Most Recent Blog Posts

• News: Snowbird Receives Approv News: Snowbird Receives Approval To Install Mountain Coaster

  • From: media-75233
  • Description:

    
    Salt Lake City Planning Commission Unanimously Approves Relocated Summer Activity
    
    Snowbird, Utah – The Salt Lake County Planning Commission voted unanimously May 23 to approve Snowbird’s proposed new location for a mountain coaster. The commission’s approval is contingent on more detailed site plans and meeting various governmental agency criteria, all of which Snowbird has addressed throughout the planning process.
    
    “We are excited to provide another form of summer recreation for our guests and Utah’s growing population,” said Snowbird President Bob Bonar. “We feel today’s approval is a result of listening to various stakeholders, community groups and neighbors as well as working with Salt Lake County and City to create a workable solution for all parties.”
    
    Snowbird hosted site tours for any interested individuals, community groups, councils and commissions prior to the May 23 meeting in an attempt to address any concerns.
    
    The mountain coaster will be located within Snowbird’s existing developed resort footprint on private property with loading and unloading at the base of the Peruvian Express chairlift. Much of the ride is obscured from the highway by the Cliff Lodge as well as trees and vegetation. The mountain coaster installation uses primarily soil nails and has minimal impact on the terrain, the resort said.
    
    “As with every project we undertake, water quality is at the top of the priority list,” said Bonar. “Scientific analysis dating back to Snowbird’s beginning demonstrates that year-round recreation is compatible with operating within a watershed.”
    
    Snowbird now will begin the final design phase and work on installation timelines, currently expected to take place this fall or spring 2013.
    
    Snowbird will open its existing summer activities Friday, June 8. Those include the Alpine Slide, Mountain Flyer, Ropes Course, Climbing Wall, Kids’ Inflatables, Bungy Trampolines and Mechanical Bull. The Tram is scheduled to open for the season Friday, June 15, following spring maintenance. The Peruvian Express lift and tunnel will likely open for the season July 4.
    
    **Press Release Via Snowbird**

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• Interview: Angel Collinson On Interview: Angel Collinson On Filming With TGR In Alaska

  • From: brigidmander
  • Description:

    Angel Collinson hangs out at the Northern Chugach Mountains while filming with Teton Gravity Research for its newest movie, The Dream Factory. Photo by Adam Clark.
    
    Angel Collinson has been on the rise ever since she came on the big-mountain ski scene a few years ago. At 21 years old, she has won the Freeskiing World Tour in 2010, 2011 and came in second overall this past season. The industry has taken note, including the Teton Gravity Research production team. This year, TGR took Angel up to the biggest venue of all – Alaska – to film for our newest movie, The Dream Factory.
    
    We caught up with her to find out how it was to shred with skiers she grew up admiring, what she has planned for women’s freeskiing, and why she may forgo a ski trip to South America to bang nails at home in Utah.
    
    On the opportunity to film with TGR in Alaska:
    
    I got the call from TGR this January asking if I'd like to film with them. I was already committed to a full season of big mountain competitions, but filming with TGR has always been a dream of mine and I wanted to make both agendas work. The first trip was with Erik Roner up to Haines, Alaska. It was cool to have a small group, and Erik was really great with tips and advice to help me feel more comfortable in the new situation of heli-skiing and filming. Because of my busy comp schedule, I could only be up there for a week. I still learned a lot.
    
    On Alaska, round II:
    
    The other trip I took with TGR was up in the Northern Chugach, flying out of the Knik River Lodge, with Dana [Flahr], Seth [Morrison] and Sage [Cattabriga-Alosa]. By the time Dana and I got up there in mid-April, a lot of the snow was good, [but] it wasn't good enough to be filmable. It has to be almost perfect. It was frustrating, and we didn't ski that gnarly of lines. That being said, we still got to ski some sick lines, and the last day we were up there were the biggest lines we had skied yet.
    
    On showing up ready to charge on a new stage:
    
    My racing background has laid out a really good foundation for strong technique, so when I'm on top of something gnarly, I'm excited and confident, ready to fire it up.
    
    Looking at all the [AK] terrain, I thought to myself: "I know I can ski that, and ski it fast and well too, if the conditions were right," and knowing that definitely made me recognize where I've come to in my skiing, looking up at huge lines knowing they are definitely within my ability. I feel like I have been training my whole life for Alaska lines.
    
    Angel Collinson rips a line in Alaska's Northern Chugach Mountains. Photo by Adam Clark.
    
