Alaskan Summer Adventures Part III

Going in deep with our guide Brad.

During our 2 week trip to Alaska Cody and I decided to break up our bountiful fishing adventures with some river rafting. We headed to 6 Mile Creek and met up with our buddy, Brad Cosgrove, and the NOVA rafting company crew. The river was running high, so high that we hadn't been able to go the week before because it was over the limit. Cody and I were excited to say the least, the more hair-raising the experience the better, no?! But a high river also meant that the water was going to be FRIGID. All that extra water was coming from the hundreds of inches of snow melting off the mountains. Brutal. I sound like a sissy but I'm telling you it was REALLY cold water and as the pictures demonstrate, we were taking a lot of it on. Holy cow we had a blast! There are three canyons that you raft through, and they're loaded with class IV and V rapids. Thanks so much NOVA! The crew were all really friendly and bad ass, which is a great combo in my book for a guided service. If you head to Alaska during the summer and are looking for an adrenaline filled experience go rafting with NOVA. It's totally worth it! CLICK HERE to check them out.

This was another group in the water with us. I don't know them but this picture is worth a thousands words, or maybe just a particular two- OH SHIT!

There's always another rapid coming up, hence Cody's happy face.

Going deep...

There's nothing quite like front row view when rafting, not that I can see much here.

Yeah! The fun never stops!

This rapid must have been so good it turned me into a Japanese anime character.

*Thanks to NOVA for providing these pictures

Alaskan Summer Adventures Part II

Hiking in to go fishing.

An Alaskan summer trip isn't complete without a fair amount of time devoted to fishing. Not that you have to twist my or Cody's arm to do so. In fact, it's one of the main reasons why we make the summer pilgrimage to a land best known in our world for its epic skiing. To the average tourist we must of looked silly on our plane flight up, between Cody and I we had 5 fishing rods (3 fly and 2 traditional casting) hanging off our backpacks and 6 reels tucked in our bags! With further inspection of the two of us we must have also looked very confident: we were lugging along a big, empty cooler that was waiting to be filled with fish for the trip back. This summer the fishing was on the tougher side, the fish were finicky and the most of the runs were down making catching fish for the idle nearly impossible. Sure, Alaska is teeming with it's wildlife but like anything else in the cycle of life the fish ebb and flow (pun intended). We were determined though. We put in our time and hard work and it paid off. We caught plenty of red salmon, a king each, and a few trout. For the trip home we actually needed a second cooler, not too shabby.

Amazingly this is the Russian River. If you hike far enough you can escape the crowds.

These little suckers sure are pretty.

Cody bringing in a Sockeye...

And now playing with his food. Air guitar to be exact.

My loot.

Cody filleting up the fish before we head back. Now this is what you call deliciously fresh sushi.

Yeah! Fishing in AK!

Cody happy to bring in his King Salmon.

And this is my King... it's tradition in the Saugstad family for the women to catch the biggest fish. Not going to complain about that good luck!

Check out the airtime the fish is catching during it's attempt to swim up the falls! And in this video I took... it's pretty awesome to watch the salmons' determination and skill to make it. All in the name of procreation.

Alaskan Summer Adventures Part I

The beautiful scenic drive along the Turnagain Arm from Anchorage to Girdwood at midnight

Once again it was that special time of year to head to Alaska for the annual family visit and fish trip. This particular year we tried to optimize our two weeks of king and red salmon fishing by arriving to the last frontier at solstice. We fished our little hearts out, but we did lots of other fun things as well. We started off with some nice weather and golf with my parents for Father's Day. We also boated, rafted, floated, camped, played with fire, blew up things, stayed up wayyyy too late every night because it's so light out, and everything else in between. The infinite light gives you lots of energy to Go Go Go! Here is the first update of photos...

Golfing with my Dad, Mark, on Father's Day

Cody getting a little light headed

Floating and fishing the Upper Kenai River with our pal, Nick Thomson.

