Port Angeles, WA (March 31, 2010) — Another succesful strapless weekend went down at Hurricane Ridge March 28 and 29th. Check the video from Lib Tech/Stan Tech for all the binding-free action: beers, back 3s, baked slalom, big checks, pow laps and more.
Strapless Weekend 2010 from Lib Tech on Vimeo.
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Senior Editor John Laing whipped up a little edit to give you a taste of what Freq Week 2010 was all about: pow, friends, and nocturnal recreation at its finest.
FreqWeek 2010. Baldface Lodge from John Laing on Vimeo.
Photo: Dave Thomas
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Whistler, BC ((March 29, 2010) — I can’t help but feel a bit of hometown pride as Zeke Helliwell of Hornby Island, BC, took the Chinese Downhill for 2010–a top to bottom burner from the peak to the creek followed by a beer chug for $200 and a texas mickey. Hope it was a good party bud.
2010 Westbeach Chinese Downhill from NuuLife Cinema on Vimeo.
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Sorry there haven’t been any posts in a few days, was up at Okemo getting some much needed spring riding in.
Here is a sweet video of Brandon Hobush throwing down some sessions at the Bear Mountain park in mid March. Very nice, very nice.
via WhoaSnow
Below we’ve put together some highlights from NONSTOP’s 2009/10 winter course diaries. Have a read to find out about our instructor and improver courses from those experiencing them first hand.
Fernie Master the Mountain – Week 1
Graham Miller described the first hectic week of Fernie’s 6 week Master the Mountain course. With powder, technique revelations, curling, Olympic torch visits and avalanche safety training.
Fernie Master the Mountain course diary – Week 6
Fernie’s Master the Mountain course reaches it’s exciting conclusion with a four day backcountry tour while staying at Boulder Hut.
Fernie 11 Week Instructor Course – Week 3
It’s the third week of Fernie’s 11 week instructor course and Rick Haigh’s preparing for the level 1 exams.
Fernie 2 Week Improver Course
The Fernie improver course is one of our shortest programs, but as Ben describes, you can get a lot done in 2 weeks!
Fernie 3 Week Instructor Course – Week 1
With high expectations for the three week instructor course in Fernie, James Fissler wasn’t disappointed with his first action packed week:
Fernie 3 Week Instructor Course – Week 3
It’s crunch time in Fernie, as the 3-week courses face their CASI and CSIA level 1 exams.
Banff 11 Week Instructor Course – Week 1
In the first week of Banff’s 11 week instructor course and the new crew have been exploring Sunshine and Lake Louise.
Banff 11 Week Instructor Course – Week 9
Now in week 9, the Banff crew are settled in but are still hitting it hard, with tales of 20 Jagers in an hour and an epic cat ski trip to Fernie.
Red Mountain 11 Week Instructor Course – Week 3
With such a reputation for untracked powder, there’s no surprise that our Red Mountain crew were wading through waste deep powder in their third week
Red Mountain Valhalla Cat Skiing Trip
With 8 weeks of practice behind them, the Red Mountain NONSTOPers’ powder legs were ready for an epic day at Valhalla Powdercats.
Has this whet your appetite? Find out all about our courses on:
nonstopski.com / nonstopsnowboard.com / nonstopadventure.com
via nonstopski.com
Here’s Stuart Briscoe with an update from the 10th week in Banff.
This week we had our private lessons at Norquay – it was legend! Mike (our ski instructor) really helped to iron out my skiing. We had a big dump of snow on that day, which continued all day and night. As a result on Tuesday, Norquay experienced an awesome powder day.
Shatter perceptions of what can be done outside the park. The mountain is now your playground. Unleash. The regular price for the K2 Hellbent ski is $1205.00 Save tons at Shoreline of Tahoe Now only $770.97
Often imitated, but never equaled, the HellBent’s twin tip Rocker design equals supreme floatation in powder while allowing you to stomp both switch and regular landings in the deepest conditions. Not content being a mere pow tool, the HellBent gives you generous ability to carve your way down to the bottom of back to the lift. We have a hard time getting Andy Mahre to ever take them off his feet.
Dimensions: 150/122/141
Powder: 666%
Park: 10%
Radius: 26m at 179
Construction: Vertical ABS Sidewall
Core: Fir
Bindings: SchizoFrantic
DIN Range: 4-12
Features: Tip/Tail 20/40 Rocker Design, Tip plates and tail rivets, Triaxial Braiding, Made with Pure Evil
Mount Baker, WA (March 29, 2010) – Although splitboards have been on the scene for around fifteen years, their presence in the global snowboard scene has been limited. It wasn’t often that two splitboarders would cross paths in the backcountry—even rarer still that you would see a shot in a magazine of someone stepping to a big line on their splitty. But in the past couple years, splitboarding has surged into the global shred consciousness. Companies that thrive on split-specific products like Venture Snowboards and Spark R & D are racing to simply keep up with demand for their progressive products. On the heels of the Burton program, Mervin Manufacturing, K2, and many other big name board companies are getting into the splitboard market, and new companies like Jones Snowboards are building splits right off the bat. T-Rice is riding one on big lines and booters in AK—how’s that for legitimacy? So it seemed about time, then, that a ‘gathering of the tribe’ went down this weekend at Mount Baker: the 2010 Mount Baker Splitboard Festival.
