I finally got a chance to edit together the video from the weekend before last. Allan, J and I headed up to Whistler Blackcomb for the end of the TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival. We met up with the famous Shay from Shayboarder.com and her friends Kendra and Mike.

Sunny, slushy, and pretty mellow conditions. We hopped around on a few things but mostly ripped around on the groomers. A really fun day. Shay is absolutely AWESOME in person and every good thing anyone has ever said about her is 100% true. I somehow managed to delete the pictures off my camera, so Shay has been kind enough to let me repost her pics. I also never manage to get photos of myself filming etc, so it’s really neat to see. Thanks Shay!

Check out the video. Hope you like it. I especially like the part where J and Allan ride over the house. I of course am wearing my Canucks jersey, as part of my “playoff beard” tradition. A little departure from my normal boarding getup, but still fun.

I have to say I’m a bit disappointed with my progression this year. I’ve been boarding for 1.5 years now, and in the past year I’ve spent more time filming and photographing others than I have focusing on developing my skills. Next season I need to make sure I focus more on that. I’ve kinda regressed, actually. But I’ve really enjoyed making little movies so perhaps a balance/compromise is best

Shay and I

Filming Allan coming down the slope

Filming J

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In other news, the Canucks play the Blackhawks tonight at 5:00 pm. It’s sure to be a big game, and I think the Canucks are going to bounce back. I’d like to see a tough road win. Really, really excited.

That’s it for now folks. Accessible Twilight filming is on a lull this week, and this is one of the busiest weeks in terms of work for me ever. Plus next week I’ll be heading to Monreal for work, so I’ve got lots to do!

Phew!

Believe it or not, this isn’t a Twilight blog. That being said, I’m super stoked about all the Team Jacob fans that are out there who checked out the pics yesterday. I can’t believe how cool the Twilight community is online! I’m a big Twilight fan, and hopefully we’ll get the chance to snap some more behind-the-scenes pics of the set… but for now, back to our regular programming!

I had some time last night to edit up a video from my day on my new Malolo board on Saturday at Whistler Blackcomb and also the last good powder day we had at Cypress. There’s a little more footage of me riding this time, and also I had to feature the rad shirt I got from Zac at Hybrid Sessions… so make sure you watch till the end of the vid. It’s pretty funny. Check out the video below:

It’s nearing the end of the snowboard season, and almost time to switch it up to surfing. I’m going to get one more weekend in at the end of April with the famous Miss Shay from Shayboarder at the TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler Blackcomb. Should be awesome.

Thanks Zac for the awesome shirt! Somehow you could predict the future that it would match my new board.

I’ve been working hard at work this week to make sure I get my time in and all my work done before the Easter long weekend. Gotta leave for the ferry early on Thursday, and it’s off to my favourite spot in the whole world… Tofino! Surfing for 4 glorious blissful days. Too bad the forecast is rain all weekend, but that’s not going to stop me from getting excited about finally getting back in the water and making some turns.

Today’s a photo post. Tomorrow — I shall post the video.

I have been eagerly wanting to ride my new Malolo around, so Saturday we went up to Whistler Blackcomb in an attempt to find some powder. We knew it was going to be hard — there was lots of new snow from the week, but all of it had been poached, and it was 2 days since the last snowfall.

We headed up to Whistler Blackcomb and had a really great, sunny day. We did a few groomer runs to start out… I really liked the feel of my Malolo on the groomers. I would say surprisingly it’s almost better on the groomers than my Feelgood. Must be the taper.

It wasn’t too busy where we were… we took the Glacier Express up… lots of little pockets here and there and really not many people to be seen. And warm enough to get a sunburn! Yeah!

We soon got bored of the groomers and I was itching to get my board on some powder, but there was none to be seen, so we spotted a spot we wanted to hike to and board down. This spot looked like it was still full of the good stuff.

So we started rode up the Jersey Cream chair and rode through some gladed runs (nice stashes to be found in there), and took 7th Heaven up. We hiked about 15 minutes before we saw this little hut. It was a great view throughout the entire hike.

