Quickie GoPro park edit running laps at PCMR.

Quickie GoPro park edit running laps at PCMR.

Check out these 3 incredible moose sitting peacefully next to Spiro trail on Park City Mountain Resort.  No more than 5 yards away.   Bull, cow, and baby.  Stayed and admired for nearly 10 minutes.  What a stoke!

Featuring Sage Kotsenburg, Tom Wallisch, and Ken Block, here’s a video I made for PCMR.  Amazing to live in a town with these guys. Amazing characters.

Whether you’re shuttling up or making the climb, the Pinecone Ridge trail atop Park City Mountain Resort is simply a shit-eating-grin-of-good-time kind of trail. It’s fast, flowy, and smooth. Here’s a quickie edit of Kevin enjoying some of Park City’s finest single track …

“Chinese Downhill… It is the Only Way”

For rules… there are none.  First man to cross the finish line and chug a beer wins.

This past weekend, Parkites gathered with their freshly waxed skis, finest neon spandex, and a chilled PBR at the base of Park City Mountain Resort.  The Corner Store, an après-ski bar (and my place of employment) held the 9th Annual Chinese Downhill.  For those who haven’t seen the movie Hot Dog (shame on you), Chinese Downhill is a ski race at its truest, rowdiest, and barbaric form.

The race starts at Jupiter Peak!  A twenty minute hike up a ridge that leads you to incredible views, steep lines, and adrenalin-hungry mongrels (or homies).

This was my first year competing and all I can say is I’m stoked to have survived.  Fifty skiers and boarders start at the same time, charging downhill… letting gravity, speed and luck take them to the midway station.   There, they have to chug a beer and then continue down the hill.  Once they arrive at the bottom, they sprint to the corner store (yes, ski school and tourists may be jeopardized) to chug a beer.  First one done, wins!  And the rest… are losers.

My start to the race wasn’t stellar.  I immediately entered a white room and realized the snow was moving faster than my skis.  After watching numerous bodies collide in front of me, I stopped to only be carried 30 feet in a ‘sluffalanche’.  I will admit, for a brief second the thought of ‘this is where I break every bone is my body’ occurred when I was headed toward rocks!   But alas, I caught my breath, gave a quick thank you to the mountain deities, and sent it down the rest of the peak…with no poles.  Yes… my sweet soul poles were buried, perhaps sacrificed.

I got to the bottom where beer, friends, and a mechanical bull awaited.  Then I had to throw on an apron, and serve the hooligans. 

Congratulations to my two friends, Kimmy Sharp and Harrison Holly for taking it down!

This weekend reminded me of how truly amazing life is and just how fulfilling it is to spread stoke to those around you. There is simply nothing more warming to the soul than sharing life-lifting moments with family, friends, and even strangers who you instantly connect with after exposing them to a unique experience. It’s been an overwhelming privilege to be able to share the last few weeks with so many fantastic friends, family, and random strangers that drift in and out of this bizarre thing called my life.

While the last few weeks have been amazing to say the least ( there has been a huge amount of skiing, lots of après-ing, partying, dancing, giggling and a serious lack of time dedicated to laundry), the last 72 hours have been pretty fucking epic, specifically. There are fewer things that make me happier than being able to ski fresh snow (many first tracks off the tram) and then bust out my bike to conquer new single track all in the same weekend. Multi-sport season has arrived, and safe to say, life is gooooood!

Here’s some photos from the last week and inspiring snippets of wisdom:

All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on. – Henry Ellis

Jupiter Peak at Park City Mountain Resort

When it comes to life the critical thing is, whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude. – Gilbert Chesterton

Mineral Basin, Snowbird Utah

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. – Maya Angelou

View across valley, Snowbird Utah

 The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware. – Henry Miller

Lookinp up Jupiter Peak, Park City Mountain Resort

A man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life. – James Allen

Tunnel to Mineral Basin, Snowbird Utah

Life becomes harder for us when we live for others, but it also becomes richer and happier. – Albert Schweitzer

Bonneville Shoreline Trails, Salt Lake City Utah

I have a simple philosophy: Fill what’s empty. Empty what’s full. Scratch where it itches. – Alice Roosevelt Longworth

Bonneville Shoreline Trails, Salt Lake City Utah

The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware. – Henry Miller

Bobsled Trail, Salt Lake City Utah

You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching, Love like you’ll never be hurt, Sing like there’s nobody listening, And live like it’s heaven on earth. - William W. Purkey

Warning: Coronaritas always lead to dancing.

With the fresh pow in the Wasatch backcountry shredded and sun baked beyond recognition, as well as the minimal amount of snowfall in Utah throughout January, I thought it would be a great idea to head to Park City to ride some super-pipe. I hit the mountain solo which seems to be a trend for myself this season. I was excited right away to see my buddy (born and raised Park City local) Jayson Thiros a.k.a Shortbus, causally taking laps in the pipe with a few ladies. I hurried to catch up with them and our bluebird park day had begun!

Brett Hillyard from the new company Ello Gum was on the scene and managed to snap a few shots of our super pipe shred session.  At the end of the day I felt grateful for this gorgeous Utah afternoon.

Jayson and I were ripping the sunny pipe all day with small part of our day spent in Neff Land where Chris Shields was bumpin some music in the DJ booth for us to shred to. I almost forgot how fun snowboarding can be even when it doesn’t snow a substantial amount for weeks at a time. I felt really rejuvenated after this day, one that felt like there wasn’t enough time in the day; the kind of days I live for. Cheers!

