photographic resume

As I try and put feelers out for the summer season- I had to scrounge around and try and find video/photographic evidence of my "prowess" as a kayaker. Finding photos turned out to be much harder than I originally anticipated, in part because I have a habit of deleting photos of myself that I dislike, especially if they are on other peoples cameras! Also in part because I tend to spend a fair share of my time behind the camera, taking pictures of other people and trying to learn from them. It was also difficult because half the photos of me are on other peoples cameras- stored all over the place, with a fraction of them on my hard drive.

Here are some of the photos that I have found- taken by friends, on the Nile and in Nepal- and a little story with them. I think it shows how hard it can be to get a good shot, timing, lighting, etc... Here are just 8 photos from the past 18 months in a boat.

Im still looking to build the resume, so if you know of any photos- send them my way!



My first time running Kalagala Falls. I think my Dad took this photo- as clearly, i choose to run hard rapids when my parents come to visit me in Africa.

Playing on the Special while Ivan videos. Photo by Morgan Koons. Ivan is a local of the village on the other side of the river from the Hairy Lemon. Sam Ward taught him how to use a video camera to film for him when he practiced, and now pays Ivan's school fees as well.

Running Bujagali Falls. Note that I am slightly too far left. This is one of the rapids that will soon be disapearing on the Nile due to the Dam.

Running Hukapoa Falls on the Sun Kosi in Nepal. Photo by Hayley Segal. This was a fun rapid because all the Nepali girls were on the side scouting and cheering.

Doing a Pan-Am on the Special. Photo by Tara McGraw Moser. This is the day i fell in love with the Project 45.

Blunting on the Special at Sunset. Photo by Will Clark. This is the last day I got to paddle with Will in Uganda before he left for Zambia and I went back to the states.


Blunting on the Special. Photo by Tara McGraw Moser.

The Upper Kali Gandaki- photo by Will Clark. Its hard work being in a 70 lb boat!

some cool links, and future plans

Tomorrow is my last day of work up here in Vermont- I still can't believe the seasons are switching on me. Pond skimming up at the mountain tomorrow- should be a great time- and i can't wait to watch some of the debauchery.

While i've been sitting on my but and getting my ski legs back up here- ive got plenty of other friends that have been getting busy on the water.

I just got back in touch with some of my old friends from White Haven, PA where i worked on the Lehigh river as a river guide. That was one of my favorite summers for sure- and the first time i really started to paddle with kids my own age. That summer i learned to enjoy paddling in a whole new way. Those kids have all been keeping busy, on and off the water and have been doing well. Check out their blog

www.dirtydozencrew.blogspot.com

to see what they are up to. Hopefully i'll get to catch up with them and paddle either in PA or out west some point in the near future.

Jared and Graham Seiler have also been working hard to get Demshitz up and running- they just put up their own website and have been showing their new film- Stuff from all over. Jared and Graham both spent some time down south in Chile and Ecudaor this winter, and I am stoked to see them and what they have put together. The film is premiering down in Ashville pretty much as I write this. There are also heaps of photos on Evan Garcia's blog :

www.egcreekin.blogspot.com

here are a few highlight photos from the facebook group- for more be sure to check that out as well as the brand new demshitz website

www.demshitz.com


photo from Demshitz

Salto de Alerces Rio Manso Argentina..Jared Seiler .. Pat Rogers photo

Jared in Chile on the Paguin photo from demshitz.com


Graham running Oriental Massage Yule Creek CO . Photo from Demshitz


Other news from my paddling community includes the revamping of the Soft Power Health website- be sure and check that out for Malaria project updates. www.softpowerhealth.com

Lastly- the African revolutions tour and Sun Catchers project that friends Rush Sturges, Rita Reijwerts, Tyler Bradt and others were working on this past spring. Rita and the boys combined an exploratory African paddling mission with a charity project that brings solar ovens to impoverished and often malnurished African communities and orphanages. Check out video of them here: Suncatchers Video or check out their website www.suncatchersproject.org for more information on Rita's project.

Check out this video on you-tube for more on Suncatchers and the African Revolutions tour in which the boys went on a ridiculous paddling mission through the Murchison falls section of the nile, along with other insanitys here.