    On stepping it up to the next level:
    
    I am going to transition into other travel and film projects [instead of competition]. It's hard to improve your skiing when you are traveling and competing all the time — you don't have a lot of training time. I can't wait to actually have time to improve, and my focus is on working on tricks and bigger airs. Once I feel like I can confidently throws tricks off of most cliffs and consistently stomp big airs, I might do a comp here and there — those are the things that I want to bring into the competition field.
    
    On moving out of the parents house:
    
    Well, my brother John and I are still living in Little Cottonwood Canyon with the fam, spending every day building a house as a family at the mouth of Little Cottonwood. Our goal is to have the house done by the fall, and then John and I will move in together. I can't wait to share a house with just him. He's always been my best bud and favorite person to ski with.
    
    Yesterday I was taking down ski posters and magazine cutouts from the room I lived in since I was little, and there were all these pics of Sage, Seth, and Dana. It was crazy to be like, I was looking at these pics when I was 10 years old and getting fired up, and now I just got done with an AK trip filming with them! A dream come true.
    
    On appreciating - and accomplishing - life:
    
    While it's cool to have a lot of distinguished accomplishments, if you didn't have fun while doing them, to me they are not as meaningful. And on the flipside, maybe you didn't really accomplish anything but look back on the time period and it brings warmth to your heart and you feel like you are really ALIVE. To me, that's a success, and something to be proud of — to look back at accomplishments, or lack of, and say, "Yeah. I'm doing it! I'm living, I'm happy, and I appreciate everything I got." To come out of a season feeling like that is what I'm the proudest of.

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• Skiing South America: Just Go Skiing South America: Just Go

  • From: ryandunfee
  • Description:

    Andres Labbozzetta boosts in the Cerro Catedral trees. Photo by Ryan Dunfee.

    It’s that time of year again.  It’s when we watch the local snowpack fade away, taking with it the memories of the season.  Lucky kids start flocking to glacier camps at Mount Hood and Whistler.  And webcams start showing evidence of the beginning of the South American ski season, causing the unsatisfied among us to begin researching credit cards with airmiles rewards and to start looking at our calendars and bank accounts.  It’s a scenario I’ve found myself summer after summer, and with some good luck, was one I was finally able to act on.  At random, on a surf check at a frozen New Hampshire beach, I met the owners of what was then South America Snow Sessions, and within three days had a sales job and my sights set on Argentina.
    
    An unhealthy amount of exuberance led me to believe I could ski every single month of that year despite being based out of New England, and come June I found myself at the base of Tuckerman’s Ravine with a broken ankle, grimacing in pain at the bottom of the last landing strip of snow in the pouring rain.  I still made the trip to our backcountry ski camp in Bariloche, Argentina, but the ankle boot never came off during that first trip, and I was left manning the office and watching the flakes pile up outside.
    
    The year after that and after some internal troubles, a new company under the name of SASS Global Travel was formed, I found myself running all the marketing, and most importantly, I was back on the plane down south with two healthy ankles and a long hit list.  The skiing at Cerro Catedral, our home base, was everything I’d dreamed about.  Perfectly spaced trees with nary a track, even by mid-afternoon, allowed for fall-line GS turns and mountain bike lines over and off of fallen trees.  Alpine bowls accessed from a quick hike that kept most of the locals and all the Brazilians at bay offered easy access to as much powder and as many drops as you wanted.  One day we spent eight hours skiing and traversing the entire Van Titter valley behind the resort.  We saw a total of three other people.  And the partying, women, and red meat are reasons to go in and of themselves.

    The Bariloche backcountry. Photo by Ryan Dunfee.
    
    But this year, in a move that will seem apocryphal to any of you, I turned down a free trip back to Argentina.  I could be looking forward to another season of unreal terrain with amazing friends and life-changing experiences, but I chose not to go.  As that dream had been realized, my mind turned to focus on the next life goal, which is to use what talents I have to advance the cause of environmental and social sustainability, whatever that means.  I told myself that I could go on as many South American adventures as I wanted to, but they wouldn’t get me much closer to realizing a more fundamental, life-long goal I knew I’d need to satisfy to be truly happy with my life.
    
