Right meow I’m sittin in the back seat of a red crv driving towards Balfour to catch the ferry. I’m surrounded my tree covered mountains. I’m in awe as they capture the clouds between them, and dictate their flow. Its so good to be back in the Kutenais. This place is majik. It is full of such wonderous energy.
I’m basking in the glow of these mountains, the energy of the lake, and the vibes of this community. Oh how I miss this place.
Waking up beside a radiant red dredi goddess, looking out over the place I once called home, and taking the world’s longest free ferry to the east shore to visit the yasodhara ashram and visit the majikal creatures in riondale. *sigh* why am I typing right now when there is so much ridiculous beauty outside this car.
I love this place.
Randnorm moment in the meow…3:32pm mountain time.
Driving the winding roads down the shores of lake kutenai, hugging the exposed rock that towers above us. It feels like a video game. Hooray for four wheel drive.
The Kutenais are a healing retreat for the soul, and the East Shore is its spa.
We just passed the Purple Door, Home of Wizards. I’ve still never been in there. I would love to see what kind of store a wizard shops in…and any place with dragons only parking has to be full of majik!
I’m still basking in the glow of a rejuvenated soul. That’s what this place does for all those who make the journey to this sacred place. We just left the Yasodhhara Ashram where I shred with Keith and Cassandra the awesome power of their own vibrations in the Temple of Divine Light. The Cloud Dragons circled the Temple consuming the mountains on the shore. They leave their mark on the green faces.
And as we journey back to the shadows of the rocky mountains, I can’t help but ask myself why I don’t come back here to the kutenais to live. This place is paradise. What an incredible weekend I’ve had. I have so much to be thankful for, and am blessed to have so many conscious, realized, and activated beings in my life. This laptop also kicks ass, and is giving me the opportunity to record right meow as we chase the sun from the kutenais back to the cspot.
hmmm...that's a pretty good reason to be in the cspot. working for the source fukkin roolz.
The cloud dragons have retreated to their lairs, but not before scorching the earth with fire.
I knew that I needed to make it back to Nelson to ride Whitewater before the season was through, but I didn’t know how it would happen. I just knew that it would. It took two two radiant snow addicted beings that I met I met at Sheraka’s going away party to reshape the universe to make this trip to the kutenais a reality. Keith and Cassandra have been my partners in crime during this return to the kutenais jaunt.
Keith picked me up from work on Friday and we made a quick stop at SalesLab where the product rep for Ride snowboards runs his ting. I was stoked to be picking up next year’s Ride Concept TMS 164 to demo. I have been wanting to demo this board since the beginning of the season!
The Concept TMS is the replacement for the Ride Timeless, a staple in the Ride product line. I’ve always been a huge fan of the Ride Timeless, and have got my brother, my friend bobby, and my friend nick all riding (and loving) their Timeless. I have never ridden a board that responds like the Timeless, but it serves only one purpose…go Mach 10 and make solid turns. It’s a mega stiff board, which is the reason why I never bought one when I fathered my Option Booter. I wanted a more all mountain freestyle board with a bit more flex in it so I could ride everything from the park to the piste.
Perhaps Ride heard my plea, cause the Concept TMS is a more all mountain friendly Timeless. Hmm…I’m getting kinda sick typing in the car while its moving. I think I’m gonna take little break.
Randnorm snippet from right now…hwy3, just outside of fernie. 9:29pm
WE JUST HIT AN ELK!!! Holy fuck! Driving conditions are less than favourable. Its snowing like crazy, visibility is shit, and there was a herd of elk crossing the street!!! Cassandra’s screams were piercing. Keith’s driving was superb. Thank god we did not hit it dead on, and only clipped the elk. Holy fuck these creatures are huge! They could have done some serious damage to our car and us. Whoah, there is such an intense energy here in this little Honda CRV right meow. Dude, we just hit a fukkin elk, and lived to tell the tale! Praises to the most high for protecting us.
