Hot dang

Shoot. I dont even know where to start with the last two weeks. They have been mindnumbingly awesome in so many different ways. Alright Ill try anyway.

So two weekends ago a crew of America's finest headed to the Silver Peaks region to get dodgey in the bush for the first time. Needless to say it was breathtaking and sweet as.

Zack checking out the lunch time view.

The first day's trail wasnt too bad however

certain parts were overgrown and difficult to see your footing. There was one uber steep section that no one was looking foward to hiking back up the next day. The first day had no casualties and Dave only fell 3 times. Good stuff.

We made it to the Jubilee Hut where we would be staying for the night at around 3ish so we decided to explore the surrounding area. Half the crew hiked this neato mini peak behind the cabin and half kicked it down on a pristine alpine stream. After making sure the peak had no mullets lurking in its vegetation we felt heaps safer about the evening.

Note to any eager bush wackers, dont eat chili for dinner while hiking. Im just going to leave it at that.

After a

tantalizing dinner of flatulence

fuel we enjoyed a little post hike ukulele sess. If your lucky

enough someday you might get to hear the beloved national anthem of our favorite little country, Old Zealand. It was discovered in 1904 by the Dutch and only recently gained a national anthem. The last census showed a population of 12 if you count the dog.

Carrying on.

It was a full moon that night and Im still kicking my self for not snapping a picture of the bloated lunar spectacle. Life goes on.

Note DR. Squatting Bull Lee seated on that crazy rock. Highly Spiritual.

So obviously it wouldnt be a weekend in NZ with out seeing the sunrise. Here is the obligatory picture to accompany the morning. Im thinking of changing the name of this blog to stillman sees sunrises but that doesnt really have the same ring or manly connotation.

Yeah the interweb is being real slow so I dont know if Im going to upload more hiking pictures.

Fine just one more because the tree was so magical and the picture looks like I was shooting a tropical L.L. Bean men's wear catalogue.

So out we all made it home safe and sound except for some girls we met at the hut we took a wrong turn and had to be rescued by the police. I will not even make a joke about this one. It speaks volumes by itself.

Which brings me to my next serious adventure. The 2009 Burton New Zealand Open. For all the newbs and elderly it is part of the Burton global open series meaning anyone can enter it and certain pros are invited to it. AKA its a big deal. There is one in Europe, The states and I think there is some sort of Japanese version that may involve a samurai component.

So yeah my old Saint Mikey's mate Colin "Dances with wolves" Boyd sent me a text about a month ago proposing that me and friend could work at the NZ open. 5 days free tickets, free lodging at the Boyd Motel and all the memories you could make!

So obviously I said hell yeah and roped Dr. Lee into the plan. We set out at about 7 on Monday night with fresh Caldina mix tapes and many southern gold's in the trunk. 3 and half hours later we were being greeted by Colin's French flat mate Antown. At first I was bewildered by this heavy accent telling us that we should come with him. I quickly verified that he lived with Boyd and then found out the disappointing

news that Colin had injured his foot the night before playing indoor soccer. Aye dios mios!

Colin sporting his usual facial hair.

Injuries aside Boyd was in good

spirits and we quickly set up our gypsy camp in the living room. Much to our delight there was a wood stove in the living room and ample couch space. Easy living at its finest.

So yeah the only downside of this week of carnage and glorious snowboarding was the wake time. We had to be on the hill at 6 am every morning so that meant waking up at 5. Piss.

The good thing about this cycle is that our bodies really wanted to be in bed at about 10 after a day of labor, Arctic temperatures and standing on a slope. So we would fall asleep as soon as our heads hit the make shift pillows.

I really dont have the time or energy to explain all of the things we did or the people we met. Suffice to say: snow fences are the devil, snow drills are sick, a 20 ft. inflatable beer bottle is glorious but a terrible pain in the ass, people named Jerimah do no work and are total wankers, neon vests are sexy as, getting free gear is what its all about, not falling in the half pipe makes the day much smoother, playing your ipod at the NZ open is a great feeling, watching a slope style course get slaughtered by a pro is better than any video and last but not least even if Shawn White can do back to back double corks he is still really awkward and a ginger.

Hot dang. That almost gives you a feel of the week. Oh except for one little addition. And his name is Kevin "space ghost" McClory. Kev is currently attending the university of Canterberry up in Christchurch. He caught wind of the NZ open plan and knew it was time to join the wolf pack. Friday night was space ghost's 17 birthday so I decided to bust out the mustache party pack I had purchased at the dollar store.

Dashing no?

So we got a little saucey and headed out on the town. Wanaka

did not even know what hit it. It was still laughing the next morning from the tickling of our mustaches.

Nick and I awoke the next morning to the sound of eggs scrambling and Colin saying "its 7 o clock you guys &$%@$# up"

It would seem as though we had. We ate breakfast and headed to Cadrona to receive our verbal spankings. However much to our delights everyone was already too busy to scold us or really even mention our tardiness. Well that was just fine with me as I settled into watch some epic half pipe and re-hydrate my mustache.

And epic it was. I bore witness to the first ever double cork spin in half pipe competition from Louie Vito who is a total jerk. Shortly after Mr. White decided to blow everyones mind by sending the double cork back to back. It looked like a video game.

My personal favorite rider was Luke Mitrani who was going the biggest and had the most style by far. Luckily he got second behind the flaming tomato.

Frenchmen Arthur Longo was uber smooth all week. Plus he had a mean natural stache. -------------->

Note that the picture to the right is about half as high as some riders were sending it. I was dumb founded.

So all in all the week was a smashing success, no one was deported, scolded, jibbed, apprehended, de-mustached or even cranky.

The high light for me came on Friday when I decided to ditch my vest for a couple runs on Captain's (side of Cadrona with mean runs) and then headed back to the slopestyle. I made it back right in time for lunch and sat eating my noodles watching the world's best snowboarders destroy a course I had helped to prep. Shortly after Kier Dillion came over and hung out about5 ft. to my left. It was just too much.

This girl had the nerve to hit the jump and ruin my self portrait. After consulting with the shadow to my left (Nick) I decided it made the picture better. Good on ya yellow pants!

Oh yeah and I saw the sunrise 4 maybe 5 times? Pretty standard.

Yeah so after that whirl wind week I came home and got some grocers and made a sick pot of chili. Then I rearranged my room so as to maximize the flow. Everything is looking proper. Flat mate Whitney even made signs for everyones door. Under my suggestion she added several others to areas like the kitchen "yo clean up after yo self!", right behind the toilet "watch yo aim bro!" and on the bathroom door "clean yo self!". Im glad she drew them and I just ghost wrote them, the blood is on her sharpie stained hands.

Word up from the other side world.

Got the skype flowing too so hit up mstillmanthefourth

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