The Outside Blog Skiing and Snowboarding Feed

Silverton Mountain Adds Heli-Ski Options

The Powder Feed — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:48:58 -0500

Expert-only Silverton Mountain in southwestern Colorado has its fair share of die-hard followers—with good reason. It gets stupid amounts of snow, it has steep and alarmingly (in a good way) wild terrain, and the atmosphere is, well, let's just describe it as laid-back.

This mom-and-popper for the adventurous set, however, is poised to gather a few more devotees this season. They just leased their own helicopter and, after successful trial runs last year, are launching a full-blown heli-ski operation.

Now, in addition to skiing the one-lift hike-friendly area with a guide (or without a guide on certain days in December and April) skiers and snowboarders can opt for a heli lift to the peak of their choosing ($159); a full day of heli-skiing on untracked peaks and bowls otherwise unreachable from the area ($999); or a day of heli-accessed ski touring ($320), which includes a drop in the morning, guided touring all day, and a pick-up in the afternoon. Locations dependent on conditions and skier/snowboarder abilities, of course. For more info, go to Silverton Mountain's website.

--Kate Siber

Sweet Deal? Ski Resort on Auction Block

The Powder Feed — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:59:59 -0500

Just in case you have a cool million or two lying around in your bank account (or really good credit), we here at the Powder Feed have divined a good* way for you to use it: Buy Elk Meadows Ski Resort in southwestern Utah. The non-operational ski resort is up for (sealed bid) auction through Friday, Nov. 20. Minimum bid: $1 million.

You’ll get 1,138 acres of forested hillsides, 36 ski runs, six lifts, two lodges, nine condos, some miscellaneous roads, and 400 inches of annual snowfall. You’ll also inherit the strained relationships with townspeople the old owners helped stoke by trying to turn the place into a private golf-and-ski resort akin to member’s-only Yellowstone Club. Oh, and current and future liabilities (like past-due taxes) are estimated at over $400,000. But you will have fresh tracks for a lifetime. Check it out here

--Kate Siber

*Ski bums associated with the Powder Feed can’t be liable for the merit of their financial recommendations.

Review: Patagonia Nano Puff Pullover

The Powder Feed — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:38:40 -0500

If there’s one item of winter clothing to put on the wish list this year, it’s Patagonia’s new Nano Puff Pullover. Here are three reasons why:

1. It has easily one of the best weight-to-warmth ratios of any synthetic jacket I’ve tried.
2. It packs down smaller than an orange (in the handy chest pocket) and the women’s version I have weighs 8.2 ounces. That’s probably less than last night’s hamburger.
3. Unlike down, this jacket isn’t useless when damp and dries quickly, thanks at least in part to the DWR treatment on the poly shell.

In other words, this pullover is ridiculously versatile. It makes an excellent ultralight mid-layer under a shell on cold days, an outer layer on warm days, and a no-frills emergency layer to cram in the bottom of a pack whenever. This is not a puffy cloud-like apres-ski jacket; it’s a lean workhorse. It has proven its worth during countless days of backcountry skiing as well as an 18-day Grand Canyon raft trip this spring that turned frigid on more than a few occasions.

Admittedly, the cut isn’t that cute on women. The elastic on the bottom poofs where women don’t want to poof, but the trade-off is that the elastic helps keep the drafts out. (My guy tester liked the cut of his.) Questionable cuteness quotient notwithstanding, the Nano Puff is probably the jacket I wear most. (And the ugly truth is I have 20-plus jackets.) Patagonia’s prices usually prompt eye rolls, but $150? It’s worth every smacker.

--Kate Siber

Video: Freeskiing World Tour

The News Team — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:01:51 -0500

The Subaru Freeskiing World Tour is on. Now in its 12th year, the tour kicked off this summer in La Parva, Chile, with Chopo Diaz and Jacqui Edgerly taking the victories. There are five more stops in the FWT, and the next one will be at Revelstoke Mountain Resort in British Columbia, January 6 to 10. Telluride, Colorado; Crested Butte, Colorado; Kirkwood, California; and Snowbird, Utah, round out the rest of the tour through March 2010. The overall FWT champions will receive the McConkey Cup, in honor of the late Shane McConkey.

--Aileen Torres

Women Ski Jumpers Lose Court Case

The Powder Feed — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:27:20 -0500

Lame news: The group of elite women ski jumpers looking to British Columbia's courts to help instate women's ski jumping events at the Olympics lost their appeal. Read the whole story here.

Women Ski Jumpers Fight for Olympic Events

The Powder Feed — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:59:52 -0500

Last year, ski jumping phenom Lindsey Van won the first international-level ski-jump medal for the U.S. since 1924 and set the ski-jump record for both men and women at the Vancouver Olympic facility. But you won’t see her at the Olympic Games.

That’s because women aren’t allowed to compete in ski jumping events. But a group of persistent athletes are trying to change that. Today and tomorrow, Lindsey Van and a handful of her teammates and competitors are appealing a former ruling in the courts of British Columbia. They hope a verdict in their favor will force the Olympic Committee to institute a women’s event in the traditionally Euro and macho sport of ski jumping.

These elite athletes have endured appalling hardships in the name of pursuing their sport, from being pushed from the competition platform in Poland to sleeping in barns during competitions for lack of funds. And believe this: Gian Franco Casper, president of the International Federation of Skiing, was once quoted as suggesting that women's uteruses might be damaged from repeated jumps (and therefore perhaps they shouldn't compete). Riiiiight. Can you tell where I stand?

Read the whole story as reported by the Christian Science Monitor here. To help the cause, donate to the non-profit organization Women’s Ski Jumping U.S.A.

--Kate Siber

Snowboard With Shaun White

The News Team — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:35:17 -0500

Win the chance to snowboard with Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White by participating in an ebay auction benefiting the charity Right to Play. Right to Play is an organization focused on using sports and play programs to improve health, develop life skills and foster peace for children in disadvantaged areas of the world. The winner of the auction will receive a day of snowboarding and lunch with Shaun, a VIP Pass to the Burton US Open of Snowboarding, hotel accommodations and the White Collection by Burton Snowboarding Outfit which includes a board, boots, bindings and outdoor gear. There's only one day left in the auction, so check it out soon.

--Alison Kelman

The Next Great Video Contest

The Powder Feed — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:38:56 -0500

'Tis the season of video contests, and the most entertaining one we've found so far is the Colorado Snow at First Sight Contest. The prize is three months of all-expense-paid skiing, snowboarding, sledding, ski-bar carousing, snowball-throwing, and hot tubbing in Colorado, but it's only open to complete snow newbies. Know any Samoans or Texans*? Give them a video camera so they can plead their case in 60 seconds or less. Otherwise go here and vote on which video is the least (or maybe the most?) ridiculous.

--Kate Siber

*Extra points for cute girls apparently.

Shaun White Teaches You New Tricks

The Powder Feed — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:02:15 -0500

Snowboarder Shaun White knows something you don’t, and that is: foam. Lots of it. In a huge landing bin. Learn the flying tomato’s new tricks here.

Don't Try This at Home: Lindsey Vonn's Workouts

The Powder Feed — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:17:21 -0500

In the name of giving ass-kicking skier Lindsey Vonn as much play as possible in the pages of Outside magazine and on this website, may I present to you a window into her workouts. Ok, boys, now you try to balance in a tuck on an exercise ball…

--Kate Siber