Patagoniacs

Pictures from Nepal are available ...

All the pictures from Nepal are available here :
http://picasaweb.google.com/pierric.duthoit/NEPAL

Sorry, but I was too lazy to put them all in an album in Typepad. I prefer to use picasa :-)

You will see a lot of Stupas, some pics of "Durban SquareS" (yes with an S because you have a "Durban Square" in Kathmandu, in Patan, in Baktapur ...

You will also see the Himalayan mountains with Sagarmatha (Mt Everest).
You'll see also one picture of the conference, only one :-))

Sliding Liberia

(Seen on thecleanestline)
The kind of surf trip which joins humanity, travel, surf, and happiness. Go have a look at the official website of "Sliding Liberia".
A lot of interesting things to read.
Is surf more than only a sport for young wealthy girls and boys ? Definitely yes. It looks as a cliche, but it changes your life forever.
Enjoy the movie and the site !

(Picture : Screenshot of the homepage of the site Sliding Liberia)

The German-French entente cordiale : Strikes, strikes, strikes !

Moscow-Frankfurt-Wiesbaden-Paris : 4 cities, so different, but finally same elements :
- People arriving in Moscow often mention that the organization is quite bad for the passport control zone. And they are right. You need to wait for long minutes, before you finally reach the place to show your picture in front of a nice window, behind which you see a nice welcoming soldier from the immigration services.
- But, never, ever tell me that it's better in other countries. See below why.
Arrived Wednesday in Frankfurt, from Moscow. Everything's ok. I managed to catch a train, for 3.55 euros, to go to Wiesbaden. Good. The hotel is rather nice. Despite a lot of work, I managed to spend one hour in the nice Kaiser Friedrich Therme.
Then, time to go back to Paris.
Railway station : Strike ! No train to go to the airport in the next 1 or 2 hours. Ok, let's jump into a taxi (40 euros instead of the 3.55 euros with the train).
Arriving at the airport. Flight is canceled due to the strike of Air France stewards who want more ... They offered me a place on a Lufthansa flight (not a partner for the miles of Skyteam !!!) 2 hours later. 
Ok, take your bags, and go to terminal 1.
Wait another hour to check-in. Negotiate to keep your small bag and computer with you, then go to the check of bags. And now, never ever tell me that the German organization is the best in the world ! A mess !!! Exactly the same than the ones I saw in Moscow, London, Paris, etc etc.
Whatever the country is, airports are definitely international places, where the anti-organization is a normal state !
Ok, finally, get into the flight, after fighting, running, to explain to the guys in front of you that your plane is about to leave while their planes is to leave in one hour ("oh yes, but I will not have enough time to go shopping in the duty free" answered me a nice woman, whose hair color I won't mention :-))).
Plane is taking off. Only five to 10 minutes late.
Go to the railway station take a train to Paris and ... WAIT !!! for approx another 45 minutes. Technical problems, strikes, ... I didn't even wanted to know about it. I was just upset I finished this book so quickly, My Ipod was running out of battery and so my computer. I have read my Surfers journal 10 times in the past hours.

Believe, murphy's law is something universal, and especially striking in the airports and railway station. I will definitely stop my work, to study this damned "murphy's law" :-))

Have a nice day, and remember that your surf, your running shoes, climbing shoes, will not go on strike :-)

Peace and go wild

Pierre Herme in Moscow at Galleria.

Dinning friday evening in the Galleria restaurant in Moscow, I had the surprise (good) to see nice pictures of Pierre Herme macaroons.
News about it here.

Considered the world's greatest pastry chef, Pierre Herme, who was awarded the French Legion of Honor by Jacques Chirac earlier this year, is in town to demonstrate his culinary art (pictured) at Galereya from Oct. 2 to 22. Herme is to present his Fetish collection of desserts. Macaroons are featured, with such exotic flavors as black truffle (500 rubles), foie-gras and chocolate (200 rubles) and chestnut and green tea (120 rubles). Other sweet-tooth tempters include the Surprise Mosaic, a sphere with crispy meringue, cherry compote, pistachio mousse cream and cardamom crumble (350 rubles).

