Eagle Viewing by Stand Up Paddleboard

We have had some amazing weather lately, sunny and clear blue skies. The skiing hasn't been great so I took my paddleboard out yesterday and paddle up the Squamish River to check out some bald eagles. Our eagle count was down again this year, lower than last. Last year was a very low year and they are attributing that to the diminishing runs of chum salmon. After the river paddle i headed out into the sound for another hour or so. It was great being out on such an amazing day. The outflow winds started to kick up so I headed back in. 

I also got some new touring gear from Mark up in Williams Lake. He owns the Red Shreds Ski Shop up there and sent down a pair of Mt. Baker Superlights with a pair of TLT vertical's on them. Incredible set up. I have been touring on pair of Black Diamond Havocs with Diamir Freeride binding. That set up has been pretty good too, the bindings are beefy and the Havocs rip but they do not compare to the lightness going uphill of the Baker's and TLT's. Wow. Feels like you have nothing on, ski's i mean, in comparison. I also got a pair of used Garmont Megarides. They are a 4 buckle boot and I can already notice the power. I am really looking forward to some big days on them.......they should work really well for the big volcano's this spring. Tonight I am heading up Blackcomb for a starlight training tour.

Stand Up Paddle Board Sesh over the new years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFzaSphipOg

THINK 20 YEARS AHEAD

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.

So throw off the bowlines.

Sail away from the safe harbour, catch the trade winds in your sails. 

Explore.

Dream.

Discover.

-Mark Twain

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you have set your goals and dreams for 2009. I had an amazing break with lots of adventures. I spent lots of time in the mountains and on the ocean. Many days were spent touring up in Garibaldi Park with the great snow we have been getting. One of the days I toured in waist deep powder then rushed down to the Squamish Spit in a snowstorm to do some stand up paddle boarding. 

The holidays also have been about family and friends. My family came out west this year for Christmas and we celebrated West Coast Style with lots of adventures including snowshoeing and nordic skiing in the Callaghan. New Years was spent in one of the best places on earth, Tofino. We had incredible weather and great surf. I spent a lot of time surfing the waves on my stand up which is one of my favorite things to do. I will try to post some video of one of my surfs. 

I am really looking forward to an epic new year with lots of great adventures and time spent with close friends, family and partners. 

FIRST SKI TOUR OF THE SEASON

Up at 5:30am today to get out for the first ski tour of the season. It has been a late season for the snow but we finally got some overnight and it was snowing heavily this morning. Today I headed up for a quick blast to Red Heather. We were able to ski right from the parking lot and the snow was pretty good up by the hut and on the ridge. It felt great to be back on the skis and I am looking forward to a great season. Tomorrow I am thinking about Baker backcountry or Duffy Lake, leaning towards Baker since they might have gotten more snow from this last storm system. It will be another early rise and Big Sea will be along for the ride. I will have to tell her to get some good rest tonight.

MILEAGE ON THE SUP

Well my first ski tour last winter was November 12 and with the late arrival of the snow here on the coast i have been putting in a lot of time on my stand up paddleboard. It has been awesome. In the last month I have paddled from Porteau Cove to Lion's Bay here on Howe sound. I made it out to Tofino and had an incredible surf session with it. It is a pretty amazing feeling picking up the waves long before anyone else is able to get onto them. I was the only SUPer out there as well which felt pretty cool to be doing something not a lot of people are doing yet. I also got a taste of the open coast paddling from North Chestermans to Mackenzie Beach in decent swell and current. It is very energizing paddling the outer coast and it fuels me to want to do more and bigger trips. The alone time is great and the focus on the now is the way we should be living. After Tofino I made a trip down to Washington and paddled some great lakes down there as you can see from the picture. My paddling power is developing and the body is becoming adapted to moving this board efficiently. Last week I paddled the Sound again and headed over to Woodfibre, a wood processing plant that has recently shut down. The plant opened in 1912 and provided years of work for the people of Squamish and area. It was an interesting historical paddled. At the height of the plant there was 500 plus people and now there is nobody, pretty much a ghost town with a few companies dismantling the plant. I did realize how there is zero sea life around there due to the heavy contaminants that have been dumped into the sound for decades. After a bunch of training paddles on Alice Lake and a few more in the sound i was getting ready for some ski touring to balance out the lower body with the upper. The stand up paddle boarding is a ton of fun, a great workout and gives you the chance to explore and feel the freedom that being on the water can provide.

STAND PADDLE SURFING PORT RENFREW

I couldn't wait any longer so I got up at 4:30am to catch the 6:30am ferry out of Horseshoe bay with plans to stand up paddle surf Port Renfew. Up to now i have just been flatwater paddling on Howe Sound, the Squamish River and Alice Lake. Now it was time to try the  Southpoint Kalama in the surf. I drove down to Duncan and cut across the island via logging roads to Port Renfew. When i got there the waves were a decent size, the swell had been dropping from a big system that just went through. A guy on the beach of course said, "shoulda been here yesterday, swell was huge." For what my plans were today the waves were perfect. It was high tide and most of the waves were dumping onshore but some of the bigger ones were breaking outside. It was a shifty peak so it took me a while to get my timing and get comfortable standing up in the surf. I finally picked one off, pretty big smile on my face and once I caught my first one I started getting a lot more. Incredible feeling getting into waves standing up rockin an 11'6" board. I had to bail out before the wave slammed onto the shore but I was able to ride a few down the line. I was the only one out and I surfed until fatigue had me falling off the board for no reason. I was out for 3 hours and came in superstoked. It was pretty hard getting in as the shorebreak threw me and my telephone pole all over the place. I somehow ended up with leaves, dirt, gravel and various debris on the inside of my suit. I was happy to get out of the water before my board became a scud missile. Since then I have not stopped thinking about getting back in the water again for another surf. My next trip will be to Tofino in the next couple of weekends for more SUPing. I got a lot of funny looks, people wondering what the heck I was doing but it was really cool doing something no one else was doing. Sorry no pictures or proof but it was a solo mission today and you will just have to trust me. Laird would have been proud........no not really.