Roadtrip to czech republik
A few weeks ago, on the 13.01., Mike Hauser, Chris Fischer, Flo Geyer and myself headed out more or less spontaniously to the Czech Republic to participate in a K2 contest. K2 generously offered us to use the K2 camper aka Charlie, and we headed off. After some delays and a 13h drive we arrived in chzec at 6am.
After a few hours of sleep we had to do the qualifiers in pouring rain without training, but luckily we were all on the right side of the bubble.
At night we had lunch with the Czech K2 guys, who did an awesome job taking care of us, and the next day it was time for finals, which was broadcasted live on TV. Flo won, quel surprise, and he and myself took advandtage of the awesome kicker and learned some new doubles in the best trick session, which he also won. Afterwards the big drinking started, and as much as I can remember it was te best afterparty ever! It was a great weekend, thank you guys!
text by Pius Schneider
Kamp K2 clip - Austria 11. -14.04
Hey guys
A first edit from the famous Kamp K2 - Team "Aftershocks" won the Kirschner Trophy in 2010!! yeahh
check out the following link!
more pics and vid´s soon
roman
K2 Charlie in Italy
Charlie went to the Dolomites and took photographer Anton "Da Jaga" Brey and K2 telemark rider Flori Hesse with him. Check their pics.
The end of Charly´s X-mas vacation...
Christmas and New Years was a quiet time for Charly, and he deserved it as being on the road over past 3 months was more than hard work - Austria, Spain, Italy, France, Germany - over 20.000km overall. But as soon as the new year started he got very restless, wanting to get out again.
So after calling everybody we know from La Grave to East Austria to find out where the good snow is to make Charly´s first trip in 2010 worthwhile we decided to head to Pontresina to visit some former K2 team members, Martina (K2 Snowboarding Women Alliance) and Anselm (K2 tech rep) Tscharner in their new home up on the Bernina pass.
After skiing Diavolezza one day with good (but windpacked) snow we went ice climbing in the canyon right in the middle of town at night, had a great dinner with some beers in the evening and did another ice fall the next day, but only after sorting out a small detail - after realizing that Charly´s fuel (diesel) was frozen due to minus 25°C during the night we were not able to get the car running, so we only had 2 options: either doing it Russian style and amking a fire under the tank (to scetchy...) or waiting for the sun to rise high enough to warm up the car. We choose the latter and after some hours in´the sun we were able to get going. Good to know that some gas stations do not sell winter diesel when it´s cold...
Charly at the Diavolezza parking lot
Coming down the backside and taking a railway line back to the lift
gear chaos in the back
Pz Palü background
Ice climbing
home sweet (and warm) home
K2 Charlie visited "Pray 4 Snow"
From the 19th - 21st November 2009 Thun / Switzerland city at the Lake Thun, and Gate to the Berner Oberland with the famous mountains Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau has been the place to be for the Swiss Freestyle Community
For three days, Freeskier’s and Snowboarder’s met to battle out the best at the City Rail Contest in the heart of the city Thun. Up to 10’000 people came to see the Freestyler’s, and “Pray 4 Snow” together! Charlie also joined the croud and really rocked the place!
Thanks alot to the K2 Swiss Teamrider’s who did a great job at the Contest and also took care about Charlie!
Modena to Barcelona Road Trip with Charlie
We, The K2 Riders Pep Malo and Jordi Tenas and our photographer Jaime Lahoz drove with Charli from Modena /Italy to Barcelona in Spain.
First we flew from Girona to Bologna where Alessandro Costa Picked us up and drove us to Modena There a nice party+bbq organised for a K2 customer took place. 
We met Charlie there and could check out it´s enormous amount of details, we even tried to feed him…
The plan now was to drive all the way to the Alps before going to bed, so we could take some nice shots in the morning. Praying to have good weather and stopping from time to time to satisfy Charlies lush for fuel. 
From Sauze d’Houx town we left the highway on our way to Briançon and La Grave where we planned to stay that night. Getting to Col du Lautaret we enjoyed a small snow-storm, and it was still snowing a bit when we finally parked in La Grave. We wanted to have a beer at the K2 bar, but it was closed, so we had dinner in the only open restaurant that we found and went to bed.
On tuesday we drove all day long. We reached Barcelona at early evening where Chief and comander Xavi garriga and the whole spanish K2 crew was waiting for us in Esplugues, we had lunch together and drove Charlie to the Olimpic stadium, where our trip ended.
Read more about Charlie's Adventures in Barcelona and Spain soon!
