Check your editing software, will it rotate the video 180degrees? If so, then hang the camera upside down from a branch and rotate it later. I had my Lumix hanging from my rear-view mirror for some fun driving footage. 😀

I started a little project myself at the weekend (Lumix ZX3 in HD mode) 720p, 30fps is good quality, beware that the file size is pretty large so hope you've got a big memory card (for me, 16Gb = 70mins). I edited in Premiere Elements, exported as a WMV file and the result looks good, even when streamed to my 40" TV.

My Lumix coped well with completely shady trails (middle of dense forest, cloudy day), it auto-compensated and the footage looked good. I think the biggest difficulty would be areas of high contrast e.g. sun shining through tree cover.

Err, no.

A helium balloon has mass and weight (whilst its within a gravitational field). But it has bouyancy in Earth's denser atmosphere causing it to rise.

Correct me if I'm wrong (it has been 3 yrs since my last visit) but that looks a lot like one of the runs back down to Lindarets. I think the only route to Les Crosets from there is to take the long chair from Lindarets to the head of the valley?

To summarize some of the good points already mentioned and add some of my own experience:

Car seat, buy new for re-assurance of safety. Our Graco one has a flexible canopy on it, which has been great for protection from sun & rain, recommended. Car seat adaptor for pram probably not worth it (ours is still unused after 9 weeks). If its a quick dash into a shop, just carry the car seat. If its a longer trip, baby should come out of the car seat and into a bassinet or baby harness anyway.

Pram, buy cheap or second hand. You'll want to change it soon enough once you've got some experience. We bought a Bugaboo second-hand for the same price as others are new, but actually sold it on for a small profit!

Baby-Bjorn type harnesses are ideal for off-road walks, although babies head may be too bouncy in the first few weeks.

Definitely a good idea to try and get some hands-on testing time before purchase. Things to consider:
1) If you're tall, make sure the handles are high enough to push without stooping.
2) Make sure that the folded pram fits in the boot of your car. They take up a surprising amount of space!

Action Dan – That looks familiar, Cristallo Range? Brings back some memories….

We visited there in 2003, flew into Venice for 2 days sightseeing then toured up past Lake Garda to Cortina for the week, camped a short distance south of town. I wanted to introduce my girlfriend to a Via Ferrata, so I found one in the guidebook that looked that right for our abilities. 3-4hr roundtrip, big views, exposure but nothing too technical. Checked the weather forecast that morning, warm & sunny and it was all clear for the day.

Climbing up, all good:

Over the next 30mins, the clouds rolled in and then it started to snow. Luckily made the call pretty soon and forgot about the summit, started to head back. Suddenly everybody else on the route was beating a hasty retreat too and the panic levels started to rise a bit as everybody queued for ladders in a raging blizzard (note the Specialized fingerless gloves! Luckily we had proper spares in the pack)

10mins later and it was a full-on blizzard. Gusting winds, heavy snow and to top it all off, lightening. Trying to decide whether to stay attached to a metal cable at the top of a mountain in a lightening storm was not very pleasant! Anyway, to summarize, we got back just after the storm blew past with just a mild case of frostnip on the fingers and a very relived hot chocolate in the cabin. At least 2 other people who were further up the trail didn't make it back on their own and were helicoptered off:

Fun times! Next day we stuck to cycling, renting some dodgy hardtails in town and took the cable car back up to the mid-station to do a 14km valley descent back to town. Just as well that it was all downhill, my girlfriend's rear mech exploded 5mins into it and we didn't have a chaintool. 14km of freewheeling back to town. 🙂

A random selection:

My wife has a Safire. Basically, its the ladies version of the Stumpjumper and as she has relatively short legs, it was the best fit for her.

Its a very capable XC/trail bike, my wife's is a 2008 Comp (120mm fork) and its still only 28lbs with 2.3in tyres + bash. She loves it. We're in BC and she got it for general trail riding but has regularly used it at Whistler bike park. No problems at all on the blue runs, which is her comfort zone.

Having said that, if your wife already has a full-suss XC bike, I would go for the Pitch or another 6+6 all-mountain bike for the Alps. Ideally, get a Pitch cheap and then upgrade the fork to a 160mm air fork when money allows. The Juliana & Safire would be too much of an overlap in capability for me.

New baby daughter born 8 weeks ago, I've made it out once in that time. 🙁 But it was a fun trail:

RL, Hi! Will email you/GeeTee.

1st photo isn't mine, found it on google. Last photo though, that big sandcastle is ours – great way for a grown adult to spend on the beach!