27 Ul. Petrovka, 937-4544, M. Chekhovskaya.

Picture : Ispahan, from the Dessert First blog.

Greenland expedition - The GMHM

The elite group of climbers of the French Army (GMHM : Groupe Militaire de Haute Montagne) is now experiencing the cold ice of the Greenland.
Looks like it's rather cold over there, windy, and hard to find a Mac Donald :-)
I guess that Thomas and the team will enjoy this ice everywhere and they'll find interesting places to go deep inside the Inlandsis.

Expedicia.ru

When speaking about Russia, and its huge country, we all have in mind images of cold places, with a lot of snow, wide forests, long distances, bear, reindeers, ...
So if you travel to Moscow, and you are tired buy all these fashion places, which looks like the top fashion places in NYC, Paris, London, etc, then go to Expedicia. A nice "complex", where you have a Bania (Russian Sauna), a shop (prices are a little bit expensive ...), a restaurant. The restaurant is really nice, with a bear saying hello to kids, dishes you'll see only there, with Siberian recipes, Irkytsk recipes, and other names from places you've read in Michel Strogoff's stories.
The brand "expedicia" is not using the Expedition concept without knowing what is an expedition, because they have several "projects" like "Dorogi".
Nice concept, nice idea, and nice dinner.
Bon appetit.

London pictures

And for those who want to have a look inside Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, go have a look at the photo album on the right, London Calling.

London Calling !

Waterloo station, Kensignton, Savoy, Bailey's, "days to remember" from Geoffrey Trease, driving on the left, looking on the right.
"Long windy"
Engrish (Defined as : Engrish can be simply defined as the humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design.)
This specific accent from London, far away from the usual american accent I am used to hear.
Nice weather, Savile Row, Japanese food, Indian food, friends.
Work can be really pleasant sometimes !
Running in the parc, or a one hour sport in the gym would end this work trip perfectly.

Surprise !

You can wait a long time for others to offer you some surprises, but you can also create yourself your own surprises. That's exactly what I did, and not on purpose ... The right components to organize a surprise for yourself were in this case : Leaving home for more than one week. Order something you really wanted since months. Be sure you have a lot of work so you'll forget about the non-working things you've done in the past 48 hours.

How to proceed :
Just when you arrive in your temporary destination, jump on any of your prefered online shop.
Buy online your items.
Forget about it, and do not track the mails to confirm the order.
Work hard.
Go back home (or in one of your homes ...).

Then finally it gives a welcome back home with Leroy Grannis: Surf Photography of the 1960s and 1970s, and with "Une Gourmandise" - Muriel Barbery.

The Leroy Grannis book is great, beautiful, a true trip in the past, in the 60's and the 70's. I have not ended yet to look at all the pictures, I prefer looking a little bit everyday, reading some of the texts, feeling the water in the board and on the Katin trunks ... I have not ordered the Leroy Grannis $2,000 edition, I prefer buying 2 boards for this price ... But the $ 26 edition looks fine, believe me. 

For "Une Gourmandise" - Muriel Barbery, I need first to end the current book I am reading, but, given my past reading of  "L'elegance du herisson" - Muriel Barbery, I think this will be a good moment to spend with a very good author.

Scrutsh, frutsh, vrutsh ... (*)

Smooth, cold, intense, he is there ... Winter !
I couldn't wait, back from work, even if already late evening, I wanted to hear that silence of the snow, under my shoes, the snow flakes on my face, ...
Running in such conditions is like surfing in january when the outside temperature is below 0.
People think you are crazy, you look like an UFO, wearing strange clothes, but you are in your world, feeling a different sole, hearing different noises, breathing differently ...
Another time, another world, just there, near you. No need to take a plane to travel, just run ...

Happy winter to everybody !