    But YOU SHOULD GO. Whether it’s with SGT, which I recommend, or not, the South American skiing experience is like no other.  It’s short.  It’s punchy and can go from shit, to good, to great, to shit, faster than you can order a Quilmes.  You cannot see a storm on the horizon for a week, but get fresh tracks everyday thanks to the Andes’ steady winds.  It can snow every three days for a month.  You can be grinning staring at all the blower out of the gondola window, and then saying your last prayers as gale-force winds blow your thirty-year-old pod with a partly open door sideways.  It can snow four feet at the base, and the local government might only have one snowplow.  You can shred pow all day, and then walk into a Reef bikini contest at the base area with free Coronas. You will feel like a true explorer like you’ve never felt on snow, as you’ll very likely be the only ones hiking off the trail with a backcountry kit.  Or powder skis.  Above all, it will in no way resemble any other experience you’ve had on snow.
    
    I’ve had my amazing experiences and memories in South America that will last a lifetime, and I don’t doubt I’ll be back for more at some point down the road.  But for both of our sakes, please go south this summer.  Just go.  You can thank me in the fall.

    You could be shredding here in a couple of months. La Laguna,  Cerro Catedral, Argentina. Photo by Ryan Dunfee.

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• Video: The First of Many — JT Video: The First of Many — JT Holmes And Matthias Giraud Ski Off A 260-Foot Cliff

  • From: media-75233
  • Description:

    Man, Super Frenchie Matthias Giraud is at it again and this time he's brought JT Holmes along for the adventure. According to what Giraud writes below, this is Holmes' first Ski-BASE jump since March, 26, 2009, which is the day Shane McConkey died after having a complication with his chute during a ski-BASE jump in the Dolomite Mountains in Italy. Holmes was with McConkey on that tragic day, which must make returning to the sport that much more difficult. To being with, ski-BASE jumping takes a lot of mental strength. But to go back to it after witnessing an accident like that is on another level. Giraud has it right when he writes below that Holmes is "celebrating life."

    Below are words from Matthais Giraud:
    
    It's not everyday that you get to ski off a 260-foot cliff, launch a double backflip, and fly away in a parachute.
    
    As I am getting ready to ski, JT turns towards me, shakes my hand, and says, "To the first of many."
    
    This day was a long time coming; we had talked about this day for years.
    
    This is our first jump together. It is also JT's first ski BASE jump since that tragic day, March 26, 2009—a date which will live in infamy—JT survives a ski BASE flight in the Italian Dolomites, but his good friend, wingman, and one of my mentors, Shane McConkey, does not.
    
    Even if we are aware of the risks and accept them, witnessing the loss of a friend and mentor is the most traumatic experience a skier and BASE jumper can endure.
    
    But, JT is an example of composure and focus, and he carries on with the spirit of BASE jumping and skiing, that is, celebrating life!
    
    Today, I am incredibly honored to be along his side as he gets back on the horse, the first of many.
    
    Let's never forget the words of McConkey: "There's nothing better than sliding down snow and flying through the air"
    
    Welcome back, JT!

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• News: Colorado Avalanche Victi News: Colorado Avalanche Victim's Family Sues Winter Park Resort

  • From: media-75233
  • Description:

    

    Story by Kristen Lodge of the Vail Daily:
    
    GRAND COUNTY, Colorado — The family of Christopher Norris, who died in January at Winter Park Resort after being caught in an avalanche in the Trestle Trees area, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Grand County District Court.
    
    The complaint has been filed against Intrawest Winter Park Operations Corporation, which manages and operates Winter Park Resort.
    
    The complaint alleges that Winter Park officials knew or should have known about the slopes within the boundaries of the Winter Park Resort that could have been prone to avalanches. The document also states that the resort knew about avalanche warnings that day and that they should have known the Trestle Trees area was likely to experience avalanches and therefore was not safe.
    
    Winter Park Resort officials “had the duty to close those areas within its boundary which it knew or should have known posed an avalanche hazard to skiers under the conditions existing on January 22, 2012,” according to the complaint.
    
    Intrawest officials in Denver referred inquiries to Winter Park Resort, which did not respond to three phone calls beginning May 18 seeking response to the lawsuit's allegations.
    
    Salyndra E. Fleury is the surviving spouse and has hired attorney James Heckbert, of Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh and Jardine, P.C., who is working from Steamboat Springs.
    
    “There were avalanche warnings in the backcountry, and they were telling people to go to the safety of ski areas where they control avalanches,” said Heckbert in a phone interview May 17.
    
    “Ski areas are the experts. There is inherent risk as a part of skiing. You may hit a rock — that is part of skiing in a ski area, that is inherent risk. An avalanche is not part of the inherent risk in a ski resort,” he said.
    
