We kicked the day off with some Yoga over at Temple Lodge…. the setting couldn’t have been more perfect. It was just our group and Claire our new friend who is staying with us over at Mu Bali lodge. It was really the first time I’d ever done yoga… it was so incredible. I am going to try and keep doing this when I get back home.

To ice the cake I signed up for a massage following my yoga and breakfast. An adorable Balinese woman touched me in ways that I can not begin to describe…it was the most amazing thing I’ve experienced to date…both spiritual and physical ecstasy I only paid $100,000 Rupia for it, which equals less than $10 US dollars.

So the one thing that I remember people advising was, “I wouldn’t get scooters when you’re in Bali,” apparently its super sketchy to drive on Balinese roads. So what did we do? Of course we got scooters, are ya kidding?! Ive always toyed with the idea of getting a motorcycle and taking it to the open road like to the coast or Eastern, Washington…somewhere you could just cruise with incredible scenery all around you. That was my old fantasy. After meandering the coastline of Bali from surf spot to surf spot my new fantasy is and was riding scooters (or a motorcycle) amongst the rice fields and coastline of Bali. Sweet, check another one off the list!

We rented some super sketchy, almost literally held together by duct tape scooters from a little shop down the street and Mu Bali arranged to have them delivered to the lodge. After figuring out how to keep them started, sorting out helmets and figuring out where we were going we made our way towards the world famous surf spot Uluwatu. I was a little weirded out by driving on the left hand side of the road but its pretty easy not to mess that one up if you just follow other people. So I did.

The landscape was absolutely breath taking. One side was lined with the most lush, vibrant terrain id ever seen, and on the other nothing but blue skies, crashing waves and magnificent rock formations greeting the sand at the base of the cliffs.

After leaving our little villa we basically cruised around all day. We stopped at a petrol stand on the side of the road, they’re all over. Its basically a stand with about a dozen of liter bottles on a shelf, sold for $50,000 Rupia ($5 US Dollars). It was interesting to see how they do it out there. There was one older man (or at least weathered looking) and about 5 children chilling under a small hut. As our 5 bikes rolled up the kids were all smiles and jumped on the opportunity to service us. I think all of the kids even helped, or at least looked on as each of us filled our tanks.

After we were all juiced up we continued to head towards Uluwatu. The roadside was lined with petrol stands every so often, magnificent temples every couple minutes and pharrel dogs here and there. In the area that we were staying of Bukit, and really most of Indonesia, things appears to be poverty stricken maybe… that’s not the word im looking for though. Primitive is more fitting, but as I gain more perspective and understanding of the culture I’d like to swap out primitive for simple or minimalist. …anyhow I digress, back to the scooter journey.

We made it to Uluwatu after taking our time zipping down side roads, nearly evading a scooter accident and taking in the smells and sites of this place that fairy tales are made of. At the parking area some locals tending their souvenir shop greeted us. Now let me preface this by saying that so far ive decided that Balinese people are about the most kind, considerate wonderful people (as a whole) that I’ve met to date…. however these vendors were brutal and in some of the more touristy areas ive seen it a bit. We ended up springing on some tees, a hat or two, some bottled waters and I looked at some jewelry, but for some reason I think they still thirsted for blood! Haha, not really but I felt like they’d never be satisfied no matter how much money we spent!

After passing yet another super cool temple and dropping in on a short flight of stairs we descended upon an interesting collection of shops that were kind of resting in the cliffside. There were a few cafes, and one hell of a viewpoint.

The water was this slightly milky but a radiant blue in some spots, then green towards the shore. The waves pounded up against the rocky shoreline, and it was pretty windy where we were at… from what the guys were saying, the surf looked somewhat tame and I guess it is the off season, but all I know is that this place looked huge to me. We hung out there for a bit, drooled, and headed out for more wandering on our scooters.

At some point I think after the surf spot we ended up randomly at this huge temple that we decided to check out. As we were coming in there was a couple just leaving and they said it was amazing, and also that there are some devious little monkeys in there. At the gate we paid a couple thousand Rupia per person, purchased some fruit to feed the monkeys and they put these purple wraps around our waists with yellow sashes…they were quite lovely… it was some kind of tradition, respecting the temple or something to that effect. Venturing in the monkeys weren’t too far off. These guys were way cooler than the monkeys in japan that’s for sure. They had these little mohawks, and almost looked like gremlins! They were way more tactile and aggressive not to mention. They would run right up to you, start tugging on your purple skirt thing and just look at you with these adorable eyes. If you didn’t feed them and they saw the fruit in your hand, some times they would even jump or start climbing up your leg. It was comical and adorable…until you tried to pet them! It was like Outbreak, these guys had some chompers on them. One guy let me touch him and actually pet him for awhile, but all the others were super sassy about touching.

