Archive for the 'Skiing' Category
Up at CMH right now shooting a segment for Warren Miller. Been snowy so been skiing a lot of pow in the trees. This is a shot of Andy Mahre in front of the heli and the fire that our pilot Roger builds for us everyday during lunch. Yes, this place is awesome. Be here til Sunday then headed straight to Vancouver for the Olympics to commentate on Freestyle for NBC. Bummed that Daron Rahlves got hurt at X games. Have not heard the final prognosis.
I ran into the legendary Franz Klammer during the world cup at Beaver Creek. I love watching his Olympic run from 1976 in Innsbruck when he won the Olympics. Check out the ruts in the course and minimal fencing in the video below.
My favorite paper, the Wall Street Journal, interviewed me for an article on Shaun White. I guess he had mentioned my 02 “Dinner Roll” performance when talking about his plans to unveil new tricks in Vancouver at the Olympics. Most of what I have to say about the subject is in the video which I embedded. The written part is very brief and my quote is little out of context. Of course, I do have some moments of bitterness when thinking back on my 4th place result but I don’t mean to disparage my competitors. In general, my performance there has been a highlight in some ways equal in satisfaction to my gold in 98, X silver in 99 etc. although it has taken me awhile to realize that. It has been a great part of my whole career. I love hearing people recounting the 02 games. There was no hesitation for me. Had I known ahead of time that I would not be able to win, I can’t say that I would have done the same thing but I felt strongly about presenting the myself and the sport in its most advanced stage on the worlds biggest stage, the Olympics. I am flattered that my performance pops into Shaun’s sphere when he is thinking about his strategy, even if it is as a “don’t.” I remember what I did as do others and my performance contributed to the evolution of a sport that I love. In the end, I was true to the spirit of Freestyle competition and I can live with that.
Video portion:
Check out this pic of a bench in front of “The Grove” cafe in SF Marina District. Billy Kidd still being represented with a pair of his signature Hart skis. Billy Kidd and Jimmie Huega (son of lift op in Squaw Valley) were the first American men to win medals in the Olympics in skiing (1964). Four years after the first televised games in Squaw Valley which celebrates the 50yr anniversary of those games this year. Ski history is cool. Read “Skiing Heritage” my favorite ski mag. You can check in out on Google books.
The thing I remember about this ad was that they brought in a stunt double to ski for me. I did not use him, but that made me feel really big time. Also, notice the awesome trap door they built on top of the mountain in the first scene. The second scene is a huge refrigerator in LA built by John Hammer.
Sprint Commercial: “Is That A Sandwich?”
I was listening to some reggae in Pandora and this music came on from Tommy McCook. I hit the option to read more about him and this is what came up:
“The leader of the legendary Skatalites, tenor saxophonist Tommy McCook was among the most innovative and influential Jamaican musicians of his generation, a prime catalyst behind the evolution and international popularity of ska and reggae. Born in 1932, McCook learned to play sax while attending Kingston’s Alpha Cottage School, an institution for wayward boys; upon exiting the school at the age of 14, he toured with the dance bands of Eric Deans and Roy Coburn, emerging as a highly skilled jazz player. Between the late ’40s and early ’50s, he also frequently collaborated with the famed Count Ossie, lending his talents alongside those of the Rastafarian hand-drummers and chanting vocalists who comprised Ossie’s group. In 1954 McCook relocated to the Bahamas to join a dance band there, and in the years to follow his mastery of jazz became increasingly pronounced.
McCook did not return return to Jamaica on a permanent basis until 1962, arriving in time to help push the developing ska sound to the next level. In 1963, he was approached by Studio One musical director Jackie Mittoo to lead a new group he was forming dubbed the Skatalites; McCook initially declined the offer, but by mid-1964 he accepted the role of bandleader, drawing on his extensive knowledge of jazz and R&B to add distinctive new dimensions to their sound.”
I found it interesting that a guy born in the 30’s was one of the most influential guys in Ska music in the 60’s. I never associate the 60’s with anything related to the thirties, but that is just ignorance. Anyway, I love saxophone and ska and had never heard of Tommy McCook.
I guess when I think of Ska I think more about The Specials. I know Ska started way before that but that is my association They call that era the “Ska revival. The Specials added the punk to the ska and rocksteady styles. I grew up on Selector and the Specials. I was too young to go to shows and everything but I loved it. My brothers were a little older so they were all about it.
