Group Video

I have finished my group video for Marketing and New Media. Jay, Rav, and I skated around Pembroke getting footage ripping the better hills that we could find.

Pesos

I really like the 200 peso bill, I've never seen money that has a vertical design.

Packing

Mexico baby! Here is a snap of my bags all packed up for my trip to El Potrero Chico. I've got all of my climbing gear in the Osprey bag, my living things, extra cloths, etc. in the MEC bag, and my reading material in the small blue shoulder bag. I plan to use this small bag as my carry on for the flight, checking the other two bags. My book list read as follows: 1984, SBC Skier Vol.9 Issue.2, Updown Magazine, The Armchair Mountaineer, Climbing Self Rescue: Improvising Solution for Serious Situations, and Wilderness First Aid by the Wilderness Medical Society. I am also bringing my sketchbook accompanied by a full range of sketching, watercolour pencils, and felt tip markers of varying thickness and ink. I have a great camera the my Dad lent me, it can take a full 360 panorama that I plan to use many time over the next month. I hope to capture the beauty of the Sierra Madre with all these mediums. All I have to do now is finish of this semester of school and I will be set free for a whole month.

Kingston

Right now I'm hangin' out with Ben (my brother) in the Queens student ghetto. It's pretty amazing how in the area you are within a five minute walk from everything. The one thing we had to drive to was Kingston Mills. There is a small crag that Benny and I went to for a bit of climbing. We set up a top rope on a really fun but pretty easy climb and sessioned it for a while practicing foot work and smooth movements. Ben had lots of fun but he wasn't used to the heights. The last time we went climbing together was with Tamarack on a trip to Lake Placid in high school.

The Cave

Today Jason Carrey and I went to Fastenall to buy the bolts required to attached our newly acquired holds. We have effectively created a facility for treating the mid-winter climbing blues as well as getting strong for the spring climbing season. The wall will really help me hone my overhang technique along with increasing my upperbody strength and endurance.

Interview

I've just finished my personal video assignment. Each person in the class has to produce a video with them in it. It was pretty fun filming with a professional camera and wireless mics, the shoot felt like the real thing. I am still working on our group video that isn't due for a while. My group and I are shooting kind of a mish-mash video of anything cool we can find.

Bikes

This week was the last week for skills in the fall semester and it was on of the more enjoyable one's to date. Mountain biking was the flavor and it was pretty darn sweet, with a 25km ride through clay, streams, rock gardens, slick climbs, and technical downhills, all of the students in my group were improving there riding style and technique. I was going to ride my Cannondale for the two days but the leaky seals in its fork did not permit. Instead I rode a Norco Nitro, which is a mid range cross country bike that preforms quite well. After returning from skills Rav and I put the two drums set we have in our basement together to make one large mutant fourteen piece double kick beast.

Rippin' cont.

We ended up at the TD bank and shot a short clip of Rav and I riding the two turns. The above picture was shot behind Shoppers Drugmart.

Rippin'

On Monday night Jason Carrey, Eric Ravary, and I went on a very awesome longboarding rip through the streets of Pembroke. It was a two skaters one photo/videographer rotation throughout the session. Our main focus was gathering material for our Marketing and New Media class. We ended up with some good shots at the end of the night. Here is a video of me riding down Alfred St. to Mary St.

Alice Climbing

Just past Alice ski hill in the woods off Round Lake road you will find the ground turns vertical. This area for the past early spring and fall seasons has been where my fiends and I climb the most. Only being a twenty minute drive or an hour and a half bike ride (Drew and I can attest to that), it is a quick fix for the climbing bug. Though there are only 4 bolted sport lines and a couple top rope lines here, there is enough terrain to practice most of the climbing and rappelling techinque learned. The hardest climb is a 5.10a with a roof crux. It's a fun climb and the highest but it has a funny bolt placement halfway up. The climb pictured above is a 5.9 but considered a sandbag.

Home Work

For my Marketing and New Media class I had to make a collage of my photos useing a program called Picasa. The program was written by Google and has some great features to tweak photos with out the knowledge needed for something like Photoshop. I incorperated shots from both Western and Eastern Canada highlighting the things I enjoy doing in both regions. I made sure that shots of my buddies and brothers made it in to the mix.

MEXICO

Drew Lineham and I were sitting around one fall day at skills and were thinking about our climbing trip to Ceuse, France for final ex. We chatted about the difficulty of the climbs on the mountain and decided that if we wanted to perform in France we would have to do a training trip in preparation. Our main criteria for the trip were warm climate, cheap, a wide range in climbing difficulty, and the longest stay possible. The final decision is El Potrero Chico, just outside of Hidalgo, Neuvo Leon, Mexico. This is because of its $380 round trip airfare, 600+ bolted sport climbs both single and multi-pitch, $5/night camping, and cheap groceries within walking distance. Drew and I plan to climb five days a week to build the strength and technique needed to excel when the time comes for Ceuse as well as enjoy the holidays doing what we love.

Kootenay River

This photograph is of the Kootenay River just south of Fort Steele, BC. I was driving through on my way from Fernie to Revelstoke in April 2008.

Land-cruiser

Paddleing vehicles come in all shapes and sizes but my favorite shape and size is Pierre Fournier's Toyota Land-cruiser. On this particular day (March 17th, 2009) it was the perfect tool for the job, getting five paddlers plus boats, paddles, and all early spring cold water gear down a muddy semi-snow covered road to the desired playspot. It fits up to six boats on the top and six inside the back if just carting boats around.

Adventure

I've had the opportunity growing up to try all the different sports I could get my hands on. Wether I'm tired of team sport or I just like individual sports more, I have been drawn to the likes of climbing, paddling, and mountain biking. I find these sports provide something the classic "team" sport never could for me, a sense of adventure. I am drawn to the wilderness and the unknown in any form possible, traveling through it with the skills I have learned and practiced at school.