    The Trestle Trees were not roped off, and signs were not posted showing the area as closed, he said.
    
    The next step in the process is for Winter Park to respond to the claim as part of the discovery process.
    
    State law
    The Colorado Ski Safety Act states that “no skier may make any claim against or recover from any ski area operator for injury resulting from any of the inherent dangers and risks of skiing.”
    
    The Act also states the limit of liability attributable to non-economic loss or injury is $250,000.
    
    According to The Colorado Avalanche Center, Norris' death was the second avalanche-related fatality of the Jan. 22 weekend. The Colorado Avalanche Center's website warned of high avalanche danger all weekend and cautioned, “Triggering avalanches is likely on any snow-covered slope 30 degrees or steeper that did not slide during the natural cycle yesterday. The natural
    
    avalanche cycle has largely run its course, so I will drop the Avalanche Warning, but natural avalanches are still possible today. Triggering slides will be easy today, and some of them will be bigger than what we have seen so far this winter.”

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• Video: Watch The Red Bull Supe Video: Watch The Red Bull Supernatural Snowboarding Event In Its Entirety

  • From: SamPetri
  • Description:

    Here it is in its entirety: The Red Bull Supernatural event at Baldface Lodge in British Columbia. Sit back, pop it on full-screen mode and pretend like it's the Super Bowl of snowboarding.

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• News: Finnish Ski-Mountaineer News: Finnish Ski-Mountaineer Dies In Fall On Mount McKinley

  • From: media-75233
  • Description:

    TALKEETNA, Alaska: A 36-year-old Finnish mountaineer died from injuries incurred in a fall while descending Mt. McKinley the afternoon of Wednesday, May 23. Ilkka Uusitalo of Oulu, Finland was skiing down the 40- to 45-degree slope known as the 'Orient Express' with two teammates when he fell from an elevation of 17,800 feet and was unable to self-arrest. Uusitalo tumbled through snow, ice, and rocks, coming to a stop in a crevasse at 15,850 feet.
    
    While one of his teammates continued down to the NPS ranger camp at 14,200 feet for rescue assistance, Uusitalo's other teammate rappelled into the crevasse with the help of a nearby team. They determined that Uusitalo was likely deceased.

    

    An NPS response team arrived on scene approximately one hour later, and Ranger Tucker Chenoweth was lowered 60 feet into the crevasse by his team of 3 volunteer rangers. After confirming that Uusitalo was deceased, the NPS patrol members hauled both Chenoweth and the victim out to the glacier surface. Soon after, Uusitalo's body was evacuated via a long line operation by the park's A-Star B3 helicopter to the Kahiltna Basecamp, then on to Talkeetna.
    
    This accident is the second fatal fall on Mt. McKinley this climbing season. Since 1972, 16 fatalities have occurred during descents of the Orient Express.

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• Video: Steve Popovich POV+ edi Video: Steve Popovich POV+ edit

  • From: stevepopovich
  • Description:

    mostly headcams and some radical HD footage of the RadBots season in Montana Backcountry

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• Video: Sebastien Toutant Tripl Video: Sebastien Toutant Triple Cork Backside 1440 At Superpark 16

  • From: SamPetri
  • Description:

    This was Sebastien’s third attempt at a triple cork backside 1440 and he stomps it so clean. Not much else to say except, “sick, dude.”

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• Video: Steve Corbett First-Eve Video: Steve Corbett First-Ever Quadruple Backflip On Skis

  • From: SamPetri
  • Description:

    On April 13, 1974, at Whistler Mountain, Steve Corbett skied off a jump and traveled a distance of 170 feet, at a height of 80 feet, turning four revolutions in the air, landed and skied away. While Steve’s feat of being the first-ever skier to do a quadruple backflip has largely been lost in history due to the fact that Guinness World Records never recognized it, we now have this classic video to watch on YouTube. It’s hard to tell if he stomps it clean, but even if it was a backslap situation, you’ve got to respect the dude for really giving’er back in the day.

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• Video: Wingwan Gary Connery Be Video: Wingwan Gary Connery Becomes First Skydiver To Land Safely Without Parachute

  • From: SamPetri
  • Description:

    Here's Gary Connery, 42, of Oxfordshire, England, jumping out of a helicopter at 2,400-feet and landing with out a parachute on a pad of 18,600 cardboard boxes 350-feet long, 40-feet wide and 12-feet high. Balls of steel, Gary, balls of steel.

