Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Never Summer


Everyone loves a good ol' fasion photo essay. Sadly, budget cut backs due to the poor economic times have forced me to lay off my personal photographer capturing my hidden stomps....and getting my little brother to do it, just isnt cool, so these photos will have to due. enjoy.


Cheeky the Traveling Squirrel arrives in Calgary for the week!


Canada Olympic Park!


Cheeky had a front row seat all week @ the FIS World Cup Slopestyle and Superpipe events.



Since this feature was part of the FIS World Cup course, therefore restricted...the story behind this picture is funny. I grabbed the first semi-capable looking person to ride the chairlift up with and recruite into this mission. I managed to pick the only guy on the mountain to have never used a digital camera before, but regardless he was willing...after a crash course, a quick trip to the 'location' where he would stand on the outisde of the safety fence and where point the camera for the shot(I actually made and X where he would stand and also laid a branch in the directing for him to aim the camera and shoot). We went back to the chair lift and road back up to 'location' of the photoshoot...

Knowing I only had 1, maybe 2 attempts at getting this picture before ski-patrol chased me down, I nervously re-explained how to operate the camera to my photographer, who we will just refer to as "rain man".

Attempt #1. Fail. Rain Man pushed the capture button to early. no big deal. back down to the chair for another ride up and another re-explaination on how to take the picture.

Attempt #2. Success! A couple of high fives later and we parted ways.


Whats not to love about fresh air, fresh sushi and fresh snow?

I spent a week in North Van for some Bromance with my Cousin Jesse who recently moved here from Nova Scotia.



greasin' a little view of Van City while gettin' my board slide on @ Grouse Mountain.


If Squamish isnt "picturesque" I dont know what is ...


Cheeky Arrives in Whistler. A view from his digs for the week.


My first day of "real snowboarding".

Incredible hosting and mountain guiding from a six year local made these some of the best days of snowboarding I have ever had.




What do Charlie Sheen and I have in common? we both love white powder.
Three straight days of the finest lines of BC's drug of choice. SNOW!


Im putting this poor quality photo in for two reasons.


#1. its a XXL wall ride that I was greasing/transfering 98% perfect all season long and I love bragging about it. and #2. I like telling people about the one time I got hung up on the top of it while doing a stall/transfer and ate shit, providing the entire chair lift and line up with a story to tell their friends.


When we first heard about the phantom hip-jump, It was easy to call it a sham...There was over 20mm of rain in only a few days not to mention the days in between were hovering temperatures of +10 to +14. As we pulled into the parking lot, it was out first sighting of snow on the hill, but there was still skepticism in the air if in fact, there was a ride able feature up there...it was a very silent hike to the top of the hill.


The Spring Spine.
...until we saw it! These are the remains of a poached Salmon Ski photo shoot!

Last Call.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

I suppose its about time for me to say something about how the training at the Peak Centre went for the last few months. Well, ill save you a lot of reading and i'll save myself a lot of typic...it was painfull! It was still everything I wanted it to be, but I have to admit, It was grueling at times. Now I fully appriciate what true athletes endure season after season!


Threshold Testing; The best way to precisely identify weaknesses as well as moniter training progress


VO2 max (also; maximal oxygen consumption, maximal oxygen uptake, peak oxygen uptake or aerobic capacity) is the maximum capacity of an individual's body to transport and use oxygen during incremental excersise, which reflect the physical fitness of the subject.


The name is derived from V-volume, O2- oxygen , max-maximum. VO2 max is typically expressed as an absolute rate in Litres of Oxygen per Minute (L/Min)


After wrapping up my last max test at the Peak Centre in December, I would essentially know where I would stand with regards to my maximum athletic endurance/performance for my body composition. I still dont know how I really feel about my results, but the good news is, my Sports Physiologist said if I keep up with a similar training program for another 6-12 months, I may possibly increase my max threshold...or the quicker alternative offered, intervals of Altitude Training. weird science! I think I need to go back to The GoodLife, ha.


My maximum V02 after 8 months of training was 49.9.


(below are some VO2 max results from select Elite Athletes..It's freakishly scary to compare to the chart above .