Photo Lit final project

            We started the day gazing into the valley from Glacier Point. The sheer beauty of the golden valley floor spread like butter across the expanse of Yosemite. We then shifted our focus to Half Dome rising to almost a mile high and finally looked in awe at the astounding power of three waterfalls cascading off the rocky outcroppings around us. I realized atop this great overlook that nature does not need special attractions like Yosemite Falls or Half Dome to be beautiful, it just needs to be wild and undamaged to release its true beauty.

            After gazing for a while our small group of seven people including myself descended into the canyon. On the way down almost immediately we crossed over a small stream littered with Sugar Pine cones some over a foot in length and almost five inches in diameter. These cones were some of the biggest I have ever seen and were almost their own wonder of Yosemite. After exploring the creek for a bit we headed deeper into unexplored territory only to arrive at the first of three waterfalls we would set eyes upon. This one, carved out of Granite, was extremely fast and also highly dangerous.

            A little while after that our group arrived at an outcropping overlooking the valley and Half Dome. The outcropping had a large cliff on one side and a hill on the other. This was a perfect place to rest our eyes upon the wonders of Yosemite. The valley was beautiful. I could see the mist of a nearby waterfall reflecting the sun and creating a shimmer over the valley filtering out the stores and campsites, this bringing me back to what John Muir must have seen when he first gazed upon the valley at this point.

            Soon after we were done resting we encountered a Western Rattlesnake basking in the light and warmth of the trail. This being the fourth Rattler we encountered in Yosemite, I sort of overcame my lifelong fear of rattlesnakes. I realized that we’re all in it together and the snakes mean no harm to humans by warning us with rattles they would not otherwise use. I sort of also realized that people can compare rattlesnakes and nature because some people are afraid of nature because of fires, storms, floods, and so on, but these natural occurrences are really just warning signs telling us not to get over-confident and carried away.

            After coming to this realization, we headed down the trail entering a forest of large Cedars. When we were walking through this grove, the trees like parents of the forest floor blanketing mother earth herself, I saw how nature works.  By creating a canopy so the lush floor can survive and many an animal can replenish themselves with the nutritious plants then release fertilizer for the trees starting the cycle over again, becomes just one harmonious micro-climate of the many throughout Yosemite.

            We soon sauntered out of this climate and came to the main waterfall; here we could watch the mighty forces of nature cascade over a large cliff down to a tussling boneyard below. We ate lunch and headed down to where the real fun began, the rocky stair cased descent; the final stretch to the valley floor.

            Descending through the rocks and boulders we finally reached the top of yet another waterfall, we could see the last part of the path which was a rocky staircase etched into the mountain side giving off a misty green and gray contrast. The path was covered in mist from the waterfall and a rainbow was nestled between the waterfall and cliff. This was by far the most intriguingly majestic staircase I had ever seen and the descent reflected its awesomeness. 

            This hike and trip opened up a new side of me. I realized that life is short and to live every moment to its full potential, and with that I realized that it’s not the destination but the journey along that way the counts. After realizing this I think I will never have to endure as much stress as I have in years past and I will always live every day like it’s my last.     

5 Frame

Photo memo

Two defining moments in my life were when I learned how to rodeo (side flip 180) and when I learned how to cork 7 (back flip 720). These were defining moments in my life because they were huge accomplishments for me in skiing and also helped me realize that anything is possible and all you have to do is try.

            The idea of me doing a rodeo started at Woodward at Copper during Camp Woodward. I was doing tricks into the foam pit and finally got up the guts to back flip. After that, I knew the next step was to rodeo. So I hiked up the ramp and threw one into the foam and, did it a few more times until I was comfortable.

The next day when our group was skiing in the Woodward terrain park I was ready to try a flip so I tried a back flip and landed. Then I hiked up right away and told my instructor I was done for the day. He then said that I should try to rodeo and so I went over the motion in my head and then dropped in. I landed it and was so excited that I finally did a trick that I wanted to do since I set foot on snow.