    Connery's buddy, Mark Sutton, filmed the feat with a follow cam until the last minute. Can't wait to see the second angle.

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• Griffin Post, Todd Ligare And Griffin Post, Todd Ligare And Ralph Backstrom Kill It At Ski-Camping

  • From: sampope
  • Description:

    The Teton Gravity Research crew blasts through the mud in their Ford Explorer on the way to go ski-camping for 12 days in Alaska's Chugach Mountains.

    In April, I spent 12 days camped between Cordova and Valdez, Alaska, on the Woodsworth Glacier at the base of the famed Pontoon peak, in the Chugach, filming Ralph Backstrom, Todd Ligare, and Griffin Post for Teton Gravity Research’s newest film, The Dream Factory.

    Todd Ligare, Griffin Post, Ralph Backstrom took sleds from Valdez almost all the way to Cordova, Alaska — a 25-mile trip through the Chugach.
    
    We used snowmobiles to cover the 25 miles from Thompson Pass, and though we started in Valdez, our camp was actually closer to the town of Cordova. While camped, we used some of our limited SAT phone time to get snow and weather reports from the guys at Points North Heli, who are based out of that town.

    Todd Ligare, Griffin Post and Raph Backstrom hike for their turns.
    
    Though everyone knows Alaska for its heli-skiing, it’s a little-known-fact that many of the same zones that are accessed by high-dollar heli clients can also be accessed by snowmobiles. To our knowledge, we were the first group to use sleds to get that deep into the range. There’s some sweat equity involved, but unlike heli skiing, you won’t be panhandling on the streets of Anchorage to buy a plane ticket back to the Lower 48. Unless you wreck your snowmobile, which is easier to do than you might think.
    
    The sun sets on the TGR campsite.

    Of our 12 days out there, probably 10 of them were sunny, but we did have a couple down days. Anyone who’s spent any time filming up there knows about the Alaska Slow Roast; sitting around in a lodge or hotel waiting for something that is completely and utterly beyond your control — the weather. Roast time can be anywhere from a couple hours, to a day or even weeks, but there are always distractions: the Internet, movies, trips to town. One might even occasionally indulge in an adult beverage.
    
    But the glacier takes the Roast to a whole new level. When the weather is bad, there is literally, NOTHING TO DO. You can sit in the tent and stair at the walls, you can walk outside and stare at the mountains. You can contemplate your wasted college degree, lack of a 401k, or any kind of long term plan. If your iPhone has any battery power left, you can play Tiny Wings. The options are pretty limited.

    Ralph Backstrom is a damn good snowboarder, but his true talent lies in fireworks.

    Anyone who knows Griffin Post, knows that he’s a motivated guy. To my knowledge, he’s the only professional skier with an M.B.A. In fact, while we were roasting in the tent, he was outside making real estate transactions on the SAT phone. No joke.
    
    On the second day of our Glacier Roast, Josh Swierk, owner of the Robe Lake Lodge, showed up to help us pass the time. And being a true AK local, he showed up with several, semi automatic weapons. We were all excited, don’t get me wrong, but for Griffin this was a totally different thing — it was the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream. You see, Griffin skis big lines, takes big air and he dreams big. And Griffin’s dream was to fire a semiautomatic weapon, off of a moving snowmobile. And it just so happened that we had a snowmobile AND a semiautomatic weapon. Actually, a few.

    Ralph Backstrom blows off some steam.

    And so for most people, while the AK Slow Roast is an opportunity to sleep, waste time and complain a lot, for Griffin, it was the opportunity to fulfill lifelong dreams and you don’t get to do that every day. 

    Alright, let's go snowboarding.
    

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• Wolf Creek Utah Ski Resort Up Wolf Creek Utah Ski Resort Up For Auction

  • From: SamPetri
  • Description:

    Ever want to own a ski resort? Well, now you can. Er, you just have to have a $100,000 cashiers check to participate in the auction of tiny, bankrupt Wolf Creek Utah ski resort in Eden, Utah. The highest bidder on Jun 1, 2012, will get the hill, the 18-hole golf course, the clubhouse and more.
    
    The ski area’s website boasts that: “Wolf Mountain offers a variety of skill levels to accommodate each skier, and snowboarder. Approximately 20 percent of the mountain is appropriate for beginners, 50 percent for intermediate skiers and 20 percent for advanced skill levels. Wolf Mountain also boasts the best slopes in Utah for night skiing with the entire mountain lit up each evening.”
    
