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Outdoor Exploration Ambassador Outdoor Exploration Ambassador The North Face

From: TetonGravityResearch
Description:

A victim of severe poverty since birth, Ryan Hudson grew up living in and out of homeless shelters. At age 14 Ryan was introduced to snowboarding through Outdoor Outreach, a non-profit organization dedicated to using outdoor activities to empower at risk youth, and his life took a 180. Now competing as a semi pro athlete and serving as a brand ambassador for The North Face, Ryan's story shares just how transformational the outdoors can be.

Produced by The North Face, Camp 4 Collective, and Snowbird Mountain Resort.

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3 weeks ago
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snowbird pond skim snowbird pond skim

From: slaagmaster
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3 weeks ago
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Utah's Growing Season Utah's Growing Season

From: TetonGravityResearch
Description:

Words: Erme Catino

Photos: Joe Johnson

Sun is shining, the weather is sweet. Make you want to move your dancing feet.

The April sun has already begun blooming flowers in the Salt Lake Valley. Spring, the perennial fight between winter and summer has been entrenched in weather warfare.

To the rescue, here I am.

The blooming flowers in my backyard were making me nervous, a few damp powder laps worsened this knot in my stomach. Winter, I knew you weren’t done. The growing season this April hasn’t been the tulips in the valley. No, they are stunted. This April the growing has been the snow-stake at Alta.

Want you to know, y'all, where I stand.

A-top an untouched powder run. My mind races before I drop. Are these the last few face shots of the season? A few days go by, more powder pillaged, some deeper some thinner; a little wind rebuffs everything as folks down the valley are still trying to decipher what’s going on.

Tell myself a new day is rising.

Another storm is on the horizon. Boots shuffle around the parking lot at Alta ski area. Echoes of avalanche control work bounce off the walls of Little Cottonwood Canyon—what is today’s date, I’ve lost count, a friend reminds me, and I was a week off. Who cares? We hear the backside is about to pop.

Get on the rise a new day is dawning.

Late spring is notorious for thinning crowds, so Alta closes for 4 days, reopening for the final few weekends. LCC and the Wasatch continue to deliver, the snowpack growing larger as ski-resorts across the state are shutting down. A few powder laps at Snowbird, and some glorious touring on stable conditions. It’s beginning to feel like mid-winter and the lines are filled as if it is.

When the morning gathers the rainbow. Want you to know I'm a rainbow too.

The event has taken hold of skiers who have continued shredding. We feel engulfed in the weather and snow, our legs tired from going almost two weeks straight. Forecasts call for another storm; it’s downgraded, and then scaled up. Catching wind of this possibility, and recent daily dosing of pow, a friend arrives in town. It goes nuclear, storming all night and day. A classic Alta storm-day goes down, complete with high fives and powder caked smiles, truck pick-ups from Keyhole laps, deep runs in Eagles Nest, and it’s almost May!

So, to the rescue here I am.

April, the spring weather battle has shown winter triumphant. The snowpack has grown to its deepest of the season—perhaps some snow will arrive in May. Only time will tell, but for now we’ll bask in it and toast to the sun and snow gods. Sun is shining, the weather is sweet…
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2 months ago
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Roner Vision: Little Oskar's F Roner Vision: Little Oskar's First Ski Base Jump

From: TetonGravityResearch
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Erik Roner ventures to Utah and takes his toddler BASE Jumping.
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2 months ago
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News: The Mountain Collective News: The Mountain Collective Adds Three New Partners For 2013-2014 Ski Season

From: TetonGravityResearch
Description:

The Mountain Collective has added three premier independent ski resorts in North America to its roster of iconic destinations for the 2013-2014 winter season. Mammoth Mountain, Snowbird and Whistler Blackcomb join Alta, Aspen/Snowmass, Jackson Hole and Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows in this unprecedented collaboration of resorts.

Starting today, a limited number of Mountain Collective passes are on sale at last year’s price. For only $349 USD, The Mountain Collective Pass includes two days of skiing or riding at each of the six destinations (AltaSnowbird, Aspen/Snowmass, Jackson Hole, Mammoth Mountain, Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows and Whistler Blackcomb), plus a 50 percent discount on all additional days with no blackout dates.

