It's Snowing in Hawaii

Photo by Nani Maloof

The thought of living among five volcanoes on an island in the Pacific may not instill a sense of peace in many people. But for locals on the Big Island of Hawaii, one of those volcanoes holds a range of respected qualities, and that’s Mauna Kea, the world’s tallest mountain. It holds deep cultural and spiritual significance for Native Hawaiians.  It’s home to 13 telescopes operated by 11 countries. And high above the beaches and valleys, it can transform into a winter wonderland. When heavy rains bring a thick blanket of snow to Mauna Kea, its summit becomes a gathering place above the clouds.

The Mountain (as locals call it) looms as a stark backdrop to the laid-back east side town of Hilo. Mauna Kea reaches nearly 14,000 feet above sea level, but stakes its claim as twice as tall as Mount Everest thanks to being 32,000 feet tall from the ocean’s floor. Though Mauna Kea is considered dormant, geologists expect its neighboring shield volcano Mauna Loa to erupt again one day. Not far away Kilauea has been erupting for three decades, and inches closer to the historical town of Pahoa each day.

When locals wake to thick snow on The Mountain, eighty-degree days liven with the promise of an adventure of stark contrast to the usual surf missions and camping trips. Anticipation builds as people wait for word that the road to the summit has been opened. Their four-wheel-drive trucks will ascend with body boards, snowboards, and trashcan tops to serve as sleds, and descend with loads of snow for building snowmen at home. The lucky pull out winter coats and gloves, while many throw together island style snow gear where warmth increases with each layer (think lots of socks and long sleeved T-shirts).

Though the summit is reached by a rather smooth 4X4 drive, staying there for long takes some endurance. Altitude sickness can hit, resulting in nausea and dizziness. It’s advised that children under the age of 16 don’t go to the top, but they can spend time at the visitor’s center at 9,000 feet, where everyone should spend a half hour acclimating before climbing higher. Here, telescopes are available for use and nightly stargazing is offered from 6 to 10 p.m., rain or shine.

But Mauna Kea isn’t just for winter shenanigans and sight seeing. It’s home to sacred places, archaeological sites and recently, controversy. After years of planning, construction of the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope begun in late 2014. The telescope that will have roughly 10 times the resolution of Hubble was not born without a fight, a fight where tradition and science couldn’t find a common ground.

Hawaiians and cultural preservationists say that the construction of the telescope would dissolve and disgrace the sacred places and spiritual significance of Mauna Kea. For Hawaiians, Mauna Kea embodies the union of Wakea, the Sky Father, and Papahanaumoku, the mother goddess who gave birth to the Islands.

One of those sacred sites is Lake Wai’au at 13,000 feet amidst an arid, rocky, oxygen-poor landscape. The only glacially formed lake in the mid-Pacific, was and still is used for healing and cultural practices. Traditionally families would deposit the umbilical cord of newborns into the lake, as well as spread the ashes of the deceased there.

At 12,000 feet elevation on Mauna Kea’s southwest slope is a quarry that contributed to the evolution of Hawaiian culture. Pre-contact Hawaiians made the trek on foot to access the high quality basalt adze quarry. Large boulders were broken down into portable adze “blanks,” which were then carried back down to shoreline homes for manufacturing.  

But that was then, and this is now, where Mauna Kea will help science move forward and connect Native Hawaiians with tradition. It offers snowboard contests, the best sunrises and sunsets, Zen moments at the top of the world, and a view that reaches Maui.

As stated so eloquently in the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan: “…Mauna Kea is sacred. Mauna Kea is where heaven, earth and stars find union. Not just any heaven, but Wakea, not just any earth, but Papahanaumoku, and not just any constellation of twinkling lights, but Ho‘ohokukalani, whose children descend and return to the stars.”

Story by Jade Eckardt

Drawing is Wild

Zach Johnsen believes a drawing can be finished, but the act of drawing never ends. We totally believe in that. That's why we just kicked into his Kickstarter to make a book of drawings.

Rocketship to Reykjavik

A Roark Revival Adventure in Iceland

Story and Photos by Nate Zoller

Surfers often avoid winter.

