Friday, July 23, 2010

Endings.


I'm still not even sure if there is a proper way to conclude this trip. Its been a week since i returned to the states and i have honestly been putting off doing this final post. Im not entirely certain why, but it makes me nervous for whatever reason. I have learned so much this summer, and Ive had to do quite a bit of growing up in some ways. In many ways im proud of myself, for earning this trip as well as making the most of my time. I suppose i just want to say thank you. Especially to my family as well as the Langelier's, the Hutton's and the Eichler's. They all looked after me, gave me a place to stay and fed me. I am so grateful to have such amazing friends, along with their fantastic families. Thank you to everyone that looked at the blog, it has been a wild ride, and it shall continue to be one. It just might be less visually interesting, henceforth the end of the blog. haha. I love you all.


Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Wait. That Happened?

So the other night Adam and I ran into the lead singer of a band called Mumford & Sons. They're from london and are pretty darn well known outside of the US although they did play at Bonnaroo. Basically we hung out with him for a bit(Marcus, was his name)and he introduced us to the rest of the band along with their tour manager and some other roadies. To make a long story short, we got kicked out of the club we were in because we started an ice fight with them and we then decided to go skinny dipping off of a balcony where people were relaxing, having a glass of wine. This was around 2am. Shortly after getting yelled at, we decided to go again, just further down the lake road. To make things even better, their show was tonight, and i didnt have a ticket, but Joel, one of the roadies, managed to snag me a backstage pass so i went and saw the show with Adam, then went for another swim with the lads! Obviously i didnt post pictures of the first night, nor of much of the events for that matter, but theres one of Adam with Ted, the bassist. and check out the link below, listen to their stuff, it's damn good.







And this is just a random photo of our second boat rafting trip. yeehaw.







Monday, July 12, 2010

Swiss Wine, For The Locals Only



I went for a walk down some Vineyard roads the other day. So serene. These pictures are all of things that remind of this place. Lavender used to coat the hill outside of my old house. The scent still reminds me of it, and its everywhere around here. and the last picture is just a picture of Adam's kitchen that for some reason or another I'm obsessed with.










Dam Good Job!


Today was beautiful, and Adam devised the brilliant idea to show me this spot alongside a river below his house. Like the river we rode down on our boats, this was also runoff water from the mountains, so it was absolutely frigid. We built a dam using all the rocks around and ended up making a waterfall with the diverted flow. It was perfect being a kid again. The area was also swarming with bees, which made it even more interesting.








Thursday, July 8, 2010

Surfing Some Glacial Run-Off


Adam called us up the other day and frantically said we had 15 minutes to get ready. "for what?". Boats, he told us. Turned out we took this cheap little blow up boats and rode them down the rivers that run down from the mountains into the lake. So many people were crowded up on the bridges above taking pictures and videos. hysterical. And the picture below shows a bunch of kids on this black rubber platform, where people were parapunting on to. Parapunt is like hang-gliding except with a parachute.











And the water was utterly freezing by the way.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

RAGE RAGE RAGE



Vampire Weekend, Julian Casablancas and Eric Prydz, all in one night. Vampire was alright, not my favorite, but they had some great lighting effects. Julian was just outrageous. That man needs some sort of award. And Eric Prydz in an underground club, absurdly loud bass and strobe lights. Couldnt have finished off the night in a better manner. Anf for tonight....Crookers. Dubstep all the way.






Moving



Yesterday I moved into my good friend Matt's. We have been friends since middle school, skateboarding, playing FEAR-the works. The above is the view from his balcony, which holds some amazing memories, so does the Olympic trampoline and the pool. Lovely. Below is his bedroom. And that's Adam raging on the computer while Matt watches.






Saturday, July 3, 2010

A Very Uncooperative Matterhorn.



