31st january 2012
CJ and I left for Chamonix on 17th January for 9 days on the snow - long overdue...
 We checked out Brevent on our first day, finding our legs on the hardpacked crusty snow.
In the afternoon we got speaking to two American guys in Brevent cable car, and arranged to hook up on the next day.
And so we met Michael and Mark! Over from The Hamptons in Long Island, New York - they were on a short visit to check out Chamonix, and snowboarding european-style.
 The snow started on day two, when we were at Flegere - and with it came poor visibility as the cloud descended...
The powder came thick and fast, and we spent our hours carving through deep snow and dropping cliffs into the snow drifts beneath.
 Sometimes the vis was so bad you had to "board with the force", feeling your way over the snow rather than using your eyes!
The snow coninued to absolutely dump down, and everyone in Chamonix was looking forward to deep powder days!
We deicded that Grandes Montets in Argentiere would be the best candidate for off-piste, and found powder so deep that even the trusty Skate Banana kept submarining - I had to fight my way back up three times, and eventually walk out...
It was genuinely frightening how insubstantial the deep snow was, rendering all efforts virtually futile, and I can see how people could die very quickly through exhaustion in caught out - and I was only about 150m from the piste...
I have to say that Michael is extremely fit, and is the only person of his age I have met so far that boards that fast. To say quick would be an understatement!
We covered the mountain as best we could given the patchy lift operation, and had a great day, Michael experiencing some of the range of conditions that one could expect to meet here
Flegere was better in poor light conditions as you could snowboard through the trees, using them as points of reference to try and focus on the snow within, so we spent the next few days there.
We spent quite some time with them, but eventually Michael and Mark had to leave - it was great to meet them and snowboard with them for a few day, I hope they enjoyed Chamonix and wish them well :)
 Back at Flegere, we shared a chairlift and got talking to a scotsman called "Gary" - who we were to spend the next four days with.
Between fast-moving bands of pea-soup cloud, we found vast tracts of virtually untouched powder, culminating in a cat-track with big powder faces off the side...
 Gary and I kept returning to a 60-degree face, which started relatively flat but rolled off into the nothingness - scary ;)
The snow was deep enough to cushion you from things underneath, but you still had to be careful of barely submerged rocks...
Gary invited CJ and I around for a hottub - facing out towards Mt.Blanc with a beer in hand,after a hard days riding I wondered why can't life be like that every day..?!
Gary was a good rider, who seemed to meet lots of people, and had many tales to tell - about people famous and otherwise! Some crackers to be sure... ;)
Spending most of our time at Flegere, we explored different areas to those we rode with Michael - making the most of each days fresh powder, and finding untouched stashes to float through...
 I remembered a hidden valley off one of the runs, and it proved to contain a stash of unridden powder that we rode repeatedly.
But the snow stopped, and our last day came round all too quick - so we bade our farewells to Gary, and started the long trip home...
We got back to the UK bruides and battered, but vowing to get back out there as soon as possible...
Back at home, the weather has conspired to snow across the UK, so we'll see what opportunities it brings...
december 31st - New Year!
So early November I put down the streetboard and joined long-time compatriot Ross Elliott for the annual pilgrimage to the Tignes 2011 Ski & Board Camp, for a bit of pre-season snowboarding shinnanigens.
As usual, Piers, Eli and the gang at Chalet Melezes provided excellent hospitality, free test boards and a solid base from which to hit the glacier up every day...
 In contrast to last year, we had bluebird skies and the sun shone every day - but without the abundance of powder which Matt & I had enjoyed last year. Still, you can't have it all - and trading excess snow for great visibility meant that we could make more of exploring the terrain that the snow coverage provided us with.
Due to the fact that we could actually see, Rosco and I covered far more ground than we did the previous year - and our first days was spent finding powder stashes in the lower areas that had been inaccessible last year, complete with some great rock drops into powder landings to bring us back up to speed...
We hit the powder faces again and again, until we had ridden out much of the easily accessible terrain, and compacted the rock drop landings until the rocks beneath were starting to make themselves known by the bangs and scraping sounds coming from our board bases.
The glacier runs are great for hooning down at top mach, leaving all the punters behind in your blazing wake - but they are also wide enough to find peace at the sides for jibbing practise.