In addition, passholders will receive exclusive lodging deals throughout the season. Collectively this pass grants access to 12 mountains with more than 30,000 acres of terrain, 186 lifts and an unmatched reputation for snow quality, quantity and steeps. Passes are available online through an exclusive technology, distribution and marketing partnership with Liftopia.com A limited quantity of passes is now available at this lowest guaranteed price.

“The Mountain Collective successfully captured the imagination of mountain travel enthusiasts looking for variety, flexibility and affordable access to the best independent resorts in the world,” said Christian Knapp, vice president of marketing, Aspen Skiing Company. “Adding these three world-class mountains makes this the ultimate dream pass, and only serves to enhance the value skiers and riders will enjoy from The Mountain Collective.”

The Mountain Collective Pass is available for children (ages 12 and under), under the same terms for just $229. The partnership will also offer a 50 percent discount on lift tickets to premier pass holders at the participating resorts.

Order your Mountain Collective Pass at Liftopia.com for only $349
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3 months ago
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OUTTA BOUNDZ Episode 4 - 4FRNT OUTTA BOUNDZ Episode 4 - 4FRNT Skis

From: 4frntskis
Description:

Watch as 4FRNT athletes Nick Greener and Thayne Rich toss the dart for the final installment of the OUTTA BOUNDZ series. Weather and conditions made for a change of plans, but that didn't slow the boys down one bit.

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3 months ago
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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
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4 months ago
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Touring - Tech Talk - 4FRNT Sk Touring - Tech Talk - 4FRNT Skis

From: 4frntskis
Description:

Uncertain about your knowledge of the backcountry? Follow along as 2 lead patrollers from Snowbird take you through the necessary steps to having a successful tour.

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4 months ago
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Interview: Hayden Price's Alta Interview: Hayden Price's Alta Life

From: brodyleven
Description:

Hayden Price crushing in Alta. Photo by Adam Clark.

Skiing around Alta with Hayden Price is like riding with the best skier you know, your best friend, and the best tour guide ever. Except he’s the guide skiing up to a cliff zone, throwing a huge 180 into pow, and only waiting for you because he wants to watch and give you a high five. You don't actually ski with Hayden at Alta as much as you follow him, graciously. The 26-year-old has had an Alta season pass for 24 seasons. He has a distinct style on skis—seemingly disinterested with passing trends, though invariably on the cutting edge. Hayden was the first skier I remember really watching—like, taking notes and emulating—when I moved to SLC seven years ago. He can't ski Alta without people following him, and you'd be intimidated by that fact if he weren’t the happiest, mellowest, and friendliest icon on the mountain. Everyone knows him and he knows the mountain from behind a set of powder-surfing eyes like none other. He's that popular local shredder at your little hometown hill…except he’s that guy at freaking Alta.

BRODY: Hey dude. Where are you and what's been happening?

HAYDEN: Hey Brody! I have been enjoying a better snow year here in Utah’s Wasatch mountains and am currently packing up my gear to head to Canada on a film trip.

BRODY: Where did you grow up? How often did you ski?

HAYDEN: I grew up at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. I skied mainly on the weekends.

BRODY: Although you were frequently at Alta, your home was actually down Little Cottonwood Canyon’s Highway 210, in Salt Lake City. What differentiates you from a skier who has grown up living right in the Town of Alta?

HAYDEN: Growing up in Salt Lake City was a true blessing. I had the oasis of Alta only a stone’s throw away and yet grew up in a metropolitan city. I believe this kept me open to the diversity that may not otherwise be found if I grew up in the bubble that is Alta. Seriously, it is a different world up there, and you feel it the moment you arrive. SLC has a great music, art, and food scene that I really enjoy. Variety is the spice of life.

BRODY: Speaking of variety, please describe your ski style and what influences it.

HAYDEN: My style is a cornucopia. I spent years dedicated to the idea that I if I can ski it forward, I should be able to ski it backward. As that motivation evolved, I looked to other sports for inspiration because I felt skiing was a little dried up. I saw the way other action sports were using their apparatuses and wanted to emulate the moves they were doing on my skis. Skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing and mountain biking had a lot to offer my thirst for different skiing. Growing up at Alta, surrounded by loads of “classic” skiers, I strived to differentiate myself from the masses. I skied a whole season of resort riding without poles in hopes of cultivating a unique relationship with my edges and the way my skis flexed. Watching all the possibilities a skater has for doing tricks, I felt there must be more I can do on my skis. I am currently focused on butters, presses, scrapes and strange transitions. If there is snow, I’ll slide on it and find something that makes it interesting to me.

