SkiSwitch

What a bad year for snow. First we weren’t getting any snow. A warm fall and early winter followed by temperatures so cold snow wouldn’t even form. Now we’ve got so much in the middle of warm weather cycles that slides are happening left and right. Got that first frozen ice layer on the ground with a couple feet of super dry fluffy powder now being buried under some super wet, heavy snow. Bad conditions to say the least.

There have been slides at Snowbird, near Fernie and today there were a few slides at Jackson Hole. In bounds slides seem to be the new trend. I’ve seen plenty of threads in various online forums of people deciding to wear their avy beacons in-bounds on a full-time basis this year. The snow is just that bad.

The Jackson slides ripped clear to the ground level so they’ll be starting over on snow accumulation for those areas. This after five feet of snow in the past several days.

Be careful out there people. Avalanches are bad things.

Tomorrow is day 1 of the Lost Trail Powder Mountain ski season. Finally. My friends back in Colorado have been skiing for two months and I keep getting emails about all the fresh snow they’ve been getting. Meanwhile it’s been dry and warm here in Montana. Until recently anyway when it’s been colder than ever.

Anyway, Lost Trail opens with “pre-season” conditions, whatever that means. I don’t care. It’s lift accessed skiing and that’s good enough for me. Can’t wait.

I went lookinig for green pants to ski in this year. I’ve been looking for months. Apparently I’m either way behind or way ahead of the trends. I don’t want neon green or forest green or even olive green. I want green. Like the green you would pull out of the crayon box that says green. Kermit the frog green. Straight up green. For some reason though I must be the only one that wants that color pants to ski in. What would it take to get ski pants in the color I want them?

Interesting video by Mike Rogge. It’s a bit of a claim but I’ll cut it some slack. I certainly don’t think it goes deep enough into the struggles of making it (and making money) in the ski industry. Instead it seems to show all the good parts of being involved. The parties, the sick skiing, the friends… not much info on being poor or how difficult it is to get your foot in the door.

Overall though, decent short film. Entertaining and gives a good quick overview of the past season. Good job Mike!

Salomon STH 14’s. New this year. They come in black and white. I want them in white. They’re sick. I’ve got some STH 16’s but don’t REALLY need a din that high. I’d prefer to have something a little higher than the 12 din of the STH 12’s. I’ve been a fan of Salomon gear for a long time. They’ve been pushing the limits with their hardgoods the past couple years. They brought out the SPK, then introduced the STH line of bindings and this year introduced the Suspect ski with edge reinforcement. Hard to argue that they haven’t been contributing to the sport’s innovation.

So yeah… I’ve got some sweet Bluehouse MR’s waiting for a set of bindings and if I can figure out how to do it, I’m going to be getting some of these for them.

It is December and it still hasn’t snowed here in Montana. What the hell? Global warming sucks. I walked home tonight in the rain. RAIN! It should be puking snow and instead we’ve got a light drizzle of rain. At the rate we’re going, ski season is never going to start.

Copper Mountain did their usual amazing job of building the country’s first SuperPipe. That means all the pros that have been playing around on the jumps at Keystone will be heading over to Copper to get in some pipe training before competition season starts. Past years have seen Tanner sessioning the pipe on his way to X-Games dominance.

Copper Mountain sent out a nice little press release. Apparently they’re trying to get people to carpool up to the mountain rather than drive by themselves. To that end, if you cruise up with 4 or more people in your car they’re gonna hook you up with VIP parking and you might win some stuff. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me… and being green never hurt anyone. Save the planet, save skiing.

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EC Headwear makes some pretty nice hats. They’ve also got some sweet gloves, shirts, shades and a few other things. Mostly though, they make great hats. I’ve got a couple in fact. I love them. So comfortable. On top of that, they look pretty good on your noggin. The thing I like most is that they totally fit my huge melon.

Anyway, Newschoolers did a nice interview with MattyB, the founder of EC Headwear. He’s got big plans for the company. Hope they work out, I love the product. Click HERE for the interview.