(*) : noise of my feet on the snow tonight :-)

Imagination

Life, images, situation, perception ...
When you look at this picture you have several interpretations.
A)3 little poor girls, barefoot, in a poor far away country, looking for something to sell, looking for something to eat or to survive.

B) 3 friends, looking for a trick to do to some other friends. They are barefoot because they do not care about Prada, Chanel, and DG. They wear the best clothes and nicest clothes they have and they are proud of these bright colors. They do not care about worldwide strategy, business, and loosing market shares. They are just 3 girls, in a far away country, having kids games.

When using your imagination, when something negative comes to your mind, always try to imagine the contrary. The total opposite. Try this, and you'll see the direct effect on your behaviour.

Les Hirondelles ....

I just ended the book "les hirondelles de Kaboul" written by Yasmina Khadra
Well, this is STRONG. You really feel like you are in Kabul, with Taliban, with the history of the war, with this strange atmosphere of a city between life and death. Time is different over there, work is different, life is different. Every day you fight to stay alive. Not physically, but mentally.
This book disturbed me. Really. But this is good. It is not like a book you close, saying, "ok, next". After this book you want to stop. You take time to listen to silence, you take time to think about the whole world.
The strongest thing in this book is the reality of how man's mind can fall into craziness within uncommon situation. How you can fall from Love to hate, to death. How you can rebirth from the darkness with only the view of a smile.
This is not a book about Afghanistan, this is not a book about Muslims. This is a book about love, hate, crude and nude human feelings. This is a book about light and darkness.
A must read ...

Ding - Dung - Dong

"this is why I am here, to tell you stories ..."
This is the story of my first Longboard (a big wednesday), bought in 1998, just when I changed part of my life, taking new orientations.
That was the first time I really tried longboarding. I thought this was only for small summer waves, while my thruster and my gun would be much more usefull all year long.
Finally, I surfed more waves with my longboard than with any other of my surfboards. Small, long, short, big, waves ...
Every dings on it remind me of the story of this board, of my story. In some way, you can read part of my life on it.
Waves tell you about the kind of surfers you are, boards tell you about the kind of man you are.
My longboards will tell you ...

Winter on the street !

Some (poor) pictures of the week in Moscow :
  That's real winter- Snow smoothly falling on trees, on the street, noises disappearing in the flakes, feeling the cold air in your chest.
It gives a nice picture of the city. When the snow is in the street, then you see all the colors of the Moscow buildings, in blue, pink, red.
That's a nice place for winter.

Then in front of the Natura Viva restaurant You will find a nice cabriolet, not afraid of the snow, and the cold.

Life is a wave on a coral reef !

Have you ever had this feeling that the higher pleasure you get the higher risks you take ? Do you agree with "no pain no gain " ?
Well, today for me that was obvious. Life is like a wave on a coral reef.
When you come to such places as French Polynesia, you are stucked by the beauty of the waves on the reef. Then you take a mask and go dive around, to check how hollow it is  and the beauty of this razor blade reef.
After a while, you decide it's high time to jump on your board, paddle and try to catch one of those beautiful barrels. The good thing with coral reefs is that it is always (almost) easy to paddle to the peak. That's part of the beauty of these waves. They look pretty easy to access. Then you are at the peak waiting for the set. Ready to enjoy the best barrel ever. You always got a small (or big, depending on many criterias) apprehension when you paddle. The beauty and transparency of the water makes you look at all the dangers down under. But the paradox is that these dangers make the wave even more interesting and beautiful, with colors you never have seen anywhere else.
Then you paddle on the chosen one. You are concentrate. You enjoy it, but you are very careful. You know that you can't afford to fall there. You are far from the beach, the blood is appreciated by the sharks, you do not want to break (another time) your board.
So you catch the wave, surf it, carefully, to enjoy every moment and avoid falling down. And you get out of it.
Then you take a second one. A third one. The more you take, the more you enjoy it. You are a junkie, addicted to the beauty of the waves. You try more tricks, you take more liberty, late take off, off the lip, ... The coral reef do not ring any longer as a danger, but more as the power engine which delivers the dose of adrenaline and beauty you deserve. You fall in love with this wave because it procures you more pleasure than all the beach break you've been on on the globe.
And, after hours or days, you come to see your girlfriend, your partner, the love of your life, and, for any reasons, you fall. Not like yesterday, the small wipe out that makes you appreciate the water temperature. No, the real wipe out, when you do not know if your head was hurt by your board or the reef, when you hear "crack" in your neck, when you feel like you shaved too close, but on your back.
You manage to get out of it.
One wave, only one, which reminds you to be careful. Then you know, you remember : the reef is never far away from your skin, never !
That was beautiful. It hurts, but, gosh, that was the best wave ever ...

