563 Search Results for "base"

• Laying Down Lines and Saving L Laying Down Lines and Saving Lives in Cooke City

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:
    Words by Michael Sudmeier
    Images by Sam Pope
    
    
    Some things in life are subject to change. And this is especially true for those who spend time in the backcountry. While recently filming near Cooke City, Montana for Way of Life, TGR athletes and filmers had to continually adapt to new challenges—including saving a man’s life. The plans for the trip had been simple enough—film some late spring ski descents at the end of April. The start of the trip, however, was filled with pow days, cold temperatures, and assisting with a rescue.
    
    
    
    Before heading into the backcountry, the crew convened in Cooke City and geared up for the trip.
    
    
    “I thought it was going to be mainly mountaineering missions—skiing couloirs and things like that,” explained Todd Ligare. He was joined by TGR athletes John Spriggs and Griffin Post, as well as a production and support team that included Dan Gibeau, Sam Pope, Hennie van Jaarsveld, Corey Seeman, and Steve Popovich. Despite anticipating spring conditions, “It felt like a mid-winter trip in late April, which was awesome,” offered Spriggs. He and the group named the project Nightmare Camp—a play on TGR’s Fantasy Camp, which had wrapped up a few weeks prior in Alaska.
    
    
    After members of the crew skied a few lines on their first day, a snowmobiler approached them, searching for assistance and a means to contact rescue and medical personnel. “You could tell he was dealing with a heavy situation, but he seemed calm and was dealing with it appropriately,” explained Ligare. “He basically asked if we had a way to contact help.”
    
    
    The man’s friend had stopped breathing after his vest became tangled in his sled. “Basically, the [patient] had a protective vest on, and he was hill climbing,” explained Post. “Through an unfortunate series of events, his handlebars went through his protective vest and hung him.” The man had rushed to aid his friend, but his response time was delayed due to the steep slope on which the injured snowmobiler was perched. Initially, the snowmobiler was not breathing. Once freed from his sled, however, he resumed breathing but remained unconscious.
    
    
    
    Whether exploring new zones or assisting with a rescue, the group relied heavily on its sleds.
    
    
    Tapping into rescue and medical training they receive at the start of each season, the crew from TGR sprung into action. Ligare sought out the crew’s satellite phone and medical equipment while Pope traveled to the injured sledder. Once at site of the incident, Pope and a snowboarder who was also in the area provided initial care for the patient. According to Pope, they “created a flat spot for [the patient], cleared his airway, stabilized his head, and put some layers under and on him to provide insulation from the snow.”
    
    
    After retrieving the group’s satellite phone, Ligare—now joined by Post—sought out higher ground in order to contact Park County Search and Rescue. Post remained in contact with rescuers while Ligare, Gibeau, and Spriggs brought the group’s medical kit and sked, a collapsible rescue stretcher, to the scene. The group helped Pope further stabilize the patient and initiated a high angle rescue to lower him down the slope. They also took turns traveling to Post, relaying updates to rescuers. Seeman, who had been in town servicing a snowmobile, led rescue personnel Ben Zavora and Jan Gaertner, President of the Cooke City EMS, to the patient.
    
    
    By the time Gaertner and Zavora arrived, the team had not only lowered the patient down the slope, but also prepared a landing zone for a helicopter. Gaertner and the team provided additional care and readied the patient for transport. “We packaged him, got him on some oxygen, and cleared his airway,” she explained. “I also put an AED on him [in the event his heart stopped]. He had quit breathing twice.” Fortunately, the weather briefly cooperated with rescuers. “We got there and the sky opened up and the sun came out. We got a helicopter in and when the helicopter left, the clouds came over and it started snowing again,” explained Gaertner.
    
    
    “I’ll tell you what, it was not his time to die,” offered Gaertner. She credits the team from TGR with ensuring this was the case. “The guys did an awesome job,” she explained. “They were so excited to use their skills and equipment. I would work with those guys any day.”
    
    
    
    In a letter to TGR, Jan Gaertner—President of the Cooke City EMS—thanked the crew for its assistance.
    
    
    For the team, the incident provided an opportunity to put into practice the skills they had cultivated through TGR’s annual safety summit, the International Pro Riders Workshop (IPRW). Although the curriculum is continually evolving, IPRW aims to help attendees successfully negotiate the challenges inevitable in backcountry travel. The course typically addresses assessing avalanche terrain, initiating first aid in a wilderness context, and leading rescue efforts.
    
    
    According to Cofounder Todd Jones, TGR developed its IPRW program because “we recognized that we’re out in a really dangerous and inhospitable environment that demands high levels of training and expertise. That training can make the difference between a fairly standard rescue and a really bad situation.”
    
    
    
    IPRW ensures TGR's team is prepared for backcountry emergencies.  Luckily, no emergencies resulted from the crew killing this line.
    
    
    The rescue in Cooke City served as a testament to the training’s success. In a thank you letter to TGR, Gaertner wrote, “Your skiers were the first responders on the scene, and because of their training and communications [they] saved this man’s life.” According to Spriggs, the high angle rescue that the team performed was “exactly what we learned at IPRW.” Gaertner noted that the team was especially successful in executing the skills it had developed at the workshop. “It’s one thing to get the training,” she explained. “It’s another thing to be able to act on it—and all those guys were able to act calmly and efficiently and do what they were taught to do.”
    
    
    During its time in the Cooke City area, the TGR crew checked in with Gaertner to receive updates on the patient’s status. After several days in a coma, the man was released from the hospital. He is expected to make a full recovery. This, according to Ligare, “is a miracle—or at least not typical.” After all, the man had stopped breathing twice throughout the incident.
    
    
    The rescue with which the team assisted provided an unusual prelude to the trip—and the adventures only continued. At the start of their filming, “it snowed two feet so we just skied pow for days,” revealed Post. “It was unseasonably cold for the first four days and we had some of the best snow of the year.” 
    
    
    For the ten day trip, the crew established a base camp from which they began sledding and touring each morning. “We basically had a little village out in the woods and camped there and didn’t come back to town,” explained Post. “We were really much more immersed in the mountains than trips where you just go out for the day.” 
    
    
    
    The crew was better at skiing than cooking, as evidenced by its reliance on precooked dinners.
    
    
    Although the group had a large dome tent, plenty of food, and a propane stove and heater, being immersed in the mountains was not especially luxurious. Temperatures one evening hovered near twenty below. For dinner, the crew had “two different options of precooked meals that we would heat up: Mexican or Thai. The big joke every night was ‘what do you guys want for dinner?’” explained Pope. As the days progressed, the crew also established a second camp from which it could access more remote zones.
    
    
    
    There's nothing like the smell of a campfire--especially one accompanied by the smell of wet socks and boots.
    
    
    According to the team, its base camp provided quick access to terrain but was not without its challenges. “The camping adds a whole new layer of logistics to deal with—drying clothes, charging batteries, and dumping footage,” Pope explained. The group’s proximity to its target terrain helped fuel the intensity of the experience. “The trip was probably the most full throttle trip I have ever been on,” revealed Post. “We were just so busy—we would get up at six pretty much every morning, put our ski boots on by seven-thirty or eight, and we’d pretty much be skiing and in our ski boots until eight at night.”
    
    
    As the temperatures warmed up towards the end of the trip, the crew was also able to ski several couloirs. After being shut down on one couloir due to rapidly softening snow and wet slides, the team was able to ski the couloir on its final day. “The snow conditions were super variable,” revealed Pope. “But to me, that’s the impressive thing about professional skiers—they make it look easy no matter what the conditions.” But this should come as no surprise. After all, they can even make saving a life look easy.
    
    
    
    The crew kicked back in Cooke City at the trip's conclusion.
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• Got Wood? Pinewood Derby Snowb Got Wood? Pinewood Derby Snowboard - Every Third Thursday By Signal Snowboards

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

    Signal Snowboards cap an epic 2012/13 winter with a good old fashioned derby race! Paying tribute to traditional pinewood derby races, Signal founder Dave Lee rounds up pinewood 2x4s as the foundation for these unique snowboards. The Signal crew then gets to work in the factory planing and gluing the 2x4s to create the base for each board. Custom graphics are added, then it's time to hit the road to Mammoth Mountain. Snowboarders Ian Thorley, Dylan Synnott, Joey Yorba and friends meet up with Dave to transform these boards into their own custom derby destroyers! With boards assembled the guys hit the hill to compete on their creations. You won't believe the speed these guys get on 2x4s! Goodbye winter—hello summer 2013!

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  • 4 days ago
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• Roner Vision: 800-ft Snowmobil Roner Vision: 800-ft Snowmobile BASE Jump

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

     

    Professional skier Shane McConkey pushed the limits of possibility in big mountain terrain. As a friend and mentor to Erik Roner, his 2009 passing was a huge loss. Erik decided it was time to honor his friend by disposing of Shane's snowmobile in the only way that made sense—by BASE jumping it off an 800-foot cliff! With former pro snowboarder Jim Rippey in tow to help with the stunt logistics, Erik hits the road to Fernie, British Columbia and a massive cliff face. Watch as Roner pulls the throttle and pushes his own limits for Shane!

