Monthly Roundup: September 2016

Blurry iPhone pic from Hurricane Ridge, site of my Monumental essay. The Strait of Juan de Fuca and Canada are in the background.

Blurry iPhone pic from Hurricane Ridge, site of my Monumental essay. The Strait of Juan de Fuca and Canada are in the background.

Well lookey here, it seems that fall snuck in the back door and kicked summer to the curb. It was a fun one for sure, but I'm ready for the mercury drop and the promise of snow on the horizon.

After spending some time with family back in Maine, I dedicated much of September to chasing surf and planning for the winter around the corner.

In the mean time I was able to publish some work and made my book debut with an essay in POWDER's new coffee table book, Monumental. A book, yo! The book is part of a larger digital feature and film that will make its debut in a couple days. Though I only played a small part in the whole thing, it's great to be a part of something like this—especially when that something is celebrating 100 years of National Parks.

As always, thanks for checking in, and keepin' it tranquilo.

Powder

Music for the Monday

I went to see Bomba Estereo at the Neptune Theater a couple of weeks ago and this Colombian quartet absolutely nailed it. Super engaging, high energy, neo-Cumbia style had the entire place jumping up and down. This track is definitely one of their mellower songs, but a really solid listen for anyone that needs a little sunshine on a cloudy day.

Oh, and the video for this video was shot at a surf hostel I stayed at on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, so that's pretty cool. Some of the hostel owners and people from nearby Santa Marta are even in the video! Disfrutala, kiddos.

Snapshot Postcard: Oahu 2016

Going through old photos, I was trying to figure out a fun way to sum up some of the latest travels and stumbled across a postcard. I was struck by how simple it was, how in a collection of small pictures it could give pretty well sum up a place or experience. 

Using the trusty old cardboard rectangle as my compass, I decided it might be cool to summarize trips in a series of six photos as a sort of digital postcard. Each picture will represent a different category—art, food, portrait, pattern/texture, nature, view—to paint a full picture of the given locale or culture. In this way, I hope I can share a snapshot of each place I visit.

Also, if I don't get too lazy, I'll include a gallery below to explain why the pictures made the cut. These aren't my best photos per say, but together they tell a little bit of a story. Or, at least that's the hope. 

First up is Oahu. I visited the island this past April—my first trip to Hawaii ever—to visit my buddy Nick. He was finishing up a clinical on the west side of the island, and we all crashed at an AirBnB in Honolulu. What a strange and wild place. The tension between native islanders and American imperialism is such a strong undertone here. You really feel like an invader. One side is a beautifully colorful and unique island culture that has lived in harmony with nature for hundreds of years and on the other is an equally colorful (but quite garish) culture of vacationers, sugary umbrella drinks, and the deep military history of Pearl Harbor. It's an awkward symbiotic relationship, two sides that don't necessarily see eye to eye relying on one another to survive economically in an island paradise.

Fortunately or unfortunately, these photos don't necessary reflect the conflict. For the most part, I focused on the natural beauty of the island and a couple of things that will always remind me of my time adventuring around the lush underbelly of Hawaii.

Monthly Roundup: August 2016

Havana, Cuba 2013. I explained how to get the most bang for your CUC (or moneda nacional) in the Cuban capital with GrindTV this August.

Havana, Cuba 2013. I explained how to get the most bang for your CUC (or moneda nacional) in the Cuban capital with GrindTV this August.

Well, I've let the blogging wheels come off a bit over the past few months, but a lot of that is due to being pretty busy. Luckily for me, busy is good.

However, I wanted to get back on track and share some of the things I've been working on a month by month basis.

In addition to working with Powder on some really exciting ski stuff, I've been able to branch out a little bit, connecting with Seattle's local tech scene and even getting to cover a little bit of the Rio 2016 Summer Games in addition to some action sports coverage.

Things I was particularly excited about in August: My first Latitudes with Powder, launching a dirtbag travel guide with GrindTV, and following Olympic beach volleyball for Paste. I even got to do a little bit of modeling for a buddy's catalog shoot (more on that lat...umm...never).

Eventually I'd like to share some of my favorite pieces from 2016, but for now, let's stick with August. Happy reading all, and thanks again for checking in.