Back to big cities ...

4 good days of surf from Sunday to Wednesday. Today it was time to leave ... last check of the surf this morning. 30 cm, clean, nice, but still, only 30 cm and 5 degres outside. So it was time to go running a little bit to enjoy the last day with sun.
It's incredible how surfing impacts your life ! You get up thinking of the tide, the swell, you check the surf every time you are near the ocean. You read sea maps trying to see where will be the best peaks,  you plan your holidays depending on the best swell conditions ...
I remember a motto used by "instinct" years ago (for those who were still eating candies watching TV, Instinct is a surfwear brand founded by a South African pro Surfer, Shaun Thomson :-)) Yes, I am getting old, if I refer to the age of the kids jumping on every waves this week). It was written : surfing is life, rest is detail !
Among all the brands, this is one of the most striking sentence I have seen and kept in mind !
Today, I keep on thinking about this sentence when I am looking at the ocean.
So, now, back to big cities, emails, work, finding time to run, to train for winter sessions. But these 4 days of surf were like years of pleasure.

PS : There is another sentence I liked, it was on stickers of Sola wetsuits - "my girlfriend said she'll leave me if I go surfing ... Gooosh ! I'll miss her !
:-)

Raining days

20h30, back home. It's raining. A look at your watch, at your shoes, waiting for you. You wonder why you bought this great storm protection jacket ? Then, after a while, you jump in your shoes, in your jacket, and go ! Brrr ! first drops in your eyes, in your neck, you get warm, you open the zip under your arms, you feel the warmth.
What was an ugly raining evening in Moscow is now a jungle run in the tropics. Warm, humid, strange.
Small runs, big pleasures.
(the pictures has nothing to do with this post, but it brings colors, flowers, and it smells, good. Yes, try to get your nose closer to the picture, close your eyes. This is a new Typepad feature :-)).

Winter or not Winter ?

"Fall, Spring" Vs "Winter, Summer" !
There are 4 seasons in many countries. I do not know a lot of people who like Fall ! Why ? This is the end. The real end. End of summer, end of holidays, end of light, end of long days, end of t-shirts, slaps, bathing suits, ... The end.

But finally, this is a transition. A required and needed transition. In Moscow, you do not really see the Fall the season. You "fall" into winter, one morning, with 0 degres outside, kids in ski suits,  cars with thermo tires, runs with gloves, hats and yaktrax.
And then you realize how sweet it is to enjoy the fall season, with sunny days, warm lunch in a terrasse, shinny sunsets, ...
Now, I like the Fall Season !

Never do it again ... Update

So last sunday crazy people were running the 20km race in Paris.
I did it, but ... yes there is a but.
Let's come back to this : the never do it again list !
In this list I mentionned :

Do not run the Courmayeur - Champex - Chamonix race again (to be checked in 10 months).

