AI Members in Vars, France

I have been in France for almost a month and a half, what an awesome experience and awesome time. I arrived on December 16^th and spent 10 days in La Plagne and then on the 26^th it was off to Vars to prepare for the Redbull Linecatcher Event. We had two weeks to get ready. We would hike an hour and a half, day in and day out to shovel, shape and construct jumps to add even more possibility to the already feature speckled terrain. In order to keep the venue in as pristine shape as possible, we were never able to ski down at the end of the day, instead we had to traverse, side slip and even hike down. I had to laugh, I have never hiked a pair of skis to the top of a mountain just to hike them back down, completely absurd, and yet completely necessary. Through all the time I spent on this mountain I certainly created a bond with L’Eyssina, the Yeti Couloir where the event was to be held was merely a small portion and I looked forward to the day when I was able to freely explore and play amongst L’Eyssina’s grandeur. Although my main title was shaper, on certain occasions I was teamed up with Vincent, the French guide responsible for making sure the venue was absent of obvious danger. This was a fun experience as I was able to take what I have learned in Jackson and Alaska and apply it to completely new terrain, while watching and learning from another, more skilled, French certified mountaineering guide.

Julien, Mathieu, Gretchen and I logged hours getting everything ready, and we did so in time for perfect conditions, which in turn led to an amazing comp. The jumps where awesome, the terrain was incredible, the conditions where perfect, but it was the athletes who truly made the event spectacular. To lay witness to the skill, the finesse and the love these guys embody was a joy and inspiration to watch, even more so than watching the greats of professional sports leagues. Seeing these guys perform in person with only three runs to perform their best, where there is no editing, no picking and choosing of best lines is to clearly understand the work ethic these guys have and to understand how truly difficult what they do is. It was incredible. I admire each and everyone of these guys and on this day hats off to Candide Thovex, Sean Petitt, and C.R. Johnson, whose best was that much better.

Because we were fortunate with the weather and the comp ran smoothly and quickly it meant we had some time to freely explore and ski in Vars and the magnificent L’Eyssina. We spent almost another two weeks in Vars, sometimes helping these guys set up and prepare for a shoot, but mainly enjoying the mountains in which we had spent so much time. Julien, JP and crew were busy, so Gretchen and I hiked L’Eyssina daily, usually twice daily and were able to ski the lines we had been eyeing each and everyday while helping to set up for the comp.

Feel free to check out the links below and catch some of the footage and photos from the comp and for even more check out www.redbullskiing.com.

Photos by Elina Sirparanta

Line Catcher.

The comp was super fun!


I finished 6th which I'm happy with considering the fact that I look up to every single skier participating in the event. Because we work for different ski companies and have different sponsors, I never get to ski with Sage, Sean, CR, Chris, Sven etc.. It was so nice to be able to share some turns together. My favorite part of the weekend was when the weather was too bad to do the scheduled course inspection. We all looked at each other with huge smiles. We spent the rest of the day skiing together in a huge group, hucking ourselves off any roll or lip we could find, laughing and cheering for each other. We must have looked like a bunch of kids and I can assure you that all the riders had sore necks even before it was time to compete in the event!


Check out these vids about the comp. On this first clip from french national tv, you can see Richard Permin proudly displaying his AI/peace sticker. Richard has been showing great interest and support for AI's projects.





Red Bull Linecatcher au JT de 20h TF1 / 17 Janvier 2010 from gingini75 on Vimeo.

REDBULL Linecatcher 2010

Redbull Linecatcher 2010 - Riding News 2.6

Githinji Mibre

A visit to West Oakland led me to Githinji Mibre, a Kenyan, a resident and a member of the Village Bottoms. There was an immediate connection to this very talented and elevated spirit when I met him in October at the West Coast Green Conference. He has been working and creating beautiful and impactful art in the bay area for the past 20 years.

With 2010 upon us we are embarking on several mural projects, a seed project and others in Kenya, Oakland and Madagascar. Keep posted to see what we create!!!!

Welcome 2010!!!!

JP and Mikey will be reuniting this week in Vars, France for the Redbull LINECATCHER! They will fill you in with great shots and stories when they return. JP's season is in full swing and we are fulfilling the Alpine part of our Initiatives. With a new year upon us we are looking forward to bringing focus, energy and creativity to our projects.

Thank you for all of your support and contributions during 2009 it made a world of difference for IPI and KACH. We look forward to an even better 2010 and as always are learning, growing and continuously evolving!

Letter from Dr. K

Here is a letter from Dr, Karambu that I wanted to share with you as I think it speaks to the leadership, heart and commitment that we hope to nurture and grow and the tremendous possibility it has! Hi Lisa, Thank you for your mail and understanding. I feel peaceful reading your email. And yes, it has been a constant reminder that this thing i started is no longer mine alone - i really love the way it has evolved and the way it has brought many together. That is the goal of this work - creating global partnerships that help us communicate better across cultural divides. Imagine Lisa-IPI has partners virtually in all continents of the World except South America - that is phenomenal!!! And this is just the beginning. So, i honor and thank you for 'BEING' with us and being part of this wonderful work. Like i always say, "IPI is not about building buildings, it is about building community." The buildings are part of that community building - and in the process there is transformation at all levels - intra and interpersonal; intra and intercultural; intra and intercommunity - across the world. In our endeavor to create better communication, we bring this vision and intention to life. It is an intention that comes to 'BE' when we recognize, each one of us, our intricate dance with our humanity. Always being present to our responsibility and roles, and always being present to our limitations. I like the idea of how RACH is beginning - with a vision and intention: a plan. It is an exciting model and I see it transforming things at many levels - and i see it being a more solid project. KACH is beautiful - and it has the greatest 'spirit' in it. You will ove it when you come next year - i am looking forward to that - very much. Blessings and Peace!!! Love, Dr. K

Grown in Detroit

Grown in Detroit ....love this! an amazing initiative transforming how we live and what is possible.....let's get growing!!!

