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@kamranfa

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Four seasons in one day on Mt. Hood. Typical! Hey, how many patrollers does it take to run a chair evac? Nobody knows, and whoever’s in charge will eventually try to give you their job. by @kamranfa

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a month ago

Best Fair Ever. Again! I seem to not be alone in feeling that this was a particularly good Fair. There’s always magic and creativity and love, but the level of connectivity and the energy that our crew brought this year felt extra sweet and juicy. I discovered the band @sweetnjuicymusic and their name and their music captured so much of what I love about Fair. Stumbling upon a show that makes you drop everything and dance for 90 min to funky love songs, and staying open to the unexpected at every moment is so much of what Fair is for me. Being present and embracing awe makes us feel alive and remember what we’re all here to do, be radically joyful and express our truest selves. I got to help install some beautiful art by @benandarie and spent sweet time with old friends and their delightful kids. I encountered the thatch dragon in full display, and performed a late night poolside improv song accompanied deftly on ukelele by a good friend who experienced his first Fair. I got to finally share Fair with my mom, who had wanted to come out and see for years. I received wisdom and riddles from the inimitable Rich Ross, and ate glizzy’s for breakfast at baseball. The love and embrace of the Tofu Palace crew will forever be my deepest connection to this place. It was deliciously cute and fun. I’m exhausted and need a year before we do this again, but I can’t wait until we do. Fair thee well!!! @oregoncountryfair by @kamranfa

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3 months ago

This has been a weird winter. The snowpack is thin, and there have been far too many tragic losses of life in avalanche events. I feel deep sadness over the death of someone I’ve never met because they made snowboarding look like art. It’s a strange thing to want to progress in a sport where some of the most inspiring and proficient athletes end up dying in avalanches. I hope it snows more this season, for so many reasons beyond just snow sports recreation, and I hope everyone stays safe. by @kamranfa

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8 months ago

My first awareness of the Grateful Dead I owe to my uncle. He, among many, followed the band taking photos and collecting t-shirts. His journey into music curation and production took him abroad and far from home. It was family lore that my grandpa once quipped in regard to his sons’ ritualistic obsession with the band “I’ll be grateful when they’re dead.” He played the clarinet.

In my early 20’s while visiting my grandma, a righteous artist who lived alone painting prolifically in the home where she and my grandpa raised their four children, I cracked the door to the bedroom where she had kept and stored boxes of my uncles tapes, t-shirts, posters, and records. I remember realizing even as an ignorant kid that I was walking in on a treasure trove.

When my grandma caught me going through my uncles music stash, she allowed me to take two t-shirts and a photo. She guarded his things, maintaining a mother’s dream of a prodigal son coming home.

This pattern repeated itself. Each time I visited, I managed to convince her to let me take another photo, another t-shirt.

I wore the shirts, and displayed a particularly special photo of the band that my uncle took, which I had framed between glass. The lore and the music followed me, like a haunting sense memory, a legacy of my past that I knew existed in my bones laid dormant.

Then ✨one more Saturday night in spring 2024 I discovered @garciabirthdayband playing a set in the rain on Mt. Hood. I started dancing, the music moving me, awakening something that felt both familiar and new.

In the intervening years I’ve been to countless shows, and made a new community of friends connected through the love of the music. I’m grateful that I continue to discover songs, eras, iterations of the band and their journey, made new as my own.

It is a unique melancholy of a certain generation of Dead fans who never got to see Jerry. But I got to see Bob, and I get to see these guys so regularly, so deeply committed to keeping the music alive.

Today was my grandmas birthday. The dead live on through their music, their bones, their stories. All we have is to keep singing, keep telling stories, keep on dancing. Me and my uncle… by @kamranfa

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9 months ago

Trippin’ on the river! Look forward to this trip every year, and years where we can’t pull it together just do not feel complete. This one was special for many reasons, and we lucked out with campsites and weather. There’s nothing quite like navigating the river and making camp on the bank with your homies, eating gourmet meals and sitting out late laughing with each other under the stars. It’s a team effort like none other. taken in Painted Hills, Joh Day National Monument by @kamranfa

