We’re stoked to be working on Field Notes, a new project we're going to be creating focusing on stories and adventures from the mountain with the crew.
No quad corks, no influencers, just the crew out there doing what we do, going on trips, telling stories, on our learning journey, and living the mountain life. We hope it’s interesting for you guys.
Hit play here and watch how it all went down.
"It kind of all came down to a moment where we either needed to go for it or clip it. The cloud had socked in, we would have just had enough time to get over there, drop in, get out, and get back over, so the call had to be made..."
Bogged
The trip started off all G: beautiful morning, cruisey start, nice drive up to the trailhead. Then I went to turn around and park, and I honestly can't believe it was ME that kooked it.
I grew up in the bush, farming, driving in all kinds of conditions, and I dropped my front wheels just over the wash drain doing a three-point turn. As soon as I did, I was like, 'Fuck. Are you serious?' Instantly so embarrassed and pissed off with myself.
I had a few cracks at driving out. It was sooo close, but not quite, and I was making a fair mess of the place. I was like, 'It'll be right, we'll just go and I'll sort this out after,' as we needed to get moving. Lucky for me, Mimi and Ben were like, 'Nah, let's sort this out now,' and thank god we did.
Future Mitch would have been very pissed at past Mitch if I'd needed to sort this out when we got back down, because I was GAAAAAASSSED.
Mint Condish... Kinda
So, "variable conditions" is a term we love in Aus to politely say it's pretty shit out. BUT, on this occasion they were actually variable, and bloody fun out... in the right spots. We first went over to scope the lines down Cairn Gully, which was sick last time we were up in similar conditions. This time, tidak bagus (not good). When we were riding over anything that wasn't in direct sun, it was fiiiirm. Anything in the shade was bullets!
There was like a couple of inches (dunno why I'm talking in inches, must be my inner Jeremy Jones coming out) of ice, and it was sketchy. It was very much "just make it down without dying" vibes.
At the bottom, when we were sitting at the edge of the sun and the shade, it was literally two completely different situations: one side bullets, the other buttery spring (in midwinter) goodness. We strapped on our crampons, which was a first for me and definitely Mimi's highlight of the day, then headed up to ride those sunny lines. They were great... thanks for asking.
On the way out, as soon as the shade came over, that delicious creamy corn turned to ice. Halfway up, Mimi may or may not have lost her footing and had a little slip, and her crampons, which were clipped to her backpack, may or may not have broken off and slid aaaalllllll the way back down to the bottom of the gully.
I was probably a bit of a jerk because I thought it was quite the lol, but in true Mimi fashion, she got down and boosted straight up the guts outta there, not too far behind us.
The Right Tools for the Job
Speaking of gear, when I started Yuki I didn't think we would be making outerwear, and I never thought that outerwear would be for scroggin munchers...
Fast forward a few years and here we are. Still winging it, making stuff and kinda doing good things by mistake. The Hot Lap jacket I designed as a light 3L shell for on the hill and off the hill.
Everyday vibes: rain jacket, surf check, coffee, dog walk, and for shredding on the weekend. I ended up putting it on in Japan last year before it was released, to give it a run in the pow and whilst touring. Boy, I can tell you, I have not taken it off. It's kinda sad coz I literally just live in it and a Slack Country puffer, both on and off the hill.
Pretty lame for a guy who owns a company that makes a bunch of stuff. My point is, though, it has been a lovely mistake. It's now my go-to jacket for touring as well. If it was super heavy weather I'd wear my Slack Country jacket, but for every other day I have been living in the Hot Lap, and of course the Slack Country pants for touring. Goddamn, those vents are just SO good.
Eugene – Who the Heck Is Eugene??
I'm glad you asked. Sometime during COVID (in one of the freedom bits), I boosted up home to Mt Stirling on a little solo trip to get some fresh air and hopefully a few turns.
