Trains, Trams and T-Bars

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Location – Reichenbach and Davos, Switzerland

Team North America – Howie, Schnitz, Ogle, Adam, and 2mas.

Team Europe – Thomas, Davos Dan, Erlend, Audun and Juju.

Thomas Hodel ripping it

Thomas Hodel ripping it

Goal – We have come to Switzerland to make good Freeride, visit Fritschi, Black Diamond Europe, ski and have editors talk about skis, boots, bindings, trends and how the markets differ globally.

Highlights: Day 1 – Tour of the Fritschi factory with Stefan Burki and Stefan Ibach. Introduction of the new Diamir Eagle AT Binding. Touring on BD Voodoo and Guru skis with the new Diamir Eagle to the summit of the Gehrihorn. Trad fondue dinner.

Reflections at Fritschi: Tracks and the Gehrihorn

Reflections at Fritschi: Tracks and the Gehrihorn

The New Fritschi Diamir Eagle

The New Fritschi Diamir Eagle

Day 2 – Train to Davos. Ski off piste pow on new BD Megawatt and Justice skis in Pischa. We make good Freeride yah!

Day 3 – More ski testing on Rinerhorn and Jakobshorn. Davos Dan educates us to an emerging Freeride dialect that is similar to Swiss German. “Dude, he dry docked it and went Peggy Fleming-ing.” We witness the new school Howie-hawk and visit the legendary Wallhalla Telemark Freeride Bar.

Tram up Jaakobshorn

Tram up Jaakobshorn

Day 4 – A bit snowy and flat light for the absinthe-minded. We hit Parsenn on the all-mountain BD Zealot, Verdict and Kilowatt skis. Also visit the SLF – the Davos based Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research.

Tee-ing it up in Parsenne

Tee-ing it up in Parsenne

Day 5 – Visit Black Diamond Europe and talk trends with Christian Jaeggi. Be very wary of the Baseler Festival.

The Baseler - a century old Swiss tradition

The Baseler - a century old Swiss tradition

All travel by public transport – complements to Michelle Krantz at Swiss Board of Tourism. Thanks to Cloudveil and POC and all for their hard work and planning.

Oh yeah, it was nothing like this at all….

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceyQnYMP2EY]

Posted in: Musings, Skiing, Trip Reports, Uncategorized \ Tagged:

Gelande Quaffing World Championships

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gelande_470Yesterday afternoon, at the base of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, in the dumping snow, just outside the tiny apres bar called the Village Cafe, the second annual Gelande Quaffing World Championships were held at the apt hour of 4:20.

Sponsored by Cloudveil, and the staff of Powder Magazine, and proudly BYOB’d by Big Sky Brewing Company, the event paired man. vs. man, wig vs. wig, robe vs. one piece, beer for beer in a bracket-style beer tossing competition that showcased skills only sharpened with months of backyard training sessions.

Here’s a little history on the sport.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n1d1ViBd2Q&hl=en&fs=1]

Here’s a wrapup of last year’s competition
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRrak3lZQx8&hl=en&fs=1]

This year, in an almost fated and much deserved win, the Jackson Hole Ski Patrol took home the trophy. A bit older, a bit wiser, and a bit more quaffed, the JHSP team took home the championship with a lit firecracker hanging out of their winning mug.
Click on the link to go to Steve Casimiro’s blog, The Adventure Life, for all the photos from this year’s championship.

Posted in: Interesting Read, Musings, Skiing, Videos

Reality Revival

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140x1051 As a twenty-something woman, I cannot help but notice the stellar reality programming that is aimed at my demographic on prime-time channels lately. The Bachelor, The Hills, that one with the celebrity addicts, and isn’t there still the show with Flava Flave trying to find love? I do kinda of like that midget family though, they seem fun. Anway, most reality tv is painful. What’s a girl to do when I decide to hang out at home and relax in front of the tube? Well, I found the answer. Its one part TGR Ski Porn, one part Jackass revival, a splash of Dukes of Hazzard, a twist of Evil Knievel, topped off with some good old fashioned eye candy (note attached photo) . Its called NITRO CIRCUS.

