• Travel

    Snowbasin, UT

    Strawberry Peak How did I come to be riding in Utah, at Snowbasin? My goal was to ride Jackson Hole, in Wyoming. Well it comes down to research, Jackson Hole airport isn’t exactly an American Airlines hub, however Salt Lake City is a more common flight route, and therefore cheaper to fly into. The savings from flying into Salt Lake  City I could put towards a three night stay in Ogden, UT, where I could then achieve my favourite thing, riding a new mountain. Ogden has plenty of history in the frontier days. Originally residing in Mexico, it became the first European settlement in Utah, and a rail hub in…

  • Travel

    Stratton, VT

    Tamarack The Drive A weekend roadtrip up to Stratton, VT with some friends sounded like a good idea. A six hour drive from Philadelphia, we thought it best to leave at 5pm on a Friday. Arriving around mid night as I was carpooling the driver was getting tired, so I took over for the final hour. I was also pretty tired, but still more alert as I hadn’t been driving the last five hours. Well soon after the car owner went to sleep it started to snow, the roads hadn’t been re-salted and the fog was coming in. This would be the first time I drove in the snow, luckily…

  • Travel

    Blue Mountain, PA

    Challenge Express Lift It’s the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, and the USA is killing it. What has this got to do with a small ski resort in lower Pennsylvania? While I didn’t have a long weekend due to Presidents Day on the 19th, it seems many others did. Many others. A decent snow storm came through on the 17th, with 6 inches of fresh powder. These three factors combined into what amounted to be lift lines around one hour long. Lines so long that Blue Mountain stopped selling lift passes before lunch time. Traffic jams that blocked the access roads and the carparks, no one could get in or…

  • Travel

    Superbowl LII

    Superbowl LII-Broad St The Eagles win their first Super Bowl in 2018. The celebrations post game, the next morning, and the parade. February, 2018 Superbowl LII-Road Block Superbowl LII-Locust and Broad St Superbowl LII-Broad St Superbowl LII-Broad St Wawa Superbowl LII-Walnut and Broad St Superbowl LII-Locust and 13th St Superbowl LII-13th St Superbowl LII-Grease Pole Superbowl LII-Chestnut and 17th St Superbowl LII-Chestnut and 17th St Superbowl LII-Break-in Superbowl LII-Boarding Windows Superbowl LII-Broad St before the Parade Superbowl LII-Market and 15th St Superbowl LII-Trophy with Wentz Superbowl LII-City Hall Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Link

  • Automotive,  Travel

    Belleayre, NY

    Below Lift 7 at Overlook Lodge History The year is 1839 and Stephen Van Rensselaer III has died. Stephen was the landowner of Rensselaeswyck and collected rents in a very lenient fashion allowing rents to be in arrears when tenets were unable to pay in full. When the Van Rensselaer heirs went to collect the outstanding rents, causing a revolt that lasted until 1845. Belleayre in the Catskills was once such location where the Rent Wars occurred. Fast-forward to 2018 and I’m here to go snowboarding with some buddies. Belleayre is a smaller resort owned by New York State. Since it doesn’t have a big name it’s not very crowded…

  • Travel

    Sugarloaf, ME

    Sugarloaf Ski Resort Absolute zero, -273.15° C (-459.67° F), how cold does this feel? I’m not 100% certain, but I got part of the way there when I rode Sugarloaf during the 2018 New Year. Negative twenty six degrees Celsius (-15° F) is the official number. The lifties kindly kept us updated during the day, -55° C (-75° F) was the coldest I saw on one of their whiteboards. Whether that included a windchill factor I’m not certain. Given the averages for that time of year is between -9° to 0° C (16° to 31° F) it was a bit unusual. The Drive This trip was a roadtrip with friends.…

  • Food & Drink

    Islay, Scotland

    Laphroaig-Kettles Ishga Baugh, the water of life. The Island of Islay, it may not be the birthplace of Whisky, but it sure is the best place for peated whisky. With a choice of many proud names still active on Islay such as Ardbeg, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Coal Ila, Kilchoman, Lagavulin, and my favourite, Laphroaig. There are a few new names joining the scene here, but there are plenty of names that are no longer in operation. On this trip we visited Laphroaig, Ardbeg and, Lagavulin, as well as doing a small hike in the afternoon. Laphroaig Distillers Tour Laphroaig was the first stop, and I had signed us up for the…

  • Travel

    The Three Sisters

    Glencoe: The Three Sisters Bidean nam Bian, the Scottish name for the Three Sisters. Named one of the best views in the United Kingdom, this area also has a lot of history. The Three Sisters are located in an area once owned by Clan Macdonald. Coire Gabhail was used as an area to hide their livestock they owned, or stole. Clan Campbell commonly had feuds with Clan Macdonald and in 1692 the Massacre of Glencoe occurred.   We hiked up a trail called the Coire Gabhail, The Lost Valley. Walking Highlands has a well laid out description and details of the hike. Once we arrived at the stream we decided…