Normally this time of year I'm all about Family. I think Christmas should be about family, this whole "shop more if you really love them" attitude has to go though, just spending time with the family can be nice (even if you can only do it for a short period of time). This year was no different, I got to go on a whirlwind tour though 3 cities in 4 days and visited a ton of family, and it was good to see them all again.

 

What really got me this year was my friends. I'm very lucky to have a group so awesome. From my roomates, to the people I see regularily, and those who are farther away and I don't see enough, they are all great. This year I was extremely surprised by a group of them who bought me a fantastic present, and it really makes me happy. I was really glad that a bunch of my friends were able to make it up for a New Years party that our house threw, there was the usual assortment of booze, champagne (gotta love sabreing the end off with a butterknife), kissing, hugging and lots of photos (I'll try and put a bunch up tonight). It was a ton of fun to hang out with everyone, so if you were there, thank you! And if you weren't I wish you had been!

 

I also just had a birthday as many of you noticed (holy crap I'm 28 now?!) and even though I worked for most of my birthday due to a broken server here in the office, a bunch of us got together and played some Xbox 360 on the projector here (nothing quite like a 100" screen) and I had a few extrememly stiff drinks (after a 34 hour shift, you might too) and then we went to dusty's for a few more beers. Let me tell you that a with no dinner and no sleep I get pretty drunk pretty easy. Good times! Now we might have to do it again tonight with some nachos at Merlins and some beers at Garfs.

 

I was tired and took the greyhound up from Vancouver to Whistler this morning, I was near the front of the bus, and as I got off I got rushed by some people behind me, so I forgot to scan the seat to see if I left anything behind (something I do every time). So of course, this was the time that I left my fancy phone on the bus. I went back 2 minutes later and talked to the Greyhound lady, she said they'd have to wait for the bus to get to pemberton before they could check it. I'm going to guess that whoever took it got off in the village.

 

Anyway, I reaaaaly hope I can get it back, cause I'd not be stoked on having to get another one. Argh. I hate it when I leave things behind. I hate it even more when I know EXACTLY where I left it and it wasn't there when someone looked for it.

 

Oh yeah and I've been wearing the same clothes for 3 days now, I feel great.

nipple deep pow+ salmon pink vanginas + spoon dink = GOOD TIMES

 

Saving fun girls from creekbeds? Priceless.

 

EXTENDED FORECAST FOR WHISTLER - BLACKCOMB.
FRIDAY.. SNOW AT TIMES HEAVY. WINDY.
SNOWFALL ACCUMULATION 30 TO 40 CM.
FREEZING LEVEL 1000 METRES.
SATURDAY.. SNOW AT TIMES HEAVY.
SNOWFALL ACCUMULATION 30 TO 40 CM.
FREEZING LEVEL 1000 METRES.
SUNDAY.. SNOW AT TIMES HEAVY.
SNOWFALL ACCUMULATION 40 TO 50 CM.
FREEZING LEVEL 1250 METRES.

1. Optimus Prime
2. Bender
3. Tetris Piece (maybe with tetris music too)
4. Duffman (blue tights are hard to find)
5. Nacho Libre (again with the tights)

 

6. NEW! - Listerine Superhero guy

Well I'm back in Canada after 26 days of travelling, 10 flights and many, many kilometers and adventures. What can I say, that was one of the best trips of my life, with lots of fun things done, people met, drinks drunk and more. Starting from Vancouver we flew to San Diego for a quick stopover, then it was a 14 hour flight to Sydney, then over to Melbourne from there. After spending a few days there we grabbed Chewy and headed up on another flight to Brisbane to explore the Gold and Sunshine coasts, Surfers Paradise was fun, as was Noosa Heads. After we got back to Melbourne we spend a few more days relaxing then hopped in Chewys car and drove along the Great Ocean Road and checked out the sothern coastline, it was amazing. The rock formations at the 12 Apostles were rad. Chewy then headed off for Fiji and Nels and I caught another flight, this time to Hobart in Tasmania. We rented a car and drove up the East coast and stayed in a place called Bichno which was quite close to Freycinet Park which had some great hikes. After we got back to Melboune we quickly flew up to Fiji the next day and transferred over to the Outrigger Resort. Pretty fancy I gotta say. After relaxing by the pool and watching the wind (and too much rain for my liking) Ryan (Chewy) and Kristy's wedding was upon us. The sun was out in full force that day and everyone looked great! The cermony was quick and awesome (with the minister in sandals) and then it was party time! I'm pretty sure everyone had a great time. A couple days later we went to Beachcomber island, and it was the very definition of a tropical island, it only took 10 minutes to walk all the way around the island on the beach. The bar had a sand floor and there were tons of activities to do, we went snorkling for too long (resulting in a nice burn on my back) and then we rented kayaks and paddled over to Treasure Island. On our last night in Fiji Nels organized a traditional dinner for us in one of the local villages and we had a great Lovo feast (earth oven) with lots of Kava (special Fijian drink, very relaxing). Here's a few highlights, for more pictures see my gallery:

 

 

Chewy, Nels and I climbed one of the Glass House Mountains, it was only 322m (1000ft) but it was quite a steep climb! I sweated my ass off, but the views at the top were worth it (see my gallery for more pictures)

 

 

We travelled to the Australia Zoo, former home of Steve Irwin, the "Crocodile Hunter" shortly after his death. It was pretty amazing to see the outpouring of emotion and interest in this Australian icon. Love him or hate him, he sure made a big impression on a lot of people. The zoo was really cool too (the main reason for going there was to see the zoo).

