Boreal 2012

After riding Northstar all the time we needed a change of scenery so decided to rent a car and have a trip to ride Boreal. We had heard good things about the place all season and upon arriving with high expectations we were definitely not let down. It had pretty much everything a park monkey would ever need - small to large kicker lines, nearly every box style (up, down, side on, C, S.......), wall rides, stair sets, Jibs/bonks, lift towers, drop offs, airbag and a 22ft half pipe.

The mountain 'lodge'/ticket office isn't as picturesque as the rich resorts like Mammoth and Northstar but with the park being as high quality as it it who cares!

I had arranged to have a sunset photoshoot on the kicker with my good friend Angus Kennedy from Ask Photo 

Enough talking anyway, below is an edit from the two days riding here. More videos on the way soon. Thanks for watching 

Massive thank you to Laura and Gus for filming xx

Forgot to mention that after the photo shoot there was a slope style competition. I entered but the timing didn't really work out as the practise and riders meeting were the same time as the sunset. We had a tiny window to get the shots before the sun actually set. I had to just hit the kicker then straight down to the lift until the light was no more. By this time the comp was well under way. I had paid my entry fee so I figured I might as well have a run and just have a bit of fun. It seem to work out well as I came 2nd. Eleven hours of riding + a photo shoot + 2nd in the competition = Pretty amazing day!

VEGAS VEGAS VEGAS

Im sorry it has been a while since the last post. We went to Las Vegas for 4 days and between 4 cameras we ended up with over 2000 pictures to sort through. From Snowy Tahoe along 3 highways and after 11 hours of driving and a couple of stops for pictures we arrived the sin city.

No we didn't stay at the Bellagio or Caesars Palace. We stayed at Hooters, yes Hooters with the 24 hour beach bar and 5 pools. There is no better way to end the night in Vegas than with a nice dip in the hot tub and pool at about 4 in the morning.

Our 1st night out in Vegas wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for our good friend Lee J and Nolan. A massive thank you to them both for sorting me out with a spot on the guest list + 11 friends to Marquee at Cosmopolitan to see Armin Van Buuren. It easily the most epic club I have ever been in. Not only was it way up inside the casino somewhere with an amazing stage set up but as you walked outside there was a huge beautiful pool with hot tubs everywhere and waterfalls etc. Not to mention the view out over Vegas! It was one of the best intros to a gig that I have seen. To say it was an eventful night is the biggest understatement. I got a JD and coke at the bar which was pretty much a tumbler of JD with a splash of coke which didn't really help the later events. One of our Australian friends got escorted out by 5 bouncers for some reason? To top it off while dancing in the crowd Laura & Stu were pick pocketed. Luckily everything was recovered at lost and found - Less the cash.

Waking up with a hangover is always fun but we powered on! We had a group trip to the trampoline place for a bit of fun and some training ready for when we get back on the slopes. 

We did all the regular tourist stuff like check out the casinos and sights and the amazing shopping malls. I finally bought a new suit from the Volcom shop which I regretted not doing two years before. While wondering through the casinos with a bunch of highly intoxicated Australians we went into the Flamingo casino and stumbled upon the rarest of birds, 'The Gus Flamingo'. 

As we were in front of the Bellagio we had the best seat for the fountain show. If your ever in Vegas you MUST go watch it, it was amazing! 

Once again our buddy Lee introduced us to his friend Gustavo who sorted myself and Laura out with Penn & Teller tickets. It was incredible to watch, some of the tricks were mind blowing. They even shot bullets into each others mouths!!!

As part of the tickets for Penn & Teller we got free entry to the VooDoo club located on top of the Rio casino. We got a few pictures up there of the strip etc but this one just made me laugh. Baby got back.

Finished off with a bit of blackjack at Circus Circus and made a few bucks.

Yep a king and a queen split and met with another king and queen. $$$$$

It was a pretty eventful trip and on the way home we we took a detour through Death Valley to see the sand dunes below sea level. I actually have clothes on its just the bush hiding them.

