Chinese students and friends are preparing for the Chinese New Year and starting it off with a celebration in the UMC.
CU Independent

I feel like there hasn’t been many pictures of riding in the blog posts. So for this thursday update we are letting anything in starting with a shot of the beacon check. As of this thursday, everyone has a beacon, probe and shovel and all hoping we never have to use them.

Erics new beacon

view from the top

ollie north’s free of  charge

you must hike up if you want to go down again

there are always diviersion on the hike up

See that rock up in the left hand corner of this shot of Eric? there’s a picture of that later

there’s that old hiking again

and another reason to take a break from hiking

these were all makes. Both Eric and Cole felt like the snow was perfect for landing hits. Especially the kind of hits that pop you up.

The boot gets steep in a couple of areas, which means it gets steep on the way down too.

Since the snow was so perfect for landings, eric felt like today was a good day to send this rock. This wasn’t a make, but its a nice picture.

Core Snowboard Camp’s 2008 winter season video. Core Snowboard Camps in Whistler is the ultimate winter snowboard camp experience in Canada. Take your free-riding and freestyle snowboarding to the next level with Canada’s top Pros and coaches, ride the best snowboarding terrain in North America and experience all there is to offer in the snowboard [...]
Snowboard And Ski Gear

Telemarking is stupid. Let’s admit that right in the beginning. Telemarking is an inefficient way to ski down a mountain, very hard  and time consuming to master and physically  (even overly?) demanding. There is no question that alpine or even modern touring skis/gear are “better” in any kind of downhill situation. (If you don’t believe me, read the interview of the telemark superhero Joonas Karhumaa…he pretty much shares this opinion with me)

That said, after skiing some thirty years alpine and having tried snowboarding (which I also loved) through the nineties, I decided to try something new this year. I have freeheeled in the small molehills of our country (Finland) occasionally already a few years. But I always thought that surviving “real” ski trip to the real mountains with free heels would be the ultimate test for my skills. I wanted to know how would it feel to ski steeper, bigger lines with telemark gear? I didn’t know what to expect. I was only slightly scared that I end up not enjoying the skiing at all because of my limited skills.

Andermatt is a superb ski area for the freerider

Again, we headed to the lovely ski area of Andermatt. I visited the place for the first time last year, pretty much based on the praising review of the area by my good friend Antti Zetterberg. Last year I skied the area with my trusty Armada JJ’s and we got some excellent conditions. I liked the experience quite a lot  - the terrain in Andermatt is not too “extreme” or “hardcore” but the slopes are still steep enough for the most skiers or snowboarders. Perfect for a lazy freerider like me, I’d say…easy access to the basic off-piste routes, nice touring possibilities and enough steep stuff to scare you just a little if you are into that kind of stuff (but not that much Chamonix like serious glaciated/ski mountaineering lines).

The telemarking…well, the novice telemarking

As a whole I don’t regret bringing the free heel skis with me. I think I learned a ton and got humbled by a few occasions (always a good thing after all). I also made some remarks of telemarking that were quite suprising. Let’s start with the positive stuff:

- If you are a strong alpine skier, doing alpine turns on teleskis in the narrow entrances, tight trees, “tourist” moguls etc. is not a big deal. Sure you have to lean a bit back but it is not a biggie. This all can be a bad thing too but more on that a bit later…

- Touring and flats and overall moving around on tele’s is so nice (even on non-free pivot bindings like Rottefella R8′s I have). Skiing with my 6 year old daughter with teles is also fun…easy to move around to help her etc. And even easy routes can be good exercise and/or good way to refine the technique

- Fat skis and especially rocker help you a lot – much more forgiving

- Now, let’s move on to the suprising/not-so-positive stuff:

- I guess I  should have listen to the guys that tell to get a little lighter gear for the starters. Big fat skis, sturdy bindings & boots – like my Atomic Bent Chetlers, R8s and Scarpa T1′s require a pretty good technique, especially in the crud, heavy powder and variable snow. It is just too easy to make either sloppy  alpine turns or  some sort of “inbetween” (telemark/alpine) turns..the kind of stuff that make you survive but you don’t feel good and balanced at all.

- It took me 6 days to really “see the light”…with that setup I really had to give power to the rear foot, to really flex the bellows, making enough pressure on the rear ski. I now understood that with lighter ski you have to ski “right” from the beginning. I would have fall/stumble all the time with lighter gear in the beginning of the week…now my set-up saved me but I didn’t ski proper teleturns (estimate is for about 40-50% of the time or so…)

- This is related to the previous statement: but I guess strong alpine background is both bless and curse when you start teleing. Alpine form is good when you are tired or you face some really technical/icy/narrow/steep/tight trees etc. kind of situations – “surviving” is easier and you know how to handle the skis in that kind of situations already. But especially with fat skis and sturdy boots/bindings in “normal” skiing situations it is kind of too easy to slip another alpine turn here and there. And IMHO that completely ruins the rhythm. The worst of all are the mentionde “inbetween” type of turns where you do some kind of sloppy tele turn but it just doesn’t feel right. For this reason perhaps, it seems to me that many snowboarders are faster to pick up proper telemarking skills than strong alpiners?

