655 photos

 this one is a bison winch cat  it was more green when i took the shot but a nice pic of a cat anyways

 we have been building this jump for 3 nights off and on it is for some event im not sure if it is red bull or quicksilver but one of them there should be some good riders hitting it so we are making it look bigger then it is they only want it 20 meters so it may be an over kill but you can see it from the gondola and we want to make a statement

 this was taken while my cat was warming up i had to get a shot of the moon behind the trees it came out rather nice for a night shot

 this could of been a totally crazy shot but it came out a tad blurry  with the cats behind the trees and the fog rolling in it was quite the view bummer it is blurry but could of been real sweet

i have taken a full cf card of photos since i have got to NY and here which is 655 photos in raw and coupled with a jpeg image.  i guess i will switch to my other card and continue to take more photos for the next two weeks.

  i was asked to get ahold of Zaugg (the pipe cutter company) of europe, and i called they gave me there email address and wanted my contact info to send me some information for some pisten bully company in russia having problems with a machine they sold, i tried to help them out best i could, they couldnt get it to spin fast enough.   i decided to email zaugg back with what i had talked with them about and figured it was a good opening to give them my resume, and why the hell wouldnt i do that, so i thought i would send my resume to this pistenbully company also. and they asked me if i was on contract with rosa khutor and when it expired.  i let them know it had already expired and was just doing extra work at this point, and could be willing to operate th emachine for them,  they said they would talk to their customer about me,  so we will see what comes with that.  so with FIS asking for my resume to be sent to oslo norway for next year world cup championships. this makes three new contacts  plus rosa khutor for europe  4 total isnt a bad start for only being here less then 90 days. 

putting the cats through a work out

 here is the upper level of the lodge

 putting the cats through the workout pushing snow is a hard life for these things.   the piles of snow the beasts leave is so big u must have a bit of momentum to get through them with the smaller cats, this is a picture of what it looks like to take on a bigger pile from the office

 this is what is left of the pipe after many hours of pushing the beasts bring it down and X's push it off the edge

 here is todd pushing at the bottom in an X

 

here is the crack we are driving over to push snow off the edge i cant see the bottom and it is 70 feet long the snow has moved down hill that foot over the day and we are driving out 30 feet past this crack to huck the snow off into the creek. it is a little sketchy to say the least.

i dont know what these generators cost but there is  a heap of money sitting here maybe thats why there is a green light.  they are have the size of a sea container each.

ground hog day again

 driving through the tunnel under the womens race run sometimes you have to plow out the end so you dont hit the top

 this guy thought he would park his machine in the middle of a push job so me and todd dug out around it and left it on a 4' tall pad,  i think he got the message and wont be parkin  there again

 i for sure found my first winnabego. if i was going to go travel alot and had a free gas card i think this would be what i would be driving

the base area this morning it had a crazy fog that rolled in and out for a few hours and here is what is left of the pipe after 4 nights of pushing it out,  there is still enough snow in it to make another pipe or three i have never seen so much fuel being wasted on a nightly basis.   the word now is that if we dont get the snow off then we will be delaying the olympics because of all the building that has to go at the bottom and the different earth works for the pipe,  i suggested they add 20 meters to the top, which means they have to move the drop in up hill also, and the drop in will need to be bigger due to the fact there will be a tv 2xs the size of xgames at the top.   every day seams the same.  like ground hog day the movie  push push push around in circles for 10 hours

trying to smell the flowers

 i think this is going to be the athlete village, it seams so drab with no color and half finished almost like it is in a war zone its just missing bullet holes

im trying to smell the flowers as they say,  i was grooming the road to get out of the off piste runs and came across this i had to stop and enjoy it, once again by myself in the middle of the woods in the middle of nowhere trying not to get eating by a mountain lion. over near the red light you can see the gondola.

night shift

 got tired of driving by this view and not stopping to enjoy the view me ,  and todd had a cup of coffee and took a gander and this place,  this is the snowmaking system lit up on the resort, and a bison x (which is a terrain park groomer) shot from the boarder cross course

 here is craig in the beast destroying the moguls

 here is craig again i still cannot believe we are taking all the snow off the course,   and a new game plan  the long jump where they were going to store the snow had the cat fall through the jump two days ago so now we are just pushing the snow off the edge it is crazy how much snow we are moving at this point and hucking it off the edge,  it is probably enough snow to cover the whole mt shasta ski park runs with 4 feet of snow my best guess is around 100,000,000 gallons of snow give or take.

and here is a photo of the sun going down behind the top not yet a sun set but was a  cool shot

WORKING NIGHTS

 here is the mountain lodge in the middle of the night its kind of creepy with no one around

 i dont know what this is for but i got in it and starting dancing not much room

 i walked around the other day just to see the sun and came across a full body carbon fiber x5 bmw  when you got the bread you let others know i guess

 here is a beast winch craig is driving,  it is the mogul course snow getting pushed to the bottom. one to be sold to a resort they will save it for next year, and two to strip the snow off the hill so it doesnt have a chance to land slide,  we are doing this to the whole freestyle area, moguls, pipe and aerials.  this is the first time i have seen a total destruction of  something that has been built

 and here is the carbon foot print to do so   17 gallons an hour in the little cat,  it is reported paul has seen the beast winch run 20 gallons an hour,  it cant be cost effective  to the enviroment to make the snow push it up hill build the event then push it down hill and put it into a  dump truck with an excavator and  take it down the street dump it and keep it cool it all summer with a cooling system and tarps for the long jump,  its funny and sad to see how much impact the winter olympics has on the environment that they are saying they are trying to save it must be very expensive and very environmentaly damaging to this pristine place. but it is what it is. it is great to be a part of but in the back of my mind it makes me wonder and am glad there arent any olympics coming to Mt. shasta any time soon

and here is todd destroying the pipe  i am at the aerials doing the same thing.  