The sun sets so late it's understandable when things get a little retarded, well, that's my excuse anyway.

The great thing is there are 4 more firework stands just like this one across the street and next door. Fireworks are one of the best inventions EVER. Oh I love Alaska.

Hanging out with hippies at the Girdwood Forest Fair, I've been doing it since I was a kid.

More Fun From Baja

Avy, relaxing at the beach

Hanging out with Frida in San Jose del Cabo

The "other view" in Baja

Going for that Baywatch photo, but I now realize a rash guard still covers up too much skin

Cody "living it up at the Hotel California, such a lovely place..."

A beautiful night of full moon bravado from our deck

There is every reason to smile when spending time in Mexico

BAJA!

Cody surfing Zippers

At the end of the ski season I headed down to San Jose del Cabo, Mexico with Cody for our annual de-thawing surf vacation. This time of year the East Cape of Baja sees a ton of swell, which is a great way to get into sufing shape for the summer real quick like. Not only did we have great surf, wonderfully warm weather, and plenty of cervezas to keep us refreshed, we also had a slew of other ski/snowboard buddies in the same area code with the same intentions. It made for a heck of a good time!

Oh I'm happy alright- Beach, check. Bikini, check. Beer, check. Relaxing between surf sessions, priceless.

Chris Benchetler getting some at La Roca.

Pep Fujas writing love letters, as you can see it's a fairly inspiring place.

Cody working on impressing his lady. I dig it.

Hanging at Las Olas, a place overrun with Squaw locals.

Plenty of animals to see in and out of the water.

The FUN crew hanging out on the East Cape: Chris, Kimmy Fasani, myself, Cody & Pep

Come Freeskiing with me in Las Lenas!

What a spectacle, Las Lenas

At the end of the summer most pros, ski bums and just plain ol' ski enthusiasts alike start to fiend for snow no matter how great their summer is going. I am no exception. Even as I find myself still thawing out from this past winter and look forward to spending a good amount of time in the ocean surfing, I am already eagerly planning my summer "winter" escape. This summer I have come across a unique opportunity to be a hostess/guide/coach/someone to ski with that will inspire one to try new things on skis at Las Lenas, Argentina. Skiing in Argentina in the summer is the best! The Freeski Las Lenas camp that I am hostessing is put on by Zekeseven, a European company. This particular camp is going to be a lot of fun, and there are plenty of reasons why. First off, one of the ideas of this camp is it will be very hands on, and the concept is that we will be emulating what it's like to be a pro skier. We will have a cameraman that will be with us, and I as the pro will be leading the group and giving the inside knowledge, aka tricks of the trade, to making a ski film. We will be putting together our very own ski movie. The cameraman will be Laurent Jamet, who is the producer/filmer of Garchois Productions, the French film company that I worked with this year on the upcoming movie Invincibles. This is not typical of a camp! The next great reason that is also not ordinary and I am rightfully thrilled about is at the end of the ski portion of the camp we will head to Mendoza wine country for 2 days of wine tasting and relaxing at Bodega Salentein. Third, the camp guests will be staying at the very poshy Virgo Hotel, a 5 star hotel that is a skip away from the lifts. So what more could you ask for in a big mountain ski camp? One of the world's top ski resorts with endless runs to ski- check! Great Argentinian food (beef) and wine (Malbec)- check! An experienced cinematographer to shoot us- check! Really nice accommodations- check! And a fun person leading the way (me!)- check! Sounds like a fabulous experience! I couldn't be more happy to be included, and if you are interested in joining this adventure in South America click HERE.

A few pictures from my last visit to Las Lenas in 2008...

SOOO many great options to ski around Lenas, this is just one of them

A sharky run, you can get as hairy as you like at Lenas

When the powder gets tracked the wind-buff is wonderful skiing, not to mention the lack of crowds

Did I mention already the abundance of skiing that is accessed by the Resort?!

I heard a little birdie say we might get in a helicopter as well. Oh the potential...