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SKI TOWN GUYS
It's not always easy being female in a ski town. Sure, in theory we have it made: The proportion of single men to women tilts way in our favor-getting a date should be like shooting fish in a barrel.
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Check the revolution. The world premiere of the Rocky Mountain Sherpas’ 16mm avalanche education film will take place in Whistler on September 25th
Indeed, a stacked crowd of about 2,000 winter fans sat and stood to see the world premiere of Matchstick Productions latest offering with their 2008-09 film "Claim" last night in the Telus Conference Center in Whistler Village.
Sammy Carlson called the other day to notify us of his new video campaign, so we decided to conduct a brief audio interview in conjunction with the first-ever "I'm Sammy Carlson and I have really, really, really long hair" video.
While he hasn’t been wearing his U.S. Ski Team uniform for long, aerialist Dylan Ferguson isn’t wasting any time trying to flip straight to the top. The 19-year-old Massachusetts native began skiing competitively 11 years ago at Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, under the watchful eye of freestyle coach, Nick Preston. While Dylan admits that he was terrified of aerials as a 10-year-old, he seems to have outgrown his fear and is making his presence known as a talented young gun on the U.S. Aerials Team.
Ever wondered how you gain access to the aerial ramps at the Utah Olympic Park splash pool--one of two aerial pools in the country, the other being at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York? To gain access to a training area with five jumps and three trampolines and some of the best coaching staff from the West, isn't as easy as paying to play. Because of the obvious dangers, athletes have to be signed up through a coaching program.
In the age of high fuel prices and horrid air travel, it’s rare to hear of excitement originating from the beleaguered airline industry. But on July 14th, Mammoth Mountain, California, announced it will begin offering direct flights from Los Angeles on December 18th.
With spring temperatures and fresh snow into June and for those willing to slog a little further, summer is merely an option in the Sawtooths. While most of the Custer County population was content drinking PBRs on the lake, we had our eyes set on the remaining snow in the Chockstone Couloir at the northwest end of Redfish Lake.
With each coming season, a new crop of upstart independent ski companies emerges. A few make it for the long haul—namely, Armada and 4FRNT, while others are quick to burn out. One company debuting this year is Folsom Custom Skis. Based out of Boulder, Colorado, Folsom offers handmade skis with input directly from the consumer. Folsom is going public after spending the last four years developing and testing their skis.
A native of Washington State, 27-year-old Jason Thompson skied for the first time at age 12 and when he moved to Bozeman, Montana, for college, he traded in soccer cleats for ski boots. With the help of the Hans Saari Memorial Fund, Thompson and his ski pals, Seth Waterfall and Tyler Jones, traveled beyond the mountains of Montana to explore relatively unknown ski terrain.
Jossi Wells was having the season of his life. At just 17-years-old, the Wanaka, New Zealand native eased into this season earning a silver medal in Slopestyle at the Winter X Games.
On Sunday, April 20, Aspen local Ted Mahon became the third person to climb and ski all 54 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks. The 35-year-old Mahon joins Lou Dawson and Chris Davenport as the only documented people to have climbed and skied from all 54 peaks, an elite club of ski mountaineers to say the least.
Last week, K2 Skis and Snowboards more or less “rented” Baker for three days. They invited 300-plus shop employees from 13 countries along with pros from K2 Skis and Snowboards.
Crystal-Rose claims she’s never won a trophy of any kind ever in her life. Guess if you’re going to pick up your first, it might was well say “World Champion” on it.
The worst fears were realized at an athlete meeting held at the Sitzmark at 7:00 pm Alaska Standard Time. John Nicoletta, a professional skier out of Aspen, Colorado, is dead at 27.
Ever wonder what a cork 7 off a 50-foot cliff looks like live in person? Or speculate how much preparation and time it takes to properly navigate through massive pillows with blind rollovers?
What can I say about St. Moritz that the front desk at the hotel didn’t already: We don’t belong here. Tall, proud, well-manicured with a shorn head, and proper, he looks down at the address on the crumpled and folded sheet of paper in my hands and says simply, “This place is not in St. Moritz. You know that, right?”
Avalanches and capricious clouds aside, we have been skiing deep, smoky pow in late March at Selkirk Wilderness Skiing. The Helly Hansen crew comprised of the Canadian trio—Mark Abma, Eric Hjorleifson, and James Heim—is up here playing around in front of the MSP cameras for the week.
This is a story about skiing in Switzerland, but before we can get there, I need to tell you about the Slalom Bar. We were told the Slalom Bar is a good place. It is not. It is a fun place. A great place to take photos. And to do a shot. When there are more people, it is probably an amazing place to party. But I see nothing good coming from this den of evil in the shadow of the Rothorn.
How do you characterize the best run of your life? And what if it occurs in Alaska, with a helicopter as your mode of transport, on a 3,000-foot couloir filled with the immaculate powder, with good friends, under beautiful blue skies, surrounded by peaks that should exist only your dreams?
Ah the Swiss. Switzerland! A beautiful place full of beautiful people. Polite to a fault are the Swiss. Much like the Mormons, but less nosey. Far less. The Swiss have built a reputation of staying out of people’s business. War? Conflict? They want none of it.