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Tiny House Tour Episode 4 - Ou Tiny House Tour Episode 4 - Outdoor Research
- From: outdoorresearch102344
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Description:
There is the discovery, when your eyes catch the first glimpse of a pillow line. Your mind quickly assesses the fun factor, believing how easy it will be to effortlessly drop from one marshmallow cloud to the next. Why wouldn’t you ski these pillows? You start hiking. At the top, the world looks a bit different. Disorientation follows, as you realize you have no idea where those inviting little puffs actually live. They seem to have crept away leaving you standing with only a visual of the flat snow at the bottom. But you decide to drop in because you’ve got a feeling that this is something you can do, something that you’ll love. You trust the pillows and your ability to make just enough contact with your skis that it counts, but not enough to stop the momentum in the graceful pillow line pseudo fall.
The moment when you point your skis downwards a flash image of the line appears in your mind. One pseudo-turn. Oooh, nice snow—this is going to be memorable. Then, maybe a jolt or two? A face shot mid-line? A flat landing at the bottom? And then it’s over. You can’t recall every detail of the line. Maybe you can’t remember any at all. But the dream state is still with you. Just as it should be, because skiing isn’t about overanalyzing. Once you’ve decided to ski a pillow line, it’s see it, feel it, and go. - 1 month ago
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Through The Lens Of Jim Harris Through The Lens Of Jim Harris
- From: kimhavell
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Description:
Chris Davenport skis a chute in Antarctica. Photo by Jim Harris.
“Through The Lens” is a regular column on TetonGravity.com that highlights the work of a photographer in the ski and snowboard industries. The series exists to celebrate the photographers who bring us extraordinary imagery, to get to know who they are, and to understand their process.
Jim Harris is a TGR success story. An athlete with an artistic eye and a photographer of great strength and perseverance, Jim hit the big time from an unlikely start. Through honest and thoughtful posts on the TGR web forums, Jim unwittingly developed a huge following and grabbed the attention of industry players. Proving himself time and time again in the field and at the computer, Jim has photographs, stories, and drawings featured across varied media spots, print and online, in the world of adventure sport. He is humble, adventurous, and bright, and gets things done.
Jim has been behind the lens for Sweetgrass Productions, Powderwhore Productions, Camp4Collective, First Ascent, Powder Magazine and more. From scaling 20,000-foot peaks in Bolivia to descending steep couloirs in Antarctica to negotiating a pack raft down Alaskan rivers, this motivated talent keeps at it as he proves that with heart and hard work, success will be a reality.
Jim’s sincere and straight-up approach resonates with his audiences. Follow his creative journeys as “GnarWhale” on TGR and as Perpetual Weekend online at his Blog, Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter sites. www.perpetualweekend.com
Forrest McCarthy melts water at a ridge line campsite as a storm rolls in. Photo by Jim Harris.
The Start.
I was first interested in photography when I was a kid playing with this all-metal Nikormat that my dad had brought back from Japan a decade or two before I was born. I didn’t develop a twitchy shutter button finger until I was around 16 and started documenting the graffiti scene where I grew up. Looking back at those boxes of prints, I was pretty much just mechanically recording ephemeral art. A few years later I extracted myself from that scene by moving to Montana where I enrolled in Wildlife Biology and Fine Art courses. The blend of planning, creativity, daring, and community that made the street art scene compelling also runs through mountain culture. It didn’t take but a few weeks in Montana before I began pointing my camera at people on mountains.
Studying Wildlife Biology seemed like a good route to finding a job that combined adventure with critical thinking, plus I was good at plant and animal identification. An empirical science education has proved to be a good framework for learning about the world, even though I never took up wearing one of those flat-brim Smokey hats. The fine art courses were just for kicks, but I regret missing the memo that my university had a Photo Journalism school.
Andrew McLean skis the Chugach Mountains in Alaska. Photo by Jim Harris.
TGR.
While I’d been registered on TetonGravity.com’s message board for years, I rarely visited until I moved to the Wasatch Mountains in 2007 and discovered it offered a way to meet backcountry touring partners. Then I began posting photos of ski tours and that led to invites on more missions. One of those photo essays prompted Gordy Peifer to offer me a spot on one of his Straightline Advenutures Ski Camps, and another trip report garnered an invite to shoot with Powderewhore Productions in Alaska. That AK trip, in turn, resulted in my first print-published words and photos (Powder Magazine 40.1 “Beast out of the Earth”). Then I won a TGR and Smith Optics photo contest where the prize was an Ice Axe Expeditions ski cruise to Antarctica.
I was sharing just for the sake of sharing and that idealism struck a chord with people. If I suddenly couldn’t sell photos and stories about the sort of trips I like to take, I’d be okay going right back to doing them just for the intrinsic rewards.
Hi-fives with Andrew McLean after discovering and skiing a rad chute in the Wrangell Mountains of Alaska. Photo by Jim Harris.
Inspiration.
Media-makers who also are high-performance athletes hold a role I admire. Photographers who can climb and ski alongside top athletes are the ones who, most often I think, bring back something insightful to share.
Galen Rowell about tops my list of “photographers I wish had reincarnated as me.”
Christian Pondella has crafted a career shooting photos with skis on his pack, an ice axe in one hand and that shines through in his photos.
The Camp 4 Collective team brings boots-on-the-ledge perspective to their productions and it’s apparent in the art and illustrations of Renan Ozturk, Jeremy Collins and Adam Haynes.
Leslie Anthony writes with legitimacy in his words and Fitz Cahall’s Dirtbag Diaries carry that too.
What all of them have in common is this gonzo journalism approach where, because they can hang athletically, they’re able to convey a first-person narrative that offers candid, humanizing insights into the lives of super-human athletes.
On the business side, I admire the people who help others to create content in our ski media ecosystem. When done well, enabling other peoples’ creativity is good for one’s own income. The TGR Forums empowered me and I hope the web ad revenue more than pays for the server space.
Photographers Adam Barker and Chase Jarvis both open source some of their knowledge via web interviews and tutorials. They’re investing their knowledge in aspirant photographers while legitimizing their expertise at the same time. It’s both altruistic and shrewd.
Sunrise on Illimani, Bolivia, while the city of La Paz still sleeps. Photo by Jim Harris.
The Challenge.
I want to be a really good storyteller. Sometimes when I speak, my thoughts branch into a tangent, then a tangent of that, until I’m caught in a spiraling fractal of storylines and everyone has stopped listening. So it takes some intention for me to spin a story well. Photo essays keep me on point and the narrative jogging along.
At some heady level, wilderness adventure stories like the ones I want to tell are another variant of Joe Campbell’s monomyth: the hero marches off into the wild, conquers something untamable, perhaps then realizes that the real conquest happened inside his or her head, and then returns home to share the new wisdom.
My challenge is that I don’t want to just tell those stories but want to actually watch them unfold too. Going up and down difficult mountains with interesting people carves as close to living that myth as I know how to get.
Alan Schwer hops down a steep ski line at 19,000 feet on Volcan Pomarape, Bolivia. Photo by Jim Harris.
The Business.
The business-side of working as a self-employed creative is a murky learning curve. There’s no roadmap to “making it” and even things as dry as sending photos for an editor to review turn out to involve diplomatic maneuvering. Many working photographers will tell you that your photos are only valuable if you keep ‘em squirreled away, unseen by anyone but the editor, right until they appear in print. While I see the wisdom in that approach, the only reason I’m paid to take photos now is because I’ve enjoyed sharing pictures in the past. So, I’ve continued to post photos on TGR, though I’ve become more strategic about sharing.
