•  
Results 1 - 20 of 63

63 Search Results for ""sit ski""

  • Ski Paradise In Valdez - TGR B Ski Paradise In Valdez - TGR Bar Stories Episode 2

  • Kirkwood Hosts Stop No. 4 Of F Kirkwood Hosts Stop No. 4 Of Freeride World Tour

    • From: gregfitzsimmons
    • Description:

      Kirkwood Venue With Text

      CLICK HERE to watch today’s event live. The action gets underway at 9 a.m. PST as the ski women drop in.

      The FWT comes stateside to kickoff the second half of the season

      By Greg Fitzsimmons

      The fourth stop of the newly unified Swatch Freeride World Tour by The North Face goes down stateside today at Kirkwood Mountain Resort. We’re halfway through the FWT, with stops in Revelstoke, Courmayeur, and Chamonix in the rearview mirror, and Fieberbrunn and Verbier coming up after the sole comp of the season in the United States.

      Today’s action will take place on Kirkwood’s famed Cirque, a permanently closed rock-littered zone that introduces a new type of terrain into the FWT mix this season. The Cirque is almost 1,500 vertical feet of exposed terrain, with tight chutes, big cliffs, scattered trees, and open bowls for arching turns. Unlike Mac Face in Revy and the venues on the Italian and French sides of the Mont Blanc, Kirkwood’s Cirque is a wide, venue with a mix of steep aspects and bench-like sections that will require some navigation from the competitors if they’re going to ski the Cirque fluidly from top to bottom.

      Per usual, the athletes are working off of a visual inspection only, and the consensus is divided amongst athletes. Fall-line chargers will be tasked with finding terrain that suits their style, while freestyle jibbers might have an advantage with the abundance of natural features that are primed for a playful approach.




      “The Cirque at Kirkwood is a powerful place in the history of freeride, and I take riding it very seriously. It’s a pretty big face, so solid runs definitely have to be high speed and powerful so you don't spend multiple minutes up there,” said current tour leader Drew Tabke. “But there are lots of airs with good takeoffs and steep landings, so there is definitely a place for freestyle as well.”

      Tabke’s blend of full-tilt and playful charging has earned him the overall tear leader spot going into the fourth stop of the FWT. With wins in Revelstoke and Chamonix, Tabke’s approach has been rewarded so far on the tour, and rightly so.
       
      Other athletes, like last year’s overall FWT Champion Reine Barkered, aren’t super psyched on the Cirque’s prospects. “I don’t believe [the venue] suits me that well,” said Sweden’s Barkered. “On the top part you can go pretty fast, but in the middle and bottom sections you will have to slow down since there are a lot of airs to flat landings. I like to send my cliffs with speed so it might be better for the more freestyle influenced riding as there are a few transfers and kickers.”

      It’s ladies first on the venue today, with the ski women kicking things off. There was a storm last week that dropped a few inches of fresh snow on the venue, but temps have gotten warm the last few days and there’s a spring break vibe in the Sierra Nevadas.

      “The venue is in rough shape, but still has a ton of fun potential,” said Jackson Hole’s Crystal Wright, who has had solid showings in Kirkwood in the past. “I am looking at the same line as last year but hoping to ski it better if I can. It is fast and fluid and it makes me happy! [That line] is the only thing that is jumping out at me when I look at the venue.”

      Krikwood FWT venue

      With Kirkwood’s Cirque possibly favoring a more playful approach to skiing and riding, there are a few names in the start list to take note of. Last year’s North American-based Freeskiing World Tour Champion Josh Diaek is a longtime Kirkwood local, and Diaek has won the last two comps on his home turf. Look for Diaek to blast a fast, creative line through the Cirque that mixes trickery with fall-line skiing. If big-mountain jibbing is the predicted approach for Kirkwood, Euros Fabio Studer and Markus Eder and Americans Johnny Collinson and Colter Hinchliffe are names to watch, too. But, don’t sleep on Tabke, Barkered, Oakley White-Allen, and Jérémie Heitz—who is sitting in second place overall behind Tabke—to put on full-throttle show.

      On the women’s ski side, Sweden’s Christine Hargin is riding a lot of momentum into today’s comp after sweeping the first two stops of the FWT in Revy and Cham. Jess McMillan and Crystal Wright, both from Jackson Hole, have a lot of experience on the Cirque and are due for strong showings.

      Save Big on Kirkwood Mountain Resort discount lift tickets through Liftopia.com

      The men’s snowboard field should be interesting to watch as Squaw Valley’s Ralph Backstrom will don the yellow bib, which denotes the overall tour leader. Another Squaw rider, Ryland Bell, who has been sending it on Jeremy Jones’s Further project, will slide into the FWT start gate for the first time this season. Frenchmen Jonathan Charlet got his 2013 season going in the right direction with a win in Chamonix, and Sammy Luebke always brings a fresh approach to riding; both will be throwing down in Kirkwood.

      Tahoe locals Casey Lucas (from Kirkwood) and Iris Lazzareschi (from Squaw) will be looking to represent in front of their hometown fans as they take on overall tour leader Margot Rozies, Snowbird’s Laura Dewey, and the rest of the snowboard women field.

      Some competitors are in good shape going into the Kirkwood stop of the Swatch Freeride World Tour by The North Face. Tabke and Hargin sit atop the men’s and women’s ski fields thanks to two wins by each athlete so far this year. Ralph Backstrom has ridden consistently en route to being the tour leader of the snowboard men at the halfway point of the FTW, and French rider Margot Rozies is on top of snowboard women after her win in front of her home crowd in Chamonix.

