Lake Powell

Hello and good day! Today I'm here to tell you about one of the most amazing summer destinations I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. The place, Lake Powell, and yes, it kicks ass! Have you been? If not, do yourself a favor and put it on your bucket list.

Lucky for me, my Uncle Joe has had Lake Powell on his bucket list for a solid decade now. And with nothing short of a little can do attitude (and some $$$ of course) we made it happen this year! I had heard of Powell, but honestly, I didn't know how phenomenal it truly is. Even leading up to our scheduled departure, I didn't really understand how amazing of an adventure I was about to embark on. 

What I did know, was that I was set up for the trip of a lifetime! Traveling with my amazing lady friend, best friends from childhood and family members on a houseboat for a long weekend, we were simply destine for success.  

The trip started with a hefty 12 and a half hour drive to Page, Arizona where we all rendezvoused the night before we inhabited the houseboat. It was dark upon our arrival, so we eagerly awaited morning to see what landscape surround us. We awoke the next morning to amazing views; Enormous cliffs ascended straight from the water's emerald surface and cluttered the horizon line. The black, red, orange and white hue's of sandstone melted into the water creating an almost fictional landscape. 

Needless to say, the crew was fired up and there was an overall feeling of excitement and anxiousness as we eagerly awaited to board the boat. Now I could sit here and continue to blah, blah, blah about Lake Powell all day, but instead I will just show you. Some people say a picture is worth a thousand words. So with that in mind, I'm going to save you the agony of having to read thousands more of my words, and instead share with you the story of our houseboating trip through these photos.

Enjoy!

First Views on Powell

The Crew! From left to right Evan Daiek, Casey Lucas, Myself, Justin Daiek, Adam Dudek, Joe Daiek, Ashlee Daiek

The boat, anchored in at our 2nd night of camping. Not a bad "campsite" if I say so!

Evan going for bulls eye!

Casey and I, warming up for some bigger jumps!

My first cliff jump of the trip! This might be a little bigger than I thought...

Evan sending!

Justin sending this little buddy!

My beautiful girlfriend and I, loving life!

We stumbled upon what seemed to be endless canyons like this one. Having Evan's boat (pictured below) was key to the operation. We were able to explore deep into these tight canyons, such an awesome and unique experience!

Exploratory missions on "Ski Me", Evan's boat. The tight channels we were able to maneuver Ski Me through was nothing short of impressive.

Quick little walk off the boat to Rainbow Bridge. This place is stunning! Truly epic!

So much potential for BASE jumpers

But a nice lil' cliff jump will do! (Same wall as pictured above)

Speaking of parachutes...plenty of room on the boat to pack. I think these boats may have been designed with jumpers in mind???

and yes, there was plenty of jumps to be had there. In fact the opportunities seemed endless assuming you can get on top of the cliffs. Had a bit of a sketchy climb to even get on this one. Check the video link below!

Cut away after opening! Check out the link below to see p.o.v. footage from this jump!
https://vimeo.com/75114697

"Joe D" keepin it "old school" with this mean can opener!

Do I even need to say anything?

Half way through our trip we found ourselves neck deep in the middle of a thunderstorm. Unfortunately the rain didn't really let up for two days. On the other hand, we never would have had the opportunity to see all these waterfalls! 

Casey not too bummed on the rain.

Early morning tee off for the boys!

The boys soaking in some sunshine!

More cliff jumping! Gainers are the funnest trick ever!

Evan trying to clear "Ski Me"

Another "Ski Me" mission, so fun!

Team huck! The Daiek boys sending it!

and how could I not have one last Gainer for good measure?

Big thanks to Ashlee for all the great photos! I hope you all enjoyed the show and I look forward to sharing more radness with ya in the future!

Good day and welcome! I am excited to share with you some photos from my most recent ski trip to interior B.C. I traveled there to shoot with Switchback Entertainment where we filmed an episode for Salomon Freeski TV that is going to air next season!

The crew was Jeff Thomas, Blair Richmond, Bryn Hughes, Mike Henitiuk, Kieran Nikula and myself, and yes, we killed it....well, we had a good time at the very least! We traveled inland in search of old mining towns that had existing buildings, structures and mines that we could jib. For those who know me or know how I like to ski, you know that I like to hit jumps, but I am far from a jibber.