The ski photo world is a tough one to find recognition in, in part because much of it has fallen prey to this syndrome of collaborative competition where somebody says “Oh! Look at what they’re doing. We should be doing that too.” Photo buyers, photo makers, and athletes all push one another to converge. One outcome is that photographers face an uphill battle when it comes to creating marketable work that also conveys individual style.
On the other hand, who wants to feel like they’re leaving money on the table because they’re too elitist to take routine photos? Faced with that question, I’m no strict idealist. I’m not exactly shooting decorative cupcakes, but I’ve dug into commercial projects, studio opportunities, and jobs outside the ski industry. Sometimes they feel like art school assignments where students replicate some Old Master’s painting. Even if it’s not an approach that I’m particularly interested in, it’s impossible not to glean something useful. Those Elinchrom-lit sets are great for learning technique but they’re not where my aspirations lie.
Tyler Jones leads a climb in the Waddington Range while Seth and Solveig Waterfall follow. Photo by Jim Harris.
Being Diverse.
When I was about ten I was way into these Redwall books about mice doing medieval things. My parents took me to a reading by the author, Brian Jacques, at the neighborhood bookstore and he described to us kids around him that he’d worked as a sailor, and a truck driver, and a milkman, and some jobs that I’ve forgotten before he eventually became a writer too. The notion that one could do a lot of things in a lifetime, rather than be stuck with just one profession, took root in my ten-year-old cortex that day.
Photography has been my main focus for the last year or two, but it’s not my only outlet. I still dabble in woodcut printmaking, painting, shooting video, writing, and teaching. If this photo gig stops working out, I’ll always have the latitude to sidestep into one of these other roles.
Solveig Waterfall skiing from the summit of Mt Waddington, BC over a cavernous crevasse. Photo by Jim Harris.
Expedition Style.
One thing that distinguishes me from the pack is that I like unstaged, one-take, expedition shooting. Long and difficult trips are full of little victories and disappointments and they make for great photographic moments. As a member of an expedition team, I share credit and blame for the ups and downs I’m chronicling. Every bit of the process from planning, traveling, climbing, skiing, cooking, laughing and just surviving together is rewarding.
There are a couple big hurdles to being an expedition shooter. One is keeping one’s gear alive in the cold, wet, sandy, camera-killing places. That takes diligence but isn’t rocket surgery. Another is that one has to learn to suffer with grace. That takes practice and some balanced brain chemistry.
The biggest hurdle, however, is managing the dual loyalties of being both a weight-pulling team member while also caring enough about one’s audience to stop helping your buddies and grab the camera. Jabbing a camera in someone’s face in a cruxy moment can be a bridge-burning move. It takes a pretty keen awareness of the group dynamic plus articulate communication to balance photographic and team needs.
Before leaving for our first trip together, ski mountaineer Andrew McLean told me he was willing to ski for the camera but that he didn’t intend to re-hike anything for a missed shot. If you’ve skied with Andrew, you know that he zips uphill then right back down. Either I had to bully him into slowing down or learn to be quick on the draw, get the shot the first time, and not sulk when I misfired. I went with the second approach and haven’t regretted it.
One-take shooting is an ethos I’ve embraced. Shooting actual skiing down actual lines, as opposed to the ubiquitous one-turn-wonder approach, feels truthy. As a bonus, there’s a lot more skiing involved in a “work” day.
Chris Davenport skiing in Antarctica. Photo by Jim Harris.
Turning Point.
Three years ago, three friends and I spent a month backpacking and then rafting across Wrangell St Elias National Park. That trip changed my view of what’s achievable by a small, unsponsored team. I felt empowered by our success and humbled by the times I faltered.
Back at home, I tried to summarize the story via a long column of captioned photos. The resulting trip report garnered a lot of attention that I never expected. Something about our mix of ambition, unique route, and amateur status really resonated with people, and not just the outdoorsy ones. Traffic poured in from Digg, Reddit and other link-sharing sites.
Years later, I’m still feeling the reverberations of that trip. I’ve been back to the Wrangells once and have plans for another trip this year. I’m also packing today for a crazy Mexico adventure that I’ve been invited on because a couple of Alaska’s most-audacious wilderness travelers saw my photo essay and thought I’d be a good fit for their team. Looking back, it is comical how many doors have opened for me based on something that I never guessed would have much impact.
Forrest McCarthy midway through a 120 mile traverse of the Abaroka Beartooth Mountains. Photo by Jim Harris.
Future Direction.
There’s been this recent uptick in the ski industry’s acknowledgment that what we do is risky. At a fundamental level, action sports culture pushes the idea that “advancing the sport” or “pushing the envelope” is the loftiest goal an athlete can strive for. I think that presumption deserves some scrutiny because it is steering our risk-taking. We’re not going to revert to blue-square level skiing in movies but it’s worth acknowledging that there are perhaps less death-defying ways to “advance the sport.”
For me, that means looking for trips that are challenging because they’re remote, or because they require an endurance component, or because they offer a quirky perspective on the norm. Both writers and photographers search for unique angles. As someone with a growing grasp of both pursuits, I’m positioned to connect interesting story ideas with smart photos.
Jim Harris' Powder Magazine cover photo. Skier unknown.
Game Changers.
A few years ago, I watched an acquaintance trigger and then swept by an avalanche. It was formative. It changed how I communicate with partners, how I plan for a tour, and is a continual reminder to make conservative choices.
Soon after that incident, I began teaching avalanche classes. Now that I’ve shifted to proselytizing wilderness skiing for a living, teaching the prophylactic aspect of it feels essential. Not only does it feel like righteous work but teaching avy classes also helps keep my skills honed.
At the other end of the spectrum, one of my photos is running on the cover of the new Powder Magazine Photo Annual. For someone who’s only been making a living as a photographer for just over a year, it’s like putting boots on at 9:30 and somehow still catching first chair. That cover isn’t recognition I’d expected to have so soon in my photo career, but I’m grateful for it.
Want to shoot like Jim, start with some high end DSLR camera gear available at Amazon.com - Blog post
- 4 months ago
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Through The Lens Of Tristan Gr Through The Lens Of Tristan Greszko
- From: kimhavell
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Description:
“Through The lens” is a regular column on TetonGravity.com that highlights the work of a photographer in the ski and snowboard industries. The series exists to celebrate the photographers who bring us extraordinary imagery, to get to know who they are, and to understand their process.
Tristan Greszko, a gifted athlete and photographer based in Jackson, Wyo., is known for his creation and adaptation of unique angles in photo and art imagery. Greszko enjoys working in various artistic mediums including alternate photo processes, screen-printing projects, film, and other creative outlets. His work on projects like the Tiny Jackson Hole video in 2011 catapulted him overnight into the public realm. And, as local lore goes, he is one of a handful of skiers to straight-line “Once is Enough,” a serious and steep line in the JHMR backcountry.
Greszko took art classes in high school and later began to develop his photo skills through on-snow work in Vermont. After moving to Jackson in 2006, Tristan co-created the Teton Artlab, developing this multi-purpose, non-profit venue to provide affordable workspace for local artists. The lab maintains a quirky and creative atmosphere in which artists congregate and collaborate.