For even more info, check out Tylers webpage here:

So what comes next for me? the trials and tribulations of bum life... Here is a couple of thoughts that i have had.. I sent out a few resumes out to kayak schools up in Canada- maybe i'll score a job for the summer... I should find out in the next week or so. Im still thinking about heading back to Uganda- its just going to be a matter of time, and money. Im either heading back in June or in August- for how long i can't say. Its funny- im never sure if i want to go back , but i catch myself thinking all the time- oh, i should bring this to Uganda, oh this would be good for Africa, etc... Part of me has assumed i'll be back there pretty much this entire time- its a hard place to let go of for sure.

In between now and then im looking at a road trip out west to hook up with Karl and Tara, maybe see Jim, Sheri, Shannon, and one of my college roomates along the way. I might even compete in team trials for the US freestyle kayak team in Grand Rapids this may. Except for Karl and Tara's wedding, I've never been out west, so im pretty excited to see what its all about. Some of my friends from Killington are leaving for a roadtrip out west next week- planning to hit up a bunch of the major ski resorts as they go. I'd love to meet up with them- we will see what happens...

until then , check out these other pages and get stoked on spring!

Anapurna Hike

Old news... but I never managed to post pictures from the 7 day hike I did with Whitney, Anna, Hayley, Sophie, Hes, Emi, Malaika, Laura and Malin in Nepal.

Here are a couple favorites. We hiked in the Anapurna mountain range- a 4 day hike up to base camp at 4,130 meters and then a 3 day hike out. We did it in two groups- meeting up with eachother at night or on opposite days, leaving messages for each other along the way. The scenery was amazing- the path we were on took us through local villages where we would stay in tea houses at night.
Passing local women with their loads. Photo by Hayley Segal

We carried our own packs the entire 7 days- nothing compared to how much these women carry on their backs for their daily lives!

The hike started with a massive incline up a never ending flight of stone stairs. (litterally- we would be walking up and down these stone stairs for the next 7 days) Through the city of Chomrung alone we hiked over 1,000 stairs!

Hiking up the stairs to Jinua. Photo by Hayley Segal


We met this little girl at the top of the the first flight of stairs, where we were bribeing Anna to continue on the hike.

As we were walking, the Annapurna range continued to open itself up, giving us enitrely different perspectives on the individual peaks that we werent able to see from Pokhara.

Fishtail from Sinuwa


Anapurna 2 view our 2nd morning

I was suprised by how green it was- and just struck by the beuty of the country side, walking among the rice paddies, crossing bridges over the Modi Kola, etc.

Rice fields. Photo by Hayley Segal

Flowers
Flowers 2
The paths were often poorly marked, and we would come to crossroads having no idea where to go. Even though we were in the off season, plenty of hikers wre till going through - and the little kids were often our best source of directions. This little girl stopped playing with her stick long enough to look at us, shout "jinu" wave her hand in one direction, and then promptly went back to playing.

photo by Hayley Segal

One of the highlights of the trip was making it to Jinu on day 3- after a LONG hike on a flight of stairs in the sun. WE met up with the rest of the girls their and stopped long enough to enjoy the natural hotsprings!! (we even stayed there on the way back- just so we could hit the hot springs again)
The Hot springs were amazing! On the 3rd and 4th day of the hike, i think we all started to feel it a bit. 4,130 meters is signigigant, and we struggled with the altitude a little, as well as the strain of walking 7+ hours a day while carrying a 30 pound pack!

Anna and I so excited to finally be at Himalaya! Photo by Anna White

Here Hayley and I stop at MBC- the last stop before making it to Anapurna Base Camp.

photo by Malin Strand

About halfway through day 4 we made it up to base camp in time for an indepth photo shoot.

Me at base camp
Team "Less Extreme"- Anna White, Whitney Hansen , Hayley Segal, Anna Bruno, Malin Strand
All of us- Emi Earle, Hester Hilbink, Malaika Davies, Anna White, Laura Clayton, Whitney Hansesn, Hayley Segal, Sophie Hoskins, Malin Strand, Anna Bruno. Thats right- 10 girls made it to and from ABC by ourselves- in record time, and had a blast!

We stayed at Basecamp for just under 24 hours, enough for a full sunset and sunrise- both of which were incredible. The energy of the place, and the serenity of being up in the mountains was incredible. Anapurna Base Camp is unique in that is completley surrounded, 360 degrees by the Anapurna Mountain range. You are in the ultimate bowl- it was one of the most impressionable plaves i have ever been.

Up at the top of Basecamp were hundreds and hundreds of prayer flags- brought by hikers and locals from allover the world. WE were gutted that we hadn't thought to bring our own, so took hundreds of pictures of them instead. Here are a few of my favorites.

