Small Towns Big Cities

From their little curved roadways to their little round signs they boast so much character. The popularity of big cities keeps these gems hidden tucked away in the Mountains of BC. Its not just the aesthetic look of these tiny towns but a feel amongst the people who live and create the possibility for these places to exist. 

A cup of coffee with breakfast in the diner goes well while we all look out into the cold day. Flanel jackets line the coat rack and the heads turn when we get up to pay the bill. They must be wondering what we are doing here. All the boredom that comes with a small town builds a curious and wild imagination in the minds of the small town folk. Just passing through or maybe some new comers who also like the touch of our small community.  

mandel-bro-t

“If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” 

Perspective is universal, and every human has the ability to control from the moment they are born.  I was asked a question this summer that got me thinking about what makes a person an individual. My response was that there are no individuals and that we are all the same.  The idea came from the mandelbrot set.   

Jerry Fuckin Christ

Jerry Christ has become somewhat of an alter ego for me on this journey.  He drifts in and out of consciousness when I breach the point of inebriation.  He loves to head bang dance and keeps people at a distance when partying, beware people if you get close his actions are contagious and you might get hurt. Some eerie shit has happened since Jerry got on the bus, he put a hole in my hand and it looks like somebody tried to crucify me but i got away.  Jerry pretended to be his brother up on the cross today and the sun shone through the window and beamed across my body.  If i were at all superstitious i would be pretty scared right now.  

It all came about when i was thinking what to be for Halloween. Because i have long hair and some facial hair me and my friends thought Jesus fit the position but when i thought about it a bit more in the car ride back from Squamish i figured i would create my own character: Jerry Christ.  Jerry was the not talked about brother of the savior and lived in the giant shadow of Jesus. He often could be found drinking at the local bar yelling at random people and just not giving a fuck because nobody gave a shit about his minor success as a pawn shop salesman. 

    I thought the idea was super funny and original until my gal pal sent me a link to Robin Williams stand up act where he names and describes Jerry in one of his bits! So Jerry much like Jesus lives on in our lives trying to make his name known throughout time not to save anyone but to make us have wild and outrageous times. In the end of it all think of Jerry Christ when you order another drink you know you don't need, Smoke something you know will make you laugh, and for god sake when you head bang your way to the dance floor because Jerry's got your back.

RV Life

So this is tour life in an RV with the most savage group of party goers i know, and to say its easy going would be a complete understatement.  Head banging with head soaked in beer, glass smashing dance parties and the best stories of debauchery i ever expected.  Outdoor Graduation has opened up a can of whoopass across the provinces of BC and Alberta. another update is on its way with more awesome pictures. Four stitches in my hand  healing up pretty well.  jeeeeeeeyyaaaaaaaaaa

Cover Shot Snowstyle Japan

Well when i went over to Mark's house the other day to see a big surprise... i had in mind the SBC story we did about this ghost town that is running in the current Snowboard Canada but nope its the Cover of Snowstyle Magazine Japan! Marks and my first Cover Photo how exciting!

David Brocklebank Interview

I felt like doing an interview to gain some experience as a writer and so i chose to do one on Videblographer(new word)David Brocklebank. He is simply an outrageous human being.

