life and times

Corporate Emails

2010-08-19T16:41:00.000-07:00

Recently I was lucky enough to be brought on full time here at the Freeski Brands office. People are always telling me how awesome my career is and how jealous they are of my position... However as much as I love my job working in a crowded office of 4 people has its downsides! So I thought I would share with all of you how tough my job can be!!

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Friends are fun find you some

2010-06-10T22:22:00.000-07:00

Lack of imagery due to me not owning a camera has prevented me from putting much up here, but i have recently decided to beat the system by stealing others! Lots of thoughts running through my head lately about how important my friends are to me, where i would or wouldn't be without them.. so i decided to start expressing my thought's on the amazing group of individuals i am proud and oh so lucky to call my friends!

So i will start it off with the most inspiring person i have ever come across...

I first met the lovely Shannon Finch when i started working at parks with her five years ago.. we became friends instantly and grew quite close over the few years i was lucker enough to spend many hours a week with her utilizing insignificant merchandise! She is easily the most kind hearted accepting person i have ever met! she greets everyone she encounters in life with a smile, and her friends with a hug! her passion for life is inspiring, somehow she is always so pleased with her surroundings and seems to brighten everyone's day!
skier, patroller, climber, photographer, kayaker, coach, athlete, cyclist, entrepreneur, and hippie.. she has quite the list of talent's but my favorite is her ability to make everyone feel loved and accepted!

She showed me how to get over appearances and not only to accept but to appreciate people for their differences, and that life is what you make of it to enjoy all of the amazing things we have in this life, mostly the people you come across!

Shan Thank's for always being you, sorry this is quite scrambled but you had to go first in this list! U-KREW LOVE YOU!

Summa lovin

2010-04-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

Just Really excited for the upcoming months... Stoked the shoulder is happy again, back has not felt this good in years! really motivated to put the work into chasing the same crazy dreams... As well as going to make an effort to keep this updated more than a few time's a year!

patterns repeating

2009-06-25T00:55:00.000-07:00

In reference to my luck!
summer for me ended just as quickly as it started. went straight from skiing to riding bikes a week after the first race luck caught up to me my pedal fucked with the wrong rock and my shoulder/collarbone caught the worst of it! unfortunately i seperated y shoulder and shattered my collarbone! one surgery, a plate, seven screws, many pain killers, and several trips to the physical therapist later here i am stuck on the couch going crazy! unable to work unable to do the things i love that keep a smile on my face when the snow is nowhere to be found. Trying to stay positive hikes with the dog drives through the canyon but its just not the same. makes me realize how important my lifestyle is to me all i hear is how i need to find a new hobby how their not worth the injuries. in reality its the exact opposite there is nothing that makes me happier than the activities i choose to participate in they are worth every second of down time they are worth dying for! "every man dies, very few truly live". So for its doing everything i can to get back in the saddle and be ready for snowfall, sharing memories with old friends, and making some new ones! Maybe putting some effort into finding that special lady..... maybe ill wait till my luck is on the up for that one!

this two am rant is rambling on... till next time hopefully with some stoke!

ups and downs

2009-02-26T21:30:00.000-08:00

here is a fairly poor example of the fun i have been having lately!

so its been a while..... but life as always for me has its ups and downs that are rather dramatic! just as everything seems to start working out out for the better it takes a drastic turn for the worse! most recently my truck catching on fire rendering itself useless for some time now... luckily i have skiing it always seems to put a smile on my face and clear my head of everything that brings me down! the more i dedicate myself to life in the hills the more i realize how positively it affects my life and that i cant live without it!

skateboarding...

2008-12-17T13:56:00.000-08:00

if i could skate i would want to be this guy...

22" at sundance

2008-12-16T19:18:00.000-08:00

BOOYEAH!!!!

home hill just got pounded so stoked pow sessions will be here soon!
but sundance sucks so you should all just head to the cottonwoods...
stoked on my live life 2's from SURFACE www.surfaceskis.com

AVALANCHE'S

2008-12-14T17:02:00.000-08:00

So stoked winter is here its snowing in the hills skiing is getting better and better really pumped for it! but after watching three people get barried in an avy at the bird today it reminds me that it could happen to anyone at anytime... so keep it safe my friends!

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=5079104

Ski Bums

2008-12-09T12:29:00.000-08:00

stole this from someone who has meant more to me than they will ever know...

"Ski bums… wasting their lives." A slightly plump, middle age man of obvious means muttered as he glanced back at a man occupying the bench seat just a few rows behind him on the city-bus. He was in his late-20's with a deep goggle-tan, wearing a worn beanie over his tousled hair, and deep into a novel. However within 30 seconds the large businessman droned on to his fellow, business-workers of his obligations back at his hometown. "Back to the office…" he sighed, hopeless and exhausted. His whole life he had strived, worked hard just to attain this hustled lifestyle of appointments, offices, paperwork, and deadlines. As the businessman departed the bus he glanced back once more, as if he was looking back at the lifestyle he had never even perceived. He rolled his eyes, and gave a deep sigh.

The businessman's remarks didn't even phase Sage, he just settled back into his novel all the same. He had heard it many times before, he didn't care what other people thought. Soon he was at his stop and he made his way to his small apartment and his roommate, an old friend.

"How is he?" Asked his friend.

