Colorado -Utah.

Dew Tour was pretty dope. Was hard to get speed for the last jump but alllllll good. I ended up in 25th in the qualifiers and 17 ended up going through. Bit gutting because my run wasn't really good at all. The party the next night was pretty maggot.

Park City has been fun. I have ridden 4 days there and they have a 5 jump line. Fun! I sessioned it for 4 hours straight yesterday. Today I have slept almost all day.

So, good times in Utah. We hit a ledge the other night that we managed to get pretty sweet photos on. Was a good mellow start to filming.

Ride Website Link.

A little on the start of the season. Link right here.

Colorado has a good amount of snow. The Ride mini ramp in Seattle is 4 foot and hammers. Skatelite ply and a 6 foot mini is about to be connected which should be mental.

Whistler is a fun place place and the park there was nice for a start-of-the-season shralp and a bit of board testing went down also. Lowrise rocker gets the thumbs up from me.

Tomorrow the Dew Tour slopestyle are happening. We filled out a crazy amount of paperwork today for entry.

Choice!

Donny Rickles was there.

Horrendous was our name.

Horrendous killing it.

The Ride mini ramp in Seattle.

Myself, Juuso and Megan at Keystone.

Dero Gold - Auckland - Vancouver - Whistler.

Canadian Mountains.

Vancouver.

Keg Stand.

Morri - Best Dressed.

Whistler looks really nice. The snow line is high at the moment but the Ride crew are all dope and it has been a blast so far.

Mount Maunganui.

The finished product and Heath.

Lupins line the road near Tekapo.

Waikuku Beach, just north of Christchurch.

The ferry. Ladiidaa.

Wellington Bowl.

The one, the only, Matthew Bell enjoying Oriental Bay.

Lake Taupo, glassy.

Am back in The Mount after a nice drive from Queenstown up here.  A lot of singing to myself and V drinking went on on the drive but I am at my destination now. 

Have finished painting the house and snow is on my agenda next. Have got my my feet sandy on a stroll along the beach and just checked out the new Rome movie at Dutty's pad. Eiki Halgason and LNP are deboucherous. 

Stayed in Wellington and enjoyed Oriental Bay with Matt Bell. 2 years in a row I have scored it on the drive up. Calm, sunny Wellington. Also, stopped in Kaikoura before Wellington to catch up with the Stef Zeestraten. The man is relaxing and relishing in the beauty Kaikoura offers.

The road from Queenstown all the way up to Christchurch was amazing. It was like something from a Disney movie. The road was lined with purple Lupins. All of the rivers had Lupins around them too. 

A barbeque on friday night at the Queesntown skatepark was another rad thing that has gone on in the past week. Geetz, Sammy and Farad? Were destroying the step up and new step up to ledge ply addition.

Another Link.

Check this video of Daewon Song. 1:51 pretty dope!

Painting the house in the heat.

Am painting the house at the moment. Heath and Jamin have been giving me a hand and it is coming along pretty sweet. The sun has been beaming after a bit of snow early last week. Here are a few links worthy of a watch on Youtube.

Fix Push

Mike Mo Tre Line

Enjoy.

Flights.

Flying can be a hassle but nost of the time it is bloody brilliant. I had a nightmare of a time getting from Rotorua to Queenstown last Thursday. The Qantas plane was broken. Engineering we were told. So , I didnn't get on the 1.40 flight that I was scheduled to go on. The next flight which only got as far as Christchurch was scheduled for 3.30. That was full. So, onto the 5.15 flight to Wellington linking to Christchurch. "When you get to Christchurch just go to the Qantas service desk and they will sort your accommodation for you and you can catch the earliest flight in the morning to Queenstown" I was told. "Will they still be open when I arrive at 7.30?" I asked. "Will just check that....yup they will" I got told. Thank you, that sounds easy I thought. I get to Christchurch airport and both the international and domestic Qantas terminals are shut. Hmmm..I thought and jumped on the phone to 0800 number. After being put on hold for 30 minutes then again for 20 minutes I finally get the answer that no they can't help me and noone had the name of the hotel that Qantas usually uses in Christchurch. This is ridiculous I told the lady. I just want the name of the hotel! "Can you call Australia and see if they have the name of the hotel?" I asked. No, we don't have the umber and there is nothing else we can do. 

