Montafon on Vimeo

So I've found a bunch of really well made videos from around Vorarlberg, Austria. Specifically the Moftafon, the valley I lived in during the 2004-05 school year. Some of the videos are of snowboarding/skiing, some expressing the beautiful dialect and culture, and some of the natural mystic the mountains hold.



life in montafon from phat penguin productions on Vimeo.

I know its purely skiing but its well put together and shows some pretty rad lines in Montafu.



Hochjoch from Filmquadrat on Vimeo.

Silvretta Nova and Hochjoch are partner ski resorts in the valley. Silvretta Nova was literally right outside my front door while Hochjoch was further up the valley towards Schruns and Bludenz.



Silvretta Stausee from Filmquadrat on Vimeo.

The Silvretta Stausee is located at the end of the Montafon Valley. The lake is dammed and produces hydro electricity for the valley. The high alpine lakes are ideal sources of energy and this isn't the only hydro electric station in the valley. In the summer the road up to the lake is full of fancy cars and motorcyclists touring the alpine passes.



Gottesacker from Filmquadrat on Vimeo.

This mountain is located more in the Bregenzerwald area of Vorarlberg. But the shots are amazing and the peak looks pretty intense. Map:
http://www.traveljournals.net/explore/austria/map/p6167853/gottesacker.html


Ziegenaussstellung Andelsbuch from Johannes Pircher on Vimeo.

This clearly shows the wonderful dialect of ksi'berg (Vorarlberg). This is a goat exhibition in Andelsbuch located just outside Dornbirn. The interviews are classic...
Map:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=sk4&q=Andelsbuch+vorarlberg+austria&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&resnum=1&ct=image



Marco Feichtner from Ride Rats from Ride Snowboards on Vimeo.

While I'm giving props to everything Montafu here is a rider from St. Gallenkirch. Marco Feichtner deserves as much respect as he can get. I met him a few times in 2004-05 and everyone knew he was going places. Now look at the man....good ups Marco

Vancouver got about 3 inches of nice fluffy snow today..... hope its snowing in MN too

December already

Yeah that looks about right, the entire city covered in fog except the water and tops of the mountains. This is from Spanish Banks looking towards Stanley Park and with little glimpse of the Lions Gate.

Spanish Banks again, but looking up Horseshoe Bay towards Squam-bomb

Some park in Kits looking towards North Van

Kits Beach and downtown with a heron in the foreground fishing for dinner.

Climbed on some guys retaining wall to see over the garage, but well worth it.

Peeking through someone's backyard to snap a picture of downtown. Ahhhh Vancouver loves building with wood products (Glulam beams on the right).

Oh and Whistler opened... I will keep all negativity to myself. Lets just say this run should be open and all those bushes in the way aren't even two feet tall.

The fog was cool once we got above it.

This is an older picture, but I thought it was worth putting up. Standing on Grandville bridge over the Fraser River looking west.

Autumn in Vanny

HOME SWEET HOME

7731 Montcalm Street
Vancouver, BC V6P 4D1
We rent the lower right quarter of the house from a large Greek family. The entire extended family lives together, big ol European family style. The parents don't speak much english and the grandparents not a lick but the little kids love it.

Montcalm St. looking south towards Richmond
The neighborhood is called Marpole and consists mainly of middle class immigrants who love their gardens. The block is usually pretty calm with the occasional Lamborghini or police car flying by on Grandville or Park.

Typical nice car, house and garden (aka hedgework) combo all too often in this city.

Another typical Marpole/Kerrisdale street

The livingroom is where all the quality time takes place. The carpet and one lazyboy were given to us by the landlords but the rest came from thrift stores and allies. We have wall hangings from Bolivia, pictures from Romania and Austria, Lake Superior Agates, handmade furniture and bean bags; is there anything more classy than that combination?

My room: a queen size bed and enough floor space for a few loads of laundry.

This is where the real magic happens; the kitchen. The little hall way goes to our rooms and the bathroom.

Fall colors at the cliffs

The hidden spots to the northwest of campus are what make UBC what it is; unbelievable.

Sitting in the "hand of god"

From Queen Elizabeth Park on 33rd and Cambie looking towards North Vancouver.

Queen Elizabeth Park looking up Lynn Canyon and Seymour

Maybe a Japanese Maple or something of the sort

On the Faser River looking south towards the light polluted Richmond

The best part of living super far south is that we can walk to Costco and cab home. The fridge is full and it snowed a foot in Whis last week....hmmm I feel it coming

Deek's Heaven

Tyler preping the pack in the trailhead parking lot just off the Sea to Sky at Porteau Cove, 50km (30mi) from Vancouver.

Radu soaking up the views at the 6km (3.7mi) mark. The trail wasn't nearly as well kept as the Garibaldi hike we took earlier this year, but we also didn't see anyone this time around.

Radu and Tyler looking out towards Horseshoe Bay and the Sunshine Coastal Mountains.

The campsite viewpoint; to the right is the hut and left, the outhouse.

Awww, the hut, rustic yet still very civilized with a checker board carved into the table with tiny wood cookies as pieces.

The hut was built in the 90's for mainly winter use, or by lazy college kids in October. The ladder on the left goes to a cozy little loft.

Outcrop with a great view of the area, from here we headed up the scree....

The only sketchy part of the trip was climbing around all these loose rocks.

But well worth it

Gambier Island and Horseshoe Bay

Tyler and Radu

Looking north towards the Tantalus Mt. range

I google earthed the area we hiked and the town in the picture is called woodfibre, silly Canadians.

North again towards the Tantalus range

Awww morning light is the best

Tyler posted

View from the campsite

Outhouse view

I cam almost hear the snap, crackle and pop

Frozen pond in the morning

The outhouse

Deek's Mountain, all the good views we got were from those big rocky cliffs

Tyler taking the final steps

Then a sun set drive on th Sea to Sky back to Vanny