This CRV sure is tough. That’s what happens when Tweety is your co-pilot. Keith’s mom is a Tweety addict. She kindly lent us her ride for this trip. Blessings to you dear goddess for providing us with a vehicle for this trip.
I’m not sure were to continue this story, I’m a bit shaken up. Its not every day that you hit an elk! Only two more hours and we’ll be back in the c-spot. What an adventure this weekend has been.
We were late picking up Cassandra at her place on Friday afternoon. She wasn’t very impressed that we made her wait almost an hour. But she didn’t stay upset for long as we made a quick stop in the Rocky Mountains to enjoy their majesty before the sun set.
Keith just said “Let’s try to avoid elk this time, okay?” I’m down with that.
The Rockies rool! I keep on singing their praises, because they are deserving of them. I have so many pikchaz on my HD of the Rockies, and they never cease to amaze me.
We stopped in Invermere to pick up some boozeahol as the sun was setting in the distance behind the peaks of the Purcell Mountain range.
keith had to ring the bell. c'mon, it screamed "RING ME YOU HEATHENS!!!"
We arrived at the home of the MOU Kollektiv in Riondale just after midnight. Scotty, Ali, and . Keith#2 were full on geekin it out. Three Titanium Powerbooks accented the crystal altar that is the coffee table in the middle of their living. It felt good to back on the shore…to be back in a place so full of majik that it overwhelms you. It felt good to have also have internet...finally!!! that was the only reason why i never moved out to the shore when i lived in nelson. i could not survive without broadband internet.
My friend Tarron moved into the house just across from the MOU kollektiv, and he had set up satellite internet as soon as possible. I made sure to grab him and return to the MOU home so that we too could join in on the geek fest…and hold it down for the PC massif! 5 guys, 5 laptops, one satellite connection. Why bother talking to the person next to you when you can send them an instant message. I’m such a nerd, and it feels good to be surrounded by other nerds. GEEK MASSIF!
It didn’t take long for me to pass out. The drive was long, but we were finally there. Thoughts of shredding pristine Whitewater powder the next day lulled me to sleep.
Waking up in the home of the MOU Kollektive was a familiar feeling that I had missed for far too long. They had painted the place a rainbow of colours, from oranges to blues. Altars of crystals, plants, and statues were still generously placed around the home. The bright morning sun shone through the windows. If there ever was a place where a bunch of elves would live, it would be here.
keith and cassandra easily tuned into the majikal energy of this place...
It was most definitely spring time on the East Shore. No snow on the ground, sunny skies, and the smell of new flowers filled the air. With weather like this, it made me wonder if there was going to be any snow at Whitewater.
We took the 10:40am ferry fron Kootenay Bay to Balfour. This ferry ride fukkin roolz! It always has, and always will be breathtakingly beautiful. Did I mention that it’s a free ferry? Of course if you’ve been following my blog for a while, you already know this. I’ve spent a good amount of time letting the free faerie guide me to the majikal creatures on the East Shore.
Whitewater was cloudy and it was snowing heavily by the time we got there. Eggselent! We suited up and took the Summit Chair up to the peak. Aaah, it felt so good to be back in familiar territory. Unfortunately, the conditions were not as good as they seemed. The snow that was falling from the sky was light and fluffy, but underneath a few cms of fresh was hard, chunky, icy conditions. It may have looked like powder, but it was far from the fluffy goodness Whitewater is known for.
Still, it was awesome to be able to share my favourite spots with Keith and Cassandra. A quick run down a groomed Bonanza and we were ready for a little hike. Glory Basin was covered in snow, but like the rest of the mountain that fluffy stuff only covered the snow underneath. This made riding down Dynamite a little more challenging. Actually, it made riding anywhere but the groomers a bit more challenging.
Regardless, our afternoon was filled with steeps, trees, and no one else to share it with.
Blaster’s Ridge
Even though we only rode for half of a day with only a few hikes, we were exhausted. Daam it felt good to ride Whitewater again. I would’ve preferred to have the snow quality that we enjoyed last year at this time, but I guess spring came around here a bit earlier this year.