Powder

Gimme Some Sugar

Seattle Met

Shyft Profile

August Playlist Boost

Summer is flying by and the tune's are coming in faster than I can keep up with. This week entry is a cross between an old negro spiritual and a beat you'd hear in a ski or snowboard edit. I know, that's a really weird description, but sometimes there aren't words that really capture what's cooking—even if it's coming from a word's guy. Anywho, check it out, and thanks for listening, kids.

July Guy Tunes

It's always hit or miss when a couple of your favorites come together. Peanut butter and jelly? That works. Pokemon and the outdoors? Yeah, not so much.

Luckily Raekwon and Flume make a pretty good team and more than decent track. Check out You Know, and hit this Monday with everything ya got. B EZ.

Musica de Julio 2016

Inspiration is coming from so many different places these days, and per usual, music taste is following accordingly. This week I bumped into an old track by Mala Rodriguez a Spanish female rapper that rips. Just the laid-back look I was looking for this week. Hope you all feel the same. Cheers, kids.

Cutting Room Floor: Buried At Hirafu Station

In recent months I've had a backlog of writing that hasn't been able to find a home. Turns out that I have had a place for it the entire time, right under my nose. I hope to add a couple of these every few months, so stay tuned. To kick things off, here is a brief memory of some time spent in the snowy confines of Hokkaido, Japan in the winter of 2015.

Wordlessly, the train slides up to platform, its hello flashed quickly against the fogged windows of Hirafu Station. Inside, a steam tornado swirls from the tiny stovetop, as our stationmaster, Yoshi, counters the outside storm with another log on the raging wood fire.

Doors open and train passengers shuffle into the station’s waiting room, each lugging a thick layer of white on their black overcoats.

Lost amidst our bottle of sake and trip maps, it takes a few minutes to realize that the train’s departing beeps never sound. I rise from Yoshi’s hand-hewn table to find a neon army of municipal workers shuffling out onto the tracks. Snow shovels in hand, they battle the snow bank accumulating around the engine’s front wheels.

Nothing out of the ordinary, I think. We’ve been on Hokkaido, Japan’s north island, for nearly a week and haven’t seen the sun for more than a few hours. It’s the Japanese winter fabled by poets and winter journeyman worldwide, the reason our group of powder skiers set aside day jobs to trek halfway around the world in search of snow we’d only imagined from the opposite end of computer screens.

Minutes pass and the conductor steps onto the platform. Checking his watch and bowing his head against the galaxy of falling flakes, he paces the deck front to back, back to front, his footfall swept away before it can be retraced.

“How long until they move again?” I ask Yoshi. “This happens a lot, right?”

The stationmaster goes stiff, shuffling manically around the room in search of his coat. As he steps toward the door, he looks back and shakes his head solemnly.

“Never. This has never happened before.”

Over my shoulder I catch the audible gasp from our powder contingent. In a trip full of best days, tomorrow could be the best yet.

20 Years Later...A Seattle Story That Continues To Unfold

I met Katie Rose Fischer-Price for the first time at a Seattle bar with friends a little over a year ago. She was immediately engaging, and after talking for a while, she casually slipped in that she would be heading to Everest Base Camp that May. I was confused why she didn't seem more excited. After some prodding, she mentioned that her father was famed climber Scott Fischer, and how he was the reason for her mission.

A little starstruck, I started to tell Katie how I knew all about her father, I had pored over all of the books, videos, and articles surrounding the infamous '96 Everest climb that took his life and the lives of seven others—I was practically an expert. I realize now just how patient and kind she was in that moment as she told me straight-faced, "That's not the whole story."

Over the next year Katie and her vast support system opened up and gave me that story. All the while, Katie was writing her own impressive narrative in the places her dad loved when they needed it most, and sharing that with me as well.

Today marks 20 years since the tragic events on Mt. Everest that took Scott's life, along with those of Rob Hall, Andy Harris, Doug Hansen, Yasuko Namba,Tsewang Samanla, Dorje Marup, and Tsewang Paljor. For many, those events feel like yesterday, as if time has stood still for all this time. What will stick with me most is that Katie and her brother Andy have refused to be stuck in time with them, becoming their own forces in this life, and honoring their late father in the process. I have to think Scott would be pretty stoked on that.