Therefore, I found myself a little out of my element on some of the more technical jibs, but I still had a blast on the more straight forward jumps! It was a real kick in the pants! I'm really inspired by the creativity and style of the youngsters (Mike and Kieran). They both have their own unique approach to skiing whether it's hitting a wall ride, jibbin roof tops or finding some mini transition to land in. Those boys killed it and it was really entertaining to watch!

All in all, we had a great week of building jumps, filming and skiing pow! I can't wait to see the edit Blair and Jeffy put together on this one! I know we got some unique features and some really cool shots. One thing is for certain when it comes to Jeffy and Blair, they know how to work magic when it comes to editing, so I am pretty sure it is going to be a good edit!

For now all I got for ya are some teaser photos that I took....we'll have to wait to see what Bryn got too, as I know he got some bangers! Enjoy!

Deep in the mine chutes with Kieran Nikula

Really cool ice and rock build up in these buildings from the 1800's

Kieran Nikula sending it through a mining tram!

Mike Henitiuk wall ridin

Henitiuk showing off his graceful style!

Kieran gettin all corked through the tram tower with mad style!

Kieran gettin all corked through the tram tower with mad style!

Kieran hand drag'n through a pillow

Henitiuk boosting a large 180 on this step down

This is my broke down sled getting towed throuh a creek bed. I hate when these things beak down

This is the lake we stayed at, we were styled and dialed at the cabin!

Henitiuk Sending the step down!

Kieran sending the step down

Where's waldo? No serious can you find Mike?

Kieran showing off more of his style!

Henitiuk sending the first hit on this giant step down. A natural mining feature we stepped out!

Kieran gettin jib nasty!

Road gaper!

Jibbin the train from the 1800's

Kieran killing again

 

Skiing in North America

Hello there, good day and thanks for checking out my blog! It's been a while since my last post, partially due to laziness, but mostly due to the fact that I've been crazy busy. Fortunately for me, I've been busy doing what I love most...skiing!

Winter kicked off to an early start in Tahoe, with most resorts in the basin area opening before Thanksgiving. Lucky for us Tahoe folk, we were able to shred hard and get our ski legs under us by early December.

Since then I have been bouncing around North America like a handball in a game of....well, handball. Below are some photos to help tell the story of awesomeness that I have experienced so far this season!

Salomon Team Manager, Jesse Malman, gettin his shred on in Jackson Hole!

First trip was mid December. I hooked up with some of the Salomon crew in Jackson Hole where we skied powder for a couple days. It didn't suck.....after the nice powder fest in Jackson, I headed home to Tahoe for Christmas. I spent Christmas day skiing pow with friends and family at Kirkwood. Santa ended up leaving four plus feet of fresh snow under the Christmas tree this year, what a great guy!

Christmas dinner at my brother's house

I was home for a quick week of snowmobiling, skiing powder and hangin with friends and family.

Sledding into new zones with my buddy Kolbes

Did I mention it snowed 4 feet for Christmas?

After an amazing week in Tahoe, I threw my sled in the back of my truck and headed North with my lady friend, Casey. We drove 16 straight hrs to Mt. Baker where we met up with Grant Gunderson and his fiance Brandis. When we arrived at Baker we spent our days hiking around, shooting photos and uhh....umm....oh yeah skiing more powder. Woo hoo!

An amazingly blue bird pow day at Mt. Baker

A little Baker side country mission with Cody Townsend, Elyse Saugstad, Adam U and Gunderson

After a fun day of shredding Baker, Casey and I brought in the new year with a good crew, slam dancing and bangin our heads to our friend Adam U's metal band; Metal Mucil. Needless to say it was loud and awesome! We spent the next day nursing our hangovers before journeying on to the next leg of our adventure in Revelstoke, B.C. for the first stop of the Freeride World Tour.

Kevin O'Meara taking advantage of a weather day

We were happy to arrive in Revelstoke just in time for a little powder refresh. It was exciting to be back in the competition atmosphere with high energy and a kind of buzzing energy around the mountain. It was really good to see old friends and make new ones too, hanging out with competitors from all over the World.

Mac Daddy comp venue

Beauty sunrise the morning of the comp

Soaking in great views and stoked to be in Revy

View from the top of Mac Daddy

Congrats to Drew Tabke for throwing down a sick run and effectively winning the event! Check out his run here http://www.freerideworldtour.com/videos.html and if you'd like to see my fall, you can find it at the same link. Well, it's been a good start to the season and I can't wait for more adventure! Till next time, party!