    However, looking at the trail map indicates that there may be less than 20 percent of terrain for advanced skill levels. ...

    
    I like to imagine buying this place and keeping it all to my self, kind of like Eric Cartman in that South Park episode where he buys his own amusement park. ... Wouldn’t it be sick to have your own ski area, even if it was one of those tiny bumps of a hill, like Wolf Creek Utah?
    
    Read below for more information on the auction:
    
    Wolf Creek Resort Ski and Golf Course for Auction
    Real Estate Bankruptcy Auction
    
     
    Wolf Creek Resort
    3926 N Wolf Creek Dr. Eden Utah 84310
    
    This includes
    
    The 18-hole championship golf course
    The Clubhouse (restaurant, snack bar, golf shop)
    State of the Art Golf Course Maintenance Building
    Pineview Lodge Event Center (event center and corporate offices)
    Discovery Center (workout facilities, retail space, corporate offices, etc.)
    Wolf Mountain Ski Resort
    800+ acres of open dedicated space
    Development acreage for aprox 850-950+ mixed use units (single family homes, condos, townhomes and retail/commercial) among many different development parcels
    All the personal property to operate the businesses.
    
     
    
    Over 3,000 Total Acres!
    Working business!
    A turnkey operation!
    Minutes away from Olympic Venues!
    This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!
    $100,000.00 Cashiers Check payable to Erkelens & Olson required to bid.
    3% Buyers Premium
    
    Preview by Appointment Only.
    Call 801-355-6655 to Schedule Appointment

    Click Here To Go To The Auction Site

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• Video: Henrik Harlaut Spins No Video: Henrik Harlaut Spins Nosebutter 1080, Tanner Hall Throws Double Backflip

  • From: SamPetri
  • Description:

    Although Sammy C couldn’t compete at his own event due to a knee injury he sustained at the winter X Games, plenty of other rippers showed up to throw down this past weekend. Here, Henrik “E-Dollo” Harlaut spins a nosebutter double cork 1080. Sick.

    Below, Watch Tanner Hall throw a double backflip. It was Tanner's first contest since 2009.

    Results:
    
    1. Torin Yater-Wallace 2. Bobby Brown 3. Parker White 4. Tanner Hall 5. Henrik Harlaut
    
    Best Style — Phil Casabon
    
    Best Rodeo 5 — Clayton Vila

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• Video: Ian Smith Crashes At Su Video: Ian Smith Crashes At Superpark 16 At Mount Bachelor

  • From: SamPetri
  • Description:

    Filmed by Dave Warren, uploaded to Vimeo by Will Mayo, this is a clip of Ian Smith completely blowing an attempt at a double cork 1080 at Mount Bachelor during Superpark 16. Who ever is talking in the background of this video is right, this really is some “Tony Hawk Pro Skater shit.”

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• Open Season: Big Game Hunting Open Season: Big Game Hunting On Mt. Shasta

  • From: sethlightcap
  • Description:

    

    Words and photos by Seth Lightcap

    Unless you have the freedom to beeline straight to Northern California in the next 48 hours, do not call this number: 530-926-5555
    
    That’s the number for the Mt. Shasta Climber’s Hotline sponsored by The Fifth Season mountain shop in Mt. Shasta City. It’s a recorded message that is updated daily with the current climbing and skiing conditions on the 14,179-foot tall Mt. Shasta, the second highest volcano in the Cascades.
    
    Calling the Shasta hotline is not to be taken lightly. Spontaneous calls have been known to send ski fiends into a frenzy. No doubt jobs have been lost and relationships trashed because of Shasta hotline calls. But if there is even the slightest chance you can drop everything and run to Mt. Shasta this very minute...dial the number now. Yes, right now. Then call your boss and start coughing...
    
    Despite a lackluster winter in Tahoe and the central Sierra, Mt. Shasta caught the brunt of northern trending storms which stacked the snowpack to near average depth. The gargantuan flanks of this mystical peak have now ripened into golden fields of corn snow that beg for 200 foot radius GS turns. If you’ve ever laid eyes on the mighty Mt. Shasta, or better yet, been able to shred it, then you know these runs are all par five. Six thousand-foot descents drop off the summit plateau on every aspect. The only caveat is that you’ve got to earn every turn, so get stoked to spend some hours putting one foot in front of the other if you want to slay this giant.
    