Island lake Lodge photo shootout

The Island Lake Lodge photo shootout goes down every year gathering 9 photographers and 27 riders from all over the wild west. Each Photographer was allowed a team of 2 male riders and 1 female, our team was made up of Martin Gallant, Helen Schetini, myself (Justin VanDerPoelen) and Mark Gribbon as our Photographer. Driving for 12 hours ain’t easy when you’re using all 4 seats in an extended cab pickup. With Mark Driving the distance to Fernie we took turns letting our asses fall asleep on the back bench swapping front seat every other stop. A stop at Surplus Herbies gave us a reason to switch and motive to buy some crazy shit. Martin picked out a boomerang, which led to many appeals to stop and try it out in some wide open spaces. We made a stop in Revelstoke at the Great White North for a nice big plate of food before the last long haul to our destination. In between the many naps along the way we were blessed with the life stories of Mr. Gallant. Its not often you get an opportunity to be on a trip with a legend who has been a pro since you were born and still kills it. Martin has so many stories and has led an intriguing life so the 12 hr drive just flew by listening to tale after tale. When we rolled into Fernie it was pouring rain and we had missed the meeting that would have filled us in on the next day. That being said we ordered a few shots and sat at the bar praying it was snowing at the top. We awoke to a light dusting on the ground and were prepared for the worst from the conditions we drove in on.
Day one got off to a slow start, we met all the guides got familiar with all our avy gear and did a whole run down on how everything would be working for the days to come. We took some soul turns then got to work shooting anything we saw as we crept down the mountain with our eyes peeled for unique features. Slashes, bonks, cliffs, and road gaps were all present in our shots for the day. By the time we had top go home we were so tired I fell asleep sitting upright, Helen was out cold against the window, and Mark worried about getting his photos ready for submission. Martin was stirring up some shit by saying skiing was easier than snowboarding and of course to a skier. We hustled out of the cat before Martin got punched and got ready for the night ahead of us.
Every Night was spent at a different bar with awards for the day for different categories Composition, Athletic performance, Scenic, and Action. Monday night the bar was Bulldogs, this really homey place was filled with classic antique memorabilia so when I wasn’t in conversation I was looking around at all the rad pieces of history. Martin saw that I was looking at the old Lamar Ranquet pro model and fed me a story about riding “back in those days”. Drinks were had, new friends were made and in martins case amends were made with the skiers. We called it a night early so we could have a better chance at winning some of those awards on day two.
Tuesday we were blessed with another 10-15 cm and got to switch it up onto another cat boarding operation called Powder Cowboy. No sun made us stick within the trees and play mini golf, we found some really amazing features and got a few great shots. Martin went to slash a wind lip beside a tree and came off right into the tree all of us were laughing pretty hard when he said what he hurt. I mean he hit the tree so hard with his lower back and body, so when he said it was his groin we all started cracking up. Helen was next up building a jump through some trees and all of us were watching wondering what was going on because the jump was crooked and pointing in the other direction but none of us said anything in fear of coming off like know it alls so we watched and waited for her to drop. When she called drop and the shot was taken Helen plowed through the trees beside where mark had setup for the shot and once again we broke out laughing so hard because the photo made no sense at all. Helen came over and we explained to her what we thought she was hitting and asked her nicely to do it again. That night again we took to the bar and arrived late again missing them announce that we won two categories, pretty typical I would say for the west coast but everyone else didn’t seem to have any problem being on time. –
“when I was younger I was shy just like you guys, then I moved to BC and tryed to start speaking English and everyone thinks I am hilarious!” Martin pointing out that Helen and I don’t talk as much as him, followed by the story about why that is(in a very French accent).Wednesday was the day that made the trip for us. Everyone burst out of the cat looking for features to shoot because the sun was out and the clouds were moving in, it looked as though we would only have 15 minutes until once again we were in the fog. The moose was loose, martin got to break out his Canadian moose hat and first thing he did was a textbook method off this natural lip, Helen busted one of many amazing slashes and I took martins line with a stalefish. While the other crews sought after the higher alpine we stayed tucked away in the trees trying to get some photos that were not whiteout. The clouds rushed in and we soon found ourselves in a snow squall. We waited about 20 minutes before the snow let up leaving us with probably 3 more cm of fresh and Helen dropped a man size cliff logging another banger shot. We milked the spot we were in and hustled down to the cat which our guide commandeered and we had it all to ourselves. Now this cat ride up was epic we had Pink Floyd playing, we were all stretched out enjoying a sandwich, and the next couple tracks were just as good as the first. When we reached the top, we ditched the camera gear and just shredded untouched rolling faces and bonking and popping off anything that was in our path. Best lines of the trip. This took my mind off the shots and was genuinely all about cat boarding, nothing attached. Even though we won the overall competition that night, partied and carried on I think those lines and songs will be in our minds when it comes time to remember the high points of the trip.
After riding we went to the party and awaited the results. Gribbon was announced the winner and delivered his tear jerking acceptance speech we got our drink on and got to party with all the staff from Island Lake Lodge. Martins reputation followed him home last night and gave us something to talk about in the morning as well as marks hike in the woods to some girls hippie pad.
It’s the end of the trip and we are all packing up getting ready to leave this beautiful place. I look around at everyone’s face and Mark, Helen, and Martin all have a pent up smile growing on their faces because they all feel, I am sure the same way about the last 4 days spent together. When I see this I can’t help but feel proud to have been a part of this trip, we knew it was a competition but I never felt the pressure of it. We worked hard for the shots so we could give our souls some turns in the historic terrain of Island Lake Lodge resort.

