Nice to get back to flying

It's been a couple of years of no flying and it's been great to find out that flying is like riding a bike. Good to fly a few new sites too. Now it's time to get back to Idaho Peak, my favorite site in the world.

Post Hip Surgery

I had a great winter. After three winters of no skiing due to a broken leg and subsequent hip replacement it was great to be back ski touring and skiing. My limited preseason training was some mountain biking with the goal of riding up our local mountain Idaho Peak - 6,000 ft of vertical and that felt great. I did my first tentative turns on our local t-bar ski hill - Summit Lake and did some skiing with my boy Ethan who is loving skiing. The winter progressed with a few short ski tours which I was happy with but had a few limping days after and wasn't sure what all that meant. The season amped up with some heli skiing in some awesome weather windows when we nailed some perfect skiing and the leg felt better and better. By the end of the winter and into the spring my fitness was better, fine muscle control, balance and muscle twitch speed was back on track and feeling 90%. Yahoo, what a winter.

Christmas 2012

Twins? Ethan at 6 months, Jonah at 6 months.

A swim across the lake

 A broken leg in the Fall and a new baby in the Spring. A 2 year old as well and there is not much time for exercise. Last year Tom Perry made his inagural swim across the Slocan Lake ( about 2 km ) and I joined him this year. Good exercise and just about anybody that can float can do it. We swam a leisurely 1 hr 18 min and vowed to do it again next year and get it under an hour. Doug from Bosun's Ranch provided motorboat support and return transport and we swam from his place to the old wrecked barge on the Valhalla Park side.

Busy changing diapers

 

 

France in the Fall

We were supposed to be in France in early October to shoot a friend's wedding however someone had to break their leg. KLM airlines generously gave us a year to use the tickets but since we are expecting a new baby in the spring it seemed like November was the right time. It was pretty much wandering around the old towns taking photos of Ethan.

I broke my leg

I had a tree land on my back and break my leg this Fall. A little unfortunate but fortunately it's all getting better and it was not worse. I was laid up for about a month and then moving around on crutches. It's all healing well. No pictures.

Landing at home in New Denver

I got two paragliding flights from Idaho Peak this summer. The road was closed due to snow until early August. Quality over quantity. Nice to keep my head in the game.

The little man Ethan and I getting to work

Getting a lot of yardwork done this spring. The snowpack is still deep in the mountains, even been getting a few fresh dustings of snow up high. It's been cool and wet in the Kootenay valleys. Of course, Ethan is a big help for the big jobs.

My parents make a visit to New Denver

My parents flew in from Australia and spent some good days in New Denver. A little rain and a little sunshine.

More excavators

It's been a lot of heavy equipment in the yard at Glacier View Cabins in New Denver. We have torn down trees, moved the parking lot closer to the street and laid down concrete sidewalks, topsoil for a large lawn and next will be fences to keep the little boy contained....

Reading with the little man

Spending lots of time with Ethan. Every day is a little different. A few new words, understanding concepts, and always with a little laugh and a smile. A little boy - every time a truck goes down the road - it's "vrrooom - truck" and every rock is picked up and thrown.

The little man and I enjoy the surf

After a long winter away it has been good to see my little man. Ethan is now 18 months old. We had his 1st birthday and a month later I was away for the most of the next 4 months. Sometimes it was just an afternoon at the swimming pool once every two weeks and we did have a month away in February-March. We are both happier together.

Last Day of Catskiing - tailguide special

We had a bluebird day, creamy powder with perfect stability for the last day of catskiing for this winter. After skiing Wildhorse Peak we traversed into this bowl to keep skiing. The rest of the group had a sweet line just to the right of the picture but this spine looked in condition for me. The last time I skied this line it was a little windswept and not altogether pleasant. Today it was much different.

Another run a different view

Skiing with the new helmet cam

Justice Delayed is Justice Denied

Well worth looking at, thinking about.

Ethan staggering

The Paradox of our Age

We have bigger houses, but smaller families.

more coneniences, but less time.

we have more degrees, but less sense.

more knowledge, but less judgement.

more experts, but more problems.

more medicines, but less healthiness.

We've been all the way to the moon and back

but have troube crossing the street to meet

the new neighbor.

We built more computer to hold more

information to produced more copies than ever

but have less communication.

We have become long on quantity

but short on quality.

These are times of fast foods

but slow digestion.

Tall man but short character.

Steep profits but shallow relationships.

It's a time when there is much in the window

but nothing in the room.

Dalai Lama