From memory, I don't think I actually got any turns, but what I did get was a fellow companion in Bluff View Hut. A chilled old guy in his mid-50s, I reckon. We were milling about doing our thing, cooking dinner, and as you do, you get yarning. We start swapping stories about where we're from and what we do, then I start asking him more about what he'd gotten up to before this. I was thinking, if this guy is this age and still out here solo, snow camping, running away between lockdowns, he must have a few stories.
Turns out that feeling was right. For the next couple of hours, he told me about the best way to do a few little trips in Vic I'd been thinking about, his adventures in North America, and mountaineering in the Andes. I was so into it, I ended up asking for his number so I could contact him. I wrote it down in my journal and, like most things in my journal, I never looked at it again. But that experience has always inspired me.
One, he has just done so much. He was a normal guy, working at a local paper I think he said, but he had been on so many adventures in his life. And two, he's still out there! Still getting it. Even though it's just Mt Stirling, it doesn't matter. Still in the mountains, living it. It really left an impression on me.
Nothing fancy, just a real, humble, down-to-earth mountain man. I have often thought about Eugene and wondered where that journal was. Anyhow, while I was waiting for Mimi and Ben to skin up a face so I could film them, I was sitting talking to a couple of crew from POW (Protect Our Winters) when I saw this old guy walk past out of the corner of my eye, and I had a feeling.
I was like, surely not. An old dude. Ski boots on, telemark skis over his shoulder, bum bag strapped, boot packing straight up while everyone was skinning up around him... I waited for the crew to drop and got the shot. Then I pretty much ran straight up after them. Once I got within a couple of metres of their whole crew, I yelled out.
"G'day."
"Hi."
"Is that Eugene, by any chance?"
"Yeah, it is. Who's that?"...
We had a good old yarn. He definitely had zero idea who I was, but he was so frothy to chat nonetheless. Again, I was so inspired. Still out there getting it. No fancy stuff, no gimmicks. Just a dude doing his thing, frothing. Life goals for me. Thanks, Eugene. Oh yeah, I saw him later on and fanboyed him and got this pic. I think he was like, WTF is this weirdo doing? But anyway, I had to do it! Haha.
Milking It
I'm not sure if this happens to everyone, or if I just haven't spent enough time in the mountains, but every time I am in the mountains I'm in awe.
The sunrise, the rolling inversion clouds, the view of the valley, the hawk hovering overhead, the feeling of some kind of ancient and powerful energy. But the thing that tops it all off? Sharing it with mates.
Somehow, every time I'm like, wow, how good is this? Like I wasn't expecting it. I love it, and I love that it gets me every time. It's hard to get up there; it takes a bit of effort, but the reward is worth it every time. Plus, you get to take that reward home with you.
That feeling of being present. Connecting with nature and the real world. Disconnecting from the noise we tell ourselves is important. We take a little bit of that back with us, and it lingers for a while, a few days. Maybe a week or so if you're lucky, before the rat race starts to drag you back into the hustle.
We're so lucky we have the opportunity to do this in the country we live in. Plus, it's got snow! Maybe not as much as other places, but plenty enough to get out there and have a ball. Oh, and it's totally free. All you gotta do is get there.
Yeah, the boards, the gear, the fuel these days... yep, yep, yep, OK. But we've all spent a house deposit or two at the bar over our time, so it could be more about priorities. The point being, I honestly just think we are so lucky, and I, for one, forget that. It's not until you get out and experience a few moments that it puts so much in perspective.
Well, it does for me anyway.
This thing we put together is an experiment. A first try of a new project. We filmed it on our phones and 360 cams, then got a mate to edit it. We just wanted to do it. It might suck; it probably will, because it's the first one. But the main thing is just to get out there and do it, share it, and hopefully it connects with some of you.
I think now more than ever, we need to share what we love and the places we love and feel connected to. It's easy to fall into a digital world and get stuck in the soup. We want to provide some inspiration with this experiment, to see if we can get folks reconnected with their passions, taking action to book that trip, getting connected with nature and also getting connected with each other.
Make the call, organise the trip, get offline, be in the real world and share it with the people who make you happy.
– Mitch