This temple was like in the movies… cliff walls, walk ways, sculptures, and temples were adorned with elaborate stone work… you could look down the way at the sea wall and it was so breath taking to see the stone work that had gone in to this structure.

At one point we came to this monkey pool… these guys were just diving in head first, swimming and playing with each other. We the stupid tourist stood around and watched them in the pool while their mischievous friends would frolic all over us, trying to steal sunglasses, jewelry, and pretty much anything they could get their hands on. One of them scored my hair tie and we tried to barter with him using some fruit we had purchased but the little guy was totally messing with us. Finally we threw in the towel. So yeah, needless to say we took a million and a half pictures of monkeys, Japanese tourists and the temple… with no monkey bites or serious monkey theft to report we called it a day and headed back to the villa.

That night we did dinner with Cristiana, the owner of the neighboring villa, Temple Lodge. She prepared a mahi mahi dish that was prepared in a fried banana leaf, we enjoyed wine, and our new Australian friends Tim and Claire joined us. Cristiana shared with us her story of how she arrived in Bali. An Italian native who’d spent the better half of the past decade with her husband and children in Cape Town. Both retired from a bustling life and were drawn to the area on a holiday and decided to stay. Again on a holiday they landed in Bali on a holiday and were determined to call this place home. Stories from all ends of the table were shared… bellies were filled….it was a perfect way to cap off the night.

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evoTrip | Day 9 – Scootering, more monkeys and temples! from evo on Vimeo.

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I kicked off the day with an incredible banana crepe and a morning dip in the pool. The next couple hours were filled with reading in the morning sun, conversation and sheer relaxing. After a week of a fairly regimented schedule it was nice to have no schedule and really nothing to do whatsoever. I think I’m going to like this place.

Later in the afternoon we called a cab and it took us kind of into town to hit up an ATM for some cash. I withdrew 1 million Rupia to get me by for the next couple days. $1 US dollar is equivalent to about $12,000 Indonesian Rupia. We got paid out in $50,000 Rupia bills… ballin.

So for the next couple days we are in this beach area called Bingin, a coastal town a few minutes from Padang Padang and world famous surf zone Iluwatu. The ocean out here is incredible, pristine blue water, magnificent rock formations lining the cliff side and super friendly locals. We hardly get internet service here and barely have power, unless of course we would’ve been prepared with power converters. In Indonesia they are on I think a 220v power supply where as back home we are on a 110v supply. I think if I were to try and plug something in it would just blow up. Not really sure but I don’t want to find out the hard way.

After scaling the cliffs right below our lodge a couple times and being met with crashing waves right at our feet, the tide was finally low enough to peruse the beach side. We ventured left from our beach entrance about a mile or 2 to Padang Padang. We buried our toes deep into the slightly rust colored sand. Everything around us was a sight to see, picturesque. There were fisherman out there tossing their nets to the sea. Aussie’s out on the surf and lounging topless on the beach. Locals out and about enjoying family outings.

The rest of the day consisted of more swimming in the infinity pool of course, an amazing sunset, and an incredible dinner. We had this tempeh and nut concoction, chicken satay with peanut sauce, salad and a fruity ice cream sundae to top it off. I think everynight so far on this trip I end the night by pinching myself…yup, I’m really here.

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evoTrip | Day 8 – First full day in Bali from evo on Vimeo.

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We were up with the roosters and off to the airport. At this point we were parting ways with four of our group, 2 being our Canadian counter parts, Bryn Hughes and Austin Ross as they got “the shot” and were heading back to the Great White North to continue to chase some virgin powder lines. They will both be missed as we are sipping mai tai’s from our infinity pool along the coast of Bali! Thanks for killin’ it you guys, can’t wait to see all your shots Bryn!