Keep an eye out: With his distinctive captures and creativity, Greszko explores new ways to share his world of photo and art from a deep well of talent.
1. The Start.
In 2005, I moved from Atlanta to Vermont for a job snow reporting at Okemo and was in charge of shooting “Photo of the Day.” I also bought my first camera and shot the now-defunct Vermont Freeskiing Open. The years between 2005 and 2010, I spent almost every waking hour immersing myself in photography, learning, failing a lot, and collecting a few decent images here and there.
In 2010, after 4 years working in the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort marketing department, I left my job to devote more time and energy to being a professional photographer. By that spring, I felt I had a strong portfolio and a skill set competent enough to finally, truly call myself a photographer. And now, two years later, I feel like I'm starting to produce some great images. So, I feel like, in many ways, I'm just getting going.
2. The Inspiration.
The most obvious choice is my dad, though it comes with a big footnote. The older I get the more I realize how similar we are in so many ways. He had a rare, boundless curiosity about the world, a mischievous sense of adventure, and was obsessive about his interests, which I very clearly inherited. He was a technically perfect, beautiful skier, had a dark sense of humor, tinkered with art and photography, and had a passion for the mountains that bordered on religious fanaticism.
The footnote is that both of my parents died when I was 14. I was just a naive little kid in 9th grade when it happened, so I say all this after many years of reflection, coming to terms with it all, and you know, building up a bit of a mythology about who he was. It's hard to say if I'd be as driven or independent as I am today if I had a more normal, happy childhood, but his influence is undeniable and I couldn't imagine a better life in spite of it all.
There are a few industry people that inspire me, too, right now.
Steve Casimiro of Adventure Journal has a wonderfully articulate way with words and images that explain this eternal search and the insatiable lust for adventure that we're all seeking. He does it casually and poetically, and very well.
Curt Morgan of Brain Farm Cinema … Well, there's no one like Curt out there. We went to the same high school back in New York. He has accomplished some very big things to say the least.
Tahoe photographer Andy Bardon is a good friend of mine who shares a similar aesthetic and work ethic, and is a machine in the mountains. It's been awesome seeing him start to blow up.
3. The Future.
I think my goals are pretty simple. I'd like to sustain a lifetime of exploring, adventuring, and being curious about the world, and working really hard and dreaming big. I'd like to think that my work inspires people to live better, and seek out richer, more rewarding experiences too. Hopefully, I can continue to find amazing people along the way to share the adventure with — finding and keeping interesting, passionate people around me is always an important necessity. And, as for my dreams, well, I'll just keep those to myself for now. I like it better that way.
I'm at a point where I'm confident, have some momentum, and feel like I can do some big things if I start pushing and putting my work out there. I like to fly under the radar and evade unnecessary attention but when I think about where I've come from in the past few years — and what I'm capable of now — I'm really excited for the future. I'd like to step up into a much bigger arena and work with bigger clients: The North Faces, Patagonias, Red Bulls and National Geographics of the outdoor/adventure world.
4. The Business.
I like this quote by artist Chuck Close:
“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you’re sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that’s almost never the case.”
The most important thing I've learned is to get out and actually DO what you want to do. It’s important to go out and TAKE it instead of sitting around waffling about it. If you pursue something long enough, you'll find an audience, and you'll definitely find a way to get by, and probably thrive. A lot of people think giving it all up and moving to the mountains is crazy but I think the opposite is true. It’s crazy how most people live —working in an anonymous job in an anonymous city. I work hard to stay afloat but it rarely feels like I'm truly working, at least not in the way it felt before I moved to Jackson.
5. The Source.
I like shooting with the unknowns — the people who you've never heard of and who ski harder than most and keep their mouth shut about it. Skier Andrew Whiteford and I shot a lot when we moved to Jackson and he's done really well for himself. Good friend and ripper AJ Puccia has been another favorite athlete. There are a few other shots of people you've probably never heard of that are some of my favorite photos ever. These are all athletes that can do anything you ask, happy to shoot, look good while doing it, and are super humble at the same time.
I crave frequent change, stimulation, and novelty. Lately, I've been shooting a lot of random personal projects like some short videos of this summer's crazy wild fires (in Big Piney, WY and Jackson) and photos of the Northern Lights that were going off in Jackson in the early fall. I've also been road tripping all over the West for the past two years shooting a whole range of weird, amazing locations. And, I just completed an exciting Teton aerial shoot that I've wanted to do forever.
6. The Industry.
Remote control/drone platforms are definitely next in line to blow up big time. Where the military goes, so goes civilian technology. I bought a Cinestar 8 multi-rotor helicopter this past spring. It's already allowed me to shoot some stunning photos and video, but I'm basically still operating with training wheels. When it all comes together, the cinematography and unique perspectives are really stunning.
7. Career Highlights.
-Construction of the JH Tram - I have thousands of shots of every step of building the new JH tram over the two-year construction period. No idea what I'll ever do with them but it's awesome to have been the sole photographer on such a piece of history that's so close to the community.
-Tiny Jackson Hole - I spent a ton of time, 400-plus hours making that video and the response blew me away. It was a labor of love for sure and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.
-Alpinist Spread - Alpinist 33 featured the Grand Teton as that issue's mountain profile. One of my favorite shots ever run was a double-page spread on the opening page of the article, Grand Teton: A Map of the Wild by Renny Jackson. Given the Grand's influence on American alpinism, it was an honor to be in such legendary company.
-JH Tram Heli Shoot, 2009 - We did a sunrise shoot of the new tram with Corey Gavitt of TGR. It was my first time shooting out the door of a helicopter, with patrollers throwing bombs below us, patrollers dropping into Corbet's, and the new Tram in perfect morning light.
-TGR/Erik Roner ski-BASE of Cajun Couloir - Erik Roner is an amazing guy and completely nuts. So, seeing him ski base Cajun while perched up above in the old tram was a really special thing though the anxious anticipation beforehand was really intense.
-Aerials in Indian Creek - the first time I shot climbing with the “Octokopter “- also completely terrifying flying the helicopter off the top of a giant boulder and trying to ease up next to a climber 80 feet off the deck but overall it was a great success and learning experience. It took me another three months before my first epic crash!
To follow Tristan:
http://www.tristangreszko.com
http://instagram.com/tgreszko
http://blog.tetonartlab.com - Blog post
- 4 months ago
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cham faceshot cham faceshot
- From: slaagmaster
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- 5 months ago
- Views: 205
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News: Scotty Lago, Tom Wallisc News: Scotty Lago, Tom Wallisch, Kelly Clark And More Set To Compete At Dew Tour
- From: TetonGravityResearch
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Description:
Dew Tour to Debut Ski and Snowboard Big Air and Downtown Breckenridge Events
Burr Ridge, III – November 19, 2012 - The Dew Tour today announced the first round of confirmed athletes for the iON Mountain Championships in Breckenridge, Colo., December 13-16. The new Dew Tour will feature the world’s top freestyle skiers and snowboarders as they converge in Breckenridge to kick off the first major event of the winter action sports season. The only winter event of the bigger, better 2012 Dew Tour will feature more competitions, including ski and snowboard Big Air, as well as a Film Night and concert that will take over downtown Breckenridge.
