Nestled deep in the Chilean Andes, under massive rocky mountains next to a lake, Portillo is the perfect place for a summer ski camp. The skiing is far better than anything in North America at that time and the overall experience is unbeatable. Read More »

For my three-day motorcycle tour of the northern part of Thailand, I packed a backpack, rented a Phantom 200 CC bike (think small, Japanese Harley) and headed north. Read More »

Cast your bets and break out the face paint and flags to support your team, because it’s about to go down. With a fresh blanket of snow arriving just in time for Powder Week, the stage is set for the Gelande Quaff World Championships. Months of training are represented through the respected sixteen teams gunning for a chance at history.
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UPDATE:
We had lots of submissions and some smoking results. The contest is closed now and we’ll be announcing the winner next week. Stay tuned!

Finally, been waiting for the boss to go on vacation so I could post this. I can only hope that there is no internet connection where he’s going, which is a tough thing to bet on in this day and age. If he is connected, this may be the last post you ever see from me. I may be shoveling sidewalks next week.

You all know the rules of the game. Whack as many Sulli’s as you can, and if you think you’re at a world class level, take a screenshot of your high score and email it to tmc@cloudveil.com. Include your name address and size and if you get the highest score from all the submissions we’ll send you a shiny new jacket from our upcoming Spring 2008 collection. The new 100% organic cotton Buckrail jacket for men, or if the ladies are out there playing and come in with a high score, the stylishly new Women’s Track jacket. Believe me, you will be the first person on your block to be sporting either of these.

The new website will be up in a week or two, sign up for our email list and we’ll let you know when it goes live. And a special thanks to the bossman, founder and VP of Cloudveil, Steve Sullivan for being such a funloving, kind and giving person. (That last part is just in case I get ratted out.)

Editors Note:
We’ll be choosing the winner by the end of next week, so bash away and send us your high scores!

If you’re not sure how to take a screenshot, here’s a link with directions of how to do so.

It’s a jungle in here.

Ah, the burbs. Before it became platted and in need of constant mowing, my ‘hood used to be a giant field in which animals frolicked, flourished and ate each other. Sure, now there’s humanity all over the place but we do have our hangers-on.

These tracks don’t belong some grinning, co-dependent black lab:

No, that’s a coyote, doing his straight-and-narrow coyote business. He headed straight for a rodent hole. It looks like an owl got there first:

My wildlife photography presents nothing new in the bloody business of Predator v. Prey. However, they may be a landmark in that they’re shot with an unlocked iPhone. Take that, Franz Lanting.

Also, this may be the first published photograph of a coyote sitzmark:

If you recall a couple weeks ago we had a video post of our revival at the Outdoor Retailer show of the long forgotten aprés ski pasttime of Gelande Quaffing. The event at OR was just a warm up for the World Championships happening next Wednesday at the Village Café.

Our friends at team backcountry.com thought they’d intimidate us with a video on their training regimen. Flying in a world-renowned coach, using unorthodox methods, importing illegal 6% beer, and rumors even suggest there might be some HGH involved.

Here at Cloudveil our training is done in secret at an undisclosed location. We like to think of it as our Rocky Balboa, vs. their Ivan Drago.

And of course, we have home field advantage.

What’s the fastest way to get across a frozen lake with a heavy ice climbing pack? Gabe Rogel shows us how it’s done with his Speed Approaching technique. It’s quite sketchy if you ask me.
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