It would have been rude to drive past the Nevada fireworks warehouse and not stop in for a little shopping. 

Ill have some more ski edits and footage soon for you to check out too. I have been trying all sort of stuff the past few days and got some amazing shots - misty 450 onto boxes, triple switch ups on roller coaster boxes, stalling a roof of a house etc. 

Stateline show down competition

Last week was the state line showdown slope style competition at Heavenly. The weather started out pretty nice but as soon as practice finished the wind picked up by the minute and the weather started to come in. The standard of riding was higher than I anticipated. I entered with the intention of having some fun and showing the Americans that the Brits guys can kick ass. I accomplished what I set out to do and placed 2nd open mens.

I landed both my runs pretty clean but managed to get a lot more style into the second run. I must have done something right either way as I received a phone call earlier today inviting me to the finals next week. 

I couldn't get a follow cam of my run but here is a short clip of my run from the side of the course. A massive thanks to Laura and Robin for being my supporters at the comp and cheering me on. Here is a break down of my run: 

1st kicker - Misty 7 mute/nose grab

2nd kicker - under flip 5 japan

Up disco box - Gap to slide, misty 5 off

Flat box - switch 270 on, 270 out

Up pipe - 450 out

Finished the day off $75 up and celebrated with 'all you can eat sushi' and several drinks at the casino with my friends. 

Love ski powder day

Last week we had a nice big snow fall. Miracle march was living up to its name. As I ski on Salomon Pro Pipes I wouldn't have a chance on them in the deep pow due to the fact that they are pure park skis. No doubt they are one of the best pairs of skis I have ever rode but I had to lay them to rest and dust off my snowboard for a change. Laura and I had a lovely chilled day in the powder exploring the mountain and finished it off with a session in the park. And yes I am a soppy get too but its all just a bit of fun.

The quality isn't very good. For best quality click HERE

Sign up with your email address in the bar at the top. You will receive an email when a new blog is posted.  The next post is going to be about the competition I entered last weekend.

Slow Motion Edit

I have been wanting to make a slow mo' edit to a Magnetic man song for a while now. After deciding on the song 'Mad' I'm pretty happy with the results. Let me know what you think. Thank you to Laura, Dan, Mike & Gus for filming too, I think you'll agree they got some pretty good shots.

I tried and tested a new hoodie the other day made by my friends company called Brain Freeze. I can happily say its one of if not the best hoodie I have rode in. Super high quality, a must have for anyone on or off the mountain. Check them out for yourself www.brainfreezeclothing.com

Not much else to report apart from the pipe opening back up. Keep a check on each update ready for the Wake'n'Bake tutorial.

Geek session - Adobe After Effects

So friday night I had a massive Mac attack and and just peeked out on the computer all night. I watched tutorial after tutorial trying to learn different effects while playing around on Adobe After Effects CS5.5 and Final Cut Pro X. After 4 hours of pulling my hair out and hitting problem after problem I called it a night. Waking up with a fresh start I managed to pull it all together and got a couple of new effects nailed.

The first effect you will see in the mini edit is called 'Freeze frame sequencing'. This has to be done using Adobe After Effects and is very time consuming. The second is called 'Colour selective editing' and is done using Final Cut Pro. Its quite a quick process but the difficult thing is selecting the right colours to make it look effective.

Please leave your comments below and give me some feedback on what you think

Happy valentines day x

Happy Valentines day to the one I love xxx

Oh yeah here is a quick edit I put together using only my GoPro Hd Hero chest harness while riding on Friday. Comments please 

Apologies but Im having trouble loading the video

Direct link is below

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqBYkG7JV1g

San Francisco trip

So while the mountain is lacking snow and we wait for a lovely blizzard to bless us with heaps of snow we thought it would be an awesome excuse to take a trip to San Francisco for a couple of days. I didn't really have any expectations for the city as I knew very little about it. The only thing I knew were the places that we wanted to visit.