I went and asked for some more help but everywhere was closed. The tourist desk, the Air New Zealand counter, the security guards..noone could tell me anything.

I finally found out the name of the hotel and had decided that I would use my credit card and charge it back to Qantas. Mum called Qantas in Australia and by the time I was checking in at the hotel a room, dinner and breakfast had been sorted out. I took it easy and then jumped on the first plane the next morning to my destination. I got into Queenstown about 20 hours later than I first thought....pretty sweet hotel and meals though.

Blog time.

Well this entry is the first in a month. Not really on but here we go. Am currently in The Mount visiting he whanau. The season is pretty much finished in New Zealand but there is still snow hanging around so we may go shape a little something something up. The past month has been a goodie. The weather has been pretty rubbish but a lack of good times hasn't been sacrificed. Diaries Dowunder is all finished for the season. Episode 7 should be up real soon and episodes 5 and 6 are now up on twsnow.com. Our last day filming was on Tuesday (October 21st). JP and Lochy were kind enough to cart us up and down a few features that should be in Episode 7. Newsweek is also all over for the season too. Episode 20 was he last one. It went up after the end of season Snow Park party on October 4th. The NZSBU teams were named, given champagne and everybody got loose. Bloody great season all up! 

Thank you to all who have been watching Newsweek and Diaries Dowunder.

Another great week in the Southern Lakes.

Diaries Downunder 4 is now up on Snowflick.co.nz and nzsnowboard.com. Also all the goods from Style Wars in New Zealand is up and viewable at stylewars.co.nz. I ended up in 3rd after the ride vote. Eric Willett won the overall. The New Zealand team managed to win the overall as well. 

The final Remarkables Cadbury Moro Slopestyle was on Saturday so we went up there did our runs then rushed back to Snow Park for the end of Style Wars..had a medan session on the step-up, watched the new Sandbox film premiere then jumped back in the car to get back to Queenstown for the Slopestyle prizegiving at Buffalo. I ended up winning and won the overall as well. Has been a good season.

Coronet Peak closed today but The Remarkables is open for another 3 weeks and is still super fun.

Stylewars Day One Bloggy thing.

Check the Stylewars Blog.

www.stylewars.co.nz

NZSKI.COM Slopestyle media release.

This photo was attached to the press release on nzski.com.

Last few days have been pretty mellow. Yesterday was good but the snow has come again. Hopefully getting into the park to film a little bit more for Diaries Downunder Episode 4. Diaries Downunder 3 is now up on twsnow.com. Check it.

4 days of being judged.

The last 4 days I have been in front of judges. Started on Wednesday with the LG FIS Continental Cup qualifiers. I ended up qualifying in second. The weather was atrocious so the finals got moved to Thursday in hope that the weather would be better. Not the case. The slush had frozen but the course was somehow slower than qualifiers. A frustrating afternoon but I ended up in 5th. The Norwegians killed it taking first, second and third and they sang their national anthem at prizegiving on the podium. 

On Friday we went up to The Remarkables to film some park stuff for episode 4 of Diaries Downunder then left to go to the Snow Park Invitational Rail Jam. $6000 up for the taking and Pooch took it out. He is good! I came second and walked away happy but pennyless. The MDTV episode should be up in the next day or so.

Yesterday was the third Cadbury Moro Slopestyle and it was dooooope. Although the landings were rock solid the weather was bluebird and half of Asia turned up. I fell on my first run but pulled myself together for my second run. I landed my first backside 270 and backside 9 in competition so was stoked to take the win.

Just found this.

Ride Website Email Thing.

This has just gone up on ridesnowboards.com.