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• Aspen Obscene Aspen Obscene

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

    Photos: Digi Dave

    
    

    Nobody is concerned that Than is missing. We haven’t been in Aspen for 12 hours, and we’re already a man down. Breakfast at Aspen’s Jour de Fete is just too damn good. The genuine Frenchman in charge of whipping up espresso drinks and croissant concoctions could make me forget my grandmother going missing in Chicago’s Southside with a bag full of cash and a slow pace. The sun is shining, and Than’s empty seat at the table makes it easy for us to spread out—keeping our hangovers from combining into the perfect storm… For now.

    The plan was simple enough—get to Aspen for the extra bonus closing at Highlands. Late winter in the Southern Rockies is making up for a lackluster early season. Colorado’s inbounds terrain is the best it’s been all year, and the lifts at Jackson Hole hadn’t been spinning for nearly a month.

    

    Aspen, contrary to the Bogner and Bentley façade, is a dirtbag’s delight. So, to get in touch with Aspen’s seedier side, Than, Cook, and myself jumped into a car and decided to see for ourselves. 

    We arrive late Friday night after a whirlwind of snus tins and malt beverages. The Limelight hotel is surprisingly cheap during the off-season and their breakfast is way above average. They also allow dogs, so pick up a puppy on the way over as a conversation starter.

    After stocking the fridge and then promptly trying to empty it, we wander over to Little Annie’s. Seventeen dollars later we have a pitcher of Budweiser and five shots of Early Times whiskey. Repeat. Repeat. Everything begins to taste like band-aid and herpes. Repeat. Two repeats later and I’m drinking out of a shoe.

    

    By the time breakfast rolls around, Than is missing. We’re not worried. You will meet the girl/guy of your dreams in Aspen. It’s what happens when the entire population of the town, and all of its visitors are there for the soul purpose of having fun. You might even throw up on said dream girl’s porch. Than shows up as we wrap up our meal with a smirk.

    After a few more breakfast beers, it’s ski time. We arrive greeted by none other than Klaus Obermeyer. He yodels for us and announces the skiing is “Eleven out of ten!”

    

    He’s right. All of Aspen Highlands’ 3,635 vertical feet have achieved a miraculously good corn cycle and the snow is nothing short of heroic. Snow fuels celebration, which in turn fuels skiing. Somehow we don’t get removed from the ski area, the bus ride home, or the hotel.

    As Aspen becomes a blur of laughter, empty glasses, and haphazard street crossings, I start learning all sorts of lessons. The most important ones are these:

    1.Tables comprised of the same sex are always looking for trouble.

    2.Colorado’s new views on certain controlled substances don’t suck.

    3.Getting forcibly removed from the staff bathroom at Escobar with a new friend is totally worth it.

    4.If you’re trying to get away with skinny-dipping after-hours, claim that you’re a lifeguard.

    5.If all else fails, go to New York Pizza. If everything is failing, you probably need to eat anyways.

    

    Suddenly the sun is out again and we’re hiking up to the top of Highlands Bowl for the last run of the season. A crowd of locals is gathered to take in the Maroon Bells, sip champagne, and shred the shit out of an incredible late season snowpack one last time. For all the glamour associated with Aspen, the group taking the season’s last run down the bowl shows none of it. It’s just skiers and smiles. Every turn puts us further from the season. Despite the fact that I haven’t slept in two days the snow is so good and the runs are so steep I have one of my best runs of the season.

    I slide sideways into the base area in a spray of snow, thoroughly used up, totally worn out. Ski season—what a ride.

    

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• Stevens Pass: More Snow Than H Stevens Pass: More Snow Than Hype

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

    Words and Images by Joey Mara

    The Cascades are loaded with underrated gems—and Stevens Pass is definitely one of them. Not only is the resort peppered with steep terrain, it also enjoys massive storms that make the mountain a freerider’s dream. Only eighty miles from downtown Seattle, Stevens Pass has been slinging lift tickets for seventy-five years. In that time, it’s been responsible for more than a few people calling in sick to sample the latest storm. With ten lifts serving 1,125 acres spread between the mountain’s front and backside, the resort accommodates skiers and riders of all ability levels. Nonetheless, the mountain is best known for its expert terrain.

    

    No one disputes that the snow in the Pacific Northwest is deep, yet its quality is often up for debate. A few locals will come clean, however, and reveal that labels like “cascade concrete” are misnomers designed to keep tourists away. The snow at Stevens is premium—and thanks to receiving over 450 inches of snow annually, there’s plenty of pow to go around. In fact, it’s not uncommon for the mountain to see upwards of 650 inches in a season.  

    

    After a storm, however, the snow at Stevens is typically measured in feet thanks to a unique weather phenomenon known as the Puget Sound Convergence Zone. West of Seattle, the Olympic Mountains split incoming storm tracks, forcing their wind and moisture to divide to the north and south and collide again when they converge at the Cascades. This concentrates precipitation in the vicinity of Stevens Pass. Consequently, storms may hammer the mountain while other resorts in the state receive only a fraction of this snowfall. Needless to say, the storms at Stevens make dreams come true—just come prepared with a snorkel. In December of 2012, for example, a storm dropped 39 inches at the base of Stevens and sixty inches at its summit in just a twenty-four hour period.

    

    Stevens Pass lacks the glamour (and excessive amenities) of a mega resort—and that’s fine with those who call the mountain home. For the courageous, Stevens has plenty of steep lines—perfect for those who like to push limits and occasionally piss their pants. Pillows, chutes, steeps, cliffs, and spines all litter the mountain, while the tree skiing is also world class. It might be worth befriending a local when you come to Stevens, as much of this terrain can be elusive to the uninitiated. To further maximize your time at Stevens, be ready for some serious storm riding. Locals revel in the free refills provided by Steven’s heavy snowfall. The mountain’s night skiing can also add a new dimension to chasing powder. And if you’re fortunate enough to catch a bluebird day, Cowboy and Rooster Ridges provide an ample canvas for laying down creative lines. It should come as no surprise that skiers and riders can explore Stevens season after season and continue to find new zones.

    Stevens Past to Present Celebrating 75 Years! from Joey mara on Vimeo.

    For those prepared to venture outside the access gates, the backcountry at Stevens Pass is the real deal. Due to the high amount of snow and steep terrain, avalanches occur frequently. Adding to the danger, visibility can change rapidly. That being said, a wealth of ridges, back bowls, and peaks can be accessed via the lifts or by touring from the highway or nordic trails. Much of Steven’s backcountry dumps skiers at the highway, enabling them to easily hitch a ride back to the resort.

    

    In addition to its natural terrain, Stevens Pass boasts a solid park. The Top Phlight park crew spends its days prepping dozens of rails and kickers of all sizes. Stevens also has one of the few halfpipes in the state of Washington. Thanks to the diversity of its terrain, the mountain is a breeding ground for well-rounded rippers.

    

    Stevens has remained under the radar thanks, in part, to a lack of accommodations at its base. For those wishing to stay close to the slopes, a variety of rental cabins are available on both sides of the pass. Most visitors, however, stay in or around the town of Leavenworth on the east side of the pass. Located forty-five minutes from Stevens, Leavenworth sports a Bavarian theme and offers plenty of entertainment for those looking to kick back and slip off their boots. During the winter months, the town is lit up with Christmas lights and the streets are packed with Seattleites hoping to escape the city, shop, and enjoy some food and drinks at German pubs. For those looking for no-frills lodging, the small towns of Skykomish and Gold Bar on the Seattle side of the pass offer affordable options.

    

    Stevens will never be a Whistler or an Aspen—and it does not want to be such a resort. And while the scene is mellow, the mountain is not. Needless to say, Stevens has no shortage of challenging terrain—and good company with whom to explore it. The people are friendly and the snow is deep. If you measure your seasons in faceshots and high fives, Stevens might be your soulmate.

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• Roner Vision: Little Oskar's F Roner Vision: Little Oskar's First Ski Base Jump

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

    Erik Roner ventures to Utah and takes his toddler BASE Jumping.

     

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• Oskar BASE Jumping Oskar BASE Jumping

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:
    Little Oskar takes a leap
  • 1 month ago
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• Go: Irwin Cat Skiing Go: Irwin Cat Skiing

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

     

    Words: Pip Hunt

    Photos: Re Wikstrom

    A gloved finger etches a penis on a foggy window, then hastily circles it and slashes a line through the center. It’s almost as if our Tucker snow cat is filled with sixteen year-old boys. Rather than baseball, Alfalfa, and a “no girls allowed” sign, this moving clubhouse is filled tutus, sparkles and a pink wig. Pop music blares through the speakers and an old school ski film skitters across the big screen in front of us—though no one pays attention. Hannah Whitney, Utah Regional Director for SheJumps, gets down in the middle of the spacious cat. Before long, the entire snowcat bounces as seven women dance to “Call Me Maybe”. I’m not even through my first cup of coffee yet. 

    We’re heading up a snowy Kebler Pass, the unpaved summer road that connects Crested Butte to the rest of the Western Slope. Ten miles outside the funky, prayer-flag-draped ski town lies the Movie Cabin, the base for all of Irwin Catskiing’s daily adventures.