I was privileged enough to tell Katie and the Fischer-Price's story in a feature inside Seattle Metropolitan Magazine's May Issue. I'm one of thousands of people that could have written it, but I'm just glad it's out there for people to see. In closing, hug your mom, call your old friend, tell that person how you really feel. This stuff is too precious not to.

You can check the article out in the May Issue on newsstands now or HERE online (fo' free).

April Covers

For all of those following along (*cough*) Mom, Lange (*cough*) you may remember that this is actually the second rendition of a much more robust personal musing space known as the (a)Musings of  Bro You Know. I would argue that was some of my most honest, unrefined, and raw work to date. I also think I might have been funnier back then? And I digress.

Anyways, a major part of that blog was posting a new cover song every week, a streak that I kept going for an entire year. Not bad for a spacey college kid. 

This week, I had a track reawaken the cover feelers, and figured I needed to share it with you guys. Ella Eyres' soulful pipes take a stab at Jermaine Stewart's 80s abstinence anthem "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off", and the resulting quirky cover just works for me. Remember folks, we can dance and party, all night...

April Tunage

So here's my Confession(s Par II): I'm a rather large RnB fan. My expertise ranges from about '95-'05, but I just really dig the rhythm and those sappy, sultry lyrics. But somewhere along the line, RnB created a hybrid beast of the RnB-inspired electronic variety that has started to pull at the heartstrings, giving birth to the likes of Chet Faker and, now, a group called Honne. Per usual, the song isn't new, just new to me, but it's another one for the ole playlist. Enjoy beezys.

Musica March

Ok ladies and gents, sincere apologies, but winter has zapped all of my extra writing energy. Turns out skiing is pretty darn good this season, so I haven't spent as much behind the keyboard. Alas, that means your poor music libraries have been starved of sustenance, and for that, I apologize. Here's me trying to make it up to you with a little song called, "Genghis Khan" by the talented guys of Miike Snow. Check'er.

Musica...Wednesday?

Well at least I'm consistent. Consistently awful at updating this weekly music thing regularly, that is. 

This week's headlines have been dominated by the sad passing of a rock 'n roll icon, David Bowie. His death at the age of 69 is a big blow to the music world, and it's times like these that you really see the influence of an icon like the Mr. Ziggy Stardust. You know, like that time a Brazilian artist recorded an entire album of acoustic covers in his honor. If you haven't heard Seu Jorge's entire cover session for The Life Aquatic, check it out here. 

Today's track is one of my favorite tributes to Bowie, Seu Jorge's rendition of "Rebel, Rebel". Enjoy.


Monthly Roundup: December 2015

Sunrise skin up Tumalo Mountain with buddy Sam Balyeat with views of Mount Bachelor, OR.

Sunrise skin up Tumalo Mountain with buddy Sam Balyeat with views of Mount Bachelor, OR.

Man, 2015. What a year. This trip around the sun will always stick out as "The Year of Further" in my mind. Further away from home, further out of my comfort zone, further into relationships, friendships, and experiences, further into the crazy ups and downs of life's addicting roller coaster. 

By the numbers, I visited six countries, hit Alaska for the first time, and visited family approximately not nearly enough (the latter being a number that will never quite be big enough for my liking). I got to road trip across Spain with my sister and my mom, ski virgin peaks in the wilds of Kyrgyzstan, and bungee jump off a friggin' bridge in Oregon. I also slept on airport floors, ferries, truck beds, real beds, and more than a few couches. 

The best part? I got to write about all of it, call it a job, and share those experiences with the people I care about.

A year that started in Japan and ended at a questionable taco truck, 2015, you were one for the books.

Here's some published work from December, including  a sandy debut in Men's Journal. Hey, 2016, what you got?

Powder Magazine

A Cut Above

Monday Music

One of my good buddies puts together a killer Top 50 music list every year, giving me enough listening material for a solid few months. Luckily for all of you, I pass some of the (many) gems your way. If you aren't into the double-filtered selection, head over to Spotify and give Zach Morrissey's personal channel a gander. 

For now, a little Neon Indian and their new track "Annie", will have to do.

Happy holidays, beezys.