April Highs and Snows

Apologies for my complete inability to post anything for over a month. As I sit here now I can't really think of an excuse other than that I've been crazy busy. Days turned into weeks as I moved non-stop from shred to work to bed with the occassional piss-up along the way. Recently I noticed how long it's been as Duthie churned out the posts and so I figured I'd sort out an update. So here goes...

When I last blogged, my family were about to arrive. They duly did, and an epic 10 days was had with plenty of fine dining, rediscovering the joys of tourism and hitting the slopes almost every day. It was a nice easy week that allowed me to get back into riding since my shoulder had healed-up. My family left and it was time to get back to work and less full days of riding.

I've decided that rather than write an endless post documenting everything I've done this month it would make more sense to do a primary-school book style 'picture blog' with a super-simple accompanying storyline. Don't worry you will not be hearing anything about 'Spot', or about seeing him run either for that matter.

Are you sitting comfortably?

Since my last post...

I went to Calgary

I did some ice-fishing

I got a new snowboard (stoked)

It snowed (lots)

It got really hot for a week...

and just recently, when it looked like the snow was on its way out, it snowed crap loads again! I had some wicked untracked chute lines in Sunshine's Delirium Dive only a few days ago! The weather has been crappy the last couple of days but I have my sights set on the park for the next 3 weeks. Hopefully there will be plenty of sun.

Lake Louise closes this weekend and until they do they have Canada's version of the airbag set up under their XL kicker in the park. The design is even better as it is set up on the down of the landing and thus allows riders to stomp tricks like real and even ride them out if they can control the board down the slidy plastic coating. Heading there twice this week to try some new stuff so I'm super-excited about that. Here's a video of the Katal landing pad to give you an idea

Katal Innovations - The Landing Pad from NuuLife Cinema on Vimeo.

I hope this post gave you a reasonable idea of what I've been up to recently. As the season winds down over the next month I'll have plenty more to show you. As riders all over the northern hemisphere pack up their boards the season at Sunshine rages on. It has really made me understand why so many people come back to this place year after year. The season is a good month longer than anywhere else and, once the snow is gone, there is plenty of kick-ass stuff to do. I may be getting closer to my 2-month riding hiatus, but I'm not dreading it at all.

I'll sign-off for now, but to keep you entertained here's a video of me making a hash of taking freestyle to the backcountry in the Lake Louise powder bowls. 3 hours of hiking in the baking heat and next to nothing to show in terms of landed tricks. It was a good test for my newly-recovered shoulder though.

Till next time Unbezzers!

AG

Back Bowl Bails from Ally Gray on Vimeo.

AG in AB

OF INJURIES AND CRAIG

The past month in Banff has been eventful to say the least. Only a chronological approach will allow the story of March to make any sense at all. Wind the clock back around 2 weeks and position yourself mid-afternoon beside the first medium kicker in the Sunshine Village park. Who's that skier hammering down the run-in without the slightest sign of a speed check? He's going to go big whoever he is! It's a backflip attempt! Is it a single? Is it a double? Who knows? The only obvious fact is that he's in bad shape after hitting the ground. The crowd of Sunshine instructors rushing to attention suggests he is one of them. Why it's none other than Aberdeen University's Alumni legend Sam 'you're making a scene' Cowie, and he's fucked himself!


Continuing the relationship between those named Sam and horrific season-ending injuries, Cowie went and broke his femur. Clean in half in fact. He broke it so cleanly that they pinned it in Calgary and he'll be walking in 4 to 6 weeks. Regardless of that he'll be heading home to Scotland at the beginning of April so it's curtains for 09/10 for Sam. Wherever you are shredding, spare a thought for the boy who's having to sit in his Banff apartment, with his arse of a Landlord telling him to cleanup despite his obvious problems with movement, for the rest of the month. If one thing is to be learned from his fall it would be that you should never, no matter how ballsy you feel, go straight for a big trick without speed checking a kicker. Remember that and your major bones should hopefully stay intact.

The lengthy description of Sam's fall was unnecessary as there is a video of it in all its glory. Watch and be glad it wasn't you!

Moving swiftly on... before Sam could even get back from hospital in Calgary I decided he could use some company in his recovery so I went and separated my shoulder. After a morning of sweet fun in the park working on a bunch of new rail tricks and always hitting the first kicker switch to improve my cabs I was on a high. All that went out the window the second a massive error resulted in a toe-edge catch at the lip of the kicker. I tucked and flipped to save my face and came down on my shoulder. After riding for an hour or so more I figured a trip to the doctor may be in order. Most of my work colleagues thought it was dislocated which to my relief it wasn't. I paid a measly $95 for an appointment and a sling rather than the $1000 it would've cost for X-RAYS if it had been any worse. 2 weeks later I'm feeling nearly fine, just in time for the family coming out this weekend. Pretty stoked about how that one worked out, will have to make sure I refrain from any more mistakes like that this season!

Rehab. Check the bruising on Sam's left leg!

