North America, Iceland & Europe — Pete Oswald Freeskier

Sophie, my girlfriend, and I have recently returned from 3 and a half months skiing and traveling through Canada, USA, Iceland, Romania, England, Spain and sailing the English Channel...

Whistler, Canada First we spent 6 weeks skiing in Whistler, Canada where we skinned and skied almost every day for 6 weeks.

Soph making the morning journey up our well worn trail for the days skiing

Mt Baker, Washington, USA While in Whistler we did a long weekend across the border skiing at Mt Baker in Washington State on about 48 inches of fresh with good friend Sam Murray (Boots) and his band of Canadian partying legends.

Boots ripping up the fresh at Baker with his Scroggin Muncher style

…And after a few too many apres’ Boots instigated the skinny dip

Tantalus Filming Trip, BC, Canada Neil Williman and Fabien Lentsh organised a two day filming trip for White Room Production with a heli drop into the Tantalus mountain range near Whistler, BC. I was hired as the filmer and Nick Kingston and Sam Murray (Boots) came along for the ride. The film comes out late spring.

Neil stomping this beast for one of the best video shots of the trip. Photo: Nick Kingston

Kingston, Boots and Fabi Waiting for Neil to drop the last line of the trip

Fabi looks on as Neil scrambles up a chute to access their next line

Boots, Kingston, Fabi, Myself and Neil wait for the chopper at the pick-up point

Our last evening in Canada was hosted by boots on his roof top penthouse watching the sunset over downtown Vancouver

Iceland On our way to the UK we extended our stop over in Reykjavik to 1 week. My brother, Will Oswald, flew from London and met up with us for the week. We drove north to Akureyri where we toured and skied backcountry terrain and snuck in a bit of sight seeing. Click here for the Article in NZ Skier Magazine

The long skin up over 1000 vertical metres to a mountain called “The Horse”. Photo: Will Oswald

Will shreds down from the summit of “The Horse”

Soph and Will stand in front of the tiny fishing village of Ólafsfjörður while they look for skinning access up the next mountain

Sea ice in the Greenland Sea looking back at Akureyri under a night sky

Hot springs at Lake Mývatn, the best hot spring I have ever been in with swirling temperatures and a volcanic sandy bottom

The Goðafoss waterfall in the Lake Mývatn district

Soph and will look down on Dettifoss, Europe’s most powerful waterfall

London, UK We spent 3 days in London staying with my brother Will. Margaret Thatcher died the day we arrived.

Soph lugging skis and camping kit through Nottinghill after negotiating the tube

My sister, Harry’s birthday party at the Metro pub. Photo unknown

CNF Romania 3* FWQ competition I flew on my own to Romania for a 3* Freeride World Tour Qualifier competition. It was one of the best competitions I've been to. I placed 20th out of a field of about 50 male skiers after a messy bottom section. I hope to return next year.

My backflip mid run at CNF Romania – the first I’ve landed off a cliff in competition. Photo: Solo Radu

Romania’s Team Kiwi – Neil Williman placed 11th, Genevieve King placed 6th, and Me. Photo unknown

The rad crew of Dutchies (Paul, Bart, Stenmar, Sanne and Boaz) I met at the Romania comp and Mikaela Hollsten the Fin

The cable car to the Belea Lac Villas which I think was installed by the communists

This guy had just delivered a bunch of empty crates of beer to a small bar before galloping off down the road

Dinner in a basement restaurant in the city of Sibiu on one of the last nights in Romania

Isle of Wight, UK (Soph's home) After Romania I joined Sophie at her parents home on the Isle of Wight, UK to relax and catch up on study. I was lucky enough to do a lot of sailing with her Dad, James Stevens and enjoyed what the small island on the south coast of England had to offer.

James Stevens, head of the Royal Yachting Association, skippering us on the Solent, the sea between IOW & the mainland

Soph bombing a hairpin with the Solent behind

A sailer loses control on the Wednesday night dingy race, I talked my way on to a safety boat to take photos

Brett Aarons and Robbie Southwell charge ahead on the up wind leg

Graham Deegan and Judith French cruise down wind

Sunset at the beach huts near Gurnard Sailing Club, traditionally beach huts were used by woman before bathing in the sea

Palafrugell, Girona, Spain Soph and I took a holiday with my brother, Will and sister, Harry, to a relatives holiday home on the Mediterranean coast in the North East of Spain.

Will with a perfect old school swan dive off a cliff after he climbed up the face of it

Canoeing through a tunnel. Photo: Will Oswald

Will and Harry scale a sculpture at a Monastery at Montserrat, 1236m above the valley floor

Sailing the English Channel As soon as we returned to England from Spain we sailed across the English Channel to Guernsey with Soph's parents, James & Caroline. In a rough sea James was thrown across the cabin and broke his collar bone. Other than that it was a great sail.

Tamora, the Stevens’ yacht (34ft Hallberg-Rassy) cruising on a reach

Tamora smashing through the swell on her way to Guernsey

Back to Queenstown, NZ We ferry back from Guernsey to the mainland of England, bussed to London and flew out to NZ the next day.

The opening of Queenstown WinterFest 2013

Time for NZ winter!