- The one thing I also hated to notice was that with teles I was more comfortable on a windpacked,  a bit more dense snow. On the last day I skied four times the basic “B-rossi run” down Gemsstock, on perfect denser “windpuff” conditions. I really enjoyed that stuff, having suffered earlier on the week with old powder snow that alpine skiers and snowboarders seemed to enjoy.

- I also guess that for a skier like me some 2-3 weeks or even more should do the trick…couple of more weeks of hard skiing and I guess it would “click” (at least I hope so!) Anyway, telemarking is pretty hard and you can’t kid yourself:  just go on and do it again and again…and again…

- I also wonder the need for releseable bindings? I guess with today’s skis and big turns style of riding, NTN system can’t be a bad thing, even if you loose a bit of the original simplicity idea. I thought on some occasions that a fall would mean almost sure wrecked knees!

Because of the variable weather and the varying level of the “models” (there was another telemark novice in the crew) we didn’t got (or even shot) a lot of action shots. I hope we have better luck next time and maybe the skills have improved too?  Here (below) are a few nice scenery shots by Antti Zetterberg for substitute. I guess good scenery/lifestyle shots are way better than flat light pics of flailing telemarkers anyway?

Homeboy Ski Blog

Junior Michala Hedelund Jensen picked up CU’s lone singles point as Boise State routed the Buffs 6-1 at The Meadows Club in Boulder.
CU Independent

A quick heads up those aspiring to PSIA Level II or III in the Eastern Division – the exam format has changed so that the first requirement is to pass the written professional knowledge exam.  Previously, this was the multiple choice test taken during the Teaching phase of the exam.  Last year, PSIA-E administered the written exam after the skiing portion.  Now, it’s first up and administered online.

I recently “got to” take the exam myself.  Here are some points I’ve been reminding our exam candidates at the home mountain:

• You must pass the exam BEFORE registering for the skiing exam.  Remember, event deadlines are 3 weeks before an exam, so that means you need to be looking a month or more in advance to get the online portion done.  
• You can register for it without a director’s signature, but you have to mail or fax the form to the office.
• As in the past, the best sources for the material are the Exam Guide, Alpine Technical Manual, the Core Concepts Manual and the Children’s Manual.  If you don’t have these yet, order them.  It can take a week or so to get them.

The test itself:

• Changes each time its taken.  It pulls the questions from a database, so you could get two on counter rotation and none on edging.  Or the other way around.  The system also randomizes the order of the answers.
• Covers technical information as well as industry knowledge.  Children’s development and both learning and teaching styles are also featured.  The content is mostly the same as the paper version.
• It’s timed.  50 questions, 50 minutes.  It took me less than twenty, but I’m a fast test taker.
• You agree at the beginning that you will take it on your own.  It’s not open book, open internet, or “phone a friend” time.
• You also agree to not copy, screenshot, or take notes on any of the questions.  Yes, your buddy wants to know what’s on it, but you probably want to sleep at night knowing you’re not a cheater.  Just saying.
• At the end, you see your score and the questions you got wrong.  And the wrong answer you chose. You have to learn the right one on your own.

If you fail.  Which you won’t, of course – 70% (35 right out of 50) is passing.

• You get another chance within 48 hours.  Study up and pass.
• If you fail again… The division office will contact you.  No, you’re not getting called to the principals office.  They’ll look at what you got wrong and recommend an event (or two) that will fill in the gaps in your knowledge.

Any other questions?  Post them in the comments.  Before you ask, yes, I passed.  So did all of the other PSIA Ed Staff members at our mountain and all of the PSIA-E examiners.

Diva Ski Tips

Jesus, its getting harder to come up with catchy titles to these posts especially after I promised tons of pictures in my last entry.  I didn’t come home with any riding shots even though I rode some deep pow. This first picture is from Xmas day when me and my boys hiked off the backside of the resort.

This second shot is of the backyard. I came out of the shop to find that the boys had made a pretty sweet jump. All these years I’ve been the major builder in the family but now they are taking over the reins.

Remember back before YouTube when you had to download videos? well just consider this a nostalgic trip back in time. Its only 64 mb and well its nothing special, just riding in the backyard. The soundtrack is copyrighted so this is pretty much the only way to show it now a days, plus only those that read the blog and really like snowskating would wait the 5 min for a download. Anyways, just check it out > winter

Winter Games

If you’ve been exploring the possibility of taking a family vacation – or even a private vacation – at one of the world’s most renowned ski resorts, you might have noticed some of the different characteristics these top resorts have in common. Many are situated in well-known mountain ranges like the Alps or the Rockies, or at least situated on some of the top local peaks in their respective areas.

