Sea to Sky…Gulf of Mexico to the Peaks of Alaska…amazing. Air travel is an extraordinary privelege that makes it all possible. Last week the Curtes family rendezvoused on the Western coast of Florida for an Easter Holiday in the sun, and now I rejoin my Burton family in the town of Haines for the second visit to the now familiar peaks that surround the area. Smiles abound as our crew rejoins in Seattle to make the trip up to Juneau together.

Jeremy Jones and Jussi Oksanen are here and ready as Brad Kremer directs the crew and makes it all line up for the big screen next year. We bump into Billy Anderson of Volcom in the airport and a calm passes over our crew as he delivers the serious news of the most recent events in this local AK arena…news of a downed heli on Sunday, and enough avalanche stories to make even the hardened expert brighten up. No injuries luckily this time, just a heightened awareness thankfully–and a 2 million dollar loss for someone’s insurance to handle as the totalled heli gets lifted out of the backcountry on the first bluebird day in weeks. All crews were grounded. Ouch. We are here with respect, optimism, and patience; all things necessary to make shots come together in the beautiful states that we’ll call home for the next few…follow along…

CURTES