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a year ago

Timberline Lodge is a wonder of the world. I could sit by the main hearth and endlessly notice new details and marvel at its construction. Mt. Hood is an impressive and awe inspiring place, and I get to come here every other weekend. This past week, after my last team day of my first year on patrol, I got to share this place with 17 of my incredible friends who made the journey up to bunk with me in the Mary Gautreaux room. We sat by the hearth until the wee hours of the morning laughing and enjoying each others company by the fire. We swam in the pool, ate delicious food, and spent an unforgettable night together. I feel incredibly lucky to get to spend time up here so often, and to get to know more of the people who make this place run. It’s not hard to tell that the people who come up and work here do so because they care deeply about the Lodge, and the mountain. All for the maintenance of the stoke! I could sit on the back patio and look at the mountain for hours dreaming of one day reaching the summit. Knowing that this is an adventure and achievement I have yet to accomplish gives me a sense of purpose and hope. Every time I come up here I learn something new, and it gets me closer to feeling like I’m ready. Someday it will happen, but today I’m just happy and grateful that I get to be up here so often and that I got to share the experience of staying at the lodge with my favorite people. taken in Timberline Lodge by @kamranfa

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a year ago

(P.2) But today was all about soul laps, connecting to my inner spirit that drives me to endure all the hassle, the expense, the risk, and overcoming injury all in the pursuit of the unadulterated bliss of hurling oneself down a steep pitch at speed. Yes it’s dangerous, but so is life!!! In a metaphorical sense we are constantly hurtling through space at speed on the edge of control. All we have is the ability to make a turn, pause at transition finding momentary release from the forces of gravity before bracing and leaning into the next turn. I’ve got a few more days to go on this trip, and will finally take a rest day before my last two-day backcountry excursion. I plan to do this until I physically can’t anymore, until the wheels fall off, the edges dull, and my soul escapes to ride the next wave. This is medicine, spirituality, this is everything. I’m incredibly blessed to have it. Just go snowboarding. by @kamranfa

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2 years ago

(P.1) I love snowboarding. Snowboarding is the BEST. Today I have been reflecting over the last 9 days riding my snowboard across Hokkaido, trying to articulate to myself what it is that I love so much about this endeavor. There’s the obvious; it’s physical, it’s challenging, I’m outside in the elements. Of course there’s the adrenaline rush and overcoming fear every time I ride. Lately I’ve been thinking about snowboarding more in its pure form as a mode of transportation and the places that my snowboard can take me both physically and in my mind. I’ve been reflecting on the views I’ve seen and the places I’ve traveled to explore new terrain. It’s my escape, the place I truly feel free, like I can fly. It’s something that never fails to inspire a childlike sense of awe and raw joy that I believe everyone shares when sitting on a chair lift being transported up a mountain. The anticipation of the rush. The freedom of selecting your route, and how the run down is never exactly how you plan. Yes, of course it is expensive and privileged. But today I spent $23 for a four hour lift ticket at a tiny old ski hill above Otaru called Tenguyama, which reminds me so much of my home mountain Willamette Pass where I learned to ski and ride. As I leaned into my first few turns, and the expansive view of the town below and the sea and mountains beyond appeared before me around a bend, suddenly I was overcome with emotion. Tears streamed down my face as I carved exhilarating turns down groomed runs with a dusting of powder snow from the night before. I just cannot explain how much this thing means to me. Above all, snowboarding is about connection. The people who have in common the love of alpine sports (yes, this includes two-plankers as well) share a bond that is almost instantaneous. With one look, we can communicate a sense of wonder, awe, glee, and exhilaration. THIS is the STOKE! A fire that burns deeply in our souls, fueled by, of all things, snow! Just try to wipe the smile off your face after getting hit with cold powder snow as light as dust flying up from the edge of your board. I love riding with friends, old and new, and I made many new friends this trip. (Cont’d) by @kamranfa

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2 years ago

Stacking best days ever one on top of the next! by @kamranfa

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2 years ago

Rocky Top is pure GAS. Rippin’ pickers and singers keeping bluegrass music alive. Nobu is a LEGEND. What a night! taken in 銀座ロッキートップ - Rocky Top by @kamranfa

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2 years ago

When this gets old, you can call it a wrap for me. (It’ll never happen!!!) taken in Timberline Lodge by @kamranfa

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2 years ago

This game has evolved to feature former and still potentially future D1 athletes, along with the usual cast of scrubs and wash-ups. Let’s GOOOOOO.

In all seriousness, I’ve been hearing way too much chatter about the playoff, Duck fan travel plans to Indy, possible matchup scenarios in the semis and final… I don’t want to hear any of it. At least not yet.

We have a team on our schedule that played spoiler to our last two seasons. Our most hated rival. I’m not looking past this weekend. Not because I am afraid we will lose, but because I won’t accept anything other than making Husky fans cry. I want Autzen to be an intolerable atmosphere for anyone wearing purple (respectfully, of course). Complete and utter annihilation by SHOUT. Let’s beat the breaks off of them. #GODUCKS by @kamranfa

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2 years ago