Hayley gets a facefull of prayer flags








Hiking back was just as eventful- we walked out of basecamp to find the fields in flames. IT was intimidating walking through the smoke- especially as we were all wearing highly flamable clothing!
The nice thing about this trek was that it had a lot of options for how you wanted to go. We all started together at Phedi, and the original plan was to all finish together at Naya Pul. After Base camp however, we all ended up splitting off- with Hes and Malaika being ridiculously hardcore and taking a longer route out to Tadopani-(part of the poon hill trek) ironically coming out at the same hotsprings where Anton, Will and I put in above Beni for our Kali Gandaki mission. They had an amazing time, and said the views were spectacular.

Anna, Soph, Laura and Emi ended at Nayapul as well but they ended up taking a slightly different route than Whit, Hayley, Malin and I . Here are the girls having lunch in Chomrong- one of the bigger cities we passed, nestled in a valley with a spectacular view of the mountain range. It was one of our favorite places we stayed.

photo from Anna White

After a bus ride on the roof of a bus- typical Nepali style- we all met back up in Pokhara in time for dinner.

Those 7 days were some of my favorite in Nepal, and they gave me a feel for the country different from my experience on the countrys rivers.

roof riding. Photo by Malin Strand.

for a map of where we were trekking- click here!
http://nikonnut.tripod.com/lightbox/trek-route/trek-map.jpg

More Killington Antics

Its been busy up here in Vermont. I still can't believe that its the end of March. Springtime is in full force up here. We've had alternatley freezing cold days with 60 degree days- bright sunshine mixed with the rain that is eating the rest of the snow up here, turning the once frozen ground into mud, turning the snow into run-off, flooding the rivers and creeks in the area.

In other words- its kayak season, and I don't have a kayak or people to paddle with. Boo. I did in fact just purchase a new playboat from a friend- a cherry red Project 45 that I will pick up in a few weeks. Other than that, not much has been happening on the paddling front- besides some vague plans for the following two months to be detailed in my next blog post.

Despite not paddling, i've managed to get some good quality time in on the hill. Spring is fun up at Killington- practically every weekend hosts some sort of event. In the past month Killington has hosted the US snowboarding grand prix and a spring loaded pipe/slopestyle/rail jam comp. Next weekend is the Annual Bear Mountain Mogul challenge- which should also be tons of fun.

The grand prix was a qualifier of sorts for the Olympics, meaning that several of snowboardings best were on hand competeing in the Half pipe and in the park for slopestyle. I was fortunate enough to get to go and watch the womens competition from the bottom of the pipe.

Spectators watch as the women take their first runs

I was struck by how young the majority of the competitors were- and how talented they were. Its amazing to watch someone who really knows how to utilize the halfpipe- not to mention their acrobatic abilities. Both Gretchen Bleiler and Kelly Clark threw down huge runs for the ladies, coming in first and second, respectively.

Here is video of Gretchen Bleiler on her first run down the pipe.





I had all the more respect for the women as I have spent a good portion of this season on my snowboard in the "baby park" located on the Timberline trail at Killington. I've been pushing myself more- starting to not only go off the jumps, but try for some rotation as well. I landed my first successful 360' last week!!! (And crashed on at least 6 others. ) Ive also started hitting some smaller and medium sized boxes, but i will admit to being too much of a wimp to hit the rails. I even went in the half pipe for the first time this past week- on telemark skis and on a snowboard- The only way I can describe my experience is that I was completely disoriented.


Gretchen hikes the pipe for her next run

The pipe has 20 foot walls, and once you drop in, they are all you can see. You need to work to ride up along the walls- yet- at the same time they pull you into them. I rode through a couple of times, trying to feel out the timing, and figure out how to ride up the walls and transition off them- and was left with an entirely new respect for these athletes.

A competitor airs out on a practice run

Riding in the park can be a lot of fun- it has completely changed the way i view the terrain and features of the mountain, inside and outside the park. Ive started riding more creatively, and having fun on a snowboard for the first time in ages. I had a mini photoshoot with some friends in two of the bigger parks at Killington- the dreammaker park and the stash. We had a great day- and tons of fun. Here are some of my favorite shots.

Rodney hits a tree-stall in The Stash

Sliding down a barrel

Barrel - with a few altercations


Dream Maker- Second Jump

Thats about all for now- updates on my summer and upcomming return to water sports soon- i swear!