Crossman Wins the U.S. Freeskiing Nationals

Five-time teleski champion Dylan Crossman shut down reigning champs Drew Tabke and Aurelien Ducroz at the 11th annual U.S. Freeskiing Nationals with a hesitation-free super final run on North Baldy.

A record 1,200-plus people showed up last Saturday to Utah's Snowbird resort to watch the comp and check out some of the world’s best freeskiers huck it big for a piece of the $12,500 purse.

The resort’s 145-inch base opened up new lines on Snowbird’s Peruvian Gulch as well as on Mt. Baldy, allowing the 200-odd competitors to go big and move into untried terrain in the 200-acre designated course.

Freeskiing World Tour points leader Brett Crabtree placed third overall. He dropped one of the biggest cliffs of the day—more than 50 feet—and will battle it out with Crossman at the April 9-13 Subaru Freeskiing World Championship for the title.

Squaw Valley’s Jacyln Passo entered the super finals in seventh and quickly moved up, winning the women’s title with an aggressive double-stager typically only thrown by male competitors.

Check out Ski.com for special deals on the Freeskiing World Championship at Alaska. —Christina Erb

Still photos: Eben Wight/MSI, Video: Christina Erb

Little Free in Tibet

Amid the recent eruption of violent Tibetan protests and the subsequent violent Chinese response, one thing remains perfectly clear. That what is truly happening in China may never be clear. With the Chinese banning foreign news agencies from reporting within the region, suspending foreign travel into Tibet, and further blocking untraditional information sources like YouTube from being accessed within China, claims that 100 or more Tibetans have been killed are yet to be confirmed. As Reuters has reported in a timeline of the past week's events, protests that started in Lhasa have now spread around the world. Meanwhile the Chinese appear to stand by their assertion that the Dalai Lama, recipient of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, has orchestrated the protests from India. National Public Radio reported this morning that the exiled head of state has now asserted that if the Tibetans escalate the violence he will step down as their governmental leader from India. In the Reuters footage below, the Dalai Lama reiterates those claims.

    The Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, said in a news conference that the protests are being carried out by the Tibetans in hopes of sabotaging the Beijing Olympics this summer. However, given the protests aimed at China's connection to the genocidal government of Sudan, the air quality concerns in Beijing which have already resulted in one world record holder withdrawing from Olympic competition, the plans to close Mount Everest to expeditions while the Chinese attempt to summit with the Olympic torch in hand, and the fears of food quality and safety in China that are prompting the U.S. Olympic Committee to ship food in for all U.S. athletes during the games, the Chinese appear to be sabotaging the Olympics just fine on their own.

--Jason Kerkmans

Video Interview: Snowboarder Mason Aguirre

Twenty-year-old Mason Aguirre may seem like your typical snowboarder, but winning the 2006 World Superpipe Championships, placing fourth in his first year at the Olympics, and snagging first in the 2006 Burton New Zealand Open are no average feats. The Minnesota-native scored again at the World Superpipe Championships last weekend and Outside caught up with him to ask a few questions.

Like why mixed in with all those sponsorships that fit a snowboarder (Burton, Smith Optics, DVS, SoBe, and Mammoth Mountain), is a deal with Los Angeles-based, surf shop Val Surf? And what's with that FRENDS sticker on his helmet?
--Alicia Carr

World Superpipe Championships

Park City Mountain Resort in Utah played host to one of the most authoritative contests in skiing and snowboarding last weekend, the invitation-only World Superpipe Championships. A handful of snow-play celebs, including Shaun White, Kelly Clark, Simon Dumont, and Mason Aguirre, hit the 22-foot pipe during the one day, crowd-pleasing event. In the end, three athletes walked home with the $15,000 top prize: Shaun White in Men's Snowboard, Roxy's Torah Bright in Women's Snowboard, and New Zealand's Jossi Wells in Men's Ski.