So we nearly missed our bus from Tokyo to Narita International Airport where we were to embark on a couple hour flight to Seoul, then to Bali… despite lugging around our now unnecessary baggage with skis and all of our gear, backed up elevators, and locking ourselves out of our room we caught the bus…close call!

The jaunt from Tokyo to South Korea was quick and dirty. A few winks, a light snack and we were there.
Once in Seoul we rolled right up to the Prestige and Hub Lounges, KAL’s special VIP zones where we enjoyed an open bar, flat screen TVs, open buffet, velour furniture, and ICE CREAM. Was the easiest 4hr layover every. Enough said.

In the airport we enjoyed the locals, in particular there were a massive amount of couples sporting matching outfits…. Gosh maybe a couple dozen couples apparently all got married and were heading out to Bali on our flight to do some massive honeymoon. It was hilarious and disgusting at the same time. We shared our 7hr flight with them, Twilight, and some food that I couldn’t identify.

We landed in Bali at the Densapar Airport around 2:30am and once thru customs we met our welcoming crew out front. As we exited the building we were hit like a ton of bricks by the evening warmth and humidity. It was refreshing and after a long week of being in the cold I was ready for it.

We packed up our ski and snowboard bags into one van and it headed one way, and our group loaded the other vans and we headed to our lodge. Talk about sketchy roads and drivers…not sure if the lines on the road have much meaning but the locals don’t seem to use them much.

By the time we made it to our lodge the evening was starting to resemble morning. Though pitch black for the most part the lodging appeared to be dream like. Just like in the movies. All of the rooms are open and exposed to the elements. The infinity pool faces the coast and sits no more than 30 feet away from the cliffs that drop straight down to incredible surf. At this point we are wired and decide to take a dip in the pool and recap the past week of adventures. Not bad.

evoTrip | Day 7 – Travel Day from evo on Vimeo.

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Cortina Ski Resort – This day was easily a one of my top 5 days in trees and days on snow…EVER. New snow was waiting for our crew of hoodlums and we made sure that it didn’t go untouched.

Bryn Hughes has joined us from the Great White North (Whistler, BC) along with Austin Ross, Rossignol rider and pro at straight up being aweomse. Bryn and Austin are after some epic lines, something worthy of publishing and something ridiculously Japanese. Bryn and Austin probably two of skiing’s most driven participants both killing it and gettin’ er done in the trees of Japan. Sitting over Bryn’s shoulders poaching a peek or two at some of his shots i’m blown away shot after shot….and Austin and the entire evoTrip crew certainly make Bryn’s job a little easier as they have been bombing line after line with ear to ear grin’s pasted to their aces.

This place is so incredible, definitely the best trees i’ve ever lapped. They are so perfectly spaced out and we really lucked out with some fresh snow not to mention Japan even lived up to its name as the house of the “Rising Sun” cause we even got some sun shining through those trees! Granted, some of the trees are off limits, and it appears to me that the locals do NOT like powder. Hmmm…. sounds like the ingredients for fresh lines?! So the stuff we were hitting most of the day was on the backside of Cortina Ski Resort and those trees are okay…..but towards the end of the day the guys had their way with some of the “off limits” trees on the frontside. It was good.

Oh, i almost forgot about the ridiculously awkward lodge. If this ski area wasn’t able to boast the “most snowfall” in the valley in a given season and apparently the “steepest inbound tree runs” in the valley, i’m not so sure what would happen to this place. You’ll be cruising through this quaint little village and all of a sudden you round a corner and there it is at the base of the main chairlifts, in all its glory. Apparently there is a chain of these things all over the place. It was built back in the boom when these places were going off and they couldn’t find enough beds for tourists but since things have slowed down dramatically… so here she sits large and glorious and well…. large and glorious.

After the first couple days i wasn’t so sure if we were going to get to experience those epic lines i’d seen in the movies and magazines…but i think the photos and the video clips should speak for themselves.

Aside from the deep powder up top, the guys in the Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore costumes, an obscene lodge, and the do it yourself pizzas i think i’ve pretty much seen most of what Japananese mountains have to offer….still need to get souvenirs but i think we got what we were coming for. ….OH YEAH, its not over. 2 more days of slashing some pow in Japan. Rumor has it that there will be another dump this evening.

