My First Cover

So I got my first cover. While I was home in Australia my mum hosted a cutting horse charity cutting to raise money for the McGrath Foundation. The McGrath Foundation raises money and awareness for training and placing breasrt cancer nurses. The event was called the Pink Cutting and was an all women's competition. 36 women competed and everyone got involved in the spirit of the event.By the end of the weekend they had raised over $10,000 dollars through sponsors, donations and a cocktail party and charity auction.

I donated my services to shoot photos of the event and landed this cover shot of Performance Horse Magazine. Not a bad reward. It isn't a skiing or climbing magazine, but it's a cover none the less.

If you are wondering what the sport of cutting is all about, check out the video here

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No I Didn't Know That

My brother passed this along to me. Not all all surprising really, and not too sensational either (albeit a little). It is, however, interesting to consider when trying to position one's self moving into the future.

The Harsh Reality of Reality

I am sharing a car doing 130km/hr in a 90 zone with a mumbling, bumbling Arcadian from New Brunswick at the wheel, an ex-convict and a 21-year-old First Nations kid who looks up to the aforementioned dubious characters. The two crazies in the front have smoked half a pack of cigarettes each since Victoria 50kms ago and we are bound for a demolition site to strip asbestos tile floors. This is a long way from the days when I was getting paid to travel and ski. Tagging along with this raucous is what it seems I must do though if I am to earn a cent this week.

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Kashmir Secrets Revealed- POV

I have a wee dilemma on my hands here. There is this incredible place to ski that I discovered with friends and normally I would never make its whereabouts public on the World Wide Web. But, you see, this particular place is rather removed and the local people are crying out for visitors to kick start tourism again in this black listed part of the world. If you hadn’t guessed, it is Kashmir. But inside I’ll give you the finer details.

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Daytime Karaoke- Why not?

I haven't had much to show recently on my blog from my time back home in Australia. This is both a fair and unfair representation of that time. I have been busy catching up with friends, but also having to resort to such drastic measures as daytime karaoke to beat the boredom waiting for everybody to have their weekends and stop working.

Beth—a good friend who has her week days to herself—and I caught up this week and wanted to do something both fun and a little ridiculous. Daytime karaoke fit both those criteria. We entered in broad daylight and left in broad daylight, completely sober. Good times!

Iceland Article in SBC Skier

I finally laid eyes on my Iceland article and photos in the final issue of SBC Skier. The magazine hit the stands while I was away in India so only now have I been able to see it in hard copy and I am stoked. Grab a copy if you see it on the stand somewhere in Canada and let me know what you think.

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My "Crossing the Ditch" Buddy

Since being back in Australia I have been catching up with family and friends, but one buddy I was excited to see was James Castrission who in January 2008, with Justin Jones, completed the first kayak crossing from Australia to New Zealand.

I met James in New Zealand when we both first started alpine climbing. We shared some good adventures in the NZ Alps, but nothing compared to this. I hate to brag, but I'm pretty proud to know this guy.

Check out their website at www.crossingtheditch.com.au for more details on their adventure.

Tailor Made Me a Gentleman

While in Kashmir, a friend took us to meet his tailor in Srinagar. Gulzar (pictured center) is a very proper remnant of the British colonial era, swearing occassionally when called for, and making suits for all matter of diplomats, foreign aid workers and travellers. Like most encounters with local people, the sales pitch came out immediately, and I was determined not to be sold to. But then Gulzar dropped this bomb...

"God made you a man, let a tailor make you a gentleman"

I was sold.

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Bidet Sensation

After the sensation of Stevie B's premier bidet, this blog has received comments, good vibes, and now more bidet multimedia. Valeria Coizza brought her work on the subject of the bidet to my attention and I feel compelled to share it with you. 

My Bidet from Valeria Coizza on Vimeo.

I am both simultaneously hoping this is as far as the bidet topic goes and curious to see what else might come spurting my way.

Last Day of Skiing in Gulmarg, POV

This was our last day skiing at Gulmarg this year. The conditions weren't especially inspiring, but the need to get out and get some blood pumping proved enough to get us onto the gondola. Hiking and traversing to this zone inspired even less inspiration than that which could be seen from the hotel. But, sure enough, our bet bet on decent snow came through and we enjoyed soft snow, and as this video more than conveys, a long, long fall line that is so representative of Gulmarg. There is always incredible vert no matter the snow.

VIO POV camera courtesy of Helmet Camera Central