Wow, we just pulled over to see if these guys were alright. These driving conditions are ass.
After a great day of riding spring conditions at Whitewater, we decided to soak up a little bit of downtown Nelson before everything shut down at 5pm. Being such a small town, and the warm spring weather, it was easy to run into familiar faces on Baker St.
My friend Brandi-lion was working at Maple Rose. It was good to see her. I ran into Belle and Flora working at the Kootenay Co-Op, and even stumbled upon Hot White Feather there too! Like Queen Street in Toronto, I can’t walk down Baker Street in Nelson without running into someone I know. I am one of the nodes, a glitch in the matrix that connects.
We smoked a joint at Cottonwood falls and enjoyed the serenity of rushing water and the Japanese rock garden.
my camera was in the car, so no pix :(
Though Nelson was beautiful, we felt the need to reconnect with the MOU Kollektiv again, and jumped on the last ferry out of Balfour to the East Shore. When we arrived, the krew was in the middle of watching Final Fantasy in their newly created movie area. Dude, they painted a movie screen on the wall for gawd’s sake!
Final Fantasy was a monumental achievement in using computers to recreate bad acting. I pulled up a pillow and it wasn’t long before I passed out.
Sunday morning was a sunny morning. Aaah, another bright and beautiful morning on the East Shore. We caught the 9am ferry to Nelson. Because the East Shore is in Mountain Time and Nelson is Pacific Time, we actually earned an hour on our trip. Leave the shore at 9am, arrive in Nelson at 9am. Schweet.
We were hoping that the snow that was falling the day before would continue all night and bless us with tonnes of fresh pow. Instead, we got no new snowfall and sunny bluebird skies, which was perfekt for Beach Day at Whitewater.
So many people were dressed up for Beach Day. Wigs, Hawaiian shirts, shorts and bikini toos. Woohoo! I <3 Beach Day.
I ran into Elsbeth’s friends Catherine and Garret in the lodge. They were suited up and ready to enjoy a day in the sun.
The snow was still hard, but the sun would eventually soften it up making it a bit easier to shred. I had signed up for the Slush Cup which was going down at 1pm. The idea was to get as much speed as possible and ride across a pool of water. I had seen it last year and thought to myself if I’m here next year I’m totally going to do it. Well, there I was at Whitewater one year later, and I was ready for the slush cup.
After a burger with my friends Rob and Flora on the Whitewater Lodge patio, I changed into just a pair of shorts and longjohns, and hiked up the hill determined to walk away dry and victorious in this year’s Slush Cup.
this is what i had to clear...
my valiant effort...
and my subsequent failure. i almost made it...but almost is not good enough :(
The water was ridiculously cold, but what sucked even more was that I had a bandana over my mouth so when I sank into the water, the bandana stuck to my face preventing me from breathing. I struggled to pull the bandana off my face as a dude in a drysuit fished me out of the water.
Thank God I had a dry set of clothes to change into. Unfortunately, I had to rent a pair of boots to use for the remainder of the day. They didn’t have a size 11.5 so I had to setlle with a pair of 12s which were way too big. Rental boots suck ass. My foot was swimming around in them, which makes response from your board shitty. But I still had a good remainder of the day shredding Whitewater.
trucks park wherever they want
ran into so many people i knew at the hill, including my friend jess who was in my casi level 1 course with me last year at whitewater.
Beach Day is the most fun day at Whitewater all year, and I am so glad that I was here to enjoy it. So many familiar faces, so much familiar terrain, and the Slush Cup kicked my ass! If the snow was better, it would’ve been the perfekt weekend. Oh well, I guess that’s the chance we took riding at the end of March.
shreddin dredi goddesses...gawd i love this town
The Ride Concept TMS 164 is the best board I’ve ridden all season. It is the perfekt fusion of freeride and freestyle. Buttery flex for hits and park, stiff enough hold an edge at high speeds without chatter. This is the board I am going to ride next season. It is deadly as fuck!