Typically Mother Nature decided last week would be the perfect time to end Banff's 2 month snow-drought. Not much to report on the riding front from me for obvious reasons. However if you bump into Craig Donald any time soon he can fill you in. Craig was out for 10 days starting around about when I binned myself. We didn't shred together but we got a few good nights out and some serial chillin' in the playboy mansion-esque grotto-style hot pool at the Fox suites where he was staying. Cheers Craig!!

Me and Craig on a snowy Banff Ave.

That's the story of March so far. Still to come, a visit from my whole family, Sam's family and a handful of other noteworthy shredders and piss-artists. Should be a belter! Plus I get back on my board after nearly 20 days of annoying recovery time. As promised here's an edit of when I went out to kicking horse in early march with a great crew of riders and skiers (Sunshine park action to come when I stop hitting the ground with my body and start hitting it with my board).

WHAT'S GOLDEN? from Ally Gray on Vimeo.

AG

AG in BC actually. For the last couple of days I've been at Kicking Horse mountain resort. I'll get to that in a bit. Firstly I have to mention what went down when the first member of the Aberdeen Snowsports Centre massif set to grace Banff this season came in the form of Louise Moig. Plenty of riding was done, followed by plenty of drinking. A sick day was had at Lake Louise just before Lou headed home. Plenty miles under the board, plus Louise had decided to snowboard that day because deep down she knows it's better.

Me and Lou atop Lake Louise

We had a dramatic incident involving a horse-drawn sleigh at the Fairmont Chateau up at the lake. Anyone who has spoken to Lou since she returned will probably have heard. After checking out the sculptures from the world ice-sculpting championships we were heading back to the bus when the sounds of hooves and sleigh-bells came from behind us. We turned to see the horses rampaging towards us with the driver screaming at them to stop. Thankfully we managed to dive out the way as the horses tore past, slung the sleigh into a snowdrift (nearly flipping it and throwing the drivers dog over a fence into a bush)and continued manically down the road and into the woods.

Horses: bloody mentalists

From one type of raging horse to another, across in BC. Kicking Horse mountain resort is quite simply the best hill I have ever been to. I have never seen a resort with as high a quality of snow and terrain coupled with hardly any crowds. It hasn't snowed there for ages but it was still epic. The minute I hear of a dump there I'll be heading straight back.

I was there for a couple days with a group of lads. Six in total, all sick riders and hungry for big mountain lines. One of the boys parents have an apartment at the resort complete with BBQ and Jacuzzi on the balcony so the stage was set for much manly activity. Two sweet days riding and a massive piss-up were had before I had to head back to Banff for work. The rest of them are staying out there for the week. I am jealous to say the least. Plenty of footage was taken however I can't get most of it till the guys get back to Banff. I'll get an edit up here once I get my hands on it. For now check out a couple of vids I dug up on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNh7z8B5GX0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB8cv6uUqp4

It's amazing how much terrain is available within the ski area boundary. Almost everything you can see is accessible by traversing a ridge. Kicking Horse lies above the town of Golden, BC, a hick-town whose residents have little to no interest in riding. Consequently the resort is dead and there are fresh lines to be had for a long time after a snowfall. If you ever get the chance then get yourself there, you will not regret it!

Things in Banff have been good recently. One of the upsides to the unusually warm February that we're having is that the resorts are already riding like it's spring. With such a good platform for park progression I can hopefully bag some new tricks over the next couple weeks while Banff awaits a massive snowfall (wishful thinking).

spring came early

I'll sign off for now. Only six days until Craig Donald arrives in Banff. It should spell carnage. Will keep you posted

Stay tuned for some Kicking Horse video action.

AG

Hey everybody, sorry for the delay since my last post. I've been fully intent on having a small edit for you to take a look at however I keep getting so involved in riding that I haven't taken enough video.

Things in Banff have been going great. I've just got a second job working in a huge outdoor sports shop on Banff's main street. It couldn't come at a better time since budget cuts have resulted in my hours at the CD shop being slashed to a pathetic 4 hours a week.

The town itself is really starting to buzz. With the beginning of February we start to move into high season so there should be plenty more people out here for the next few months. Olympic fever is sweeping the nation and every town has had themselves a party as the torch has passed through on its way to Vancouver. We managed to get a grip on one of the torches in Banff while a runner waited for the changeover of the flame.

didn't expect to ever hold one of these

With the Olympics only a fortnight away the excitement is building over here, just a shame that our British athletes may not even be getting a chance to compete.

After a ridiculously warm January there is high hopes of a massive dump of snow sometime in February. The rivers and lakes that were frozen solid in December are now melting and looking like they should look in April. This has been worrying but several local mountain-men have assured me we will be waist-deep in the near future. I hope they're right!

amazing ice formations due to the warm weather

As far as riding goes I have been using the lack of new snow to focus more in the park. I have been progressing well, building up to cork 5s and 7s on the 40ft kickers at Sunshine Village. I will have to step up to the 65fters soon which will be scary stuff. Hopefully by my next post I will have some good footage to show you. Sunshine are nearly finished the second half of the park. Once it's complete it will be one of the biggest parks in North America and it has plenty of quirky little features to mess around on, as well as some mean-looking jumps.