BRODY: You ski huge cliffs, backcountry tours, park, natural jumps, and super deep pow. People don't understand what kind of equipment you use for such an array of pursuits. Do you have an arsenal of gear, or what? What is one piece of gear you couldn't live without?

Hayden Price dropping into a line. Photo by Brody Leven.

HAYDEN: I definitely have an arsenal. Skiing is so particular now that I choose my skis specifically for what I’m doing that day. I have a lightweight tech binding setup for long tours and soul pow turns, and multiple sidecountry setups consisting of Marker Dukes or Alpine Trekkers for hitting jumps and drops out of the resort. My inbounds bindings are Rossignol FKS. All of my skis are 110mm under foot or wider, and all have some type of rocker technology. I couldn’t live without my Full Tilt boots.

BRODY: Surface employed your snow-snorkel expertise in designing a new ski. Please explain.

HAYDEN: The Lab001. I look to other sports for inspiration not only for ski sliding techniques but also for the technologies they are using. The new Lab ski has a front-to-back “3 stage rocker” as well as “Deep Dish” technology. This idea comes from our desire to have a really surfy powder ski that has a catch-free feeling. The “Deep Dish” is a left-to-right convexity on the base of the skis. Essentially, the ski is base-high by a few centimeters. This really allows the ski to be tossed around at will and opens up the world of trickery in powder snow.

BRODY: Do you film with anyone? Where can people see and follow you (besides as fast as they can at Alta)?

HAYDEN: I filmed with Sweetgrass Productions last year in Nelson, BC. This season I have been focused on working with local [Little Cottonwood Canyon] boys, Dubsatch Collective. We have a great season lined up with some really fun ideas. Stay tuned, as webisodes are dropping frequently on dubsatch.com

BRODY: Why Alta?

HAYDEN: It is the birthplace of powder skiing. The quality and quantity of powder that falls at the end of Little Cottonwood Canyon is unmatched worldwide. You can’t beat the access, the people, and the terrain. Alta and the surrounding areas are pure magic!

BRODY: Your skillset is not only strong but also uniquely diverse, how did it develop?

HAYDEN: I watched my home hill heroes, like Sage, and wanted to do what they were doing while adding my own flavor to the mix. [As a teenager,] I would ride Chip’s Run at Snowbird with all of my snowboard homies, copying the style of tricks they were doing off the cat tracks and gaps. I ran a terrain park at Alta with my friend Jordan for a few years. We always pushed each other to do more creative tricks and to be able to do them in many ways and on different terrain. I am really into climbing and mountaineering, too. Combine the jib aspects and long distance pursuits for fresh snow and you get me, HP.

BRODY: Who do you love to ski with? Do you like everyone following you?

HAYDEN: I love to ski with friends and family. Skiing with any of the Dubsatch crew is always great and I don’t mind anyone following us around. Join in on the fun!
Regardless of whether he grew up in the Town of Alta or twenty minutes down the road, Hayden is most at home on that mountain. His skillset reaches from one end of skiing’s spectrum to the other while being one of those skiers who you recognize through unique skiing style, not through his outerwear or the bottom half of his face in the liftline. Since that season seven years ago, when I first realized how capable he was in the mountains, I’ve watched Hayden’s mentorships and friendships develop within the Little Cottonwood Canyon ski community. Not only does everyone know HP, but they only have compliments to offer. Forthcoming video parts will finally expose HP to the world, showcasing his talents as not a park skier, backcountry skier or Alta skier, but as a mountain skier.

Hayden Price on cover of Backcountry Magazine.

Want to ski like Hayden, book your next Alta ski vacation online through http://mountainreservations.com
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5 months ago
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News: 104" of New Snow at Snow News: 104" of New Snow at Snowbird Breaks 40+ Year Average for the Month of December!

From: TetonGravityResearch
Description:

Planning a trip to Snowbird this winter, better bring your fat skis and big pow surfing boards as the Bird received a whopping 104” of Utah’s famous champagne powder during the month of December. Temperatures have remained cold and the skiing is all time right now. Snowbird is home to legendary waist-deep Wasatch powder and world-class terrain, and with all this snow the resort broke a 40 year average for the month of December. Can you say lake effect?