Organized by Washingtonian Terry Schmidbauer and attended by folks from across the continent, the event saw 40-plus riders hunkered down under the shadow of Mount Herman at the Mount Baker Mountaineers Lodge. With views from the dining room to Shuksan’s glaciers and access to Table Mountain and beyond right out the front door, it was an appropriate venue for a split-themed weekend.
Despite recent warm temperatures, Baker switched back to winter mode in time for the Splitfest. Fresh snowfall and blue skies welcomed a wide range of splitters on Saturday. From first-timers to seasoned veterans like frequency TSJ contributor Kyle Miller, all reveled in the late-March pow laps, whether via lift-accessed touring on Shuksan Arm (my choice for the morning), a mellow jaunt out Artist’s Point and Blueberry Ridge, or getting up and over Table Mountain and into some of the steeper lines around Little AK. One group even attempted to summit Mount Baker proper, but they were turned around high on the Coleman Glacier by high winds and falling snow—they settled for numerous powder laps on Heliotrope Ridge, lines being reset by Mother Nature faster than they could track it out.
It was with weary legs that the last splitboarders, myself included, returned to the Mountaineer’s Lodge around 6 p.m. for a parking lot beer and buffet dinner featuring turkey meatloaf, salad and baked potatoes—a hearty meal for hearty appetites. Dinner was followed by a raffle and movies and early to bed to prepare for riding in Sunday’s four inches of fresh and milky conditions—not exactly the perfect day of Saturday, but a great opportunity to demo the glut of new product kicking around the cabin and share a few turns with friends new and old.
Indeed, the 2010 Mount Baker Splitfest delivered great touring conditions and a chance for a growing community to get together and share ideas, techniques, and, most importantly, fresh turns in the Mount Baker backcountry. Splitboarding may be growing rapidly, but it’s still in the developmental stage—an exciting prospect for those that have been doing it for years, and a great opportunity for a growing number of shreds to discover the potential that splitboarding offers.
Thanks to Terry for organizing the weekend, the Mountaineer’s Lodge, and all the sponsors for the glut of product to test and take home—see you all there next year.
Riders:
1, 3, 4, 6: Byron Bagwell
2: Unknown
5: Sky Risvold
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This is one nasty park, love the creative transitions and features.
Wängl Tängl 2010 from methodtv on Vimeo.
via WhoaSnow
Portland, OR (March 26, 2010) — Another dry spell was sweeping the northwest: flowers were blooming, grass was greening, I was finding myself glaring at every person in Portland walking around in shorts and t-shirts. I kept busy doing some work and cruising groomers. Then I got a text from Byron Bagwell saying that California’s was expecting a moderate storm. I dropped everything, charged the batteries, and waxed the stick, because we were going, going, back, back to cali, cali.
We hit Medford, OR where we were received a warm welcome from Shellie and Rita at Jack’s Board House. We rallied up to Mt. Ashland in the morning; a mom and pop hill for sure with fun natural features, good trees, and a bit of fog. But, we found some fun stashes while splitting some sidecountry.
With word of a local freeride comp by Mt. Shasta, CA, we got in the truck and showed up in a backwoods parking lot at 6 a.m. Throttles twisting, exhaust hazing, we talked to some locals and learned it was a 45 minute sled one way, but there was good touring up a road on Shasta. The sky was clearing, so we waited for an hour a two and decided to bust up to Shasta. Knife edge ridges, sick spines, bowls and trees, Shasta’s lower basin contained snow and fun time radness.
After an amazing day, we ate and checked the weather: Tahoe was looking warm, and of course, ironically Baker was gonna get it from the north. That decided it: back on the road for an all day drive to Baker. There we met Rob Hutton, Shawn Freyer and Mr. Sky Rizzo. Five rad days, two inbounds–the first good inbounds days in some time–then three sweet days hiking the arm. Robbi set off a 150 ft. wide, 30-inch deep slide, third guy down, Byron watching from the valley, me looking through my lens, and rode away unscathed. Thankfully, Rob’s okay. It’s easy to get too comfortable out there–you never know.
Spring isn’t here yet–Nuclear Winter has just begun.
Riders:
1, 2, 3, 5: Byron Bagwell
4: Shawn Freyer
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