I haven't ridden in a few days now as a direct result of doing my best Sam Longmire impression in the park the other day. After increasing my approach speed for some 7s I went for a BIG misty 5 attempt at the same approach speed but forgot to slow down the rotation. I only have a photo of what happened but if it had been a video it would have looked very similar to Sam's infamous fall in NZ this summer. The only difference being that my point of impact was the top of my left ass-cheek rather than the base of my spine. Despite the pain I was pretty happy about that as I picked myself up off the floor at the bottom of the jump. I may not have been able to sit down too well for the last few days, but the season goes on. I'll be trying my best not to make that mistake again!

Oh boaby!! Still 15ft off the ground, add another 270 degrees to landing on the back. You get the idea

And so I end this post with a promise that I will take more footage before my next . It's snowing outside at the moment so hopefully my next few days will be full of powder slashes and park progression. Fingers crossed for an edit next time around. I'll leave you with a picture of Banff's saddest dog who, despite his miserly appearance, is actually delightful when approached!

I'm sad because I can't read Unbez

AG

AG in AB

Friday, January 8, 2010

AG in AB

Happy new year Unbezzers! Hope 2010 is going well for you all. Just a quick update before I come back atcha with some full-fat flava in my next post. So far it has been a great year for me. I've been breaking in a new pair of boots, rocking a new down jacket and most importantly... making full use of my new season pass!!

stoked to be holding this

Life in Canada has gone from awesome to mondo-uber-sweet since I can now jaunt off up the hill whenever I have the time off work. I will in fact be getting up to make the 7.10 bus up the hill tomorrow so that I can get a morning's riding in before work at 1pm. It's good to be highly active again, and especially to get some quality shredding in. I've had a mixed bag of conditions since getting my pass a week ago. A few days of warm weather with poor viz and a couple of bollock freezing bluebird sessions. I have still managed to cover just about every pisted run at Sunshine Village along with a good few runs in the park and a few laps of delirium dive (Sunshine's massive backcountry bowl).

I'm working on a wee edit for you guys to see what I've generally been up to. Should hopefully have it ready in time for my next blog in a week or so. Until then, keep shredding Unbezzers and enjoy that sweet snow in Scotland if you're there!

AG

AG in AB

Sunday, December 27, 2009

AG in AB

Hey there Unbez fanatics. Ally G here kicking off my blog with a run-down of what I've been up to since leaving for Canada a month ago. Apologies for not blogging sooner, I will try to make it more regular from now on...

Canada is, in a single-syllable word, RAD! Much in the way that Scotland is rad but way bigger and without a single strip of snowflex to be seen. Which is a shame because I do love plasticboarding but you gotta try new sports from time to time.

My girlfriend Zara and I have been getting our tourist on big-time since we got here, absolutely hemorrhaging money on the way. It is not a cheap country by any means, but it wouldn't be a proper season without a bit of hardship.

We spent our first week in Vancouver taking in as much as we could of the incredible city. What a place. I'd recommend everyone makes at least one trip there. We even managed to get a days riding in at Mt. Seymour, one of the 3 local resorts on the hills above Vancouver. It was early season but was still a sweet day. If you find yourself in Vancouver this winter then get yourself up to Seymour! They have been given $10,000 by sponsors to make what will be a banging park so go check it out if you get the chance.

Anyway before we knew it we had to leave for Banff, which was not a bad thing. It is a truly awesome place to live. For those of you that are unfamiliar with Banff here's the scoop: Banff is not a ski-resort in itself, it is a medium-sized town that sits in the Bow-Valley in Banff National Park, Alberta (AB), Canada. It is at around 1000m above sea level and is surrounded by mountains stretching up to 2,500m from the valley floor straight up. This gives you one hell of an idea of how small you really are. The best bit about all these mountains is that there are world-class resorts very near by. Depending on which one you head for you will be riding Mt. Norquay, Sunshine Village or Lake Louise in a maximum of 1 hour. If I had to compare it to somewhere in Scotland it would be Aviemore. It is bigger but it is similar in that it is not actually at the foot of the ski-hill, but it still has the apres-ski and the resort buzz. Aviemore would definately be flattered by that comparison!

The town of Banff from the top of the Banff gondola
(you get the idea)


Unfortunately for us, living in Banff has so far been like standing at the pearly gates of snowboarding heaven while St.Terje jabs you with a pointy stick and laughs in your face. Not entirely true. We have had a day riding Lake Louise and a day riding Sunshine Village however having gone from the regular drymat sessions in Aberdeen to riding 3 times in a month has been difficult to say the least.

How many roads? Walking at dusk with Mt. Norquay in the background

Nevertheless there are good things going on that show promise for the near future. We both got jobs within a fortnight, which is impressive seeing as there are many folk now leaving Banff after 2 months without work. We have one of the biggest flats in town for a very reasonable price and hopefully in the next fortnight we should get season passes. I've also got word of a secret back-yard jib that a friend of a friend has set up and I've scoped plenty of street spots to get into edits.

Railing at the Banff Gondola: on the jib-list

So have no fear Unbezzers, there's plenty to come from me in AB. Just watch this blog