    While Crested Butte is known for its low snow pack, steep pitches and rocky terrain, locals have always known that the “donut hole” weather pattern leaves only the Butte bare. Irwin regularly receives two to three times more snow than Mt. Crested Butte every storm. It receives more than 600 inches annually, making it a leader for Colorado ski area snow totals.

    I slurp the dregs of my coffee before stepping out of the cat, taking in the panoramic view of the Elk Mountains and the minuscule movie cabin. We crowd inside the former Hollywood Western film prop and spread out around the fire to boot up for a day of skiing. 

    

    Guides can make or break the catskiing experience; but Megan Poden, CB local, mom, ski patroller, and guide extraordinaire greets us with more flair than we arrived with. Her hot pink wig, black tutu, and sassy ways set the precedent—things are about to get ridiculous. 

    Luckily, these ladies at SheJumps, a 501-c3 non-profit organization aren’t afraid of having fun. SheJumps challenges women to reach their fullest potential through outdoor adventures. This trip wasn’t about luxury lodging, and delicious food though; it was about the terrain and initiating a new SheJumps chapter in the Gunnison Valley. It was about introducing more women to a safe backcountry skiing environment, skiing pow, and challenging each other to break free of our comfort zones. 

    Six inches of fresh waited us at the top, and the cat was stacked with snacks and beverages. Our guides cranked the tunes up between each lap. We chased each other through lines of fresh soft snow on “2D or Not 2D,” sent the “Outer Limits,” and played through the endless, rolling terrain of “Long.” 

    

    “The terrain seemed endless,” Hannah gushed afterwards. “I’ve been out here touring before when I lived in the valley, but all of my surroundings seemed so much more accessible with the cat. I’m going to be dreaming about getting back here to ski more!”

    But the real fun started every time the cat door closed. We laughed, and had a really, really, really good time.

    “I think we just set the precedent for fun,” Kyra Martin, Director of Admin for Irwin stated at the end of the day. “Irwin sees a ton of male clients, but we’ve never had a cat full of women. We wanted to bring in SheJumps to show that women need adventure too!” 

    Details: 

    Website: Irwincolorado.com

    Contact: Info@Irwincolorado.com

    Prices: $500 per day

    1000+ Acres of Terrain 

    10,000-15,000 vertical feet of skiing per day 

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• PLAY - Episode 5 - Eider PLAY - Episode 5 - Eider

  • From: eiderouterwear
  • Description:

    Last episode of the PLAY webserie with Mathias Giraud during a base jumping session at Eiger, Swiss.
    
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  • 1 month ago
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• Zack Giffin's Tiny House - BD Zack Giffin's Tiny House - BD Crash Pads Episode 2

  • From: blackdiamond
  • Description:

    Here at Black Diamond, our athletes' all-consuming drive to spend as much time in the mountains, at the crags and on the trails as possible tends to make for some interesting living situations. Modded-out cargo vans, backwoods shacks, parents' basements and musty expedition tents-the idiosyncratic places they reside when they're not doing what they do are a defining testament to the Black Diamond team's passion for climbing and skiing. Whether it's just a place to store gear, a comfy base to rest up for the next adventure or a traveling home on wheels, this ongoing series will give you an inside look at the places BD climbers and skiers call home.
    
    This month we caught up with BD skier Zack Giffin, who had his super-unique tiny house on wheels parked in the Alta Ski Area parking lot in the midst of a massive mid-winter storm. In between pow laps, Zack was kind enough to give us the tour of his custom-built rolling ski cabin.
    
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  • 3 months ago
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• Why You Should Ski In Afghanis Why You Should Ski In Afghanistan

  • From: kausarhussain
  • Description:

    

    Afghanistan.
    
    Just the mention of the word sends images into the mind. Military units driving through deserts, windswept mud brick villages and broken arid urban landscapes. When I mention the possibility of going skiing in Afghanistan it can get some strange responses. Forget about the risk, the first question is, “Is there any snow?”
    
    Whilst it is true that much of Afghanistan is desert or semi-desert and that it hardly ever rains, it does snow. In the mountains it snows a lot. The snow is the lifeblood of Afghanistan. As it melts, it flows through the rivers that fill the canals that irrigate the fields.  A good snowfall ensures that the people of small rural communities will have a good harvest and can feed their families and livestock. A poor snowfall often leads to a drought and a famine. However, the snow in Afghanistan is both a blessing and a curse. Heavy snow cuts off villages in the mountain and every winter people freeze to death or are crushed by avalanches.
    
    Families wait for the snow to melt hoping to survive the winter until they can reap the reward that the snow will bring in the summer. For thousands of years there has been nothing for the people to do in the winter except wait for the Spring....until now.
    
    This winter young men from the villages of Kushkak, Jawzari, Ali Baig, and of the valleys of Qazan and Dukani and Foladi will pull on home made skis, crafted from wooden planks, with edges made from flattened tin cans and with poles snapped from a nearby tree. Some will be selected for training to represent their valley in a competition to see which valley can produce the best skier. They will be given modern ski gear to use. They’ll be taught how to ski, and they’ll receive basic training in first aid and avalanche awareness — skills they can take back to their village and potentially use to save lives.
    
    A handful of young men from Bamian, in Central Afghanistan have already begun guiding foreign skiers - both ex-pats from Kabul and visitors from around the world who are trickling into the region to try out Afghan skiing first hand.
    
    
    
    So how did this happen?
    
    At the beginning of the winter of 2010 almost no-one had skied in the province of Bamian. The valley's chief claim to fame had been the giant Buddha statues carved into the cliffs overlooking the town of Bamian. Tragically the two statues – which were about 1400 years old – were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 robbing the world of two of its most important ancient Buddhist relics, and robbing the people of Bamian of one of their key sources of tourist income. For Afghans, Bamian province was also well known for the lakes of Band e Amir  – a series of five lakes formed by natural travertine dams, that appear like a mirage in this high, arid landscape. In the summer Kabuli families come here to picnic and to escape the dust and heat.
    
    Bamian is also home to the Hazara people. The Hazaras are recognisable by their Mongoloid features. They’re Shia Muslims, unlike most Afghans, who are Sunni. In popular tradition they are reputed to be the remnants of the Mongol armies who came to the region with Genghis Khan. Historically they have been looked down upon by the ethnic Pushtuns and Tajiks who make up most of Afghanistan’s population. Some radical Sunnis — such as the Taliban — have seen them as heretics because of their Shia faith. Modern Afghanistan has always been ruled by Pushtun kings or Pushtun dominated governments who have tended to overlook the Hazaras. However, there have been important changes in Bamian since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. It is no Shangri-La —  there is little electricity, the province is one of the poorest in the country and by any standard it ranks as one of the least developed places on the planet. However, for the first time in decades there are signs of progress and positive change.
    
    Ten years ago, Bamian province had never had a hospital, a paved road, or a university. Now these all exist. There are still many problems, of course, but the Bamian valley is relatively secure and there is none of the anti-government fighting that plagues large parts of the rest of Afghanistan.
    
    An international development agency, the Aga Khan Foundation, saw the potential of promoting tourism in Bamian as a way of giving the people of the province an additional source of income. The Foundation has helped to develop guest houses, organise cultural festivals and provide information about the places of interest in and around Bamian.
    
    That’s fine in the summer when tourists come to the valley, but what about the winter, when guest houses lie empty? Well, the people of Bamian fall back on their timeless winter pastime of just surviving and waiting until the Spring.
    
    
    
    But taking their cue from other mountainous developing countries it was clear that any winter income was better than none so the Aga Khan Foundation began the Ski Bamian programme. With no infrastructure or lifts, the idea was to make the Koh-e-Baba mountains a new destination for ski-touring.
    
    In 2010 two American skiers were employed for the winter to map out potential routes. They brought only their own equipment so the Afghans had to get creative if they too wanted to ski along with them. Anyone with a small knowledge of Afghan military history will tell you that not having state of the art equipment never stopped the Afghans with competing with foreign powers.  Skiing with no ski equipment was not an insurmountable problem. Strips of wood with battered oil tins for edges were formed - - so, the bazaar ski was born.
    
    It quickly became clear that the mountains of Bamian were perfect for skiing and in 2011 a foreign ski trainer arrived to train the first batch of Afghan ski guides. It was early in 2011 that Ali Shah met Nando the Italian ski trainer at his village of Khushkak. Ali Shah was fit, young and spoke good English. Nando asked him what he wanted to be?
    
    “An engineer” said Ali Shah.
    
    “Why you wanna be an engineer? In Kabul there are a thousand engineers. You shoulda be a mountain guide. It's the best job in the world. You spend your whole life in the mountains with beautiful women.”
    
    It may not have been a textbook interview but Ali Shah is now Afghanistan’s best ski guide and Nando's singular teaching style set the basis for the success of the project.
    
    
    
    During 2011 and 2012 the annual Afghan Ski Challenge race (Rule number one — no weapons) was organised by a Swiss journalist and has became a focal point for the ski season (www.afghanskichallenge.com). With most Afghan Challengers having only one month’s ski training the Swiss organisers thought it an unfair challenge. They divided the race into Afghan and non-Afghan categories. The challenge is a classic ski touring route which includes skinning up as well as skiing down. They were right to divide the competition as most of the Afghans had finished before the foreigners had even got to the top.
    
