes to check out the vid of pros and bros who at least humored us enough to say our name on camera. If you can ID all 15 in order, you’ll get the chance to win $2.9k-worth of gear, including an Intense Tracer VP frame, a Giro helmet and gloves, and an ass-load of Cutter swag.
The past few months have been kind of crazy for me. I got injured on March 5th and kind of fell off the internet for a bit. I guess I’ll start with my accident. Well it was a sunny powder day at Squaw Valley. I had been skiing by myself all morning. Around three in the afternoon I ran into Mike Wilson. He had told me that him and Julien Carr where going to jump a cliff and asked if I would like to join. I told him that I would go and check it out then make my decision.
Wilson went first, he hit it from the top and took it maybe 60ft. After that went Julien, he was hitting it from the same point as me. It was about a 40ft. drop.
My turn, “3,2,1, drop!” It was the most perfect cliff drop ever. I held my form perfectly in the air. It was so much fun! Then I landed, this parts kind of a blur. I remember landing and being in pain. I couldn’t figure out why at first. Everything went perfect, I should be fine. I was bending over with my face in my hands. I looked up and thats when everyone noticed the swelling. My face was huge!
Not my good side...
So apparently I landed on a wind drift that none of us had noticed. It killed. Some how I managed not to break any bones. But it’s three month’s later and I still have something wrong with my face. Oh well, I guess trying to compete at snowbird a week later and falling on my face, again, had something to do with it. So I took it easy for the rest of the season.
Saturday morning I receive a text from Casey H.(CEO of Moment skis) that reads “congrats on your nomination!”
I respond with no idea what he’s talking about, “Huh? What nomination?”
“For Hustler” then i receive another text ” Powder readers poll best female performance”
In disbelief I respond, “What are you serious?!” Casey and Luke over at Moment have a history of messing with me. I was so excited yet hesitant to believe him at first. I decided I was going to do some investigation of my own. I grabbed one of my friends iphone and went straight to the source. Check it out for yourself!
http://www.powderawards.com/
Best Female Performance
Ingrid Backstrom (Claim) by Matchstick Productions
Jamie Burge (Such is Life) by Rage Films
Marja Persson (Satisfaction Guaranteed) by Free Radicals
Jackie Paaso (AK the Hard Way) by Adventure Film Works
My Christmas was anything but happy in 2008. I lost a good friend of mine, Randy Davis. I still remember his excitement that morning as he called me from the Red Dog lift line. First chair! Randy was getting first chair. I myself was still sitting on the couch deciding if i should go skiing. I’m not sure why I didn’t meet up with Randy that morning. The day before I was the one calling him to meet up with me. He was a great friend and I will miss him so much. I don’t think I’ll ever meet a person like him again.
Please visit
www.riprandy.org
What’s a good backcountry trip with a few bad decisions and a couple of headlights? A day that ends up much longer than any us us could of anticipated. Me and the boys started off on the backside of Alpine Meadows for a little adventure out into the woods.
It was such a beautiful day. We left our cars around 8:30a.m.
It was a little colder than a typical Tahoe day so the snow stayed so nice and dry. It was freezing at the top. The weather was blowing in…
We made it to the top!
Oh yeah, did I mention I’m an idiot? I forgot my goggles. Not too big of a deal as long as the weather stays nice, ha ha…
we stopped for a little break and some cliff drops
At this point we noticed an area that some guys we saw earlier had hit up. It looked sooo nice. We decided to head back up and check it out. That was around noon.
Shit! Weather...
So I once again was the only skier. That meant I was breaking trail about halfway up the mountain. I was kind of on a mission. I got so far ahead of the boys I thought I had lost them for a minute there. We regrouped at the top of the ridge at 2:00 p.m. We still had a few more minutes to climb til we reached our destination. This was our first mistake. We should of sucked it up and just gone back to the car.
possibly, the last smile of the day
We reach the top around 2:30. At this point I’m starting to think this was a bad idea. We probably should of turned around. Although the area we hit up was amazing. I hope to go back there soon. With better time management in mind. We get to the bottom of the run around 3:30p.m. So lets see, it’s 3:30p.m. it took us about 3 and half hours to get from where we are to where we need to be. The storm had blown in and we were breaking trail by headlamp. Oh, thank god I had my headlamp.
We made it!
6:45 p.m. and we are out…
Before the Holidays hit I had some time to venture out into the backcountry with some friends. I started out in the Mt. Rose wilderness for some early season powder turns.
Ben checking out a little cliff drop
There wasn’t quite enough snow to be dropping cliffs. The boys learned that lesson the hard way. A few rocks on the take off and tree stumps to the back will make you think twice before one does something like that again.
skins are sooo much faster than snowshoes!
Me and the boys! We made it to the top...
Not too bad for a morning that started off by digging four women from Texas out of the snow bank. P.S. Perkins, we still need to do lunch!
Today my friend Melyndah and I embarked on a bike trip. We traveled all the way from James lane in Reno, NV. to the Summit, and back. We decided to document this epic journey! Enjoy…
We prepeare for the long road ahead...
BEFORE
Things didn’t start off quite so smooth. We ran into a few bike issues along the way…
I just got my bike back from the shop. And ya, still no luck.
Ok, back on the road again…
Checking out the fine establishments of Reno
Ripping
We started to get hungry so we stopped off for free samples at whole foods. Oh ya, has anyone ever seen a white pumpkin?
Mel loves the melon!
Yeah they're real.
Summit here we come!
It's not a bike ride without a little chain grease.
My new job. Vogue baby, strike a pose!
Fall beautiful fall!
We made it to the Summit! And Mel found her children.
An adventure to Reno is not complete without a stop to one of the many lovely casinos! We chose the Atlantis as our next stop. All you can eat sushi, gelato and gold grillz! What more can you ask for?
All done...
Last Saturday I traveled over to Boreal for the 4th annual Jibassic Pro Invitational. After watching the 400 plus skiers and riders that also had a blast, I decided to test my own skills in the park. It had been a while since I ventured into the park. Boxes, ugh I hate boxes. I have a minor fear of boxes that stems from my last time snowboarding. I broke the transverse process blah, blah, blah. Anyways, I’m officially over that fear as of October 25th, 2008. I had sooo much fun. And I killed it to! Ha ha, yeah right…
I think Jason Badgley my TM put it best;
” You look like a spectator who just grabbed some skis and said i can do this.”
Um ya, killing it!
Ok, I know what you’re all thinking. Did she make it to the end? Heck yeah, here’s the proof!
So extreme!
It was so much fun, even if I looked like a total idiot! I can’t wait til Friday to get out there again…
The 2008 Kendal Mountain Festival has selected AK the Hard Way into it’s film competition.
Kendal is one of the world’s most prestigious mountain festivals, an internationally renowned event that attracts top adventurers, climbers, writers, film-makers and film premieres from around the world. The festival will run in November between Thursday 20th and Sunday 23rd at various locations in Kendal, UK. Details of the event and screening time for AK the Hard Way will soon be announced on the official festival website: http://www.mountainfilm.co.uk/ This will be an international premier for AK the Hard Way.
AK the Hard Way has up-coming screenings on the West Coast in Walnut Creek (Oct 15th - tonight), San Francisco (Oct 16th - tomorrow), and Seattle (Nov 5th). For tour stop information, please visit:
http://www.adventurefilmworks.com/tour.html