The iON Mountain Championships will feature the top names in men’s and women’s snowboarding hitting the Dew Tour Superpipe and Slopestyle course. Olympic gold medalist Shaun White will bring his one-of-a-kind tricks to the Superpipe, while Iouri Podladtchikov and fun-loving Frends Scotty Lago and Jack and Luke Mitrani attempt to keep him off of the podium. Last year’s Dew Cup winner, Louie Vito, will aim to gain his third consecutive Cup during the winner-takes-all weekend. Several snowboarders will be splitting their time between hitting features on the Slopestyle course and triple corking in the Dew Tour’s debut Big Air contest. Mark McMorris, Sebastien Toutant, Torstein Horgmo and Breckenridge local Eric Willett are sure to be pushing the progression of snowboarding as Dew Tour kicks off the 2012-2013 winter season.
Competition will be close on the women’s side, as Superpipe dominator Kelly Clark attempts to defend her Dew Cup champion title. Gretchen Bleiler, Elena Hight and 2010 Olympic gold medalist Torah Bright will also look to get their seasons started at the top of the podium. Perennial Slopestyle contender Jamie Anderson will face off against Canadian Spencer O’Brien and a strong international field of up-and-coming women for the Slopestyle Dew Cup.
“I’m really excited to start the season competing at the Dew Tour iON Mountain Championships in Breckenridge,” said Lago. “The riders get one shot at a Dew Cup for the year, and there will be a lot of heavy hitters, so everyone will be bringing our best to the event.”
Freestyle skiing events will see the athletes sizing each other up after an off-season spent training for one of the sport’s biggest stages at the Dew Tour. Simon Dumont and Tanner Hall will meet in the Superpipe, hoping their experience is enough to overtake Kevin Rolland, the winner of last year’s Dew Cup. Breckenridge team skier Bobby Brown will attempt to use home slope advantage against Nick Goepper and previous Dew Cup champ Tom Wallisch on the Slopestyle course. The three will also be among those competing in Big Air.
The pressure will also be on the women as they compete for Dew Cups in Superpipe and Slopestyle. Canadian Rosalind Groenewoud will aim for the top spot on the podium in Pipe, fending off Maddie Bowman, Brita Sigourney and Jen Hudak. Slopestyle could be anyone’s game, as Kaya Turski and locals Keri Herman and Emilia Wint lead the top names set to compete at Breckenridge.
The Dew Tour’s new format for 2012 includes an expansion of events throughout the weekend, bringing the action sports and lifestyle festival to Breckenridge. The world’s best skiers and snowboarders will throw it down on the mountain while the lifts are running, with the spotlight swinging to the Riverwalk Center and downtown area in the evenings, featuring a Film Night recognizing the most influential and progressive films of the season. The iON Mountain Championships will also include a concert, set to be announced at a later date.
The daily schedule will be as follows:
Thursday, December 13th
Dew Tour Experience
Men’s Freeski Superpipe Semi-Final
Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle Semi-Final
Men’s Snowboard Superpipe Semi-Final
Men’s Freeski Big Air Final
Friday, December 14th
Dew Tour Experience
Women’s Snowboard Superpipe Semi-Final
Women’s Freeski Superpipe Final
Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle Final
Men’s Freeski Superpipe Final
Saturday, December 15th
Dew Tour Experience
Women’s Snowboard Superpipe Final
Women’s Freeski Slopestyle Semi-Final
Men’s Snowboard Superpipe Final
Men’s Freeski Slopestyle Semi-Final
Men’s Snowboard Big Air Final
Sunday, December 16th
Dew Tour Experience
Women’s Freeski Slopestyle Final
Men’s Freeski Slopestyle Final
Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Final
The Dew Tour iON Mountain Championships will be showcased across 11 broadcast hours on NBC and NBC Sports Network and across an all-new digital platform with live streaming, plus exclusive behind the scenes and in-depth content on dewtour.com. The new broadcast platform will offer coverage from every day of the event and more live Dew Tour coverage on NBC and NBC Sports Network than any previous year.
The Dew Tour iON Mountain Championships will be free to attend giving fans access to be a part of the best snowboarding and freestyle skiing competitions and check out the Dew Tour Experience with autograph signings, giveaways and more.
The complete 2012 Dew Tour schedule is as follows:
Event Date Location
Pantech Beach Championships August 16-19 Ocean City, Md.
Toyota City Championships October 18-21 San Francisco, Calif.
iON Mountain Championships December 13-16 Breckenridge, Colo.
The Dew Tour iON Mountain Championships will air live on NBC Sports Network on Thursday, December 13 at 7:30pm ET and Friday, December 14 at 4:00pm ET. Action will air live on NBC on Saturday, December 15 at 2:00pm ET, and on Sunday, December 16 at 1:00pm ET. Additional broadcasts on NBC Sports Network will be December 15 at 11:00pm ET and December 16 at 3:00pm ET, as well as December 22 at 11:00pm ET.
For additional Dew Tour event information, visit www.DewTour.com and the Dew Tour Facebook page - Blog post
- 6 months ago
- Views: 142
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News: Antti Autti, JJ Thomas A News: Antti Autti, JJ Thomas And Sandra Lahnsteiner On World Heli Challenge Roster
- From: media-75233
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Description:
Lake Wanaka World Heli Challenge Launch Day 2011. Photo by Tony Harrington.Lake Wanaka, NZ - In less than two weeks, many of the world’s top skiers and snowboarders and a handful of up and comers will converge on Wanaka, New Zealand, to take part in the 2012 World Heli Challenge.
X Games Medalist Antti Autti and Olympic Medalist JJ Thomas will see if they have what it takes to seize the top snowboarding spot from defending champion Benny Bright.
Antti Autti, a Finnish snowboarding star, shot to fame when he defeated big-name talents Danny Kass, Andy Finch, and Shaun White in the Men's Superpipe at the 2005 Winter X Games to claim the gold. He is one of two snowboarders, along with Steve Fisher, ever to beat Shaun White in the X Games Superpipe.. He was on the X Games podium again in 2009, taking a bronze medal.
Olympic snowboard superpipe medalist JJ Thomas (USA) was named Fuel TV’s Comeback Rider of the Year in 2010. He earned his Olympic medal in 2002 and then took time away from competition to focus on filming. He rededicated himself in 2009, pushing for more amplitude, style and a dipped shoulder that increased the difficulty of his tricks. Thomas will travel from his hometown of Encinitas, California to fight for the title of world’s best overall rider.
New Zealand’s Maria Kuzma, currently ranked number four on the Freeride World Tour, will be back to try to regain her title from last year’s winner (also a kiwi), Abby Lockhart.
Austria’s freeskier Sandra Lahnsteiner will go head to head with last year’s winner Janina Kuzma (NZ), who’s currently ranked sixth on the Freeride World Tour and who’s maintained the World Heli Challenge title since it’s comeback three years ago.
Lahnsteiner has featured in several movies including “Made in Austria”, “As We Are”, “A History of Snow” and “Check Your Risk.” The 2003-'04 Austrian Skier Cross Champion also competed in Big Mountain and in the 2010 Freeride World Qualifying Tour.
Big mountain skier, Sam Smoothy (NZ) will be back to defend his title as men’s overall skier. Over the Northern Hemisphere winter, Smoothy became the first ever to stand on the Freeride World Tour podium at three consecutive competitions and, after remaining in first position for most of the season finished ranked fourth overall. Smoothy will face some stiff competition from slopestyle champion, Markus Eder. In the end, will it be big mountain skills or the freeski tricks that win the day?
