Halloween... (part one) (day time adventures)

The mountain man...

A Russian, a crazy mountaineer, a Columbian farmer, and a Peruvian witch doctor... These were my companions on our Halloween trek through the haunted mountains of Alpine Meadows!  We crossed rivers, and streams, jumped over crevasses and bottomless holes, we fought off Mountain Lions and ghouls and ghosts.. and trudged through the deep Halloween snow, with our fearless leader, Bella the devil dog (not just because it was Halloween but because she is actually a bit crazy in the head)  leading the way! 

The Colombian farmer... devil dog trudging forward

and the Peruvian Witch Doctor with the Russian ascending the haunted path..

The crazed mountaineer crazily dreaming of the next crazy conquest...

Entering the deep snow and jumping over crevasses in the enchanted forest...

The Columbian farmers first encounter with snow!

Always be on the lookout for the crazed mountain man... (devil dog in background...)

The mountaineers craziness stems from the desire to reach this spot.. the Summit!

I think that the Columbian and the Russian like each other...

The Peruvian witch doctor escapes passing through the evil granite boulders

Tree House!!!

I'll keep the location secret, but this shot was taken on the walk out...

There is this legendary tree house in Alpine Meadows built in an ancient Juniper Tree that splits in three ways from its base and is the perfect tree for a house! It was first built up about 20 years ago by some Alpine Meadows locals, and now it is seeing a huge facelift!  I grew up going out to this tree house back in the day and yeah its cool to go back there and make it better!  Bryce Bennett, Max Hall, and a bunch of their friends have put in a ton of work on it over the last few weeks, so today I decided to go check out the ol' fort!

The crew up on the main level

Max Hall trying to figure out what to do next... That ladder goes from the first floor to the second!

They even have a hinged skylight in the roof!

In the main room..

Working on the second level

Looking back down into the main room

Bryce trying to figure out how to build a wall... I'm surprised that these guys have been able to build so much as they seem to always disagree on how to do it... haha it was entertaining watching this

Unofficial Squaw

So this upcoming season I am excited to announce that I will be working with the Unofficialsquaw.com guys posting on their web site and sharing my adventures this winter strait from the World Cup circuit! The Unofficialsquaw.com people are all about enjoying the mountains on a pair of skis in the company of good friends and sharing these adventures with other people!  Skiing is one of the most fun activities there is to do in the world and through Unofficlasquaw.com and my blog I hope to share that "good vibe" skiing brings with everyone! Check out their website and get excited!  I cant wait for those lifts to start spinning!

The Unofficialsqauw.com ski team =  Kick-Ass Blasters!

Our home... Squaw Valley, Ca

"Foam Liner Day" at the Start Haus

Today I went to the Start Haus in Truckee to meet up with Jake Strassburger from Atomic and get some foam liners built!  I don't know how many people have done this, but let me tell you, it was painful! You put a plastic "cup" around your toes, and then shove that along with some other materials into your liner.

Then your liner goes into the boot, and they inject this expanding hot foam into the liner and buckle the boot down tight.  You have to stand there for 10 agonizing minutes pushing down into the heel of your boot for the foam to set up.

By the end my face had turned red, and my toes had turned white from lack of blood flow, but looking down the road, having these tighter liners could make all the difference regarding the performance of my boots on the World Cup this year.  I can manage a little pain for that!

 The Start Haus was also having there "Race Day", so I spent some of the day doing a radio interview for 101.5, as well as discussing boot "secrets" with Daron Rahlves.  He gave me some tricks that helped him with his boot set up back when he was dominating the Downhill and Super G circuit! Sorry I can't elaborate any more on that one! All in all it was a fun day! Now I am really ready for winter.

Interview with 101.5

J.D. Hoss throwing out the questions

Getting some priceless advice from a legend- Daron Rahlves

Home sweet home...

Tecnicas

Its so nice to be home right now. The colors are changing, the weather is getting colder, and its great to spend some time with family and friends before I leave for the winter.  I've also had some time to organize my life and do a little "fall" cleaning.  Turns out I had 10 pairs of Tecnica boots sitting in my basement... I felt like it was time to let those go, and official start the "Atomic" chapter of my life, so I threw them away! I had spent a lot of time with all of those boots and I had skied down many mountains all around the world with them on my feet. There were many memories attached to them.  But it turns out that I am much happier and excited for the future with Atomic! Haha...

These boots saw some action- Powder days at Squaw, my first Nor-Am win, World Junior Championships, and many jumps off many cliffs! Good times!

Out with the old....

...and in with the new! I'm sure that these boots will take me to some amazing places this winter!

Road bike ride to Blue Lakes with my Dad.  This shot was taken with my new HD Go Pro helmet cam!

Sailing on Tahoe with my brother Derek! 

Hanging out with my older sister Ali! 

Marie and I hot tubing with Sombreros....who needs an umbrella when you could look awesome wearing one of these!

World Cup Photos from Last Season

Kvitfjell Downhill

Right now I am at home for my last two week break before the season starts.  My days are filled with hours in the gym (as its my last chance to get strong before the season), some time doing physical therapy, and trying to rest as much as possible.  I found these photos today online from last season on the world cup!  I cant wait to start racing again. Ill have to wait for the Lake Lousie Downhill at the end of November.  Also, my sisters have been nice enough to start designing a "Go Trav" scarf!  They hopefully will be ready for Beaver Creek. Tell me what you think!

Kvitfjell SG.  My first time scoring World Cup Points!

Another Super G photo from Kvitfjell

Possible design!  What do you think? I'm up for suggestions...

Eric Fisher, Marco Sullivan, and me getting ready for some Super G training. 

New Zealand Slow-mo "High Speed" Video

Here is a compilation of Downhill Super G and Giant Slalom skiing from our training camp in New Zealand last month. The coaches were using a special "high speed" camera, to get slow-motion video of us to see what our skis were doing and how we were rolling our boots/skis into each turn! Things look a lot different when you slow it down! Enjoy.
Travis Ganong

Backyard Adventures- Powder Skiing Tahoe

Winter is on its way, and I'm sure that everyone is starting to get excited! Its been raining/snowing here in Tahoe for the last 5 days and people have already started making turns on the higher peaks in the Tahoe Basin! (See Unofficialsquaw.com) Here is a little video from a few years back when conditions behind my house were officially epic!

New Zealand Recap

So our southern hemisphere skiing season has come to and end.  This summer my team had two trips down to New Zealand. The first trip was a more tech oriented camp, with a GS focus and we all got a lot of work done.  The second camp was at Mt. Hutt where we tried to ski DH.  The weather was tricky for the entire trip up there, but in the end, the last three days we were there, the weather cleared, it got cold, and we were able to train some world class downhill!  It was a lot of fun.

Now Im back in Tahoe for one more month of "dryland" training before the season kicks into gear.  This month is the last big step in getting strong and ready for the World Cup tour.  I will be heading to Colorado on November 4th to start training again at Vail and Copper Mountain on snow, and then it is game on after that!  Here are a few photos from our time in New Zealand!

Marie and I in Queenstown

Coronet Peak above the morning clouds

An unfortunate rabbit

Kiwi bird marking my weight getting ready for the Canyon Swing! 

The canyon swing...

Fired up after the first jump.. Getting ready for the second!

Mt. Hutt

Lake Tekapo, on the drive between Coronet Peak and Mt. Hutt