    With donations from western organisations like gear4guides (www.gear4guides.com) there is now a well equipped ski rental shop in Bamian serving the local community and the ex-pat and international skiers that trickle in.
    
    My connection with skiing in Afghanistan began in 2009 when I bumped into a Scottish lad who worked for an Afghan aid agency. Ken was hiking with his girlfriend in the Wakhan region of Afghanistan in the far North East and I was leading a group of trekkers. The Wakhan region is the only other part of Afghanistan safe enough to consider these types of outdoor trips.
    
    He told me of a group of British and French skiers working in Afghanistan who regularly skied near Kabul in the winter and if I was serious about being an Afghan tour operator then I should be offering ski trips to Afghanistan. I said I'd join him on a trip that winter.
    
    On the first trip I made we took one of our regular drivers, Ali. For someone who has never skied it is quite hard to explain what we planned to do. Once we loaded up the poles and skis he had a rough idea of what we were up to and wanted to help. At the bottom of the Salang Pass, which crosses the spine of the Hindu Kush, Ali stopped at a small teahouse and ordered food for all of us. As any Afghan will tell you the best thing for breakfast if you are going to spend all day in the snow is Cow’s Foot. Boiled for hours, this gelatinous lump of bone, fat and gristle is never appealing to non Afghans and the French skiers particularly do not like it. We made a quick note that for the commercial trips, we wouldn’t let the drivers choose the dining options.
    
    But it was then that I saw how skiing was something that really appealed to all the Afghans who saw it. Standing next to Ali as we watched Ken fly down the slopes, he was awestruck. “He is a Djinn,” was Ali's response. Hazaras believe there are mountain spirits and clearly Ken was one.
    
    In the tea house where we stopped on the way back, Ali regaled the owners with the tale of Ken's exploits. Ken was described as a Djinn and I as a Boz (a goat). I hoped it was a way to describe my sure footedness in the mountains but I think it was more to do with my erratic skiing style.
    
    In keeping with Afghan tradition, the story was heavily exaggerated but it started a long discussion about skiing, mountains, snow conditions, avalanches and Afghanistan’s future.
    
    It was not only Ali who became a convert. I realised that, Cow’s Foot aside, this was an awesome way to experience Afghanistan in the winter. Skiing was something that was very foreign but the snow and the mountains was a common factor that could bring people together as it had done in that tea house. I also thought Bamian could be the perfect place for skiing.
    
    
    
    It has not always been smooth. A few elders in one or two villages are suspicious about the skiing fuss. They worry the young men will hurt themselves – preventing them from doing the hard farming work - or that skiing will be the thin end of the wedge and they'll get caught up in other foreign un-Islamic ways. This generally does not stop the young boys from hiking up the hills and skiing. “The only say it is bad because they don't know how to ski,” said one boy from Jawzari village.
    
    All the trailheads start from the villages and we have a code of conduct to help ensure that skiers behave properly. The Aga Khan programme representatives have discussed the skiing idea with all the local villages. We pay our respects to the village leaders and maybe take a cup of tea. There are many ways in which thoughtless skiers can cause offence, generally to do with women. In a country where the majority of people are illiterate and there is very limited access to the media, in these isolated rural communities, rumour is often taken as fact. If someone tells a man that the foreigners took a photo of his wife and put it on display in Kabul he will probably believe it. So Rule Number One is – Don’t take pictures of the women. Ever.
    
    Cultural sensitivity is key to the future of skiing in Afghanistan.
     
    When guiding a group of snowboarders last winter we spent a good hour discussing with the headman of one village what we wanted to do in their valley. The snowboarders were professional and were heading to a steep area that had not been ridden, so the villagers were suspicious. It took a great deal of persuasion until he agreed and let us pass around his village.
    
    As we walked around the village we were watched closely by the men on the rooftops, with no smiles or handshakes. We travelled far up the valley and soon the snowboarders were making jumps from the top of large cliffs. On the second attempt one of them failed to make his landing and crashed in a huge cloud of snow. Suddenly huge cheers rang out from the village below. All the village stood watching on the house rooftops. They liked all the action, but they liked the crashes best of all.
    
    On the way back down there was still staring and silence but we knew the ice had been broken.
    
    We went back to that area for three days and by the end we were inside drinking tea and joking with the local people.
    
    The key to a successful trip is that the Afghan villagers have  a positive experience as well as the visiting skiers.
    
    
    
    Afghanistan has always presented a contrast of lifestyles. An abiding memory of my first visit back after years away was of an old man and a young boy herding sheep down an unmade road. With his turban and billowing shalwar-kameez — a long, loose shirt and trousers, the man looked almost Biblical. A closer inspection revealed that his son was wearing a Megadeath t-shirt (presumably a charitable donation). The road they were walking along had a traffic calming feature – a half buried tank caterpillar track to stop cars speeding through the village. Introducing skiing to a small valley in the Hindu Kush seems to build on such contrasts.
    
    A typical night is spent in rooms heated by wood fire stoves called Bukharis. These are very efficient heaters. You fill them to the maximum before bedtime. It might be -25C outside but we would be sitting in our rooms in shorts and a t-shirt. As the night passes and the fire burns out the temperature plummets in the room and at dawn we'll be inside sleeping bags and the glass of water by the bed will have a layer of ice.
    
    Breakfast could be eggs or pancakes. Where we stay, the cook was trained at a US agency guesthouse. He knows exactly what hungry Westerners like to eat. Recently married, he returned to Bamian from working in Helmand province. The wages are much lower in Bamian but it is safer. In Helmand he always had to carry his ID card to get into the compound. However, if the Taliban stopped him and found this ID card he would be killed.
    
    On a very cold night the diesel will freeze in the vehicles used to take us to the mountains. We'll drink tea whilst a fire is built under the engine to defrost it, and perhaps watch the daily UN helicopter coming in to land at the Bamian military base, managed by the New Zealand army.
     
    Once in the villages at the top of the valleys, when we start to skin up we'll be invited in for tea by the village elders. Depending on the weather we'll either accept or continue uphill to make the most of the snow. I'll remind people that they should always remove their shoes when entering a house, never speak directly to the women -– and above all, no matter how serious their latest case of Kabul Belly, NEVER to fart in a room with their Afghan hosts. This is perhaps the greatest social faux pas of all.
    
    Often we'll be joined for all or part of the day by the local youths on their home-made skis. Making light work of skinning up and paying little or no attention to our avalanche warnings. they just laugh – “Inshallah” – if God wills it
    
    There is not much to do in the evenings. Alcohol is forbidden, but there is plenty of hearty traditional Afghan food and drink - kebabs, rice and hot drinks. With alcohol forbidden, we like to call this the Apres- tea scene.
    
    Skiing will not solve all the problems in Afghanistan. It won't solve the problems of Bamian but in a few small valleys in the Hindu Kush they are making a small positive impact to a handful of people and that is something worthwhile.
    
    Interested in traveling to Afghanistan, be smart and read up first.  Amazon.com has some grea books on travel and history throughout Afghanistan.
    
    
    •    Kausar Hussain is a guide and operations manager for Untamed Borders and arranges ski trips to Bamian every year. http://www.untamedborders.com www.facebook.com/untamedborders
    
    
    

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• Carving Through History with C Carving Through History with Chuck Barfoot Part Two: Barfoot is Back

  • From: jakedesroches
  • Description:

     

    From building some of the first snowboards nearly thirty-five years ago, to ending production almost ten years ago, Chuck Barfoot has seen a lot. He’s been around long enough to know the difference between what makes a good board, what makes a mediocre board, and what makes a great board. In re-entering the world of snowboard manufacturing, one thing is certain, Chuck Barfoot is fully committed to crafting great boards.
    
    Beginning in the 2013-14 season, we will once again have the opportunity to ride brand new Barfoot snowboards. The boards will be produced in small batches, not in lots of 10,000, to ensure quality. The boards will also be hand made right here in the USA, in the factory Chuck’s board-building partner, Ernie Delost, owns in San Diego, California.
    
    The benefits of producing at a factory close to home are many, but I say it really comes down to just two, quality and control. Barfoot described it to me in terms of red tape; “We can be building that board and have a few people go, ‘You know what? We’d like to have the flex changed a little.’ And we are able to make that change within minutes, versus months and months of people freaking out. There’s a lot less red tape because it’s Ernie and I making decisions and we can make them on the spot.”
    
    To many, this will come as a relief. A lot of riders (and skiers) out there are simply fed up with cheaply produced (but still expensive) boards and skis that are made in a factory several thousands of miles away, oftentimes in China. But those are big brands that pump out dozens of models of boards, and sell thousands of them worldwide. Luckily for us, that’s just not the Barfoot way.
    