Well honestly, I need to correct this. Let's compare the 2 races : 20 km in Paris and 86 km in the Alps.
First of all, we were only 1000 people for the North face trail. So when you are in Courmayeur, behind the line, it is not as if you were in the subway waiting for the next station with an ugly big guy standing on your feet and a smelly woman just in front of your nose. But when you are in Paris, you wait long minutes, very long minutes, among all sort of people, more or less nice.
The atmosphere is totally different. In Courmayeur, everybody knows that if you only end the race in 24 hours, then you are a good guy, and if you don't end the race, who cares, you'll try next year. In Paris, everybody (not really, but this is a feeling), si looking at you as a potential foe, a wall behind the departure and the finish line !
In Courmayeur, in the first minutes of the race, everybody smile, sqy excuse me if they touched you trying to overpass you in the narrow paths. In Paris, I heard bad words between people, jsut because they did not managed to find the required cm to gain 2 minutes for the arrival.
In Paris if you run with your bag, just because you do not care about it, and you want to carry some stuff for a friend, some people are laughing at you and consider you as a martian. In Courmayeur everybody carries a bag and is ready to help the others, anyway this is a rule to follow : always help the other as you are in the mountains. Security and friendship are priorities, not the race.
In Paris many people seems to run to show off. In the Ultra trail, many people run (or walk) because this is a beautiful race, beautiful landscapes, and a kind of nothing to show off race, as the winner wins the right to come back next year, like every others ...
So, to be honest, I remember now why I wanted to try an Ultra Trail. This is absolutely not to be one of the happy few, and show off with it, this was because, it's beautiful, free, and a really great challenge for your body, your friends, your mind.

Of course, I would like to congratulate all the people who organised the 20km in Paris and all the runners, but now I know that this is not for me.

So I think that next year ... I'll try it again :-))) Not sure yet, but, ...

Rell Sunn

Thanks to Tex for sending me this message about Rell Sunn website.
http://www.rellsunn.com/

"There are Rell films, her favorite music, even grandbaby photos, and her furniture. Jan, owns RELL' MOTEL, near Laguna Beach, where she has reproduced much of Rell's HAWAIIANA collection, admired in SURFER'S JOURNAL (Vol2#3, Fall 93).

If you didn't know Rell, I hope her website also conveys the tenacity she and her friends needed to 'pry open' pro-surfing for woman. Rell opened and decorated a Patagonia store in Haleiwa' with her own Hawaiiana and very special piece's from her friends. I hope she would be proud of our Tokyo Ocean Patagonia and Cardiff Patagonia Ocean stores. Each are uniquely different, following her rule to honor Hawaii by respecting 'locals' the world over in her surf travels.

I hope you will support Rell's daughter's web site, by forwarding, to those who love Hawaii.

Keep alive Rell's charm of love, respect, athletic prowess, and optimistic tenacity."

Some news about Kailloux

You may have heard about Kailloux, the FAMOUS CLIMBING GEAR FOR CLIMBERS :-))
Kailloux is making very nice T-shirts and also keeps us aware about the good news from Melanie and Vincent, traveling around.
Let's go to the BLOG of Kailloux !
You'll see nice pictures of China, Mongolia ...

Just because I like it ...

Moscow , end of the summer, beginning of the long winter (Is there any fall season in here ???).
Huge, blue, grey, white, complex.
A fragment of the Russian spirit.

The never do it again list (to be updated)

Today is a new day. The kind of day you get up and say : I will never do mistakes again !
So here are some "never do it again" ...
- In tahiti (or anywhere else where you'll find sun, waves, monoi), do not forget to clean up the monoi on your body before going surfing. Your board will be a soap ...
- Do not try to go down a nice skate sloap very fast, in SLAPS. You'll loose your toes !
- Do not run the Courmayeur - Champex - Chamonix race again (to be checked in 10 months).
- do not run hard just after a good lunch ! really to hard for your belly !
- do not forget your surf boots when you go surfing on the coral and urchins ! you look like a rookie, but your feet will thank you ...
- never forget your warm jacket when you leave Paris in October and land in Moscow !
- ...

More to come later for sure ...