“We are excited to welcome back several returning athletes this year as well as a handful of first timers,” said event founder Tony Harrington. “We’re also looking forward to hosting our new Young Guns, Drayden Gardner (USA) and Luke Stavely (AUS). They will join local Finn Bilous and returning Young Gun Mitch Reeves in this year’s field.”
There are still a few spots left for competitors who’d like to experience the premier adventure lifestyle event on the planet and see how they fare against top skiers and snowboarders from around the globe, but time’s running out! Those interested in claiming a spot can e-mail bex@worldhelichallenge.com.
For more information and a full calendar of events go to www.worldhelichallenge.com
About the World Heli Challenge
The World Heli Challenge brings together the cream of snowsports athletes from around the globe to compete in a unique helicopter-accessed competition. The goal is to find out which athlete is the best “all rounder” by combining their freeride and freestyle strengths to showcase their overall talent on snow. The main event period from August 1st to 16th is jam-packed with events, parties and adventure days. For the first time this year, one athlete will be named the overall best all mountain rider. This further separates the World Heli Challenge from any other event on the globe. Skiers and snowboarders will compete on an even field, but only one will come out on top. Will it be a skier or snowboarder?
Sam Smoothy busts a clean air during Extreme Day 2011. Photo by Tony Harrington - Blog post
- 10 months ago
- Views: 266
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Creek Boating In The Crazies Creek Boating In The Crazies
- From: patclayton
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Description:
The Crazies.
Somewhere between the towering peaks of Montana’s Crazy Mountains and the endless flats of the northern plains, there lies a few miles where snowmelt meets the right gradient. Creeks pour through these slots in the mountains within eyeshot of the high elevation snowfields that feed them. Every spring, for a few ideal weeks, the Bozeman locals take full advantage. In a place known more for its cold smoke than its steep creek boating, this is where one last face shot is earned. These couple of gems feature big clean slides that rival the best of the Sierras. Committing canyons and waterfalls punctuate these runs. With the knife-like scree slopes of the Crazies above and the sprawling plains once filled with buffalo below, this is the hallowed ground where warriors from the Crow tribe once went on their vision quests.
Words and Photos by Pat Clayton.
Jason Schutz and Barry try to recover a boat at the bottom of The Gambler rapid on Big Timber Creek. Barry who? I don't know Barry's last name, but everyone knows Barry.
Orion Helms runs a gnarly, remote creek.
Jason Schutz on The Gambler rapid on Big Timber Creek.
Jason Schutz feels The Pinch on Big Timber Creek. 
Shacked.
Barry on Big Timber Creek.
Anjin Herndon getting crazy.
Anjin Herndon kayaks Big Timber Creek.
Anjin Herndon drops Big Timber Falls.
Aron Loft, Anjin Herndon, and Kendra Kaiser scout before dropping in.
Aaron Loft in the thick of it.
Orion Helms, Anjin Herndon and Aaron Loft.
Wes Heustess.See more of Pat Clayton's photos at Fish Eye Guy Photography's Facebook page.
- Blog post
- 11 months ago
- Views: 254
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News: Canadian Police Kill Bea News: Canadian Police Kill Bear After Hot Tub Attack At Whistler
- From: media-75233
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Description:
A wild black bear attacked a man relaxing in a hot tub at the Whistler ski resort in western Canada, with a swift whack to the head, police said.
The 55-year-old man from Coquitlam, British Columbia, "felt a heavy blow to the back of his head which propelled him forward in the hot tub" on Saturday, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Staff Sergeant Steve LeClair said in a statement.
The man then "turned around and found himself face to face with a black bear. He yelled at the bear and retreated inside," the statement added.
This is a photo of a bear in a swimming pool.
Injured during the attack, the man, who was not identified, suffered lacerations to the back of his head and was taken to Whistler Health Care Center for treatment.
Police responded to the incident, locating the bear about 100 yards away as it headed for a wooded area.
"The bear was destroyed," the police statement said. According to local media, police shot and killed the bear.
A necropsy will be performed on the bear "to determine the motivation for the attack," a police statement said. - Blog post
- 11 months ago
- Views: 212
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Nick Martini Announces Signatu Nick Martini Announces Signature Tee Contest Winner
- From: nickmartini
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Description:
The new owner of a gear package from The North Face is Graham Grassett, of Milford, New Hampshire. The prize consists of a 2012-'13 jacket-pant combo, a hoodie, and a Double Shot backpack filled with TGR swag.
To claim your prize, please contact Teton Gravity Research at customerservice@tetongravity.com.
Congratulations, Graham, and thank you to everyone who bought a Nick Martini Signature Tee!
This was TGR's final Athlete Signature Tee in the 2012 Winter/ Spring series. Keep an eye on the TGR Online Shop for news on upcoming series'!
- 1 year ago
- Views: 47
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The “Best Day Ever” The “Best Day Ever”
- From: jeremybenson
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Description:
The only photographic evidence of "the best day ever". Photo by Jeremy Benson.It’s safe to say this year hasn’t exactly been my year. The notable lack of snow in Tahoe is just the tip of the iceberg, in early January I blew my knee, making an already dismal season even more disappointing.As I sit on my couch or on the bike at the gym and watch late season storms roll through on a weekly basis, my mind drifts to thoughts of my favorite ski days, storm days. One particular day about 4 years ago, which has hitherto been known as the “best day ever”, stands out in my memory. It went a little something like this…
Alpine Meadows is closed for the day. Everything’s on wind hold at Squaw. Three to four feet have fallen in the past two days and the forecast calls for more of the same. Its snowing two to three inches an hour at lake level and gusting over 100 miles an hour on the ridge tops, a typical sierra crusher.
At 9 am the phone rings, it’s the usual suspects itching to go ski some pow. There won’t be any down days for us, not in the midst of one of the lightest snow years in recent memory.
It’s storming so hard that it’s nearly dark out. We drive slow, not only because it’s hard to see, but we know that no one is racing us for freshies today. Fortunately, the pullout has been plowed saving us from starting our day with back breaking shoveling. We prepare for our ascent in silence shielding ourselves from the bite of the wind driven snow. Skinning up to our zone, the storm just rages around us, we hide behind our hoods, jackets fully zipped, all vents closed.
Hunkered down in a stand of smaller trees we try to hide from the wind but it’s no use, it seems to be blowing all directions at once. We pull our skins and stuff them in our bags as quickly as we can, trying in vain to keep out the snow that threatens to get our extra gloves, layer, and hat wet. I don my goggles with surgical precision, but the fog inducing snow crystals sneak inside regardless of my best efforts.
Traversing from our “windbreak” to the top of our ski it’s obvious that we’re not skiing the typical Sierra Cement. Our new snow is deep blower, five percent, cold smoke. We drop into the most perfect pitch of widely spaced old growth California conifers, the kind of trees that beg to be skied full speed. Every turn is a face shot, sinking waist, chest, neck deep, even on the fattest skis known to man. An hour climb rewarded with 45 seconds of nirvana, euphoric bliss, indescribable glorious powder.
We regroup at our skin track. Faces caked with snow reveal toothy grins that confirm my hopes for another round. Our skin track is hardly visible, the wind drifting snow into every spot it can. We walk excitedly uphill, fully aware of how good our reward will be, knowing that on this mountain our own tracks are the only ones we’ll encounter today.
Four laps later we’re forced from our white heaven by waning daylight and the intensifying storm. Ten inches of fresh snow blanket the truck as we exit the forest, our tracks vanishing more quickly than we’d made them.