Gee-tee +1

FlyBe will probably take your bike, but expect all the usual bike + excess baggage fees etc. If you're only going for a few days, not sure it would be worth it, there's no decent, legal off-road biking. Lots of quiet country lanes and slow traffic though, so rent a bike there and explore.

Cycling the cliffpaths is a huge no-no, too many walkers. But I definitely recommend walking some of it. If you're short on time, then try a loop around St. Martins Point, or from St. Martins Point to Petit Bot (few hours). If you want to make a full day of it, then Pleinmont to St. Peter Port is a rewarding day out and will give you a good workout.

If you're going to the beach, consider the wind and plan accordingly, nothing worse than setting up your bucket & spade on Vazon when there's a F6 westerly. L'Eree, Vazon, Cobo & L'Ancresse are the big sandy beaches with easy access. But as an ex-local, my personal favourite is Petit Port at Jerbourg, not easy to access (300 steps) but quiet and gorgeous on a sunny day at low tide.

Lots of history if you like that sort of thing: Castle Cornet (military museum), Fort Grey (maritime museum), Occupation Museum (WW2 occupation), Victor Hugo's house (crazy French author).

If you're there for a week, visit Herm for a day. On a sunny day, it will be busy so turn up early and get the "milk" boat about 8-8.30am. A walk around the island takes about an hour, then settle down on Shell Beach or Belvoir Beach to get sunburnt (everyone does, the sand has a very high silica content).

(Geetee – a bit random, but are you married to R.L.?)

Added a Stinger to my Heckler last summer and its been brilliant, not dropped the chain once and no noticeable drag.

+1 NSRide, I've ridden with them for the last 2 years and it was a great way to progress and learn new trails. Try the beg-int or int XC group and take it from there. If you join up and post on their forum, you could probably blag a lift from Kits or downtown.

For Burnaby, bus works just as well as Skytrain. Ride/bus down to Burrard Station and hop on the 135 bus direct to the top of SFU in about 30mins(better check this number though!). There are also direct buses to Seymour Parkway.

I'm in Kits, but with a new baby at home my riding is few & far between at the moment. Drop me an email with your contact details though just in case the opportunity arises.

Nick

Movies should leave you with a movie file and also a jpeg thumbnail with the same file name e.g.

P10123.jpg
P10123.mov

Are you definitely picking up both files when you copy/paste?

I use Windows Live Photo Gallery (free download) on W7 and haven't had any problems importing with my Lumix.

9.45am in Vancouver, but the North Shore is sadly hidden by yet more low cloud. If I can negotiate babysitting duties with the wife I might actually get a ride done sometime this weekend.

Surprised that I'm the first BC-resident on this thread, I know there's quite a few.

High, middle or low in the berm? Did your wheel wash out on loose soil at the berm edging?

I've some chest-cam footage of a mate crashing on a big Whistler berm. You can see that he rides the berm a bit too high, his wheel digs into loose uncompacted soil at the top of the berm causing his wheel to tuck straight back under him in a split second.

I saw a set of coil U-Turn Lyriks in the local classifieds and couldn't resist. Well worth it, only had 1 ride but they're already inspiring more confidence on the downhills.

Downhill mode:

Uphill mode:

alpin & PeterPoddy – thanks for the advice. Assuming they work as described, I'll probably use them for the summer and then get them serviced.

hora – I definitely want adjustable travel so I have been tempted by the idea of a 36 Talas for a long time. But I've been using a coil Pike U-Turn for the last 2 years with no complaints and I've decided that I'd prefer to stick with a coil. I just want a bit more travel and a slacker headangle for DH days.

We're just starting with Sugar CRM, very impressed so far.

but am shortly moving out to Canada, so it might be worth investing before I go!

Nicko, where are you going? If its the Vancouver area, I recommend Endless Biking (click here). I was very impressed by their All Mountain Course last year and in my opinion, you'll learn more relevant skills by taking the course in your new location.

$@(!> Arrgh! Stronzes!

Paid $35 in advance for a standard-def DVD that hasn't even arrived yet. 😥 Not best pleased that the cheaper, better quality, faster option wasn't advertised quite so well!

Hope the film makes up for it.

Yes

New trail just opened in Squamish, looks like a pedal-up version of Crank It Up.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/half-nelson-trail-squamish-2010.html

1st lift on Day 1, warm up on Easy Does It or Golden Triangle.

Then start with B-Line into Heart of Darkness and Crank It Up. Also highly recommend Ninja Cougar/Karate Monkey/(Samurai Cat) (see "Seasons" Whistler segment, 22seconds in).

Lost Lake trails are a good loop to try out for your first XC experience.

2nd Cobo Bay pub for sunset drinking by the beach wall (on a sunny evening with no high tide, swell or onshore winds).