    Next year, Barfoot will have two boards available to the public. One is a cambered, all-mountain slayer, and the other is a rocker-camber hybrid freestyle board. The all-mountain board will feature a low profile camber and a longer than standard transition between the camber and the nose and tail lift. The freestyle board will feature a slight rocker between the feet, a little bit of camber underfoot, and be coupled with an early-rise nose and tail. Barfoot has two design features for us that will really set these boards apart.
    
    First, every board at every length will come in a narrow, standard, and extra wide width. Barfoot explained why; “So that we can have people who have a size thirteen versus a size seven, but still ride a 158, ride the same board. They can have a board that fits them, rather than have something that they have to wrestle with, or a board with toe and heel drag.”
    
    Second, Barfoot’s binding inserts will feature an extended width design. This pattern will allow for a rider’s bindings to be mounted with two to three extra inches of variation, which leads to a board that fits each rider better. Barfoot explained his reasoning to me again; “Because you know, if someone has a 20-inch stance, someone has a 22-inch stance, someone has a 24 inch stance, they can all ride that same board. It offers a lot of adjustability for your stance, more so than other boards that are on the market.” This will also let riders push their bindings way-way back for powder days and re-center them for days when the snow is not as deep.
    
    I tried to get Barfoot to go into detail on the materials he will be using. But that is something he wants to keep secret for now. He assured me that all materials from the base, to the cores, to the top-sheets will be of the highest quality, and like I said earlier, will be hand built in Ernie Delost’s San Diego factory.
    
    One thing that long-time Barfoot fans, and those looking for the best performing snowboard possible, will be interested in, are custom-made boards. Sadly, Barfoot isn’t quite ready to open the custom-shop to the public. But he did say, “Making custom boards available to the public is something we want to do. We do make custom boards for some of our riders now.” So all hope isn’t lost, especially considering that this man truly loves building boards.
    
    “It’s something that I love doing, because we’re making a board that fits you like a glove.” Barfoot went on further; “It makes me happier than hell when I’ve got somebody on one of my boards going, ‘Damn! There’s nothing that rides like this.’ Or, ‘This board is so perfect for me!’ Then you hear them talking about pow days or whatever they did, something outrageous, and they landed it, and the board worked perfectly and you’re like, ‘Yeahh!’ It’s like you did it yourself."

    Shop for snowboards online at http://dogfunk.com, while giving back to TGR. 

    Photo Caption: Barfoot building one of his first snowboards, December 1978.
    Photo Credit: John Roskowski
    
    

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• Resort Review: Silverton Mount Resort Review: Silverton Mountain Colorado An Exhilarating, Unforgettable Experience

  • From: benkoelker
  • Description:

    

    You've heard of it.  If you haven't been for a visit and you finally smarten up and go there, these are a few things that may happen.  A four hour drive may turn into a seven hour drive.  The roads out there during a dump are no joke with AWD or even 4WD.  If you don't have either, find a friend who does.  You don't want to die on the way in…  On the way back home you may be OK with it…  $139 gets you a guided tour of the mountain.  With one chairlift Silverton Mountain is all hiker access off top.  After you park, you are directed to a yurt where you sign in.  First thing in the morning you will smell spilled carpet beer as you sign your life away and employees bellow simple instructions. If you don't own a beacon, a shovel and an avalanche probe, this is where you rent them. Behind this cozy little yurt they hide a helicopter in the woods.  It's just sitting there in the snow. 
    
    This is not Vail.  They offer guided trips as well as unguided depending on the day.  Check their website for all the updated information, They also offer heli-trips at $999/ day or $159 for a single lap.  A guide is highly recommended, and necessary during most of the season, to access all of the 1,819 acres of Silvertons terrain..  Outside the check-in yurt you will be herded into groups of eight plus a guide.  Most members of this group will have duct tape on some part of there gear.  Most likely they will all rip.  Your guide will also rip. This is not likely, this is a fact.  Your guide may say in a loud voice to your group, even before he or she introduces him or herself, “This mountain may kill you today.”  You will agree and immediately understand that this mountain is much more likely to kill you if you do not listen to your guide.  Your guide will make sure everyone can at the very least turn on their beacons and put a probe together, then assess the groups ability as far ask hiking speed and which terrain everyone is comfortable riding in.  Once at the top of the lift your hike may take ten to forty-five minutes.  You want people who can keep up with your group, the group being only as strong as its weakest hiker.
    
    Expect random explosions throughout the valley as the helicopter bombs for avalanches.  Expect the hike to have some scary in it.  Sometimes you will use a guide rope so that you don't fall to your death.  Your guide goes first.  Every single time, employee benefits.  On most runs you drop one at a time for safety.  The guide will say, for example, “count to ten after I disappear over that ridge and then the first person can drop.”  First?  Did he say whoevers first?  Who's first on the first run of the day??  Nervous shuffling...  No worries if you are courteous, there will be plenty of snow.  Runs at Silverton include wide open powder fields, cliff and cornice drops, tighter tree runs, chutes, gullies and pretty much anything your group can handle. 
    
    Your group, your guide and the snow conditions dictate what is skiable.  Avalanches are common, but to date no one has ever been fully buried.  We spoke to a skier in the lot who was partially buried that day.  He apparently didn't listen to his guide.  Listen to your guide.  It's possible some skier in your group may break out a bottle of breakfast champagne to pass around on the traverse back to the base, where Silverton's bus will shuttle you back to the lift.
    
    At another point you may find yourself in Two Smokes and use a rope to slowly side slip down rocks and logs jammed into a choke in an avy path.  With the right group expect four to six of the best runs of your life.  Regardless of how much you hike at your home mountain, this mountain eats up your legs.  Back at the yurt at the end of the day you will find all sorts of characters who feel the same way.  Tired, thirsty and satisfied.  You realize the employee who laughed about 'herding cats' as he tried to get your group set up in the morning is having a beer and laughing with friends next to you.  Your guide may slap you on the back as he rolls up to take a seat with your group (did i mention you're all fast friends at this point?) and have a beer or five.  Our guide on this trip, Pedro, was getting in his beers and veggies together with PBRV8's.  After the day you've just had, you'd probably be willing to give your guide a lift to middle-of-nowhere Montana if they asked you, pay for the gas yourself, and thank them when you got there.  
    
    Silverton Mountain is a truly a different, exhilarating, intimidating and most importantly, unforgettable experience.  According to Skyler Holgate, one of Silverton Mountain's guides, who's a guy who can be found guiding/ shredding the gnar from Silverton to Bariloche to Alaska, the best thing about Silverton Mountain is that with tons of terrain available, and only about 80 people a day there is never a threat, or crazy powder rush like you get at any other ski area.  You can just chill and enjoy the day and shred fresh lines alllll day.  On a side note, check out the Bonnie Belle cabin (www.bonniebellecabin.com).  It is the only backcountry cabin in CO or in the lower 48 that offers private heli skiing/ shuttles into the cabin, located at 12,000 feet above sea level in Picayune Gulch, overlooking the Animas River headwaters and the historic ghost town of Animas Forks.  It's 15 miles outside of the town of Silverton, and is owned by Skyler, mentioned above.  You can ride some of the San Juan's sweetest mountains with the best guides in the business! 
    
    Just book it, then you have to go.
    
    Written by Shane Santana and Ben Koelker
    Photo by Ben Koelker

    Book Silverton Mountain Discount Lift Tickets and Silverton Mountain Ski Deals Online

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• Shit Jobs Part 6: Miniskirt-ed Shit Jobs Part 6: Miniskirt-ed Cocktail Waitress

  • From: brigidmander
  • Description:

    This series attempts to profile some of the best and worst shit jobs in a ski town. Don’t get us wrong, in no way do we intend to bash professions like these, they are a means to an end, the axis upon which our mountain lives spin. Without jobs like these, how would you ski over 100 days a season and still be employed?
    
    
    
    It sounds wrong, and it more or less is, according to the current, accepted norms of our society.
    
    “You can wear whatever you want, as long as it is a skirt. A short one.” The manager states this, and then gauges your reaction. You might look around, fairly unenthused, as a potential co-worker - with a tiny circle of fabric passing as a skirt - ferries a tray of beer past you. Yes, when the manager of a job tells you this, you should probably run away, unless you are pursuing a career path unrelated to skiing. 
    
    But, in this case, it is already December, this place is somehow still hiring, and you just moved to this mountain town for one and only one reason: ski all the time. And this job, cocktail waitress at a busy base-area apres-ski spot, starts at 3:00 p.m.
    
    Sure, you may have tried to be more upstanding. But everything good (i.e, night) is gone, and the local paper has options like: barista (serving coffee on powder mornings? Hahahaha!), hotel concierge (calmly assisting guests on powder mornings? I really don’t think so), retail clerk (standing forlornly among trinkets/tee shirts on powder morning? Sorry. Can’t. Do. That.), or babysitting (watch tiny non-verbal people at hotel while parents ski? No.). These are all the very definition of blowing it. Even if starvation is a concern, keep your eye on the ball: no day jobs. 
    
    So while the short skirts rule may seem wrong, all you can think about is the start time and base area location. What’s the big deal, really? You might get a little cranky for a minute thinking of your guy ski friends and their cool, night ski-tech, beer-drinking, no skirt wearing jobs, but you find yourself wondering if you still have that really cute little plaid skirt.  And that little black V-neck? And there it is: This is the only remotely acceptable schedule for skiing, and priorities are priorities. No commuting, very little ski day disruption? Ciao, standards! Miniskirt it is! 
    