Our latest update from Snowbird a few days ago mentioned “It was an interesting powder day at Snowbird Ski Resort, with many employees leaving their houses with 24” on the ground, arriving at Snowbird to find about a foot at the base of the resort, and about 6” at Hidden Peak this morning. The current total is about 15,” and more snow is in the forecast.”

Save 25% OFF Snowbird single day lift tickets – Snowbird Lift Ticket Sale
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5 months ago
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Snowbird Snowbird

From: TetonGravityResearch
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Snowbird Photo Mike Schirf - Athlete Claire Abbe
5 months ago
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TGR Annual Safety Meeting - Al TGR Annual Safety Meeting - Almost Live Season 5 Episode 1

From: TetonGravityResearch
Description:

In season 5 episode 1 of Teton Gravity Research's web series Almost Live the TGR crew kicks their season off with the 5th annual International Pro Riders Workshop at Snowbird Mountain Resort. More than an avalanche safety class, this course goes over first aid and high-angle rescue scenarios that are vital to know when performing at a high level in the mountains. IPRW also serves as a team building environment for all TGR athletes to get on the same page before heading out into the field to film the new 2012-'13 ski and snowboard movie.

Teton Gravity Research’s Almost Live series takes you around the globe with the TGR production team and athletes. Get an inside look at what goes into first descents, building and hitting massive backcountry jumps, traveling throughout the most exotic locales on the planet, and the lives of the world's top riders. Almost Live plants you on location with the TGR crew. You will be able to track the crew’s progress throughout the season, and watch the drama unfold.

Watch More Almost Live Episodes

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Music courtesy Jeff Cormack and Play Plus Record www.playplusrecord.com

Additional music:

Artist: Greg V
Song: Mist And Fangs 1
www.gregvmusic.com

Artist: Kevin MacLeod
Song: The Whip Theme (Extended Version)
www.incompetech.com
6 months ago
Views: 58

TGR Safety Meeting: Internatio TGR Safety Meeting: International Pro Riders Workshop At Snowbird

From: brodyleven
Description:

Craig Gordon of the Utah Avalanche Center speaks during Teton Gravity Research's International Pro Riders Workshop at Snowbird. The class brings together the TGR roster of ski and snowboard athletes to go over safety protocols before the filming season gets underway.

— Photos and words by Brody Leven

His broken rib may or may not have punctured his lung, causing veteran TGR athlete, Sage Cattabriga-Alosa, to scream in agony. Hovering over him, my partner and I stare blankly for a moment, trying to recall the proper medical procedures that we learned two hours before. I hear screaming from the patients scattered across the bowl. Sage stutters his breaths, reminding us to reevaluate his vital signs. When I finally remember to put my hand up the back of his shirt to check for spinal fractures, our patient remains frighteningly in character. The three-time Powder Awards Rider of the Year pretends to wince as I touch a central vertebrate, cueing an inquiry into pertinent past injuries and, ultimately, saving his life.

The Teton Gravity Research International Pro Riders Workshop (IPRW), held at Snowbird on December 4-6, brought together 35 of the world’s best skiers, snowboarders, and cinematographers.

“As a high-profile company in consequential situations, we consider the influence we have and how important it is to be safe and to set a good example,” TGR co-founder Steve Jones said.

“In a real mountain scenario, you improvise to handle all of the variables you didn’t think of in the classroom,” Sage said. “Until you’re practicing in the field, you don’t realize the implications of the challenges you’ll encounter.”

Sage Cattabriga-alosa acts as a 'victim' during a training scenario at the International Pro Riders Workshop at Snowbird.

The clinic, featuring wilderness first aid, snow safety, and rope work, exists in contrast to recent press about the carelessness and risk in professional freesking. Risk assessment and management was the week’s theme. Craig Gordon of the Utah Avalanche Center finished an avalanche presentation saying how it was “great to be associated with all of the awesome talent and professionalism in this room.” That statement rang true throughout the class, proving once again that TGR’s focus on efficiency and safety is paramount to the success of its films.

Denali lead medic and IPRW instructor Dave Weber emphasized practicality throughout the clinic.

