The powder train didn't stop...

It's currently raining at my house, and after a week of hot weather, it seems the powder train has taken a different course. In Utah, we hopped on just before Christmas, and we've been riding that train every day since then. A great start to the winter, although with a complex snowpack always on our mind, we looked for safety in the trees. Steep skiing season is upon us, but I sure hope this thing keeps on chugging. We need the water, and a few more deep days.

Steelhead and Spines - Volume Two

"In the spring of 2015, we began another pursuit for big lines and wild fish. Once again, our direction was north to Alaska, just as it was 3 years ago on our first trip to capture steelhead and spines. Since then, our burning desire to explore around the next bend, to see what's on the other side of the mountain, has grown to an inextinguishable level. We found ourselves back in a corner of southeast Alaska where for a few months of the year, some of the steepest, fluted lines in the world can be ridden, while chromed out steelhead run up and down the coastal rivers. This is the place for us to step outside the bubble of modern society, and into a world of our own making, where skiing and fishing and camping is everything. We returned home with these images, and memories of battling storms and mountains on the glacier and of an island where pure fish swim beneath the old growth hemlocks."

             

              (click images for full size)

           

       

 

Is this thing still on? Follow cams and Warren Miller...

Ok, I haven't shared anything on here in quite some time. I'm definitely feeling the effects of an aging website platform. Expired photo galleries and the need to liven things up a bit has me thinking it's time for a major upgrade. I've got some ideas to take this show into the future, but that is a battle I'm going to continue to put off for now. So, this is my little slice of the internet for now. Here are a few videos...



^ Last winter wasn't spectacular in Utah. It was better than California though, that's for sure. I wish we could have sent a few storms their way, to keep the spirits up if nothing more. Anyways, It doesn't take much for me these days to have fun in the mountains. We scored some awesome days at home this year with great stability. What more could you ask for other than more of it?


^ Speaking of awesome days at home in Utah, the Warren Miller movie, Chasing Shadows, will premiere this weekend in SLC and continue to play around the world. Look for a screening near you, here:  http://www.skinet.com/warrenmiller/events 
Neil and I spent about 5 days filming with these guys around the Wasatch, hitting some of our favorite classics. We also got hit with the best storm of the year that week which made for some really nice conditions. And, they put us up in the Cliff lodge, which kicked ass. It was like a vacation!

Good skiing in Utah lately...

A storm arrived around Christmas time and delivered a much needed coat of fresh snow for the mountains of Utah. Things have been filling in nicely ever since. In the last few weeks, I've skied a lot of powder, some of it better than anything I've had in Utah in years. Granted, the last few years have kinda sucked around these parts, so I've been gone a lot. It sure does feel nice to be skiing pow again in our own backyard. Some photos that my brother Neil and I have shot lately.....

^ It got cold for a little while, and deep.

^ we found solitude and untracked deepness in the Uintas

^ Neil doesn't mind grinding out a few thousand feet of Wasatch wiggles

^Trent and his pops. Father and son Wiggles. Bruce laid down an epic figure eight.

^deep, blower pow for Neil

^ Jonny G, the Uinta snow scientist taking pictures of crystals and stuff

^ Aspen trees catching the glow from the first few moments of sunshine. 

^ Mt. Raymond

^Had a great bluebird day with our friend, Nick Russell, hitting lines off Raymond Peak. Huge smiles all day!!!

#filmisdead

^ Watching my brother slash turns between the sharp rock fins of Raymond's east face

^ Nick Russell following my track because he liked how I worked those waves!

^ Even on a down day, I can't help myself from heading into our backyard for some powsurf laps.

The Forgotten Trails of the Uintas

One of the most stimulating adventures I've ever done, right here in my backyard, the Uinta mountains. Alongside my brother Neil and Eric Porter, we used mountain bikes to access 4 different trout streams along the north slope, creating a loop out of dirt roads, game trails, and long forgotten single track, camping along the way. Agonizing stretches of non-existing trail and deadfall, hurdling our bikes and heavy packs over no less than 200 trees, led to some beautiful lengths of uninterrupted and largely unridden single track. At the end of each descent was a trout filled creek. I can't think of much else that makes me happier in life. Fly-fishing, mountain biking, backpacking, getting lost with your friends and exploring new routes, wild, fresh caught fish over the coals with grandmas fish spice? What more?

Check out the video below, and pick up a copy of the December adventure issue of FREEHUB MAGAZINE to read the full story from Porter, and see the photos in print. 

Mountain bike Selfie

Back in the day, they used to be called self portraits. Nowadays they call em selfies. This one was taken with a Canon 5D Mark III and a custom chest harness while out on the trails in Park City this week.

What Kind of Meat? - A fly fishing and mountain adventure to Bolivia

   I never would have thought we'd make it to Bolivia when we did. It was a rather spontaneous decision to drop everything and invest it all into something my brother and I have dreamed about for years. Bringing a dream to reality, executing it successfully having researched only enough to do it safely, but leaving plenty of mystery to keep the adventure pure, that is our approach. We made a film that shows our passion and dedication to fly-fishing, in one of the most exotic and threatened locations on earth, the Amazon. We camped in the Cordillera Real, where snow from the 20,000' peaks feeds the great Amazon basin, and had our first experience at high altitude.  It turns out that Bolivia really is an adventurers paradise. From the mountaineering, backpacking, biking, skiing, to the fishing, it's hard to imagine anywhere else in the world where these outdoor pursuits exist on a greater scale, in such close proximity to one another. It's an incredibly fulfilling and organic experience to go from an idea to a film, something thats tangible, something that I can share with others, instead of keeping the memories locked up in my brain. Anyways, I think it's worth sharing. I hope you enjoy :)





If you're interested in a Golden Dorado fishing expedition to the Bolivian Amazon, contact our friends Patrick and Federico from Angling Frontiers, they will take you on the trip of a life time : https://www.facebook.com/anglingfrontiers

Sunsets in Nicaragua... and waves

   Looking back on my first month long trip to Nicaragua, I have to say, at times it was pretty rough. On day 4,  I was coming out of the water after catching what had been at the time, the best wave of my life, only to get attacked by a sting ray. 4 more steps and I would have made it safely to shore, but no, the prehistoric animal stabbed me through the foot with his razor sharp, bacteria infested barb. At that point the most painful 4 hour experience of my life commenced as the poison pulsed through my leg. I was out for a week and a half, couldn't surf, and I thought my vacation was ruined. Eventually the infection began to dissipate and the gaping hole in my foot started to close up. I was able to get back into the water and surf, finally. More than five weeks later and my foot still hurts, and its still infected.

   Other than the bloody sting ray attack, the waves went flat for a short time. Mostly during the period when I was healing my foot which was ok with me, but still, that usually never happens. In a place known for having the most consistent surf in the world, it was kind of shitty. But for someone like myself who still doesn't know any better, it was awesome. Besides, when the big swells hit I can't surf those waves yet anyhow. 

   And then there was the fishing. We didn't catch a single fish on the fly on our trip. It was a huge let down. I went to Nica thinking we were just going to kill it! The locals said we were bad luck, but I think that someone told the fish that the Provo bros were coming and they all fled. But seriously, even the locals were catching jack shit. Even the seafood restaurants on the beaches of the pacific, at times had zero fresh fish to serve. Unseasonably cold water and relentless offshore winds were really to blame for our poor showing. But it was not for a lack of trying. We still cruised the beaches looking for Rooster fish, casted off the rocks hoping to lure in a big Cubera snapper, and headed to blue water in hopes of finding sail fish and Dorado on a bait ball. I will still bring my fishing gear every time I visit, because I know there is good fishing to be had in Nicaragua, it may just take a little time to discover. 

Here are some images from the Playa Santana area:

(click on the images for larger viewing)

Popoyo outer-reef on July 5th. Barreling 

At this point we figured we weren't going to be catching shit. But, you gotta get your bait in the water if you want to have even the slightest chance. As long as the wind was calm, it was a beautiful place to cast a fly rod

Toña tour of Grenada

15th century colonial architecture in Grenada

every night was a different sunset 

my incredibly sexy girlfriend

my older brother Justin showing us how its done

finding a moment for myself

tidal pools reflecting color at Playa Santana

Land of the lefts, land of the volcanoes, land of the offshore wind, etc etc.. Sunset land?

the end of another epic session with my bros