    There are some interesting scenes to be immediately discovered on both the patron and co-worker sides. You may learn that only some of your co-workers view this as the only way to get an amazing ski schedule and pay bills. A few of the other waitresses will always take the cocktailing, mini-skirting scene rather seriously. They will look at the helmet-haired crew disapprovingly, but no one will care (we skied pow all day!). If the others skied, they’ve gone home on time, showered, curled hair, and some, you come to find out, have little trick like stuff their bras.  (According to some sources, it can get your five extra dollars a table. This skier did not test that one out. The line really did have to be drawn somewhere.)
    
    What I did test is that you can come skiing up to the door with five minutes to spare, run to the locker room, strip to ski socks (yes, unknowing drunk guys will totally see these as sexy knee socks!), tight ski shirt (a deep zip necks work well, actually) throw on said cute mini-skirt, madly fluff helmet hair, grab a little makeup, and clock in. Woo! I made about $150 on average an afternoon this way. Would it have been $200 if I went home and showered and curled my hair? Who cares! For another hour and half or so of skiing every day, $150 works great!
    
    Of course, you will also learn the finer points of serving hundreds of beers in an afternoon to hundreds of drunk guys who think they are all pros or are on ‘boy’s trips’ from fill-in-the-blank city. They may point out your abundantly visible quads (thanks, mini-skirt) say, “Woah, looks you ski a lot!” You might be tempted to say something sarcastic, but better yet is to just act all enthused about how rad their ski trip must be:  ‘Oh yeah, whatever, but what did you guys ski today?! You don’t have to listen to them because you’ve already brought them six pitchers and they have no idea what is going on now, or earlier in the day.  “We were over at, uh, what was it, hey Jeff, what was the name of that lift we skied today?”  “Oh yes, that lift is cool. I am sure you guys skied some amazing blues –er, super rad lines.”
    
    You will be asked to do a lot of shots, because every group you wait on will have decided that the boy’s trip actually sucks without girls. They will want to flirt with you, even though you are clearly in the weeds, have spilled beer on yourself, are possibly on the verge of tears, and have nine other tables of drunk guys who all want you to hang out at their table and do shots with them. The trick, if you want to oblige –  and you probably should, as people get stoked and leave bigger tips when they think they’re expanding the party - is to have the bartenders, who are always on your side, give you something non-alcoholic.
    
    Skirt and leering guys or not, the bottom line is that you ski all day, and since apres peters out around 6 or 7, you get to go home early, so you can be up early. Sure, it at least four hours of rushing drinks through extremely maniacal, chaotic celebrating, and you feel like you’ve run a very confused marathon everyday.  But when you stuff the skirt back in the locker, pocket your cash, and leave the feeling of being a stereotype hustling beers at the bar and head home, things don’t look so bad anymore.  Because it’s dumping outside, and you don’t have to be back at work until three.
    
    Chase waterfalls this spring, women's clothing is on sale at Backcountry.com
    
    Read Shit Jobs Part 5: Beginner Ski Instructor
    
    Read Shit Jobs Part 4: Waiter

    Read Shit Jobs Part 3: Unemployment Collecting Seasonal Worker

    Read Shit Jobs Part 2: Ski Tech

    Read Shit Jobs Part 1: Line Cook

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• 5 Tips On Staying Less Gross T 5 Tips On Staying Less Gross This Winter

  • From: brodyleven
  • Description:

    
    You’re probably a ski bum and absolutely disgusting. But I can’t blame you — there isn’t enough time after a “day of skiing” (8 runs and an afternoon of après) to do laundry and do nothing. After you remember how to brush your teeth and shower, follow this ski-specific hygiene regimen for deeper powder and more attractive significant others.
    
    
    
    1.    Launder your outerwear. This isn’t 1987 and the waterproofing isn’t going to wash off your snowpants after one washing. Outerwear manufacturers recommend cleaning your gear, because rail paint and parking lot mud render your jacket non-breathable, your pants non-waterproof, and you a complete gaper. I like the O’Neill Jones 3L Jacket because it’s breathable, 20k waterproof, and its stretchy 100% recycled fabric doesn’t mind being washed.
    
    
    
    2.    Wear clean socks. They keep your feet from sweating and your boots from smelling. Surprising to some, cold feet are often the result of sweat that has chilled and frozen your toes. One reason for sweaty feet is non-breathing socks, frequently caused by an accumulation of sweat and dirt. Fresh socks keep your feet warmer and your boots odorless. Some skiers like to spray their feet with aerosol deodorant to minimize foot sweat for the day. Other skiers use it as mouthwash, which is highly discouraged. I like the thin, merino wool-blend of Smartwool’s PhD Ski Light socks because they combine the odor-combating properties of merino (see #5 below) with ski-specific comfort and breathability.
    
    
    
    
    3.    Wash your hands. When you look up and see “Employees must wash hands before returning to work,” consider yourself a professional skier. You’ve eaten your lunch of crackers and now it’s time to head back to work on the mountain, so wash your hands and save your gloves from odor-born death. Any smell on your hands will be magnified and retained by the liner of your gloves, which is contagious through on-snow high-fives. I like the removable, wash-friendly fleece liners in the Arc’teryx Vertical SV gloves.
    
    
    
    4.    Clean your equipment. Keep your bootsoles free of pebbles, wipe the preseason mud off your topsheets, and pick the hair from inside of your beanie. Pop your lenses out when cleaning and always store goggles in the bag. Combined, minor things make a major difference in keeping your ski life simple and fresh. The glaring disadvantage to this is a decrease in excuses for not having stomped that landing.
    
    
    
    5.    Merino wool. We’re skiers, not laundromats. This fabric allows us to wear the same (unwashed) long underwear for multiple days and still have a girlfriend/boyfriend/roommate. In a market saturated with technology-ridden StayDryPolyNoH20 fabrics, the natural merino wool used in many fine base layers is nature’s gift to the ski bum. While it wicks moisture just like other proprietary materials, merino’s fundamental benefit lies in its ability to renounce odors after repeated uses. This matters unless you do laundry daily and actually live in a house and not your van. I like Terramar’s Thermawool 2.0 Crew base layer because it fits perfectly, is long enough to tuck into your bottoms, and doesn’t get smelly. Because when traveling, there isn’t always space for five base layers and all of your gizmo chargers.
    
    Congratulations, you can now scrape the snow from your old Subaru with your nose comfortably nestled in the collar of your jacket. And this time, you won’t even have to hold your breath.

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• Carving Through History With C Carving Through History With Chuck Barfoot Part One: The Old Days

  • From: jakedesroches
  • Description:

    

    With each year that passes, the opportunity for seeing, meeting, and speaking with a snowboarding legend diminishes. The passing of Tom Sims last September is a stark reminder of this. The ranks of the original riders, the guys who took what we would consider simple wooden or fiberglass planks to the snow, are fading fast. On Friday February 1st at the SIA Snow Show, I was fortunate enough to come across one of the original riders. I was lucky enough to meet Chuck Barfoot.
    
    After speaking to Chuck and his board-building partner Ernie Delost, I was nearly at a loss of words. I had never met a stranger who had lived through so much snowboarding history, let alone helped to create it. I knew I needed to learn more about this man. Before he parted to meet with old friends on the snow show floor, I asked if he would be willing to do a brief interview with me the next day.
     
    Being simply a down to earth guy, he agreed to come back the next morning and speak with me for fifteen minutes. This fifteen-minute meeting turned into a thirteen-minute interview plus another twenty minutes of great conversation, just talking, laughing, and enjoying the snow show vibe.
    
    Chuck Barfoot is a humble, inspiring, and truly good man. We should be thankful he loves snowboarding so much, because without him we might still be riding wooden boards with black grip tape and skyhooks for bindings (ok, it probably wouldn’t be that bad).
    
    This is Chuck’s story.
    
    The Old Days
    
    Chuck Barfoot started surfing in Beach Haven, New Jersey in 1961. Nine years later, in 1970, he moved to Santa Barbara, California and was living with Tom Sims. Chuck was well positioned to help craft the snowboarding industry that we know today, but he didn’t know it.
    
    It was 1977; he was working for Tom Sims, building prototypes and doing research and development on the classic skateboards and surfboards that Sims produced. At this point, he had never even touched his feet on a board and placed that board on the snow. He was a surfer and a skater. He had no idea how much his life would change.
    
    One day, Tom Sims approached Barfoot with a project Bob Webber and Tom had worked on. According to Barfoot, it was a “yellow plastic ski board with a skateboard deck on it.” It had black grip tape, and skyhooks for the riders’ feet. The board worked, but it had some problems.
    
    The grip tape would pack with snow, and the skyhooks were permanently mounted regular or goofy. There was no switching the skyhooks from regular to goofy, or vice versa. At the time, these snowboards were a rare thing (the word “snowboard” wasn’t even used yet). If you had a board, you wanted to share it with all your friends. With the skyhooks mounted only in one direction, if your friend was regular and you were goofy one of you was simply out of luck.
    