      Other competitors are feeling the pressure, however. There are no guaranteed spots for the final in Verbier, and everyone is vying for a bib to compete on the renowned Bec de Roses venue in Switzerland. So, look for a high level of skiing and riding today in Kirkwood, and at the subsequent stop in Fieberbrunn, Austria in early March, as competitors are working to solidify invites to Verbier.

      CLICK HERE to watch today’s event live. The action gets underway at 9 a.m. PST as the ski women drop in.

    • Blog post
    • 3 months ago
    • Views: 113
    • Not yet rated

  • Resort Review: Vail Colorado C Resort Review: Vail Colorado Celebrates 50 Years of Skiing

    • From: drewrouse
    • Description:

      Drew Rouse Vail Colorado

      Vail has quite the reputation with out me writing one word about it as a subject you probably already have an opinion on the place. However after living here for 15 years and growing up skiing this place with my family before that I know some of its secrets so perhaps I can add some perspective both as a former gaper and a long time local.

      Essentially a 5 mile by 5 mile expanse of ridges and huge open bowls that happen to sit at the south end of the Gore Range which creates a jagged cloud trap to catch any precipitation and funnel it towards Vail. It is the reason that there can be 5 inches on the report at mid vail but the back bowls and Blue Sky basin will receive feet as happened just this last storm cycle. On a good year well over 400 inches of super light Colorado fluff fall back there a few miles from the village.

      The terrain here is mostly mellow but trust me there are some steeps and cliffs if that your thing. I spoke with young big mtn up and comer Christian Nichols formerly of Ski Club Vail’s Big Mtn Team and he told me that its legit terrain for him and the rest of the team to have to train on to prepare for contests at mountains that are much more highly regarded as steep and technical.  The terrain parks at Vail are looking better than ever with a brand new 22 foot super pipe this season and always innovative rails and eagle counties little secret, lots of log slides in the trees if jibbing lumber is your thing.

      Lines can be long on weekends or big powder days but there are ways to get away from the crowds. Show up early with a plan and get ahead of everyone and you will be lapping untracked powder for hours or show up late when its dumping and go seek out some stashes. Ptarmigan cornice and the ends of the ridges in the bowls are some of my favorite places to look for super deep wind-loaded leftovers.  As a kid I can remember loving to go out to inner and outer Mongolia bowls just because there was no one ever out there and there was a lot of terrain to explore. Its not that steep but it is always worth a look if you want to find some solitutde.

      The resort has a bunch of easily accessible side-country, which means you can usually find fresh snow even weeks after a storm if you know where to look. East Vail, The Minturn Mile, West vail trees…. It would take you years and years to ride all of the lines located a short walk from Vail’s ropes. Just remember here in Eagle County more often than not we have a sketchy snow pack with lots of depth hoar and a recipe for slabs that step down into bigger slides so use good sense and remember your Avalanche gear if you are wanting to venture out.  Seems almost every year someone is lost in an avalanche around here and its definitely something that’s always in the back of my mind.

      The snow is not the only attraction here, Vail does a pretty good job of putting on events and concerts all year long almost. With the Burton U.S open making its Vail debut,  this coming weekend it looks like they are just stepping it up.  Things have never been better as far as nightlife goes and bridge street, will keep even the most seasoned partiers happy.  Check out the George if you want to chill or Samana Lounge to get your groove on.

      Some of the things I have heard is that Vail is flat and its crowded, full of gapers, extremely corporate,  expensive, my aspen friends call it a truck stop and yada yada yada.  So what, a lot of negative things are true about this place and people always hate on the biggest for whatever reason but subtract that and what do you have.  A huge expansive mountain with a pretty fun town, pretty easy access from Denver, via a very well maintained highway that doesn’t close often enough for my liking. Check Vail out, you may have the time of your life here whether it’s a deep pow day or a night out on the town, I know I have.

      Skier Drew Rouse
      Photo Ben Koelker

      Vail Lodging Sale, book online through Mountain Reservations.

    • Blog post
    • 3 months ago
    • Views: 99
    • Not yet rated

  • Cupid Visits Aspen Cupid Visits Aspen

    • From: aspensnowmass
    • Description:

      Cupid was spotted on Aspen Mountain this Valentine's Day, shooting arrows, stealing kisses, and handing out candy.

      Song: Stayin' Alive (K Theory & TYR Remix)

      Watch More Aspen/Snowmass Videos

       

    • 3 months ago
    • Views: 5
    • Not yet rated

  • Pontoon Peak – TGR Bar Stories Pontoon Peak – TGR Bar Stories Episode 1

    • From: TetonGravityResearch
    • Description:

      Pull up a chair, crack a beer, sit back and listen to a Teton Gravity Research Bar Story. In this episode, learn about the historic first descent of Pontoon Peak in Alaska’s Chugach Mountains. Located between Cordova and Valdez, Pontoon Peak is one of the prized ski descents in the range. While an iconic photo has lead many skiers to believe Trevor Petersen and Eric Pehota skied it first, let Jerry Hance and Michael Cozad tell you the real story.

      Bar Stories is a web series by Teton Gravity Research. With interview footage taken from TGR’s newest ski and snowboard movie, The Dream Factory, let the legends of skiing tell you how epic it really was.

