chasing a high

[beaterdit]

Schweeeeeet air, and post. Definately got the hair on the back of my neck up. You're still reaching, that's an awesome thing, you really know you're still alive. To hear all these folks who know what it is to be "haunted by a line" is great. Where I am, people look at me funny for talking like that.

"Why do you do that?"

To know that I can. The edge is a scary place to be, and most people never find it, wouln't even know how to try. If you've got the sack to find yours, you step into a place where few will follow, and fewer will stay for very long. Sure recognition is nice, we've all dreamed about pro-skierdom but the truth is, that life just wouldn't work for everyone even if it was everone's option. It's more about knowing yourself, knowing your judgement is still sound with that small a margin for error, stacking the odds in your favor. That's when the little voice tells you you're still sane, if not by most people's standards. Great thoughts, great achievement.

What's next?

[whatcomridaz]

Super Sicktacular huck Meat, although the bombhole pic isn't showing up anymore. Dunno if it was edited out or what. Anybody got pics of the other mentioned unhit lines?

[DownhillRider]

Well, time for my first post...

That was fucking AMAZING. Seriously left me breathless. Sick writing skills, and even better hucking skills. Thanks for posting that, you crazy bastard. And damn that xdog guys a loser.

[Alias Avenger]

FUCK YOU, you racist, can't-ski-a-lick, stoke killing, asshole.
GO AHEAD AND START WITH ME. If I ever see you in person again, please give me a reason to KICK YOUR MOTHERFUCKING ASS. I will enjoy watching you whimper in pain while I confirm your worst fears about the violent tendencies of people who don't look like you.

Xdog = blurred

I know because once he forgot to logout and he posted as Xdog by mistake.
He deleted that post, but others here on TGR must have seen that...

[BobMc]

Xdog = blurred

I know because once he forgot to logout and he posted as Xdog by mistake.
He deleted that post, but others here on TGR must have seen that...

Another moron joins the fray.

BobMc

[skifishbum]

Well Written
Well Hucked

[Blurred]

Xdog = blurred

I know because once he forgot to logout and he posted as Xdog by mistake.
He deleted that post, but others here on TGR must have seen that...

That's funny. Tracy has met and skied with the guy before.

Go fuck yourself douchebag. Nice try.

[Huckwheat]

Wow, many opinions have been given, but this might be my favorite post ever.

So many points hit home with me........no profound response....just thanks for posting this J. (glad to see you are liking Utah ).




---and Xdog is trash....after two years here, he is the first on my banned list (I dont come here to meet people like that).

[baseWeldr]

first thread I checked after being away for the weekend
knew it'd still be on the first page
nice one MD, coulda read a book on the way down
wellfuckingdone m'man, and great intro to which I as a dad can relate
tho my revenvelope aint that large...that's what she said yukyuk
good words too, hook, speakin the reality of the virtual world, cheers
once again, way to leap off the mental chasm and come out alright

[Brocktoon]

MD9-

Sick, sick thread. I've often watched guys who go huge like that, in skiing or elsewhere, and thought "that dude is just wired differently."

After reading your well-written, introspective account of your thought process, I've realized that perhaps they're not different. That's the same thing I go through when I attempt my weak little shit.

Congratulations on your personal triumph.

[meatdrink9]

hook, nice post. I've been on both sides of that coin myself. Right now is the closest I've ever lived to a resort (25 minutes to basin). So far I'm loving life.

shmerham, I'm glad you were able to come up to 'basin. It's always a double edged sword with that place. You want to invite people up on pow days, but then they can never see or access the crazy stuff on those days. Don't get me wrong, lapping pow doesn't suck, but the clear days a week after the storm can be even better.

foxy, great post as well. There are no other big longterm "nexts" for me. The day the man was flown out by heli was the first time I'd ever thought about this hit. I'm sure there will be others like this in the future, but I haven't planned that far ahead. This only came about due to the conditions presenting the option. I'm sure that's how the next airs like this will be as well. How often do you get to look 6 feet into the snowpack and then have it recovered with 6 feet of pow the next day? It was just too good to pass up.

whatcom, the bombhole pic is the same as the launch pic.

Everybody, thanks for all the kind words. It's really cool to be able to share these thoughts and this type of day with people that can understand and may even feel similar. A ton of other really cool thoughts have been shared by others and added as well. Grizzle threw out some nice thoughts at dinner the other night too.

2 days after the huck and the only real downside was that I felt guilty yesterday. It was a pretty selfish move. I've justified it as many ways as I could, but it was still selfish. The only real injury is that my penis is completely destroyed from following frozen's advice. I should've trained harder for that.

I showed my wife the full sequence a few minutes ago and she just said: "Pretty cool.", but in a "that's nice" sort of way. I guess at this point I'd have to show her naked pictures of myself tackling a nun to get a shocked response out of her. So I'm saving those pics for her birthday.

[tomw_n]

Awesome stoke, printed it out and gave the whole lot to some hucksters who aren't on this board as it's so good. Great pics GT40, look forward to seeing them on a cover next month

[frozenwater]

Xdog has been banned - sorry I took so long, the snow at the 'ghee today was really quite deep and it kept me a bit preocupied.

[Cirquerider]

Enjoyed MD9 sharing that from the thought through the planning and finally execution. Great thread from a guy I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of in the near future. Just awesome to be able to do that.

[ski_faster]

WOW I think MD9 needs my Avatar.

[Particle]

Nice work J! Glad to see you're taking full advantage of the homecoming...

