November Pow-y Goodness.

Today I reconnected with some members of the Rad Boob Club, and we slayed pow from open till close on Blackcomb. Breaking trail into Cancer Man in neck-deep powder was challenging, but it was super fun to drop all of the little cliffs and pillows down the line. There's nothing like skiing all day with a whole whack of girls, the best part namely being the chatter on the chairlift about boys and boys. Yes, boys, we talked about you.

One bonus of having so few chairs open in the early season is that it's really easy to find your friends, and if you lose them, there are more waiting in the lift line!

Anyway, being back on snow is pretty sweet and I'm excited to share some silly videos of some skiing we've done over the past few days. Enjoy.

Whistler Opener

Brrrrr it feels like we're in the Rockies, except that now that cold feeling is stabbing us in the bone marrow. A friend described the cold temperatures in Calgary as "you know it's cold when your nostrils stick together when you breathe," and here in Whistler it's that cold- and some.

It's not that often that I don't feel inspired to go up the mountain, but when a friend's metatarsals and toes suffer frostbite after an hour-long skin up to the Peak, another friend has two perfect triangle-shaped patches of frostbite on his cheeks after sledding for the day, and my boot heater batteries need to be plugged in for minimum three days after a summer in storage, sometimes it's best to stay at home. I chose to curl up with books and work on my art portfolio.

Anyway, a while back, before the antarctic-worthy temperatures graced us with their presence, my friend Brook Baker and I went for a wee pedal in the Whistler Mountain Bike park. Not only did we have to look out for slippery roots and snow patches, but flying ice chunks were also a concern. Enjoy:

Petition to Keep Bike Park Open until now. Or maybe now? from Amy McDermid on Vimeo.

Wow, it's been a while...

Let's think a bit about what has happened since March 22nd...

I haven't taken many photos, but I did take some. I'll share those photos, and some videos too, that I've created in the past months. I worked a lot over the summer and fall and now that ski season is ramping up my work hours are going back down to a humane number.

The other day I attempted to explore the infinite abyss with my good friend and adventure buddy Miss Zoya Lynch. It was an adventure alright- what else do you expect when missioning into the great outdoors with me? Needless to say, there is no longer a bridge across Fitzsimmons Creek above the hydro project. Google earth would beg to differ.

Mini Spearhead from Amy McDermid on Vimeo.

Oot and Aboot.

I've been in Whistler for a long time as of late. A few months without escape, but that's alright with me, it has been a good winter. Here is a random selection of shots from the past few months:

No Boys Allowed!

Video of the trip here.

 

 

For those that can't wait to see what we skied, here you go. For this one I was actually taking a picture of my favorite peak, Fissile, but there's Decker in the foreground. Of course Jen caught some air!

We headed out fairly early with a plan to ski either Trorey or Pattison but Decker was looking mighty fine, and the clouds were rolling in as we headed down toward the lake. We could see Jen's tracks from the day before and they were still the only ones in the line on the left, so we chose to ski that one first. I've been eyeing that one for a while and it didn't disappoint.

Jen looking out at our destination.

Finding some fresh turns after no new snow in a looooong time.

Jen skinning up Decker.

The snow was fast and smooth and a lot of fun to ski. We had originally planned to head home after the first line because we were both exhausted from skiing all week, but it was too good. We headed back up the long way (the wrong way) and skinned up forever to ski the line on the right. It ended up being worth it though, as proven by the POV footage that Jen and I took.

On the skin up we had the chance to check out the view and suss out some lines on other peaks, and we'll hopefully have some more trip reports for you soon.

Taking a peek at our line.

Jen Ashton showing me how to ski big mountains in a big way.

Ski Ski a Go Go

So I came back to Whistler after the holidays and it had snowed a fair bit- I went for a walk out to Corona Bowl with Ryan, Mike, and Yu, and took some photos on my Panasonic LX3 point and shoot camera.

Another Decade Past

The Hood Internet - The Mixtape Volume Four by hoodinternet

Some tunes to relive 2009, which went way faster than I could have expected.

Thinking back on the past year, the standout moments were as follows:
- champagne around a bonfire
- cat-skiing near Revelstoke
- moving to Whistler again (for good this time I swear)
- finally getting some shots and writing published
- winning school (well, winning best portfolio, best editorial shot, best photo essay, and best photojournalist)
- ... then not really doing anything photographer-y for work
- finally got my own website:
- joined a bike gang
- experienced the snowiest November of all time at Whistler/Blackcomb

Come to think of it, I didn't do nearly enough in the past year. My resolutions are to explore the Duffy backcountry, shoot more photos, and visit Sweden. Nuff said.

The year in photos (click to enlarge, otherwise they're cut off):

No snow?! No problem!

So it hasn't snowed in a bit (after I was complaining about all the precipitation, oops.) So we hike.

no sunshine no take photo

So, what with all the crazy precipitation we've had lately, and being a fair weather fan, it's been hardly inspiring to go out and take photos as of late. I've also been rather busy with my various jobs, and that sucks. So until the rain lets up and touring season gets rolling, I think I'll be taking self portraits inside the home.

Pump, pump, pump it up.

"I think you should have a date, you have nice handwriting." Says JJ, in response to the note I left him that said "Dear JJ. Thank you for building that pumptrack. It has provided me hours of enjoyment. Have a lovely day. Sincerely, Amy."

So we've obviously been having fun at the pumptrack lately. DH bike has a broken fork and my pumptrack bike fork is barely holding it together, but when you can't ride the park it has to do. This time we were playing a little closer to the village. And I obviously still suck at flash, and my remote trigger stopped working, so I had a buddy press the trigger for the shots of me.

As it stands, none of us seem to be ambiturners.