What’s going on

Out with the old…….but to where?

Out with the old…….but to where?

Finally, I have got a new computer. It has been a long slow painful wait for it to arrive but arrive it did and now I am trying to get myself back on track again. Not being a computer expert I am not quite sure what happened to my old one. I’m guessing the warranty had run out It’s usually around this time that everything starts to go wrong. It started with  the keyboard falling apart, first the left click button and then the letter ‘o’  just ceased to work anymore.  Then my processors didn’t seem overly happy to be working,  taking around about 10 minutes  to open up a photo never mind trying to edit it. To top it all off the drivers that ran the graphics started playing up and kept crashing my screen. I am sure there is someone out there who will read this and go “oh that sounds like a classic case of blah blah blah and all he really needed to do was blah blah blah and all would be right again.”

So far the only problem that I find with my new computer is the keys. After using a European keyboard for so long I tend to keep mixing up the Y and the Z button. All in all though i am enjoying my new toy. IMG_2180

You should expect to see lots of new photos on my website soon as I make a desperate attempt to catch up now that I have fallen so far behind. It’s really quite amazing how many little shortcuts and passwords are on your computer that you suddenly miss.

On an interesting note my local councils in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney have decided to stop collecting E-waste such as computers television and so on. This is an environmental initiative in order to stop the leaching of chemicals from resistors and chips as they break down in the land-fill areas. The councils believe that if they stop collecting the e-waste then the onus will fall upon the producers to stop creating said chips and resistors and replace them with environmental friendly ones instead. Although it seems like their hearts are in the right place there seems to me to be a few flaws in the councils plan. The companies that produce the computers and such are not based in my local. Sure there is a few offices nearby but the head are all in some other country and no doubt, at this early stage of the initiative, completely oblivious to the councils attempt at strong-arming them into action. The councils have offered no replacement for the collection of e-waste which means instead of being collected and stored together things will now just be dumped in bush, by the side of the road, wherever people can get rid of things.  Surely if you remove a service like rubbish removal then it should be replaced with a solution and not just a statement to say “we are not going to collect it anymore”  fullstop.

It is possible to recycle a large amount of E-waste. Granted not all. When then instead of refusing to collect it not set up a recycling plant or initiate a plan whereby it will be sent to be recycled. I think that instead of fixing the problem they have just washed their hands of the whole thing and that the best that we could hope for is that consumerism and wanton waste of such product would go decrease.

Posted by Richard in What's going on, 0 comments
Heli-skiing Steep Faces in St Moritz

Heli-skiing Steep Faces in St Moritz

Mattias Haunholder, Switzerland.

Mattias Haunholder throwing down some big turns near St. Moritz in Switzerland.

Last weekend was spent down in St Moritz skiing around Corvatsch and heli-skiing on the border with Italy.  The mountains down this way are beautiful soaring peaks with long steep faces.  I was graciously invited to go on the trip in order to shoot with big mountain skiers Martin “McFly” Winkler and Matthias Haunholder.  Martin and Matthias certainly stepped up and put in some great lines. The snow stuck beautifully to the faces allowing them to ski some steep lines.

Posted by Richard in Skiing, Sports, What's going on, 0 comments
Spring Ski Sessions

Spring Ski Sessions

Spring time has arrived in St Anton which means its back-country kicker time. The weather has been warm and our generous snow-pack from the season is disappearing rapidly. The warm slushy conditions has made for some great kicker sessions. The kickers have been built up around St. Christoph Am Arlberg. It’s a great slope for building on. It catches the afternoon sun and has some great views down the valley and over the town below.

The next few days are supposed to hold a bit of rain which means some downtime from the mountain and a chance to catch up with a few projects which I have had planned for sometime now. 

Posted by Richard in Skiing, Snowboarding, What's going on, 0 comments
Generation Flinga

Generation Flinga

The last few days I have had the pleasure of shooting with a couple of Swedish girls known as Generation Flinga as they travel around the world in search of adventure and snow making an all-girl skimovie.

Sara Orrensjö and Janette Hargin passed through the Arlberg with cameraman Marcus Hansen in tow. Together with Nick Hayter and Adam Widen we spent a couple of days shooting around St. Anton and Sonnenkopf. Their timing here was well blessed with one of the best snowfalls that we have seen here this season. The girls certainly put the fresh snow to use with a few big drops and some beautifully deep powder turns.

The girls adventure will continue on Monday as they head off to Japan. You can follow their travels at www.generationflinga.com and be sure to watch out for the movie “Catch Us If You Can” when it comes out.

Posted by Richard in What's going on, 0 comments
O’Neill Big Mountain Pro

O’Neill Big Mountain Pro

It has been an interesting week here in St. Anton.

  The start of the week saw the O’Neill Big Mountain Pro come through town.  The contest takes 6 of the worlds best snowboarders, Jeremy Jones, Mitch Toelderer, Xavier de la Rue, Fredrik Evensen, Thomas Eberharter, Eric Themel and 6 of the worlds best skiers, Cody Townsend, Loris Falquet, Thomas Diet, Richard Permin, Jeremie Heitz, Arnaud Rougier and puts them to work on various faces throughout the Alps for prize purse of US$60,000. The interesting thing about this contest is the fact the it is a movable contest and travels to wherever the snow may be and the conditions are best. This year the contest travelled between St. Anton and Saalbach further to the east.

I managed to catch the first run in St. Christoph. The face that the organisers chose had some good conditions though I would consider it to be an unusual choice for a competition with the words big mountain in the title. The face is around 100m vertical. Short though it may be the face provided numerous drops and hucks for the riders to hit and some good snow.

The contest has moved off towards the East where they have found some nice powder. I have heard that they may be returning here for another session this week which will be great as we have just had some fresh snow. Hopefully I shall get another chance to shoot with these talented riders.

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Fieberbrunn Big Mountain

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Yesterday I made a trip out to Fieberbrunn near the Tyrolean/Salzburg border  to watch the qualifying round of the Big Mountain Freeride Tour. With a total of 10,000 Euros prize money, the contest has attracted 76 entrants from around the world all hoping for their chance to qualify for a spot on the prestigious ski and snowboard freeride world tour. Though the majority of riders come from Europe the contest has also attracted riders from as far away as New Zealand. The winner at Fieberbrunn qualifies for the Nissan Freeride de Tignes which starts on the 8th of March and has a prize purse of 40,000 USD.

Clouds had hampered the previous day with only 5 riders being able to  ski due to the diminishing visiblity. Yesterday the weather was clear and cold with the temperature being around -12° at 9 in the morning. There was a biting wind blowing which dropped the temperatures even further. Conditions were quite mixed on the course and a bit more snow would have been welcome as a few rocks were uncovered after a big landing or a heavy turn. Although the majority of the riders kept it safe there was a few throwing down a couple of big drops.  The final will be held between the 7th and the 15th of Feb (weather depending).

I am not sure if I will get to make it back to the final as this week in St. Anton the O’Neill Big Mountain Pro kicks off with some of the world’s top riders but if the chance arises I will definitely be making the trip back to Fieberbrunn to watch the final (and I shall be sure to take a bigger lens).

 

Posted by Richard in What's going on, 2 comments