The start and finish of the Mono Skier X final. Unfortunately the locals (and Challenge Aspen participants) didn't make it through to the finals, but visiting Dutchman - KJ - came third. KJ has been a regular visitor to the Challenge Aspen office over this past week and he has to be the most extreme athlete I've met (abled or disabled)! Check out his website for video footage of him on the Snowmass terrain park - http://www.sjeesonline.com/

Match plays chauffeur to the top 3 girls from the Women's Boarding Superpipe - Gold: Torah Bright (go the Aussies!!), Silver: Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen's sweet heart), Bronze: Hannah Teter. Check out more about the X Games on www.expn.com

X Games 2007! Match has been in his element, driving the competitors up the superpipe course on a snomobile. Snowboard instructor by day, snomobiler by night... the stuff that boys' dreams are made of!

Meet our flatmate Mary! Photo from rink-side at the straights vs gays ice hockey game.

The finale to the Gay Ski Week - Annual Straights vs Gay Ice Hockey game! This was Match's first ever hockey game and he's now addicted. For the unintiated, ice hockey is like regular hockey - just a lot faster and far more violent. It's a great spectator-sport. The match was followed by an amazing pool party at the Aspen Recreation Centre (the ARC)... so many good looking guys in boardshorts - pity they were all interested in each other!

The Aussies come 1st and 3rd in the standing men's event.

Image care of Blake Gordon (http://www.blakegordon.com/), photographer for the World Cup.

Challenge Aspen IPC Alpine World Cup - scenes from 5 days of racing at Aspen Mountain. Events included visually impaired, standing, and mono-ski events in giant slalom and downhill races. It was amazing to watch these guys and girls flying down the mountain faster than I've ever dreamt of going on 2 legs!

Aspen Town night scenes - 12 Jan 07. It has been snowing non-stop for the past 48 hours and it's continuing. The town is so beautiful at night - all lit up with fairy lights and piles of powder covering the streets, benches... and bikes (a chilly ride home I would imagine!).

Mono-ski camp BBQ. First pic: me with Alistair, his wife Jess, and my work colleague Tracey. Group pic of all the participants, pros and buddies involved with the camp. Pic on the right of Sarah and Anne - my Challenge Aspen colleagues.

Mono-Ski Camp - 10 Jan 07. My first day out on the slopes with some of Challenge Aspen's participants. These guys and girls were phenomenal - varying degrees of disabilities... amputees from Korean and Iraqi wars, para and quadraplegics from accidents, and disabilities from birth. The common factor being their love of skiing! This was one of the most rewarding days of my life - to see the pure joy that these guys have from the 3-dimensional feeling of skiing gave me my reason for being here. Read the Aspen Daily News article for more - http://www.aspendailynews.com/archive_17683

Scenic shots of Aspen Mountain - it truly is a winter paradise!

The chicks - knee deep in powder on Aspen Mtn.

Snow angels - care of Kristen and me (mine's the little one)

Kristen carving her way down yet another perfect slope.

Tricia kicking back, you can see Aspen airport in the valley in the distance.

Looking across to the Highlands Bowl from the Sundeck at Aspen Mountain. The Highlands Bowl is Aspen's extreme skiing bowl - the lift takes you to the right hand side (where the trees are) then you hike the rest of the way. I think I'll be practising a LOT more before adventuring into the bowl, but Match is itching to get out there.

Kristen, Tricia & me on the "Sundeck" at the top of Aspen Mountain. Aspen Highlands mountain is in the background.

The gondola ride up to the 14,000 ft peak of Aspen Mountain - double blacks either side.

Day 2 with Kristen & Tricia and we decided to terrorise the skiers at Aspen Mountain on our snowboards (trust me... even though they have allowed boarders on Aspen Mountain for the past 4 years, they still really hate them!).

Kristen & Tricia joined us for 4 days of new powder and riding from 6-9 Jan. First picture is on the little bridge near our home and other pictures are us playing at Buttermilk Mountain.

Match goes retro... believe it or not, these were actually my Dad's ski sunnies in the 80s!

My new friend, Luna (my colleague Evan's dog).

Our new home in Snowmass Village - we're on the bottom floor of the block shown and are nestled next to a creek. It's just a 5 minute snowy walk along the creek, over a bridge and into the main mall. The best commute to work ever!