I've heard Bella Luce is very good now (my mum lives about 2min walk away) and the food was excellent at the Farmhouse when I last went (2yrs ago).

(Born & bred in Guernsey but haven't lived there for 10yrs+)

That filling up our newborn baby with more milk than she's ever drank before and then handing her to the wife for burping will probably not end well.

Gorgeous place and a superb little river for kayaking. I remember paddling that final stretch into the breaking surf, still buzzing with adrenaline after running the gorge above it. (Probably 14-15yrs ago!)

jwr, how did you find the switch from Pikes to Lyrik? Was it worth the cost for an extra 20mm?

But now it has flat pedals and a 50mm stem for a higher fun factor.

HiFX worked for me too, UK > Canada. But it took a few days to set-up with proof of ID etc, so check with them how long it will take for the overall process.

Actually SPDs help with pedal strikes, your foot doesn't get bounced off the pedal so easily and your momentum will keep you moving along.

I found the same problem when I first switched from a XC hardtail with high BB to a full-suss Heckler with low BB. After a couple of rides, you get used to it and adjust your line choice accordingly.

Avoid soft cheese, hard cheese (cheddars etc) ok.

Currently sat in our labour-delivery room and I've only got time today to read this single thread. But its much appreciated, baby Kaitlyn arrived 38hrs ago and we're still in the middle of a super-steep learning curve.

Tips so far: pack lots of food & drink for yourself & Mrs. YOU need to keep your strenth up too and hospital food probably won't help. And regulate visitors – Mrs Burts works in this hospital and we've had too many visitors from her dept today, it doesn't give us enough time to do what needs to be done.

But its all worth it!

The Ebay description is pretty accurate, its a day touring kayak intended for flat water only e.g. canals. The price is fair if thats the sort of thing you want to do.

If you like your adventure sports (do you do XC or DH?) then you might find yourself prefering white-water. In which case, you'll want a different boat.

Another +1 to the suggestion of joining a club and trying some boats out. Within a couple of outings you'll get a good idea of the options and develop some personal preferences.

Big congrats!

Mrs Burts is 41 weeks pregnant today. If nothing happens in the next 48hrs, induction starts on Monday.

I think you may have actually rode the bike in circumstances it is designed for. steady on!

Err, actually, no. I really don't think an all-mountain full suss was designed for flat paths and poor line choice.

Pentax Optio WP30. Allows you to any number of images (1-999) at intervals as short as 10secs. That model is about 2yrs old now, not sure if the current versions still include it?

4 examples that I did are here:
Kayaking timelapse movies from a WP30[/url]

That first photo was just a quick outing, but the last 2 photos are from a multi-day trip in BC. Small bivvy & sleeping bag, stove, change of clothes and then fill the rest of the boat up with wine bags and beer. :o)

drysuits do look a little tight around the neck

Yep. But they can always be improved with a little duct tape.

Tracker1972 – Its a good idea, you're right that drysuits are typically warmer than wetsuits. However, I doubt if it would work for someone so young. Drysuits need tight latex seals around neck and limbs to keep the water out and toddler probably wouldn't have the neck strength for it. I've had new drysuits that have given me difficulty breathing for the first few outings! Without the seal, the drysuit is at best a tight fitting waterproof (difficut to swim in) and at best would just fill up with water and drag you to the bottom.

I'd recommend a Canadian canoe for calmer river use, but the sea is a fickle thing and a Canadian is not the right tool for that job if you're a beginner. Although you might not intend to go swimming, if you're just starting out on the sea you've really got to expect it at some point and plan accordingly. Whether thats full survival gear or a pair of speedo's depends on the weather, sea temp and how well you can swim!

And now for some nice sea kayaking photos:

An 18 month yr old in a drysuit? WTF?! I don't think so, but a wetsuit would be a good idea for sea & sun protection. You get a lot of reflection off the sea on a sunny day, a sea kayak is a great place to get a tan. I'm sure it goes without saying, but IMHO bouyancy aids are mandatory too in this situation.

Back to kayaks. A sit-on-top like the one you've shown Beamers is probably the best bet. I can't give you much advice on them, other than to make sure the seat supports & strapping are solid. The advantage of a sit-on-top is that it won't sink, even if you capsize.

Make sure you do capsize drills before taking the family anywhere. In the event of a capsize (unlikely but very possible), you need to be able to quickly right it and have a system for getting everybody back on it. Should be pretty easy with a SoT.

double closed cockpit, little one sits in the centre storage bin

This is for the future, not for learning in or occasionally pootling around the bay. Proper closed kayaks are expensive (1000's)and much harder to deal with in an emergency.

My wife is expecting our first child any day now, can't wait to plonk them in a kayak!