Madonna, music, politics, Moscow

Madonna in Moscow !!!
This is not a scoop, but a lot of newspapers talked about it.
And, guess what !?? : I WAS THERE !!!
I will be able to tell to my little kids in 50 years : I WAS THERE ?
Well, so, here is a picture of the stadium with a lot of people etc etc.
But honestly, the place is huge, and was not full ! So looks like many tickets were unsold.
As for me, I didn't had to buy the tickets, a friend of a friend  who knows a friend had someone who could get some tickets for people with short hair, teeth, and hands :-)) I said YES !
So the concert :
It began at 21h30, and NOT 19h30. Hopefully, this is September, and it's 15 degres and not -20 !!!!
I was too, too, too, far away (hey, I did not pay :-))), but the lights, screens and sound were good.
The show : very hard to tell. Some very good moments, lights, innovations, some quite uninteresting.
What I noticed :
- Madonna is no longer a kid :-)) She is a responsible woman, taking care about AIDS, Politics, ... She told the Russian spectators to be free, to express themselves, and she mentionned that the Americans seem to be free, and it looks like the land of Freedom, but it is not so true, so Russia, as they have now access to liberty (compare with the soviet era), can be free, and express life etc ... (well, I did not managed to tape the speech, so I do my best :-))).
- Madonna has very good dancers ! For sure, they are good ! Believe me. They are running, fighting, dancing, jumping ... Wow !!! Great.

To be honest, I prefered the Red Hot Chili Peppers Concert in Paris, some years ago, it was great, alive, etc. But the concert of Madonna, was nice, original for some parts, and surprising.

oh, just one note from a friend who made a joke saying :

"This concert is more a Team Building for the Police, than a concert :-)))"

He mentionned that, due to the number of policeman, etc everywhere, for security reasons !!!
That made me laugh a lot ...

Surfing and Google earth

Have you heard about the Google Earth challenge for Surfing ?
Well, if not, then listen (or read :-) ) :

"You discover a new break on the internet, we'll take you there to surf it."

Isn't it crazy !? I mean, now, you do not need any VW truck, or trains, or boats to hire, you just need an internet connection, a map, and google earth.
I find this funny, and it gives a chance to everybody (with google earth and an internet connexion) to find the place they dream about.
But as I was reading in the last Surf Session issue, the trips are never the same paradise as the travel agencies show them.
You may get sick in the boat to go there, you may get bite by mosquitos etc, you need some medicine if you get hurt by the coral reef + mosquitos + snakes, etc etc :-)
Never forget that true exploration is not as easy as going on google earth ! the real trip is in your head, and in the + and - you finally count to see how was your experience.
And this is something the virtual will never get out of our heads : true life is in the Tube and not on the net !

patagoniacs

Surf in Maroc

WAVES !

WAVES !

WAVES !

Want to go there in Fall http://www.surfaumaroc.com/

Summer in Moscow : the end !

Brrrr !

Weak up this morning in Moscow - Cold - Grey - Already October in Paris ...

Crazy city, crazy country. 35 C 2 weeks ago, not more than 18 this morning !

The good news : It's perfect to go running ...

And in France, still no waves

25 bosses in Fontainebleau

Some of you may have heard about the "25 bosses" in Fontainebleau. It is a nice run/walk in the Fontainebleau woods, up and down the hills and rocks. I did it last week end with a friend and it took us a little bit more than 3 hours.

You can see the profile of the race on the picture. You have around 25 hills to climb up and down, so it breaks your rythm and makes you feel a little bit tired at the end of it. Nice training for the UTMB.

You can find all what you want on 2 websites : this one and that one.

You will find there all the GPS point, the way to find the place, etc etc. Very nice topo.

After your run, do not forget to visit Barbizon and its painting galleries ...

Nepal crisis !

I mentionned in "the decline of Paradise", the situation in Nepal.

It seems that since this post the situation is worse. Read the press, and you'll see the problems.

knowing some people over there, I can tell you that this is a big mess, and we are far far away from the ideal picture of a country of beatnik, hippies, and peace everywhere.

Have a look at this portfolio, very interesting.

Everybody is asking the king to leave, but is the opposition ready to rule the country ? Will the maoists take the power and install another government of tyrany ?

I hope not, but the situation is really bad now.

The decline of Paradises !

