The Long Jump
/Far out, time really books it along when you're closing in on a cross globe journey.
Winter, Spring, Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer. I guess its pretty weird having 6 seasons in a year, but I like it a lot!
After my favourite NZ winter in memory, spring settled in and I found myself working at the Airshed Trampoline centre in Wanaka as a check in/safety manager and trampoline coach.
https://www.facebook.com/theairshed/?fref=ts
That all came from an opportunity presented to me to do an 8 day coaching course through winter. It was cool to be able to take the teaching skills learned as a ski instructor and apply it to a different sport, I have improved my tramp game a tonne with a bunch of new stunts and It has been great fun teaching beginner progression tramp lessons to kids and adults.
I have also been doing lots of running, biking, swimming, gym, slack lining and paddle boarding, among other warm weather activities, with my first half marathon and a triathlon in the mix. So I am feeling pretty fit and ready to get after it.
Dad and me at the end of the Queenstown Half Marathon
I am currently sitting at gate 10 in Auckland international airport, waiting to board my long haul flight to Europe!
After landing on the 7th of Jan I will head to Verbier where I will compete in the Verbier Freeride week a couple of days later. The week is made up of two 2* events and one 3*. My plan is to use it as a warm up, more for mental preparation so that I am feeling head strong when my first 4* at Hochfugen comes around about 2 weeks later on Jan 29th.
From there I will hit more comps bringing my season to 9 stops in total, these include:
Les Arcs 4*, France - Feb 6th - 7th
Jasna 4*, Slovakia - Feb 24th - 28th
Nendaz Freeride 4*, Switzerland - Mar 11th - 16th
Chandolin 3*, Switzerland - Mar 19th - 20th
Obergurgl 4*, Austria - April 9th - 12th
After the last comp I will head straight home to NZ on April 15th.
It is now almost two years after injury and my knee is feeling solid! I am definitely excited about this season, it will be full on with comps and travel and I am really looking to push myself to see how close I can get to qualifying for the Freeride World Tour.
Bring it.
Love me some slack lining! Photo - Hannah Rasmussen
Photo - Hannah Rasmussen
Boxing Day Boating with my sick as heck snap back with the neck flap
paddling into the night earlier in spring, it was fully dark by the time we finished. The moon was even out.
Scott and I paddled down the Clutha from the red bridge to Maori point and finished in the dark.
West cost camping trip in spring. Sea side sunsets are beautiful things.
I have been doing a bit more carving this spring as well, the pictures below are of pieces I made recently.
Xmas present for Mum
I only carved the stone in this one, the ring was missing its bit so I made a replacement!
Frank
As well as that I made myself a standing desk! the cure for a sore back. I have never made anything significant out of wood on my own before so the process was a lot of fun and it turned out far better than I expected!
See below for cloud porn.