Orage has announced the dates and locations of their Anti-Tour. They’re gonna be cruising pretty much all over on their way to the Orage Masters (Best comp EVER). Wish I was at one of these locations cause Orage makes great stuff and anything they’re involved with seems to be a pretty great event. Unfortunately most of these events are outside the U.S. If you’re anywhere near the few U.S. events, make sure you put it on your calendar to be there.

NOVEMBER /08
November 12 MSP Movie Premiere Engelberg, CH
November 15 Warren Miller Movie Premier Abbey Arts Center, BC
November 15 Snowvemberfest Mt Holiday, Mi
November 15 Second Hands Movie Premiere Östersund , SWE
November 17 MSP Filmtour Mühlheim, GER
November 18 MSP Filmtour Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER
November 20 - 22 Skidemo Days in Sälen Sälen, SWE
November 21 MSP Filmtour Zirndorf, GER
November 24 MSP Filmtour Osnabrück, GER
November 25 MSP Filmtour JP & Kendama Battle VS-Schwennigen, GER
November 26 MSP Filmtour JP & Kendama Battle Albstadt, GER
November 27 MSP Filmtour JP & Kendama Battle Bielefeld, GER
November 28 MSP Filmtour JP & Kendama Battle Berlin, GER
November 28 Second Hands Movie Premiere Tandådalen, SWE
November 28 - 29 MSP Movie Premiere St. Moritz, CH
November 29 MSP Filmtour JP & Kendama Battle Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER
November 29 Collingwood Rail Jam Collingwood, ONT
November 29 Kittery Trading Post Rail Jam Kittery Trading Post, Me
November 30 MSP Filmtour JP & Kendama Battle Oberstdorf, GER

DECEMBER /08
December 1 MSP Filmtour Ulm, GER
December 6 Second Hands Movie Premiere Sundsvall , SWE
December 6 Sugarloaf Rail Jam Series Sugarloaf Resort, Me
December 8 Second Hands Movie Premiere Örnsköldsvik, SWE
December 11 - 13 Skidemo days in Åre åre, SWE
December 13 MSP Movie Premiere VERBIER, CH
December 13 MSLM Rail Jam Mount Saint Louie Moonstone, ONT
December 13 OFR Grilly Cheesy Jam Mont Orford, QC
December 18 Chill and Destroy Val T\horens, FR
December 27 Sun Peaks Rail Jam Sun Peaks Resort, BC
December 27 The Drop In Rail Jam (nightime) Silverstar Resort, BC
December 20 - 21 Pnm Rail Jam Mt Bachelor, Wa

JANUARY /09
January Magik 4’s Downtown Rail Jam Downtown Montreal, QC
January 17 Street Style Massif Du Sud Snowpark, QC
January 24 The Drop In Rail Jam (nightime) Silverstar Resort, BC
January 17 - 18 Alberta Provincial Halpipe Series Canada Olympic Park

FEBRUARY /09
February 7 Devils Glen Slopestyle Devil’s Glen, ONT
February 7 Chill and Destroy Maiskogel, AUT
February 14 Chill and Destroy Kaunertaler Gletscher, AUT
February 14 MSLM Can Series Pipe Mount Saint Louie Moonstone, ONT
February 15 Seymour’s Slopestyle Mount Seymour, BC
February 17 Alberta Provincial Halpipe Series Canada Olympic Park
February 21 - 22 Huck Finn Impossible Rail Jam Pine Knob - Clarkson, Mi
February 28 Glen Eden Rail Jam Glen Eden, ONT
February 29 Chill and Destroy Postwiese / Neuastenberg, GER

MARCH /09
March Jib El Chalet TBD, QC
March OFR Golden Crown Mont Orford, QC
March 6 The Drop In Rail Jam (nightime) Silverstar Resort, BC
March 8 Dope Style Sunday River, Me
March 11 Slopestyle Massif Du Sud Snowpark, QC
March 27 - 28 East Coast Super Shoot Stowe Resort, Vt
March 28 Throwdown, Hoedown Slopestlye
Shootout Silverstar Resort, BC
March 28 Chill and Destroy Weißseegletscher, AUT
March 28 March Mayhem Loon Mtn, Nh

Apri l /09
April 18 - 10 Big Air Meets Qp Mt Bachelor, Wa