Season 13/14 Highlights

 

Well its coming to the end of this season I've been to over 5 countries this season, I hoped to make up for last season with some good travel plans and riding in various countries, and even though i didn't do well with the comps i still had a really great time traveling around the continent and experiencing new places. 
I definitely have been thinking more into the future and life this season, Well i've had the time to think about a lot of things during my travels hanging around airports for a good few hours for transfers and the long coach rides to these destinations. Everything from people in my life to where i want to be and the career i want to build over the next few years, in a way i've already got the next few years planned out but i guess it never really goes that simple in life, but what i have realised is that i need to try and change direction now before missing opportunities in my life that i may regret later on and the window of opportunity gets smaller. 

A part of me is feeling disappointmnent over the season but as always the people i've met this year and the amazing places i've seen have made these trips worthwhile from the far north of Lapland to the far east of Europe in Bulgaria.
On my most recent trip to Norway i met fish and ilia in Stavanger which completely made the trip for me, honestly its rare you meet such freespirited people just out their living life, Maybe it was some kind of fate we crossed paths at this event. Also their Airbnb host was really funny and just this wild eccentric guy, It's funny because he reminded me so much of a friend called Darren back in the UK who i grew up with but i haven't seen for a long long time.
I also got speaking to a polish girl who was really cool and pretty cute working in my hotel in Sandnes, I could have spoken to her all day, she was telling me about her experiences living and working in Norway, I kind of feel sorry for her because she seemed a little stuck and fed up but i could feel that she had some energy in life to keep exploring and find something new eventually.

The snowboarding has been good, The season started out in arctic Norway, The conditions kind of what you could expect up in such extreme locations, the weather started off pretty mild and by the end of the week the town was buried in snow, I did manage to get some riding in but only from hiking to the summit for a few lines down through the trees and back onto the piste which was closed at the time because of the conditions, There is more on this in my post of arctic Norway part 1. 

Next was France which was real fun, I had a great time out in the 3 valleys with Damien and his work mates, We got some pretty good riding in too, we found some great spots in Courchevel for some freeride and powder and also our final day we hiked for a nice but kind of sketchy line in Meribel. The board has been amazing this season in terms of performance, I have had no worries and full confidence in the boards strength and capabilities on the bigger terrain, I even had confidence in taking it into the park on a few occasions and again the board held up, any mistakes were down to me getting a little too confident and heroic for my own good. 
Speaking of heroic i had a huge crash off a sky rail in Bulgaria during the next trip, I had been getting a little too confident in making this big rail about 10ft off the ground and eventually karma bit my ass and i fell off the rail onto the lip backwards coming up short, I am surprised i didn't come out worse from this but it was a freakish crash which would come back in your nightmares. Bulgaria started off warm with no fresh snow forecast but then like the story of the season, towards the end of the trip the heavens opened and we had powder days for 3 days nonstop, In fact i was actually pretty worn out come the end of the trip and i don't think i could have gone for much longer anyway after 6 full days of riding all over the mountain. There was a sketchy moment where i ducked under the lift to reach a nice looking spot until i realised there was a big cliff sitting underneath me and the snow was actually loose and ready to slide, I've been in this position before and the last time i nearly died so i made sure not to make this same mistake again and i climbed back up and out of there. The last few days were amazing, deep powder, steep lines on diamond powder runs, tree runs, everything, I couldn't ask for a better way to finish the trip in Bulgaria and i had met some really great locals who introduced me to the real side to Bulgaria.
The last ride with Fish and ilia was again pretty fun but we didn't manage to get too many days of snowboarding but we still make the most of what we got. We met a very happy Italian guy who showed us around the mountain we decided to ride that day, He was working as ski patrol and a coach and was pretty happy to see us so we hooked up and decided on lapping the single chair for fresh powder runs down the sidecountry area. Such a nice and laid-back day with a great mix of riders with hardly anybody on the mountain, Those are the days you live for in snowboarding, Well for me anyway. 

So yeah the season has seen ups and downs and didn't really go as i planned it from the start but in a way it's not such a bad thing as i would have never have been able to enjoy the freedom of the other times i had, i didn't want to get too downbeat over the situations i was facing at the time either, After all i was in a different country doing what i love which is travelling and riding and discovering new things, I can't really complain, I am priveged to be able to do these things and sometimes it doesn't always work out.

The season is not quite over, I return back to Arctic Lapland for one of my favourite events the bank slalom! and riding under the midnight sun is my kind of trip! If i missed any riding this season i'm going to make up for it with riding through the day and night until i can't ride anymore. I need to hold back a bit after this trip though, as much i want to keep riding i seriously need to save some cash if i am going to do anything for next season. 

So what's next? I won some free ferry tickets to one of my favourite islands up in Scotland so i'm going to use it as an excuse to head up there for a little break this summer and try and find and snorkel with the basking sharks and whales which are popular in that area. 
I'm also thinking of doing some volunteering in the port town of where i jump on the ferry to the Scottish isles, i am pretty interested in wildlife and i would love to do more conservation and sanctuary work, i am not a bird watcher but i love the wild birds and i'm pretty fascinated by their personalities so i want to get more involved with this too in the future. I continue to support WWF and it's great to see the work they are putting in across the world which is making a difference to the animals under threat.
Last but definitely not least is working on design and shaping in the workshop, I want to be get closer behind the scenes and learn how to properly shape and design the boards i ride and hopefully become more established within this field in the future. I know all these things are going to take a good few years of experience and hard work but there is always something to do and keep me busy so i will keep moving on.
I will have some more pictures uploaded next month to sign off the season, I will post the pic links also on twitter and g+ once i've got the final pieces together. 
I've also had a new love for discovering new music again, I thought there was no hope for new music but there are still some great artists going under the radar doing their own thing out there, travelling has opened my ears to different styles of music worldwide. 


So i want to end on a good note and say thank you for all the good times i shared with people this season and hope to see people again soon somewhere along the road, Keep riding, Keep smiling, make the most of life, Until next season! 

 

To be continued……