View the big tricks in Outside's on-scene video below. Plus, check back for one-on-one interviews with the snow-world's most talented athletes. --Alicia Carr

Aquaman's New Suit

With six months left before the start of the 2008 Summer Olympics, swim wear manufacturer Speedo has just unveiled what it says is "the world's fastest swimsuit." As the New York Times reported, the company has begun taking orders for the $550 body suit and is providing a glimpse into what makes its new LZR Racer its most advanced suit yet (see video below). The company's roster of Olympic swimmers - Michael Phelps, Amanda Beard, Dara Torres, and others - were all on hand for the unveiling while donning the new swim skin, which Speedo claims provides ten-percent less drag and five-percent more oxygen efficiency. The LZR Racer suit (pronounced "laser racer") is built from just three pieces of fabric - if you can call any part of the ultra thin, water repellent, compression suit fabric - and in place of speed-constricting seams the three sections were ultrasonically welded together. For Phelps, who won eight Olympic medals in 2004 and shared his workout with Outside (The Big Chill, January) as he prepares to win more in Beijing, the new suit is likely the last thing his competitors want to hear about.

--Jason Kerkmans

Video: Kipp Nelson on 48Straight

Kipp Nelson, the man behind 48Straight, never sleeps—or at least, that’s the impression one gets from the native Californian and his new tour.

The moniker, 48Straight, stands for nonstop action, mountain culture and music. The 2007 Honda Ski Tour hopped from Sun Valley to Breckenridge to Aspen to Squaw Valley, and drew big-name artists such as G. Love and Special Sauce, as well as funk master George Clinton. This year was just as insane:

Nelson, a former partner at Goldman-Sachs and the driving force behind this snow extravaganza, invested millions in the original tour. He teamed up with the Jeep King of the Mountain tour to bring 48Straight to three mountain towns—Telluride , Squaw Valley and Sun Valley—this year.

And, this spring, when the snow melts, the tour will move on to mountain-bike racing—and, of course, music and parties galore. Nelson's got big plans, and he's stoked to share them with you. Check out what he's got to say below. —Christina Erb

Video: Skiers Get Big Air at 48Straight

Kiwi Jossi Wells got big air at the John Paul Mitchell Systems halfpipe competition at 48Straight last Sunday, taking down defending big air champ Simon Dumont with a huge last run.

He pulled off a series of tricks, including a 540, back-to-back 900’s, and a 720 to a switch 900 for the win. Hundreds of skiers, snowboarders and bystanders swarmed around the halfpipe to watch some of the world's best pro skiers try to land epic jumps.

X Games phenomenon Dumont, who skied despite a hurt shoulder, didn't make the podium this year. He injured his shoulder in Aspen while trying to land a quarter pipe stunt.

Canada’s Sarah Burke scored first place in the women’s division, beating out red-hot competitors like Utah’s Jen Hudak and Grete Eliassen and Canada’s Roz Groenewoud. Hudak took second, wowing the crowd with her ally-oops, and Groenewoud grabbed third place with her big airs. —Christina Erb
 

Video: Kraus Wins 48Straight's Ski Cross

48Straight's ski cross comp (think motocross on sticks) pitted past Olympians as well as rising stars against one another as they tore down a 40-second course, making huge jumps, sharp turns and a final fast descent across the finish line this past Saturday.

Aspen’s four-time Olympian Casey Puckett raced despite a two-week-old shoulder injury, and came in a close second to Czech powerhouse Tomas Kraus, the world’s top-ranked ski-cross racer. Daron Rahlves, a local favorite to win, didn’t make it out of the quarterfinals. He had a poor start in his final race, and couldn’t catch Puckett on this year’s shortened course.

The course is usually carved into the mountain 10 days before 48Straight hits town, but winds exceeding 150-miles and poor weather made it impossible. So, instead, they carved it out in less than two days. It still proved to be a challenge to skiers though, as more than one of them wound up rag dolling it down the slope. —Christina Erb

Video: The Roots at 48Straight

When Kipp Nelson says that sleep is overrated at 48Straight, it’s an understatement: He jam packed at least 36 hours this weekend with elite snowboard and ski cross racing, halfpipe competitions, fashion and art displays, and high-profile bands rocking out at nearly all hours of the day.

It’s an insane non-stop party, and it’s only growing. This summer, 48Straight and Jeep King of the Mountain will host a variety of music festivals and summer-sports competitions as well as another trio of skiing and snowboarding-charged parties this coming winter.

