Travis Rice on Justin Timberlake.com

"Travis Rice is the type of dude who can make linebacker-sized men pee themselves and/or scream like girls. After all, the US Open/X-Games/Icer Air medal-winning snowboarder is commonly known for doing jaw-dropping stuff like this........and making it look easy"

Check out the full interview and more photos here.

Olympic Halfpipe Venue Looking Bad.

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Winter Games officials have given up on any help from Mother Nature and will now be trucking in snow for the freestyle skiing and snowboarding events at Cypress Mountain, on Vancouver's North Shore. The forecast for the week ahead suggests that there will be no new snow for the mountain, nor will it get cold enough to allow them to make any, the organizers said Wednesday after their final board meeting before next month's Games. "We are planning that we will not have snow," said Cathy Priestner Allinger, executive vice-president of sport and Games operations for the organizing committee, known as VANOC. Contingency plans are now being rolled out which include using straw and wood to take the place of snow to build the base for the courses. But Priestner Allinger says they believe there is enough snow elsewhere on the mountain and they will use trucks, snow cats and if necessary helicopters to move snow to the event sites. "We are going to create a fantastic field of play and we are just doing it a little differently than we had originally planned," she said.

These are the grandstands for the halfpipe event.

Can we still deny global warming?

After you factor in the price for this helicopter, just image the cost for each bail of hay.

Dr. Seuss Re-Visited

Back in 2007 I was lucky enough to have the chance to shoot with Jeremy Jones up in Alaska. While flying around looking for lines that he wanted to ride we stumbled upon this feature, later to be named Dr. Seuss, that had never been riden before. Now we all know that Jeremy is nuts when it comes to the lines that he decides to ride, and I'm fine with that because he truly knows his own ability. What scares me is when he started making decisions of where to drop off the photographer and filmer. Check out the video for what I'm talking about.

Safe in my personal Alaskian IMAX theatre, as long as I don't move.

Jeremy Jones finding his own way down.

They call this a tow in, any gust of wind and all hell breaks loose.

Pioneering a new Canadian wave with Raph Bruhwiler

Canadian professional surfer Raph Bruhwiler discovered what could be the next best wave on the west coast of Canada using Google Earth, but it wasn't until last week when he assembled a group of surfers to find out for sure. With two pickup trucks loaded with all the surf, camping and camera gear needed, we headed to the farthest north west region of Vancouver Island, through heavy rain, snow and hail, miles and miles away from civilization in hopes of coming home with a story of huge perfect surf.

Just a few hours into the 12 hour journey, we had our first minor set back. We just hoped that the heavy rain would only bring down trees and not wash away our access to and from the region leaving us stranded from any kind of assistance.

When searching for the best place to set up base camp, we came across this boot, proving that when you're this far out there, you must respect the locals.

Our base camp which Raph helped to clear, gave us shivering reminders of the Blair Witch Project.

From the logging road we had to find our own way to the beach and there was no easy way down. With a wetsuit and board Raph leads the way.

Almost there, Raph and Jens get first glimpse of what could be a perfect left and right hand point break. Photographed here is the inside section of the right.

Our crew, tired wet and sweaty, watch the ocean for set waves. It didn't take long to realize that the 20 foot swell on the outside was just not making it in to where we were. Next time, we wait for a huge swell from a different direction.

After hours of searching for a route to the beach, finding it along with unsurfable waves, I finally made it back up to base camp. Not all that stoked right now.

With no surf on this trip, our mission quickly took a right turn, leaving Raph excited to blast anything in his sights.

Raph bagged this deer on the way home.

Raph Bruhwiler surfs with Olympic Torch

Hate 'em or love 'em, the 2010 Olympics are almost here and last week the torch relay kicked off on the west coast of Canada. My buddy and professional surfer Raph Bruhwiler from Tofino, BC was asked to run with the torch. He denied, but instead offered to surf with it. At first the Olympic committee said that this would not happen, the torch has never been in the water before and this stunt just didn't seem possible to them. After some time passed, they called him back and said they would like him to do it.

Peter Devries wins O'neill Cold Water Classic

Local Canadian wildcard Peter Devries won the O'neill Cold Water Classic Canada in an energy fuelled final-both in the water and out-against World Tour surfer Jay Thompson in what was a fairytale ending to a week on the wild edges of Canada in Tofino, BC. It was a story that could almost have been a Hollywood script. Pete started the week as one of the Canadian wildcards in this 6 star ASP WQS competition. Thousands of people lined the beach to support Pete-as well as the rest of the surfers-for the final day of this competition-the first professional surf contest in Canada. After being carried up the beach to the award ceremony by hoards of friends and supporters, Pete now walks away with $20,000 and the trophy of a hand-carved paddle.

Kevin Sansalone Photo- TWS December Issue

Kevin Sansalone was one of the first guys I ever took photos of. We worked together for years during his long pro snowboarding career with Santa Cruz and Option snowboards, mostly in the Mt. Seymour backcountry. Kevin faded from professional snowboarding a few years ago to take a bigger role in his production company Sandbox.

This past winter, Vancouver received abnormal amounts of snow, which created new oportunities for snowboarding in downtown Vancouver. Kevin called me up and told me he wanted to shoot a photo. The idea was to build a tiny transition at the bottom an art sculpture in a park downtown. He showed up with a twenty foot ladder, to get on top and video camera for his buddy to use. From the top of this feature, Kevin told me it looked like he would miss the transition all together and crumble in the flats. Even still, he stepped up at knocked it out.