Nanaimo Bars

Looking back on our trip to Nanaimo i can't help but think back to a time when i lived in a city where it snows hard during the winter, the east coast cities are

 constantly getting dumped

 on and have more than enough snow to stomp through any urban stunt.  Since i moved out west to whistler, BC in 04 I have missed that aspect of winter where snowmobiles wander throughout the streets th

at no car could manage, people would stay home by the fire all day in fear of the treacherous conditions that haunt the roads, and 

police doing real police work, not worried about the petty crimes of urban snowboarding.  

This winter hasn't brought the best conditions for traditional riding in 

the alpine of the mountains but when a system got blown in from the south and blasted vancouver island with 3 ft of snow we the Voleurz crew consisting of Shayne Zwickle, Barry

 Hartman, Scott Sych and Myself  booked off our day to days and got straight to work.  Nanaimo is a city that is usually too mild for snow which means the spots are fairly untouched, thus making our smiles after landing tricks that much bigger.  Leaving with such short notice, all the photographers we knew had other engagements to tend to so we were mainly on a mission without photos, that is until Matt Mcloud stumbled upon one of our sessions. Not knowing his setup we weren't expecting much but when he showed up with a few remote flashes and a pocket wizard  we all looked at each other with joyous confused looks like "what are the f*in chances!" we went on through the trip with ease 

going from spot to spot no hassle everybody seemed to welcome the idea of street shredding,aside from the universities(an obvious heat score), even a Daily News Reporter came to take some photos and write a story.  Things all meshed so well. We hit so many spots in those 2.5 days and logged some amazing footage, it only seemed properly ironic to end the trip with a scene of us enjoying the taste of the infamous nanaimo bars. 

Summer Steed

    When I was 2 and a half I started riding my first two wheeler. I had no idea this way of getting around would follow me around for the rest of my life. Now at 23 I find myself biking around whistler thinking about the days when I would just go biking for the thrill of it.  Driving just could never be the same for me, unless I raced my truck around being completely obnoxious, but something about that just doesn't seem like it would feel right.  I guess the bike will just have to do.  

Reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, opens my eyes to perhaps why I enjoy this activity so much. Although the bike doesn't have gears or a motor I feel as though thats what I contribute to the machine making the two pieces one sweet ride.  My self provides the gears and motor while the bike puts forth the essentials of a propelling machine.  Like a motorcycle I am outside and can see and feel the outdoors brushing against my body as I rip on down the valley trail. The trees surround the trail and give the feel of being safe and sheltered while at night they give off a fear of the dark and what lurks within the brush.  My intuitions of feeling safe or the fear of the unknown are the underlying motivators that make the bike go faster or slower.  

On my days off I will sometimes just go and see what happens. No plans in mind just to go and think. With my music playing the surrounding environment turns into a course full of turns, banks, islands, and people to talk to.  At night it gets even better because there's no cars, or people it feels like cruising around a ghost town.  Whenever I get into a mood where I feel like just being alone thats where you will most likely find me with my headphones in whipping through the village on my way to nowhere in particular. If there was a bicycling shrink thats the only one I would talk to.  He would have to wear a suit and carry a briefcase dangling from his handle bars that way if he got to deep into my thoughts I could just laugh at how ridiculously uncomfortable he looks. 

