A Dark Blue Minivan

We're as big as Robocop!

I arrived in Ketchum this afternoon, in a dark blue minivan, the sun sneaking behind the mountains and a Drop IN poster popped out from a cork bulletin board of a local snowboard shop. That's a good start. 

Sitting alone in my Best Western hotel room, feeling unsure, i decide to follow the warranted advice of a couple close friends and write...

Its Day 7 on tour and the beginning of traveling by myself, a moment i've felt anxiety about. The drive to Ketchum, up the 75, is surprising very similar to the drive up the 395, to Mammoth. A sense of familiarity settled my uneasiness wrought by dark clouds and a quiet lonely drive through a place i have never been.

Alan and me on the plane

Until today, the jubilant company of our Executive Producer, Alan, has kept my inner voices at bay. Rarely in my life have i traveled with another person and i enjoyed his company thoroughly. We laughed a lot since flying out from San Diego a week ago. We ripped up Snowmass and Aspen Highlands and enjoyed a home crowd at the Aspen screening. We got spoiled there, the Wheeler Opera house making sure we find disappointment with any other venue in the future. They set the bar high and we left Aspen feeling good.

The next two screenings would be very "intimate" and I'd be lying if i said i didn't feel disappointed. Eighteen people made it to Vail and after three tiring days of working the trade show floor in Salt Lake, conversation after conversation of how excited people were about the event, two thirds of the small theatre seats at Brewvies Cinema Pub sat unoccupied.

I'm learning to surrender. I'm learning to do all i can, but to trust that the people who are there are the right ones. Glen Plake, the biggest ski legend ever, showed up last night, even though he had an early flight to Europe this morning. He stuck around and chatted us up too. Moved by the film, he said, "A successful ski film makes you wish you were there. Well, I wish i was a part of this." That's pretty validating for me.

Some old industry friends, i know from my days as a sales rep, joined us last night too. I'm hoping a seed is planted and the movement blossoms with them. I'm hoping the tears shed don't fade away and they are "provoked" into action. (Avoiding the word inspire. Thank you, Molly!)

The Legend

Right now, our quest is just beginning. I must remember that we are breaking ground in unfamiliar turf and its ok to be nobody. You gotta start somewhere right?

I get to ski Sun Valley tomorrow and i'm excited. I'm going to ski hard, with all the emotions of this past week. I may cry, but i know it will feel good when my ski comes to a screeching halt at the bottom, my heart pounding from the adrenaline.

Two days of promoting here and then its showtime again! We'll see how it goes. I think i'll go find some locals to have a beer with right now though.

Giving Thanks

Happiness Doesn't Make Us Grateful; Gratitude Makes Us Happy. -Miya Goodrich

Last year, on Thanksgiving, i was too sick to eat. It was the day after surgery and my good friend actually went through all the effort of bringing an entire feast, prepared by a professional gourmet chef, into the hospital. I tried so hard to eat, but after a few bites, i just couldn't. The feeling of disappointing her wrenching my stomach even more, but my frail 119lb body was still just recovering from the anesthesia, trauma and infection.

This Thanksgiving, i piled a mountain of food onto my plate and then even ate again later, fueling up for an entire week of skiing and promoting my movie. What a difference a year makes! After a very close call twelve months ago, i am so thankful to be back to being me.

Here's a peek at my first day back on snow:

Whales are VERY Large

Two weeks ago, not unusually, i sat on my couch, looking out over the shimmering ocean. One whale spout, then another sprang from the water in the distance and, after seeing them a few times in the same place, i decided to take action. I wrestled my board from its shady resting place and loaded it into my car, grabbed my GoPro, said goodbye to my dog (who maybe raised an eyebrow at the most) and raced down to the beach.

 Once there, an unsuspecting young lifeguard boy was asked to put your hard earned tax dollars to work by running my board down to the water. I pulled on my wetsuit in the car and left my chair behind, as i scooted across the warm sand to the water's edge where the nice lifeguard boy had placed my board. I jumped in and was off, pessimistic that i would find what i was looking for because i had done this before and had been skunked every time.

The lagoon mouth flowed out to sea like a river and shoved me right into the pounding shore break, breaking heavily on the bare low tide sand bar. The first wave struck me hard and sent me rolling. Not a good way to start this expedition, but thankfully, the video camera was locked in a death grip in my mouth and did not experience the same fate as my poor drowning sunglasses, lost forever.

Once i regained myself, i paddled out quickly and began the long trek out into the ocean where i hoped to maybe get lucky. After an hour or so of paddling, i saw what i thought at first to be a huge sail through the haze, but it disappeared and, a couple minutes later, i saw it again. My initial thought was that the military was out there doing something weird.

 "Wait a second! Is that...," peering through the haze, "...Is that a whale spout? OH MY GOD! IT IS!"

 My paddling quickened.  I felt like a child on Christmas morning, overwhelmed with excitement. The plumes were so far away, i thought i could never reach them.

"Maybe if i can just get kind of close."

I got closer. I could actually hear them!  The plumes got bigger. The sounds became louder. The land grew smaller. Then, i saw them! A plume and a splash, then a dorsal fin.

"Oh my God! Is this actually happening???" 

As i got closer, my fear grew stronger. My hands began to tremble.

 "I'm all alone out here, who knows how far out, and buses are swimming around me."

They were obviously feeding or something because they weren't going anywhere north or south. They were staying in the same area, right off of Swami's in Encinitas, two Humpbacks about two miles out or so.

I thought, "If they're feeding, maybe they come up to get a mouth full of shrimp, not paying attention, and i'm right here. One whip of a tale or something and i'm a goner."

One whale stuck its head out of the water to check me out, leveled out and swam right at me. Here's the video:

What an incredible experience! One i've dreamt about for a long time now. I spent about an hour with them and, even though i was scared, felt sad when i realized the sun was getting low and i needed to start paddling toward shore. As i paddled, i could hear them behind me and the sounds of their thundering breaths seemed to get closer.  I'd like to think they followed me a little bit.

"Til next time, my friends!" It was a beautiful sunset and i cried. 

If you're curious about my board, here's also a video about its making. It has enabled me to surf and to go on paddle adventurers like these. Please support Jay and Jeff at Ironcross Surfboards. They are good people. Happy Halloween!