      Order The Dream Factory

      Watch More TGR Videos

    • 3 months ago
    • Views: 9
    • Not yet rated

  • News: The 2013 Shovel Race Cha News: The 2013 Shovel Race Championships Recap From Angel Fire Resort

    • From: TetonGravityResearch
    • Description:

      Angel Fire Resort Shovel Race Championships

      Hundreds of spectators and dare devils converged on the slopes of Angel Fire Resort in New Mexico this weekend, as competitors of all ages waxed up their snow shovels for the legendary Angel Fire Shovel Race Championships.  The annual challenge is fairly simple. Competitors sit on the scoop of a standard aluminum snow shovel, handle pointed downhill, and then lift their hands and feet to allow gravity to take them for a ride. Each rider gets two shots to clock the fastest time down the front of the Angel Fire ski mountain. Top speeds regularly exceed 60 miles per hour.

      “Shovel racing began as a simple contest here in the 1970’s when our lift operators would ride their shovels down the mountain at the end of their shifts,” explains Andy Whitacre, mountain operations, Angel Fire Resort. “It has since grown into a crazy competition on the mountain that includes speed suits, costumes and radar guns! No year is ever the same, as competitors always try and out do each other every season.”

      The organized competition has been held for over 30 years at Angel Fire Resort, and racers are expected from all corners of the country. The event has even been featured by national news outlets including ESPN, ABC Sports, MTV and The Travel Channel. Shovel racing was also once a featured sport during the early years of the Winter X Games.

      This year’s winners:

      Overall Top Man: John Strader, Albuquerque: 13:07 seconds; 67.74 mph

      Overall Top Woman: Paloma Gonzales, Angel Fire: 14:42 seconds; 61.40 mph

      Children as young as age 6 participated in the “Little Scoop” race category.

      This year the event also included a new category called “Women in Media.” 13 women from New Mexico TV and Radio stations competed for the fastest time. The race included KRQE Anchor, Jessica Garate, KRQE Meteorologist Kristen Van Dyke, KOAT Anchor, Marisa Maez and radio host Erika Viking among others. The winner of the Women in Media Event was KOAT reporter Angela Brauer who won with a time of 15.49 seconds.

      Angel Fire Resort Lift Ticket Sale - 42% OFF!

       

    • Blog post
    • 3 months ago
    • Views: 65
    • Not yet rated

  • 12-21-12 End of the World Stor 12-21-12 End of the World Storm

    • From: johnwellsma
    • Description:

      12-21-12 /// End of the World Storm – by John Wells


      Where will you ride on your last day on Earth? Well, hopefully it’s a powder day and you are riding at your favorite resort or your choicest line far away from civilization. For me and Carl Wollschlager we decided to head into the eye of humanity and venture to Cypress Mountain just outside Vancouver, B.C. for some deep pow turns before our time here on this planet is over. With Mt. Baker acting like an apocalyptic wicked step sister (with 80 inches in 6 days and 100 downed trees in the road) she closed her doors to us and we headed north for some End of the World turns. Shit, no time to sit at home and sulk when the world is going to end in just a day or two. We mounted up, braved Vancouver rush hour traffic and mashed through 6 inches of snow, blasted around front wheel drive cars stuck in the coastal mush and got to our destination ready to shred.

      Meanwhile in the rest of the World mayhem ensues; Schools closing early, NASA giving scientific reasons countering the predictions of the Mayan Astronomers, people jacking up their credit cards in hope they won’t have to pay them off, and students praying for a 3 day weekend. All the while 22 inches of snow fell while we carved deep trenches in the trees and got blasted by 40 mph winds full of that lovely B.C. coastal velvet. Remember Y2K ? I think my clock radio from 1984 was the only thing affected by that multi-billion dollar fear campaign to stimulate our society into spending more money to add some more zeros. Zeros should be cheap, even free, hence the zero, duh.
      Society was at its best on December 20, 2012. Traffic up the ying yang, lots of people pushing Prius’ in the snow (electric cars are great in the snow, good torque) smart cars parked in plow lanes (not so smart) and generally a feeling of doomsday filled the air at 9 AM in Downtown Vancouver. Lightning bolts cracked the sky heading up to Cypress as the coastal air masses mixed and dumped heavy snow.

      Transformers blew with heavy winds knocking out all power; Cypress Mountain was running strictly on Diesel generators and none was the wiser. It truly felt like the end of the world for most urbanites but for us it was just another day riding pow, and boy did we ride. The trees were tight and magical, huge clouds of snow blinding every turn, mini avalanches in the trees, and pushy city folk wondering why we had backpacks on. It could have all ended then but they popped on the lights and pushed on into the darkness as Cypress was engulfed in a warm up and we left as the storm subsided and the fog rolled in. The End of the World was a mere hours away. It loomed near in the form of a shwarma /Donnair wrap in a crusty Falafel shack on Denman Street where in only hours the departure from this world was only too real!

    • 4 months ago
    • Views: 462

  • Molly Baker Interview - Atomic Molly Baker Interview - Atomic Airtime

    • From: atomicsnow
    • Description:

      Molly Baker can't help but smile all the time. She is in love with the outdoors and being active in the fresh air, particularly, it's skiing fresh powder that keeps her grinning from ear to ear. As a part time nomad looking for the next thrill she travels throughout America searching for the next face to ski.

      The Atomic crew managed to sit her down for a few minutes on a trip to New Zealand to find out more about this soft spoken freerider from Toulmne, CA. Molly shares her passion for being outdoors, offers a little advice to women looking to be more active in the backcountry and explains what skiing really means to her.