Here is a little specials:
Of course I was into The English Beat as well. Thay were under the same label :”Two Tone” that The Specials formed. They had a 50 year old guy in the band that played for Desmond Dekker. So there you have that connection back to the early Ska days.
Let’s hear some Engilsh Beat
I was reading about The English beat and I found out that Ranking Roger who is the distinguishing voice in the band went on to form general public, which I knew, but I did not realize that two other guys from the band, cox and steele went on to form Fine Young Cannibals.
Let’s roll out some FYC, it has been awhile for sure.
I can’t remember what the hell I did this week. That is what happens when you stay home for a week. The days just blend.
Here is some SELECTOR
That was the first week in awhile that I have been home every night. Feels great. I just chilled with my son. We hit the park two times a day. I did have to do some work. I was in Sacramento helping Squaw slang season passes. They are “giving them away” this year which is sweet. I was posted up at an REI. I love REI. I bought a beach cabana. Unfortunately I had to miss the pond cross that I talked about so much. Here is a link to the video. JT Holmes, Cody Townshend, and Tim Dutton won with the 2 men and baby. Three people on four skis. Awesome. My favorite part was Jeremy Jones trying in skis in tribute to Shane McConkey. Funny part too was Tom Burt stacking trying to get across on a snowboard. Check it out for sure.Cushing Crossing http://www.tahoetopia.com/
Let’s go back in time to the The Slackers:
Toots and the maytals 54-46
Let’s get up into NO doubt
Let’s end it with the hives
Free running, check out this levi Meeuwenberg:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1mrVGVHZWA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1mrVGVHZWA
I thought the parkour was ok until I saw this video. This guy is ridiculous. It shows how being able to absorb landings in certain ways is the key to survival in sports where you jump off of stuff.
CHECK out The Moseley Method on Faction: Sirius 28/XM 52 Wed. 7pm EDT
Was in Squaw last weekend. On Sunday I was filming for a documentary about Squaw starting with the Washoe Indians settlement there. They guys filming were not skiers and they had this special camera called a “RED”. Some fancy camera that looks like 35 mm but it is digital is how I understand it. Conditions were very difficult. Wet snowfall from a couple days before on top of slush that was frozen at 10am in the morning. Plus since they did not ski we were limited to where we could go. I forced some stuff on KT including a 360 over the camera off of a semi-cornice dropping into East Bowl. Sketchy because when I landed my outrun was crust/ new/old snow moguls with chunk on top. After that I found a spot where I could air over this rock then ski out some bumps that had a little slush on them. After that I had them shoot rock garden as a long shot with a 300. We did not have time for much more because I was scheduled to be at the pool party up top and help emcee. I asked the guy if we were good and he said, yes, but could you do something spectacular! I started cracking up then I had top go.
Green day
Sometimes it’s hard to explain to non- ski filmers, what it takes to actually shoot good footage. In general I think people underestimate what goes into getting one good shot in a ski film. The time it takes to wait for conditions and planning the details. Not to mention the cameraman who are mostly former pros who whip in and out of lines with all the camera gear including tripods. I am always amazed when these crews try to shoot the stuff themselves instead of just hiring someone like Tom Day or Scott Gaffney.
Offspring
I spent the rest of the day at the pool up top in Squaw. They had an air guitar contest. After watching a few people go I jumped in myself. It looked too fun. I found it to be harder than it looks. When I watched the other guys I kept thinking , why did he not do this or that. I did the” on the back Ac/dc move,” I did the big facial expressions, the riffing on the neck of the guitar, I am sure there is a name for that. My favorite move was when I took both hands off the guitar as if it was playing itself. In the end, I felt like I was off the music by forcing some of the moves. And I could not remember some of the moves I wanted to do. It was hard to do well. I found out they have a world Air guitar championships. I checked it on youtube, Daonoji, the world champ, reminded that I forgot to smash the guitar of course. Awesome.
Here is a good air guitar song:
Van Halen eruption:
Of course, that was followed by a bikini contest. The girl who won was very good a working it. There was this one girl with a better body but she did a model walk like you might see in a Miss America pageant. The judges were not impressed, they wanted to see booty shakin, which was a little surprising because the judges were all girls.