 

 

Drove along the Great Ocean road and ended up at the "12 Apostles", which are some really cool rock formations on the edge of the ocean (you can see them behind me in this photo). Had a lot of fun exploring and watched a wicked sunset as well.

 

 

Chewy then headed for Fiji to get ready for the wedding, so Nels and I caught a plane to Tasmania, rented a car and toured around exploring that little island. We had an amazing time and really enjoyed ourselves. (And I had the best steak ever at the Ball and Chain in Hobart). We went to Freycinet National park and checked out Wineglass bay and hiked up Mt. Amos (452m - 1500ft), which was another relatively steep climb.

 

 

Then it was time to go to Fiji and join in Ryan (Chewy) and Kristy's wedding at the Outrigger resort. Tons of fun, lots of drinks, sunshine and a great crowd made this day super enjoyable. I also got to play wedding photographer on my little point and shoot for a sunset photo opp. Turned out pretty good if I may say so myself.

 

TONS more photos available here: http://snowboard.colonies.com/members/Joe/Galleries/photo/127633/

 

Thanks to everyone who made this a rad trip!

We're down in Tassie now, and it's great. Cool part of the country for sure, everyone is nice, the towns are super small and there's lots to see. I'll post pictures when I can. Yesterday we went to Wineglass Bay, which Outside magazine rated one of the top 10 beaches in the world. It was pretty cool. Today we're going to climb up one of the Hazard mountains right next to Wineglass bay. Should be an adventure. Talk to you all soon!

Holy cow, Joe's taking a vacation!

 

It's been a long time since I've gone anywhere (I think the last one was Mexico for a week in 2004), so it's time to pack up the bags and head on an adventure. It just so happened that my friend Chewy is getting married in Fiji at the end of September, so my friend Nels and I decided that we should not only go to Fiji, but head down to Australia for 3 weeks and remind Chewy of what it's like to hang out with us (we have all been roomates here in Whistler).

 

So between the 1st and 3rd of Sept, I will be on my way to Melbourne (via San Fransisco, Sydney, and finally Melbourne) and return home at the end of the month (via Fiji).

 

So yeah, if you're down that way, let me know

It's launched!

 

 

Visit it now, add your mountain biking pictures, stories, blogs, etc. It's going to be wicked.

 

Speaking of wicked, my ride yesterday wasn't. Haha. Two flats on one run, and I only had one tube, so that ended in a 2km walk down the road on Whistler. Ah well, the first one wasn't my fault, but the second one was. That said, the mountain bike park still rules, and the Crankworx slopestyle this weekend is going to be insane! We'll be sure to get lots of pictures for the new site that you can all check out.

 

If you have any comments/suggestions/ideas, let me know.

 

Joe

So summer has fully and completely arrived now, and it's wicked. Sure I might bitch about how it's "so damn hot" but I bitched about the rain too, so apparently you can never make me happy unless it's puking snow all night then sunny the next day. I'm pretty sure the temperature here reached "surface of the sun"°C the other day. Actually it's pretty wicked, I've been mountain biking a ton, and we've reached new heights of Bocce ball radness (including water holes).

 

Speaking of biking, damn is it fun. I've got a Brodie Holeshot that is great, though I do wish at times I had a full suspension (I'm not so smooth and the dualies kinda cover for me), and I bought my Whistler Mountain bike park pass on friday. It's so amazing up there, the Garbanzo chair expansion means there is 3400 vertical feet of mountain biking to be had on dozens of trails. Some of them get pretty tricky, especially on a bike not built for the park (mine) and I found that out on friday. After having an amazing ride, including "Original Sin" and "In Deep" off of the Garbanzo chair, we decided to do "Schleyer" on the lower mountain. I tried to take a "not so hot" line on one of the rock faces and managed to endo over the handlebars and land on just about every part of my body, including my hip, both legs, shoulder, back, elbow and wrist. I was very lucky that I had borrowed a full face helmet from Fanatyk Co bike shop, because all I remember is my face and head sliding across the rocks. Thanks Jon! First time I've ever really knocked my head too, guess I got a mild concussion, that was interesting. Oh yeah, and on a sad note, I was a dumbass and took my cool nerd phone up the hill with me, and managed to smash it to pieces when I fell. D'oh. Ah well, I got back up there yesterday and it kicks ass. Back at 'er again this week.