Amplid has launched a completely new concept in athlete sponsorship, the Amplid Ambush Academy. Amplid has teamed-up with GoPro in a search for 20 talented, unsigned snowboarders and 20 ripping skiers who are hungry for an opportunity to prove themselves to a potential sponsor.  Over the course of a season, they will compete in riding, filming and photo challenges that reflect the expectations on pro riders in the industry today.

“It’s crazy how being a pro rider has changed in only a few years. Building a career five years ago meant begging to get on magazine trips or praying that sponsors could afford to pay for a spot on next season’s big movie. Now it’s all about filming and editing your own movies and using social media to promote yourself. Amplid needs team riders with this complete skills package and the Amplid Ambush Academy is about finding them.”  Says Amplid co-founder Peter Bauer.

At the start of every month throughout the season, a member of Amplid’s International Cartel Team will set the 20 chosen shredders their challenge; there will be five in total. In addition to awarding prizes to the winner of each challenge, at the end of the 2012/13 winter season, Amplid will offer the Academy members that have really impressed a place on the team.

Those applicants who make the cut and are accepted on to the Academy will receive a welcome pack with a GoPro Hero 2, the best way to capture that killer footage in crisp HD; a soft goods pack and a huge Proform discount on Amplid gear.

Riders that think they have what it takes to be a part of the Amplid Ambush Academy can access more information and apply at www.amplid.com.

The Loveland snowmaking crew was able to make snow this weekend. Mother Nature dropped 3-4 inches of snow to help out the snowmaking efforts.  The snowcats were out pushing the piles of snow this morning in preparation for Opening Day. Loveland Ski Area will open in the next week or so.

Photos by Dustin Schaefer

Here's a series of images taken the morning of Saturday, October 13, after snow fell overnight at Park City Mountain Resort. The resort opens 5 weeks from today, November 17!

These images were taken on and around McConkey's chair.

Backcountry pioneer Devun Walsh has been riding the NOW IPO since day one

WHISTLER, BC – There are very few in the snowboard game who have earned such universal respect and status as Devun Walsh. One of the biggest names in the industry, Walsh has over 40 banger video parts to his credit filled with choker-deep powder, the biggest and baddest natural terrain, and ageless style. As king of the Whistler backcountry, Devun’s smooth style and uncanny ability to make snowboarding look fun in an age of huck and spin video-antics has made him a legend.

A backcountry rider with a skateboard-influenced style, Devun Walsh has partnered with infamous Wildcats member and long-time friend JF Pelchat by signing a deal with NOW Snowboarding which positions Walsh as a shareholder within the innovative new binding company.

“Devun is one of the most influential riders in the industry and we’re thrilled to have him on NOW,” comments JF Pelchat, inventor and founder of NOW Snowboarding. “Dev has been riding the binding since day one and has been instrumental in testing it, improving on it, and making it what it is today.”

NOW Snowboarding came to life in Pelchat’s garage six years ago when he started tweaking traditional bindings with technology borrowed from the world of skateboarding. Built around the NOW IPO hanger, the world’s first skate-influenced binding has a kingpin and bushings leveraging riders’ energy to create a smoother and more powerful ride while considerably reducing on-snow chatter and foot fatigue.

“I love the feel and control of the binding,” explains Walsh. “‎I've always been someone who rides a super tight binding with a big high back for control but it always hindered my tweak ability. NOW bindings have so much control that I can ride them loose and with smaller backs, it's the best.”

With the NOW IPO hitting stores across Canada and the US and winter right around the corner, NOW is excited to have Walsh do what he does best: continue to creatively pioneer the backcountry and document the magic, so we can all be continually inspired to shred.

Make sure to check out Devun Walsh along with his DC teammates in the new DC Snow film titled Must Be Nice, releasing today, Tuesday October 09, 2012 at 11 am PST.

Connect with NOW:
Web – www.now-snowboarding.com
Twitter - @nowbindings
Facebook - www.facebook.com/nowsnowboarding
Instagram - @nowbindings

Please credit: Colin Adair, Location: Whistler Backcountry.

A long cherished dream of Benedikt Böhm came true on September 30. After 15 hours and 3,300 metres of climbing without oxygen, he stood on the summit of 8,163-meter Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world located in Nepal. After equally exceptional climbs, his partners, Sebastian Haag and Constantin Pade, were stopped just short of the summit.

The ascent took place in the aftermath of the avalanche that claimed several lives a week before. Although over-shadowed by this tragedy, the climbers decided to make one last attempt to climb the peak because of the years of preparation and mental commitment. The fact that they had done everything possible to help the victims of the accident helped them make the decision.