Despite repeated attempts at re-creating the best day ever it hasn’t happened yet. For now the memory of that day will help to pull me through the physical therapy and months at the gym. The most important thing for me is getting better. Even if we can’t re-create the best day ever I can’t wait to give it another shot.
- Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 179
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Days of Powder in Gastein, Aus Days of Powder in Gastein, Austria
- From: joedesperado
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Description:
My brother and me enjoying winter in Gastein, Austria.
Cams: Sony Alpha 65 & GoPro HD Hero2 @ 1080p50 / 720p60
Location: Sportgastein & Bad Hofgastein, Salzburg, Austria, Ski Amadé.
Song: "Veloma" by Fabrizio Paterlini (http://www.fabriziopaterlini.com) - 1 year ago
- Views: 58
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News: Freeride World Tour Sees News: Freeride World Tour Sees Perfect Conditions In Fieberbrunn, Austria
- From: media-75233
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Description:
Winners: Drew Tabke, USA (ski men), Eva Walkner, AUT (ski women), Jonathan Charlet, FRA (snowboard men), Liz Kristoferitsch AUT (snowboard women)
The Tyrolean village of Fieberbrunn, Austria hosted a faultless last stage of the Swatch Freeride World Tour before the finals in Verbier, Switzerland. With 20 cm of fresh cold snow on a solid base, the athletes were fired-up to give the mountain their best shot and attempt to secure a place in the finals. The event village on the mountain was filled to capacity with over 3400 lucky spectators, witnessing the riders delivering an awesome performance.
Ski And Snowboard Women Charging Hard
The ski women started first and showcased high-level riding. It was a double win for Austria with local skier Eva Walkner displaying some impressive runs, proving she wanted the podium with a powerful, full-throttle line and big stomped airs.
“It is so amazing to win in Fieberbrunn!” Eva Walkner said. “The snow was perfect and everything came together exactly how I expected it to. It’s always difficult to manage risk and smooth, fluid skiing…but I did today in Fieberbrunn with a smooth, fun line.”
Swedish skier Christine Hargin, won the last event in Roldal and continued her podium streak with her aggressive lines. Today she was close on Eva’s heels with a second place.
Snowboarder Liz Kristoferitsch cranked out an adrenaline-filled line far right, bringing it home for Austria.
“I was really nervous before the event but now that I rode my line and won, the stress is gone,” Liz Kirstoferitsch said.
American Shannan Yates took a good line lookers left that secured a second spot among the snowboarders. Finally, the Kuzma sisters from New Zealand both took third in each category, skier Janina Kuzma stomping great air and snowboarder Maria Kuzma involving a cool spine at the top.
Ski Men
The fresh powder snow on the aesthetic North face of the Wildseeloder allowed the men skiers to show their very best performance and some amazing riding was witnessed. American skier Drew Tabke mixed high-level big mountain skiing with smooth freestyle tricks in his typical trademark style. A treat to watch, Tabke lit up the venue with his creative lines and massive 360 into a smooth backflip.
“Fieberbrunn is an awesome place to ski and the mountains here are amazing. I had a good line with a back flip and a 360. It’s going to be a close competition between Sam Smoothy (NZL) and I in Verbier,” Tabke said after his first-ever win on the Freeride World Tour, and now sitting on the second spot of the overall ranking.
Despite Sam Smoothy going a bit too big today and crashing, the New Zealander still tops the overall ranking.
French Rookie Kevin Guri, finally got to show the world how good he is and charged into second place with a huge double air and screaming-fast line. It’s young Guri’s first podium on the tour. As always, the Swedish bullet Reine Barkered fired a high-speed line with stomped airs bringing him to a third place finish. Some other impressive lines come to mind like Swiss Richard Amacker finishing like a boss with a frontflip and three straight jumps in a row or his fellow country man Samuel Anthamatten and German Tom Leitner pulling off a huge 360 on the middle cliff.
With a rough crash early in his line, previous favorites such as Oakley White-Allen (USA) were not able to hold it together for a good score.
Snowboard Men
French athlete Jonathan “Douds” Charlet rode a creative line with a technical couloir entrance and a couple of solid airs. Douds creative approach was enough give him first place finish and raise the bar for the other snowboarders.
“My run was very good. Many people took the line I initially intended to ride, so I chose a new one where nobody else went. I had jumps and I had a straight line. And we had good powder! Now I have the chance to win the tour in Verbier!” He said.
Local Austrian and veteran rider Flo Orley delivered his patented solid line style and technical riding. As impressive as Orley’s line was, it was not enough to place an Austrian on the top of the men’s snowboard podium. The French big mountain rider Aurélien Routens rode a powerful line with a big double-set air that brought him into a respectable third place.
It’s all on for the finals in Verbier!
- Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 159
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Great Gondolas Of The Alps Par Great Gondolas Of The Alps Part 2: Chamonix
- From: sethlightcap
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Description:
Oh, the places you’ll go...in a gondola! Cable cars the world over deliver incredible ski descents but not all trams are created equal. Between the improbable alpine perches they occupy and the insane terrain they access, gondolas in the European Alps are widely regarded as the most spectacular cable cars known to man.
On a recent trip to the Alps I fell in love with several of these legendary téléphériques. I was in awe of both the triumphant locations that the bubble lifts attained and the reality that once you stepped out of the gondola doors you were free to ski or climb anywhere you pleased. In celebration of these amazing ski lifts I’ve put together a three-part photo essay documenting some of the classic gondola accessed terrain in Verbier, Chamonix and St. Anton. Read on for part two of the series detailing the radical cable cars that ascend the flanks of the Mont Blanc Massif in-and-around Chamonix, France. Check out part one of the series about gondolas in Verbier here.
Chamonix is home to arguably the most famous gondola of them all - the Téléphérique de l'Aiguille du Midi. This two-stage tram holds the record for the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world as it climbs 9200 vertical feet above the streets of Chamonix before dropping off passengers at the top station at 12,400 feet. The second stage of the gondola arrives at the station on the right side while the rock outcrop on the left contains an elevator to the summit and a tunnel entrance to the chopped ice paths down the arete that access the Vallée Blanche ski route. The switchbacked path on the right is a new addition having been chopped out this winter.
The terrain accessible from the top station of the Aiguille du Midi is as wild as it gets. It’s a candy store of close-out faces, steep couloirs and more moderate glacial tours. Not every line is ridiculously steep but every line cris-crosses crevasse strewn glaciers making even the low angle routes exhilarating. Variable snow conditions kept us off the steeps so we rode an alternative entrance to the Vallée Blanche that slid us past massive seracs as it dropped 13 kilometers down to town.
Here you see the Geant Glacier from the summit of the l’Aiguille du Midi. The Vallée Blanche route starts at the bottom left of the image and descends to the right across the glacier into the valley that drops out of view. If you look closely you can also see a gondola car hanging just left of the rock outcrop in the foreground. This gondola links over to the Funivie Monte Bianco cable car that ascends the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif. The top station of the Funivie Monte Bianco is called Pointe Helbronner and is located on the second bump on the horizon from the right, just below a pyramid shaped peak in the far background. This interconnecting téléphérique is only open in the summer.
