Freeriding

Today was supposed to be the day (2nd day) that the traverse between Squaw and Alpine was open. Again, it didn’t open. It sounds like Estelle Bowl at Alpine never froze which made the conditions at the Alpine side unfavorable. Hopefully we get a freeze cycle and Ski Patrol will be able to get it open. Thanks for trying guys!

Light Towers was good this morning

Anyway, the skiing today was actually pretty good early. Sibo groomer was fast and hero snow, and Headwall was the same. Granite was actually groomed mid week, and it was great early as well as long as you were in the sun. If you make it out early, stick to the sunny South facing slopes in the morning and you will be rewarded. The snow turned to glue at about noon, and it was time to call it a day. All in all though it was a super fun day, and I’m pretty stoked to do it again tomorrow. Thanks for killin it CDP.

Chanc' getting upside down

The weather doesn’t look to promising without a freeze, but if you get out early you can make the best of it and still have a good time. Lets try again for the traverse in the AM!

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34. Breezy, with a west wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 53. Breezy, with a west wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 34. Breezy, with a west wind between 10 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 60. West wind between 10 and 15 mph.

Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 39.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 63.

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 37.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 65.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 37.

Sunday: Mostly sunny and windy, with a high near 65.

Kyle Greenberg put together a hell of a good POV edit from yesterday at Snowbird. He was knocking out all the classic hucks all around the resort and had a damn good time doing it. The edit is a little long, but it really shows how sick yesterday was. Enjoy!

Above is the best of video from the Xtreme Verbier competition from last week on the Bec de Rosses face in Verbier, Switzerland.  You can see the massive exposure this venue contains and the tremendous amount of risk that these athletes are taking by pushing it hard here. Sweden’s Reine Barkered took 1st place and the Overall title in the Freeride World Tour with his amazing performance in Verbier. I think it would be worth the trip to go over and watch this event live. What do you think?

Check out Reine Barkered’s 1st place run:

Check out Aurelien Ducroz’s 2nd place run:

For more info and videos check out the Freeride World Tour website.

The final day of the Freeskiing World Tour event at Moonlight Basin went down on this past Saturday and it was an impressive show. Preparation for the finals venue on Three Forks was made more interesting for the competitors by a very exposed 30 minute hike to the top. Locals and ski patrollers are used to this beast of a walk, but competitors from all over the US and Canada were a bit more flustered by its gnarliness.

The day went off smoothly with the weather getting really nice toward the middle of the day. Athletes took advantage of the smooth fast snow to show off their smooth fast skiing styles. There was some trickery thrown down on all parts of the venue including 360′s, backflips and front flips. Local MT boys and Canadians from Fernie, BC dominated the top 5 spots for the men with Bozeman’s Kyle Taylor winning the event and backflipper extraordinaire Randy Evans taking home the Backcountry.com TBL Sick Bird Buckle. Watch out for his younger brother Matt in a few years on the Tour. The Ladies skied hard as well with Snowbird transplant Nat Segal taking the top spot with some fine fine skiing indeed.

Nat Segal Killing it at Snowbird. Photo: Diane Harrington

This event was a huge success and showcased a ton of new talent on the tour. Our host, Moonlight Basin, was incredible, and as a long time freeskier on the Tour I would like to thank them for their support and interest in the sport we love.

Check out the event videos from MSI below.

www.freeskiingworldtour.com

The main event of the 14th consecutive installment of the Us Freeskiing Nationals kicks off today at Snowbird on Silver Fox. The qualifier was held yesterday on the infamously rough snow of West Baldy. Twenty men and eights women fought their way through the qualifier taking on firm snow, massive traverses and wicked hard landings. They will now have a chance to square off with the worlds best over the next two days.

Top freeskiers from around the world including French super stars Adrien Coirier, Julien Lopez, and Guerlain Chicherit, all multi-time champions, are preparing to push their limits on the fast and firm conditions. The snow is in great shape considering the lack of overall precipitation so far this season and the features are looking bigger than ever for the same reason. I am expecting to see some high flying action in the next two days and I am proud to be a part of the show.