After what seemed like an endless stream of bluebird days and jamming loudly to a variety of good beats while ripping perfectly arced carves into machined corduroy, silence finally came today.

I love skiing. It’s simple and beautiful in every way, and I love skiing to music because it makes me feel like I’m dancing. Music, like for many, has just become apart of my essential gear. On oh-so-sunny-days, it makes me feel groovy and blocks out any possible sound of scraping my edges on the ice, rocks, and whatever else sneaks it’s mischievous way through the early season snow pack. But then, when the snow comes, the sky turns white, and clouds blanket mother nature’s mountainous sexy curves, everything is different. Everything is still, and silent, and skiing is no longer something I’m in love with. Skiing becomes a force that literally unhinges my soul and moves into my being, quieting everything in it’s self-doubting path.

The last ten days of bluebird perfection reminded me of why I left my desk and turned towards the mountains to find purpose. But that was left by the wayside when last night’s storm rolled in, when I fell asleep hearing rain outside, thinking that I was gonna wake up to another clear sky and some fast dust on crust. I wasn’t just reminded that I love skiing more than anything, but rather, that skiing is apart of my core sense of self, and there is no place I’d rather be than getting absolutely nuked on, in the mountains, dancing through a sea of silence.

I woke up this morning, late for a powder morning, at a lazy 8:20am. I habitually looked at the avi report on my phone while having a truly enjoyable snuggle fest with my pillow, and immediately jumped outta bed. 5 inches? That’s comparable to 3 feet when you’ve been in blue-bird hell for 10 straight days. SHIT! It was nuking, puking, and dumping outside. Time to hustle. I grabbed some slightly clean, pre-worn (I’d prefer to think of them as ‘broken-in’) base layers, brushed my teeth, attempted to brush my matted hair (thank god for helmets!), and flew into the rest of my gear while literally walking down my stairs and sliding into the subes. I also made sure to grab the husband, who was amped to get some freshies before heading into work.

We got to PCMR at 8:45AM and caught second chair at Crescent. We saw, maybe, 20 other people. The resort had a beautiful blanket of thick, creamy high water content snow, perfect for covering up those core-shot inducing little bastards known as rocks. And there was at least 10 inches! We booked it over to the Thayne’s lift and were presented with a completely track-less sea of white. Kevin immediately entered an intense level of little kid-like joy and smoothly punched the gut. And that’s when the silence hit.

There was no need for music today, just the overwhelming silence of the snow underneath me. Bliss washed over my mind, my insides, and everything just made sense. This is why I exist. This silence is what I yearn for everyday that I wake up and look at the weather report, hoping for endless storm days (and after today, stronger legs).

We ended up lapping the chair at least 10 times till I was no longer able to turn. The crowds had come. There was a beer to be drank. And stoke to be spread. Day 11 way good to me. I feel whole, renewed, head-over-heals in love with life, with skiing, and with the silence of today. Cheers to many more stormy days ahead.

Please enjoy my latest editing reel from the 2013 ski season. Gettin’ ya stoked for some new edits this winter!

To get you stoked for this 2013/2014 season, here is an edit of the 2012/2013 season as it came to a close and the Char Crew made their way to Park City, UT. Thanks to I Ride Park City we were able to film on the last jump of Kings Crown, the infamous 80ft jump. This is what we captured!

Thank you to everyone who supported this edit!

Sponsors: 
Unknown Productions: https://www.facebook.com/ukpmedia
Char Poles: https://www.facebook.com/CharPoles
I Ride Park City: https://www.facebook.com/iRidePC?fref=ts
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Directed and Produced: Cole Sax
Cinematographers: Daniel Riley, Cole Sax, Joey Wood, and Troy Haas
Editor: Cole Sax
Graphics: Sam Krepps
Shot on: FS 100, FS 700, and Canon 7D
Edited with: FCP 7
Music: I’m God – Clams Casino

Snow making has been going down at Park City Mountain Resort! I am a snow maker and a free-groomer at PCMR and we have had some good cold nights so far.  We are set to open the 23rd of November and are on pace to have a good strong opening day.  We have a great crew this year with people from as far as New Zealand joining us.  We have a 24 hour operation with two crews, swing shift being noon to midnight and graveyard working the opposite.  We are all very excited to see what mother nature brings us and it should be an excellent season! See ya on opening day!

Let’s start today with a riddle?  What is black and blue and goes ‘OOOOOOOAKHTHFF’?  Me, trying to ride clip-less after years of riding flats!

Mountain biking has become my new groove, an activity I strive to do every free minute of my day.  When I am not riding, I am usually on a bike forum or watching ‘Where the Trail Ends’ on repeat.

It not only keeps me physically in shape, but more importantly, it provides a mental workout.  I am not sure if you can tell by my writing, but I have a hard time focusing.  Something I have battled with over the years, trying to avoid medications and other forms of professional suggestions.

Instead, I have learned to embrace my mental capability of thinking about 100 different things at one time, and have let sports do the rest.  Spotting a landing, looking for that next hold in a rock, or scouting my line is what focuses my mind. I guess you can say it’s my form of medication.

Like myself, I am sure there are lots of people out there that feel the same way.  Adrenaline is the best medicine, and a lot of times, gives us feeling of worth, a feeling of existence.

That is exactly what Spreadstoke is about, a place to express your reason for existence. Oh, and that progression can sometimes taste like dirt!