We thought the trip was  off to a bad start when we arrived at the car rental place to find only one normal sized car in the parking lot and got told it wasn't ours! The guy behind the desk turned out to be the hero of the day when he gave us the keys to a big black Escalade with 22's at no extra cost!

After a chilled 3 hour drive in style to San Fran we decided to take a little detour through the city to get to our hotel checking out the sea front/piers and the famous Lombard street (Crooked Street). Anyone who played the Tony Hawk Pro Skater game with the San Fran level will know exactly that I mean. As we drove down it about half way, I looked in the mirror and to my amazement saw a guy with a helmet on and a long board in hand ready to throw some serious gnar down! This made the trip worth it alone and was one of the coolest things I have ever seen.
Photo evidence -

It would have been rude to go to San Fran and not see Alcatraz! We caught the last ferry out and even though the weather inland was beautiful and sunny, the second we got even close to Alcatraz it turned into dreary and cold and just awful. One of the strangest and most interesting places I have ever been and would recommend it to anyone with a few hours spare.  Here is a shot of myself under the bed, Laura on the loo, Dan chillin on the bed and Izzy in the sink

What a better way to finish the day off than by eating out at Bubba Gump's shrimp restaurant. Porcorn shrimp to start, Full rack of ribs and a cookie sundae for desert. Pow - let the food coma begin!

BREAKFAST TIME!
We had an amazing American breakfast to get the day started consisting of pancakes with syrup, bacon and eggs. Alongside the obvious english cup of tea. Breakfast of champions!

Full of energy and raring to go House of Air her we come (so excited). Ill let the video do the explaining

Jealous much? Best place ever. It felt good to get some practice doing the doubles ready for the slopes. 

While we were nice and sweaty there were no better time to rent out bikes and keep the fitness regime going. We cycled across the sea front all the way up to the Golden Gate Bridge to check out the view. 

We finished off our trip the following morning with a ride on the cable cars to down town San Fran to check out a few shops, mainly for the novelty of riding the cable car which surprisingly was really really fun. Next stop Northstar. Hopefully we will have some more snow soon to get some serious riding done.

Beach BBQ in the snow

As we got to the slopes yesterday to find a stupid amount of the people on the mountain, seeing 8 people hit the same kicker at the same time and getting cut up 5 times on the same run we called it a day pretty fast. While the sun was blazing we thought it was perfect time to take full advantage of the beach BBQ set up by the lake. After the burgers and beers we sat and chilled and watched the sun set. 

What a View! 

Northstar at Tahoe baby!

After 18 months of saving and preparations and 23 hours of travel we are finally here in the US of A. Upon arriving it was clear what the priorities were - drop everything and get in the hot tub with a nice cold beer! Our house is amazing only 200 yards from the lake. A massive thanks to Laura for finding it and sorting it al out. Absolute star.

Our first day riding was a massive disappointment with a lack of snow and barely anything to ride not to mention the lovely RAIN FALL. Its safe to say it was a total write off. The following day was a massive improvement with about 2ft of powder dropped over night. I only have park skis with me so I had a little play on a board in some beautiful knee high pow pow. We kept it to the piste and had an easy day just cruising about getting our bearings together. From a previous experience I didn't want to go anywhere away from the piste without there being a nice thick base burying any rocks.

On a sad note this actually happened to my room mate Izzy. She was just at the side of the piste and hit something. As she put her hands down to stop herself falling she got one of them caught in-between two rocks breaking it. The cast goes on on monday and then another five weeks or so recovery.

Finally we woke up to some nice weather which got everyone super stoked to ride! Pinball park was shaped with a few kickers and rails and the 22ft super pipe was shaped to perfection. We cruised through the park most of the day just getting warmed up to the kickers and rails and testing out most of our usual tricks. Finishing off the day riding with a few runs in the pipe.

Hot tub after riding followed with a meal out at the mexican restaurant. What a way to kick off the season.