Both Rosco and I made much use of wide slopes to try and nail our current butter combos and switch spins, although the inevitable sketch-out contrived to keep us humble while trying to film for the camera...
I was really chuffed to be able to meet up with Ricey and Rachael, two of the Chalet Melezes staff from last year who Matt &amd; I had kept in contact with - went riding together on the last day and had a blast, although unfortunately Rosco had blown his knee out at that point :(
We returned to the UK, refreshed and revitalised from our 3 days back on the snow, but gutted it was so short - gonna have to ramp it up and get another couple of weeks on the snow this season...
I found out just before returning that Ricey & Rachel are now back in the UK near Winchester - so as soon as the weather improves and parks are skateable, gonna look to head out and hit some bowls with him.
In other news, the 2012 World Streetboarding Championships went well - with Max Anderson cleaning up as usual, top marks Max ;)
Happy New Year! See you in 2012...
sunday 30th october - Jules & Jo's wedding
 First off, I would just like to take time out to say "Congratulations Jules & Jo"!
My brother Jules got married to Miss Jodanna Gillam with all their friends at Godalming Church - best wishes to you both, heres to a lifetime of happiness together :)
Lots of packed weekends skating street with Colin Horan, Simon Johns, Jon White, Josh Newman and "Black" Matt Jacobs recently...
Drove to Bristol centre at the beginning of October to meet Colin, Simon and Jon who were filming near a childrens recreation park for the new Overcast streetboarding video. They were hitting up a small park, and the sun was shining - the perfect start to the day...
 We hit the various skatable elements of the park, then moved on to some city centre rails where Simon filmed.
Hungry, we moved to the Floating Harbour for a bite to eat - and I was struck by what a genuinely nice place the city centre is - before finally skating near a famous amphitheatre-shaped riverside skate location by the Millenium Park ferry landing point.
 We filmed block tricks and combinations on the large concrete steps; Jon threading together combo's up and down on different levels and me working on some of the tricks last done with Adam in 2009 - Simon rounded of the day by gapping the big blocks, finally throwing a huge backside 180 and riding away cleanly...
A good end to a great day.
Two weeks later, and I was meeting Colin and Simon again at Colin's house in Reading - but was joined this time by Matt Jacobs and Josh Newman, who had driven up from Southampton.
Colin had found a skatepark just up the road from his house, which was still in construction - but showed great promise. With a launchbox, bowl and street section finished, we hit up the kink rail at the far end of the street section.
Although the run-in at the top end of the rail was pretty short, we spent a good few hours sessioning it; Colin styling out his trademark 5-0's and crook grinds, Matt working up some long combos, Josh was hitting up the launch box, and Simon throwing down every trick combination under the sun!
We moved on to Reading University and found a set of curved steps with a rail down, and a long wall down the edge - perfect for boardsliding!
Matt and I were sliding the wall, while Simon and Josh were riding the rail - all the while Colin filming for Overcast.
 Matt had been weighing up the gap, and with eagle-eyes had spied a barrier up the road.
At the bottom of the stairs, it made the perfect gap; with a long run up over terrible tarmac, he launched and tamed the gap with the greatest of ease.
It was time to go - but we'd had a great day, and had the scars to prove it. Killed.
With the weather being a lottery here, the annual Tignes autumn shred is only days away - so more snowboarding action to come!
Stay safe.
saturday 17th september - Bournemouth Weekender streetboarding session
The Bournemouth Weekender streetboard session took place last weekend, and we had a good time riding, filming, eating, drinking and kicking back under a hot sun...
 Colin Horan turned up at 9.30 on Saturday morning, preceeding the other streetboarders by a couple of hours; Paul Nash arrived, followed shortly after by Josh Newman, who had brought along riders Simon Johns, Matt Jacobs and Neil Shillabeer - and we headed off to Dorchester around midday.
We warmed up as the sun beat down and soon Colin was jumping up to the high block throwing long 5-0s, Simon was hitting the c-block with backside-smith-360outs, and the rest of us were attacking the manual pad and flat-down block by the stairs.