Boss snowboard mountaineer and Chamonix local Luca Pandolfi has been shredding lines off the Aiguille du Midi for nearly a decade. We were honored to spend a day on the glacier with him and slay two fantasy descents touring from both the top station and the middle station. If you like to read trip reports about lines in the Alps you probably don’t have the balls to ride, check out www.lucapandolfi.com
This massive face is a small section of the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif as seen from the Courmayeur ski resort. The Funivie Monte Bianco ascends the face through the open snowfields going from right to left and tops out at Pointe Helbronner, two bumps on the horizon to the left of the corniced flat section in the center of the image. The glacier on the lookers left side of the gondola line is the traditional Helbronner ski descent. This zone is Luca’s home turf but he told me to tell you that the terrain is terrible and the coffee sucks in Italy so don’t bother travelling through the Mont Blanc tunnel to ski the Helbronner.
We didn’t have a chance to ride the Funivie Monte Bianco to the top of the Helbronner but we did get a taste of the Italian gondolas at Courmayeur ski resort. The two old school bubbles at the top of the resort were pretty rad as they accessed neighboring valleys dropping both north and south off the back of the resort. This bubble was called the Youla.
The fortress in the background of this shot is the top station of the Arp cable car and the highest lift accessed point of Courmayeur. We joined Chamonix snowboard guide Neil McNab’s Backcountry Splitboarding course for a day of touring around Courmayeur. Our crew dropped down a north facing valley behind our backs in this shot. If you’re a snowboarder and are interested in exploring Chamonix for a week with a legendary guide, check out www.mcnabsnowboarding.com. Neil runs backcountry snowboarding courses for various ability levels all winter long.
And once again, what it’s all about. Gondolas in the Alps get you to the pow! Allison Lightcap slashes through Italian alpine fluff on her way to a cappuccino and a couple gulps of grappa at a cafe around the backside of Courmayeur.
Look out for the final chapter - Great Gondolas Of The Alps - Part Three: St. Anton dropping next week!
Check out Great Gondolas Of The Alps Part 1: Verbier here. - Blog post
- 1 year ago
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Great Gondolas Of The Alps Par Great Gondolas Of The Alps Part 1 - Verbier
- From: sethlightcap
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Description:
Skiing in Europe is all about the gondola. Cable cars in the Alps deliver some of the finest ski terrain on earth. Verbier’s magic bubble lifts are no exception.
- Story and Photos by Seth Lightcap
It’s hard to say what’s more impressive about skiing in the Alps, the fact that amazing ski terrain lurks on every horizon or the fact that nearly every inch of that terrain can be accessed from a gondola?! The network of cable cars that ingeniously link the peaks and valleys of the Alps is downright unbelievable. Just about any vista worth seeing or skiing has a gondola positioned to drop you within striking distance of the top.
On a recent trip to the Alps I fell in love with several of these téléphériques. Their warm confines kept us out of the bitter cold until we were ready to shred and the terrain just outside the cable car doors blew our minds every run. In celebration of my beloved bubble lifts I’ve put together a three-part photo essay documenting some of the classic gondola accessed terrain in Verbier, Chamonix and St. Anton. The series starts off swingin’ for the fences detailing two of the most incredible ski lifts in the world - the Mont Gelé and Mont Fort cable cars in Verbier, Switzerland.
Who needs lift towers? Not the Mont-Gelé téléphérique. This ridiculous cable car rises about a 1000 feet along one continuous span of cable to the top of one of the sickest alpine pyramids known to the lift-accessed world. Every flank of the gorgeous Mont Gelé holds legit alpine lines many of which can be stretched into 2500 foot long runs. The beauty of shredding Mont Gelé is that the laps are relatively fast (you only have to take one other short gondola to return to the telépherique base station) and the terrain is diverse, steep and littered with lines that don’t require any traversing (a rarity in Verbier). You can strap-in right outside the top station and rip straight into an 800 foot long couloir.
You’re looking at the northwest side of Mont Gelé. An approximately eight minute ride in the téléphérique deposits you directly on top of the peak.
Here is the southwest side of Mont Gelé. The rolling benches are as rippable as they look - lots of wide open shoulders pouring into mini-headwalls and small cliffs. The snow on this sunny side will often cook quickly but it was so cold during our visit that the snow was winter fresh. Now re-focus your eyes on the ski tracks in the foreground of this shot on the lower right side.
The tracks you saw are from the apron of these couloirs. They are accessible with a short hike off the top of a 150-person gondola known as the Mont Fort ‘Jumbo’. The Jumbo is only the first stage in the Mont Fort gondola link-up however. You can see the top station of the second stage of the Mont Fort gondola in the upper right of this shot.
The second stage of the Mont Fort gondola rises off the glacier and drops off skiers at 10,853 feet - Verbier’s highest lift. The easiest way down is the mogul field at right. Hundreds of not-so-easy routes plummet off the peak in every direction including the improbable and exposed tracks that you can see in the dead center of the rocky headwall.
It’s possible to ski a 8,239 foot run of the top of Mont Fort. You can also hike out the ridge from the top of the gondola and access the infamous Bec de Rosses, the venue for the Verbier Extreme comp. And of course, if you happened to be hungry before you roll out to slay the Bec, you can can get an expresso and a sandwich at the top station.
We climbed the ridge above the Mont Fort gondola and dropped off the peak into the steep dog leg couloir you can see above Allison. This line began a tour that took us around the back of Verbier and down into a neighboring resort valley called Nendaz. From Nendaz, one lift and two gondolas put us back on the top of Mont Fort.
We owe all our good times on the Verbier gondolas to local ripper Julien Laurencon. It was an honor to explore his backyard with him. Next time we’re in Verbier he promised to show us more of the rad touring terrain behind Mont Fort that you can see to his left.
Our last day in Verbier we joined Julien at a small adjacent resort called Bruson. Using splitboards to tour out the ridge we dropped into a massive bowl that faced the gondola accessed terrain we had been shredding the previous days. Above Julien’s slash you can see the triangular Mont Gelé. The big peak to the right of Mont Gelé is the Bec de Rosses. The Verbier Extreme contest rides the opposite face of that peak.
So then what’s the Bec de Rosses contest face look like? Here’s the face as of Feb 7th. Pretty sharky at the moment.
Look out for ‘Great Gondolas of the Alps - Part Two: Chamonix’ dropping next week! - Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 695
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Cinematic Freeride Trailer Cinematic Freeride Trailer
- From: joedesperado
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Description:
- 1 year ago
- Views: 14
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The 100% Pure Powder Edit The 100% Pure Powder Edit
- From: joedesperado
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Description:
Shot in Gastein, Salzburg, Austria. Just deep, deep powder skiing.
- 1 year ago
- Views: 77
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News: Louie Vito, Kelly Clark News: Louie Vito, Kelly Clark Win Snowboard Pipe Finals, Take Dew Cup
- From: media-75233
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Description:
Only two points separated overall season leader Iouri Podladtchikov from defending Dew Cup champ Louie Vito heading into Saturday's Winter Dew Tour championships.
In the end, Vito won the men's snowboard Pipe Finals with his score of 98.00, increasing his lead with the highest score ever to take home the Dew Cup at the Toyota Championships, held Saturday at Utah's Snowbasin Resort. I-Pod finished second with 97.00.
Louie Vito.
"I-Pod’s riding so well, he’s so consistent and he definitely pushes me every time I snowboard," Vito said. "So it was nice to be one and two with him going into the final stop, because it made me make sure I was on my game and he definitely brought it for sure."