I don't know why I felt like writing this down but I just wanted to put it down that biking is more than a mode of transportation.  Maybe more of a mode of thought and a way of interacting with your inner self.

rant on Snowboarding, lifestyle vs sport.

Well it's summer now and the times they are a changing.  The pretty girls come out of hibernation in their summer attire, Skateboards are freshly gripped and the short season of shredding on the glacier begins.  I haven't ridden in a while and last time I did it felt like something completely new. My legs rubbery from the lack of exercise, my core weak from working as a lazy security guard and my lungs not compatible with the thin air up high. The word fun tends to get overused up on the glacier and quite frankly its getting played out. Our lingo we use to snowboard is ridiculous as it is, I think a new word is due.  What would happen if we all spoke proper english? i think the word fun would still be abundantly in use but what else would kids conger up? pondering...... "Gee whiz Phil that front blunt bagel was the cats meow!" Tom replies- "thanks Mike your trickery is pretty dapper too."..... what a weird thought.  

Every edit I see all I keep hearing are the words "uhhh yeah uhh its really fun,  everyone is out there having a good time and uhhhh its you know all about the fun!" wow thanks Dude you really explained to the viewer what was going on that day. I know its hard to expla

in snowboarding when put on the spot because its not like we save lives its recreation and enterainment. I think because it has altered so much in the years it has been around that we are in a transitionary period where kids are either                         

brought up to enjoy the lifestyle of snowboarding or snowboarding as a sport and just don't know how to say why they are doing it.   

For me I grew up in a small town just outside of Ottawa and I loved winter and the snow.  From the moment I saw local kids Standing on these Canadian tire, kick in binding decks, I knew I wanted one. It had nothing to do with tricks yet it was just so new to me.  As soon as I learned on a friends snowboard in my Sorels I saved every penny and bought a new complete setup when the christmas money I asked for rolled in.  I loved the

 small mountain atmosphere, not too many people, everyone is there for the same reason. The mountain life is like living at the best cottage, whenever you're not working you can step outside and find something to do, if its biking, swimming, skateboarding, grass pulling, camping whatever the possibilities are endless.  The city life always disgusted me, poverty everywhere people climbing over each other like a chickens in an overpopulated coop trying to get their feed, it just isn't for me. growing up outside of all that i tend to sit on the pessimistic side of perceiving city life

 but thats just how I see it.  

Based on my perception of life out here, applied to popular belief, it's no wonder why Snowboarding is becoming so mainstream and popular. This popularity means more and more kids are starting to do it, with city shredding emerging where kids don't have to pay for lift tickets this gets a new demographic into the activity bringing on a different sort of talented riders to the scene. apply that to every city that gets hit with winter and you have a new section of riders to market to. Add that on to the already growing masses and you have got a market worthy of major corporate endorsements which means a different take on it all- the Sport.

 Snowboarding is addictive and can take over ones life just like heroin, so parents be aware your kids may leave home at a young age because of this addiction. Like any addiction the drug leads the addict to the most abundant source of the drug and these places for the snowboarder are mountain towns. These mountain towns(whistler, tremblant, sauveur, mammoth, vale, park city) are breeding grounds for the progression of snowboarding. This leads into the sport of it all.  The more kids than start snowboarding the more competition there is for talent to

 get noticed.  And the more addictions are seen as healthy the more the drug expands into a pharmaceutical for the masses to ingest. Picture snowboarding as crack in a bag then popularizes and gets pressed into advil.  It was a bad influence back then but now that everyone is doing it ok,  young Timmy should do it too, go get em son!

Like I dread the city life, I am not one to embrace my snowboard as a weapon of sport.  I quit playing sports because of the jock mentality. My school was full of nut touching, typical collar popping, tip frosting, jagaloons.  Now living in whistler it remains like high school just a bit different in looks. The popular thing to do is snowboard, and the image might not be 

the same as a hockey player but it sure as hell is an image, long hair sagging pants incase you need to take an emergency shit, the need to say "what" even if you heard what the other person said, just so you keep up the image of being too cool to know what's going on around you.  Not all are like this but it seem

s like these mountain towns are chalk full of jocks and lifers whether it's good or bad I don't give a shit its not worth the time to analyze that right now. 

