Sneak Peek SIA 2013

As always, I make the treck to the Snowsports Industry America Tradeshow every year to meet with sponsors and do reviews of gear for the following season. Let me just say that the gear for 2013 is the best yet, for both function and style.  I’m super excited to show everyone some of my favorite picks.

THE NORTH FACE

New for 2013, The North Face is partnering with ABS to bring you two Avalanche Airbag System options. This is huge, as ABS airbag systems have a 95% success rate of keeping the user on the surface during avalanches. This lets users enjoy all the feature the Powder Guide Vest and Patrol 24 pack have to offer, along with increasing your chances of survival in a slide. It will be available in the Patrol 24 ABS backpack, and the Powder Guide Vest.

An inflated Patrol 24 ABS backpack.

Powder Guide Vest ABS

The Women’s Cymbiant Jacket is another one of my favorites. I’ve been using the Cymbiant pant for a month now and both the jacket and pants are made with new “FLASHDRY” technology. Perfect for those of us skiing on the west coast where it can be a little wet and humid from time to time! Not to mention this jacket is super stylish, and long in the torso to make sure there are no gaps between the pants and jacket. I love the colour combinations and offset zips.

The North face also has a new line called “Mountain Heritage”. For those that love plaid, knits, and super cozy, functional clothing you will be super stoked on this new line. I know I was!

The Men’s Spineology jacket is a Gore-tex performance shell that is high end performance and function mixed with a very stylish fit and colour scheme. I see this jacket being extremely popular.

ATOMIC

New this year for Atomic is the Tracker 16 Binding. A high performance binding for both going up hill and down. This is the binding you have been waiting for! It has a super wide profile to allow for maximal edge to edge performance, and allows for 90 Degrees of movement so those kick turns will be a breeze. They can be switched from Ride to Hike mode with just the push of a pole. They feature a DIN range of 7-16.

Left to Right, 2013 Automatic, Benchetler and Blog.

The Automatic is a joint creation from the minds of Dana Flahr and Sage Cattabriga-Alosa. This is the ultimate big mountain rip & stomp ski. It comes in a 179, 186 and 193 lengths and is 117 underfoot. It also has titanium Sprocket Power Boosters in it for dampening and stability at speed.

Atomic is also making helmets this year, which look amazing. These are the “Troop” model which were my favorite.

For all you ladies out there that wanted a fatter, longer stiffer Big Mountain ski to crush all terrain types from Pillows to Trees to Hucking, the Millenium has arrived! The Millenium is pretty similar to a Blog except in lengths including 161, 169 and 177.

Atomic Blogs, Tracker Binding, New PRE CUT!!! touring skins cut specifically for Atomic Skis.

REUSCH

This is a new addition to the line up, the “SHANON”. Created for Ski-Cross racers, it offers all that the Race Tec gloves do, but in a lower profile glove that fits under the jacket while still delivering compromised performance.

Despite not racing anymore, I’m still a HUGE fan of the racing Mittens and Gloves. These are the Race Tec 13 GS Mitten, complete with Silicon and Ceramic padding on the exterior to help with impact while staying warm. The palms are composed of specially treated, drum-dyed Japanese Cow Hide for maximal tactility, performance and grip. This is the ultimate in durability and performance.

This is what you want for those super deep, cold days. The Down Powder Gore-Tex Mitten.

ELECTRIC

I am extremely happy to announce that I will be working with Electric for goggles an eyewear from now on. Their 2013 line up features R.I.D.S. (Rider Inspired Design Series) goggles which look absolutely amazing and have been created from extensive feedback from Electric Team Athletes. This is the Parker White line.

“The Ton” on the left and “Tank” model on the right in the Spherical EG2 series. Less frame and more lens give you superior peripheral vision in the Mountains.

Electric also has a very extensive line of softgoods including packs, apparel, toques and hats.

Stay tuned for Product Video reviews on “Love at First Turn” hosted by Newschoolers.com!

Deep.

Mckenna Peterson and Dylan Crossman got into town last night for a few days of skiing. They’re on a roadtrip from Utah and just arrived fresh from 2 weeks in Revelstoke with their camper and sleds in tow. The timing couldn’t have been any better, as Whistler has been getting nuked on with super light density, low humidity blower pow all week long. We were joined by Tobin Seagel who had his first day out on his new(er) sled, which was also his first sled day of the season. We didn’t make our objective, but had a ton of fun regardless. Let’s just say it was DEEP. That is all.

Mckenna, just a little stoked.

Mckenna in the trees.

Tobin agrees. Today was awesome.

This might have something to do with that ear to ear smile.

Oh yeah. Rough life indeed.

Snow Wookie.

Dylan was tearing it up today, having way to much fun despite the amount of times we all got stuck. This man is a machine.

Blast-off.

We were breaking trail on the groomer on the way up this morning, which was pretty darn ridiculous. Even more ridiculous was having to do it AGAIN on the way down this afternoon.

This is what my ramp looked like.

And then of course, because the day went too smooth for your average sled-ski day, Tobin and I got stuck in the parkinglot.

Thank you to Dylan, McKenna and Tobin for an awesome day!

Blower.

Steve Lloyd www.SteveLloydPhoto.com stuck around for a few days after Deep Winter and we got out shooting in the backcountry off of sleds. Here are a few photos he has given permission for me to share.

Unloading by starlight and snow. Pretty crazy conditions.

This was my first day out on my new 2nd hand sled. Thank you Wilson Prewitt and Stephanie LaRoy Swartz for hooking me up when I was in a bind! I love her. (Yes, the sled is a girl.)

Thank you Steve and thank you La Nina for the 5% blower pow. It’s been an awesome week!

Deep Winter Photo Challenge with Steve Lloyd.

I’d like to thank Steve Lloyd for including me on his team this year for the Deep Winter Photo Challenge at Whistler Blackcomb. Our team consisted of Steve, myself, Ian McIntosh, Dana Flahr and Colter Hinchcliffe. The theme centered around injuries that athlete sustain during wintertime, pushing their limits and the rehabilitation process required to get back on snow.

Also I’d like to thank Jordan at Crossfit Whistler http://crossfitwhistler.com/ and Therese at Back in Action Physiotherapy http://www.backinactionphysiotherapy.com/ for allowing us to shoot at their locations and helping us with injuries from the long days shooting!

Some photos I snapped during the 3 day shoot made it onto Newschoolers.com for coverage of the Event at http://www.newschoolers.com/readnews/4621.0/Deep-Winter-Photo-Challenge Check it out!

Dana and Ian taking a break.

Dana enjoying the sunset.

FWT Day One Coverage on SBCSKIER.com!

Check out a piece on the Freeskiing World Tour stop #3 at Revelstoke, BC day one of the main event that I did for SBC Skier. It’s online at http://www.sbcskier.com/news_article?news_id=1217 Thank you Patrick Orton for the images in the article, here are a few others that I snapped.

Iris signing her Heli forms. That’s right. Heliiii time!

Matty and Kye prepping for their runs.

Henrik after a close call.