RE:Session- TGR’s New Trailer

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Better than a cup of coffee.

logoCheck out the trailer HERE- http://www.tetongravity.com/videos/Re-Session-Trailer-722717.htm

The award winning producers at Teton Gravity Research (TGR) present their newest 16mm and HD film, Re: Session. This project takes viewers beyond the traditional ski and snowboard movie into a revolutionary realm of action sports entertainment. Shot on both film and RED ONE high definition camera technology, Re: Session documents the true wealth of the mountain experience. Follow the crew as they score in one of Alagna, Italy’s deepest seasons on record. Check out forbidden powder in Poland, massive wedges in Colorado, new gap jumps in Utah, and seven weeks of epic riding conditions in Alaska. Re: Session brings the most talented athletes in the sport together into one must-see film. The all-star roster includes TGR regulars Sage Cattabriga-Alosa, Seth Morrison, Jeremy Jones, Kye Petersen, Ian McIntosh, Dana Flahr, Dylan Hood, Erik Roner, Wiley Miller, and Dash Longe rounded out with the fresh faces of Tanner Hall, Sammy Carlson and Callum Pettit.

Shot on location in: Jackson Hole WY, Alagna Italy, Last Frontier Heli-Skiing, Poland, Slovakia, Haines AK, North Cascade Heli-Skiing, Colorado, Stevens Pass WA, Utah, Montana, and Pemberton B.C.

Posted in: Skiing, Videos

Independence Pass Ski Outlook

\ Leave a Comment \ by

For those of you still jonesing to ski, Indpendence Pass certainly offers some of the most accessible backcountry terrain in the state. We were up there on our bikes yesterday and this is what we found (click photos to enlarge):

Notice the BIG wet slab.

Notice the BIG wet slab slide.

IMG_1427

IMG_1432

IMG_1444
IMG_1429
If you want to beat the crowds, get on your bike and get up there before Thursday. Or, you can call Sari and see if she’ll give you a ride in the Chariot. Or, embrace the party and join Lou Dawson up on the pass for his annual Memorial Day BBQ.

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

Only 196 Days

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Yes, we now it is spring, but here in the Rockies we are still harvesting spring corn snow and with a bit of luck nailing creamy powder up high. All this is great especially if you want to sneak in a mountain bike ride in the afternoon.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.817517&w=425&h=350&fv=]

That said, we are throwing this video of new BD Ski athlete Callum Pettit out there – because, well, it’s inspiring and it’s only about 196 days until ski season starts up again.

That is if you aren’t still skiing right now.

Posted in: Skiing, Uncategorized, Videos

The Social behind the Media

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Sitting down for our Monday morning huddle it quickly became apparent that there is a ton of authentic “social” behind our media. Before diving into best practices and this months emerging trends in SM, we shared a shakedown of the weekend’s activities.

Bday girl Lori Spence and Kaya the Wonder dog play in the powder

Bday girl Lori Spence and Kaya the Wonder dog play in the powder

JLD, Mavis, Greg, Kara, Jess and Penn all skied deep pow in Highlands Bowl Saturday. JLD and Penn skied again Sunday, while the others opted for cycling. Meanwhile Jess D and Dax hit Winter Park and Teton Pass respectively. Nate got knackered fly fishing (a rarity) and Sue had a successful turkey shoot. Angus was coaching and competing in climbing comps and Lindsay juggled track meets and coaching the next generation of soccer stars.

Sue and her friend Tom

Sue and her friend Tom

What about Sarah? She is sunning in Barbados.

As for the meeting this morning? Good progress lots to do and a few good links on how to use and NOT use twitter.

Posted in: Backbone Adventures, Colorado, Fishing, Hunting, Skiing

Sweetgrass On Location: Hokkaido, Japan

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Our friends at Sweetgrass Productions have been in Hokkaido, Japan this season working on a new film for September release, although those of you in the RFV will get to see a special cut of the film at the 5Point Film Festival in May. Black Diamond athletes Nick Devore, Jacqui Edgerly and Will Cardamone spent Februrary with the Sweetgrass gang skiing and filming up a storm.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KHd7i2bMRA&eurl=http://sweetgrassproductions.wordpress.com/&feature=player_embedded]

Posted in: Skiing, Videos

Trains, Trams and T-Bars

\ Leave a Comment \ by

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

\ Leave a Comment \ by

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

\ 1 Comment \ by

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

Rust Never Sleeps

\ Leave a Comment \ by

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