    Tom Sims approached Barfoot with the crude snowboard device and said, “What can we do to fix these problems?” Barfoot gave the board a quick look up and down and replied, “Well first, get rid of the black grip tape.” He replaced the standard black tape with a sheet of clear plastic grip tape, and then sprayed the board with a coat of silicon to help relieve the skate deck from packing with snow. Thinking about how to fix the skyhook problem, Barfoot took rubber bungee cord and bolted it to the top of the skate deck, running from tip to tail. Instead of having a set mounted position, a regular-footed rider could now stand on it, set his feet underneath the bungee, ride down a hill, and then hand the deck over to his goofy-footed friend.
    
    Snowboarding could now be shared.
    Sims knew Barfoot was onto something. Shortly after this, Sims approached Barfoot again and asked, “How about building me a fiberglass prototype of a board I built like in 1963?“ Always the tinkerer, Barfoot began working on what he described as, “a little four foot bullet with a v-bottom.”
    
    At this point, it was 1978 and Chuck Barfoot had still never ridden a snowboard, a snurfer, or even one of those plastic ski boards. Barfoot finished his fiberglass copy and knew he could do better. He took the board back to Tom Sims and immediately said; “I can build something way better.”
    
    Sims told Barfoot to go for it, and go for it Barfoot did. He wanted to craft a board that would let surfers and skaters like him carve through snow just like they were surfing or skating.
    Barfoot began designing his first snowboard in his head; “The idea was like putting two skis together, with camber and channels.” The channels ran along the sidecut of the board, allowing loose snow to flow (at this point, boards were only made for riding powder). He started by building a mold, “a solid rectangular fiberglass shape, with camber, v-shape, nose and tail lift, and sidecut.” After the mold was complete, Barfoot built his first snowboard.
    
    It was time for him and Bob Webber to begin the nearly thousand-mile journey from the Southern California Coast to entry three between the Snowbird and Alta ski resorts. At the time, entry three was a series of switchbacks winding up the mountain. He had no idea that his life was about to change forever.
    
    We aren’t all lucky enough to first experience snowboarding riding in 18 inches of champagne Utah powder on Christmas day, but lucky for us, Barfoot was.
    
    “I remember taking off, taking my very first toe and heel turns, 15 yard beautiful carves all the way down the freaking mountain.” Chuck reminisced. He wore a red, white, and blue jersey, and after getting to the bottom he grabbed his board, held it high above his head, and screamed. “YEAHHH!”
    
    Chuck Barfoot and Bob Webber weren’t the only ones enjoying a miraculous Christmas. By some stroke of luck, fate, or both, they spotted another rider, sporting a snurfer-like board with a rope on the nose, coming down the mountain. It ended up being Jeff Grell’s older brother, Jay (Jeff was one of the designers of the highback binding).
    
    Barfoot was amazed. “We were like ‘Oh my god!’ So we snowboarded together all day long.” The three pioneers enjoyed a day of powder, laughter, and camaraderie that truly created history. To this day, riders across the world unknowingly seek to emulate those three young men as they search for that perfect day of freedom, riding, and friendship.
    
    Barfoot continued to work for Sims for the next several years. But that day was the real beginning of Barfoot Boards. His mind and more importantly his heart were in it. He worked hard, building one of a kind snowboards. Each new board was a little bit different from the last, a little lighter, just a bit more flex, a new shape.
    
    “I did about fifteen different models until I had boards that worked, really-really well.” He described his motivation for building boards. “It was basically just to surf snow.”
    With such a simple goal in mind, Chuck lovingly built boards for Sims until the 1980 – 1981 season, when he left Sims Snowboards and founded Barfoot Boards. He continued to build individually crafted snowboards and skateboards for the next twenty odd years. Until, around the 2003 – 2004 season, his company had grown too large. It was out of control and unfocused. It became such a problem, that he decided to stop producing snowboards (he continued to craft surf-style longboard skateboards under the Barfoot brand).
    
    Chuck didn’t sound happy as he said this. “Things were being done for not the right reasons. It was more about money and all that stuff.” Chuck was fed up with the corporatism that had invaded his, and so many other good companies.
    
    “My philosophy has always been, build something really good, that works. Take care of someone and they'll be back, and your company will grow and the money will come with that. And that's not the corporate world. And I am so far away from the corporate world.”
    
    Fast-forward ten years, and lucky for us, those same snowboard corporations, the mass media, and most importantly, the internet, created a huge market for snowboarding. The market was so big, that people wanted something smaller, something personal. People began demanding a product made just for them.
    “The internet got so many people getting ahold of me saying, ‘You need to be building boards again. My fifteen year old Barfoot is at the end of its road, I need a new board.’ So my old partner, Ernie Delost, him and I got back together again. So him and I, we are hand building the boards in his factory.
    
    We design them together. We hand build them in house, and that’s just what I love doing. So that’s why I'm building boards again. It’s for the right reasons.” As Chuck said this, the grin on his face widened to remind me of a child’s first visit to a toy store, his mind hungry for the possibility of building even greater adventures.
    
    What really amazed me about my meeting with Chuck Barfoot was his willingness to become my friend after just speaking a few words with me. I never once caught a rude tone come out of his mouth, and it was hard to catch him without a smile. The word that kept coming up was “personable.” With his business, Chuck wanted to, and still wants to create a personal connection with every single one of his customers (and many more lucky people, like me). He was also very humble. It never once seemed like he was boasting, or trying to make what he did out for more than it was. Long after our interview was over, and just before we said our goodbyes, Chuck Barfoot left me with one last history lesson.
    
    “All credit really goes to Dimitrije Milovich, Winterstick founder. He was the one that set the right direction. P-tex base, sidecut, steel edges, swallowtails — it was straight up surfing on powder-no rope attached.”
    
    Remember to check back later this week for part two, “Barfoot is Back,” a sneak peek at the new Barfoot Boards.
    
    Save big on 2012-2013 Snowboards when you buy online through Dogfunk.com, while giving back to TGR

  • Blog post
  • 3 months ago
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• Floating In Fieberbrunn With S Floating In Fieberbrunn With Sage Cattabriga-Alosa

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

    Sage Cattabriga-Alosa gets ready to drop into deep Austrian snow. Photo by Dutch Simpson.
    
    “Oh man! Hehe, I got a Fieber brew'n!”
    
    Excitement was thick in the air after our first run, filled with insanely deep snow.
    
    We had arrived just hours before in the dark of night to Fieberbrunn, Austria, after a wrong turn led us up a snow-covered single-lane road. Once the realization hit that things were not right the crew, Tim Durtchi, Colter Hinchcliff, Dylan Hood, photographer Mark Fisher, cinematographers Dustin Handly, Athan Merick, the TGR production crew, and I, found that one of our vans was basically stuck.  The van was not stuck so much as it was ****ed, as it was overloaded, filled with bags on the inside, five ski bags on the roof, and equipped with non-snow tires and without chains.
    
    The steep, single-lane snow-packed road was slick, and the van became a toboggan. We literally inched the van back down the mountain in a full skid, using the crew as anchors dragging along each side, and back, keeping the van from gaining too much momentum and ending up in a creek, ditch or snow bank. The drive, which should have taken about an hour and a half, took almost seven.
    
    That was all behind us now, nearly forgotten, washed away with, as nearly all the crew described, the deepest snow that they had ever skied.  Our start to the day was a little slow, but as we made our way up the series of pod gondolas, the first glimpses of terrain revealed steep trees covered in a visibly thick blanket of snow. As soon as we clicked in and made or first turns, verbal excitement erupted in a chain reaction as one by one we dipped into the waist deep snow. Excitement was high, and we were eager to get right to work, capitalizing on the amazing snow, and capturing the phenomenon of really, really deep snow. Immediately we began identifying shoot-able lanes of powder and pillows that inspired us to break out the cameras, line up zones and embark on the blind ride that would start as soon as you began skiing.
    
    This storm was unique to our trip in Austria, it had snowed almost three feet in just over 24 hours, and was sitting on a soft base creating a bottomless, blower, layer of snow that covered the mountain. Skiing already feels like flying, and when conditions are like this, you are flying in slow motion, hovering down the mountain, suspended by a million feathery crystals, where the flying only ends when the fall line stops.
    
    We continued through the day stepping out small takeoffs, floating off pillows and linking turn after turn of blinding fun. The entire crew was glowing, in awe of the experience, and grateful to have made it to this powder paradise.
    
    Sage busts a cork 3 into bottomless pow at Fieberbrunn. Photo by Dutch Simpson.
    
    Charging 50 cm of snow. Photo by Dustin Handley.
    
    Deep, deep snow. Photo by Dustin Handley.
    
    Sage gets pitted. Photo by Dustin Handley.
    
    So pitted. Photo by Dustin Handley.
    
    Yes, yes it was deep. Photo by Dustin Handley.
    
    Field goal. Photo by Dustin Handley.

  • Blog post
  • 3 months ago
  • Views: 208
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• Flying With Sage In Fieberbruu Flying With Sage In Fieberbruun

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

    Sage Cattabriga-Alosa gets ready to drop into deep Austrian snow. Photo by Dutch Simpson.
    