With the sun still shining, we made our way to Lakeside Park to throw around a Frisbee and spin some staff. Earlier in the day, before we left the East Shore, I saw a beautiful piece of wood sitting by the front door of the Mou Kolleltiv space. I asked McKayla who it belonged to, knowing full well that it was another one of Wanaki’s projects. Mckayla gifted me the piece of wood saying that Wanaki would want me to have it. Daam it feels good to have a walking staff again. It may not have been carved by a beaver in the valley, but it is a piece of the shore that I will carry with me for a very long time.
Throwing a Frisbee on the green grass of Lakeside while the sun set behind Elephant Mountain was an all too familiar scene for me. I’ve spent so much time down on this beach tossing a disc, spinning poi, and spinning staff. I wish you were there with me Jonas, Anke, and Frederick. Lakeside Park isn’t the same without you.
Hooray new staff!
With the sun hiding behind the mountains, and our bellies calling out for sustenance, we did a quick grocery run at the save on foods. I even run into people outside the grocery store. I saw my friend Rachel and her daughter Rhythm, my friend Lacy and her son Arikan, Joel, and even Mckayla! The island outside the Save-on-Foods was the place to be.
There was even a Source truck in the parking lot! I’m not sure who was driving it, but I definitely wanted to find out. Alberta plates and the Source. I had to take a pik.
We headed Uphill to the home of a radiant red dredi goddess named Leiah, a Calgarian who now calls Nelson home, and a good friend of Keith. Our bodies yearned for some nourishment, and vegetable curry was on the menu.
Keith takes food very seriously. He even travels with his own knife to cut his food! Fo Rilly!
Dinner was incredibly delicious, and the company was perfekt. And to think that my evening wasn’t even over yet.
The goddess Leiah and I walked down to the Rez Avoir to meet up with the Anke, the German Jedi Master. Anke spent this past season riding Red Mountain in Rossland. Yesterday was the last day Red Mountain was open.
Things were not bumpin at the Rez, so we hoofed it over to Finlay’s. We picked up a P.A. Suplex along the way. Hooray randnorm encounters with friends in Nelson. Autumn, it was so awesome to see you too!
It was Karaoke night at Finlay’s and the place wasn’t very busy. That’s alright though, I was there with Alex, Leiah, and Anke! I’ve missed Anke so much. The force truly does low powerfully through her. She is going home to Germany on the 22nd of April, with no plans on returning next season, or any season after that. I was so blessed to see her before she leaves for home. I have had so many awesome memories with Anke, and now we got to add singing Karaoke to that list. Alex and I sang The Best of My Love by the Emotions.
Doesn’t take much to make me happy. And make me smile with glee. Never ever will I be discouraged. Cause our love’s no mystery. Demonstratin love and affection. That you give so openly. The way way I feel about you babe, I can’t explain it. Want the whole wide world to see. Whoah Whoah, you got the best of my love. Whoah Whoah, you got the best of my love!
Randnorm normurai spotting! This dude, named Philip came up to me and said that he was in my Media and Information Technoculture class at Western vack in 1997. He said he never forgot me, and has been following my life through my blog on tribe.net. He is in Nelson riding Whitewater, and commented on this photo of Dynamite that I frequently post.
What made this encounter so special was more than just someone rekognizing a familiar face, I had somehow left a lasting impression on this person from a class I took almost ten years ago. Philip said that he never forgot a question I asked the prof the first day of that MIT course. He reminded me that I had asked the prof to name some significant contributions that visible minorities have made in the history of Canadian journalism. Yah, that sounds like something I’d ask. Well, it turns out that I had stumped the prof. He didn’t have an answer. Its funny that I didn’t remember that happening as vividly as Philip did. And there we were enjoying the Nelson vibes at Finlay’s talkin’ ‘bout old times at Western. Thanks for makin my night brighter Phil.