Went to Cardrona today for the FIS Continental Cup Slopestyle. Was relentless rain all day and the finals ended up being postponed until tomorrow. I qualified in second behind Roger Kleivadel of Norway. 

Diaries Downunder Episode 2 on Transworld.

Diaries Downunder number 2 has finally been put up on twsnow.com.

Remarkables Slopestyle Number 2.

The best jumps and blue sky.

www.nzsnowboard.com/news/964/another_bluebird_day_for _cadbury_slopestyle_competition

nzsnowboard.com/videos

Managed to land a run and win. Check the article and footage above.

12 days in a row.

The first table in The Remarkables Rampage Slopestyle.

The Remarkables - filming for Diaries Downunder Episode 2.

August is a busy month around these Southern Lakes and this year has been no exception. The last 12 days have been pretty hectic. Diaries Downunder Episodes 2 and 3 are now up on nzsnowboard.com and should be on twsnow.com really really soon. This week has been slushy pretty much every day and it looks Spring will bring some good long days. Everything up the mountains is looking good and the coverage is awesome. Sunday (August 24th) was the Remarkables Rampage Slopestyle. Real dope course with a street style down rail, then a 45 foot jump into a 40 foot jump, then a wallride, then a 45-50 foot jump, then finishing with an up rail. I managed to link together both my runs and was stoked on both of them. I ended up winning and got the best pay-cheque of the year to date. The That's It That's All premiere was also hammers in Wanaka last Wednesday. Travis Rice is a force that will take a lot to be reckoned with.

Parklife Rail Jam and Mountain Dew Rail Jam and Remarkables Day.

Big Buck Hunter - Revolver

Booze Fullas - Revolver

Dutty

Well Thursday was a big day. We hiked up above the chutes at The Remarkables and found some goodies. Episode 2 of Diaries Downunder will show you more. Should be up in the next day or two on reasonfilms.net and twsnow.com. After a day of marathon hiking Jordan Rehrer and myself hopped in the car and made our to Snowpark for the Rail Jam. Jordan ended up in second. He switch backside 270ed in to the ledge and then tried it on the middle rail and roly pollied down the stairs. Last night brought the Parklife Invitational Rail Jam. The snow was soft and the set-up was great. A flatish rail to drop and a down pipe were the items. Jye Kearney took top honours. An American guy Wes, absolutely killed it. I ended up with Best Trick Snowboard apparently but the Best Trick money went to the skiers. Another good event. Bonza.

Diaries Downunder.

Check out the first episode of Diaries Dowunder. Link is right here. 

http://snowboarding.transworld.net/2008/08/05/diaries-down-under/

Burton Open, Coronet Peak

Last Monday myself, Bugs and Jordan went up to Heidi's Hut at Coronet Peak and got a few shots on a new rail up there. The set-up was disgusting but it didn't phase Jordan at all. He managed to get a whole heap of tricks. I spent the whole trying the same trick pretty much but ended up getting it after a lot of switch accidental firecrackers. The car got stuck, it started to snow, there was no snow nearby for the run-in, the picnic tables were too close to the rail and there was a drop off the end of the tables right before the rail, oh yeah, and we had to stop every 15 minutes and unravel the extension cord so the groomer could drive by. We hurried off the mountain and got to the Dero premiere. Playing catchup I outdid myself pretty quickly and have blank spots from the night. The video is dope though!

Practice for the Burton Open started on Wednesday at Snow Park. We got some good runs in although the light was flat. On Thursday we headed over at way too early in the morning for qualifiers. Browner put together a dope run with Cab 9 into Back 7. He qualified in second and I qulaified in 3rd.

Friday brought another early start for semi-finals. I managed to qualify in 12th and made finals. In finals the light came flat again but it didn't slow Mikkel Bang down. All 3 of his finals runs would have got him first place. I ended up in 8th, first New Zealander with a run that I didn't really plan to do but I stayed on my feet and made it to the bottom with a smile on my face.