world famous in small circles

 just came across this on quicksilver website  thought it was funny im pulling my pants up nice shot "donkey" took of me 

  i guess i am world famous in small circles

http://www.quiksilver.ru/events/rosakhutor_snowcamp_from_quiksilver/

back to work

 in the morning on the walk to the bus stop  there is this giant snowflake  with snow on it thought it looked cool i am surprised  it isnt lit up

 just more snow waiting for the bus about 4 inches in town

 a nice snowcat sign i think i want to take it home with me

 this is how much snow there was overnight with 4 inches in town. this is almost half way up the mountain

today i bought eggs  i think it is funny you can buy eggs with shit and feathers on them.  


well back to work with no days off i was going to get a day off but some of the crews visa is running out so they have to leave russia for 48 hours.   with the park open now and a race coming up, and frog and fish leaving for two days it seams like a good idea to help the crew out. Besides i just dropped a bunch of money into my truck, (i think the new motor will be great to have) and also paid off my motorcycle today. so by next month  when i get home i should have the title to my Buell.  and a nice running truck.   cool i paid it off early now just to see what the remaining bill for MUDSRFR will be.  hope im not too broke when its done, i cant take the money with me to the grave so i might as well spend it and try to live the dream, cause tomorrow isn't promised and today is christmas.

ready for a day off

 had to pull it out of the pipe since it got destroyed after 9 days of riding and now its riding with me building park

 it kind of reminds me of the grinch tree this one is in the zima cafe  

 the park and view the only day i have seen the sun this week

 this morning waiting for the gondola to head up to work  a little bit errie

 i usually dont stop for the random stuff on the side of runs but this one was funny

the base looking up i have only seen 2 people make it down this far on the snow

one of the signs at the top of gondola A

i have only had 2 days off since i have been here and the word is i might get another soon. its been a challenge to accomplish some sort of life here working all the time and not speaking the language but it is what it is and i would not change it still every day is x mas in russia. i even get up early before the sun to see what is under the tree.

sarah burke

me and my new friend placed this sarah burke flag in the pipe before it was destroyed.  she should of been able to ride here but she fell in park city's halfpipe early this year and died 10 days later.   i had a tribute for her before it opened.   me and my friend  ( who was friends with sarah also)had a quiet moment in the pipe with this flag. it was surreal not sure if it was being in the middle of a pipe with 3 foot of fresh snow  that i had to walk up in with an amazing person i just met  or being there doing something special.   whatever it was the world went quiet for a moment  honestly. it was snowing so hard an inch in ten min. there was music at the bottom snow mobiles driving around (800 2 strokes) and a snow cat that drove passed us. i didnt even notice one thing. i can say in that moment the world went quiet and i was able to share it with someone it has been awhile since i  felt that... i wonder if my friend felt the same way, but some things are better left unsaid.

busy living

 well here i am again been busy trying to keep up with the end of the europa cup freestyle which has been pretty fun i have had a chance to get to know a few russians and canadians.  there were volunteers everywhere and shovel workers like crazy. most of the volunteers were 19-22 and spoke english for the most part and were fairly interested in what i was saying and how i was saying it.  at one point i walked in to get water and a security gaurd asked me to sit down and say hi  as soon as i sat down there were 9 chicks around 20 years old just staring at me , i quickly got my iphone out and started to record what it was like to speak english.  here is karina  one of the volunteers   she once pointed to her ring finger and told me she wanted to come to america.

 here is my cat and paul standing next to his at the bottom of the freestyle area

 this was just yeaterday  it was international womens day in russia.  i was invited to come to the instructors lounge and drink and eat  it is custom to bring a flower to a girl you like... so i got one for all 13... then was told there was 14  wtf?  i had mentioned to  few of the guys i thought natasha was cute and since she wasnt there i gave all the flowers away,  just in time for her to show up and im outta flowers. some how i was given three flowers and a shirt to give to her when she came through the door.   everyone cheered when she walked in and then it went quiet and i was shoved in the middle to give here this stuff and was required to get a kiss on the cheek afterward   and then a moment of silence..   damn ackward i say,   but i was able to drink 7 shots of vodka with them all and went to the bar next to my apartment where i was pulled out on to the dance floor and stuck in the middle of 6 girls  what a shitty life i tell you. i slow danced with a hottie. today i was told she is gay.  i went to leave and the bouncr was puching on tanya a hella cutie and not letting her leave in english i told him i thought he had better stop and if not i was going to let him know how rude it was to be doing that  she was almost in tears, he quickly dialed some number while i talked to the witress who speaks no english either.  aparently she owed 450 at the bar and she was broke.  i paid the 450 and we walked out side  just then a car of cops pulled up and ran inside i thought it was a good que to leave.

 this me hard at work working on removing the tv booth from the world cup    it is in the way of a feature we are building for the quicksilver camp here at rosa khutor notice i have my shoes off and they are all outside shoveling in a snow storm.

 just a cool  shot of a cell phone tower

the farthest up the mt i have been in  a cat   since there is no pipe or park up this high there is no reason to be here usually.