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Aside from the expected randomness in Japan there are quite a few delights that i’ve experienced so far.  Ill have you know that Hakuba, Japan is quite a diverse zone and despite the fact that there hasn’t been a ton of encounters with the local community i feel like we are getting a solid, authentic experience.  I guess language barriers are an obstacle but traveling with a group of 10 Canadian/Americans makes it difficult to really reach out.  Anyhow, im definitely taking in what i can, checkout my list of some stimulating expierences so far.

• Heated toilet seats and bidets
• Morino Lodge Staff
• Bryn’s sticky computer keys
• Jen’s cookies
• Hula Hoop class in the lounge of Morino Lodge
• Udon Noodles
• Austin’s apre guitar solos
• Guy with Tiger Tail
• Gondora is spelled just how its sounds

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Our 2nd day on our adventure was thankfully in one spot and on the ground. Settled at the incredible Morino Lodge in Hakuba, Japan we quickly felt like we were at home. The hosts Matt, Craig, Jen and Timo had greeted us at 2am the night before and were up preparing breakfast and ready to take us out on the mountain.

After a late start Matt and Craig took us down to Happo-One and took off on a little hike to scope out the terrain for the days to come and we headed into the thick of ski racers and japanese locals who apparently don’t like powder. We took advantage of that and found a little sweet spot that eventually got us kicked off the hill. It sucks because we didn’t really duck any ropes but probably knew better. So we got our passes pulled after about 3 runs. It was a sweet run and the encounter with Happo Ski Patrol was almost worth it…lesson learned.

Since our day was cut somewhat short we decided to check out the town, grub and get some good pictures.

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This was the first official day of our first official evoTrip… it’s kind of crazy first of all to think that it’s March already, but whats more, we are in route to Hakuba, Japan!

Here goes my attempt to sum up what the day was like in 1 sentance or less, “30hrs of travel from the SeaTac Airport till arrival in Hakuba, Japan with lots of interesting happenings along the way!”  Hurry up and wait could be the easiest way to describe this day…. but lets throw in a bit of sleeping, eating, sleeping, then more eating and more sleeping… then a dash of sitting and lugging around our wagon train of gear through Narita Airport in Japan…. BUT NO, it doesn’t stop there.

So for some of us the trip started around 3am on Saturday to load up and head out to the airport… the other half of the crew took the late flight and enjoyed a morning coffee, newspaper and a slow trek towards the airport around 10:30′ish… not bad but we ended up having to wait for them for a couple extra hours once on the ground in Tokyo.

I gotta hand it to those Koreans, they sure know how to fly. Im not sure who they they got it, but they’ve got the “service” part dialed. I’ve never experienced such a high level of service on a flight before… i mean, hot towels, a care package with booties and toothbrushes and meal after meal. The flight attendants were gorgeous and the movies were good.

When we touched down in Tokyo we were off the plane pretty quick, i was impressed. We were out the door and no more than maybe 5mins to the baggage claim area and our luggage was already on a couple carts.

So yeah, we ended up having to wait a couple extra hours once on the ground. Bryn Hughes our photographer ended up getting stuck back in the states. His plane was having issues, something had to be repaired and then by the time it was good to go the pilot had exceeded his hours for flight so they had to wait around for a new pilot to show up.

By this time we were pretty well jet lagged. No coffee nor beer in the world could rally the stoke that we should’ve been experiencing…i for some of us, we were in Japan for the first time ever!

Our driver Ichiro was so awesome. Waiting patiently with his “evoTrip” sign for us all, getting us to the bus, loading our oversized ski bags into his van and putting up with our complete lack of understanding of 90% of what he was saying. He did well with his two engrish words, “movement” and “freetime”… we found that they can convey many things.

On our trek through Tokyo heading towards Hakuba we got a little tease of whats to come. I really hope we get a day or so on the end of the Japan leg to hang out in Tokyo. Lots of crazy structures and i’ve never seen such clean and FUN Rest Areas…yes, i said FUN Rest Areas. They were SO colorful and at the entrance of the women’s restrooms they had these “lightboards” that mapped out all of the bathroom stalls and had lights indicating if they were open or occupied. But wait, it doesn’t stop there! Not only was there a bidet control pad, but there was a music, ipod function! It was incredible.

Moving on. So we endured our 4hr trek from Tokyo to Hakuba, actually most of us slept but we made it. Stoked to be here and can’t wait for the incredible turns, culture and adventures to come!

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