crankworx 2011

We undertook the annual pilgrimage to Whistler to see the Slope Style competition at Crankworx - a festival of carnage and ball crunching.




This 15 year old kid was a local wild-card entry, and we are thankful that he survived the event to ride another day! A few seconds after this video was taken, he had an almighty crash. When asked how he felt over, he responded "my balls hurt".





















Leighton and ro in amongst the crowd



















A short gondola ride away above crankworx is an amazing panorama of mountains, still with snow....and yes, skiers. A cool summer has meant that the snow is still around in abundance.



















A black bear eating grass - not an unusual sight on the slopes of Whistler.
We did see a much rarer but sadly unphotographed animal on the same trip - a Bobcat: on the prowl, roaming between wooded areas.

tyax - wilderness resort

250 km north of Vancouver in the South Chilcotin mountains
Float plane assisted cycling and fishing in the summer, heli-skiing in the winter, hunting all year round.
We took the opportunity of the BC Day public holiday to make the great escape north to do a bit of adventuring. Our main goal of-course was to undertake the spruce lake riding tour, which included a float plane trip from Tyaughton Lake (at the resort) up to Spruce Lake at a higher elevation.
Once at Spruce Lake, all we had to do was ride home through a magnificent valley surrounded by naturally occuring meadows and snow capped mountains...not a bad ride!
























Leighton attaching the bikes to the back of Gonzo using hi-tech bike rack technology



















Float plane swooping in to collect us and the bikes.
The plane is a Beaver, and is over 50 years old...i wouldn't have got in had i known that!



















View from the float plane of the mountains - absolutely stunning!

























Vista along route





















Leighton in the meadows: native wildflower include: lupins (blue); indian paintbrush (red), native lilly (yellow)



















Lake Duffy on drive home from Tyax