      Watch More Atomic Videos

       

    • 4 months ago
    • Views: 18
    • Not yet rated

  • Through The Lens Of Tristan Gr Through The Lens Of Tristan Greszko

    • From: kimhavell
    • 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.

      A skier slashes a turn in in Jackson Hole photo by Tristan Greszko
      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.

      Killer Face Shots in Jackson Hole by Tristan Greszko
      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.

      Cody Peak in Jackson Hole by Tristan Greszko
      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.

      Bootpackers by Tristan Greszko
      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.

      The Tetons by Tristan Greszko
      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.

      A frozen fog in Jackson, Wyoming by Tristan Greszko
      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.

      The Northern Lights Over the Tetons
      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!

      Erik Roner Cajun Couloir
      To follow Tristan:

      http://www.tristangreszko.com
      http://instagram.com/tgreszko
      http://blog.tetonartlab.com

    • Blog post
    • 4 months ago
    • Views: 163
    • Not yet rated

  • Heli Skiing - Easy Access – Wh Heli Skiing - Easy Access – What it Means to You

    • From: johnforrest
    • Description:

      By: Aaron Whitfield, Terrace, BC.

      Many heli skiing operators out there are offering Easy Access, but what does that really mean? Some of the worlds best skiing is accessed only by helicopter in the remote regions of British Columbia, Canada. Heli ski lodges are spotted all over the province and some are easier to get to than others, so getting to them becomes a major factor. With eager powder skiers and boarders coming from all over the world, the common denominator in access is an international airport.

      The beauty about a heli skiing lodge such as Northern Escape Heli-Skiing in Terrace, BC, is that it is only a two-hour flight from Vancouver International airport. The lodge is located with an easy thirty-minute drive from the regional airport that has recently been upgraded with a modern radar landing system. This helps keep the airport open and the flights on schedule reducing delays and cancelled flights.

      Most other heli ski operations are also accessed through Vancouver, BC, but others, it is from Calgary, Alberta. From Calgary, you then have to rent a car for the duration of your trip and drive west through the Rocky Mountains into BC, usually a four to ten hour drive, or get on a bus for an arduous journey. Getting to the lodge, or a meeting point, requires driving over two or more big mountain passes which often get treacherous and have closures during winter storms. Many of the lodges that are accessed from Vancouver, require a flight to a northern regional airport then a lengthy drive or bus ride from there to arrive at the lodge. The commute adds cost, plus time to your trip and usually cuts into the precious ski day.

      When you are heading to Northern Escape Heli-Skiing and arrive in Terrace, you are greeted by Northern Escape’s friendly staff and whisked off to the lodge. No rental vehicles, no lengthy white knuckle drives through mountain passes, no overnighting, just sit back relax and enjoy the sights. Most guests are enjoying dinner at the lodge the same day they leave the comforts of their home. With the accessibility of Northern Escape Heli-Skiing, you are guaranteed a full day of skiing/boarding everyday of your package. Once at the lodge, it is a glass of champagne and great memories in the making. Plus, with Northern Escape’s huge terrain and huge annual snowfall, it is skiing/riding the deepest most consistent powder imaginable for the duration of your trip! 

    • Blog post
    • 6 months ago
    • Views: 219
    • Not yet rated

  • Interview: Chris Davenport On Interview: Chris Davenport On 50 Classic Ski Descents Of North America Book

    • From: SamPetri
    • Description:

      Terminal Cancer Couloir in NevadaA skier drops in to Terminal Cancer Couloir in Nevada, one of the lines featured in the book 50 Classic Ski Descents of North America.

      Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America is a large-format compilation book of iconic and aesthetic ski descents from Alaska to Baffin Island, from Tuckerman’s Ravine in New Hampshire to eight states in the western U.S. and the three western provinces of Canada.

      Created by ski mountaineers Chris Davenport, Art Burrows and Penn Newhard, 50 Classic Ski Descents taps into the local knowledge of contributors such as Andrew McLean, Glen Plake, Lowell Skoog, Chic Scott and Ptor Spricenieks with first person descriptions of their favorite ski descents and insightful perspectives on ski mountaineering past, present and future.

      TetonGravity.com recently sat down with co-author and pioneering skier Chris Davenport in Aspen, Colorado, and flipped through the pages to see what it’s all about. We found it is one of the best hit lists out there, as no one skier has descended them all. As they say, game on!

      On Top Of Polar Star Couloir on Baffin IslandA crew stands on top of Polar Star Couloir on Baffin Island and gets ready for a classic descent.

      Sam Petri: Tell me about how this book came together.

      Chris Davenport: Penn Newhard, myself and Art Burrows, we were talking about it for a couple of years, but we really started working on it in January of 2010 - getting the framework, building the list of the 50 classics. You know, what were the mountains going to be? Who were we going to get images from? Who were we going to talk to? We really wanted to have a lot of contributors. 

      Nobody has skied all of these mountains.  There is not one person who has skied all 50 of these. So we really need to rely on the expertise of some of North America’s most well known skiers.  These people right here.  They represent not only a huge amount of history in the sport of skiing and ski mountaineering, but they also represent all the different regions, so we kind of started building this list. Like, who were the people we want to include in the book?  Who has great stories to tell? Who has got great images we can use?  So we went through building that list, talking to people, doing the legwork, and then by April or May we really had everything we needed to sit down and start building the book. 