Bazel

>Hello, computer thanks for letting me type away about my days whenever I feel.  I’m not sure what you think of my photos, music selection, and my general thoughts or me but damn you’ve overheard it all.  Come to think of it you probably know me best.  If only you could generate some advice and wisdom, or can you?  Perhaps one day you will just give a big cough of dust and start telling me off bitching about how I don’t clean you often enough ahhh if only one day… you can do everything else for me but talking back just ain’t one of them ey? I suppose that’s why we make friends and keep em, my friends are great but I’m not as close as I was with my Ottawa buds they were and always will be like family to me.  Never an instant went by when we were faking each other out and if one of us did that shit would get called on…no bullshit you know? That could be us you know all you have to do is cough! I never gave you a name computer; maybe I should that way this story might have some character. Here we go I’m going to set it “Bazel” yeah Bazel the Mac that’s got a great ring to it. 

So Bazel I really started talking about our relationship and how it has grown over the years. I bought you off the apple site back in Feb. 06 refurbished. What was wrong with your last relationship with a human? Maybe you two just didn’t match, that can happen you know the person may have had a technological break down.  All I can picture is some poor sap bringing you back to the apple store in tears, snot pouring out of their nose talking about how they’re not ready for this kind of relationship. They would scream “it’s not you its me! I can’t take this, the technology is moving to fast for me!” and exit my daydream running out of the store.  I wonder the oddest thoughts sometimes, you don’t always pick up on them but when I get the chance I write them down in yah hoping for some response.  Since you don’t budge on that front I usually get a response from myself further down the road when I read what was typed and either smile with pride or blush wondering what the fuck I was thinking or who the hell wrote that because it sure isn’t me in the present! I like those moments. Embarrassment makes you really feel something very distinct; its not like having your heart broken, shredding a fresh line (snowboarding), or getting punched in the face. If I had to compare it to anything it would have to be close to the feeling of seclusion and being completely alone, it only makes sense considering you’re alone in that moment and feeling.  I forget who said it but I like the positive outlook upon embarrassing moments they said “its healthy to embarrass yourself at least once a day.”.  My perception on that thought is that He/She must be referring to the lives that are lived through the eyes that see it as one fun experience and not as a numeric value, like it keeps your head on your body and a smile on your face.  I like staying focused on the fun, however the more numbers that follow me in accordance to years seem to make it harder to live that way.  The laws of attraction would suggest that I am bringing these feelings upon myself through little subconscious thoughts.  Sorry for ranting there Baz but I just tend to go off and forget to end those sentences sometimes. I type how I talk and my speech is definitely subpar to the graduates of university but that’s fine I can handle it.  Until next time thanks for listening Bazel you’re my favorite appliance.

my favorite rant

have this idea in my mind lately, kind of an outlook on life or a philosophical approach to understanding my personal growth within this world we all share, but every time i go to start writing about it i digress further from my original point. When i picked up this book (Re-use it center Thanks Jess.) "Tropic of Capricorn" by Henry Miller, he describes in such detail this idea i have had in my head and i just love his detail and the way he describes it.