    As usual, May is the month to find primo conditions on the southwest facing routes that are the easiest to access. The Bunny Flat trailhead is the starting point for most adventures at the moment with the trailheads on the north and east sides still a few weeks from melting out. Vinnie Poch, a Shasta ski freak who works at The Fifth Season, suggests you get on these south facing routes now, otherwise look around the corner come June.
    
    “The skiing has been phenomenal, but if it doesn’t cool down the south side is gonna go quick,” said Poch. “But then we’ll just have to move to the north and east sides of the mountain.”
    
    Brennan Lagasse rips the northeast face of a Mt. Shasta sub-peak known as Shastina. The Whitney glacier pours down between the two peaks.
    
    On your first Shasta ski trip climbing the Avalanche Gulch route from the Bunny Flat trailhead and skiing the Red Banks bowl or the West Face is a sure bet. Once you get accustomed to the climbing logistics and the lay of the land the potential for linking multiple descents and stacking up big vertical is endless. If you want to bag the summit and ski down in a single day be ready to leave the trailhead at 3 or 4 am. You’ll need about seven hours to the climb the 7,000 feet to the summit. The other option is to camp midway up which substantially shortens the summit push.
    
    Allison Lightcap and Brennan Lagasse tour alongside the Whitney glacier. The north, east and south sides of the mountain are home to active glaciers.
    
    For the next month or more you’ll be able to skin right from the car up to about 10 or 11,000 feet. Beyond that, the pitch steepens dramatically and most routes become a bootpack. Crampons are crucial, as you’ll be trudging up frozen slopes pre-dawn. Climbing with a whippet self-arrest pole or ice axe is also a must. The routes vary in exposure but there is always the potential for an awkward slip to turn into a very long tumble.
    
    Allison Lightcap crunches across the rime-y northeast ridge of Shastina.
    
    Weather and wind will make or break your day on Shasta. If the winds are cranking stay low as anything above 10,000 feet won’t stand a chance of softening up. 
    
    North facing slopes between 11,000 and 14,00- feet still hold some transitional winter snow. Allison Lightcap found a panel of the porn-y stuff slashing off Shastina.
    
    If you don’t have the crampons and ice axe necessary for the mission you can rent them from The Fifth Season or the Shasta Base Camp in Mt. Shasta City. Without that gear excuse, the only thing standing between you and a 7,000-foot backcountry ski descent is a fair bit of travel time (it’s a long way to Shasta from anywhere) and of course, the gusto to climb this bad mother. All things considered, the ascent is not a super human feat, though. If you’ve ever pulled off a 10-hour day in the mountains and you’ve had some experience climbing above 12,000 feet, then the climb shouldn’t be a problem for you.
    
    You reap what you sow on Mt. Shasta. Allison Lightcap harvested first tracks down a 3,000 foot panel of perfect corn as a reward for dropping off the summit into the Wintun glacier before the Brewer Creek trailhead on the east side of the mountain was open. We climbed back up the Wintun to the summit and dropped down the West Face to the car at Bunny Flat.
    
    Just like a hunting season, to get in on the Shasta season you’ll need to fill out a wilderness permit and purchase a summit pass if you plan to climb above 10,000 feet. Permits cost $20 and are available at all the trailheads. If you have the motivation to climb but are shaky on the technical skills you can also hire a ski guide from Shasta Mountain Guides. They offer both group and custom backcountry ski trips until the snow is gone.
    
    Do you catch my drift? There’s really nothing to it but to do it. So take a deep breath, think about how rad it would be to cap off your winter with an epic descent off one of the finest ski peaks in the world and then pick up the phone. Now dial these digits and make it happen - 530-926-5555.

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• 7 Ways To Survive The Off Seas 7 Ways To Survive The Off Season

  • From: ryandunfee
  • Description:

    
    
    With the mountain closed, work on hold until the summer, and nothing obvious to do, off-season in resort towns can drive a sane person crazy.  No structure, no income, and seemingly no one around can really turn living the dream into an existential nightmare.  However, with some motivation and discipline, off-season can be one of the best times of the year to be in Jackson, Tahoe, or Telluride.

    You didn’t know that camping in a shitty tarp tent that lets mice in is free?
    
    1. Take Advantage Of Free Activities
    
    With most national and state parks not switching gears into high season until Memorial Day, May is an excellent time of year to check out some parks and camp and visit for free.  Golf courses are also either cheap or not officially open yet, meaning free greens fees!  And if you’re thinking about that trip to Moab, do it now.  Come July, you’ll be suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion along with caravans of out of shape tourists.
    
