Whiswerrr

There are trips that are planned out months ahead of time and every situation is pre-conceived and mapped out. There are also the spur of the moment trips where planning comes last and all the happenings of the trip just fall into place. This was one of those trips.

  Osoyoos on the way to Whistler. Before entering the storm. Photo ~ Matt Montandon

The weekend was a short trip to Whistler and the only plan being to get together with the boys Mason, Paul, Stephen and Matt D to get footage for a Team video that was released at Silver Star for AIRprentice. After getting let off work early I pinned it home to get ready and see if I was going to have the company of my friend Africa Dan for the trip. I got home to the happy hyper hollers of an espresso-jacked Dan, stoked to have got work off for the weekend. The two of us packed up our stuff into the Golden Rocket and set off for what we thought would be a cruisy drive to Vancouver. Little did we know we would be caught driving through the WORST conditions imaginable. Okay, maybe not quite but it was friggin sketchy! Hydroplaning into corners masked by a layer of fog guided only by the road lines is not my idea of a cruisy drive.

  Rod Rudiger likes a cruisy drive. He also likes his tube steak cooked one way and one way only. Photo ~ Matt Dennison

After being tailgated by some pecker head with his high beams on and nearly smashing a full sized female moose we had finally arrived in Vancouver where Mikey Brothers put us up for the night. A short but sweet drive up the 99 the next morning took us to bike land BC… Whiswerrr. Running into old friends, cold patio beers and a meeting with the boys to plan out our Sunday Film Day took up Saturday. A classic night in Whistler with old and new friends was the perfect way to lose some sleep before film day.

  The lift lines provide a sleep-deprived Rod with opportunities… Photo ~ Matt Dennison

On the morning of Sunday the 24th, four strapping young bachelors stuck in the 80’s resorted to a video dating service to look for the girls of their dreams. There was Richard Sizzler AKA the ‘Sizzler Diddler’ trying to smoke inside. A flurry of muscle flexes from the ultra-fit Anthony Jones. A Mick Regis unimpressed with the difficulty of Downhill Domination and a hot dog connoisseur Rod Rudiger AKA the ‘The Hard Rod’. After pouring their hearts out on camera the four soul searchers hit up the bike park and some of its gems. Chasing the gang down the mountain all afternoon made it feel like winter didn’t even happen and I was still riding park every day.

  But Rod… err… Matt’s real prowess is in the air. Schleyer/Joyride entrance, following his NSMB Team bros. Photo ~ Matt Dennison

While filming on A-Line I became blinded with excitement and tried spinning a jump before I even had the chance to think whether it was a good idea or not. Over rotating to a heavy foot dab resulted in a sub-luxed patella and a tube exploding out of an off-bead tire. Thankfully it was near the end of our shooting session and I didn’t miss out on too much. You live and you learn. My physio guru Anna tells me I should be good to go in a few weeks. Thumbs up.

  No foot can you trick the bike park?

A nice deep couch sleep after a very eventful day was all that was needed before the long drive back to the Kootenays. This weekend I learned not to get ahead of myself and not to let my emotions – good or bad – cloud my good judgment. The moral of this story is if you’ve got your friends, a bike and some righteous 80’s hair you’re bound to have a good time.

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The loose cannon. You know Matt Montandon gets into all kinds of trouble… and we want to hear about it. Let him know in the comments if you’d also like to hear about his misadventures.