We like our trunks. We like drinking coconut milk out of coconuts, shirtless, using the sun as our clothing. It’s been that way since the beginning, since beach-blanket bingo and the Endless Summer.

But in the last few years, wetsuit technology has gotten to a point where it can feel like summer in almost any water temp. You can surf anywhere in the world, in relative comfort. Relative is used because at some point that wetsuit has to come off and at that point the winds can change. Cold can set in with the deepest of intentions. 

Hypothermia is real, but we take the risk.

We head to Iceland in December, where the Nordic winter is just starting to gain traction. We pack our six mil hooded fullsuits and our seven mil booties and gloves and get on the plane. We do this because the North Atlantic is black and angry with swells spinning in every direction.

We act not scared.

Most of the Icelandic winter is spent in darkness, the light peaking over the horizon for maybe five hours a day. It’s not easy to live this way, but a good story never started on Easy Street. So we leave the airport in our Land Rover Defender 110 through the sleet of ice and snow toward slabs that detonate over volcanic rock. Who cares, we have enough rubber to bounce off any reef. No worries.

We arrive and the beach is white with snow.

With heaters blasted, we stick our limbs into the vents. The key to avoiding hypothermia is starting warm, never put on a wetsuit in Iceland with icy veins.
The task of getting on all that rubber usually gets the blood moving, and that means go time. A quick jaunt through a barbed-wire fence, past a few puffins and across a bed of slippery rocks, and there’s the wave, blasting. The only people around are Raph Bruhwiler, Chris Burkard and myself. Immersed in cold, facing the elements straight on. Because if you want to feel something new, you have to put yourself in front of situations like this.

Photo of Nate Zoller by Chris Burkard

Six to eight foot slabbing rights, no one around, cold ever-present.

Many surfers have been traveling to Indo in the summer and Hawaii in the winter, and that’s awesome. But sometimes you have to take the other road. The one that has no street lights, with only the slightest glimpse of success. It’s down that road that you will find the moments that make a life lived outside of the ordinary. So go ahead, book a ticket somewhere out of your comfort zone.

Become the nomad you were meant to be. Face life on the road head on and then give it a firm handshake.

You will be greeted warmly, even in Iceland.

One Moto Show & Hot Tub Party

Motorcycles and Hot Tubs were born from the same active volcano of the human imagination.

The One Motorcycle Show is a yearly event in Portland Oregon. It's organized by the genius minds behind See See Moto Coffee Co. Featuring one of a kind motorcycles built for specific uses. One bike might be built for going 1,000 miles an hour were another bike is built for camping at hard to reach hot springs. Different strokes for different folks, right?

The One Motocycle Show is basically an art show. You don't have the be a Hells Angel to go and have a good time there, but Hells Angels are always welcomed! Aside from appreciating the art and work that goes into the bike builds it's really good to go for the taste of old and new motorcycle culture.

You should go! It's free as the wind!

831 SE Salmon St. Portland, OR 97214

Friday, February 13th:  6 p.m. – 1 a.m.
Saturday, February 14th (Lovers Only): 11 a.m. – Midnight
Sunday, February 15th: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

AFTER PARTY ALERT!!!!!

After The One Motorcycle Show on Sunday we're hosting a HOT TUB PARTY!!!!! It's also free as the wind.

We'll have hot tubs by the Original Nomad set up on Sauvie Island Beach (Psst...it's a very chilled out and respectable hippy-styled nude beach, and it's very normal to go "as bare as you dare" and just wear your bathing suit.)

FAQs:

What if I get thirsty? We've got you covered thanks to the fine folks at New Belgium & Brew Dr. Kombucha (while supplies last).

Will it be rainy and cold? Of course. It's Winter! That's the fun part. That's why the tubs will be hot sillyhead.

Will there be a fat old naked man jerking off in the bushes? Probably, but he'd be there with our without you. So don't take it personally. We'll be there to play Life Guard and make sure nobody gets hurt.

Will there be hot chicks and buff dudes with masters degrees in Social Responsibility and Environmental Ethics? Probably, this is Portland. It attracts young, smart, and attractive people from all over the world.