    2. Scavenge
    
    With the season over, everyone and their mom is getting the hell out of Dodge, and likely tossing a bunch of their winter gear in the hurry.  The people who just came for the winter have tossed a bunch of crap they couldn’t fit in their car on the way out of town, restaurants and stores are jettisoning blemished and broken equipment, and the rich people on the hill are probably chucking their skis just so they have an easier time getting to their golf clubs when they come back for summer.  Roll around town, grab what you see, put in some elbow grease, and voilà!  The local coffee shop’s busted espresso machine turns into a shining, functioning eBay sell and you cash out a bunch of used skis on this site’s own forums.  All off-season takes is a healthy amount of resourcefulness and an ability not to succumb to the mental toll all resort towns take on their residents when they turn into rainy ghost towns in the spring.

    “And the best part is, this isn’t even our house!”

    3. Poach A Hot Tub
    
    A ski bum rite of passage, the hot tub poach is most obviously taken advantage of in winter, when sore legs need the loosening effect of a bathtub of scalding chlorinated water.  However, security is also on its game during the high season.  Come May, they’re furlowed or taking a nap in their truck.  Take advantage and poach with minimal risk from the feds.

    Hey, it worked for TJ Burke…
    
    4. Start A Local Romance
    
    Now that the tourist bros who showered your town’s female population with shots all winter long are gone, your chances of hooking up with that one girl you’ve been eyeing from across the liftline are up considerably.  For those looking for a little more than a one-night stand, now that the town is whittled down to the permanent population, girls are going to take the prospect of you as a potential long-term mate more seriously.

    A cheap fishing rod, or simply sticks, is all you need to thrash about in the river and maybe catch some food.

    5. Catch Your Dinner
    
    Most resort towns, in addition to their home mountain, also have a picturesque creek flowing through the valley.  There are very likely healthy, delicious, natural-fed fish in there as well.  Brush up on your fishing skills and get out on the shore to catch some free dinner.  It’s a perfect way to both pass a lot of time and cut down your costs, two primary concerns of the off-season.

    Get out there, there is plenty to see even without the snow.

    6. Set A Goal
    
    The off-season is a great time to slowly lose your mind, with the lack of commitments, schedule, or any real responsibilities of any kind.  To keep the mind nimble and make the best of your time, set some goals to hit before summer.  Hike all the trails within a fifteen minute drive, bike three hundred miles in May, watch the sunrise over town from the local vantage point, take your camera everywhere you go, read a book – whatever you gotta do to feel like you crossed some achievements off the list come summer.  It’ll take a lot of pressure off when you still want to do all those things but have to accommodate a high-season summer works schedule.
    
    7. Proclaim Yourself A True Local
    
    With the chaotic blend of tourists, first-timers, and others during the winter season, it’s pretty hard to tell who you’re sharing the lift with or sitting next to at the bar.  But the off-season whittles the local population down to the true locals who are there for the long haul.  Make some new friends knowing they’re actually going to stick around, and be proud that you’re sticking it out yourself.  Living in Aspen, I finally met all my neighbors and started some of my best friendships in the spring.

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• Video: On Repeat — Kelly Slate Video: On Repeat — Kelly Slater’s Surprise Excitement Party Segment

  • From: SamPetri
  • Description:

    I’ve probably watched this clip 10 times now. Maybe it’s the song, "No Love" by Hooray For Earth, but the footage of Kelly Slater is just so sick. The whole thing hits. Such aggressive and fierce surfing — especially around the two-minute mark — put to an epic jam. It's perfect.

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• Video: Cinco de Ski-Climb-Bike Video: Cinco de Ski-Climb-Bike-O With Brody Leven

  • From: SamPetri
  • Description:

    Days like this are what it’s all about. In this video Brody Leven makes the most of May 5, 2012, by having a skiing, climbing, and biking fiesta with his friends in Utah. No, it’s not the most epic footage of all time and yes, the song choice is slightly cheesy, but that’s not the point. Spring is a time when you feel like you can do almost anything and Brody woke up and got it done. We salute him for attacking the day, having a sweet bike, attending backyard soirees, and crushing life. Well done, sir.

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• Video: Parker White Is Mr. Cle Video: Parker White Is Mr. Clean

  • From: SamPetri
  • Description:

    Grilling hot dogs, drinking beers and boosting at Mammoth Mountain, just another day at the Parker White Invitational. Watch it in full-screen mode.
    
    Click Here To Read An Interview With Parker White

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  • 2 weeks ago
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