 Paul started filming, and the tricks became more and more technical, with people throwing down combo's, going in switch, and spinning to win... However, there were a lot of other riders in the park, and after a while we decided it was time to move on to Blandford for a change of style, before we got tired-out.
Now Blandford's not my favourite park due to the uneven tarmac you have to ride on - but theres a hell of a lot packed into that space, and the lads were going off!
 The locals were loving it as "Black" Matt Jacobs served up some fat combo's along the high shotgun rail, nearly nailing a super-smooth smith-270-to-frontside-boardslide.
Simon was gapping one section of the park over a wide platform to a low flatbank beyond.
 Josh Newman, Paul Nash and Neil Shillabeer were riding the mini - Paul laying down some long noseslides almost the whole length of the coping. After a long afternoon getting peoples best tricks down on film, we finally packed the van - people were busted-up and wanted to grab a shower and get on with the eating and drinking..!
Back in Bournemouth, I BBQ'ed a veritable meat feast to get everyones energy back up, then out into town for a couple of hours listing to possibly the oddest band I have ever heard...!
"Momo Tempo Electro Orchestra" is a fusion of beats, horns, percussion ranging from 70's "Shaft"-style funk through to DnB-flavour beats - all fronted by a well-spoken singer talking over it. Very unusual, but well worth the listen ;)
 Sunday was supposed to be raining, so we had a lazy morning - awaking late to blazing sunshine, too late to skate - typical!
We had egg and bacon sandwichs before moving out, then drove over to the Urban Reef cafe to chill by the sea...
The sun held out, and we enjoyed a couple of hours drinking by the beach before it was time for the guys to go.
It was great fun and I learned a lot about the logistics of a weekend like this, indicating some modifications to the format for more realistic planning in future.
So watch out for the next one! ;)
sunday 14th august
Been a while since the last article, and there has been relatively little streetboarding as I injured my wrist, and this put a slight cramp on my style... ;)
The Buckley's UK Open Streetboarding Nationals have come and gone - our own Max Anderson took the title again, with Simon Johns in second, and Sergi Nicolas coming third.
A good show to all involved - check out the Streetboarding Open Nationals photos on Facebook, but you may have to be logged-in...
 There's a new skatepark down the coast in Portland, featuring 2 rails, a driveway, multi-level manual pad and best of all - a C-block!
While the bowl at the far end is really too small for streetboards, there may be potential on the hip...
Portland Skatepark is only only an hour down the road - so could be combined with "The Front" skatepark in Weymouth for a roadtrip.
Regular visits to Bransgore skatepark launch ramp have yielded some more big air photo's..:
Unfortunately, as is so often the case, it all went pear-shaped and I fractured my wrist - so I have only recently started skating again...
 I had the opportunity to go to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania - and I can confidently state that this would be a skaters paradise with empty streets and long rails.
Only a short flight away, with a very favourable exchange rate - it just waiting to be discovered...
 CJ's cousin Mark married his fiance Birute, and we had a great few days in and around Vilnius old town.
Saw people riding Segways as transport for the first time - they seem surprisingly practical if unusual-looking...
 We seem to have inherited a cat, and in the great tradition of naming animals thoughtful and original names, we have called her "Puss Puss"...
She comes round nightly and talks to you a lot - very sweet ;)
Been bike riding a bit recently. Went out to Studland with Rosco, Greg and Gabsy and while Bournemouth was raining - it was sweltering in Studland... Just goes to show that ya never can tell, eh?
 Bournemouth town centre has been a hive of activity this summer, with the usual assortment of buskers, acts, markets, etc
These Rockabilly buskers were good - a duo playing fast-paced numbers with a swing vibe and the usual showmanship...
Suns out, and so are we - more news soon on the up and coming Bournemouth Weekender streetboard weekend...
Take care...
sunday 12th june
Spring is here, so big air practise begins again at Bransgore...
 While not the largest ramp, and with a funny roll-in that takes a while to get used to - once you get used to it, streetboarders can get a fair amount of height off the lip.
This lends itself to off-axis spins and inverts, giving the confidence to go upside-down without hitting something...
It's the only halfway-decent launch ramp in the area, but unfortunately, being an outdoor ramp it is susceptible to bad weather - so pracatise here is weather dependant.
So just waiting for the rain to stop now...
|