    “Oh man! Hehe, I got a Fieber brew'n!” 
    
    Excitement was thick in the air after our first run, filled with insanely deep snow.
    
    We had arrived just hours before in the dark of night to Fieberbrunn, Austria, after a wrong turn led us up a snow-covered single-lane road. Once the realization hit that things were not right the crew, Tim Durtchi, Colter Hinchcliff, Dylan Hood, photographer Mark Fisher, cinematographers Dustin Handly, Athan Merick, the TGR production crew, and I, found that one of our vans was basically stuck.  The van was not stuck so much as it was ****ed, as it was overloaded, filled with bags on the inside, five ski bags on the roof, and equipped with non-snow tires and without chains.
    
    The steep, single-lane snow-packed road was slick, and the van became a toboggan. We literally inched the van back down the mountain in a full skid, using the crew as anchors dragging along each side, and back, keeping the van from gaining too much momentum and ending up in a creek, ditch or snow bank. The drive, which should have taken about an hour and a half, took almost seven.
    
    That was all behind us now, nearly forgotten, washed away with, as nearly all the crew described, the deepest snow that they had ever skied.  Our start to the day was a little slow, but as we made our way up the series of pod gondolas, the first glimpses of terrain revealed steep trees covered in a visibly thick blanket of snow. As soon as we clicked in and made or first turns, verbal excitement erupted in a chain reaction as one by one we dipped into the waist deep snow. Excitement was high, and we were eager to get right to work, capitalizing on the amazing snow, and capturing the phenomenon of really, really deep snow. Immediately we began identifying shoot-able lanes of powder and pillows that inspired us to break out the cameras, line up zones and embark on the blind ride that would start as soon as you began skiing.
    
    This storm was unique to our trip in Austria, it had snowed almost three feet in just over 24 hours, and was sitting on a soft base creating a bottomless, blower, layer of snow that covered the mountain. Skiing already feels like flying, and when conditions are like this, you are flying in slow motion, hovering down the mountain, suspended by a million feathery crystals, where the flying only ends when the fall line stops. 
    
    We continued through the day stepping out small takeoffs, floating off pillows and linking turn after turn of blinding fun. The entire crew was glowing, in awe of the experience, and grateful to have made it to this powder paradise.

    Sage busts a cork 3 into bottomless pow at Fieberbrunn. Photo by Dutch Simpson.

    Charging 50 cm of snow. Photo by Dustin Handley.

    Deep, deep snow. Photo by Dustin Handley.

    Sage gets pitted. Photo by Dustin Handley.

    So pitted. Photo by Dustin Handley.

    Yes, yes it was deep. Photo by Dustin Handley.

    Field goal. Photo by Dustin Handley.

  • Blog post
  • 3 months ago
  • Views: 85
  • Not yet rated

• Flying In Fieberbruun With Sag Flying In Fieberbruun With Sage

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

    Sage Cattabriga-Alosa gets ready to drop into deep Austrian snow. Photo by Dutch Simpson.
    
    Words by Sage Cattabriga-Alosa
    Photos by Dutch Simpson and Dustin Handley
    
    "Oh man! Hehe, I got a Fieber brew'n!"
    
    Excitement was thick in the air after our first run, filled with insanely deep snow.
    
    We had arrived just hours before in the dark of night to Fieberbrunn, Austria, after a wrong turn led us up a snow-covered single-lane road. Once the realization hit that things were not right the crew, Tim Durtchi, Colter Hinchcliff, Dylan Hood, photographer Mark Fisher, cinematographers Dustin Handly, Athan Merick, the TGR production crew, and I, found that one of our vans was basically stuck.  The van was not stuck so much as it was ****ed, as it was overloaded, filled with bags on the inside, five ski bags on the roof, and equipped with non-snow tires and without chains.
    
    The steep, single-lane snow-packed road was slick, and the van became a toboggan. We literally inched the van back down the mountain in a full skid, using the crew as anchors dragging along each side, and back, keeping the van from gaining too much momentum and ending up in a creek, ditch or snow bank. The drive, which should have taken about an hour and a half, took almost seven.
    
    That was all behind us now, nearly forgotten, washed away with, as nearly all the crew described, the deepest snow that they had ever skied.  Our start to the day was a little slow, but as we made our way up the series of pod gondolas, the first glimpses of terrain revealed steep trees covered in a visibly thick blanket of snow. As soon as we clicked in and made or first turns, verbal excitement erupted in a chain reaction as one by one we dipped into the waist deep snow. Excitement was high, and we were eager to get right to work, capitalizing on the amazing snow, and capturing the phenomenon of really, really deep snow. Immediately we began identifying shoot-able lanes of powder and pillows that inspired us to break out the cameras, line up zones and embark on the blind ride that would start as soon as you began skiing.
    
    This storm was unique to our trip in Austria, it had snowed almost three feet in just over 24 hours, and was sitting on a soft base creating a bottomless, blower, layer of snow that covered the mountain. Skiing already feels like flying, and when conditions are like this, you are flying in slow motion, hovering down the mountain, suspended by a million feathery crystals, where the flying only ends when the fall line stops. 
    
    We continued through the day stepping out small takeoffs, floating off pillows and linking turn after turn of blinding fun. The entire crew was glowing, in awe of the experience, and grateful to have made it to this powder paradise.

    Sage busts a cork 3 into bottomless pow at Fieberbrunn. Photo by Dutch Simpson.
    
    Charging 50 cm of snow. Photo by Dustin Handley.
    
    Deep, deep snow. Photo by Dustin Handley.
    
    Sage gets pitted. Photo by Dustin Handley.
    
    So pitted. Photo by Dustin Handley.
    
    Yes, yes it was deep. Photo by Dustin Handley.
    
    Field goal huck. Photo by Dustin Handley.

  • Blog post
  • 3 months ago
  • Views: 130
  • Not yet rated

• Flying In Fieberbruun With Sag Flying In Fieberbruun With Sage Cattabriga-Alosa

  • From: TetonGravityResearch
  • Description:

    Sage Cattabriga-Alosa gets ready to drop into deep Austrian snow. Photo by Dutch Simpson.
    
    Words by Sage Cattabriga-Alosa
    Photos by Dutch Simpson and Dustin Handley
    
    "Oh man! Hehe, I got a Fieber brew'n!"
    
    Excitement was thick in the air after our first run, filled with insanely deep snow.
    
    We had arrived just hours before in the dark of night to Fieberbrunn, Austria, after a wrong turn led us up a snow-covered single-lane road. Once the realization hit that things were not right the crew, Tim Durtchi, Colter Hinchcliff, Dylan Hood, photographer Mark Fisher, cinematographers Dustin Handly, Athan Merick, the TGR production crew, and I, found that one of our vans was basically stuck.  The van was not stuck so much as it was ****ed, as it was overloaded, filled with bags on the inside, five ski bags on the roof, and equipped with non-snow tires and without chains.
    
    The steep, single-lane snow-packed road was slick, and the van became a toboggan. We literally inched the van back down the mountain in a full skid, using the crew as anchors dragging along each side, and back, keeping the van from gaining too much momentum and ending up in a creek, ditch or snow bank. The drive, which should have taken about an hour and a half, took almost seven.
    
    That was all behind us now, nearly forgotten, washed away with, as nearly all the crew described, the deepest snow that they had ever skied.  Our start to the day was a little slow, but as we made our way up the series of pod gondolas, the first glimpses of terrain revealed steep trees covered in a visibly thick blanket of snow. As soon as we clicked in and made or first turns, verbal excitement erupted in a chain reaction as one by one we dipped into the waist deep snow. Excitement was high, and we were eager to get right to work, capitalizing on the amazing snow, and capturing the phenomenon of really, really deep snow. Immediately we began identifying shoot-able lanes of powder and pillows that inspired us to break out the cameras, line up zones and embark on the blind ride that would start as soon as you began skiing.
    
    This storm was unique to our trip in Austria, it had snowed almost three feet in just over 24 hours, and was sitting on a soft base creating a bottomless, blower, layer of snow that covered the mountain. Skiing already feels like flying, and when conditions are like this, you are flying in slow motion, hovering down the mountain, suspended by a million feathery crystals, where the flying only ends when the fall line stops. 
    
    We continued through the day stepping out small takeoffs, floating off pillows and linking turn after turn of blinding fun. The entire crew was glowing, in awe of the experience, and grateful to have made it to this powder paradise.

    Sage busts a cork 3 into bottomless pow at Fieberbrunn. Photo by Dutch Simpson.
    
    Charging 50 cm of snow. Photo by Dustin Handley.
    
    Deep, deep snow. Photo by Dustin Handley.
    
    Sage gets pitted. Photo by Dustin Handley.
    
    So pitted. Photo by Dustin Handley.
    
    Yes, yes it was deep. Photo by Dustin Handley.
    
    Field goal huck. Photo by Dustin Handley.
    
    Want to huck like Sage and the crew?  Get the right gear from Backcountry.com
    

  • Blog post
  • 3 months ago
  • Views: 78
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