MTV’s new adrenaline-pumping stunt stars motocross and rally car superstar Travis Pastrana. His motley crew is made up of BASE jumper and Jackson local and Erik Roner, Scott Palmer of Jackass fame is Pastrana’s skydiving guru, and Jolene Van Vugt is the sole female who can hold her own on a bike among this crew.

Not to mention Streetbike Tommy Passamonte, Pastrana’s buddy, who is a construction worker with no extreme sports skill whatsoever but the added comic relief to make this show a hit. There are a few other cast members but whatever….

They base jump out of casinos, they hang from helis, they do backflips on tricycles. Its so much better than the Hills, I promise you.

The show is the perfect stop-gap solution when its too late to take another bcountry lap, and its too early to head to the bar.

Want a sneak peak? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwLhhierkKE&hl=en&fs=1]

Posted in: Biking, Climbing, Musings, Skiing, Videos

Is the Media Really Dying?

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My Twitter feed is full of bad news from @themediaisdying, @mediabistro and @woodenhorsepub of publications that are laying of staff and completely shutting down. The latest title that got the axe: ForbesLife MountainTime, which employed a few of our media friends. But at the same time we’re seeing growth from small publishers: Height of Land Publications (Backcountry, Telemark Skier) just bought and is re-launching the Alpinist; and Summit Publishing just launched a Colorado edition as part of its regional tabloid family called Elevation Outdoors.  While I may mourn the loss of Domino, and JANE and Budget Living before it, there are new titles popping up, and hearty stand-bys that fill the space where the defunct left off. (ReadyMade, GOOD and Real Simple seem to have a permanent residence on my desk.)

This is not a new trend – every year hundreds of magazines start and hundreds close. In Feb of 2008, Jason Fell wrote on Foliomag.com that the “Print magazine should no longer be the heart and soul of a brand. Instead, publishers should think of their brand as an online media company with ancillary print and event products.”  Great to expand online presence, but I am a magazine lover – I love the pages, the pictures, and frankly, I get sick of staring a computer screen all day and don’t want to read my favorite rag on it. I have binders full of ripped out pages of recipes, home projects, gardening tips, fashion advice, travel ideas, really anything that sounds interesting.

So hold on you titles that might have a cranky publisher – expand your horizons and expand the brand, but please, don’t leave!

Posted in: Musings \ Tagged: , ,

Rust Never Sleeps

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Checking in with Backbone for the past weekend and coming week.

JLD wrapped the Aspen/Snowmass FAM – shout out to Roger T, Chris C, Grace B, Vicky and Rico. Lindsay B toured at the Eiseman.

Little Nell chef Ryan Hardy's meat curing locker

Vicky Lowry in Little Nell chef Ryan Hardy's meat curing locker

Ian sled necked and built a giant snowman while his wife Sari raced in the COSMIC. Jess S skinned Garrett; Jess D skied 3 in MT – Moonlight, Bridger and Big Sky. Nate wrangled kids and skied alpine, while GW parented and skied (Nordic). Penn rallied to Telluride for a kids slalom races and visited the ER.

Ian getting in touch with his motorhead

Ian getting in touch with his inner motorhead

Sarah attended Greg Epstein’s Annual extreme sledding party with Dax neither leaving in the ambulance that arrived. Sue skied and trained her German short haired pointer, Kara skied and did NOTHING. Mavis slid fun boxes on pins.

So, how does that differ from work?

Let’s see…this week, Nate is meeting Dax in Denver for total immersion, Ian and Greg are off to Boulder and Fort Collins on a social media tear, Jess is at Copper for on snow testing and Penn is in NYC for 1% event.

Rust never sleeps.

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Interesting Read, Musings, Skiing, Uncategorized

Happy Halloween

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It started innocently enough – a bowl of candy and Sue in a Witch outfit. Then Mavis wanted to borrow my West Highland Terrier, Skadi, to be Toto as an accessory to her Dorothy outfit.