Tired and exhausted from another great day at Whitewater, we walked back to Anke’s truck (her bf jody’s truck) and she drove Leiah and I home. On our way, we ran into my friend Dana outside of the Royal. He was my Level 1 Snowboard Instructor last year at Whitewater. Another randnorm meetup in Nelson. Fuck Yeah!
Alex, it was awesome seeing you brother. Cody, it was so good to see you too. Anke, I love you with all my heart. Perhaps I’ll have to come to Germany and visit you. It would be worth the trip.
I fell asleep with Leiah in my arms, reciprocating each other’s cuddles. Needless to say, I slept like a baby…we both did. I have been without a partner in life for 7 years by choice…but nights like last night reminded me of the comforts and joys lying next to a warm and beautiful body. I don’t get to experience it often enough. It feels good to spoon someone again, to synchronize your breathing as you lose yourself is each other’s embrace. To see a radiant, blessed and beautiful red dread goddess lying next to me as I awoke this morning was a gift that i didnt' think could be real.
Leiah had recently trimmed her dreadlocks, and placed them in a bowl like a flowering plant.
The altar in the living room had Deluxe Jesus watching over it.
With glow-in-the-dark hands, the light of Jesus Christ can be seen in the darkness. Genius! Jesus is coming…look busy.
this was also in her living room. endless possibilities!
Thank you for opening up your home to us Leiah. Thank you for sharing your space. Thank you for a wonderful evening of cuddles. I needed that.
We packed up our car and made a quick stop downtown before heading to the Balfour ferry terminal. Yup, back to the East Shore again. There’s a reason why that place keeps calling us back. I could try to describe it to you, but like Burning Man, you have to stand there to understand it.
As we waited for the ferry to arrive, I spent some time spinning staff on the beach looking out over the beauty of Lake Kutenai. The cloud dragons snaked their way through the valleys of the mountains, covering the trees in ice and snow. Soon, large flakes of white fluffy goodness began to fall from the sky all around me. This place is holy.
On my walk back to the car, I was pleasantly surprised to see Riviere who was also waiting for the ferry. Seeing her ignited my soul and filled it with light. She is such a beautiful, radiant and divine goddess. Many of my East Shore adventures have been made brighter because of her presence, just like today!
Love and light to you blessed goddess Riviere. Seeing you is candy for my soul!
We stopped by the home of the MOU Kollektiv to say our goodbyes. Its always so hard for me to leave that place. It is a vortex of creativity and community that sucks you in. Ali, Mckayl, Run, Scotty, and now Terran…until we see each other again, bless ups to you! Thank you for always opening up your home to me and my friends.
Before our journeys back to the cspot began, I had to take Keith and Cassandra to the Yasodhara Ashram. The ashram is a holy and sacred place. A must if you are visiting the East Shore.
Standing at the base of a wise old tree.
The Temple of Divine Light.
We chanted, sang, laughed, and graciously moved to the rythym of life in the holy temple of divine light. It was rejuvenating for our souls. This place is pure majik.
I see the lights of the city in the distance. We are heading north on the Deerfoot, back in our 403 area code. My ass hurts from sitting for so long. We are almost there. Sketchy driving conditions, zero visibility, hitting an elk, seeing someone else skid off the road. I guess I shouldn’t count my chickens until I am safe at home. Not long now.
What an incredible weekend. I am so blessed in so many ways. The people I keep in my life are top drawer. I only deal in cool beans.
Thank you Keith and Cassandra for rippin it hard with me at Whitewater, and for being such groovy travel mates. Big ups to the MOU Kollektive. Love and light to you Leiah. I know we will be seeing each other again real soon. Anke, safe journeys back to Germany…I love you! Rob, Flora, Alex, Autmn, Belle, Brandi, Lacy, Joel, and everyone else that made my trip back to Nelson so memorable…Thank you for reminding me why Nelson is such a majik place.
Boy am I glad I used this driving time to write this blog entry. Don’t know when next I would’ve had the time to do all this. Hooray laptop! Hooray making it home safe.
Life is beautiful.
Lively up yours’elf.
~*…normaste…*~
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