Spring is usually linked to good weather, bouldering in T-shirts and sorts. Good fresh juice. Nice beautiful waves and not a lot of people on the beach.

This is true for Western Europe Countries and North America, or Japan, ... But in Afghanistan, spring is the season of "Taliban fights" ! The time for new attacks agains coalition forces, etc.

That's crazy that all these guys are still fighting instead of building a new country ! They should try to climb more and fight less. In a country with such landscapes and a geography designed for hiking and climbing, it is a shame that all the kids are not able to become the best mountainers in the world.

The Nepal which used to be a paradise for treks and mountainering, is turning to a nightmare, a place with the Maoists fighting against a crazy king !

Indonesia which is still one of the best place of the world to surf suffered from the islamists terrorists, and piracy ...

So many beautiful places for the sports we love and we do, are now turning to nightmares, due to poverty, terror, ...

Are we facing the decline of Paradise ?

Endless Winter !

The surfers know well the famous Endless Summer. The quest for waves, sun, and summer all year long.

But I discover that for skiers, there is also the endless winter ! Look at this guy who has been skiing during 52 weeks !

Thanks to The Mountain World for this post.

Alex Chabot and Argentina ! or Patagonia ?

Alex Chabot, famous french climber (here climbing in France), went to Argentina few days ago, and had some good experiences.

I met him thursday at the shop in Paris La Maison du Grimpeur.

He sent me some pictures and a text (in French, so I will not publish it here). An interview of Alex is available here (in French)

Here are some pictures.

Very interesting to see the list of things done during this trip :

"Cante Jondo" (8a) à vue (24/2)
- "15 dias, 19 noches" (8a+) flash (28/2)
- "Buen viaje" (8b) au premier essai (28/2)
- "Corsario Negro" (7c+/8a) a vue (04/03)
- "Reaccion Indirecta" (8c/8c+) (06/03)
- "Octavio" (8b) premier essai (06/03)
- "Directa Challenger" (8b+/8c) a vue (07/03)
- "Ona" (8b) flash (07/03) - "Chococroco" (8a) (09/03)
...

If you want the list of websites where this trip is mentionned  read the rest of the post ...

Tow-in, Gerry Lopez and nature

I just bought the last Surf Session magazine. That's the 20t anniversary issue ! Already 20 years ! The surf saw many evolutions, changes, in people, waves we can surf, surfboards technology, etc. This issue is fine, but in fact one article was strange for me. The article is about the trip of Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama, Rob Machado, the Malloy Brothers, and Gerry Lopez, in beautiful waves around Indonesia, aboard the Indies Trader IV.

I do not want to look like an old bad guy, against progress, technos etc, but honestly, seeing all the helicopters, jetskis, boats available for this trip I am wondering if these guys are really aware about Nature, pollution, environment. What surprised me even more is that some Patagonia Ambassadors took part in that trip (Gerry Lopez and the Malloy are close to Patagonia).

Of course they did not kill the environement, but honestly I think that the Tow In, the use of boats, and jets which are gas and oil demanding, should be done under "extreme" conditions only. I think there should be a limit between your passion and the means to practise it.

I am not against tow-in, I think this is fantastic, it's just that using a jet for waves which are not as big as jaws or Belhara is not a good thing.

So I am really wondering what Gerry thinks about that and if he does not think that there is other ways to trip today ?

Let My People Go Surfing spread in Russia too

In the Russian edition of Business Week of end of December 2005, there is a full insert about the new and good ideas for 2006. And among all these ideas, there is an article about how to consider working, especially through the eyes of Patagoniacs and their leader, Yvon Chouinard, based on his Book, "let my people go surfing".

It is interesting to see that even in Russia and CIS, a region of our world which does not look like environmentally concerned, the question of our planet, the way we work, are taken more and more seriously. Patagonia and Yvon are really beginning to touch the whole world with the right message. I’m not sure that it will make Patagonia sell more clothes, but as you all know, this is not the aim of Patagonia. Quality, ecology, the future of our planet, are the concerns of the company, much more than having huge sales volumes.