The desert of the Colorado Plateau has, and always will hold a special place in my heart. Mountains come first, and I cant see that ever changing, but the southwest is a close second. Up here in Montana, there are plenty of wide open spaces, but for much of the foreseeable future, the means of passing through such places are not friendly to two wheeled transportation. I am finding myself missing the single track more and more.
It must have been four summers ago that a ratty old toyota 4runner rolled into the parking lot at the SMBA headquarters in Boulder, CO, and some dude rolled out a johnny rotten with a bell and a sticker reading 'huck that fish'. Turns out that dude rode Montezuma's, and did a bunch of other cool stuff. Probably the best summer I have ever had. We rolled 5+ days a week, exploring and cruising the magik of nimby and other secret trails. That summer I hobbled together my first, bright green, single speed for the grand total of about $25. It broke just about every other ride, but damnit that was a fucking awesome bike. At the end of the summer, I got a piece of tree trunk with the words Meriweather and OFSYFP branded into it. That summer pissed off some people, and some relationships were ended, but in my mind, the most important one was made: Me and my bike. It might sound cliche, but if it wasn't for that dude with the johnny rotten and his impeccable sense of fun and adventure, I would certainly not be where I am today, and honestly, I'd hate to think about where I might have ended up. And I've still got that bit of pine tree, and to it's creator, I owe a hearty thanks, he knows whats up.
I took a big break from the bike this summer, basically stopped riding right before the NOLS course, rode a couple of times in the fall, but I really haven't ridden since June. And i'll be damned, but I miss it. I am thinking that a spring break trip to the fruita region will definitely be in order. I'll also be damned, but I wouldn't mind a single speed to rip around on. The bass is a beautiful machine, but it is straight up too small for my frame these days, so a new whip might be under the gun. Not sure what I want right now, but I am leaning towards a clean and simple 29er. OFSYFP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skiing

the full moon majik

When you step out onto the concrete, your shadow belongs only to the dull orange streetlamps, at times it is stretched in front of and behind you as the glare of one bright filament casts itself into the glare of another. These shadows seem week and cowardly, growing feebly, then suddenly shrinking to a point as the bulb passes overhead. Even further on, where the lamps are more sparse, only on corners rather than every twenty feet, the shadow will at times disappear all together into the dark of the night air.
During those dark spaces, another presence makes itself known, filtering through the dry, hibernating limbs of the oak trees above. Filtering down onto the concrete, the light seems almost blue, but then that hint fades as the next streetlight or the next car approaches. At some point, the lamps overhead cease to reappear, and the lofty ancient oaks are replaced by scraggly willows that grow thick, almost to the point of creating a tunnel over the packed snow that has replaced the pavement. Suddenly, the mellow grade of the land rises steeply ahead, and the willows are no more. In this immediate absence of artificial light or other impedance, the moon's beams shine with full force onto the snow covered ground. Transformed by the distant lunar surface, the sun's energy is less harsh, but equally stunning in my opinion. Colors are subdued, details are revealed only to those who choose to look, the world is held under the sleepy spell of night, but for those whose eyes are open, there arrives a heightened, vibrating energy along with the abnormal abundance of light on these nights. It is not to be wasted.

As seems fairly common place these days, the empty moments of my time allow my mind to drift off towards some semblance of teenage angst, what am I to do with this life in this rotten world, what does it even matter, etcetera... However, most lately, the feelings do not come as worry, or even angst to say so much. Thinking about the practice of yoga, the tao philosophy, it is all quite relaxing really.
With patience and acceptance, it seems like many things work out. Hard work comes first, no doubt, along with kindness and awareness, but the stress that people surround themselves with, the barriers people erect on the mental facade, it is something I want no part of. Ironic yes, it may seem, that the most "advanced" and "developed" cultures in the world still manage to suffer from plagues of depression, stress, anxiety, any range of psychiatric disorders. We all have something to learn from those cultures who have not spent time pursuing financial greatness, world domination, or a fabricated web of religious prominence. Compassion, sight, and connection to the natural world, I think these are what will point you in the right direction. Not to be mistaken for apathy, this relaxation finds energy from the world around. There are more than enough reasons to make any commitment if you are in tune with the forces surrounding it. Like the Sigur Ros song, Samskyeti, whose Icelandic meaning is that of gaining strength by joining, letting objects come to rest on each other, and grow in strength from the foundation that is formed.

