Here are some photos from an early keystone photoshoot. There should be more photos/vidoes coming soon. Sorry about the boringness

Number 10

Today was the same as the last 3: starting off sunny and warm, but quickly turning into overcast, snowy and bleak. However the most was made from this morning, and i almost got front 9's.

We are riding at keystone again tomorrow, and i am extremely relieved as i though tomororow was going to be my last day. However i checked my itinerary and turns out i am able to ride some of friday morning. Soooo stoked.

For everyone who reads; thankyou, and dont stress. peace

Number 9

We rode at key again today for further preperation for the saturday comp, and whilst the day was scheduled for overcast and snow, the morning was surprisingly pleasant with splashes of sun. However this weather was shortlived and as soon as it had started the sun dissapeared behind a cloud, the clouds got bigger and more frequent, and the snow started coming down.

I hit the big line for the first time in the nicer weather and i cant wait to start spinning off them. Bigger jumps=more air=more time to do perfect the trick in the air.

I have 2 days left starting tomorrow and i really dont want to leave here. It feels like a day ago when i still had a week left and i didnt need to think about packing. However i still have aaages of time to learn new stuff with the Halfpipe crew so i shouldnt be worried to much.

To everyone that reads; thankyou, and dont stress. peace

Number 8

We rode at keystone today, just a short drive from breck, as everyone needs to practice on the jumps at keystone for the upcoming comp on saturday. As the jumps at breck are near perfect practice is needed on not-so-perfect jumps so that the crew is ready to train on all kinds of courses, perfect or not so.

Today was my first full day on the new snowboard and I am soo happy with my decision on the board. Ive got quite a few tricks to pull together in my last 5 days but I'm confident i should be able to get most of then before i leave. Tomorrow, its game on. ;)

To everyone that reads; thankyou, and dont stress. peace

I only had a half day today as my boot is causing excrutiating pain to my foot, however this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as on the way home i walked past a snowboard shop and decided to have a quick look.. The shop assistant pointed me in the right direction and i found the perfect snowboard for me. Sooo stoked.

Number 7

The house is very empty at the moment as half the crew has left for Vermont so there are only 6 kids in the house with 3 coaches.

We had a super fun night after i had a not so super fun morning (landing seems to be a skill that has well and truly deserted me and has left me with sketchy/scary spinds in the air) and after building a 4th jump in the line out the front of the house we set up some lights and started sessioning. Even on these tine 4 foot jumps landing didnt seem to want to be my friend and i had a few very scary moments: on the 3rd jump i got bucked and spat out to narrowly miss landing on my back... on a wooden seat... :S. However i wasnt too injured so i got back up and did some more filmiing, the climax being a backflip on the last. Heres the footage.

For everyone that reads; thankyou, and dont stress. peace

NUmber 6

Today was a sick day for everyone landing new tricks, however "everyone" was slightly smaller than normal as there were about 3 that started the day off injured, and then another 2 that got injured and had to go home after about 3 runs.

It was a great day for everyone to progress however: the sun was out and strong, the jumps were sculpted to prefection and the snow was nice and fast. After a strong starting morning everyones day pretty much deteriorated. I did however manage to finally learn a new trick: switch back 5. I was also trying front and cab 9's all morning, and landed a cab 7 (another new trick) but reverted so I will only count it as learning half a new trick until I can land it clean everytime. I am soooo close to landing cab 9 and while front 9 might be a little far away, front 10 seems do-able (the axis i spin my front 9 on is the right axis for a 10.) Ive completed one of my 5 goals this morning, and i reckon i will be able to get the other 4 before i leave.

For everyone that reads; thankou, and dont stress. peace.

Number 5

We had a day off today which was good to rest our fatigued bodies, however the keener/uninjured of us still went out to do some filming. It was another sunny day, however it was extremely warm today: average of about 0 celcius. A couple of the boys and i went down to town and pretty much wasted 3 quarters of the day and complained there was nothing to buy. However when we came home i bought a new snowboard on the internet which is sick.

Ive got some footage together so there should be an edit on here soon enough, along with some pictures.

We managed to channel our boredom into something constructive and built the 3rd jump in our backyard which was very hard but definitely worth it in the end.

For everyone that reads; thankyou, and dont stress. peace

Number 4 - Comp.

We had the Gatorade Free Flow Tour comp today. After a nice early rise at 6 this morning everyone wasnt quite pumped to go compete but by the time the half hour trip to Vail was over everyone was a but more awake and a bit more ready to shred.

We had had a training day at Vail a couple of days ago and the course and while the jumps arent up to the perfect Breck standard, we were able to make do today and everyone got atleast one run down, with 4 of us going through to finals. My finals run didnt go very well, but i was happy to just make it into finals in a group of 16-20 year olds, with a relatively high score. I decided to stick with the run that got me into the finals, a cab 5, back 7 to a front 7. However i wasnt able to land my back 7's and didnt manage to complete my run. I had a fun day though, and it was good to compete against a high foreign standard. There will be footage from the comp on here soon.

For everyone that reads; thankyou, and dont stress. peace

Number 3

We only had a half day today so that we could get some last minute practice on our competition runs for tomorrow, and then rest our bodies in the afternoon.

Today was yet another sunny, beautiful day, and yet again it started in the temperature range of about -3... Fahrenheit. This is equivalent to about minus 20 celsius. These days are extremely hard to dress for as either way you end up being cold/hot at one point.

I had a lot of problems getting back 5 back today, a trick that I normally can get first time every time, but today, it was just not happening. And i needed to get this trick back as it is my first trick in the comp tomorrow. There was one time in particular when I did my trick on the first jump, and didnt land cleanly, but decided to pump the second jump and go for the 3rd. However, half way through my trick i realised that speed was indeed and issue, and ended up knuckling, almost hitting my head and consequently front flipping off the knuckle. I was fine though, bar a broken ego, and kept trying until i had this trick back on lock.

For everyone that reads; thankyou, and dont stress. peace.

Number 2

I've been in Breck for exactly a week and a day today, and everyday has been better than the last. Being over-seas is something easily taken for granted, and I am determined not to let my past, and future travels be this.

Today was yet another sunny day. However despite the sun the day started off extremely cold. The type of cold that eats at your toes and makes your whole face feel like it has been permanently frozen into a constant shape. However after a quick break at the Vista Haus hut we were able to feel our toes and get working on our comp run for Saturday. The pressure is on for everyone to get there runs first time every time in anticipation for the competition.

After a super fun afternoon (the sun finally did its job and warmed everything up) we came home and made some fun features to do just outside our house. The session should have been fun, however my head just couldnt wait to be introduced to some snow and soon enough my head was hurting and my lungs were struggling to do their job: breathe.

For everyone that reads; thankyou and dont stress. peace.

Number 1

I've been in Breck for exactly a week today, and everyday has been better than the last. Being over-seas is something easily taken for granted, and I am determined not to let my past, and future travels be this.

On my night of arrival here at the TSC house I saw the footage filmed from that day, and instantly realised the standard that everyone was at, the rate at which everyone was progressing, and the rate at which i needed to progress to be competetive with my housemates: and the outlook for me looked bleak. Everyone is at such a high level, and I was still stuck on my Mt Buller standard of sketchy 5's and even sketchier 7's. However I am thankful for this drastic improvement from everyone, as it has pushed me to strive to improve to the level everyone is now at. Thanks to this chasm of skill difference, I have managed to learn 3 new tricks and got 2 more tricks on lock in the last week.

Since I leave on the 22nd, the pressure is on for me to perform, and get my stuff first time everytime.

To everyone that reads; thankyou, and dont stress. peace