“The decision to try for the summit after such a tragedy was a difficult one, but ultimately I decided to climb in their honour and it also helped me cope with the emotional challenges I was also going through from being first on-scene to such a tragedy,” said Benedikt Böhm.

For Böhm and Haag, the journey up Manaslu began five years earlier. In 2007 they travelled to Manaslu with the same goal in mind, but had to turn back at 7,300 metres due to the danger of avalanches. This time around, after acclimatizing for weeks and a whole day of decision-making in base camp, the team had a stroke of luck: a weather window and stable snowpack.

Setting off at 6 p.m. from base camp at 5,000 meter and without oxygen, Benedikt and Sebastian had almost 3,300 vertical metres of climbing ahead of them to reach the summit. Conditions deteriorated at 7,400 metres and the three climbers were battling fierce storms and icy cold.  Böhm, who went on ahead of the team, waited for Haag in an unoccupied tent at camp two. After an hour it was time to get underway again, and they considered abandoning the attempt, but mustered the effort to continue the ascent as a group. The wind eased off as the sun went down. Benedikt Böhm went the final 150 meters alone to reach the summit at 9 in the morning, after five hours of climbing from camp two. Happy, but humbled in remembrance of the accident a few days previously, he did not pose for the usual victory shot on the summit. Instead, he dedicated the ascent to the climbers who had died in the accident. After waiting for an hour he went back to meet with Sebastian Haag and Constantin Pade who chose to turn back 150 meters short of the summit to save their energy for a safe ski descent.

“The most important thing of any expedition is first and foremost to come home safely,” commented Sebastian Haag. “The events of the past few weeks have given me even more respect for the power of these mountains and my first goal is to see my family again.” Skiing together, the group reached base camp after 8 hours of descent. The total climb, including speed ascent and ski descent, took 23.5 hours. Typical climbs up Manaslu using oxygen take four days.

It was an unbelievable achievement, not just for Benedikt Böhm, but for the whole team on Manaslu. According to official records, it is the first-ever speed ascent of Manaslu coupled with a subsequent ski descent.

Day No. 2 of snowmaking went down last night at Loveland Ski Area.  The snowmakers were able to make snow at 2:30 a.m.  The guns are still going (10:04 a.m.)!  Mother Nature also dropped a couple inches of snow.  Things are looking great.  It typically takes about two weeks for Loveland's snowmaking team to cover the opening day run with an 18-inch base and tree-to-tree coverage for the first skiers and riders of the season. Loveland started making snow on October 6th last season and opened on October 14th.

PHOTOS: Dustin Schaefer

Glen Plake is among the survivors of a deadly avalanche on Manaslu, the world's eighth-highest peak. He says he's thankful to be alive, but devastated his friends are still missing. CBS News' Tina Kraus reports. Read more here.

VANCOUVER, B.C. – This fall, three new 2012-2013 skis from G3 Genuine Guide Gear, manufacturer of industry-leading backcountry ski gear, won five separate media awards from four different ski-focused publications, Skiing, Powder, Freeskier and Backcountry magazines.

With roots deep in backcountry and sidecountry ski culture, G3 has stepped into new terrain in recent years with wider, descent-focused, do-it-all skis such the Empire, Manhattan, District and women’s specific Cake.

The Empire, G3’s newest ski for deep snow and busting through crud, received three awards, an Editor’s Choice Award from Backcountry Magazine, a Skier’s Choice Award in Powder’s Buyer’s Guide and a Tester’s Choice Medal from Skiing Magazine.

Backcountry’s editors wrote, “With 127 mm underfoot, full reverse camber and a titanal aluminum topsheet, the Empire weighs less than similar boards … testers found the Empire to be more of a sidecountry playtoy than a touring machine, and there it excels. One tester concluded simply, ‘Fun, fun, FUN!’” Powder wrote, “A playful and buttery float in powder —perfect for drifting down the mountains of your dreams. Just point ‘em, and go.”

While the Empire led the lineup with the most awards, the newly redesigned Manhattan won an Editor’s Choice Award from Freeskier Magazine. And the new women’s specific Cake received the Tester’s Choice Medal from Skiing Magazine.

In addition to formal media awards, a number of other G3 skis were selected as notable performers in media ski tests. The Manhattan, the District and the Zest received Official Selection Medals from Skiing. And the District and the Cake were highlighted as notable performers in the Backcountry Gear Guide.

