-10.5 F

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Originally uploaded by Johnny Cakes.

From the dry and warm climate of New Jersey to sub zero Gunnison Basin temps. The DJ on KBUT announced -10.5 degrees F this morning at 8 am. It was far colder in Gunnison. This picture is of one of the south facing windows in our living room before the sun came over Round Mountain. Beautiful and frigid. Once the morning sun hits our windows we are golden, but it is a cold morning until that time. The woodstove and sun are working in tandem at the moment making things very cozy.

I am entitled to a full day off of work today and for that I am grateful. The kids were very cool to be around this trip. Sean's combination of sickness and touchy-feeliness was gross, and Alice could not stop bombarding me with questions, however, it really was a nice trip. The competition wasn't everything any of us hoped for, but it is another big event under their belts. James left at the crack-of-Jesus-early on Sunday with his parents - who came to check out the event. Sean, Alice and I went to NYC after breakfast and met up with my old friend Ben Lawrence in Manhatten. We parked on the lower west side and cruised through Union Square and into Soho for some strolling and shopping.

As always, NYC offered more stimulus than I could possibly take in. It was cool to be taking in the things that held my attention and then have one of the kids pointing out stuff that held their attention. Ben was the epitome of cool and mellow - always awesome. We hit a couple stores that Alice wanted to hit and then the Burton store as well. I got Katie a t-shirt that was designed by a Bronx grafitti artist and only 100 were made and offered exclusively at Burton NYC. Pretty cool. We took the subway from Soho back to our rig and made our way back to Newark in good time. The flight out east sucked, but the return trip was smooth as could be and infused with my friend Ben and some of Sean's homies as well on the flight.

Mission complete. I am grateful to be home with Katie and Cooper - who are laying in the sun on the living room floor. I think we are going to go for a skate ski a little later. Other than that, I plan to make the most out of some rest and relaxation, and some domestic duties.

Black and White

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Originally uploaded by Johnny Cakes.

So, when we got the airport in Denver we were joined by Todd Richards, Shaun and Jesse White, and the Dingo. Sean Black was feeling under the weather and had loaded up on Nyquil. He was sleeping pretty soundly until I asked Shaun White to autograph him. The Dingo is trying to plop some water into his ear.

The layover was rad. We got to hear Todd giving Shaun the heads' up on what its like to be in the Olympics. We spent a couple hours just chilling and joking around with these guys. Very cool for Sean and Alice to hang with a couple of the biggest pros in the game - ever.

We are in New Jersey now. The kids did ok in the Paul Mitchell Expression Session slopestyle comp. Actually they all got schooled, but that is part of the game. Alice ended up third out of three and rode at about 1/3 of her capabilities. She got $1000 just for showing up. Where are all the ladies?

Tonight is the final event of the Grand Prix and they will announce the U.S. Olympic team tonight following pipe. Kass and Dillon followed White last night. White has won the first four events and has assured himself a spot on the team. Pretty cool to be rockin' in Dirty Jersey.

Beat Downs

Ian broke his humerus, E broke his tibia, Taylor broke his thumb, Alice broke her finger, Sasha broke off a part of his spinal process (yeah that sounds bad) and we've had two CAT Scans - one concussion and one to see if there was any internal bleeding after a hard slam to the chest (negative) - all this week. I am getting pretty good at prognosing damage to the kids. These kids, and coaches, live life pretty close to the edge a lot of the time. I've been noting with increased frequency that our job at the Academy is very tricky. We want to keep the kids protected and safe, teach them to be thoughtful and critical thinkers, and then we take them out on a mountain and train them to push themselves as hard as possible in potentially dangerous situations. Like spinning over a 50 foot jump, or going as fast as they can down a boardercross course with five riders at the same time all trying to beat them, or finding a line down an exposed cliff face until they find a good line to jump off of. It seems like we are encouraging them to be insane. But really, it’s calculated. I'm surprised all the time at how brave the kids are. And I am not surprised at how beat down they get.

I have more respect for the human body than ever these days. Based on some research I have read, my body will not regenerate muscle as quickly as it used to, my motor controls and balance are likely to fade slowly rather than get better, and there are a host of other struggles that could bring me down slowly, painfully. But I feel great. I have broken both wrists, an ankle, my foot, chipped my patella, broken ribs, separated cartilage between my rib cage and sternum, and broken my clavicle. Clearly I am quite destructible. But I feel great. Beat downs are a part of this. I don't like to see anyone get hurt, nor do I like getting hurt myself, but it is a part of the lifestyle. People generally don't get too down about this stuff around here. They are mad that they will have to sit out on the activity and do physical therapy until they are well enough to find their way back to the edge.

If you don't get knocked down, how will you learn to pick yourself up?

Island

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Originally uploaded by Johnny Cakes.

I never did get the name of this peak, but it made a lovely backdrop for our days on Mt. Bachelor. I had to do some adjustments in Photoshop to get the levels right, but this shot captures a good deal of the beauty.

Mt. Bachelor, OR

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Originally uploaded by Johnny Cakes.

I flew into Portland, OR (PDX) yesterday with Sean and Alice. James Tuschall met us there. In fact he was hiding behind the door when we got off the plane. James may be a 20 year-old CBA graduate, but he is still a clown. We hooked up a Toyota 4Runner and hit the rainy highways of the Pacific Northwest. The drive across OR was beautiful. The rain and green vegetation was such a contrast to the white world of Crested Butte and the dry plains of the Denver area. We were wired tight with iPods and laptops. The drive was long, but the crew stayed pretty well content - damn near miraculous with the tension between Sean and Alice. We made Bend in the early evening, picked up supplies, and then drove around in circles forever in a snowstorm. Eventually we found the Seventh Mountain Inn and made our way to the room.

Today was filled with adventure. Though we only rode one lift, it was totally fun exploring new terrain and then getting after the park. The kids all rode pretty well. They are up against a tough crowd. I am looking forward to seeing how they are going to stand up against the field when the pressure is on. Qualifiers are tomorrow. Riders meeting tonight.

Click on the picture above to get to my Flickr account and see more pictures I have posted there.