30 minutes later and we still had our work cut out for us. We hiked all the way to the top of that peak and more.

Here I am, 60 minutes later and definitely getting tired. We stopped lots to take photos and videos but I was definitely huffing and puffing.

A look back from where we came. Yup.. all the way from that distant chairlift. We really didn’t do anything special compared to Tawcan and his friends but it was far for me!

Finally we got to the spot where we could drop in. The ride was short for the amount of hiking, only about 10-15 seconds… but it was glorious. My Malolo just glided over the snow… I barely had to lean back… so easy to make those powder turns. Ahhhhhh.

So I wanted to make sure my board was right for me, and I’m glad we went out of our way to try that little experiment. I’m completely in love with my Malolo for just about every mountain experience. My Burton Malolo review was successful. I was riding clouds all day… it’s perfect for me.

Video to come soon!

This weekend we took the AST-1 Avalanche Training course from Canada West Mountain School. It was a humbling experience. There are times when I think I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. This weekend was not one of those times. I was cold, tired, exhausted, and definitely not in good enough shape for the course. Somehow, I managed to complete both days and get the piece of paper that said I did it… but I wasn’t proud of how I performed. Anyway, I had a great time, met some great people and learned a heck of a lot. And had some nice powder lines

Check out this HD video I put together of the full 2-day experience on Seymour and Whistler Blackcomb. I think it’ll give you a good idea of how fun the course was and all the different activities that we did… including snowboarding Again, above is a link to the HD Quality Video on Vimeo. If you’d like to download the full movie, you can find it here by right-clicking and save-as to download. Song is “The Adventure” by Angels & Airwaves.

The first day was up at Mount Seymour. We were given an assortment of equipment such as shovels, avalanche transceivers, probes, and snowshoes.

It was a gorgeous morning… freezing cold but we really lucked out with the early morning sun.

There were 8 of us in the group (only 5 pictured here)… a mix of snowboarders and skiers. A really nice group… everyone was really kind and patient.

My backpack was freaking heavy! I took all my camera equipment, plus the shovels/snowshoes/probe, plus a litre of water and with my board on it… wow! Too heavy for me. Allan took all the food and drinks so his was even heavier.

I was super stoked to get going, even though I didn’t really know what to expect!

My new friends on the mountain… also super stoked!

The snowshoes were easy enough to use but it was reaaaally tiring hiking with them for hours. I wasn’t in good enough shape and I was huffing and puffing up those hills.

We learned a lot about snow… from how terrain, wind, precipitation, and solar energy all affect the way the snow accumulates and behaves.

Lots of hiking. The skiers were much faster than us snowboarders! I loved Andrea and Michael’s boards!

We learned to interpret avalanche bulletins and signs, and find the optimal conditions for us to go out on backcountry trips.

We spent a lot of time working with transceivers… doing individual and group rescues with the beacons. We also spent time looking at different snow formations and terrain features, talking about avalanche safety and awareness.

The backcountry at Seymour was beautiful! Despite it being -19 degrees Celsius + wind it was incredible. Fresh snow, sun, and clear skies!

The Whiskey Jacks came out to join us, hopping on our heads, equipment, and various other things they could dig their claws into

One Whiskey Jack in flight while his friend looks on.

Whiskey Jack on the top of a ski. (The orange tab is part of the skins used for climbing)

Day 2 we went to Whistler Blackcomb. We ended up taking the Jersey Cream chair up to Blackcomb and snowshoeing the rest of the way.

Blackcomb backcountry was really neat. We spent an hour or so digging profile pits, analyzing the layers and doing various stability tests.

I was really thankful for our guide, Bruce, from Canada West Mountain school who was extremely patient with me. Despite slowing down the group, I had a really amazing time and learned a ton. I’m really excited to get my own gear and head out into the backcountry! I hope you enjoyed the photos and the video and it gave you a good idea about what it would be like to take your own AST-1 Avalanche Training course

Now, we just have to recover. Both of us got a bad chill and cold from the weekend but Allan is really, really sick. Sucks.. so much snow and no snowboarding in the near future That’s okay though… Christmas is approaching!