Endless Travels

For years I have wanted to have a rig that could take me anywhere and be totally sustainable on it's own.  A rig that could be parked in the middle of the mountains and still provide me an awesome base camp for skiing and exploring.  After years of looking at hundreds of different options, I finally decided to sell my 4Runner and make the leap to buy a Sprinter.

At first I was seriously looking into old short school busses and thought that would be the way to go, but in the end I went with the Sprinter because it is way more reliable as well as structurally sound to add framing and everything that I wanted to do.

Eventually I found a Sprinter at an alright price but it was way back in New Jersey.  Because I own a kids camp I can't really take any days off during the summer so I paid my parents to drive it across the US for me, you know, only 36 hours on the road.  It was an adventure for them and I'm very grateful that they could do that for me!

By this time, I only had 2.5 weeks until school started so I began working on the van right away.  It started as a tin can with a giant metal cage behind the seats and huge medical equipment racks bolted to the walls.  I removed all that stuff and then cut massive holes in the body; one for a big window I wanted in the side and another for a ceiling fan.

Here is a pic after I removed the original cage and all the junk:

Then I started framing the interior of the van.  The plan was to frame it with 1x4's to make a solid foundation so that I could treat the build more like a house.

Here you can see the framing on all except the ceiling.  I also built boxes around the wheel wells so I could build around them later on and also fill that space with insulation to keep road noise down and stay a little more warm:

And here I am just finishing framing it.  My parents were awesome and helped me out this late night:

Then, did spray foam insulation to the entire thing.  This is the way to go because it really fills in all the little holes and spaces throughout the body.  I wanted to keep this thing as bombproof as possible for the bitter cold days in the PNW.   Here it is after insulation and attaching the ceiling panels: 

Next I did the wall panels with 1x6 tongue and groove pine, stained:

Here are the cables coming in from the solar panel on the roof:

And here it is after finishing the walls and installing cork flooring.  The flooring only took about 4 or 5 hours: 

I had to make trips back and forth from school for the first 2 weeks because I couldn't finish everything in such a short time frame, but here is where I am at now with the set up.  

I have a nice and big bed with all of the gear you would ever want underneath.  I actually have pretty much everything I own under the bed:  2 bikes, Speedwing, Skis, Backpacking gear, Climbing gear, Skateboards, Slacklines, Tennis Racquet and other random stuff like extra shoes and helmets, etc. 

I have a kitchen cabinet under the window and am building a desk for that as well.  Also, I will install a dresser and small closet under the bed this week. It used to have a fridge but it broke so I'm waiting on that right now.   

I am living in this thing while I go to school and I just shower on campus and use the library when I

need internet.  Now that my brother is moving to town I will park in his driveway and share the shower and kitchen with him so that'll be pretty nice.  

This has been such an awesome project and I've had to get creative with the tiny living space, but it's all working out so far.  The real test will be this winter so stay tuned!

Before and After

Amazing Week at the Crystal FWQ

I was fortunate enough to get into the Freeride World Qualifiers this week at Crystal Mountain. I have been trying to get into these things for a couple years; the way the seed lists work with registration, I just couldn't ever get in.  Anyways, I was stoked to finally have this opportunity.  So, on February 2, I drove 11 hours to Tacoma, WA and stayed with my buddy Scott Smith.  The next morning I drove 2 hours up to Crystal for inspection day.

I was pretty nervous because this was my first comp, I was alone, and I had no idea what to expect.  After registration, I went up the gondola and over to what I thought was going to be the venue (they had two possible Day 1 venues).  I took a few runs over there and realized it was kinda weird that nobody was around, haha.  Finally, I found the correct venue and it was much better than what I was looking at earlier. 

The snow was a variable mix between ice, moguls, and about 2 inches of soft stuff (if you were lucky).  I started to wonder how I would ever choose my line, and I spent about 3 hours over there going over different options.  At around 1:30 I found a nice hit that got me really pumped.  It was a technical, ski width wide approach to a 35 ft cliff (I would take it to at least 55 ft).

That night I went over my line again and again.  Go from the flag and rip over two little spines making nice, quick turns; then maneuver onto the cliff and send a slow backflip; then go fast through some trees and into the finish.  I had it in my mind, I just needed to keep calm and remember... "Full Wingspan."

I nailed my run and was really happy with myself.  I didn't even care if I got into finals because I really didn't expect that; being my first competition and all.  Turns out, I ended up in 1st place that day.  I was so stoked.

The picture above shows the Day 2 venue, Silver King.  I picked out an awesome line and was pretty happy about it.  I was going to go down the narrow chute to lookers left and send it over three cliffs with no tricks; just ski fast, go big, and make it look fun!  Unfortunately, I got freaked out by all the flips and spins people were throwing and I thought I should change my run to stay in 1st place; bad idea.  I changed my line as I hiked up, rookie mistake.  I was going to throw a 360 and a backflip; I wanted to do something really entertaining.  But then I thought maybe I should go back to the original plan.  My head was all over the place.

I dropped in and just went blank, what was I doing out here?!  I skied the little chute and hit one 25 footer and had no idea where to go.  I just skied down from there.  Needless to say, I was bummed.  I was the last one to ski that day and everyone was still so excited and supportive.  We all shredded down the mountain in a big mob. 

I ended up in 7th place overall and I am still kicking myself for blowing it, but what really matters is that I had one of the best times skiing in my entire life.  

Going to this competition, I wasn't sure about the whole thing.  But by the end of it all, I am itching to get to another one.  The ridiculously talented and genuinely nice athletes are what makes these things fun.  I met some amazing people this week and I can't wait to shred with them again.

That is what the FWQ is all about: skiing fun mountains with the best of friends, going big, and making incredible memories.

Here are the final Men's and Women's Results: