barreling for pixies..

There can't be many days a year Beliche looks this much like a lake...... just when i visit then!

Shame because it looks like a beautiful spot

red boat

Pretty idyllic view from a restaurant terrace at Salema in the Algarve. Pointed and shot between mouthfuls of fine fresh seafood washed down with vinho verde!

vemdalen

This is the top of the main lift out of the carpark in Vemdalen at about 9.30 am - it's a quiet resort as you can see.

This was my first trip to Sweden although i've wanted to go for a long time. The idea of how expensive it is stopped us for ages but given the pound/euro rates in the last couple of years, it's really not much different than a trip to the French alps. Unless you want to get drunk of course. Supermarket beer is about a pound a can but it's a max of 3.5%. Vemdalen is so small you have to put an order in with a local butcher 48hours in advance to get anything stronger sent over from the nearest proper town! Moral of the story is stock up in duty free!!

Vemdalen itself is little more than a couple of lifts, cafes and a ski shop and feels more like a tiny US ski hill than anything in Europe. Just like many US hills, it's quiet during the week and it's got a limited number of runs. The pistes are kept in excellent condition, real corduroy groomers which stay firm but not icy no matter how long ago it snowed. I think this is because the top layer never melts and refreezes because of the prevailing low temperatures. Geilo last year and here definately had the best on-piste conditions ive seen since we last went to Tahoe!

The mountains themselves are low, looking more like rolling tundra than craggy mountains so nowhere is that steep and there aren't any real cliffs to fall off by accident. Avalanche risk stays pretty low too and the forests between the runs are made up of pretty widely spaced trees. If it snows, all this adds up to really fun, easily accessible, safe off-piste that doesn't get tracked out very quickly. The resort was nearly a metre down on it's usual mid january base and i still had face shots in the trees and some really good pow turns, even if i did get told off for cutting through a lift line by the ski patrol!

There's some good natural hits and i'm told it's even better with more snow. Park wise, theres a small one but it's definately not the focus for the lift company and geilo in norway last year was much better set up for that. On the down side it is small and as a resort definately suited to learning to ski or snowboard rather than a place to put the miles in. I did every run on the hill with the Neilson rep in two hours! Admittedly we weren't hanging about but still!

It is a good place for families, youngsters will progress well and it's quiet. Look elsewhere if you want to party hard though!

end of a long, happy, day....

score draw

Two pictures taken within seconds of each other, one with the lc-a, the other with my pentax digital compact. For once i can't decide if i prefer the analogue or the digital version!

fun things in small packages

First off, if you are near Bristol today, Andy Haworth is showing (and selling) his "for charridy mate" surf film "Devon Lanes and Longboards" at the surf show. Not sure what time but it's today at the Anson Rooms, check the link for details, check the post below for a little about the film.

 Obviously it's not cool to froth about tiny surf (is it Ramon :-), nor is it currently cool to ride an SUP but i have to admit to enjoying both on occasion. The last couple of days the waves have been barely rideable at the stage of tide i've been free and probably with just a longboard i might not have bothered but the trusty, fantastic plastic popout takayama sup has yielded some much needed fun for a couple of hours. At least it's helped wash some of that volcanic ash off & the travel stress it caused us.

I hope anyone else that got stuck is on their way back soon.

The pics are with our new little waterproof pentax optio digital compact. I'm still struggling a little with the settings but it's been a fun experiment so far.

summer is coming.....

along with millions of kooks no doubt!

coulda, shoulda, woulda...

I often feel my surfing life is filled with near misses and if onlys. I am lucky that i get to surf quite a bit but i am generally limited to the closest beach and whatever stage of the tide it happens to be when i engineer a slot to go. Consequently i am often left feeling like it would have been better an hour ago or a couple of hours later or just round the corner or.......

Today had the right ingredients just the wrong mix, sunny offshore, few people but not quite enough swell and more than enough wind. It left me thinking how much the wind changes the shape and nature of our beachbreak waves. This spot is usually one of the mushiest breaks on the coast.

Least i got to try out the new family snapshot point and shoot pentax which just happens to be waterproof too! Of course that had nothing to do with my choice of model :-)