KAUAI 2009 I was skiing so hard and was so broken at the end of the year that I would disappear to places like Kauai, Indonesia or the Caribbean for long periods afterward. I would ski until the end of May, put my ski stuff away, and leave to the tropics within two days. The transitions were crucial and extreme, but there was a sense of relief there, and you get familiar with it after a while. In the Spring of 2009 I was so free-spirited and open to life. But while that stay on Kauai was beautiful, I was also torn up by chronic pain and where my career and lifestyle were going. At that time, I had already broken my femur and pelvis, cracked three ribs, punctured a lung in one fall, and blew an ACL the following season. I had rods and bolts in my leg. I was torn between surrendering that mountain dream and living this other dream and lifestyle as a surfer and traveling nomad. It was always so much easier to be in that way, and healing for me. Still the mountains always called me back. Here I was reconnecting with my camera and myself. I didn’t often take self-timer shots, but the shadow on the wall caught my attention, and I was trying out a new 50mm lens. The avocado, well, that was a prop of circumstance during a moment of introspection. 064 The Ski Journal
The Ski Journal Volume 15, Issue 3: Page 64
