Hangin in High River

ALthough it's been a while, I'm happy to say that life is good. I'm spending the holidays in High River Alberta. I wish you the best this seaon.

Burton Series 13

This is something that every snowboard lover should look at. For someone like me who likes creating design, this is a beautiful thing. It's amazing that deep in the Canadian Rockies I can sit back with my cup of Organic Grizzly Claw coffee and order myself a one-off original ride.

Jake Burton Carpenter, founder of Burton Snowboards has pulled off a beautiful thing by launching series 13. It lets you design your own board complete with custom color, logos and text.

Hunting Update

No bears were harmed, although we saw a huge one. It was a very positive experience all around except for the bruise I got from shooting a 60lb bow.

hunting for food not rugs

I've been invited to my first bear hunt.

Because I've never been on a real hunt I thought I would put down my thoughts before I go, because I know that if I am present and a bear is killed, I will be changed.

I don't belive that all hunting is good. There are things that I could/would never do.
I believe that legally hunting free roaming wild animals for food is everyone's right.
I believe that hunting with a bow is more honorable than hunting with a gun.
I believe that if you kill something you must respect it's soul.
I believe that I should promote balanced conservation.
I belive that hunting like Ted Nugent is lame. Baiting bears with syrup, marshmallows and bacon in a garbage can is not hunting. Wake up buddy.
I believe that people like this should not be able to hunt/procreate.

To be honest, I am quite torn over the fact that I am going hunting. But it's something I want to get over with.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Theory 2: The path of least resistance

If you have ever read the Toa of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff you should understand this concept easily.

BC is famous for scenic winding highways. One thing that I find when driving these types of roads in BC is that it becomes neccessary to disregard painted lines altogether and drive as if you were a flowing river. If you don't, the whole experience changes into a bad motion sickness experiment.

Recently I rode shotgun during a trip over one of the most winding highways I know of, the Monashee Range in south-eastern BC. Even though we didn't see more than 3 cars during the 1.5 hour trip, the driver (whom I will never accompany on another road trip like this), did not cross a single inch of paint once. I just about puked. The only thing I could do to make myself comfortable was to chug my water as fast as I could hoping that I would have to stop and take a piss.

Next up: Car bra envy

About driving in BC

A while back I wrote about the most dangerous spots to drive in BC. On the weekend I was on my way back from a little road trip and decided to explain my fundamental theories of highway driving in British Columbia.

Theory One: The slingshot
When you are stuck behind a slow driver and you see the "passing lane 2km" sign, ease up on the gas so that the person you've been tailgating gets comfortable. Give them the impression that you don't care about passing them. Leave about 5 or 6 car lengths between you and them until you see the "slower traffic stay right" sign and then hit the gas. You should build up enough speed so that when the passing lane starts you are going at least 15km/hr faster than the slowpoke and you "slingshot" past them. This avoids the situation where the slowpoke hits the gas when they encounter the wider spaces of a passing lane frustrating the hell out of everyone behind them.

Next theory: The path of least resistance

A big can of worms (or termites)

As I sit here and write I can hear the squish of the snow-slush on the road as cars drive by. Although in Vancouver that sound is not uncommon throughout the winter, here in the Kootenay Rockies it can only signify one thing: Springtime is just about here.

And with springtime comes working on the house. Being first-time homeowners, this will be our very first springtime and we are getting geared up to do some major work.

When we bought our house we knew that there was some rot damage on one corner thanks to an ill-conceived backyard deck that trapped water next to the siding. The rot made a nice place for a Carpenter Ant colony and thus we are looking at jacking up that side of the house to replace a few tired support beams. For houses 50 years and older in the Kootenays, this is nothing new. For us, it's scary.

I'll keep you posted.