Nelson started 48Straight last year to celebrate mountain culture and sports, and provide outdoor aficionados like himself with a place to celebrate top athletes as well as jam out to killer bands like The Roots, The Crystal Method, and Macy Gray.

He’s doing a damn fine job too. Check out Def Jam’s The Roots right here. —Christina Erb

Bode's On Top

Bode Miller became the most successful American skier on Sunday in Austria in his typical, out-of-control fashion by completing a run that included skiing off a downhill fence without wiping, according to the Associated Press. The one-time Outside cover boy is now standing alone atop the list of American World Cup winners with 28 career victories, and he's also traveling alone this year after leaving the U.S. Ski Team in May, 2007. With the 2010 winter games in Vancouver on the horizon, and a not so great public showing in the 2006 games, maybe Miller will listen to Outside contributor Brian Curtis's 2006 advice on how to be liked.

Then again, maybe not. Nearly a year ago, Miller told the Associated Press that he won't take part in another Olympics, a stance he's softened on some but never denied.
--Jason Kerkmans

Mercier Wins Ouray Ice Festival Title

Seventeen world-class ice climbers, including German female powerhouse Ines Papert and Ukrainian World Champion Evgeny Kryvosheytsev, vied for the Ouray Ice Festival's top honor this past weekend in Ouray, Colorado.

Both Papert and Kryvoshevtsev made it to the top section with about six minutes and 12 minutes, respectively, to spare but it was French climber Jeff Mercier who successfully drytool dynoed to the top.

The four-foot move proved too much for Papert despite the 5'6", 33-year-old's half a dozen attempts. Kryvosheytsev, last year's Ouray Ice Festival winner, reached the final challenge in an unprecedented eight minutes when his tools unexpectedly popped off a hold. They both fell on the final move.

The mixed, 60-foot-plus route had climbers navigating up both ice and rock as well as three man-made obstacles: two "tuna rolls," wooden logs hanging from chains, and the "diving board," a 42-degree overhanging plywood plank, with more sparsely placed holds.

Got to see it to believe it? Watch the video here.

2008 Final Rankings:

1.    Jeff Mercier (France): TOP OUT
2.    Ines Papert (f-Germany): 37 zones
3.    Evgeny Kryvosheytsev (Ukraine): 36
4.    Boris Bihler (France): 35
5.    Carlos Garcia Bello (Spain): 35
6.    Rich Marshall (Canada): 33
7.    Audrey Gariepy (f-Canada): 33
8.    Will Mayo (US): 25.5
9.    Manuel Cordova (Spain): 27
10.    Michael Shelton (US): 18.1
11.    Matthieu Audibert (Canada): 18
12.    Rob Cordery-Cotter (US): 18
13.    Tanja Grmovsek (f-Slovenia): 18
14.    Guy Lacelle (Canada): 17
15.    Maxime Turgeon (Canada): 12
16.    Dawn Glanc (f-US): 12
17.    Kristie Arend (f-US): 11

Video of the Day: Glacier Surfing

Big wave surfers Kealii Mamala and Garret McNamara towed in to a new kind of wave this month when they carved glacier-generated tsunami waves at Child's Glacier on the Copper River, in South-Central Alaska. Four-hundred-foot chunks of Child’s Glacier fell into the river making for breaking waves that would roll for over 300 yards.

Skiing: Powderwhore Preview

Powderwhore, a Utah-based telemark film production company, just released a preview of their newest film, PW07. From Canada's Baffin Island to Alaska's Chugach Range, these freeheelers do more than just drop a knee: They carve big lines, ski steep couloirs, and huck air that rivals their alpine counterparts. The best part? They don't use helicoptors to reach the top of 14,000-foot peaks—just manpower. And womanpower, thanks to the one female skier who graces the screen in this year's film, 29-year-old Misha Zitkova, a pro tele-skier from the Czech Republic. "Mish Mish, as we call her, skis fast, racer style, and we've had comments that she has the best form of all the guys from our films," says Powderwhore's producer Noah Howel.