G Routine

So as you may have heard, I'm back in the wintersports industry and couldn't be happier. Good product, good people, and good times. So my first month was pretty much a sprint. The last week of April and I did a photo shoot in Lake Tahoe. We stayed in Kings Beach on the water at Ferrai's Hotel. Then during the day we got our shred on at Squaw Valley.

In years past I had a little more time to plan photo shoots. This one I had basically 2 weeks to get together. Contact a bunch of riders I had never met before, book flights, hotels, rental cars, and get the resort relations dialed in.

Like all photo shoots, you have to sorta roll with the punches. One athlete didn't have a passport, and decided to communicate this after booking his flight. The first day of the shoot, and park manager had stayed up the night before creating two big jumps, only to have the hill manager tear them down that morning.

First days of photo shoots can be junk shows, so I was prepared. We showed up, met Savannah, the PR Manager at Squaw and filled out our liability waivers. Then it was off to the Special Ticket office where Squaw was cool enough to give us spring passes. Then of course some of the riders didn't bring ID, so they had to get lift tickets. All took a long time, especially since we were such a large group.

We went up the lifts to find no special features built for the photo shoot. No problem, just a concern. Time to get the rails, wall ride, and hiking shots out of the way. Got the crew going and then called Tom. Super cool guy who came up to the hill and we made a new plan of action. For the following evening, we would build a quarter pipe up to the last riblet of a chairlift. Then he'd re-make the big kickers for us the next day. Bamn. We are rocking and rolling.

So the next evening we had the quarter pipe session. Had a few too many people along for the show, but that's the way it goes some times. Almost got closed down again, but it all came together, including the weather. Beautiful sunset and the evening yielded some great shots.

Next day we hit the big kickers and killed it again. Then to have the evening sunset shoot go a little better, we picked just four riders. That night was super-productive. Just did laps with two snowmobiles over and over until we nailed every trick with grabs. Then down the tram at the end of the sunset.

Big thanks goes out the the athletes who worked their butts off. It was refreshing to be out with younger athletes. Thanks to Savannah and Tom at Squaw Valley who were super to work with. You made the shoot easy when we were a bit of a junk show and a BIG group. To Rom and Matt Connelly our local reps, thanks for being such a great support team, shuttling athletes and grabbing food. And a big thanks to Porters for letting us take over your ski shop and fit boots and mount skis.

If you go to my gallery, you'll see a small selection of images by the pro photographer Felix, and just a couple that I took. There are a butt load more, but this will give you a sampling of what went down. It's good to be back.

Posted by Gary at 12:14 PM | Permalink

Every single day, hour, minute, and second we get a little bit older. Why is it that actual birthdays make us feel so much older? Today I'm getting closer to my mid-thirties and leaving early thirties behind. Yep, today I turned 33. BAMN!

More than my birthday though is my friends Ryan & Stacey Hayter having their first child. I haven't heard the announcement yet but I know they were scheduled for a C-section at 12:30 today. Life. It's a pretty special gift that isn't given all that often, but lasts a long time and keeps on giving. So congratulations to the Hayters and their newest member of the family.

Each and every day I think I'm going to do this or that. Today I have to work out longer, have to make it to soccer, find a new roommate, get my finances together, get my car fixed, buy a house, sign up for pilates, etc. Each day is a new beginning to be or become what one aspires to.

For my 33rd year, I have a lot I want to accomplish. I plan on buying my own place to live in. I hope to find love. I hope to be successful in my new career. I hope to make new friends. I hope to make new investments. And I hope I make my 33rd year on this earth the best of my life.

Too much to ask?

Posted by Gary at 05:30 PM | Permalink

My roommate Sarah just left and embarked on a new adventure. She got bored with the day to day office job and needed to get back out and see the wonderful world we live in. Off to Chicago for training, then San Fran, and then who knows where she'll be stationed as a United Flight Attendant.

I'm looking forward to seeing her on a plane somewhere in the near future. Sarah is an amazingly kind and generous person who will be great as a flight attendant. I wish her well in her new employment and life's journey. I hope you find the happiness your looking for.

Sarah and I went to Bricco for our last roommate meal. Love that place. We ate too much cheese and meat so that we didn't have enough room for dinner. I managed to stuff myself all the while drinking exceptional wine.

So now I'm hanging out at home alone. It's nice and a little lonely at the same time. I expect to see Sarah coming through the door. For the month of May I think I'm just going to live by myself. But I'm looking for a new roommate if anybody knows of anyone. I have a couple leads I'm going to follow up on.

Preferably looking for another female, as they are cleaner, quieter, and usually easy on the eyes. I'm looking for somebody who is willing to go month-to-month and can either have the place when I move out at the end of the summer or move with me into the new place I plan on buying.

My life is changing and I'm looking forward to having a place to call my own. I wish I could find and buy a place today. I'm so ready, but need to practice patience.

Posted by Gary at 10:49 AM | Permalink

The wait is over. Yep, as you may have guessed from my lack of blogging, I got the job I wanted. Funny thing life, you never know how good you have it until it's gone. Now that I'm back to work, I realize how much I love my work.

I still would have liked to execute the G Plan, and still intend on doing my plan down the road. It hasn't gone away, it's just been updated. So what am I doing you may want to know? Well, I'm the new marketing guy for LINE skis and Full Tilt boots. K2 Sports bought LINE skis a little while back and it's been a dream of mine to work for K2 in my youth and for LINE as an adult. Full Tilt are the old Raichle Flexon boots whose molds were purchased by K2.

Both great products, have great people working for them, and has amazing potential. More importantly, I'm back working doing what I love. I also get to keep seeing and working with all the friends I made through my time in the industry. So many positive things about it, now I just have to get er' done.

I found it funny that while I was waiting, some people asked me when my next blog update would be every day. Then you all stopped asking. Recently, you started asking again. Now that I have re-organized myself a little, I will try to post at least 3 times a week.

I'm afraid I've missed a lot of topics. Went on my friend Adam's bachelor party and went Cat and Helicopter skiing in Nelson, BC. You can see the images in the photo gallery. Then I took my new job. First week was testing skis and boots up at Snoqualmie, then a couple days in the office and it was off to Whistler and WSSI, home Sunday and flew out Monday, and off to Lake Tahoe for a week long photo shoot. There's my first month of work.

Lots of images to upload in the gallery, lots of new ideas and topics for my blog. All of which I will get on. So, if you've stopped checking in on the world of the G, I'm back. Back on the great world wide web of information.

Ah, it's good to be back. Both online and as a contributing member of the working world.

Posted by Gary at 10:44 AM | Permalink