Retallack Legends – 2

Posted on September 20, 2014September 24, 2014 by Smoke

Or you can call it by it’s even better title: Double Heli Day!

That’s right, today we’re doing a double lap of Reco with the heli. It’s already here, may as well. Dude and I didn’t get to ride the first bird, though. We hiked up before everyone while the rest of the crew got to the choppa.

It was actually quite relaxing.

Not for very long though. With a tight schedule on this, one of the last days of summer, we were very busy in a very short period of time.

Unloading guests and rigging bikes has to go smoothly and safely, and with fast turnaround times we were hopping.

The best part is that we got to have one inspection lap so that we could shred it hard on round two.

It was a pretty nice day to be in the alpine, yet again.

OK, it’s time for a postcard shot photo dump. This isn’t even half of the group out today.

While our “Legends” (and I am using that term loosely) were having photo orgasms at the top with Blake Jorgenson, the rest of us were off the front looking for more vert. We needed to get back to the LZ for another lap.

Just an aside here… If you want to know what makes a successful freeride athlete, it’s not just raw talent or looking pretty or a determination to push the envelope (all very useful attributes, though). Nope, it’s a willingness to do the same 20 feet of trail over and over and over again until you get the shot. I should probably spend more time doing that sort of thing, but I really just want to ride more. So now you know…

We took a short breather for a little group shot anyway.

We also had a little time at lunch to scope out this stepdown in the area. Nice riding, buds.

OK, time for the second bump, which is personal best #8 in a season for me, and #9 for my bike.

After this mornings workout, getting everyone up for round two was a piece of cake. The second run down the ridge was just amazing.

Some more postcard shots.

You know what? We still weren’t done. We got to the bottom just in time to hook back up with a couple of keeners with Mike’s group for a full T2B on the Kessel Run.

Which just happened to end at a fire in the pump track with cold beers and hot nachos.

Whattya think? Having fun yet?

PS — Happy Birthday Wade! Sorry we weren’t hanging on the peak together today, hope you had a good’r…

Retallack Legends – 1

Posted on September 19, 2014September 26, 2014 by Smoke

Come on, every weekend at Retallack is legendary. Although when Tippie and Schley show up I guess you gotta do something to make them feel special. Wade was supposed to be here too, but a last minute family emergency came up and he couldn’t make it. Family really does come first, and we all wish his dad a smooth and speedy recovery.

Although maybe not as fast as Richie was going here when he almost took me out on the first trail of the weekend.

The day started off a little bit greasy thanks to some rain we had overnight, but by the second lap things had settled down to the legendary tacky goodness that we expect around here.

Mitch Scott, legendary figure from Kona and Kootenay Mtn. Culture, was also on hand to entertain us.

That’s a legendary crew right there if there ever was one.

By the end of the day everyone was running hot and we stopped in for a session at the Lillyhammer jumps. Unfortunately for Mitch, the jump after this one didn’t go so well and he took himself out. What a drag. At least he looked good here.

This would be 2/3’s of a Tippie.

Not to be outdone, Rylan overshot this gap and slid into home plate on his chest. Of course, he walked away with only a couple of scratches. Such are the gifts of youth.

Not a bad start to the weekend for the majority of the gang. I think folks were holding back a bit, because the forecast for tomorrow includes lots of blue sky and a double heli drop on Reco.

Hoff Fest – Finale

Posted on August 27, 2014September 10, 2014 by Smoke

Finally…..Cory is here. Now we can get some jumps going.

So, bummer about the weather. It finally came together, but it was a bit of a drag that Aggy, Jordie, Alex, and Doerfling had to bail. But that’s the way she goes sometimes, boys.

Nico and R-Dog stayed, and it went a bit like this:

Actually, it was Andreu who got the ball rolling….of course. Once they got going, it was the full show. Unbelievable how big these jumps are, and the boys made them look easy. Like they were going slow when they hit ’em.

Of course, they didn’t all go as planned.

But when they did…

Phone home…

OK, so that was cool and all, but it was kind of boring. Hey! What’s this yellow thing doing with it’s doors off?

Yeah, let’s do that.

Is this some kind of joke? Those are jumps for ants…

Gnargus up front with a good view of the trail. You get a better view with the doors off.

You also get some premature aging when the heli flies off unexpectedly with your camera bag open and no doors. Luckily nothing fell out, but there was definitely a small comedy of errors for a bit.

Whatevs, Amber and I bagged the first heli drop off Reco. It was OK.