When most people think of big ski competitions, they think of the X Games or perhaps the FreeRide World Tour.  But there is one that you probably have not seen or heard of which has an untouchable jump line. It involves lots of people, onesies, and tons of Franks.  When speaking of closing day at Alta, everyone knows about the notorious High Boy celebration which consists of a gapper-type day of skiing and a huge celebration on one of the peaks at the end of the day.

High Boy

Besides shredding the deep pow, this is usually one of the most fun days of the year! The locals have their own competition throughout the day, this year being The 4th 2nd Annual Frank Ski Competition.  Doesn’t sound like it makes sense, but that’s what makes it great.  Being sheltered almost to the top of Wildcat lift, many people may not even know this is going on. But with one ride up is impossible to miss the hundreds of people dressed up in onesies and every ski costume you could imagine.   This competition was the ultimate definition of people being stoked on another year of skiing and the perfect pregame to High Boy.  I don’t believe this will be taking place again until next year, but if you have never been to High Boy and you have one more chance it should not be missed.  Alta will be running it’s lifts one more time this weekend! So strap up those skis, get your costume, and get up there Sunday!

4th 2nd Annual Franks spectator crowd

When most people think of Australia they think of surfing as many of the greatest surf spots in the world are located there, such as Bells Beach.  This is the location for the longest running surf competition in the world starting back in 1961.  From there on you have about 1,500 miles of coasts with beautiful pristine beaches.  If you own your own surfboard then you don’t have to worry, but some hostels have boards that you can use if you stay there.  These are a little difficult to find sometimes but usually if they do it they will be advertising it.

Most people get stuck in the tourist traps like Spot X or surfer’s paradise but there is so much more.  Sydney has some great learn to surf schools that are close enough to the city for night life but far enough that you feel a little further away from it all.  Byron is a beautiful low-key hippy town filled with massive waves with a killer drum circle at sunset every night. As you head north there are many more options but the risks also become more prevalent.  Noosa is also a killer spot with a variety of different surf beaches and located right on a National Park.

Above the Tropic of Capricorn the danger of jellyfish, crocodiles, and sharks increases.  So as you’re heading north be sure to stop in The Town of 1770.  This is by far THE cheapest place in Australia to go surf.  A mere $17 gets you a board, rash guard, and lessons if you want them.  This is a tiny town with beautiful views, one grocery store, one bar, and a sick hostel that goes by the name of Cool Bananas.  This place is run by an old ski bum from Canada who has ski/snowboard movies and hosts an awesome party every night.  As for the surfing the waves range from moderate 3-4 footers to 8-10 foot waves and the waves come very often.  It is hard to go more than a few hours as the waves come in very quickly, but if you are looking to learn or have been before it is great.  Surfing is such a huge part of Australian culture; it doesn’t matter where you end up going it is obviously something that should not be missed.

Queenstown, New Zealand is known as the adrenaline capital of the world for the wide range of activities from paragliding to jetboating. However, there is one thing that started in Queenstown and is considered a must when you visit there… BUNGY JUMPING. We decided that since it was our first day there we should get it over with rather than being nervous the entire stay. We booked it right before we went to bed so naturally I was very nervous and didn’t sleep well.

In the morning we walked to the center early to catch our bus to the bungy spots. They made us sign our life away, wrote a bunch of markings on our hand, and we took the most quiet shuttle with a bunch of terrified faces all around us. We got to the first place, which was the Kawarau Bridge, known as the first commercial bungy jumping in the world. Fortunately for me, I got to watch Grace get ready first and go through the prepping. After the video we watched, she walked over to the bridge where a couple of guys got her set-up and I nervously awaited for her. She was the first one of the day and had a nice crowd watching her. After they counted down from 3, Grace did a beautiful leap with her arms out and no hesitation. After a free-fall of 43m (141 feet) she almost grazed the turquoise water of the river below. Yelling and laughing the entire time I was impressed, however the chills overcame my body because I knew that I was up next.

I did a different bungy nearby up in the Nevis Canyon which was also where we did the canyon swing. Once we got to the top I was hooked up with my harness and brought in a little cable car over to where the jump site was. We got into the pod, they put me in this little chair and strapped me up. They walked me over to the ledge and my heart began racing like crazy, but I knew hesitating would make things worse. After the countdown they gave me I jumped right away and began my 8.5 second free fall of 134m (440 feet). I don’t think that I have ever screamed that hard and once I got pulled back up from the bungy I could do nothing but laugh. I got to the top still shaking, but felt safe, until I realized that we were doing the canyon swing next. We walked around the corner down a skinny bridge to the canyon swing were Grace got her harness on and was ready for more.

The Nevis Canyon Swing is the largest one in the world, you start by free falling 180 feet (60m) then the harness catches you and you swing 900 feet (300m). Grace went first and as she was hanging ready to fall an employee ask’s her, “would you like a countdown?” She replies “yes” and he tells her to wave to me then “DROP” she is gone and all I see is a yellow spec flying through the air. She came back with a big smile, then it was my turn. I got a similar treatment but I think I may have been more prepared.

It was an amazing experience and once we got back we walked around Queenstown enjoying the city and paragliders flying through the air. Queenstown is an entire city with the Spread Stoke mentality and should be somewhere that any thrill-seeker needs to make it to.

Living in Utah for the last 6 years has given me the opportunity to do some sick hikes all over the Rockies.  But when heading down under to the land of Hobbits and Kiwi fruit, there are so many various hikes it’s overwhelming! The king of them all, which brings you along “Mt. Doom” is more memorable than any I have done before.

The hike is called Tongariro Alpine Crossing and is famed for being the best “one day hike” in the world.  It did not disappoint. Although the site was in high danger for an eruption when we wanted to hike it, we found out it was safe to go by many people. Every morning the car park for the hike opens at 6:00am and they only let 60 cars in (which fills up in about 30 minutes). Then, it is closed for the day and you must take a $35 shuttle. Since we were poor backpackers we really wanted to get our car in there so we woke up at about 5:00am and drove from our campsite to get in. We didn’t put our camper bed away fully, so once we got a spot in the lot we went back to bed and slept until about 7:15.

We woke up and as the clouds began to part we were able to see the massive volcano Mt. Ngauruhoe looking down at us . This Volcano is famous for being filmed as “Mt. Doom” in The Lord of the Rings and looks just as scary in person. We waited for the weather report at 8:00, then left on our journey. The hike is almost 11 miles in total climbing around 2,700 vertical feet and takes 7 hours for the average hiker. Usually you just hike over the ridge lines and a shuttle brings you back to your car, however, a volcano that we hiked by erupted in August of last year so now you just walk a little over half way up the trail and back.

The hike was gorgeous and nothing like I had ever seen before. It started out on a narrow trail climbing through a river area where the water was bright orange from the volcanoes around. Luckily we didn’t see any Orc’s but once we got in a little further the hike got extremely steep, very fast, as we began to scale up the volcano. After a few hours we made it to the top, which had gorgeous views all around us including four beautiful bright turquoise-blue lakes. We hiked down to the water and enjoyed our lunch of a couple sandwiches and a celebratory beer of course.

After taking in the scenery, we made our way down, body sore but satisfied from a hike that I will remember for a lifetime.  Definitely something that should not to be missed while on the North Island in NZ.