But Vito answered back in his winning run with a double crippler, double Michalchuk, front double 10, cab double 10, front 10 to end with a cab 7.
Up at the top of the pipe, as the last rider to go, I-Pod had one more shot at taking over the top spot.
"It was really interesting up there," I-Pod said. "I was like, 98, alright, what the hell am I going to do now."He responded with a Double McTwist, front double, Cab double, front 10 into a Cab 10. While perfectly executed, it wasn't enough to take the win.
"I’m really happy with my run," I-Pod said. "It’s kind of a long pipe and it’s really under vert, so I was trying to fix a new run together. And it really worked out for me. Louie taking it in the end, I’ll give it to him. But the battle is on."
Results after the first round saw Vito leading over I-Pod (94.75 to 93.00) with one run left for each. After an amazing first run, Trevor Jacob was sitting in third at the end first heat, while rocking a sweet Star Wars-esque full face helmet for extra confidence while boosting his massive airs.
Second round highlights included an amazing run from Spencer Shaw, which included his first ever frontside 14 halfway through, and let him take over the third place position from Jacob and finish on top of the podium.
"That was the first time I’ve ever done that run and a 14," Shaw said. "My heart was pounding so hard at the top of the pipe, and it all worked out, I’m so excited. I’ve never tried it before. Right before I dropped in, my coach was like, ‘Why don’t you try that?’ and I was like, ‘Ok,’ and I dropped in and it worked out well."
For Vito, it was back-to-back Dew Cups after he pulled it off again this season.
"I got two seconds and what do they say? I was the bridesmaid and never the bride, or something like that," Vito said. "I get tired of being second. I’m stoked to be consistent but I wanted to at least get on top of the podium this year. I did and what better place than where I’m living now in Utah, at the Toyota Championships, to walk away with the Dew Cup."
Results
1. Louie Vito 98.00
2. Iouri Podladtchikov 97.00
3. Spencer Shaw 90.00
4. Trevor Jacob 88.00
5. Zachary Black 86.00
6. Ben Ferguson 83.50
7. Jack Mitrani 81.50
8. Mason Aguirre 80.00
9. Kyle Mack 73.75
10. Paul Brichta 70.00
11. Ben Watts 67.00
12. Scotty Pike 63.00Kelly Clark came back and took down Gretchen Bleiler to bring home the Toyota Championships win and her third Dew Cup at the women's snowboard pipe Finals. Her score of 95.00 to Bleiler's 94.25 gave her the advantage during Saturday's event at Utah's Snowbasin Resort.
The lead changed hands between the two riders, with Bleiler in the lead going into second and final runs. Her first run started off with a massive crippler, backside 5, frontside 9, backside air, frontside 9, backside air, frontside 7 to end with a cab 7 and score 91.00. Clark responded with an inverted 7, and back-to-back 5s in her run, but it left her sitting in second with an 89.25.
China’s Xuetong Cai was another big contender with massive amplitude and 5s and 7s mixed into her run, and she finished in third with and 89.75.
But the battle of the Finals really became all about Bleiler and Clark, who were both guaranteed a Dew Cup with the win.
Kelly Clark.
Bleiler dropped in for her second run before Clark, and started things off with a massive Crippler, 900 tail grab, backside air tail grab, and a frontside 7 mixed into her run. She managed to increase her lead with the 94.25, but with Clark still up top and waiting to drop, there was no guarantee that score would hold up, and such was the case.
“I really had to stay focused on what I came out to do today,” Clark said. “My strategy really gets tested when I’m put in that position where the scenarios change dropping into my final run. I have to stick to the plan regardless of what’s going on around me, and that’s what I was able to do and land it on my feet and come through with the win.”
For Bleiler, it was a bit of a repeat from the first event of the season where she also finished second to Clark.
“I’m bummed,” Bleiler said. “Again, Breck was super close. This was super close. It just keeps me motivated to keep working harder. Last Dew Tour in Breck, that already motivated me for this event and getting my tailgrabs around more on my front 9s. I didn’t do my back 9 today, so I still have more to give. And I know I can do front 10s since my front 9s are coming around so easy now. I’m not too worried, but I’m a little bummed that it was so close." - Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 221
- Not yet rated
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Riding Shotgun With Dylan Hood Riding Shotgun With Dylan Hood - Freeskier Athlete Profile
- From: TetonGravityResearch
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Description:
We've teamed up with our friends at Freeskier Magazine to bring you a series of exclusive athlete profiles. In this latest episode, we explore new zones with Dylan Hood.
For starters, Hood and the TGR hit up Jackson in search of the deep white. From there, they head to Baldface Lodge, and to Macedonia and Montenegro.
- 1 year ago
- Views: 25
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Video: Solitude - Jen Hudack M Video: Solitude - Jen Hudack Moving Mountains Episode 3
- From: media-75233
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Description:
This is the third and final episode of Jen Hudak's web series titled, "Moving Mountains." The following is a video description from Hudak:
In the midst of the craziest contest season of my life last year, I managed to escape to Japan for an epic adventure. Accompanied by my good friend Julian Carr, founder of Discrete Headwear, we met up with filmer/editor extraordinaire John Roderick of Neu Productions, world-renowned photographer Erik Seo, and our guide Nobu Murai. We were headed to experience the isolated parts of the Japanese Mountains to the North near Furano-- to step even further away from the contest scene, away from sponsors, away from business. It was time to reintroduce myself to the joys of skiing, of creativity, of fun.
With a 5 a.m. wake-up call the next morning, we loaded our van and made the venture north. By 8 a.m. we had arrived at our hotel and by 9:20 a.m. we were on the tram. By 10 a.m. we were about ready to throw in the towel. Conditions were about as bad as they could have been for Japan. There was nothing to do but laugh, so I did- quite heartily- and shortly thereafter everyone else laughed too. Thankfully Julian was there to keep the confidence up. He is incredible for that. (Maybe that is why he can successfully front-flip 200+ ft cliffs.)
After working for a few hours, Julian managed to find a few airs to get off of, and after a mini-melt down from me, he convinced me to ski a small line and drop into snow that resembled conditions I skied when I blew my right knee. By the end of the day we were feeling a bit more comfortable with the conditions. We worked hard for the shots that we got, and though they weren’t many, they were as good as they could’ve been. But we were all wondering what we would do in the coming days. We needed snow, a lot of snow.
Apparently the snow-gods were listening and they blessed us with a bit of a storm. When we woke the following morning and looked outside, it was clear that there would be some fresh snow, but we figured only about 6-10″. It would help. We could milk some pow turns, but we would still have to look for that northern aspect and jumping off of anything might still be questionable. We headed out, slightly skeptical but mostly optimistic.
It didn’t take long to realize that it had in fact snowed about half a meter up top. Right away we were getting face shots. The new snow was deep and it didn’t seem to be letting up. From run to run, our bootpack would be filled with new snow. This went on all day. We got shot after shot. I skied some of the deepest snow of my life and got to do it with one of my favorite people. I got to ski for me again and it was extremely refreshing. A few airs, lots of pow turns and endless smiles. As you can see by this edit, we got it good for the next few days.
I am so grateful for this life and am so grateful for moments like this that provide the reminder. It is easy to get caught up in the hustle and forget just how lucky we are. Life is a blessing. Remember to try to make the most of it everyday, and you’ll be on a good path.
Kampai.
- Blog post
- 2 years ago
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Face Shot Face Shot
- From: hakunamatada
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- 2 years ago
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