Went night riding at Coronet Peak last night with Jake Koia, Bugs and friends before heading to Wanaka for the Manual party at Barluga. Sick bar and party but they overcharged like crazy. In turn people stole some beers - then got kicked out.

Stash Opening, Diaries Downunder.

Eggs and Salad courtesy of Muel Cafe.

Well Saturday brought a beauty of a morning with heaps of sunshine and a mad crew for the official opening of The Stash at the Remarkables. Bugs and I were up there filming the first episode of Diaries Downunder, a little webisode about the goings-on on around these parts and they are to be posted on Twsnow.com. Looking forward to getting them up for viewing. Tomorrow brings the premiere of the new Dero film "I'm Broke Too" and it will be a marathon showing..starting at Derotica all the way through to the "I'm Broke Too".

Resting, riding, boozing.

The last blog went up a while back now but I am still here..Have been coaching a few days and have been getting excited/frustrated with the weather lately. Trying to film but the weather doesn't play its part then trying to organise stuff around RUBBISH forecasts makes for frustrating times. Hiked a box for 3 hours yesterday with my Wintech crew. Was planning on riding some powder today and yesterday and tomorrow but who knows what happened to the storm. There is still heaps of fun being had up the hill. A day off to replsnish mind and body then back into it tomorrow. Stash Opening Saturday, Dero premiere Monday.

A week or two of stuff.

Blair Finlay had a birthday on Monday - shortly after this 28 Jagermeister shots were laid out on the bar at Rattlesnake.

Sam Hanna - ummm Switch Jackson?

Lagging big time in the blog updating. Seems like a bitch trying to get photos up on here. Sor tit Google or Telecom..whoever sucks. Went over to the Dunedin Rail Jam last Thursday. Slow snow but a dope ledge (pictured) and Grootz killing it meant for a progressive session. Filmed at the Skatepark on Sunday, Blair had a birthday on Monday, The Remarkables Slopestyle and Newsweek episode 8 on Wednesday.

http://www.nzsnowboard.com/articles/327/july_18th_08_nzsnowboardcom_newsweek_episode_8_-_video. 

The biggest news  in the past week I guess would be that myself and Reason Films have been given the green light to make some videos for Transworldsnowboarding.com. We are stoked to have Ride, Smith, Lo.wer and Parklife on board for the project. 

Dunedin Rail Jam Thursday July 10th.

Singstar last Saturday at Alex Hughes' digs.

Skatepark last Sunday - Bugs films Gregg Timms.

View from the very top of Shadow Chair after a short hike at The Remarakables.

Back towards the park.

Wednesday.

Haven't put one of these up for a while but I have 5 minutes so here we go. 

Hiked up to the top of Shadow at The Remarakables and got these beauty photos. The first one is looking over the Wakatipu Basin and the second is back over towards the park and Sugar chair.

Mini-Shred photos

Connor and grommies waiting and waiting for results.

Josh-san. Classic.

Heath amongst the sticker throwout chaos.

Late as but here are a few photos of the Mini-Shred. Kiaora.

Mini-Shred

Went up to the Mini-Shred competition at The Remarkables today with Heath Patterson and Callie Conaghan. Our job for the day was to 'be seen' and ride with the grommets after prizegiving. The snow and features are so good up there. Everybody was loving it. Most of the grommies were exhausted by the time we got to ride with them but they seemed stoked. Browner did his darndest to try to convince me go to Treble Cone with him and Vaughan Brookfield but I decided the mini-shred was a worthy cause and the decision was a goodie! He drove to Treble Cone did one run-saw the snow was wind effected rubbish then did the same at Cardrona. 

Stoked I didn't go. Word to all the grommies out there that I saw absolutely destroying it today. Josh Clark put it well when he said 'The young fullas made me feel..well....old'.

The broken kink.

Prizes.

We followed the cat back to the car and got fresh corduroy after the Rail Jam.

Arrowtown - Wallow 21 - Winter Festival Rails

Shovelling stairs by the hedge.

The hedge.

Jordan getting tossed on the kink. Didn't slow him down.