Something you might have also come across is that many of these ski resorts have served, in the past, as hosts for the Olympic Winter Games. What does this mean? Well, for one, we don’t want to get into a chicken-and-the-egg debate about whether or not it was the games that made the resort, or the resort that brought the games. Still, no doubts linger about the quality of these elite snow slopes, especially if they have been deemed worthy in the past of hosting some of the best winter athletes on the planet.

So what do the winter games do to ski resorts? Let’s take a look.

First, we know that the Olympic committees in charge of decided where games will be held hold different cities to different standards. A look at how Beijing cleaned itself up in preparation for the 2008 Summer Games gives you a glimpse into these standards, showing how the Olympics can have a truly dramatic effect on the local economy of the site that an Olympics is held at.

But the Winter Olympics are a bit of a different beast – they are frequently held in lesser-known cities that otherwise wouldn’t get a chance to see the Olympics. Examples like Salt Lake City in Utah serve to illustrate this point. This allows small towns, like Cortino, Italy, to experience the Olympics without having to be a major metropolis that is considered a world-class city.

What happens when the Olympics rolls into town? Well, for one, resorts might be overhauled so that the international brigades that pour into the city are impressed with the local atmosphere. Money is thrown around, infrastructure is improved, and slopes and hills are cut in the fashion of Olympic-quality hills. Although not all of these changes will stick, the Olympic atmosphere does indeed a bit of itself behind.

If you’re asking yourself whether a resort in a town that once held the Olympics is really all that special, you should definitely answer in the affirmative. After all, think of all of the sites that haven’t been able to experience the Olympics, and give one of the resorts that has, a solid try.

Photo Credits: kevindooley

Originally posted 2009-06-30 05:33:09.

Ski Snowboarder

Stu’s Books is a website created by CU students for CU students that serves as another venue where students can buy and sell textbooks.
CU Independent

Ski Logik is one of the newer boutique ski companies. They manufacture hand-made skis that have a special striking feature: the custom, unique inlaid wood topsheets.

Ski Logik’s philosophy arouses interest. They are upfront about the fact that the skis are produced in China. But here comes the major difference compared to other ski companies – although the skis are made in China, they are not mass produced, but rather handmade in Ski Logik’s own factory, which was founded by David Mazzarella, together with the Ski Logik brand. Ski Logik states that they pay their workers an above the market rate and that employees receive full benefits including things such as health insurance, retirement, unemployment and disability compensation, something that is not common in China.

David Mazzarella’s and Ski Logik’s reasoning behind this is that the low-cost location is supposed to enable them to produce high quality product at a reasonable price; production at a more expensive location would force them to use cheaper materials or reduce labor times, which would in turn reduce the overall quality of the product.

But do the skis live up to their promise? I’ve had a pair of Bomb Squads for a while now and I’m happy to say that they have not disappointed.

Ski Logik Bomb Squad

Length: 188cm (the only length available).
Dimensions: 148-122-143mm
Radius: 22m
Weight: 4300g (according to manufacturer)
Retail price around 0 USD

Construction: Paulownia wood core, reinforced with carbon fiber and fiberglass, black locust sidewalls

OK, let’s discuss the obvious first. I’m not a guy who usually cares about the looks of skis but the build quality and the inlaid wood topsheets that these skis have are gorgeous. The sidewalls are black locust, which caused some concern for me first since bamboo and other wood sidewalls tend to have a bad reputation (old Voelkl Gotamas, Lotus skis etc), but after several days of use I don’t see anything out of ordinary. The spot where the sidewall connects to topsheet is rounded and not sharp, which should prevent topsheet chipping.

We are living in an era when the sexiest and coolest freeride skis come out with flat profile and usually quite a bit of rocker rocker. The Bomb Squads on the other hand have small amount of early tip raise and a normal amount of camber. Their hand flex is medium with a nice progressively softer feel towards the tip. The ski is not super stiff, but not a noodle by any means. Just the way I like it myself.

So how do they ski? The bottom line: In soft snow and tracked out crud the ski is predictable, easy and fun to ski. The skis have a really nice, quality feel to them that inspires confidence. People who are more into old-school shapes might find the tip shape and size somewhat big and might not like how the tips get moved around a bit in the crud. Don’t get me wrong, they don’t flap around uncontrollably, but they do move around a bit. I myself think that the effect is more visual than real; the ski feels stable at higher speeds also. You can vary your turn size easily and considering how stable these skis are at speed it was really fun to notice how easily you can throw them around in the trees. After having skied the Praxis Powder Boards, which excel in trees, that is not something that I say lightly.

Recommended if your wallet can afford it. However, a big skier who demands planks that can do mach 7 in icy chop will have to find something else. You can see me ski the Bomb Squads in this helmetcam video.

Homeboy Ski Blog