The next most defining moment in my life was when I did a cork 7. The idea for this started when about two years ago when I was working on 720’s in the terrain park and I thought it might be possible to cork one out. I then went to Woodward and tried a few, but did not quite get one, so I deiced to wait for a while until I could do it again. Then one day my team, on a powder day, went to build a powder jump and when I got the chance after a few practice jumps I went for it. I landed on my side, fell down, and hurt my head pretty badly. So I decided to go back to Woodward and master the move. After I did it about 7 times into the pit I was confident about trying it on snow. So, after the jumps were built at Winter Park I knew it was time to go for it. I dropped in and fell the first time. Then the next time I landed it. After that experience I realized that anything is possible with persistence and just a little luck.

photos

Photo Map

Photos for photo class

Getting Ready for Competitions

This past weekend I competed in The King of The Grommets. This is a contest for the kids in the Winter Park Competition Center. I took this opportunity to work on my skills and also to tone in my competition mind set. Also, during this contest I worked on training my run multiply times before I competed which helped me later when I had to stick my run.  I plan to use this strategy next weekend so I can be prepared for the start of my big competitions in Breckinridge.

The Color White Poem

White Empty Ski Hill
No color to be found
White Empty Ski Hill
No one is around
White Empty Ski Hill
Nothing but a frost covered mound
White Empty Ski Hill
Always snowbound

Pictures of the color White for a class assignment

My Photography Class Goals

During this class, I want to incorperate skiing in to my photos and I also would like to incorperate Video inn to some of my projects.

My goal for writing is to use discriptive words and of photos to get the point I am trying to make through.

The Dark Territory

This weekend was the first full weekend of Winter Parks Dark Territory being open. This was awesome because the Dark Territory has not been open for a while because the lack of snow and now it is. So, on Saturday I mostly worked on doing cork 7s and blind 450's out of a blue cannon rail. Then after lunch it got very snowy and we just worked on 360's with grabs. Then on Sunday I woke up to a perfect blue bird with about four inches of new snow. So, in the morning my team and I skied the park for a run and then headed to shred some powder. After that, we skied the park and I worked on my cork 7's with grabs. Finally in on my last runs of the day the ski patrol dropped a rope in a new run and I finished of the day skiing untracked powder.   

Winter Break

During Winter Break, I was not able to ski the first week because I was in Florida with my family. So during the second week I stayed up and my family’s condo rental and skied at winter park. During the first three days I was there Winter Parks jumps were not open yet so I mostly focused on rails. The main thing I worked on was to get blind 270’s consistently on down rails because I think the blind 270’s are very stylish and they are very good for competition. Then after three days of Winter Park I headed over to keystone to better my rail skills in nice weather. When I was at Keystone I learned urban 270’s on to down rails. I am proud of learning this trick because I have been working on doing them all year and I finally landed a few.

After skiing Keystone for a day, I headed back to Winter Park to hit their newly made jumps and compete in a rail jam. The first day however was very windy and our team was cancelled so I headed over to the Frasier Rec-center to swim before the rail jam. Following that, I headed out to Hot Sulfur Springs to complete in a rail jam for the 100^th anniversary of their winter sports festival.        

Going into the rail jam my plan was to do blind two’s, blind switch up’s, and 270’s on because that’s what I did in practice before. When it started I decided to do a few tricks on one of the two features the box. I now think this was a mistake because I think I should have hit the rail first because there was no one sliding it and I think I could have caught the judges’ eyes. Then after doing a few 270’s on and off the box I set about hitting the rail a few times until I did a 270 off of it. After that I pretty much did the box the rest of the time except for a blind two on the down rail. I had a ton of fun at this rail jam but next time I want to be more creative and utilize more of the features.   

The next day was New Years and there was no team because of the holiday. So I went up to the mountain to ski with my friend Birk and hit the newly opened jumps. During the day I hit all of the jumps and even did a cork seven on the first which was a big accomplishment for me because I have never done a cork seven on a jump that was that big. Now my goal next weekend is to start doing grabs in my cork and regular sevens and also in my switch five’s. During this break I improved the skills a ton and I can’t wait to work on doing them with style next weekend.