A couple of weekends ago, my fiancé and I were watching MTV. They had a “True Life” marathon on and I will admit; I am a fan of the 60 minute documentary. When we turned on the TV we had about 10 minutes left of the current show and the Tivo guide showed us the next program, “A Map For Saturday”. Thinking it might be a True Life that involves the outdoors, I was ready to watch it.
As the show starts, the narrator goes into his story and about the show. The guy, Brook Silva-Braga, leaves a nice job with a TV network to travel the world with clothes in his backpacks and several pounds of video equipment. He sets out to see the world for a year by himself and along the way he meets many new people or as one guy puts it, “friends for a day”.
“It makes me laugh when people say I could never do what you’re doing. All our friends gave us six weeks and then we’d be home and it now been 14 months.”
Karen: 21, England
“In fifty or sixth years I’m dead. I want to say, ‘I had a good life’.”
Jens: 27 Germany
“I’d like to travel 364 days and go back for Christmas.”
Bill: 27 Northern Ireland
The people he meets along the way are also solo travelers, some are just starting out, others are in the middle of their adventure, and some are heading home. The solo travelers he meets and travels with from one location to another help tell the story of why and how they are traveling as well as share some personal accounts of their own travels.
At times lonely and difficult; more often joyous, and always adventurous. In the end, Brook travels for 12 month, and travels by plane, train, automobile and by foot to 26 countries on four continents.
When the UPS guy finally came on Friday, I felt just like this!
What did he bring me as my first piece of gear to test? Yeah, a rocket sled, from Mad River Rocket!
Not a nitro fueled, go-to-the-moon, rocket… better! A backcountry, shred-the-pow rocket.
After playing on their website (see here) a little, it was easy to see what this thing was made / designed for,,, backountry powder. We “earned our turns” fo a while, figuring out how to manuever the sled.
After our backcountry testing, we were anxious to show this thing off. I heard a little rumor about a hill where some of the local kids were known to race. We din’t find any competetion, but we did find the jumps they left behind for us. (We only recommend jumping in soft snow! Jumping on hard-pack, off sketchy jumps built by 10-year-olds, can lead to back injury.) It’s a good thing there were no kids there to laugh at us. Steering the sled almost completely goes out the window on hard icy hills. We did have to experiment a little on positioning variations as the kneeling position was a little uncomfortable for us on the hard-pack.
While “The Rocket” could be fun on any hill, it really performes best in what it was designed for. Keep this pointed towards fresh tracks, and leave the crowded hills to the kids. A ride down on “The Rocket” is a perferct reward if snowshoeing for exercise is your thing. Much better than hiking up to take a ski lift down! Ludicrous, yet a very popular activity here in Vail.
For our last run of the day, we couldn’t agree on who got the last ride down. Like any two rational adults we compromised, deciding we would ride double. (seated tandem style) After a little arguing over who had to ride in front, we shredded down to the car. This worked suprisingly well. I’m just glad no one saw us.
When I got news today that I would have the privilege of taking part in a new series of “Weird Gear Reviews” it was like Christmas came early! I have been suffering through Post-Canadium Depression Syndrome, and this is just the thing to get me back into spirits.
I don’t even know whats coming, it’s a suprise! What could my first piece of odd gear be? Solar powered socks? That is an awesome idea, did I just invent that? Those will be patented by the time you read this so don’t even try. You simply clip the solar pannel to your head, it sends the warming solar energy to your toesies.
What if I get a Bio-fuel turtleneck sweater? Don’t we have the technology to make real live hoverboards yet? Can I test one of those? You know how cool those old-timey bikes are? Well what if somebody makes one of those, but a mountain bike? Forget about 29ers, a 48er would dominate!
I have to go wait by the window for the UPS man now. I’ll be back after I test my new “Self Erecting Tent Mansion”!
A coyote attacked a young skier at Copper Mountain ski resort in Colorado last week. The coyote bit the kids parka and had bitten the snowboard of another. The picture above was apparently taken by the childs mother as she watched on. Wildlife officials determined the only way to handle the situation was to destroy the coyote. Officials assume the coyote had been fed by people and turned aggressive when it saw humans as a source of food.
The line-up for the 2008 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival was announced yesterday. The festival will take place June 12th-15th and tickets will go on sale February 16th. This year will be one of the most impressive yet. Here is a short list of the big names announced so far…
Ever wonder what your favorite websites would look like if Cats had created them? Or have you ever dreamed of what your favorite social network site would look like if Cats were members? Sure you have!
Well dream no more my cat-loving friends…. LOLinator allows you to take any website and see what it would look like if cats ran it.
OK, OK, you want me back. Can you stop with the “where have you been?” emails already. Please continue sending gifts and candy. However, to the hairy gentleman from the Northwest Territories, please stop sending me racy photos of yourself.
Yesterday while suffering from an early morning Bird Flu attack (I am running out of powder-day-ditch-work excuses) I pondered returning to the blogosphere. Once you’ve been out of the game for a while it’s hard to plan a return. What ever could I write about?
At that very moment I watched a guy ride through the direct blast of a snowgun. Keep in mind this is on a legit Powder Day. I guess he was going for a little extra in the steep and deep department, and being uneducated, thought this was the way to get it. Anyone who has ever been NEAR a snowgun knows they are bad news. Your face stings, your goggles ice over, and the snow below them is an undulating unstable icy mess
I truly almost felt bad, bud I had to laugh aloud watching what followed. His “Whoooooops” of powder joy turned into “AAOOOOOUUUUUs” of pain. The flying ice crystals stinging his face and covering his goggles. He careened out of control through the blast of two more snowguns, skis unable to grip the man-made mess, before flying off trail into a complete Yard Sale in the woods.
I promised, then and there, to not let this happen to any of my faithful O-Deezy readers. (both of them) So I will be committed to bringing you updated Do’s and Don’ts for ’08.
Would I be caught dead in this… probably not. Would I secretly want one in the same way that I secretly wanted a Pound Puppy when I was a kid… yeah sure.
But don’t fret friends, this ride is made by Tesla Motors, and they don’t just make Jetson cars. Now their roadster would fulfill my Pound Puppyesque lust for an electric car while keeping my manhood in tact. Check it.
Unlike most electrics this one actually has some range. You can go up to 245 miles on a charge. And it costs 2 cents a mile. Of course you’re going to pay for looking cool and saving the world… $100 grand. Woowie Wow Wow!
Flea even has one. And like I always say, “If Flea likes it, I like it.”
Score one for the transient Outdoorzies out there… or maybe score one for the physicists not-so-cool image… no matter. A guy who spends his Summers guiding backpacking trips and surfing, and his Winters ski-bumming has formed a theory on the universe that the scientific community is standing up and taking a look at. The Telegraph reported this week that Garrett Lisi has created a theory of the universe that could actually explain some things to physicists. Lisi has a doctorate but isn’t affiliated with any universities… currently. My guess is he’ll be picked up pretty quickly after this.
The E8 Theory… (don’t stare too long, it will suck you in… seriously)
From the Telegraph… ” Lisi’s inspiration lies in the most elegant and intricate shape known to mathematics, called E8 - a complex, eight-dimensional mathematical pattern with 248 points first found in 1887, but only fully understood by mathematicians this year after workings, that, if written out in tiny print, would cover an area the size of Manhattan.”
I’m not even going to pretent like I understand… so I’ll just step away and say… “Cool Brah.”