Flow rider - Castleford

During the Chrimbo limbo last week I tried out the new flow rider wave machine at the Flow House in Xscape Castleford. In a nutshell its a treadmill of water with a bouncy foam bed underneath.

Here are the results. Ill definitely say ill be back on it again soon

Indoor flight on Christmas Eve

Started a new annual tradition today at Airkix.com in Manchester with an indoor skydive. We only had a few minutes each but myself, Laura (my girlfriend) and Paul Cooper had an amazing time. Its a hell of a lot harder than the professionals make it look! I would strongly recommend it to anyone, even my mum and dad want to have a go the next time.

I honestly thought I would have been better at it than I was, but I enjoyed it none the less and wanted to go back in again immediately. I was seriously impressed with Laura's skills but then she ate shit. Ill give her 9/10. Coopdog was showing us who's boss with his precise turning skills.

Steel Panther, Motley Crue & Def Leppard

So on Tuesday 13th Dec myself and a load of friends went to see all of the above play at Sheffield arena. Epic doesn't even describe it. As good as Def Leppard are I was mainly there to see Crue and especially Steel Panther. Their set wasnt as long as I would have hoped for but for what they lacked in quantity they more than made up for in quality. Buy their album and actually listen to it, in a nutshell its 80's glam rock with songs about sex and drugs.

In true Panther style we got the spandex pants out, wigs and head bands too. Its safe to say we were clearly the minority as we only saw a handful of other people dressed up. We actually looked like we could have been back up singers for Steel Panther but with less makeup on.

Its all about the leopard print spandex!

GoPro SD card help

I first thought it was just me being dumb until I asked about and found loads of people making the same mistake. I have had a GoPro HD Hero for a couple of years now and its been one of the best thing I have ever bought, I use it more than I would have ever anticipated and highly recommend anyone to buy one. Im forever watching all the random videos on YouTube and picking up filming tips and the best places to mount it etc but I always thought that my footage quality was never quite as crisp and sharp or as HD as all the others I had watched. I used to think it was the lighting or something causing it (at least that was my excuse).

Until recently after a little research I never knew that there were different classes of SD card. This determine the speed of which information can be written to the card. In this case how fast video and sound can be recorded. The faster the card is, the better the quality of the footage is. GoPro's will take a class 4, class 6 and a class 10. The higher the class number is the higher quality the footage will be.

Summary of the classes:
Class 2 - Write speed of about 2 Mb/s
Class 4 & 6 - Write speed of about 4 & 6Mb/s
Class 10 - Write speeds can vary from 10Mb/s up to 30Mb/s but you need to check with the manufacturers specification

I have ordered a Scandisk 16Gb Class 10 card which being shipped as I write this. Fingers crossed it will work out as planned. Ill keep you posted though.

To check what class your SD cards are its the little number with a 'C' around it as shown below

I hope this has been of some help

Season Starts

The season kicked off once again with the London ski & snowboard show, hosted at Earls Court. The hip was the featured jump this year causing a nice bit of moaning between the riders. As always though we put on a wicked show for the mindless punters buying all the gear with no idea. One demo a day was fancy-dress or as put by Spencer "dressed up like a set of c**ts". A lovely range of outfits to achieve the "c**t" status ranged from a suit + G medallion, Mario, caveman to umpa-lumpa and myself in a black lycra Morphsuit. My girlfriend Laura was stood in the crowd for most of the demos and couldn't help over hear the many comments about mine and Murray Buchans thighs "ooh look at the thighs on him".

As for the rockstar skier lifestyle, I was sharing a room with Murray Buchan and Andy Matthew. We had a luxurious room with 3 single beds squeezed into the smallest room on earth with an inch between the beds if we were lucky! To top it off there were no central heating working, we resorted to a 2 layers of extra blankets on our beds (1 blanket over the the 3 beds) and watching Rob & Big Black. 22's son!

Lastly, I have to give a shout out to Joe 'Tomo' Tomlinson for the hardest slam of the week ending with a dislocated shoulder, 3 hours in A&E and the two of us sharing the gas and air on supply.