" I have gained nothing by the enlargement of my world; on the contrary, I have lost. I want to become more and more childish and pass beyond childhood in the opposite direction. I want to go exactly contrary to the normal line of development, pass into a superinfantile realm of being which will be absolutely crazy and chaotic but not crazy and chaotic as the world about me. i have been an adult and a father and a responsible member of society. i have earned my daily bread. I have adapted myself to a world which never was mine. I want to break through this enlarged world and stand again on the frontier of an unknown world which will throw this pale, unilateral world into shadow. I want to pass beyond the responsibility of fatherhood to the irresponsibility of the anarchic man who cannot be coerced nor wheedled nor cajoled nor bribed nor traduced.i want to take as my guide Oberon the nightrider who, under the spread of his black wings, eliminates both the beauty and horror of the past; I want to flee toward a perpetual dawn with swiftness and relentlessness that leaves no room for remorse, regret, or repentance. I want to outstrip the inventive man who is a curse to the earth in order to stand once again before an impassible deep which not even the strongest wings will enable me to traverse. Even if I must become a wild and natural park inhabited only by idle dreamers i must not stop to rest here in the ordered fatuity of responsible, adult life. I must do this in remembrance of a life beyond all comparison with the life which was promised me, in remembrance of the life of a child who was strangled and stifled by the mutual consent of those who had surrendered. Everything which the fathers and the mothers created I disown. I am going back to a world even smaller than the old Hellenic world going back to the world which i can always touch with outstretched arms, the world of what I know and see and recognize from moment to moment. Any other world is meaningless to me, and alien and hostile. In retraversing the first bright world which i knew as a child i wish not to rest there but to muscle back to a still brighter world from which I must have escaped. What this world is like i do not know, nor am i even sure that I will find it, but it is my world and nothing else intrigues me."

Henry Miller

The morning that went down in my own personal history.

As i lay in bed wondering if i should get up or not, i can't seem to remember exactly what i was dreaming about. I had written a series of familiar messages on a chalkboard but couldn't seem to understand what the last point was about, i do recall it having something to do with the future and god. Could this be a message from higher up? or a point about my own timely questioning of higher powers in the sub conscious. If i do remember the exact writing im sure i might get a faint clue as to what is going on up there in my mind. It was 4 15 am when i decided to wake up and get my day on the go, much too early for my normal 3 pm daily waking routine, But today was the day i would get down to the "grindstone" i would start working two jobs and one of which would be construction a hard days labor and the other my nightly patrols as a security guard. "Difficult tasks always appear easier before doing them" this would be my whole state of mind while constructing a whole hearty breakfast before heading out to start my 3 months of grueling debt paying work, but its raining outside so ill put it off for another day. I thought about making coffee but without sugar it just isn't my cup of tea, so i was off to the husky for a nice early morning hot beverage, pop the top on the ipod and let the legs do the walking. As soon as the music started my brain started creating scenarios as it always does using what i wanted to do with my day, and playing it out with what i am doing with my day, so first scenario sounded a little something like this; I get to husky and while i am filling my coffee i turn to one of the workers who comes in and says "hey what are you doing up this early?! working?" i explain i was going to search for a laboring job on a site and he responds... (they always seem to respond with some sort of time race) "Ok well we need a laborer on our site it pays 20/hr only catch is you have to run to your house get your shit and get back here in 10 minutes!". And thats the scenario i stop it there so it leaves me time to ponder whether i could make it back home gather my things and be back at the husky in time for the job, or maybe he was just messing with me maybe he was just getting his early morning kicks to see if i would run outta there and up the road in a frantic motion. well thats what i was thinking at the moment i was putting some hazelnut flavored creamers into my coffee, and you know what i did after i stirred that shit up?! i payed for it. 2.18$. i walked out of husky pressed play and continued my rainy walk back home. Whistler has seen so much sunshine these past couple months so i am taking full advantage of this rainy day by doing nothing. music playing, i wondered what i might watch today because guaranteed rainy day= some sort of media viewing, youtube always sucks me in for hours at a time... i think i will finish that atlantis documentary, weird thing about that is it ties in with all the freemasonry and brotherhoods of the higher powers that exist within the world which makes everything just seem endless. i have watched so many documentaries on freemasons, conspiracy theories in the past year that now on my walk i start to ponder about what i am suppose to do with any of this suppose of knowledge. I can accept that certain things exist and there are many levels to our complex world but can't seem to materialize anything with these speculations. That idea in hand i decided to come inside drink my coffee and document my own story of life day to day...today! so now i know what i was doing and thinking the morning of monday july 29 2008.