Up here in Revelstoke, BC, the Freeskiing World Tour (FWT) competition has ended and athletes are making their way down to the US for the next stop. The 2010 inaugural event here in Revy saw everything from blue skies and sun to blistering wind and snow. But, the organizers saw to it that it went off in style, and the finals were spectacular.

The much anticipated helicopter ride for the athletes to the top of the final day venue took off just as planned, and with a bit of a weather delay the athletes had a big task ahead of them. When the skies cleared enough and the fog lifted, everything went into full comp mode and the ladies started charging down the steep hill. Rocks, cliffs, chutes and big moves in hang time kept the crowd charged up as athletes delivered line upon mindfreakin’ line.

Notables of the day went to Jacqui Edgerly with her fast fluid style arcing turns down highly exposed terrain and finding the sweet air at the bottom. Julien Lopez hit his bottom air at 110km an hour and flew a million feet straight out into the stratosphere, landing close to 18m back on the snow below.

Winning runs were turned in like clockwork by Jess McMillan over the course of the weekend, with the Jackson local claiming her trophy like the true professional she is. What a great presence to have on the FWT! The ladies are definitely amping up the game, and spectators were left wondering who was who on those burly lines up in Revelstoke’s MacKenzie face.

The real treat for me this week was in watching fellow POC athlete Arne Backstrom put down some solid, consistently impressive skiing on the way to the top of the podium. He came out of the gate strong and sent it hard down terrifying terrain, all while carving turns through rocky cliffs and landing in greasy turns on each air. The game is on, and Arne has set the bar for the 2010 FWT.

Justin brought out the camera in the rare bits of sunshine during this last week, and we’ll be dropping an edit soon. It’s been storming up a bit around here in Revy, and we met up with the Trew Crew in their bright blue and purple bus to get some pow turns and check out their rippin’ athletes tearing it up. Chuck Mumford, Mike McCabe, Will Dujardin, Colter Hinchliffe, Sonja Lercher, and Craig Garbiel definitely turned some heads while flipping, spinning, slashing and laughing all around Revy’s lengthy terrain. The trewth has been spread.

With a few more days in Revy ahead, and a sweet drive up and over Roger’s Pass to Kicking Horse, a ski bum can only wonder what lay on the road to Golden…??

What a trip!

It’s been a full two days since I received the best call of my life.  I was sitting at an early dinner in Irvine, CA with my mom.  She was planning on coming to the Warren Miller ‘Dynasty’ show we were playing on the UC campus, and we met up ahead of time to hang out and grub down at a café just across the walking bridge from the theater.  We ordered some turkey/avocado/chorizo sandwiches with side salads, and took our time to chat up a storm about all sorts of topics.

Soon, a website will be launching that is unlike any that has preceded it in the history of outdoor gear sales. Backcountry.com’s new offering, Department of Goods , will be an invite-only style of closeout inventory sales.  The best part:  one in ten orders will be completely comped, meaning you won’t even have to pay for the gear you put in your cart!

Sweetgrass Productions: Signatures

I had the opportunity to catch the most recent release by Sweetgrass Productions in Carbondale a couple of nights ago.  Dos Gringos (my favorite burrito place in C-dale!) offered up their fine establishment to accommodate the over 80 people that showed up to watch some pow riding delight.

Now, I should mention that I have been aware of this project since its early filming this past winter.  Many of my close friends and skiing buddies made the trek out to Japan, where the producers/filmers posted up for over 7 months.  That being said, I was excited to see the action my friends got into while in the land of the rising sun.

Luckily, good news came just hours before I set off with my girlfriend in tow to catch the show, as reports of ‘Signatures’ winning the Best Cinematography award at this year’s IF3 ski film festival in Montreal came in across the intraweb.  Facebook , the TGR boards , and Twitter were all abuzz about this beautifully shot film and its unique approach to winter riding.

Lest the film disappoint, I was already stoked on my ‘Spud Luv’ potato filled burrito, but no worries.  ‘Signatures’ opened in classic Sweetgrass style with a cool narration reflecting on seasonal change and shots of rivers, ocean, and snow falling.  If you are a powder fan, then this is the film of the year for you; there are more slash turns and pillow drops than a bag of marshmallows.

The segment that really caught my attention and will keep me coming back is the night shots.  I have seen night skiing/riding in action sports films before, but these guys really know how to keep your eyes dancing across the screen.  The creative editing allowed each skier’s slash or drop to intermix like a choreographed dance.  Awesome, just plain awesome.  You’ll have to see it to really understand what I’m trying to get at here.

In summary, if you’ve been feeling a little burnt out on the regular ski flick offerings each year, check this film out.  It’s not an MSP, or TGR, or even Level 1 for that matter…but that is exactly what sets it apart and makes it stand out.  And if the judges at IF3 aren’t good enough for ya, just trust this ski bum, I even snaked a poster of theirs to hang in my van for some added stoke.

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Wow, in the wake of this past ski season, I have found myself hitting a wall, both emotionally and physically.  With a doctor’s diagnosis of fractured humeral heads in both of my shoulders and a fractured right scapula, I finally have an understanding of all the pain I had dealt with throughout the season.  Not to mention the torn labrum (a part of the AC joint muscle-tendon group in the shoulder) in my left shoulder that I must have sustained through the impact and eventual dislocation during the ‘Jib theTatsVan’ session back in January.  I haven’t had the motivation to keep up with stories on this site, mainly because I haven’t been doing much.  Needless to say, the X-rays, MRIs and doctor’s diagnosis have helped me get my head around all of these injuries, and I’m now trying to get back in shape for rafting this summer.

And though there is no excuse for my tardiness in updating this website, I make no apologies from taking time off from the Internet.  I know some of my close friends and acquaintances have been jibbing me for all the mobile-uploads on Facebook and my fervor for Twitter updates, so I decided to give myself some time away from it all.  But now, I find myself clearing up my mind, ever more intent on keeping this blog up-to-date.

In the interest of introducing you, the reader, back into the life of a ski bum, I have compiled a list of Twitter feeds for you to check out:

Freeskier Magazine’s ’100 People to follow on Twitter’ – Yours truly is included in the list of skiers!

Tecnica/Blizzard – My ski and boot sponsor
Backcountry.com – Follow BC.com and catch up on all the latest sales
Julian Carr – My good friend and entrepreneur extraordinaire
Cody Townsend – This guy rips.  And sleeps on couches too.  Sweet.
Henrik Lampert – My fellow Freeskier Fest ski tester – always good with funny quips!
Dave Amirault – Digi Dave is the brains behind the whole Freeskier Online
Jonny Atencio – Backcountry.com’s Athlete Wrangler and my longtime sponsor
Keith Carlsen – Former editor of Powder Magazine and current big mountain comp photographer

To wrap it up, I’ll give you a little idea of what I’ll be doing over the next few weeks to a month from now.  Soon, Jamie and I will be driving to Sun Valley to celebrate my dad’s 67th birthday.  I can’t wait to go home and see the old valley for a short while.  On the 26th, my dad will be giving a presentation at the Ketchum Library on my grandfather’s film ‘Topaz’ about the Japanese-American internment during WWII; it’ll be good to get back in touch with my JA side.

Jamie and I will return to Aspen by the end of May, when I hope to begin working for Blazing Adventures once again as a professional, commercial bus driver and (crossing fingers!) raft guide.  By June 10th, I’ll be hitting the road with the Challenge Aspen race team on the way to Mt. Hood, Oregon to help coach a two-week race camp and some summertime skiing.  Big thanks to Jonathan Mika and Kevin Jardine for the hookup on that one!  Read more about Challenge Aspen here

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