      It’s sort of like running a marathon, the first mile you are like, “Oh my god am I ever going to finish this?  This is already hard.”  So the first 10 pages it was like, “holy shit, are we ever going to get through this thing?” We bit off a lot and the more conversations we had with people, the more we realized how much was really out there.  Certainly, I pride myself on knowing a lot about great places to ski.  That’s what I do, but you know, for instance, the Polar Star couloir in Baffin Island, I didn’t really known much about that and we started talking to people like Andrew McClain and Hilary O’Neill and they were just like, “This is just the most incredible line on the east coast.”

      Skiing Polar Star CouloirSkiing Polar Star Couloir.

      SP: What were the criteria for a classic? What defines a classic?

      CD: Yeah, that’s a good question.  I think the main thing that defines it is it has got to just grab your eye.  You have to look at this and just go, “Wow, oh my gosh, look at that line.” It really has to jump off the page at you.

      I think there has to be history to it. I think it’s got to be aesthetic. You know, most importantly for me was the aesthetics.  Take Tuckerman’s Ravine, for example. I mean, it’s a super aesthetic glacial cirque with an incredible amount of history and it’s really popular. A lot of people go up there.  Huntington Ravine as well.  But then there are other ones like Baffin Island.  This couloir has only been skied like half a dozen times, but it’s just in a super striking part of the world. We wanted things that were going to be inspirational or aspirational, where people would go, “Wow, I wonder if I could ever do that?” And things like Tuckerman’s, where people are up there every week in the spring.  It was a nice blend of things.  We didn’t want it to be super exclusive, you know like, “The Gnarliest 50 Descents On The Continent.”   We wanted it to be a good collection – a variety, I guess you’d say.  So we got the east, and then we get to right outside Aspen.  I wrote this story, “Breaking The Glass Ceiling.” I wrote this one because we skied the second decent of the east face here on Pyramid, and this is probably the most classic line in all of Colorado. 

      SP: Daaaaamnnn.

      CD: It had only been skied once and it was in 1978.  It sat there for 28 years. 

      SP: Who skied it first?

      CD: Chris Landry.  We went up there and it hadn’t been repeated.  This line over here had been skied, but nobody had gone off the summit, down the Landry line. So we did the second decent and once we did it and word got out that we just did the second decent, people flocked and were like that’s the glass ceiling.  It broke and people came down and started doing it, so here is a story that I wrote about that experience and why this face is unique.  It is pretty burley climbing.

      University Peak in AlaskaUniversity Peak in Alaska, "probably the most burley peak in the whole book," Davenport says.

      Climbing University Peak in AlaskaClimbing University Peak.

      SP: Were there any lines that you guys argued about being a classic?

      CD: I would say there wasn’t any argument, but there was definitely deliberation about things like, “Do we put this in there?”  We originally had like 70 mountains that we needed to chop the list down to 50.  There was deliberation because there were ones we didn’t have good photos of and there were ones we just didn’t know that much about.   This peak is super badass, University, probably the most burley peak in the whole book.  It has only been skied twice.  7,000 vert.  It’s ones like this we were like, “We have to put this in there.”  Even if hardly anyone is ever going to get to do this, it is so rowdy and so awesome, we’ve got to put it in there.  And some expeditionary kind of stuff in Alaska. Pontoon peak in the Valdez area is a super classic peak.

      Pontoon Peak in the Chugach MountainsPontoon Peak in Alaska's Chugach Range.

      SP: I’ve been up there.  Last year I camped up there, sort of near Pontoon. I just went and skinned around for 10 days, just outside of Point’s North Heli’s zone.  Yeah, Kevin Quinn is the man. 

      CD: Yeah, he knows a ton of people.

      SP: Pontoon is badass.

      CD: You’re right.  And this is a super classic photo of Meteorite in Valdez.  This is the first decent.  This is a really good story.  Eric Pehota writes about Trevor Peterson missing out on the first decent because he got wasted the night before.  They couldn’t find him and these guys Scott Markewitz, Eric Pehota and Kirk Jensen, they got it.  Trevor was left behind. 

      SP: Ha, that’s funny. So you put heli lines in here, too?

      CD: Yeah, because, I mean, the mountains don’t care how you access them.  Like I said, the aesthetics and the beauty of it all is open to anybody.  And yeah, there are some things that are accessed by helicopters and there are some things that certainly are only human powered access, and we felt like those were both valid ways of going skiing.  We are not trying to say like, “Oh, heli-skiing is bad or you have to be a ski mountaineer to be able to do these things.”  There are plenty of classic lines out there that you can walk up, and there are some you can fly to.  And yeah, we talked about that.  Do we include things that have heli-skiing or not?  That’s just the way it is in Valdez. There is heli-skiing there.  And you can’t just say we’re not going to put that in there just because it’s mechanized.  But that was definitely a discussion, for sure.  Yeah, we wanted a good variety.  We wanted this book to appeal not just a hardcore, but also the beginner, the guy that is just getting into it, and to have it be really inspirational.  We wanted people to have this book and have it be their hit list.

      SP: We’ll, it’s cool that no one has done all of them yet. 

      CD: Yeah, I’ve skied like 25 or 24 of them.  That’s a lot.  Maybe someday somebody will be like, “You know what? We’re going to do a project to ski the 50 classics that these guys wrote about.”

      Get Your Book And Get Out There

      The Skillet on Mount MoranThe Skillet on Mount Moran in Grand Teton National Park.