Charlie visited Modena / Italy
Charlie arrived to Modena / Italy for the Skipass event from the 29th oct. to the 1st nov. Everybody inside the show area was really excited to see Charlie in the middle of the other companies, he was the attraction. During the 4 days of the show about 100.000 people came to see Charlie and to get a K2 Rocker guitar.
At the contest, that took place on the Skipass, the Italian team rider Stefan Schenk got 4th after 3 great runs on the final. Patrick Pattori wasnt able to show his innovative style, he made a good contest but had a little error on the landing.
After the show Charlie moved to the parking lot of the K2 customer Nuovi Orizzonti in Modena downtown and there was a BBQ with all the freeriders. K2 Italy also presented the new backside line and people ate a good salsiccia with polenta, caldarroste and drank a lot of good local red wine. The Spanish guys joined the K2 Italy team for the party and the following day they left Modena with the direction to Barcelona.
Barcelona to Penzberg
About 3 weeks ago Xavi (K2 Spain) called me and said, that Charlie is going to the Barcelona Snow Show (7./8. of Nov.), and if I have the chance to come to see the show and drive Charlie back to Germany. As this are more than 1400 km, I thought that might be a little bit boring to do alone. So I asked 3 friends of mine, which study with me... and they joined me!
I arrived at friday evening at the ariport, where Sergi (Ride Spain) picked me up, with Charlie for sure.
We drove to his place, which is a little bit south of Barcelona. As we had to be at the olympic stdium pretty early the next day, we got up at 7. Sergi said it’s good we leave early, cause he parked Charlie at a place, where on saturday the weekly market takes place.
Well, seemed like we were not the only one that got up early, the market had almost started, and right in the middle there was Charlie (including Denver Boot). The booth on the other side of the street was already selling fruit, and the guys that wanted to build their booth where Charlie was standing couldn’t begin, cause the police wanted to tow off Charlie, but Charlie was too strong, so the towline broke! As you can imagine, this didn’t improve the officers mood!
Once the denver boot was off, we thought how the hell we could get out of there, as Charlie was wider than the lane they left. There was no other chance as going backwards through all this for over 100 metres, and sometimes Charlie had contact to boothes on both sides at the same time! But luckily Sergi and this random spanish random guy were there to navigate: „todo recto!“
That was where Charlie was located...
Out of trouble... first pictures is about 100 meters from where this picture was taken
Once we were out of there, a good day began and we placed Charlie at the best spot you can imagine: in the olympic park right in front of the olympic stadium!
At about noon, my friends arrived, and we spent some hours on Charlie’s roof.
Regarding the ski comp, it was really sick! The location, the ramp the people...
Unfortunately Matt Margette did not get into the finals, although he showed a super sweet double cork 9 (Cork 3 + Cork 5). In the end, Russ Henshaw won, riding super solid, with Tom Wallisch in 2nd and Elias Ambuehl in 3rd.
We (Leo, Klemens, Stefan and myself) left Barcelona on sunday evening, and 1.3 liters of Red Bull in my body brought us straight to Geneva that night (OK, Stefan helped me out and did the last 2 hours). The next day we did 90 minutes of power-sightseeing there, and then left to St. Gallen (also in Switzerland), to visit a friend of us. We spent a night there and left to Penzberg, Charlie’s home.
K2 Charlie, the man behind the legend!
Mike Gutt talks with Rob Allison, K2 Rep extraordinaire in Canada and all around strange bird, about how K2 Charlie came to be. Here is what he found out.....
Gutt: So where did the inspiration of K2 Charlie come from?
Rob: I guess It all really started in southern AB at Castle Mtn, I was at a ski demo that day, a few years ago... we were packing up all our gear into my 91 subaru wagon when Raddy and Jes walked by. Raddy laughed at my ride and said off the cuff..."I have a really cool RV that would look pretty good with K2 painted all over it" I laughed backed, but he replied "I'm serious you should come over and have a look"
As a rep we drive,... alot. And with that comes thinking time, i pretty much dreamt up the vision of Charlie over the next couple weeks with the idea originally based around the perfect road trip mobile for both winter and summer sports in mind.
Raddy called me a few weeks after our first encounter with a last chance to the idea. He had been in looking at new RV's and was going to make a trade in with Charlie and called me with the dollar amount of what they were going to give him on trade in. I bought Charlie that day over the phone ... site unseen. And what had been a highway time fantasy had become a reality.
Gutt: What is Charlie, what make year etc.?
Rob: K2 Charlie is a 1981 chevy van 30, it is a 22 ft long package of amazingness.
Gutt: How long did Raddy and Jes have it before you, what is K2 Charlie's pre-inception history?
Rob: This RV had been in Jes's family since new, she has told me story's of her and her family doing summer trips with it all through her growing up, even cooking up turkey dinners on thanksgiving. It had been sitting at her grandparents place for 11 yrs and had become her grandparents guest cabin until Raddy and Jes took ownership.