“This crew is at the upper echelon of skiing and riding,” Weber said, “and what is expected of them would be daunting for anyone without such extensive skills. Their professionalism sets them apart in how much information they can process. These skills are perishable, and we’re here to refresh them. We tailor this training to what they see in their unique work environment.”

Angel Collinson, TGR co-founder Steve Jones, and TGR"s Brian Wulf, Dan Gibeau, Pete O'Brien and Dustin Handley learn knots at IPRW at Snowbird.

Todd Ligare agrees with Weber’s teaching approach.

“If this course was being taught to the general public, it would be done under the assumption that they always have the right tools,” Ligare said. “But to keep it real, they teach us to improvise with what we have. Building the makeshift rescue sled was a perfect example of that.”

So, what does a film crew and its athletes discuss during the first meeting of the year?

“Sluff management, radio communications, helicopter protocol, summer fun, and winter plans,” TGR supervising producer and IPRW organizer Greg Epstein said. “We put the athletes and filmers back into the training grounds. Everybody is taking it seriously and doing a good job, probably because they’re working with their winter crews. Bringing the team together is equally important as the skills they’re learning.”

Not all participants are snow science geeks, though. When former TGR lead guide, Jim “Sarge” Conway, asked Tim Durtschi if he’d ever dug a snowpit, Tim casually replied, “I’ve dug jumps?”

This self-proclaimed novice went on to prove his sarcasm, earning the week’s fastest time of 1:41 in the mandatory finding of two buried avalanche beacons in under three minutes.

Tim Durtschi and John Collinson dig snowpits at IPRW at snowbird.

“If you take longer than three minutes, you fail. You don’t fail the class; you fail at knowing you can find two of your buried friends in three minutes,” TGR lead guide, Kent Scheler, said in the first five minutes of the first day. “When we help each other in training, we can help each other in the real situation. And if everybody is on the same page, it’s amazing how quickly it comes together.”

Catering to athletes across the TGR spectrum, IPRW bequeathed different nuggets of knowledge to each attendee. The “Deeper, Further, Higher” crew of TGR snowboarders found medical-specific class details particularly pertinent.

“The first aid mock scenarios were most relevant,” Forrest Shearer said. “Learning to be medically self-sufficient is important when we’re stuck in the field for days following an injury.”

Dash Longe ties a make-shift sling to TGR co-founder Todd Jones during first-aid training at IPRW.

Simultaneously, 14-year-old Daniel Tisi’s focus is far from glacier camps on other continents.

“I film with TGR in Jackson. This class is like going to school with all of your idols. No one cares how old I am because I need to learn this stuff, too,” Tisi said.

Comparing the clinic to his 8th-grade classroom, Tisi, the youngest athlete on the TGR roster said, “I have notes on every single thing they’ve said so far.”

John Collinson practices searching for multiple burials during avalanche training at IPRW.

Tim Durtschi explains why IPRW is germane to his skiing, “Jump landings in the backcountry are 35-45 degrees — the perfect avalanche pitch — and often lead into terrain traps. We come down hard on the snowpack, and we want to avoid digging pits in, ski cutting on, or otherwise damaging a pristine landing. If you’re jumping into a pitch you haven’t yet skied, you want to be as confident as you can that it won’t slide.”

Each year, the reputable clinic has built on previous sessions.

“The curriculum is a lot different than last year. Way more stuff outdoors and hands-on. The review of last year’s Wilderness First Aid certification is great,” Dash Longe said, who has attended IPRW four times. “You’re only as safe as the people you’re out with. If you’re more advanced than your other dudes and you get hurt, you’re the one that gets hosed. It’s good to know your crew has a similar training background.”

Daron Rahlves chimes in: “If something does happen, I know I’m in good hands.”

Rappelling from lift towers at IPRW at Snowbird.

The author of this post, Brody Leven, gets "rescued."

Early morning classroom sessions led to packed training days in Snowbird’s closed Mineral Basin. Between rappelling from lift towers and rigging crevasse rescue pulleys, the participants reveled in the scenery and absorbed knowledge, sitting far above the clouds over Salt Lake City.

Kent Scheler’s closing words said it best: “You guys are super dialed and ready for the season now. Let’s make it a good, happy, and healthy one.”

Angel Collinson, Sage Cattabriga-alosa, Jill Garreffi and John Collinson on the tram at Snowbird.
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