Just another day at the office

Just another day at the office

Next thing you know JLD is in a baby blue POC speed suit, with a Julia custom helmet and BD Megawatt skis. Things have settled down now that JLD aka Eddie the Eagle has quit his practice jumps off the sofa.

JLD hard at work

JLD hard at work

Back to work at Backbone – Happy Halloween.

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Musings, Skiing \ Tagged: , ,

Purveyor of all Things Stupid

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My Monday morning started off right when the new GQ with Megan Fox landed on my desk with the mail. I didn’t think it could get much better but then I opened a manila envelope from Steve Casimiro, addressed to a “fellow purveyor of all things ridiculous.” The envelope included a couple of choice bumper stickers from The Adventure Life that tell it like it is.

I used to have a strict ‘no bumper sticker policy’ on my truck but now I’m proudly displaying my stupidity to the world.

Posted in: Musings \ Tagged: ,

The Sound of Music

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Lets get one thing straight… I am not a politician, nor am I am musician or anything else that ends with “ician”. I have been teaching kids percussion lessons in my free time. Also, I’ve been watching the Democratic National Convention this week, as many people have been doing and there are a few things I have picked up.

First, let me say that Backbone has no political affiliation as a group, and my comments and rants are in no way backed by the staff of Backbone or supported by the company as a whole.

Firstly, the convention is a funny little mix of quasi-televangelistic pep rally energy, the timing and scheduling of an old MTV movie awards show, with a side dish of good old American “everyman” stories thrown in for good measure. For all intents and purposes, its a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll.

As many of you may have noticed, this year the convention there are far fewer live music performances than in years past and instead, some elevator band plays ridiculously ironic background music as the speakers enter and exit the stage. If you haven’t noticed, don’t worry, I have catalogued them for you.

-Ted Kennedy made a valiant appearance to “You’re Still the One”.
-Michelle Obama ended her rousing speech to “Isn’t She Lovely”
-Hilary Clinton made a crowd-rocking exit to a Big Head Todd tune with the chorus of “Yes she can change the world, she stands and she won’t back down.” Poignant
-John Kerry started things off last night with an instrumental “Anyway You Want It” by Journey, which I love because I love Journey but the relevance to Kerry was lost on me.
Former President Bill Clinton came on stage to endless applause and the tune- “Yesterday’s Gone” which I might have laughed so hard about that I sprouted a little tear.
And finally last night, Obama’s newly appointed running mate Joe Biden left stage to “Ain’t That America.” Which also makes no sense to me.

I am dying to see what Obama walks into the stadium to tonight, and of course I have a few guesses.

Eye of the Tiger
You’re the Best Around- circa Karate Kid
I Feel Good- James Brown
What’s Goin On- Marvin Gaye
If I Could Change the World- Clapton
Or my personal favorite Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Marvin and Tammy.
Personally I’m pushing for a little Kanye West- Faster, Stronger

More importantly I think I am eager to see what type of soundtrack the GOP has planned for their convention.My guess would be a little Sinatra, maybe some Tony Bennett or perhaps the Beach Boys. Something perfectly out of touch with today’s youth but at the same time classic and conservative.

In watching the convention I have also come up with a few songs that I think could play in case I ever run for President. Of course that would be President of my family room or perhaps the back yard but I digress…
“I Wish I Was a Little Bit Taller” by Skee-Lo
“Hubbtown Girl”- Springsteen (I know its Uptown Girl but my last name is Hubbard so let me dream)
“The Joker” Steve Miller Band
“Highway to the Danger Zone”- Kenny Loggins
“Ain’t to Proud to Beg”- The Temptations
And my personal choice “Takin Care of Business”. Nothing says ELECT ME like a little BTO.

See ya at the polls.. I’ll be the one with the boom box on my shoulder playing “The Final Countdown”.

Posted in: Musings