March Madness!
We have received an unbelievable amount of snow this march! Here are some photos and videos from this amazing month so far.
Video from Skiing at Whistler Blackcomb
Sled Skiing in the Pemberton Backcountry, 2000ft descents to the valley bottom!
Steve Lloyd is coming up this Thursday with Kevin and Mitchell Brower to shoot for the rest of the spring, it should be an amazing April to follow up an absolutely epic March!
Fun in the Sun
The west coast of Canada is well known for its torrential rainfall, or endless snowstorms. Every now and then the sun does poke out from behind the clouds, and even rarer does this event coincide with a powder day. A few days ago, the stars aligned and it was good. Soooooo good. Here are a few photos and a short video clip from this past week at Whistler Blackcomb and out in the surrounding backcountry.
Thank you GoPro for the new Hero 2 Cameras! Here are a few short clips I snagged.
Cold Smoke with Dan.
Logging some air miles on the Snow Pony, too much fun!
My favorite hit in the corridor.
Dan has had less than a week on a sled, yet he doesn’t seem to have any issues with the basics. Thank god eh? Because we all know there are no friends on a pow day!
Looking out over 10 mile glacier.
I also got up on resort for a few days with my lady friends, Amy McDermid and Kara Delaney who coincidentally all ride 185 Atomic Blogs as well!
Good ski choices ladies!
Pink Zinka!
Kara doing work in the lodge.
What an awesome day!
Paradise!
It snowed heavily overnight and is still coming down in the inches, so the next few days should be really good for getting out there!
Sled-Skiing with the Boys, it’s good to be home!
I got back from a week in Colorado at SIA and X Games only to receive an invite to race the Peak to Valley event at Whistler. It is a thigh burning 180+ GS gates with a vertical drop of 4800ft. I haven’t strapped on race skis in over 3 years since I quit racing Ski Cross. It was a super fun experience, I accidentally caught air off a roller with a rut on it from the previous 130 competitors on the starting pitch and got tossed out of the course, I almost crashed on my head but managed to get back in the course and pull it together for a 10th place finish out of 67 women. Around halfway down the course around the 3 minute mark my legs were screaming and I was in full surivival mode. This race definitely pushes personal boundaries and limitations and by the time you reach the finish 6 minutes later you know exactly what you’re made of. Thank you to James for inviting me to be part of your team, which ended up in 4th in our division and 10th overall out of 70 teams, some of which consisted of all former Canadian Team athletes or World Cup Racers. We have quite the deep talent pool resulting in a stacked field in Whistler.
The day after, I got out for an awesome day sled skiing up the Rutherford with my favorite accountants. I did some filming for a future episode of “Love at First Turn” and shot some photos as well. Enjoy!
The crew for the day.
“Oh really?”
Blower.
James getting upside down.
Sunset.
Awesome finish to an awesome day! It’s so good to be back home!
Thank you to Graham, Graham, Jessie, Jonathan, Brad, Kevin, James and everyone else for the awesome day!
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!
Nadia Samer 