This beautiful peak wasnt too happy when i pulled out my camera. I shouldve have taken the shot earlier. Once I got out the Nikon it just grabbed all the clouds in the surrounding area, as if covering itself like a kid that's just been pantsed.Regardless it was beautiful. I went to bed at 5am only to wake up an hour later and head off to Zermatt with the usual crew of Pablo(dad), Crystina and Bob.The old men went for a bit of a bike ride, so me and the sis went up to the highest point called the Klein Matterhorn. Actually the tallest lift in europe, going up to 3800 meters or so. We then endured a very freezing ice cave(naturally) and checked out some rather dissapointing ice sculptures. Normally they are pretty awesome but I suppose during the summer they are lacking in frozen resources.
















Took Flight Today

So this post is a little late, but thats alrite. on Wednesday i went to Chatel, France with my Dad, Crystina and Bob to face the "Fantasticable". http://www.myswitzerland.com/video/index.cfm?id=713
It was quite intense. Hitting a max speed of around 80mph riding nothing but a steel cable, you descend two parts. in total the descent is over 1000m in altitude difference. it was, how do you say...Gnar.I dont have any pictures of my own as of yet up, but once i do they shall be posted.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Dents Du Midi



I climbed up here with my sister Crystina and our good family friend Bob Chapdelaine. Some 2700 Meters above sea level. This is the what I live for.


This is Cabane de Susanfe. Some 20 odd people slept in here, but it holds 70 something, believe it or not.


A macro shot of a water droplet. if you look into it closely you can see the upside down reflection of the peak behind it.

Bob and Crystina by the path we started hiking at 6am. The slope to the right in the far background is the peak we hiked.


From the highest point we made it to. Unfortunately we couldn't summit due to a lack of necessary hiking equipment.

This dog was just too cool, a little shy though.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

The Ride of a Lifetime




Here are the pictures I promised. Just a few though.




Saturday was the big day. I rode a downhill bike I've never been on before, and this is the kind of ride that you would want to be comfortable with the bike you are riding. so it took a little getting used to, I was pretty scared at first. Fell a couple of times, ended up having a blast. Today I'm more sore than i think I've ever been, it was so worth it though. At the moment i have no pictures, these are all just for eye candy at the moment. I'll post some up when I get them.
This was the course, to the left. 75km give or take. And it was most definitely not only downhill haha.

Friday, June 25, 2010

In The Ocean

I cant even fathom how I might be able to cram everything that happened over the past 24 hours or so, into one post.The flight over the Atlantic was somewhat magical.The moon was almost full, and beamed intensely on the side of the wing as i stared outside for most of the trip. i didn't sleep in the 7 hours and 16 minutes that it took to get here. We landed at 8am, local time. i took the train to meet Adam and Ed, two of my best friends in the world, in Vevey. I dont know whether i was just exhausted, or maybe even just excited, but i missed my stop, and ended up in Montreux. Regardless, they still picked me up. We went to Adam's house and had an early lunch out on his balcony, soaking in the weather. It's perfect out here. Maybe eighty degrees fareighnheit, with a constant cool breeze everywhere you go and a brilliant sun follows you everywhere. This is like openeing up and old photoalbum, filled with pictures of an event that happened last week. It's so seemingly distant, and yet nothing has changed, nothing feels any different; like i never left.Its kind of crazy how that all works.
The 'Passportes Du Soleil' race is tomorrow, and i almost didnt have a bike for it. Somehow my dad stumbled upon a Scott Nitro at the last minute, down in Vevey, sweet.
This post is a little conjumbled and i've had to write it between two days since i've been busy. posts will probably be shorter from now on.
and this is the view of a lifetime. I'll never forget this place.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

At The Docks



I'm not supposed to be here. I'm not supposed to be going on this trip. When I left Carlbrook my parents told me I wasn't going to visit Switzerland for a long time.
I worked my ass off to earn this. I am beyond fortunate, and I thank my parents endlessly for helping me make this trip happen. This marks the beginning of a dream that i should have realized many years ago. Thank you to everyone that has gotten me this far. I love you all greatly and this wouldn't have been possible without you. Keep your eyes on this blog from time to time. i will be updating it with photos and excerpts about my adventures. The plane is about to board. See you in July.