Meru Bound

Heading back to Kenya for a quick trip, before the ski season is in full effect.

This is our last chance to catch up with everyone in Meru and see how everything is going. Purpose of the trip:

-See how the dining hall will be added to the kitchen

-Plan for a half basket ball court. (Oakley eyewear's Christmas present to the kids!!)

-Set up an AI bank account in Meru.

-See if anything else has come up that we need to plan ahead for. New needs.

-Talk to the local workers about their coffee fields/personal development.

-Measure and take photographic survey of the gardens and assessment of what has been accomplished so far.

-Last but not least; we'd promised the kids we'd show up for a quick visit before winter hits! ..and we've been missing them a ton! They just got done a school semester and are all back at KACH..

Thanksgiving " Board meeting"

JP, Lisa and Mikey's brother Brock apre ski.....All of us got together over thanksgiving to discuss next steps for the upcoming year! We hadn't all been together since June.... there were long nights of planning and fun days on Vail's few runs!!

KACH Gardens

Below is an update and some photos from Karamana...looks like all is going well on the newly acquired 2 acres! these gardens will provide food for all the kids at KACH as well as be sold to the local community. So exciting!

"Hello, Here are some pictures of the farm blocks on the other side of kach. Kids are giving a hand on a saturday when they are out of school. Crops are very green and healthy now that the rains came. This week we have a tree planting day in the forest. I am on my way to hear about the plans, I will get to you soon. Lots of Love from Karamana."

TRUCK FARM

Check this out!!!! if you don't have room for a veggie garden you can look into this option! i love that they use green roof components ( especially my friend paul's gaia soil), amazing resourcefulness, and brilliant documentation of what is possible just when it looks there are no options! get gardening!

TRUCK FARM - Episode 1 from Wicked Delicate Films on Vimeo.

TRUCK FARM - Episode 2 from Wicked Delicate Films on Vimeo.

Toronto! Cities Alive!

Hello,

JP and I met in toronto mid october and it has been a flurry of activity ever since... we went over all that has happened in 2009 and where we are headed for 2010. There was no shortage of ideas and direction for AI... so stay tuned

After JP left I headed to the cities alive conference and had a close look at some of toronto's beautiful green roofs! There is alot happening in the world of green roofs and cities alive was the place to be. There were delegates from all over the planet: germany, the Netherlands, France, China, Chile and Brazil. There were tons of unique projects from green walls in subway stations to clean air in Santiago, to forest rooftops in Singapore. there was also some definitve research showing that green roofs reduce annual temperatures in cities by 1-5 degrees ( i know that doesn't sound like alot but it is a big accomplishment as it that much of a difference which is raising our oceans and melting our ice caps! so here is to green roofs! and aren't they pretty!

Architecture for Humanity: Cameron sinclair

Open source architecture that is changing the world.... It is amazing how easy and possible it is for all of us to make a huge difference quickly!

Confession's of a Radical Industrialist

Here is an excerpt from Ray Anderson, a keynote at the West

Coast Green Conference I attended at the beginning of October.

He has a very interesting point of view and has changed

the face of how we look at Industrialism and big business.

Good Stuff!

Karamana's Letters

Seems as all is going well with KACH and the gardens.... Here are a few excerpts from Karamana's recent letters

October 2nd, 2009

"Hello Hi Lisa how are you? we are all fine here in meru,kach is doing really well The gardens are doing good we use the vegetables from the gardens most of the times. The onions are very good and have an amazing taste in the food . Several Blocks have been prepared on the other farm and the children help over the weekends. Simion and benard have done a good job.They instruct the children while working on the blocks.Am sure youll be amazed when you see the pictures.The Gate is now fixed ,there is a beautiful round about with a path leading to the kitchen and to the animal shed. About the Permaculture conference i would really love to be apart of it.this will enable us get very good information on how to bring the change we are advocating to our community. i have been sharing the idea of bringing nature back to nature ,with several groups.The biggest challenge is there interest to come and see our gardens. We were hoping to see you in nov. but since things have changed we undestand and we will keep doing the work here at our level best. we wish you all the best and thank you for each and everything.Thank you so much for the books you sent us.there is one that is really helpfull(herbal body care business)when i finish reading i will tell you more about it.asante sana..... regards to all your friends... peace and love karamana." October 6th, 2009

"Hello Lisa, How are you? It is my prayer that you are doing well. I am writing to thank you very much for the organic gardens which provide vegetables for the kitchen. There were 3 malnutritioned children who came to kach. The vegetables from the gardens have done a transformation in their health. Asante sana. We are expecting the rains any time from now. I will grow bushes of Rosemary. Simon and Bernard have really changed the face of the other farm. The blocks already have vegetables and the kids were working on others on Saturday. Will forward pictures soon. Pass our warm greetings to all. Peace/Love Karamana."

SEEDS WORKSHOP

Here are a few shots of the seed workshop by the Organic Seed Alliance at Abbondanza Farm. I will be taking over several varieties for testing in November!!!