“As a brand that’s well known for backcountry and sidecountry skis, we’ve been pushing hard in the past few years to add to our ski collection with the Descent series, do-it-all freeride boards that are equally at home in the ski area, in the sidecountry or in the backcountry and with any kind of binding: alpine, AT or tele,” said Oliver Steffen, founder and president of G3. “We’re psyched to get this kind of validation that we’re on the track we want to be.”

To learn more about G3’s 2012-2013 skis, visit the G3 website: www.GenuineGuideGear.com.

Located in Nepal, 8,156-meter Manaslu is the world's eighth-highest mountain. Early Sunday morning an avalanche ripped through Camp 3 at 6,800 meters down to Camp 2 at 6,300 meters.

Eleven people are reported dead and six are still missing after an avalanche on 8,156-meter Manaslu - the world’s eighth-highest mountain - ripped through Camp 3 down to Camp 2 at 4:45 a.m. Sunday morning. A serac fall is the reported trigger of the avalanche. Legendary extreme skier Glen Plake was in his tent at Camp 3 with skier Greg Costa when the avalanche broke loose. Chamonix guide and skier Remy Lecluse was in a tent near Plake and Costa at the time of the avalanche. Canadian skier Greg Hill was at Camp 2 and helped with the search. Both Plake and Hill are alive. Lecluse and Costa are still missing. As of Monday morning, the search has been called off. 

“It was a major, major accident.” Glen Plake told EpicTV on Sunday. “There are up to 14 people missing. There were 25 tents at Camp 3 [6800m] and all of them were destroyed, 12 tents at Camp 2 [6300m] were banged up and moved around. Greg [Costa] and I were in a tent together, Rémy was in another.

“It was 4:45 a.m. and I was in my sleeping bag with my headlamp on reading my devotional when we heard a roar. Greg looked at me and said, ‘That was a big gust of wind.’ Then a second later, 'No, that was an avalanche.'

“Then it hit us.

“I was swept 300 meters over a serac and down the mountain and came to a stop still in my sleeping bag, still inside the tent, still with my headlamp on. We all went to sleep with avalanche transceivers on, so I punched my way out of the tent and started searching.

“I searched for 10 minutes before I realized I was barefoot in the snow.

“Greg had been using my down suit for a pillow and I found my suit. I found everything that was in my tent – camera, sleeping bag, ski boots. It was like someone had thrown my gear in the back of a pickup – but there was no sign of Greg. Rémy and his tent are nowhere to be found.

"The Dynafit crew [Canadian skier Greg Hill's team] were sleeping at a high Camp 2 and were immediately on site to rescue people. Sergio, Stephane, Doji our Sherpa – all strong alpinists – have all come up to search. We’ve done three searches but when the fog rolled in we had to call it off. It was a massive serac fall, probably 600- to 700-meters across. It’s a war zone up here.”

Glen Plake, Remy Lecluse and Greg Costa on Manaslu.  Photo via EpicTV.

Here is the latest from EpicTV: A press conference just took place at the town hall in Chamonix, France. Jean-Louis Verdier, deputy mayor, and Christian Trommsdorff, director of the SNGM (French Mountain Guides Syndicate), explained that, “The rescue teams feel they did all they could to find further victims, but they have now given up all hope of finding any more survivors. The search has been called off for good.”

It was initially reported that seven French alpinists had been killed or were missing, though this number has now been brought down to six. The seventh person is actually a Canadian national. Among this list of six French victims are: two guides who are reported dead, one guide missing, two clients dead and one client missing. Their names will be released in another press conference this afternoon as some families have yet to be notified.”

There were still five injured people at base camp this morning, they were taken to Kathmandu today. It is believed that one of these people is a French alpinist who was dug out of the snow in a deep state of hypothermia.

The town of Chamonix also expressed their deep gratitude to the Nepalese rescue teams who “reacted very quickly and were on site in record time. This is the first time that Nepal has put such big means into place, proving that they are no longer behind. They have done their very best and we thank them for their hard work.”

Map via BBC.

Erik Roner has been keeping busy as evidence from this action-packed new episode of RonerVision! Erik kicks things off skydiving with buddy Bob Burnquist over the 2012 Nike US Open of Surfing and gives us his take on parachute packing 101. Next Erik heads out to Glen Helen raceway joining Greg Godfrey and some of the Nitro Circus Crew for an epic night of truck racing. Summer wouldn't be complete without some good old fashioned R&R, so Erik finishes things off back home in Tahoe, living the good life with son Oskar. As always Oskar gets into big things—this month it's extreme tubing. Hang on!