Meet Sara, the first victim...uhhhh, I mean client, of the season.

She's your atypical English scientist type, out on a field trip to investigate solar power. Leave it to the Solar industry to have a conference in Vancouver. The sunshine capital of ... oh never mind.

At any rate, Sara is in a LOT of trouble. Kneepads, bridges, freeride hardtail in pink camo.....


Yup, looks suspiciously like a freeride kind of day to me.

At least she has the decency to clip her feet into her pedals. Anyway, a great start to the season. We went for the pedally version of Shore riding today; up Seymour and around the far side and back. I'm a bit hurting after lying around ski hills and drinking beer all winter. All in all, a full on blast of a ride.


Blurry over-the-shoulder shot on the climb.




More proof....




Yeah....trouble. My apologies to the boys in the bike shop in London, but I think she may be corrupted.


Wade Simmons Freeride Experience
July 9th to July 27th.
Click for details....

That's nice to be over with. I finally got through First Aid, and with flying colours.

Now, just don't do anything stupid. I still would rather ride bikes than stick broken people back together......

Wade Simmons Freeride Experience
** ONLY 2 SEATS LEFT! **
July 9th to July 27th.
Click for details....

If you haven't seen it yet, the video from last year's Wade Simmons Freeride experience is up on NSMB.com.

Video Links:

Windows Media --or-- Quicktime


I'm taking 1st Aid all week, so hopefully that will keep you busy while I'm learning.


Wade Simmons Freeride Experience...Only 2 seats left!!!
July 9th to July 27th.
Click for details....

My first bluebird day of the year and it's what....March? Thanks Carey. Well, it's another day with Valhalla Powder Cats, the best cat skiing in world. Sort of crowded what with Dave and Bill Heath up doing some film work (that's Dave's Landcruiser there).



What a difference from yesterday as we do a pre-trip safety meet and beacon search.



Anna, Dave's girlfriend, has only been skiing this season. OK, she's been boarding for a while but still....



Tyler, yesterdays driver, and todays tail gunner.



AJ throws a little style in the mix.



We stayed to pretty mellow terrain today as the avy hazard was a bit savage today. Not a problem really. I'll charge moderate slopes in the sun with big pow shots till the cows come home. Allison agrees...



John soaks up the views.



Ooops. The British are here. V is supposed to for Victory there, gnasher.



John's dad (damn, I forgot your handle), tearing it up on the fat boys.



Jeremey on the last day of his tour. Picked a good one I'd say.



Nick, or the other Limey who's name I didn't catch.



Me. Obviously having a very good day. Thanks for the shot, Nick.



Jeremey drops into Joe's Garage for a fluid check.



The Cat on top of T-Bo.



Like father, like son.




A couple of short video clips too:

• Clip #1 -- Joe's Unpronouncable Disease
• Clip #2 -- Tylers Tomahawk

If you've never been cat skiing GO NOW! Here, I'll link up Valhalla Powder Cats again for ya. Drop my name for extra abuse and ridicule.

The Wade Simmons Freeride Experience 2006
Click for details....

Well, if I'm going to honour the memory of a friend, I'd better suck up the tears and go and charge the mountains.

It was in this sprit that me and Joe (a long time ski partner) headed out to the Valhalla Powder Cats tenure to do some turns and some snow assessments. The conditionos were somewhat horrific as there was about 80 cms on top of a serious crust and hoar layer. With the warm temps of the past week it was a bit touchy. Plus, all the cat roads were buried so the they all had to be rebuilt. Two cats, one snowmobile, and me and Joe. VIP skiing at it's finest.

The new terrain at Valhalla is awesome. Way bigger and more varied than the old tenure. You can see some sweet cliffs behind the snowmobile here.



This is Joe after hitting a tree with the sled. It might have been the brakeman's fault...I'm not saying any more.



Safety first.



Well, it's not that safe, but we're skiing it anyway.



Tyler heading down to Pic-a-Pop, just below Nirvana Bowl.



More good turns. Joe in Byron Bay.



Our driver, Tyler, in full concentration.



Wade Simmons Freeride Experience
July 9th to July 27th.
Click for details....

This is so not right. I mean, with some of the crew, you kind of expect them to make a dramatic transition to the next world, but not Carey. I had this image of him as an old Jewish guy hanging out in the skate park and hassling the young punks.

"Oi! You call that a backside grind? In my day, we had to grind on dirt lips and the rails were full of splinters. You youngun's have no idea what rad is."

I guess not.....

If you never met him, that's the real shame. You had a friend that you didn't even know about. Just one of those guys that's on your side without any preamble. I met Carey and Ann way back in '95 at the old Hell of the Desert in Kamloops. Also the day that I met Trevor Marshall (Full Boar Bike Store) and Derek "Big D" Westerlund (Freeride Entertainment). I think Carey and D met that day too. Also our first lap of Greenstone Mtn. A lot of miles under the tires since then.

The whole tribe came out for the funeral this week.

Here's Gabe, D, and Thomas helping to send our brother off in style.



It was great to see the next wave of wildness paying tribute to their elders. Gully, Sorge, and Kurts sweetheart (damn she's cute. I think her name was Thea, but I'm kind of blurry on that program).



..and that Bjorn guy, sharing a laugh with ace photographer Colorado Matt Scholl.



Here's a little sample of the madness.



I'm already missing you buddy. Much love and big fat hugs to Ann, Noa, the Freeride Crew, and the rest of the tribe.

Wade Simmons Freeride Experience
July 9th to July 27th.
Click for details....

I've been lame. I know it. Well, here's a mass update over the last several weeks. Some riding, some skiing. I'll do the riding part first.

Here's a shot from last month with the Marzocchi crew. Tom and Bryson and the gang were in town to open the new Marzocchi service center, so we loaded up their rig and went for a snow ride. A bit of an industry frenzy, with Cory Leclerc, Noel Buckley, Trevor Porter, Richie Schley, etc. came out to slither around the snow.



Even that old Wade guy came out to try the new teeter on Salvation.



We had another lap a few days later, and although it was warmer, it was much wetter. Here's Nelly negotiating a stream crossing. Sweet jeans...



Our boy Arthur from Hukk was along for the ride too.




It was a big day for Taka. He's a Japanese exchange student who just happens to be a big biker.



Wade seemed to be more excited than Taka.



I'm almost stoked to really get back on the bike. I've had a few other rides lately, but without many pics. Soon.....


Wade Simmons Freeride Experience
July 9th to July 27th.
Click for details....

Skiing has been stupidly epic. I had three Cypress powder days recently. This isn't one of them. That's my buddy Derek shredding the trees at Apex. He's about 50 feet from the chair here.



Same day, different guy, out of bounds.



This is from a recent trip to Whistler. It's a Bruce Rowles shot (it's always good to have a local guide. Hence the website...).



Typical, lots of snow, and no sunshine.

Wade Simmons Freeride Experience
July 9th to July 27th.
Click for details....