
You may or may not have heard of the old TatsVan. She was a trusty wagon, fit for hauling adventurers of any capacity. Her time was spent on the open road, in search of nasty road conditions, with which she proved her mettle time and time again. The dings and dents, scratches and rust – she always took a beating with such grace – nothing could mask her innate ability to make friends and keep her seats filled with travelers of the ski and raft bum kind.
Well, it’s been a few days since this year’s Telluride Freeskiing Open finished up and crowned new champions for the 2008 season. Griffin Post and Hannah Whitney each threw down a series of runs throughout the two-day event to solidify their spots at the top of the podium.
The big news of the weekend came out of Aspen, which Frankie and Pauldo (the gracious announcers) dubbed the “Ripper Factory” for all the talent that has recently been coming out of the woodwork. John Nicoletta and Adam Moszynski came in 2nd and 5th, respectively; it’s great to know that the people I get a chance to ski with on a regular basis can rip so hard AND do it when the pressure of a competition is on. So proud of you guys, and the rest of the Aspen crew will be out in force at the rest of the competitions for the season, so watch out for the “Ripper Factory” to set a new standard in your home ski area.
In other news, my first day run sent me into the air in a sideways hangtime and my dream of a successful weekend was cut short by a hard impact into the middle of the main gully of Genevieve (the first day venue).
The following video is the first episode in a series I like to call Man vs Mountain. Each episode will be one of my competition runs from the US Freeskiing Series this year. Enjoy!
Drew Tabke, America’s best hope for a running title in the Freeride World Tour, took on a strong finish in Sochi, Russia this past weekend. Finishing a strong second behind freeskiing and newschool skiing legend Henrik Windstedt, Tabke is well on his way to establishing himself as the future of this sport.
Check out the Freeride World Tour press release here. Yeah Tabke! So proud.