Snow Sports Gallore!

This past week was probably the busiest week for the snow sports industry, and it was all in Colorado! Earlier this week was The Denver Big Air which will be airing in my next entry (it's taking a while to put together). Later that week was X Games and the Snow Sports Trade Show in Denver to show off all of skiing and snowboarding's next year's gear.

This week was also the annual International Snow Sculpture Championships here in Breck. I missed the annual amatuer competition this year because it ended up being the same week as finals and Dew Tour, but here are some pictures that I took last night of the Pros!

(Sorry their not the best quality, they're from my iPhone. My camera is still dead from The Denver Big Air and I forgot to charge it!)

My favorite, which happens to be from a sculpture out of Franklin, WI. It's a Ullr face with Acorns for eyes, leaves for the face, and logs for mouth etc.

A swimming boy with his brother (shown in the 2nd picture from a different angle.)

My 2nd favorite, which happens to be Team Breck! Under water world.

Medusa. You can't see it here that well... but her hair is snakes.

Take a wild guess where these sculptures were from...

Backcountry and Big Air

The last few days Breckenridge has gotten a few feet of snow, and I've really REALLY been enjoying the back country. My favorite spot for back country is... Well, I'd tell you where it is but then I'd have to kill you. I will say that it's convenient because it's near Breckenridge, so I've been cutting over in-bounds to ride one of Breck's lifts up instead of hiking up, ha! It's been absolutely amazing back there the last few days... So much snow and NO people! Today was beyond amazing because it was a bluebird day after a snowstorm. It just doesn't get any better than that. Here are a bunch of photos I took. (These are definitely photos you want to click on for a bigger view. The small view just doesn't do justice... but then again, neither do pictures.)

Next week Tuesday and Wednesday is the first ever Denver Big Air Competition. A massive ramp is being built in the heart of Denver for a professional ski and snowboard competition. Here's a computer animation of what it's going to look like:

 

Here are some recent photos that were taken during construction

Saturday through Monday I will be working on the ramp helping sculpt the snow etc. I'm very nervous and excited! On Tuesday is the Ski Competition and on Wednesday is the Snowboard Competition. Both are followed by music concerts. It should be awesome!

Breck Safety Week

The next two weeks involve a lot of big events here in Summit County, including, but not limited to, Breck Safety Week, The Gatorade Free Flow Tour at Vail (Amateur version of the Dew Tour), the beginning of 2nd semester, the Denver Big Air Competition, the X Games in Aspen, and the SIA (snow sports) tradeshow in Denver.

This entry is about Breck Safety week!

As said from their Facebook event page:

In honor of the upcoming National Ski Area Association’s National Safety Awareness Week, Breckenridge Ski Resort announced plans for a series of events titled: “Breck Safety Week 2011: Safety At Its Peak.”

The resort will hold a week’s worth of fun and educational activities for all ages starting Saturday, January 15, including an Avalauncher "Tour" and Firing Demo, Avalanche Dog Demos and a Flight For Life helicopter landing on... Peak 8. Guests will also have the chance to stop by the “Open House” at all Ski Patrol huts and meet patrol members, as well as perform trail checks and end of the day sweeps with them.

The full schedule is as follows:
MLK Weekend Kick-off
Saturday, January 15th- Monday, January 17th
10am -2pm:
• Tent Village at base of Peak 8
• Think First: Helmet Fitting
• Patrol, Mountain Safety, Guest Services: Responsibility Code and Raffle

10am-12pm: Ski safely through the Springmeier or Bonanza slow zones and share three Skier Responsibility Code points with Mountain Safety to be entered in the daily raffle.

12pm: Avalauncher “Tour” and Firing Demonstration (Peak 7 avalauncher- located on skiers left of the run Lower Forget Me Not, easily accessed via the Independence Chair)
1pm: Avalanche Dog Demo at the top of the Colorado (The best part of safety demos in my opinion... so fun to watch these guys do what they do best and have a blast doing it! I've never seen happier dogs than these guys.)

(This picture is from Copper Mountain.)

 

(This is Tucker, one of Copper's Patrol Members riding up the chairlift!)

  (This is 2-year-old Henry, Vail's newest Ski Patrol Member.)

(Born and raised a mountain dog!)

Immediately Following: Beacon Demo and Avalanche Awareness, same location

Tuesday January 18th -Friday, January 21st
There will be an open house at all Patrol huts throughout the week, where guests can come in and meet members of the Breckenridge Ski Patrol, do trail checks with patrollers, accompany patrol on end of the day sweeps.

Patrol huts are located on the bottom floor of the Vista Haus, and at the tops of the Independence, Mercury, and Falcon chairlifts. In addition, If guests get “caught” skiing safely by Patrol or Mountain Safety during the week, they will become eligible for additional prizes. Terrain Park staff will also be available at every terrain park to talk to guests about how to be safe in the parks.

Prayers for Danny Toumarkine

Yet another tragedy has struck in the ski and snowboard world. Though I do not know him personally, a lot of my friends do, and it hits really close to home. On January 3rd, pro snowboarder Danny Toumarkine was on a trip with friends in Montana when he sustained a traumatic brain injury. They built a backcountry jump with a landing that flowed near some trees. Danny overshot the jump and tried to gain control, but against all efforts, he ended up flying headfirst into the trees. Unfortunately, he wasn't wearing a helmet.

He had two emergency procedures, one of the left, and one of the right side of his head to relieve pressure. He has since been in a medical induced coma in the ICU, and the website http://dannyisthebomb.com/ has been created for constant updates on his condition. I must say that his brother Conor, and girlfriend (pro skier) Michelle Parker are fantastic writers. It's very obvious how loved Danny is, and I've become very attached to him through their words. I've heard from a lot of Windells campers that he was "that guy" who made sure all the campers had the best time they could possibly have while they were at camp.

Accidents like this are very controversial in this industry. The pessimists will show anger for his decision to not wear a helmet, while family and friends will show the deepest support. It's obvious that his family and friends show remorse for their decision to not wear helmets that day, and his brother has swore to always wear one from now on. I know it's a personal decision, but I believe that we all think differently... And sadly sometimes it takes a tragedy to open up your eyes. Regardless of his decision, I think this was a horrible tragedy. I'm keeping Danny and his family and friends in my thoughts and prayers.

EpicMix

This entry is long overdue, there just hasn't been a lot going on around here. Breckenridge is still pretty busy with holiday travelers, it even seems to be busier than last year. I've been riding a lot of superpipe lately. In fact, that's really all I do anymore, ha! I'm just really addicted to it! I'm hoping to do my first competition at the end of the season, very excited!

This year Vail Resorts introduced their season pass holders to EpicMix. Basically, EpicMix tracks your daily vertical feet, total vertical feet, and other fun facts. You can also see how many vertical feet your friends have made, when they "check-in" to a resort, and the all-time leader board for most points. This would have been awesome for me last year because I did a lot more actual riding than just hiking the pipe, and this year I also have been riding at Copper as much as I have Vail Resorts, so my vertical feet isn't that accurate. It also doesn't include A-Basin which I rode a lot during pre-season. You can check out my EpicMix profile by clicking here (I'm guestimating my actual vertical feet is about double what it shows since I ride Breck and Copper 50/50.) It also shows all the "pins" I've earned for different accomplishments. It's super awesome, I just wish it was for every resort in Colorado!

This coming week is also Ullr Fest, unfortunately my least favorite of Breckenridge's festivals. It seems to attract more drinking than usual and all the people dressed as vikings kind of freak me out. (Some people get reeeaalllyyy into it.) Luckily I don't live right along Main St. this year so it's going to be easier to avoid.