"I find myself in Big City prison,
arisen from the vision of man kind.
Designed, to keep me discreetly neatly in the corner,
you'll find me with the flora and the fauna and the hardship.
Back a yard is where my heart is still I find it hard to depart this."
-Mattafix Big City Life


Thats got to be the goal, break the fuck out of the Big City Life. Bust your ass out of that prison. Shit-Lets just go skiing

I say that it doesnt really matter what you do or how you get there. in the end, i say, its all about the skis on the snow. its all about the exploration and the beauty and the wild, the wind and the weather and the sky. it sucks when it takes a day of traveling, fighting crowds, and general urban assaulting to get there. it can even suck when you have to sit in line with the string of luxury vehicles and two wheel drive sedans to find a spot to park, but when you take your skis off to hike a ridge above one of canada's longest lift serviced ski-able glaciers with the afternoon light pouring through the clouds and the high peaks. that doesnt matter. that is why i like to ski i say. that is what its about.

the good life

Its been a long time since i've found a whole album that i really enjoy listening to, for the whole thing. Kid Cudi's Man on the Moon has been spinning in my head for the last weeks, and what a fine bit of lyrical artistry it is. Lots of energy in there, lots of feeling. Especially Heart of a Lion and Up Up and Away, two awesome songs.
Winter break is running its course, skied almost every day, rockin a new pair of fischer skate skis, like a flashy majik carpet to carry me through the snowy woods. so fast, i find myself anaerobic at the top of hills, head thrown down because these skis really fly, and my sorry carcass has a hard time keeping up.


great tracks up at eldo, almost sad to be leaving the country for a week, i will certainly miss the rails through the woods, the white magik flowing. antelope and zarlengos, deadmans and sawmill, breathing that energy of skiing that provides my light in the dark, i will miss you


third, i knit my own mittens, and its good stuff: satisfactory production. I'm not gloating about skills here, i'm saying that its damn cool to make your own shit. from a ball of string and a few pointy sticks. sure, these aren't no hestra guide mitts, they dont have any thinsulate, no gortex, no fleece, just straight up hand spun wool. and, while i would not take these on an everest expedition, they work just as well, if not better than the two pairs pairs of OR, and one pair of swix, nordic gloves that probably fetched over $40, and they are more comfortable, plus the half a ball of yarn that it took probably only cost around $8. If you are going to knit your own mittens, dont pay attention to books or the internet, have a friend teach you how to make the stitches, and figure it out on your own, thats the way to do it. Dont worry about stitch counts, kfbs or k3p3. fuck that noise. make your own shit. Its way more fun and way more satisfying, and then use it. go out and ski in it.

-24˚F when I woke up this morning. Even the heater going full boar in the room couldn't hold back the quarter inch of ice that built itself on the window the night before. Here, hats are a must for entering the world that everyone works so hard to isolate themselves from. Even when the sun shines, it approaches at such a low angle, solar radiation fails to provide enough energy to feel any real difference in temperatures between the sun and the shade. Steam billows out of mouths - breathing through your nose freezes boogers in a second - escaping bodies to return to the frozen world swirling around.

I take some pride in weather like this, I don't wrap my face and hands in a variety of thinsulated brand name accessories, I like sticking my face right out into the cold. Its good for the heart to walk out in this weather without an excess of material - wandering around all bundled up is just another way of decreasing your self reliance. A good jacket, sturdy pants, and a hat are all you really need. Gloves, for sure, if you need to do work, but it is good to feel the cold air on skin, its good to know and trust the heat that your body can produce.

Skiing in sub zero temperatures exposed to wind and snow is another good test for your relation to the elements. Rather than piling on every pair of long johns you own, try removing layers until only the basics are left. Focus on the movements that make warmth. How cold can you really get? When your face feels cold, don't cover it up right away. I am not advocating loosing appendages to frostbite, but see what its like to face the air as if there were no scarfs or neck gaiters. Two days in a row subjected to blowing winds and a windchill that made alaskans shiver was enough to give my chin and cheek a bit of frost nip. No big deal, just a bit that looks like a scab just came off, a little peeling, but no real harm done. The pain was really minimal looking back, but it just makes you stronger.

I encourage everyone to push themselves to see how far they can go by themselves. Take the world head on with what you've got.

Somethin' filled up
my heart with nothin',
someone told me not to cry.

But now that I'm older,
my heart's colder,
and I can see that it's a lie.

Children wake up,
hold your mistake up,
before they turn the summer into dust.

If the children don't grow up,
our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up.
We're just a million little gods causin' rain storms turnin' every good thing to
rust.

I guess we'll just have to adjust.

With my lightnin' bolts a glowin'
I can see where I am goin' to be
when the reaper he reaches and touches my hand.

With my lightnin' bolts a glowin'
I can see where I am goin’
With my lightnin' bolts a glowin'
I can see where I am, go-go, where I am

You'd better look out below

-arcade fire