Gutt: So why K2 Charlie, what is the story behind the name?
Rob: That story is a bit deep,
Gutt: Come on... people want to know.
Rob: Ok , no problem.... Quite a few years ago i had been traveling through Europe without any money, it turned out to be quite an adventure. I went there with the original intention of removing my pinky finger for medical practice. I was told that some hospital's pay quite a bit for this procedure. This ended up being a myth and so I was left in Europe with no plans and no money. I ended hitching through ten countries and sleeping outside the whole time. I slept in garbage bags for protection when it rained. This whole story is coming out in my first book called "Is My Finger Really Worth That Much" hopefully spring 2010.
Anyway I was in Sweden, just south of Stockholm. I got picked up by an amazing couple from Belgium. Simo and Tina had been in Finland visiting Simo's parents, and were heading home. They ended up being my very first dual day ride, meaning they allowed me to travel with them for two whole days. When night came we stopped and ate together, sharing what each of us had to offer. They even made me a place in their van to sleep.
This couple had such amazing amount of love to give. They were inspirationally caring and giving. When I was left on the highway just outside of Amsterdam, I was left with such a feeling of happiness it lasted for days. Even today when I reflect on those days I am filled with joy.
They were traveling in an old Mercedes cargo van that they had purchased from a plumbing company. They had customized the cargo area into their living quaters for their journey's. It was all very comfortable. On the outside of this van was some lettering, that read Charly's Plumbing. Simo had scraped off all the letters except the name Charly.
When I was first introduced to My RV I reflected on this adventure with memory of the love that Simo and Tina had left me with. My whole plan was to create an RV that would be open to all that desired, and leave each visitor with enormous amounts of love and enjoyment that they would remember the encounter for years to come. So upon first site of it I knew that its name would be "K2 Charlie"
Gutt: Wow... that is deep
Rob: I told you
Gutt : How have been able to accomplish your goal of this original plan?
Rob: well... in short, over the last three years I had travelled almost 160000 kms, on trips to places like Vegas, Lake Havasu, Alaska, Winnipeg, Whistler, Kamp K2 at Baker and more. I have gone through 5 engines, 2 transmissions, 6 starters,... the list goes on.
I have thrown well over 20 social painting parties to let well over 100 people add their love to Charlie with the ever changing art work displayed on it. There has been numerous amounts of spontaneous eruptions of DANCE PARTY. Charlie has been home to hundreds of different people over the years and at times has slept over 9 people at once. These stories and more are coming out in my second book called "Who the Hell is K2Charlie" dates to be announced.
The home to many a good night!
The inspriation of Simo and Tina lives on and will continue to grow as long as Charlie will allow
K2 Charlie chows at Love Feast
K2 Charlie has entered New York for several stops and the most anticipated one of them all was the annual Love Feast in Elicottville. After few quick stops and some minor repairs we headed out to western New York to investigate this "Love Feast". Turns out The City Garage, a local shop in Ellicotville, prefers to have their K2 clinic in the local watering hole and invite all their friends to kick off the season. Proving that Ellicotville is one of New York's true mountain towns and not just an exit off the thru-way.
Our First Stop in NY was Pedigree ski shop for their 30th annual Columbus Day sale. 3 hours and $5 in meter fees Charlie was full submersed in the New York State of Mind.
I had a chance to stop at home and thought bringing Charlie in to get checked out by a trusted mechanic wasn't a bad idea. After a quick inspection we discovered Charlie's exhaust had rattled apart and needed some welding.
The City Garage was well prepared for our arrival with a banner welcoming Charlie. Ellicotville is a small town so anyone who didn't get a glimpse of Charlie will surely hear about his Ellicotville stop within 24 hours.
Look what I found! The true do it all, extreme anything ski. Only available in New York! Actually, you can find them on the interweb and your local ski shop as well.
K2 rep Bob Kwong doing his clinic at the Love Feast. Ribs, wings, beers and everything you need to know about K2's 2010 line. "Remember, look left turn left, look right turn right. Perfect for your doctor, lawyer, Indian chief type"
If your wondering what or who everyone is looking at it's the bar and pool table in the next room. At the conclusion of the clinic Kwong battled everyone in pool for a chance to win a K2/PBR hoodie. In the end Kwong was victorious but let a few hoodies go for good measure
New York is not known for its deep snow and big mountains, trust me i'm from here. But let it be know that the skiers still value the same things all skiers do, snow and partying. Thanks to everyone at City Garage and an extra special thanks to Jimmy for preventing potential carbon monoxide poisining.