Seems that threads about acceptable risks pop up here every few months, and it's a worthy topic. I have to admit I have been struggling a bit with the whole skiing thing this year. Don't get me wrong, I still absolutely love it and it will probably always be a priority for me. But I'm pretty sure I have the same problem as you MD: I just love to scare the piss outta myself. In fact I am quite sure that it is an addiction. I used to think my tendencies towards risk were just limited to skiing, but no. This past summer I really stepped up my game on the MTB and found myself riding skinnies, dirt jumping like mad, and dropping 12 foot cliffs on a freaking bicycle! WTF?!? (in fact I still haven't gone as big on SKIS this year as I did on a bike this summer)

Conversely my skiing has remained pretty static for the past couple years...mostly since I jacked myself almost 3 years ago now (most know but for all the JONGs - shattered pelvis/broken femur/ruptured bladder - see my avatar)). So while I LOVE a good Utah powder day, and I am satisfied that I am still a pretty damn good skier, I don't really push my personal limits very much on snow anymore. And I don't feel that the risks to my family are worth my getting badly hurt (or worse) again.

But that leaves me conflicted - stoked to be skiing but missing that crazy electric rush after doing something stupid and sticking it clean. The things I do on skis that used to give me that 'fix' no longer do because my skills are past that level (altho I'm quite sure Boss Hog would scare the crap outta me no problem). And then I find myself wanting it to be MTB season so I can get that rush again...feel the progression and not let myself get stale. Maybe the cure is the line off Mt. Ogden summit that pstash and I tried to ski but traversed around instead last year...

[whatcomridaz]

SHITE, I just found the bombhole, I was looking for a bit of a steeper landing I guess, I just assumed that maybe you were clearing that traverse. Whats the angle on that landing 10-15 degrees? Any compression? I've launched 60's onto not so deep (2-3') 45+ steeps and almost pushed my knees through my eye sockets more than once. Anyways, BADASS.

Particle, I hear ya on the MTBing. I'll tell you what dropping 20' on a MTB is 10x as ballsy as dropping 20' on skis. There is so little room for error, even when you've got 8x9 on you bike and there's no soft landing....EVER. MTBing has quickly become my second favorite sport and now I'm fortunate enough to live somewhere I can do both in a day everyday if I choose. But prepare yourself for when the jacking comes, it will be bad if not horrendous. Only things on your side then are body armor and speed.

[Ireallyliketoski2]

Very well written J, but at some point you're going to have to look up at that air that looks too good to pass up, and pass it up. More importantly, you'll need to find a way to make peace with yourself that passing it up was the right thing to do. It's a difficult transition, I know that there are things that I want to do, that I probably could do, that I won't even attempt because the risk is too big now. There are a thousand ways to enjoy life without risking life itself. But that's just me, maybe I don't belong on this board anymore, I'll go register over at epicski.

[Below Zero]

This thread is great (minus the previous cuntage). Nice work J. RESPECT!

[gramboh]

Wow, awesome thread, the huck itself, MD9's writing about the whole experience, GT's perspective, the pictures, the risk discussion afterwards. One of the best I've seen on this board.

I'd add that xdog's posts should be deleted, and maybe any referring/replying to them including this, so that the post is preserved for others to read in the future.

[powder11]

just took the time to read through and HOLY SHIT DUDE! thats some good stuff. you dont even need the pics. you just summed up the essence of why people ski. whether its hucking something big or whatever your own personal challenge may be; realizing what your capable of is a trip. mad props to GT. supporting your son and helping him through it while suppressing your own fear takes just as much courage as the huck itself.

[Huckwheat]

I second deleting X-dogs posts.....I have actually forwarded this post to quite a few non-maggots, and would hate for them to read that shit.

[Huckwheat]

So, for some reason this post has been haunting me. These thoughts are one’s that have played in my head a lot in the last year. Obviously each of us have our definition of “going big” (few at MD9s level), but it is all relative. Why go big? Is it worth it? What makes someone do it?

I blew my knee last Dec (dropping a cliff) and was left with the choice to ski (with no ACL – so super mellow), or get surgery and no skiing. I skied, and I learned that even without going big, I love everything about skiing. So, last year was a big lesson for me.

That said, when I get the chance this year, and conditions are right, am I going to let logic step in: “it is a great season, this isn’t worth missing another whole year?” To be honest, I doubt it….but cannot truly say where “the line” will be drawn.

Does anyone else feel the “Skier” in them is a different person from the “mild mannered XXX”? When I am on skis and feel inspired, I am totally immersed in that moment, and my logic mind is nowhere to be found. If I am decided on something, there is no doubt, no reason, no question……That feeling rules! Then there is the logical mind, after the ski day, trying to understand it? I sometimes look at a huck photo, and frankly cannot understand where that moment came from.

I actually don’t like showing my ski picts to some people (like coworkers)…it is just too strange. These are people that don’t begin to understand….and trying to explain a road gap is futile (you end up just feeling like they think you are a freak). To understand this you either need some similar boundary pushing experience for your mind to compare it to, or have a really open mind towards the athlete (somehow my parents seem to trust what I do, and they actually try to understand why I would jump stuff ). Those that have never looked into those depths, or even tried to, just write it off as crazy/stupid/death wish/whatever.

Thanks again MD for sharing….I actually think your write up on this situation should really accompany the pictures when sent to a magazine. This paints a really positive light on the challenge of big airs (better say then Jamie Pierre calling people pussies ).

[Particle]

Particle, I hear ya on the MTBing. I'll tell you what dropping 20' on a MTB is 10x as ballsy as dropping 20' on skis. There is so little room for error, even when you've got 8x9 on you bike and there's no soft landing....EVER. MTBing has quickly become my second favorite sport and now I'm fortunate enough to live somewhere I can do both in a day everyday if I choose. But prepare yourself for when the jacking comes, it will be bad if not horrendous. Only things on your side then are body armor and speed.

I know...MTB injuries are scary. I konked myself pretty hard this summer but fortunately nothing lasting. Do you live in Utah?

[snow_slider]

"I huck, therefore I AM."