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Last Friday John Makens and Scott Lenheardt joined me on a splitboarding tour. John had just got back from California and Scott was in town to sign prints of his artwork for Asymbol. It was the first time I’d met Scott but I felt like I’ve known of him for years through his artwork and mutual friends. We haven’t had much snow up here lately but regardless it turned out to be a fine day in the mountains. With a little effort we got some great views, found some good snow and fun turns.

high plains drifting

No plan, is a good plan. It seems sometimes keeping things loose results with the best case senarios. With no real plans for the holiday aside for Lily and I hitting up a buffet with Mylo in tow. I desperately wanted to avoid the timely and labor intensive cooking and cleaning regime involved in executing a proper feast. I caught wind Montana had been getting some good early season snowfall and heard it was opening up on thanksgiving. We decided to go with less than 24 hours till the chairs started spinning. We made some phone calls and Willie was down to join us as well as Lily’s friend Hedy and her son who live up in Missoula. We packed light and quickly and were on the road in time. We picked up Willie to join us on our spontaneous mission and we were off in hope of some early season lift access powder. The drive was shorter than I had remembered and we were all very happy to arrive. We stayed at Hedy’s friends cabin. It was a rustic cabin with no running water and I spent the better part of the night waking up to stoke the fire in fear of the women and children freezing in the dark cold of night. We got up early and made it to the chairs just as they opened and walked right on in disbelief. It was a beautiful bluebird day and the snow was glistening in the morning sun…it all was looking incredibly inviting. We made friends with the guys we shared our first chair with and they gave us the low down on where the goods would be. We got off the chair and pointed to the next lift and got right on again with no lines. Halfway up the chairs in front began unloading onto the slopes and lines were drawn in the pristine powder below. We scoped out all the options on the way up, got off and it was on…

Not a bad way to start the season.

For the past week I’ve been traveling with lily and Mylo across the vast west. It was our first family roadtrip with the little man  and I was filled with uncertainty and almost ditched the plans last minute. We eventually decided go for it, we’d be bummed if we missed everyone. Once we hit the road things were quite mellow. Mylo slept and I just drove for hours. It turned out to be a great trip, we saw a lot of friends and family hung out at the Volcom headquarters It’s good to be home but I miss everyone down there.

Once on the road I was inspired by the vastness of the land and my mind wandered…

We picked up Jamie in Reno and he gave me a break from the long drive.

Mono lake & Hwy 395

We arrived in Mammoth for the “I AM” Art show in honor of the late Jeff Anderson. It was an amazing night, old friends, fine art and much love.

My Mom, Brother & Sister and Myloparadise

Venice Beach, Niocle and Allan hooked us up big time with this sweet spot!

Mylo enjoyed spending some time outside without a bunch of gear on

a warm welcome

the venice park was absolute perfection

The Bowl was empty but full of sick lines

Fun waves but a bone chilling offshore breeze…

It’s the simple things that bring me the most happiness these days and I can’t think of anything better than spending some time with an old friend. Jamie arrived Friday night and it’s been good being able to catch up with him on things. He was in town signing prints for Asymbol and stayed with us for the weekend. We went up and did some riding, some skating, went fishing and had a lot of laughs and great conversation. It’s was great to see him, to me he represents the heart and soul of the Northwest riding scene… oh yeah Mt. Baker Opened today, wish I was there!

Jamie, Kyle and Willie

Mylo and Kitty by Mr. Lynn

Lily and I decided to get out in the mountains and figured it was time to introduce our son Mylo to the winter surroundings. We went for a short walk on our splitboards carrying Mylo with a sling inside my jacket. He slept as I hiked around in the cold and didn’t seem to mind it one bit.  It was a good little adventure for our family.

Mylo sleeping away

Just got back from a quick trip to California. It’s a good feeling being back in Jackson with the family but I had a really good time enjoying all the great things Cali has to offer. After a short flight I landed in another world meeting up with Seth Huot, Zac Marben, Gigi Ruf, Ryan Boyes and Billy Anderson. It started off with an outerwear photo shoot and then we hit the road and paid a visit to Snowboarder, TWS and many fine board shops up and down the coast.  Trip highlights, surfing, skating the Volcom compound, celebrating Zac’s 22nd b-day, Valient Thor in hollywood and watching the finals and best trick of  Volcom’s “Damm Am” skate contest from a birds eye view.

It was action packed with good times to say the least… much love to Billy and Ryan at Volcom for having me down.

A strange coincident occurred yesterday while Lily, Mylo and I went for our first family hike. It was a calm sunny and beautiful day, perfect for testing out our new baby sling and easing Mylo into his new surroundings. We decided to do a short hike to a lake just up the road from our house. Mylo seemed to be happy sleeping in the sling hanging from my shoulders as I walked along the forested trails. We decided to picnic on a large boulder on the edge of the lake offering great views. I caught some fish as Lily feed Mylo while soaking up the unseasonably warm weather. It was another fine example of the constant contrasts of seasons this time of the year.

On our way out we ran into some friends and introduced them to our son Mylo. They said “Oh so it was you guys who wrote Milo on the trail” Lily and I were a little confused, what a strange coincident. We picked up on the writing along the trail on the way back to the car and counted “Milo” 21 times. What were the odds of that happening? We like to look at it as a welcoming sign expressing his belonging to this special place.

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