Japan - 平仮名ひらがな

Japan. First time of my life. And it's amazing.

It really is a completely different world over here. Not just the amounts of snow and nature but most of all the small details in everyday life that make you feel the difference.

It's hard to describe in words but I guess everyone has got some pictures in mind about these extremly forthcoming and respectful people or the crazy noises and blinking lights with these weird signs.

Let's start with the picture story to give you a brief insight on what's happening right now. These days we are focussed on snowboarding:

Actually we have not been too lucky with the snow so far as everyone told us about something like 25 crazy powder days a month but just since we've arrived it has not snowed that much anymore. Still the amounts of snow are crazy over here and we managed to find good snow almost every day after thinking really hard for some time...

Today Fips Strauss and me had a very fun session. At first Fips tried to do some BS Miller Flip over a dead tree which looked really sick.

In the end Fips owned himself a whole sixpack of beer by proving to our Filmer Alex Schiller that he can actually do a decent Method first try.

Unfortunately Alex missed the shot as he was too busy playing in the snow...

A couple of days ago we went Night Snowboarding in Niseko which was an amazing experience since the snow was so light although everything was tracked already...

But of course it is not all about snowboarding over here. For example we took part in an "English Night" at the Hilton Hotel Niseko where we were having dinner with a huge group of 17 year old students who wanted to practice their English. They could hardly say more than "Do you have a girlfriend?" but we had a great time together anyways.

As well we did some sightseeing like going to the coast...

...or visiting this Japanese wall:

Now we are staying in some tiny village (about 5 houses) up North and are hoping for more snow to come. 

Thanks to Silvano Zeiter for all the pictures. Check out his high quality blog at: http://silvanozeiter.blogspot.jp/

Snowboarding in Brasil

Last week I did a rather unusual trip to Brasil to go Snowboarding. After an invitation by Red Bull Brasil for an MTV Brasil TV Show I was really looking forward to spending a whole week at the beach near Sao Paolo and getting to know a new country. At the same time I did not have any clue what was going to expect me over there.

It turned out the guys from MTV made the impossible happen: Snow in Brasil!

Of course conditions weren't the best but we still figured out a way to go "snowboarding" over there.

After the big dump in the MTV Beachhouse's garden we decided to move on and scout for some more natural spots on the beach and actually found an interesting sand-bomb-drop at the surfspot.

But it wasn't all about Snowboarding. The whole show is about a crew of several Athletes (Surf, Skateboard, BMX, FMX) and their two hosts who are spending a whole month together in this beachhouse and doing all kinds of random fun shit. Douglas Leite de Oliveira, an amazing BMXer did a crazy backflip at the same spot at the beach.

After some fun sessions at the beach it was the time for the infamous MTV Pool Party at our house. We started things off with a Snowboarddrop into the pool.

But then we quickly decided to put the snowboard away and get on our party pants and celebrate.

Of course beer bongs were in the game as well...

...and technically everything was allowed to work as a beer bong.

It was a hell of a night but luckily it was not us who had to clean everything up but it was the girls...

Not judging anything here but it is a fact: it was only girls cleaning up the mess the boys left. Boys, doesn't this sound like heaven?!

I've had a great time over there in Brasil and am already looking forward to my next travel after a 12 hour stop at home...

Part of the Chiemsee Family!

Stoked to share with you guys that I am part of the Chiemsee family from now on!

We've already had our first shooting together in Italy. We spent a whole week on some cosy mountain hut with a lot of food, beer and an amazingly hot jacuzzi outside.

As well we went out to go snowboarding of course...

I am glad that I have found an outerwear brand that has got such a long history in Germany and that helps me realize all my favorite trips for this winter! I am going to be travelling a lot the upcoming weeks so I will keep you posted with some good pictures and stories!

Racing cars, University, Beer and Sports

I've just spent some quality time back home doing a lot of different things! Last wednesday for example Red Bull invited me to come to Nürburgring where the 24 hour race took place. I could join a DTM racing pilot and take a couple of laps with him in his Audi R8!

The speed and the control while he was driving was amazing. This car has got over 500 hp and he really knew how to handle them...

Wearing a helmet and having a seatbelt like in a crazy rollercoaster it does not even really feel like being in a car anymore...

Unfortunately not every day is that exciting but I have to spend some time in university studying  as well...

Therefore at night there is time to celebrate in Munich and there has been several good occasions for this. For example The Whitest Boy Alive concert:

Or the Champions League Final which unfortunately was not too succesful in the end...

or  some bbq get together with my homies in our little garden...

or just drinking beer all alone in the streets...

And as well I did a lot of sports like playing table tennis at home...

doing some situps on a hangover day...

or lifting some bikes with my buddy Fips.

Next week we are planning on going on another snowboard trip. We are going to rent a mobile home and then go to some passes in Switzerland to film more stuff for the new Isenseven movie! I'll keep you posted after the trip in mid of June!

Cooke City Vacation and back to Munich

The week we spent in Cooke City felt like vacation. Snow and weather conditions were not perfect but good enough to ride some fun lines, hit two jumps and just enjoy our time on the mountain...

 ...and in the valley!

 Together with our new friends Jason Robinson and Leland McNamara we were just enjoying this last powder trip of the season and were thankful for every other powder turn we could get out of this winter!

On the last day I lost my snowboard on the mountain because my snowboard rack broke without me noticing it in time. And I could not find it anywhere. Then at night we went out to some bar in town and had a couple of drinks. Between beer and Jägermeister the barkeeper offered me a snowboard. He found it on the mountain and took it down... So random!

My first time ordering a snowboard in a bar for sure!

On the last day we still got a fun shot droping off this roof and riding the Mini Quarterpipe. Acutally the whole situation wasn't too much fun but rather very tense as not everyone in town liked us climbing onto this roof. But in the end they tolerated a few tries and everything was good...

Right after this we left town. Our way home felt like a Safari. We spent a couple of hours cruising through Yellow Stone National Park and seeing all this wildlife. It was a truly amazing experience!

 Seeing deer...

...elk or something...

...of course a lot of Bisons...

...some crazy looking ram...

...and even a black bear right next to the road!

After this amazing Safari we spent another full day and night at our friends' Home in northern Montana and had our first real summer day in 2012!

While these guys were batteling who is more suntanned I was doing some modern gardening...

Actually the whole journey back to Whistler felt more like coming home from some summer vacation than being on a snowboard trip...

...enjoying beautiful nature right outside the window...

...and swimming in rivers right next to the road!

Returning in Whistler the next morning at 6 am after another 16 hour drive was a little disappointing: it was raining from valley to the top of the mountain and the weather forecast did not give me any hope... So I made a quick decission to change my flight. The only flight that was affordable was the one leaving the next morning. After a night with no sleep in the car I spent a whole day getting things ready to leave town before finishing the whole trip with an amazing dinner with the crew at Sushi Village in Whistler.

And we found some good storage to leave both our sleds and the Truck in Whistler. So we are ready to come back to BC or the States for some more sled adventures next year!

Now I am back home in Munich and had a couple of amazing summer days in the city: Biergarten, Clubbing, Englischer Garten, Table Tennis, Skateboarding, riding my bike, BBQ and just enjoying some beers on a roof with a view all over Munich to the Alps...

Probably I am going out snowboarding in Austria and Switzerland soon again but right now I am really stoked to spend a week in Munich and enjoy my life here!

Servus!