Looking Sideways: 10 Things
My trip to Georgia, a creative lesson from McCartney, and a classic must-see music documentary
1. I had the best laugh I’ve had on a snowboard for quite some time in Georgia, which I visited last week to write a story for the Times (and which is why there was no 10 Things last Friday).
Sure, if you like it properly steep, enjoy being scared, or prefer it luxe and bougie, it probably isn’t for you.
Anybody else with a yen for a snowy adventure will love the outrageously user-friendly snow and terrain, the lack of crowds, and the chance to explore this fascinating country.
Think Sri Lanka, Morocco or the Maldives if you surf, or Japan twenty years ago if you ski or snowboard.
The challenge for Georgia Catskiing’s Shota and the rest of the Bakhmaro community will be how to effectively manage the valley as it inevitably becomes more popular in the coming years. I’ll have a piece about this coming out on here soon.
In the meantime here (above) is a short clip from the trip - merci Shota, Helen, Caroline, Lynsey, Will, Dom, Leslie and Keme and the gang for the good times. And to Peak Performance, Finisterre, Stance and Db for the support on this one.
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2. I really enjoyed pulling together my recent Looking Sideways mini-series of post Olympic reflections.
In the first episode, I chatted to BBC commentators (and new national treasures) Ed Leigh and Tim Warwood about their take on the Games.
In the second, I discussed the tension that exists at the heart of snowboarding and action sports’ relationship with the Olympics with Lesley McKenna, who interrogated this for her Phd, as usual raising the bar significantly when it comes to how we discuss and understand these topics.
The final episode tackled fossil fuel sponsorship (one of the biggest controversies surrounding the recent Winter Olympics) and focussed on the Ski Fossil Free campaign, initiated by activists Calum McIntyre and Nikolai Schirmer.
This brilliantly effective feat of climate campaigning saw Nikolai deliver a petition - signed by over 20,000 people - to the IOC on the eve of the Games, an act which garnered much publicity and pushed the issue into the spotlight at a critical moment.
A week or so later, in an attempt to understand more about the campaign and its goals, I hosted an online panel featuring voices from across sport, activism and the outdoor industry, including campaign organiser Calum, Russell Harvey from Greenpeace, Lucy Von Sturmer from Creatives for Climate, Erland Eggen from Klimakultur, Magnus Graner from 1000 Skis, and Greenlandic Olympian Ukaleq Slettemark.
We discussed the campaign, the role of athletes and brands in driving change, the challenges of effective climate activism — and the accusations of hypocrisy that inevitably follow this conversation.
It’s a conversation about where responsibility really sits when it comes to the future of outdoor sports, and as such is a fitting end to this short Olympic series.
Watch a short clip above, or listen to the entire episode below:
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3. A great creative lesson from Paul McCartney, taken from Ian Leslie’s recent John and Paul book, which I finished this week:
The older I get, the more I am endlessly amazed by how personally people take having their creative ideas critiqued. As Lennon and McCartney seem to have realised at a very early age, feedback and constructive criticism isn’t a personal reflection on you or your idea - it’s an essential part of making any creative thing better. It really isn’t that complicated (or ‘It just doesn’t matter that much’, as Paul puts it).
4. A reminder that the 2026 reading list is go here, and there’s a great ongoing chat thread on which people are sharing their own recs which you can join by clicking the image above.
5. Before Penelope Spheeris made Wayne’s World, she made a pair of incredibly influential documentaries about the late 70s/early 80s LA music scene, both of which are now on YouTube, and which are very much worth a watch. Especially part one, above, which documents the very grubby LA punk scene, and the tragic, nihilistic antics of characters such as Derby Crash and his band Germs.
6. Hats off to whoever commissioned this Runner’s World conversation between Harry Styles and Haruki Murakami.
7. If you’ve listened to my recent episode with Alice Sainsbury, I imagine two mind-bending details probably stood out: the fact that all adaptive athletes, even up to elite Paralympic level, are forced to modify their own clothing to enable them to compete; and the fact that there an estimated 1.4 billion disabled and chronically ill people around the world, giving the lie to the idea that this is some kind of minority issue.
In response, Alice has recently helped launch an initiative called UN[PARA]LD, through which she’s attempting to address these issues. This new film, above, tells the story so far.
8. A couple of interesting podcast episodes I listened to this week - Lora Bodmer, PR supremo and a quietly unsung hero of the US snow scene, on FNRad, and my dear pal Jon Weaver on Thank U Snowboarding (above).
Both really fascinating stories from people who made snowboarding their life in very different and unusual ways. Highly recommended.
9. I’m pretty devastated to be missing next week’s inaugural North Sea Surf Film Festival (not least because I’ve STILL never been up there). If you ask me, organisers Sally, Tom and Lewis represent all that is brilliant about UK surfing - integrity, generosity, creativity and community - and the event looks like it’ll reflect this ethos beautifully.
Especially Thursday’s Cold Gold festival opener (watch the trailer above) for which NESFF invited crews from the east coast to submit their own edit.
As Tom puts it, “the films entered showcase every aspect of NE surf culture, from real amateur stuff to stuff that could easily sit in a proper festival setting. We have a group of mum who surf every Friday, groms from over the river, parasurfers and a couple of aspiring surf filmers.
We are so proud to be platforming aspiring film makers from across these sectors; and fopr NSSFF be the catalyst for friends to get together this winter with the shared purpose of film. The mana, the onda, the aloha spirit - whatever it is that is core to surf culture is already outstanding”.
10. Finally, I’m back in Normandy for a few weeks. The sun is shining and the blossom is flourishing, so I thought I’d share a quick clip, above.
Which of these stories did you enjoy this week? Let me know ✌️