Good charlotte
Not a bad weekend I guess. I camped on the couch and watched celebrity apprentice Sunday night. I watched Joan and Melissa rivers just embarrass themselves to no end. It was painful, I thought the mom was the most out of line and the most ridiculous. The whole thing was quite entertaining. Jesse James is going to win for sure. That Clint Black guy is just a weirdo.
White stripes
weezer
Blink 182
Foof fighters
Bouncing souls
Last Friday I flew home from a week at Wiegeles in BC for some heli-skiing. Great conditions, skied every day. The following Sunday was Shane McConkey’s memorial in Squaw. Everyone came out to honor SuperShane. Many stories were told. His mom told one about Shane as a two year old getting on the chairlift and getting tossed into a snow bank hard. They thought he was hurt bad and she was trying to get him to point out where it hurt. He had is arm straight out and so they assumed it was his hand or wrist but then they figured out that he was pointing at the stopped and swinging chair crying because he thought he had missed it. His mom showed him that he could take the next one and he stopped crying immediately.
Jt Holmes talked about how Shane was always into “the old” meaning, the old steal your money trick until you absolutely needed it. Jt spoke bluntly about Shane’s atheism and how he did not believe in any “crap” like “everything happens for a reason”. Therefore it just sucks that he died. He told the story of when he was bringing Shane’s stuff back from their tragic trip in Italy. Jt thought he had lost or had stolen his $650 dollars. Of course, he looked in Shane’s stuff and found his money. “Could it be that on the day Shane died he was playing “the old” steal your friends money until he needs it trick?” asked JT.
They all had said that they were Shane’s best friend which Scott Gaffney pointed out was kind of funny and spoke to how much love and respect they all had for Shane and how he showed them the same. The endearing part was when Shane’s wife took the podium and said in her cool, sly South African accent: “listen boys, he was my best friend”. I was really moved by their relationship, which seems incredibly genuine and powerful.
As a dad I really lost it when Shane’s dad Jim spoke. He was brief but was overcome. I cannot even imagine what it must be like to lose your son. It makes me cry right now just thinking about it. Jim was a legendary skier in his own right and of course knew the risk Shane was taking. But from my experience knowing Shane, he was a meticulous and careful person so I am sure his dad, as did all of us, never believed anything would happen to Shane.
I first met Shane in a Squaw gondola. I had not done much in the ski world yet and he was the man. He had long hair in a pony tail and Oakley blades on. Our conversation was short. It was not until after I won the Olympics and got invited to go on a Matchstick trip in Canada with Shane, Davenport and Morrison, that I got to know Shane. Killer right. Check it off the list. It was awesome. In one particular scene Shane skied a thirteen stager where he lost his ski on one of the 20 foot cliffs in the middle of this crazy line. He snapped in back on and shredded the rest. You can see it in “Ski Movie”. It was at this point that I reconsidered my thoughts of getting into the business where Shane and Seth made their name. It was humbling and great fun and an honor to ski with him. I drove the getaway car for him when he a based a building in Vancouver which was a total rush. I was already a fan of Shane’s but from that trip on I became a super fan of Shane’s and just like so many others loved being entertained by him. I did some more skiing with him over the years and spent some time with him. I was incredibly impressed when he competed in the gravity games in the big air contest with a switch back flip and a switch back full. I loved his skiing technique. I had always heard he was a former racer that was recruited by Burke Mountain Academy when he just 14. He was so crisp and over his skis all the time.
Most recently I had been getting some late night emails from Shane where he had dug up some ballet skiing and was giving a general heckle to the whole sport. Of course, he looked a little closer and found me in one of them and re-sent the link around with a note that said, “ my favorite part is 2:07” the time code where I appeared. One of last times I was at his house was to buy a pair of Spatula’s off of him. He had just moved to K2 and I wanted a pair of his signature game changing skis that he invented. I not only wanted them because they were the best things at the time to ski pow with by far, but I thought it was cool beyond belief that he had seen and responded to an issue and problem in skiing that existed for so many years and essentially solved it. I gladly paid about $450 for those skis and I have and still use them. I took an interview for my radio show during that time as well, which I will replay now.
Playlist: Van halen, Gnr ,Scorpions, nirvana
I am tired from lapping KT-22 yesterday. The coverage is amazing and the snow is awesome on the right aspects.
