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New Zealand: where the Lord Of The Rings was filmed, and……um…..countless other stuff, too. Amongst the countless other stuff is bungy jumping. You’ve seen it on TV somewhere: some idiot ties a thick rubber band around their ankles and jumps off a bridge only to bounce up and down a few times. Sounds fun, right? Damn straight it does.

I didn’t even think of bungy jumping when I first booked the Australia/New Zealand trip. In fact, it didn’t even dawn on me it was so prevelant here. But come to find out, this is where it all started. Some out-of-work-guy-who-probably-smoked-too-much-weed-and-likes-to-do-crazy-sports-acts (called “extremists”, a.k.a adrenlin junkies) was probably watching the PBS channel and saw an island, indian tradition of jumping off a high tree with vines tied to their ankles as a test of manhood. In his infinite wisdom, he decided to tie a bunch of rubber bands together and jump off high places himself, starting with the Eiffel Tower. And with that, the AJ Hackett company was born (Hint: AJ Hackett is the original bungy jumping “extremist”).

So, walking around Queenstown when I got here, I saw the store and was immediatly interested. If I’m going to do the whole New Zealand experience, I’m all in. AJ Hackett offers several bungy jumping locations in the Queenstown area with different heights (all prices differently depending on the height, of course). I saw the original bungy jumping bridge outside of Queenstown with a height of 47 meters. That’s pretty far, but not far enough.

I settled on the highest bungy jump in New Zealand: Nevis Bridge with a height of 134 meters (440 ft). It’s all off-road to get to the location, so I scheduled a jump for 10:00 AM on Tuesday.

Checking in, about 15 of us idiots jumped on a bus and took off. Looking around, it was mostly young 20 year olds. At 35, I was the oldest (yikes). It was an adventure just to get to the canyone as we climbed a narrow roadway to reach the bridge. Once arriving, we all were helped into our harnesses by the staff, and then weighed in. The crew told us we’d jump from heaviest person first to the lightest person. Being the oldest, it was only natural I was the heaviest as well, checking in at 95 kgs. (That’s 205 lbs so you don’t have to convert). So, that means Patrick was going first.

It was a cool morning as it had rained the previous night. Snow had fallen in the higher altitudes and a crisp breeze was blowing, make the air quite cool. I had a long sleeve sweatshirt on but could have used some gloves on this trip. It really didn’t matter….I was nervous enough.

4 of us, along with some of the crew, jumped in a small cable car and made our way to the middle. A span was already erected in the middle of the gorge some 135 meters above the creek. This is where we’d begin. Once we arrived at the middle, the crew strapped on the leg braces. I then hopped in a seat resembling a dentist chair and had the bungy strap tied on. My nerves were really starting to mount at this point as my time was coming.

The crew told me to “pull the red cord on my 2nd up”. As I’m too nervous to understand what the hell a 2nd up is, so I kept saying “Yes” each time. Call it nerves on my part, but I want to make 100% sure I knew what the hell I was doing.

It’s GO TIME. I penguin-walked to the edge as the ankle braces made it difficult to move. This is where I was the most nervous…..looking down 440 feet. The guy made a very fast count of 5,4,3,2,1,gooooo….

I dived….sreaming like an idiot all the way. And, here’s the video to prove it:

All kidding aside, the AJ Hackett company has bungy jumping down to a science. As I was the first to go, I was able to watch the rest of the group take their turns and also watch the 2-person crew work the bungy cords. They know what they’re doing and could probably devise a bungy jump from any high structure, cliff, or canyon anywhere in the world. If you’re looking for a thrill and want to become an extremist (or have smoked too much weed), take a chance on this!

Hit the slopes at Coronet Peak today. More awesome views, but the snow was slushy! Doesn’t make for fun skiing, that’s for sure.

Check back tomorrow as I’ve got my bungy jump scheduled. This should be awesome! Not to worry….I’m buying a DVD for this, so I’ll post it to Youtube for your viewing pleasure.

After 20 hours on an airplane, 8 hours of airport layover, and 6 hours drive time, I’m FINALLY on a ski slope! Friday, I hit The Remarkables outside of Queenstown, NZ. You can see from the pic the views here are unbelievable. The temperature was perfect….about 10 Celsius except when I was on top of the mountain. The wind was blowing pretty good at times which cooled things off nicely.

This pic of me was taken by a couple from, of all places, Golden Colorado. Since I’m from Parker, CO, it’s pretty ironic to travel 8000 miles only to meet some people who live 50 miles away from me.

Here’s a pic of the back bowl I skied down. This ended up in a gulch along side the roadway back to the resort, but a transport bus picks people up along the way. Nice of them to do that!

Here’s a pic from the balcony of the resort. Not a bad view to enjoy a beer on a Friday afternoon!

Monday, I’ll be skiing Coronet Peak. Check back for the pics! G’day eveyone!

Got 4 more weeks until I fly to New Zealand for my 2 week trip. Going to increase the intensity my training program (um…start my training program) in the next new few days. I’ll keep in touch throughout to let you know how sore I am!

Don’t laugh. I posted an article from the Denver Post talking about a Vail man sentenced for skiing under the influence, hit and run on an 8 year old girl, and boarding from the scene of the accident.

Hey, who doesn’t like to slide down the mountain after sucking down 6 beers or 4 screwdrivers. Just make sure you keep it on the trails!

It’s that time of year when Spring Breakers are hitting the slopes in droves, and not just those from College. Families from around the country are heading to the slopes with the kids for well-deserved breaks.

We’ve been just as busy here working on our other sites, including one of our favorites www.sportthestyle.com. Keep checking back here for updates and See Pat Ski New Zealand later this summer!

Green snow? Slopes with the easiest runs? Not quite. This article, courtesy of Fast Company magazine, lists the top 10 resorts in the world who’s energy conservation efforts stand out among all others.

When I think of the Rockies, I obviously think of the mountains and skiing. Heading up to the mountains with the skies in the trunk for a day on the slopes is just what I have in mind for a winter’s day, but tubing hasn’t been one of them. From the looks of it, more and more people are getting into the action (if you can call it that).

Families seem to love it since it’s something ‘everyone can do’. Resorts seem to love it as they can keep part of the mountain open until later in the evening. I may try it someday, but can’t say I’ll ever get bit by the tubing bug.

The Colorado Rockies have been blessed with ample amounts of snow this season, but metro Denver seemed to get more than its fair share this winter as well. 50+ consecutive days of snow covered ground this winter, good for 3rd longest time in state history. Not only that, but 7 consecutive weekends of snow. You’d think I’d be used to this living in a city by the mountains, but it hasn’t been too much fun!

Found a Youtube clip of some skiers and boarders who took advantage of the snow and made a few runs at Red Rocks Amphitheater. Looks like fun to me!

Red Rocks has held several epic concerts for over 50 years, notably these guys from Ireland.

It doesn’t take much for me to get cold. I’ve always seem to wear more clothes during Fall and Winter, but even more so on the slopes. I’m always wearing plenty of layers when I hit the lifts first thing in the morning, which usually means I’m sweating within an hour. I usually have pretty good luck keeping my body warm, but my toes and fingers are the worst. Once either of those get cold, I’m screwed and pretty much ready to go home.

Can’t do much about the toes (for now), but thanks to Reusch, cold fingers shouldn’t be a problem. Debuted at the Munich Trade Fair earlier this month, Reusch unvealed the Solaris heated ski glove. With the help of two lithium ion batteries for power, heat is generated through the glove for up to five hours at a time. A preset temperature setting activates the heat supply and turns off when exceeding the limit.

Interesting item, but I can only imagine what the initial price will be.