    • Blog post
    • 6 months ago
    • Views: 352
    • Not yet rated

  • News: Team America And Team Eu News: Team America And Team Europe Tie In Swatch Skiers Cup Big Mountain Comp

    • From: media-75233
    • Description:

      Santiago, Chile — The Swatch Skiers Cup got off to an incredible start Saturday, Sept. 1 with the Big Mountain competition, held on a spectacular, remote mountain near Valle Nevado, Chile. The competitors boarded helicopters at dawn in Farellones and ascended to the venue — a 4000 meter peak with a highly featured south face covered in high quality, dry Andean powder. After a short inspection, the head-to-head battles got underway in the suspenseful match-play format that makes the Swatch Skiers Cup unique. After the 16 competitors each took their two runs, the score between Team Europe and Team America was tied, 8- 8.

      Swatch Skiers Cup 2012 Big Mountain Results
      After the first heat, Team Europe held a solid 5-3 lead. Europe looked especially strong throughout the event, with impressive performances from Markus Eder, captain Sverre Liliequist, and a jaw-dropping run from Sam Smoothy.

      “I was pretty knackered after the first run so I decided to go for something with less turns and more air. It was pretty simple but something that I could just charge,” Smoothy said.

      Team Americas suffered another setback as Chris Benchetler, sustaining a shoulder injury during run one, was forced to sit out the second run. But as the second heat progressed, Team America rallied behind the leadership and rock-solid skiing of their captain, Cody Townsend, and staged an impressive comeback. Chopo Diaz ended up skiing twice in round two, replacing Benchetler.

      Chopo Diaz photo by BERNARD JEREMYChopo Diaz in the starting gate. Photo: Bernard Jeremy.

      “Chopo was the Team Americas MVP by far, stepping up when Chris couldn't ski his second run. Doing two runs in one heat, at this altitude, with this long, difficult run is amazing!” Townsend said.

      The teams traded points back and forth until the very end, and when the final competitor crossed the finish line it was all tied up at 8 - 8.

      “This tight race after Big Mountain day is perfect,  its exciting to see the close battles run after run. Plus it gives our team a ton of motivation for Backcountry Slopestyle day.” Sverre Liliequist said.

      The action is only half over. The Backcountry Slopestyle day will be Friday, Sept 7 and the winning team there will be the one to hoist the Swatch Skiers Cup trophy.

      The neck and neck competition between these two elite teams looks to continue to the very last run, so stay tuned, and don't miss a single match of this incredible event.

      See more Big Mountain photos here.

      Swatch Skiers Cup 2012 Backcountry Slopestyle Pairing

    • Blog post
    • 8 months ago
    • Views: 198
    • Not yet rated

  • Sunny Trailer By Level 1 Produ Sunny Trailer By Level 1 Productions

    • From: media-75233
    • Description:

      Available for pre-order in both DVD and BluRay formats with a free T-shirt from Under Armour. level1productions.com/shop/category/new-releases/

      World Premiere scheduled for Saturday, September 8th in Denver, Colorado.

      They say the lack of sunlight affects our mood - that the natural balance of the human mind state quickly shifts with presence of the giant solar fireball in the sky. But this isn’t about winter blues or summer depression. Sunny is a mental disposition, and not just one reserved for beaches and fun parks. Level 1 injected a positive mood into the ski season – giving a dose of light therapy to dark northern landscapes of Scandinavia, Alaska, Japan and British Columbia. So sit back and relax, put your shades on and soak up the rays - the future looks bright.

      Featuring:
      Parker White, Chris Logan, Mike Hornbeck, Tom Wallisch, Wiley Miller, Eric Pollard, Will Wesson, Torin Yater-Wallace, Tim McChesney, Ahmet Dadali, Alex Bellemare, Niklas Eriksson, Adam Delorme, Josh Bibby, LJ Strenio, Tanner Rainville, Logan Imlach, Spencer Milbocker, Sig Tveit, Lucas Stål-Madison
      and Friends

      Shot on Location in:
      Sun Valley, ID - Portes Du Soleil, Switzerland - Flachauwinkl, Austria - Breckenridge, CO - Japan - Alaska - Denver, CO - British Columbia - Stevens Pass, WA - Crystal Mountain, WA 0 Mt Hood, OR - Arizona - Turkey - Finland - Sweden - Arctic Circle

      Directed by Josh Berman and Kyle Decker
      Produced by Josh Berman
      Principal Cinematography By Josh Berman, Kyle Decker, Freedle Coty
      Edited By Kyle Decker, Josh Berman, and Freedle Coty

      Click Here To Watch More Ski and Snowboard Movie Trailers

    • 10 months ago
    • Views: 570
    • Not yet rated

  • The Fire By Word Up Media The Fire By Word Up Media

    • From: media-75233
    • Description:

      It's the fire inside us for this lifestyle and everything between that drives us all. No crick, no bend or turn can stop it. One love, one fire, let it burn! Watch the trips to the streets of Oslo and Lillehammer, to the mountains in Utah, to New York City, to the beautiful Folgefonna, and park shoots at the best terrain parks in Norway.
      Turn up the volume, sit back and enjoy!

