Spending the week with Laird has been a learning experience. Laird has always been someone I have looked up to so over the coarse of the week I asked a lot of questions, listened and watched how he goes about his program. It is no different then my time hanging around Doug Coombs, Crag Kelley, Jerry Lopez, Jim Zellers or Tom Burt. These guys all have at least ten years on me and have continued to progress and evolve as both athletes and people. Hanging out with them is like going to school for me.
Laird never sits still unless it is time to eat. He would go from riding to cutting down tree's, to snowmobiling, to sauna, to swimming in the ice hole to eventually dinner. He is super down to earth and wants to talk with everyone from the kitchen staff to the 60 year old Swiss banker. He was always stoked and amping no matter what the situation was. He is immune to the cold. He only wears sandals...even in powder, and would lounge around the ice hole swimming and hanging out while the rest of us would make mad dashes to and from the sauna.
Our views on our sports and our commitment to them are pretty much identical. This was overwhelming to me. I would listen to him answer the standard questions of, "how long are you going to do this for? Why don't you compete? How do you handle the risk" as if I was answering them myself.
However the most impressive part was watching him in the mountains. He can spot a line from the air and then find it on his own better then 90% of the pro snowboarders in the world. He was extremely comfortable in very big mountains. When we were dealing with sketchy situations he would become very calm and focused. It gave me a glimpse into how he pulls of what he does in the monster surf. He does not push it. He is in his comfort zone and if he finds himself out of it he slows and gets hyper focused.
Kalama was equaly impressive in his own right. He is a lot mellower then Laird and probably one of the nicest guys on the planet. He spent much of his free time splitting wood.
Kalama and Laird are the perfect yin and yang and after a week with them you can see there is a bond between them that only comes from going into battle together in life threatening situations.
Our last day we went deep. Laird stoked as always.
Just over the roll like 4 miles and down the mile long coilour to the 2 mile long glacier run.
Dropping into a chute that is not much bigger then some of the waves he has ridden.
Making the bottom turn.
Kalama feeling right at home in a big tube.
I was on my way to ride this face with Laird when I.....
...stumbled across this chute. It was the one run of the trip that really got my blood flowing.
Laird, Kalama, and myself taking in the final sunset of a special week.
Check out Laird and Kalama in Don King's latest masterpiece "Waterman" as well as Laird's latest book "Force of Nature"
http://www.lairdhamilton.com/
Learn more about the best lodge in the world at Tordrillo Mountain Lodge