Watch all the action live at www.freeskiingworldtour.com starting at about 10:00am MST today!

Results from the Qualifier and Start Times for Today:

Women's Qualifying Results

Top Men's Qualifier Results

Women's Start List for Day 1 on Silver Fox

Men's Start List for Day 1 on Silver Fox

Now that we are looking at warm dry weather for the next week or so the powder of last week is becoming just a fond memory. The storms last week reminded us of how good it can be, and how good it was all last Winter. Deep soft snow is why we all came to Utah in the first place. It makes you feel like a rockstar and it also makes you giggle when it hits you in the face over and over. Matt Heffernan sent in this edit from his good times in Big Cottonwood Canyon last week. He skied some killer lines and tossed so super clean tricks that all add up to a damn good edit. It would be nice to get some more days like these. I think it is coming in April. What do you think?

Highlights:

Nice Pillow Line – 0:35 (must be at Brighton….pillow lines in Utah usually live at Brighton)

Really solid D-Spin 7 – 1:00

Nice Straitline – 1:15

Switch 5 – 1:30 (Or is is a Switch Rodeo 5 or a Switch Underflip?)

Little Cottonwood got a solid dose of snow last night to add to the pile that has been building up the last few days. The official report was 14″, but it seemed like about twice that deep to me. The Wildcat Chair at Alta was the call of the day for deep snow and fun jib lines.Today was also the best hucking day thus far this season and I think people were getting after it pretty hard at both resorts. The area formerly known as “Mexico” was getting lapped hard by both visitors and locals with waist deep good times had by all. I heard that Baldy was open at Snowbird first thing in the morning and it was out of control good; however, I also heard it was closed shortly after for the rest of the day. Not sure what the story is on that, let us know if you have more.

The snow machine is fully turned on in Little Cottonwood Canyon for the first time this season. Three top notch powder days in a row were putting a smile on even the crustiest locals’ faces. Faceshots could be found just about anywhere from the top to the tram to the bottom of the bypass road. Baldy, Silver Fox, Mach Schnell, and Tower 3 were stupid creamy and deep. If you caught Mineral right when it opened you are likely still stoked on the smoothness.

Check out the forecast of 8-18″ tonight!

 Daisuke Honda (?) putting forth a strong effort on Kaerazu.

Every good ski resort has one zone or line that is plain view, and everyone dreams about riding. For Happo-One, Kaerazu is that line. Kaerazu no ken translates to “the mountain of no return,” and the skiable zone on it is often referred to as the Kat Face. It is the obvious steep, scary looking face that is opposite the Happo ridge, and easily visible from anywhere above the resort. Once you’ve seen this face, there is no doubt why it is one of Happo’s most coveted lines. Exposure and steep spines, cliffs and couloirs – this zone has it all.

 Tetsuya Ishikawa and Shoji Matsumoto of Colorsport ride different lines on Kaerazu.

Kaerazu is an extremely difficult zone to ski, and not just because of the obviously challenging terrain. It is about 3 to 4 hours hiking from the top of the lifts. Its southeast facing, and it is a race to get to it before the sun makes it too dangerous to ski. Indeed, this is a race that you will usually lose, unless you camp on the ridge, or get an unusually cold day. It also has a big convexity right at the top before entering steep chokes with exposure below, which makes sluff a major obstacle. If you don’t believe me, ask Forrest Shearer (see 1:51  of the Further trailer posted below). There may only be a couple days a season where conditions are right to ski Kaerazu, and an attempt at it should be undertaken with extreme caution.

 Forrest Shearer getting taken out by sluff in the looker’s right couloir on Kaerazu at 1:51, Jeremy Jones ripping the main face at 2:05.

It was a terrific Day 1 in Revelstoke, BC for the Swatch Freeride and  Freeskiing World Tour combined event. Snow conditions were epic and the light was good enough for … Read More