      The Fire
      Featturing: Emil Øygard, Christian Nummedal, Andreas Disch, Magnus Nørsteng, Sjur Sætren, Even Sigstad, Lars Tynes, Jens Johnsen, Espen Bergh, Anders Nummedal, Kristian Vereide, Erik Naess and more
      Supported by: Nordica and Scott (Ramo AS), Fri Fly, Downdays, Skiinfo.no, The North Face Norway
      Music by: Get It Up (radioclit mix) - Santogold ft. MIA & Gorilla Zoe

      Click Here To Watch More Ski and Snowboard Movie Trailers

       

    • 10 months ago
    • Views: 80
    • Not yet rated

  • Mikey Basich's Big Boy Toys At Mikey Basich's Big Boy Toys At Area 241

    • From: shayjohnson
    • Description:

      When it comes to boys and their toys, pro-snowboarder Mike Basich stands out from the crowd. He’s built his own mountain playground in California, Area 241, on Donner Summit complete with a full-scale groomer. He’s designed the ultimate snow-chasing vehicle, and continues to expand his mecca with new inventions.

      It all began when Mike Basich bought the land near Donner Summit in North Lake Tahoe. Located three miles from the closest plowed road, he built his home in an area known for deep snow that requires more than a four wheel drive vehicle to get home. With an assortment of vehicles from a full-scale resort groomer to snowmobiles, it looks like Basich won’t be joining the Donner party anytime soon.

      Mike Basich's Dodge TruckGet outta Dodge: Mikey Basich transformed his Dodge truck into a snowboarder's dream rig.

      When it came time to search for a vehicle to take Basich to his next travel destination, he knew he was looking for a truck that could be converted into much more. 

      “I needed a vehicle that gave me the freedom of moving with weather and snow patterns,” Basich said. His checklist of diesel, horsepower, miles per gallon, stock parts and design were met with a Dodge truck. Instead of going the typical trailer route to haul his sled, he opted to design his own custom rig that combined sleep quarters with a sled carrier to handle the snowy roads from California to Alaska.

      “It happened really fast,” he said. “I went from the tradeshow to meet with sponsors to help raise money for the truck. GoPro was first on board from the beginning to make it happen. By the time I left the tradeshow, I had three weeks ’til Alaska. It was built in 17 days, roughly 12-14 hours a day.”

      Mike Basich weldingFrom design to welding, here Basich transforms his truck into the ultimate mountain rig.

      The finished product is a completely redesigned Dodge truck with an insulated, carpeted, rear sleeping area complete with lighting. On the roof is the snowmobile ramp with a hydraulic backend that lifts up for more room in the sleeping quarters. The front seats spin around so you can sit comfortably facing the rear of the vehicle. It’s not just for winter, either. In the summer, you can take the canvas off to enjoy the cool summer breeze.

      When you live three miles from the nearest plowed road in Tahoe, you need a different kind of vehicle to access your mountain home. Four years ago, he replaced his first snowcat with a full resort groomer that he calls the “best thing he’s ever bought in his life.” With the amount of torque and power, now he can build roads, access new terrain and build his own features worthy of a backcountry freestyle contest.

      Mike Basich snowcat“I haven’t touched a shovel since I bought it.” Neither would we.

      “I needed something to get up and down with,” said Mike Basich.  “Now I’m using it for a lot of different things. In the spring when there’s still snow, I use it go get dead standing trees, haul them down and mill the wood in my sawmill to help build my cabin and other projects.”

      In the winter, the snowcat allows for him to build challenging and rewarding freestyle riding to his backcountry playground. In the beginning JP Martin taught him park building techniques of how to push and pack snow to make it last longer. Now he can hop in, build a 16-foot wide corduroy takeoff into bottomless powder and session it for hours.

      “It’s not like you spend half a day building a kicker that gets tracked out and it’s done,” said Mike Basich. “It doesn’t end there. My snowcat lets you keep going with the freedom of fresh lines, building stuff and waiting for it to snow.”

      Mikey Basich's toysTransforming backcountry access from sleds to SUV’s.

      Despite not having much of a sled selection, Basich makes use of what he’s got at Area 241. His mid-1990s air-cooled 380 Ski Doo has been something he really values for handling a variety of conditions from mud to snow throughout the seasons. He’s even snowmobiled over to Sugarbowl Ski Resort in the middle of winter. On the property are two other sleds that are newer that belong to friends and family who frequent the property.

      When his mom decided to get rid of her old SUV, it wasn’t put to waste just yet. Mike created his own homemade, true snowmobile lug tracks that could be driven in mud, snow, and pavement with the SUV. It lasted a year as a passenger vehicle for the drive to Area 241. In its final days it powered a towrope on the property before heading to the junkyard.

      With a fair share of challenges and inventions, Basich continues to build on his endeavors with toys that can handle the snow. It won’t be long before he’s riding the steepest lines in AK with his truck parked at the bottom awaiting him.

      For more, visit www.241-usa.com

    • Blog post
    • 11 months ago
    • Views: 410
    • Not yet rated

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

    • From: sampope
    • Description:

      A Ford Explorer blasts through the mud in ValdezThe 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.

      The Crew Sleds Deep in the Chugach Between Valdez and Cordova AlaskaTodd 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 Ralph Backstrom hike for their turns in the Chugach MountainsTodd 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 goes down on the TGR camp in the Chugach mountainsThe 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.

      Blowing off fireworks in the ChugachRalph 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 shoots a semiautomatic assault rifleRalph 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. 

      Ralph Backstrom with an assault rifle in AKAlright, let's go snowboarding.

