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These people came from Europe and all over the Western States - on airplanes and shit(!) - for a surprise party organized by the Liv. |
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| Most of the crew. I'm going to introduce a few of them here - if you're not below, then I couldn't find a photo of you so please send one asap! These people are all pretty awesome at what they do. I believe that most of them are on the Facebook machine if you want to stalk them further. And thanks to Loren for the photos! Please send us yours. |
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| The Heroins of October 31 2008. Their scheme worked flawlessly and with mechanical precision. Much love! Liv was the mastermind, and the executor of many Jedi mind tricks over the course of several months. She controls her brain, as well, follow the links, there's even some English: On the left, MC, who just freaking rules. |
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| Vas and Abby, more than a decade after I spied them both eyeing each other on campus at the University of Puget Sound... are now engaged. Vas and I have been skiing together and bumbling through life's challenges and pleasures more or less happily and successfully since we were 8 years old. Vas's younger brother Alexi peers between them. Vas is a pretty solid intermediate skier... ok, seriously now, Rob and I give him his share of respect these days. He deserves it. |
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| Pai Wei here (Rob Egdamin), on my left, is one of the best skiers you've never heard of. In fact - pick a sport, any sport... don't forget backcountry snowmachining and DH MTB. Steve, at far right, husband of MC, invents museum exhibits; check it out: |
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| Ellen and Mike Steen, at right, had just had just broken his back and had 8 vertebrae fused together just a few days before boarding his flight from Salt Lake City to San Francisco to be at the party. Impressive, to say the least... ok seriously now, that's a fucking heroic effort. Lucky for him, he and his nurse, Ellen, have completely hit it off, if you know what I mean. Go to and geek out, Mike's got flying skilz, most certainly. |
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| Carson Klein, at center, hails from Salt Lake City, where he spends most of his time speed flying, paragliding, BASE jumping, skydiving, and generally tearing the atmosphere to smithereens. and he's here too: |
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| Matt Combs and his Belle, Annie, from Jackson Hole. Matt has been paragliding since before I even knew that the sport existed, and he's pretty damn good at it. An authentic Jackson local, he knows how to slide on snow as well... check out www.jhparagliding.com. And check out videos of Matt flying at www.flyozone.com/downloads |
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| Jimmy Hopper, alias Lt. Dangle. A pimp in a kayak and a stud in a wingsuit, Jimmy can also knock a can on its ass from 40 paces with his sig sauer. 'Dead-eye Hopper', is how he is now known in France. Jimmy like totally runs shit over at North Face strategic marketing. |
Brook, the Bonnie to Jimmy's Clyde. She tracks with wingsuits (without a wingsuit) and can dispatch pumpkins from 70 paces with a high powered rifle, even with both eyes closed.
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| Gunnar Jeannette: Race Car Driver. Maybe the only true professional you have ever met. Sometimes Gunnar combines business with pleasure, for instance when he decided to hop on over to the Swiss Alps for a little BASE jumping with us after having raced in the 24 hours of Le Mans, France. |
Alex has been there for some pretty hilarious times in my life. He has witnessed immediate beginnings and bitter ends, and we have also found a few opportunities to enjoy the Alps together, on skis, under wings, and under the influence of much hilarity and other substances. Alex is (bad ass). |
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| John James - he fits into the 'new friends' category. Hilarious, as in non-stop funny. Enough said. |
Steve Mayer and Mike Steen are partners. You read it here first on www.matttg.com - more at |
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From left: Cade Palmer, a faction of the new school of speed riding. His skilz are so fresh and his sport is so new that there's no possible way to describe what he gets up to, but check out a preview at
Loren, at center, is an artist Enigmatic. Stalk him here: www.skivvies.com or here http://www.flickr.com/photos/skivvie/ Carson is center right, and we met JJ above. |
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| and Lita. This Big Wall Climbing specialist turned publishing magnate from Mill Valley spent a significant percentage of his life on El Capitan before dedicating himself to certain rapid descent techniques, and most recently, less rapid but highly elegant descent techniques. Liv and I may or may not have made it very far up El Capitan if it weren't for him. |
Dingo. A native of Papua New Guinea, the Dachstein Mountain range of eastern Austria, and the coastal wilds of California, Dingo's accent is impossible to pin down no matter where he is. Dingo excells at all airborne sports, from BASE to PG to HG, and is such a talented scuba instructor that he once gave me an open water certification in under 10 minutes. Find him on Facebook if you do that sort of thing. |
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| Alexi. A Horny smurf AND a B-Ball stud. Naturally. |
Annelisa giving Chris a hand. |
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| The Oligarchs. |
Rub. |
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| This is likely only the beginning of a far larger and more serious movement - one with energy, and momentum. Stay tuned, and thanks for coming. |
| If you missed it, then for some reason the organizers didn't have your email address or phone number for whatever reason... I can think of one or two... so much love to all! |
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