"Dave pulled out of the coma today, but he's paralyzed from the waist down." Sage said with a wavering voice and lowering his eyes toward the ground. They were hiking with a group attempting to ski the twin chutes in the backcountry when Dave fell. A week later they still did not know the outcome of his fall. Dave's accident had hit it hard, the two were close friends and the thought that he would never ski again was too much to bear. It caused Sage to seriously evaluate his life as a liftie and a so-called "ski bum." He regularly took the same risks Dave did, and as a normal routine he and his buddies would throw themselves into circumstances chock-full of high-risk situations. Running through the gamut of emotions, he questioned his passion as well as his life. He wondered if it was all worth it, if he was only helping forward something crazy and without purpose.

He couldn't sleep that night, so he retreated to his small balcony overlooking the valley. He settled in an old hammock and became lost in the night sky. He recalled his childhood, the different eras of his existence. As far back as he could remember he had been skiing. He had always felt at home, and happy in the mountains. Yes, he had his falls, the obvious downs of his career. But whether it be fractured vertebrates from an unclear landing, or blackouts and concussions from simple misjudgment, he had learned valuable lessons from each one. He thought about school, all the night classes he took in order to "keep his priorities straight." He was different, and there was no denying it.

He had always had the passion to ski. In some peoples eyes he had sacrificed so much to keep that passion burning bright, such as excusing himself from a seemingly "normal" lifestyle- partying, schooling, other sports, and even girlfriends- just so he could follow his dreams and ski. But in his eyes they weren't sacrifices at all, they were merely things that were somehow so important to other people but when compared to his utopiatic bliss became minute specks in the universe. At times it seemed that nobody understood. Unexplainable through words, was Sage's outlook, and a rare one at that.

As he was pondering his current role in life, he recalled his past: he was always a skier, but back then he had forced intentions of becoming a successful businessman. After a semester in college, he realized that is wasn't for him. This wasn't his call in life, plus the mysterious pull of new snow lured him away from his classes, away from studying and thus caused his grades to rapidly fall. He fell into quick realization that this wasn't for him. Sage rejected a lifestyle that requires 50 weeks of drudgery for two weeks of bliss. He imagined himself with lots of money, an important CEO in an uprising company. He imagined himself as the most successful man in the world. And he couldn't stand the thought.

The stirring of his golden lab, Greelie, who was curled up on an old beanbag chair interrupted his thought. The moon was high and the night was brisk. He had no idea how long he had been out there, and he hadn't realized how cold it had gotten. The snow was lightly beginning to fall so he retreated to his warm bed. He had to get some sleep, because tomorrow he was going to ski.

The next day Sage found himself driving up the canyon, still lost in thought, but somehow had made his way back to where he felt most alive, where he felt he was really happy. He arrived early and before he knew it, he was boot-packing up an insuperable rock face, not unlike the one where Dave fell. The thin air burned in his lungs, his skis cut into his shoulder yet he pressed forward. Step after step he worked his way up, he knew where he was going. Somehow, maybe subconsciously, he knew where he belonged. Amidst all his doubt he always found himself back to where he felt most at home. Whatever mountain it may be, whatever country it may be in, he was at home.

As he crawled over the last ridge, the sight took his breath away. Although he had seen it many times before, it still had the same overcoming power as it did the first time he had risen over that last ridge, out of breath, just to suddenly realize you have the whole world beneath you. In his eyes, it was truly the most beautiful sight possible.

"Everyone needs a place like this, a place of serenity, a place that is singular to them where everything is better. The world can't get to me here, and all my troubles disappear." He spoke out as we was addressing a lifelong friend. It was there on that peak where it hit him. He recalled an old quote from a book he had read recently. It stated that everyone has a purpose, everyone has a passion within them that they have yet to uncover, and most never do. Sage realized that he had found his, a love for something he couldn't explain. And there was no avoiding it. He realized he was not insane; he was doing what he truly loved, just like Dave was doing what he truly loved. Even more, he was fighting for a greater cause, defending the skiers right to push the boundaries and to make decisions that are solely guided by the individual. The true irony and misfortune is that it cost Dave his ability to walk and ski again, and nearly cost him his life. Sage recalled the man on the bus, he had commented on how he was a ski-bum and was "wasting his life." God, family, friends, and yes, skiing were the major priorities in his life, not immediate financial success. "People may think I'm wasting my life, but I believe I have found it. When businessmen are ripping their hair out at the office, I'll be ripping down the mountain- happy, healthy, and very, very much alive. He no longer felt guilty about blowing off what society deems important. He's not just skiing, he's defending the right to live as he chooses- living with no regrets, no unfinished business.
Sage clicked into his skis and began the long awaited descent down the mountain through the light, dry, untouched powder, floating effortlessly through the trees, in a state of complete bliss. It was nothing less than perfect. Although he had skied that line before, in even better conditions, on a clearer day with lighter powder, but that particular run, that particular day, was the best run of his life.

-Suzanne Graham

winter...

2008-12-04T23:13:00.000-08:00

is slowly arriving.. anticipation of the first knee deep giggly run is killing me!

sold the truck.... quit some jobs.... buying some passes! good times to be had!

spent today in full V.I.P. fashion with shawn, riley and john at snowbasin one day prior to it being open to the public!

pray for snow....later

hustlin

2008-10-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

working crazy hours to support the habit.....

came to a realization that i dont like it! so im sellin my prized possesions..
dream truck for beater, downhill bike for ski passes, dirt bikes for gas money!

its going to be a good winter! working the least amount of hours since i was 14 skiing all day..everyday!
snowmobile, cameras, good friends, good times.... STOKED!!

snow and illness

2008-10-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

a little gem i took in downtown slc past december

Along with the first big snowfall of the season came my first cold..preventing me from atleast taking a drive through the hills; hopefully im free of it from now on.... off to some cocoa and aspeen extreme! booyah