    • Blog post
    • 1 year ago
    • Views: 307
    • Not yet rated

  • AK Gloat Posts: How To Fight B AK Gloat Posts: How To Fight Back

    • From: ryandunfee
    • Description:

      Seth Morrison helmet cam in AKEven if you’ll never get this view, that doesn’t mean you can’t prevent others from enjoying it.

      Oh, April.  Usually a glorious month stocked with empty late-season pow days, great stability, and awesome corn and park skiing.  It’s also the golden time for heli-skiing in Alaska, which is a particularly aggravating fact for the majority of us who have no access to the above-mentioned late season in this awful snow year.  With little more than mud left at our home mountains, we’re forced to suffer as videos and photos from our favorite pros and our lucky friends having the time of their lives in Alaska flood our Facebook feeds.  But fear not, snow-less masses, there is something you can do to fight back against the two key constituencies that are currently making that chip on your shoulder so infuriatingly large that you can’t even see around it to change lanes on the highway.

      The Gloating, Social Media-Abusing Pro

      If you’re using the popular social media app Instagram these days, you’re likely following your favorite pros as they capture photo after photo of all the amazing places they get to go to that you don’t.  You might have tolerated it in February, when they were chest-deep in Japan while you were at least getting turns, but now that your gear is in the closet and they’re in a helicopter chasing pow, you just can’t take it anymore.

      Not to worry!  Every smirking post glorifying heli-ski life and how sweet it is to ski miles and miles of untracked spines leaves the door open to respond with an equal amount of sarcasm and ridicule. 

      So when you see this:

      “Cody Townsend Going Heli Skiing”
      @where ski movies are made

      Cody Townsend Heli-Skiing in AKFlying home on a day like yesterday is the best feeling ever.

      Respond with this:

      “Ryan Dunfee Looking at Dismal NH Surf Forecast”
      @heli filming heli filming my epic vacation you will never have

      NH surf ForecastHappy Easter from #AK where we are killing it waaaay harder than your stupid family picnic.  Me and the bros and pros are going heli-surfing in a $6 million helicopter made of dark chocolate.  Champagne drinking all day in between epicest faceshots and perfect overhead barrels while I shop for yachts online.  Everyone else is blowing it!!!  Oh yeah, going for a ride in a stealth bomber to blow up your crappy mountain that’s already closed haha!

      And you can keep pushing it from there:

      “Ryan Dunfee Bored Looking for Real-Life Jobs”
      @Alaska and outer space.  Taking a crap on Richard Branson’s weak spaceship.

      Star WarsF#ck yeah #AK is sick!!!  Day five spent outrunning imperial cruisers with a talking bush of fur named #Chewbacca while I played dodgeball with the Lakers girls in the back!!  Also skied a first descent on some random planet… 17,000-foot vert of BLOWER pow while you nerds sit at work!!  I’m the man and my vacation is way better than your life every day!  I rule!!!

      Make sure to tag your favorite pro in every post, and you’ll be sure to see a precipitous drop-off in their gloaty powder posts as they realize us the rest of us have to carry on with our boring lives while they have fun, and we don’t want to hear about how much better it is to be them.

      The Obnoxious and Stoked Bro

      Broken Mountain BikeWhoops…

      So your best buddy maxed out all his credit cards and booked a week-long heli trip in Haines, and is now enjoying the trip his entire ski life, as well as the Gaper Spirit Animal’s, has led up to.  It’s clear you’re not going to be “winning” a la Charlie Sheen this spring since you’re stuck at work crying over the lack of snow while your buddy sends you picture texts of all the life-changing lines he or she is shredding.  But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a way better summer than they will.  Place all their prized summer toys in the driveway – mountain bike, surfboard, hiking boots, grill – and promptly run them over with your car.  When they return from heli-skiing with a shit-eating grin that makes you want to puke, you can find solace in the fact that your summer will be way, way better than theirs.  What excuse you use for why you wrecked all your roomie’s gear is up to you.

      Get fired up, read some recent AK gloat posts here, here, here, here and here.

    • Blog post
    • 1 year ago
    • Views: 364
    • Not yet rated

  • The “Best Day Ever” The “Best Day Ever”

    • From: jeremybenson
    • Description:

      Storm DayThe 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: 181
    • Not yet rated

  • Salomon Freeski TV S5 E13 Sit Salomon Freeski TV S5 E13 Sit Ski Backflip

    • From: salomonfreeski
    • Description:

      Back in 2004, a flip on skis gone tragically wrong broke Josh Dueck's back and left him as a T11 -- full paraplegic. For the past 8 years one of his dreams has been to do a flip on snow again. On February 3, 2012, Josh became the first person to perform a backflip on snow in a Sit Ski!

    • 1 year ago
    • Views: 19
    • Not yet rated

  • Salomon Freeski TV S5 E05 The Salomon Freeski TV S5 E05 The Freedom Chair

    • From: salomonfreeski
    • Description:

      On March 8, 2004 aspiring freeskier and coach, Josh Dueck, awoke from a ski crash to realize life would never be the same. Paralyzed from the waist down, josh made a decision to make the best of a horrible situation. The result is one of the most inspiring stories we've ever seen.

       

      The full-length documentary film can be seen at a film festival near you, or can be downloaded in the latest Salomon Digital Magazine for iPad here http://www.salomonfreeski.com/others/minisites/ipad-magazine/

    • 1 year ago
    • Views: 17
    • Not yet rated
Results 1 - 20 of 63

Terms of Service

mock rpx login link