Creames about to drop into the kink with a new drop in ramp after ours broke.

Coronet Stair Feature.

Woke up yesterday and the view outside the window of the house was WHITE! Snow covered Queenstown. Myself, Jordan Rehrer and Karl Dunham knew that Arrowtown must be more covered than Queenstown and off we went. The big 30 stair at Arrowtown has always been a rail that I have wanted to hit. Jordan and I were pumped. We arrived at Arrowtown and there was 15cm of white but no rail! It had been pulled out and it looks a massive kink is going to sit in tis place. Heaps of people were sessioning the skatepark and then a few deros rocked up to session a few things. I was scratching my head about how to best use the opportunity and spotted a hedge. it was a total experiment. Unsure of how it would ride and hold weight. We started digging and a crowd gathered. Snow in town in New Zealand means people tend to lose their minds. It was a circus. I managed to get a shot on the hedge after convinced 'shovel lady' to give us one hit each. To our amazement it worked! Hedgejibbing is on. After our drop in ramp broke we headed to one of the new kinks and Jordan got some dope shots and got tossed on one attempt too. Creames also had a raz and dealt to the kink with a badass 5050. Halfway through the session "Tim" turned up. "Tim" got a 5050 front 0ne then tried to front 1 into the kink! Madness! He ended up snapping breaking the rail, ending the session. 

We then made a treacherous endeavour over the Crown Range for Wallow's 21st birthday for some 2 buck beers. There was a good turn out at the Trout Bar in Wanaka. Heaps of food, crew and cheap alcohol made for a top night and a worthy mission.

Today started slowly but after a good sized coffee the started to take shape. We headed up to Coronet Peak for the Winter Festival Rail Jam....but not before getting a run in. It is so good up there at the moment! So many cut-outs and so much snow has covered the mountain. The Rail Jam started at around 3pm and it was a jam session to sort out the 14 finalists. So many people were throwing down. 

The setup was 3 features.

12ish stair round down bar or flat down rail then a tabletop-style snow feature with a down box that could be gapped onto or hit street style. 

Harper and company were up there until 10 last night in a blizzard setting it up.

Jordan won best trick with cab 270 -270 off the flat down

Jeremy Thorns also got an award for doing a SICK backside 270 onto the stair feature

I won the overall and Callie Conaghan won the Womens.

When prizegiving was over we got some nightriding in. Karl Dunham was claiming all-time Coronet. It was damn good.

Cardrona - Newsweek 6.

Second day of the journal box and the second entry - might not keep this up but lets see how things go.

Well, this morning it was bloody hard to rise out of bed hearing rain on the roof and it still being dark outside but....Cardrona delivered the goods for us. No park but a few cat track hits, rollers and oversized coffees delivered a fun day. Browner and I met Jake at the bottom of the Crown Range and headed over to the 'alternative' side of the range. I Filmed Episode 6 of Newsweek with Wallow (viewable 9am Friday morning - always the same) while Browner and Jake lapped the powder. Once filming came to a conclusion we met up with them and Stef Zeestraten. 

Browner got a doooope Front 3 off one of the big air rollers and Jake boosted a mental Cab 7 off one of the cat tracks. As much fun as it was, the highlight of the day would have had to have been the mad table tennis battles in Jake's garage afterwards. 

Jake was 'emotional' you might say. 

A few (very) low resolution photos of today's actions attached.

The Journal Box - Unveiled.

The first post in the box. 

A slow start to the season has meant heaps of skating and a bit of golf but now that the white slippery stuff is here, the mountains will be my local over the next few months. This journal box should serve the purpose of documenting my movements on and off snow. The Remarkables has put up a fun rail line that has been given a bollocking by every Dero and and his dawg over the past few days. Rode Exchange today at Coronet Peak with Jake Koia and Nick Brown. Loads of fun cutouts and hits all over the place.

Snowmaking, wireless internet, blogs..well and truly a crazy world  in this 21st century.

Welcome.