Line of the Winter | Leo Taillefer Frenchman Leo Taillefer shreds his home mountain of Val d’Isere for GoPro’s Line of the Winter contest. Taillefer has some serious love for Val d’Isere: I traveled the last 7 years for skiing. I did USA, Canada, South America, Sweden, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, and after all trips, I come back [to] Val d’Isere and I see that’s the best place for me. – PLANKS Clothing athlete profile. The good stuff starts at about 1:03. ameliatraynor | April 2, 2015 1 Comment
Vermont Backcountry | March Madness TGR’s Mike Hayes brings us to Northern Vermont, shredding lines on VT’s biggest peak, Mt. Mansfield. Vermont has had one of it’s best seasons in years, giving western resorts a run for their money. The snow depth at “The Stake” on the summit of Mt. Mansfield is up to 88 inches, as of March 31. Thats 16 inches above average. Seriously. There’s a TON of snow. Backcountry ameliatraynor | April 1, 2015 2 Comments
Heli-Skiing… in the East? The freedom of heli-skiing is finally coming to the east coast. Maine’s based Heli-Bear will take you to newly developed backcountry trails throughout Maine’s high peaks region, and eventually across the Appalachians, the Adirondacks and into Eastern Canada. Tired of riding the East the same old ways? Be part of the evolution of Northeast heli-skiing at Saddleback Mountain on March 21st, 2015. It’s a heck of a value and something that will go down in your history books. Get your GoPro ready. With 14 seats remaining for the 1st event, your $700 ticket will get you 5 hours of unlimited helicopter […] ameliatraynor | March 27, 2015 0 Comments
VIDEO: This Line Is In a Ski Resort… | Big Sky, MT “It’s late March, and Spring has arrived at Big Sky Resort. Well, at least we thought it did… turns out Old Man Winter had a different idea.” With 23” of fresh powder in the last 48 hours, it’s not spring yet at Big Sky in Montana. Put your pants on, check your temp, and go shred today because we’ve got the powder fever. We just got dumped on here at Big Sky Resort with 15-18″ in the last 24 hours. –Big Sky ameliatraynor | March 26, 2015 7 Comments
Ski Patrol: One of America’s Worst Paying Jobs According to a study by SkiPatrol.net, Ski Patrollers are among the lowest paying workers in America. Along with Lifeguards, Recreational Protective Services (RPS) workers make less than 97% of US professions, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. From SkiPatrol.net: It’s important to note that 90%+ of ski patrollers that are also National Ski Patrol members in the US take no compensation for their work, and do not appear in this category of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. ameliatraynor | March 25, 2015 5 Comments
Colorado Supreme Court Rules on In-Bound Avalanche Liability When skiing in-bounds, you probably aren’t thinking about the potential of a deadly avalanche – resorts take care of that, right? But in a single day in 2012, two men died in avalanches IN BOUNDS on open trails in Colorado. Taft Conlin from Eagle County, only 13-years old, died in a snowslide on the Prima Cornice trail at Vail. Christopher Norris, a 28-year old father of two, was buried in a slide within the ski area at Winter Park. Both tragic deaths spurred lawsuits, and the Colorado […] Avalanche ameliatraynor | March 23, 2015 3 Comments
Lindsey Vonn Ties World Cup Record with 67th Win The pressure was on for Lindsey Vonn at the World Cup Finals in Meribel, France on Thursday. Just minutes before Vonn stepped up to the gate, Austrian Anna Fenninger secured a solid .71 lead for first. “I knew I had to risk everything if I wanted to get the title,” said Lindsey Vonn. “I risked it all.” Vonn gave it her all, capturing a record-tying 19th World Cup crystal globe by earning her record-extending 67th World Cup victory, a super-G at the World Cup Finals. After 67 seconds of all-out skiing, Vonn crossed the finish line and saw she had […] ameliatraynor | March 22, 2015 0 Comments
VIDEO: 50-Foot Backflip to Stomp in Competition Dennis Risvoll sent this huge backy off an enormous cliff at the Nendaz Freeride 4* last week. The 28-year old from Norway is the current leader in the 2015 Freeride World Qualifiers. Dennis Risvoll is no stranger to Freeride – he has been a competitor in this game of ours for nearly ten years now. After a stint on the FWT and a brief hiatus thereafter, Dennis is back on the Freeride World Qualifying tour to make some waves. – FWT ameliatraynor | March 18, 2015 1 Comment
Candide Thovex | “Few Words” FULL MOVIE! Happy St. Patricks Day – Quicksilver just put Candide Thovex’s 2012 film “Few Words” up on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. Follow Candide’s journey to become one of the most successful and talented freestyle skiers the world has ever seen. Winner of the Best Male Performance (Candide Thovex), the “Full Throttle” Award, the Best Cinematography Award and the Best Documentary Award at the Powder Awards, Utah, USA. Backcountry ameliatraynor | March 17, 2015 0 Comments
Ski Instructor Charged with Manslaughter in Avalanche Death A ski instructor in Val d’Isere has been charged with manslaughter, following the death of his client in an avalanche in December 2010. The avalanche occurred off-piste in the “couloir des pisteurs” on the north face of the Charvet. The two men were carried 400 meters by the slide, and while the instructor managed to stay above the snow, his client was completely buried by the avalanche. Thanks to an avalanche beacon, he was found after 20 minutes. The client was already in a state of cardio-vascular arrest, and was airlifted to […] Avalanche ameliatraynor | March 16, 2015 1 Comment
Skier Clipped by Plane, Suffers “Near Amputation” A Polish woman was seriously injured Thursday when she was hit by a plane careening down the slopes of Avoriaz in the French Alps. The ski-equipped Jodel single-prop plane failed to take off from a snowy high-altitude runway near the ski area, and the pilot was unable to stop the plane as it slid into resort bounds. The plane skirted a group of children and slid under a chairlift before clipping a 55 year old Polish woman with its propeller, almost completely severing her hand. Emergency services reported that she suffered a “near […] ameliatraynor | March 16, 2015 2 Comments
16 Ski Areas Could Change Hands in Major Resort Sell-Off Over a dozen ski resorts could be changing hands as CNL Lifestyle Properties, a real estate investment trust out of Newry, Maine considers getting out of the snow business. Owning ski resorts from Maine to California, CNL’s portfolio is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. CNL Lifestyle Properties owns 16 resorts – including Sunday River and Sugarloaf in Maine, Bretton Woods, Loon Mountain and Mount Sunapee in New Hampshire, Okemo Mountain in Vermont, Stevens Pass in Washington, Crested Butte in Colorado, Brighton in Utah, and […] Industry News ameliatraynor | March 16, 2015 13 Comments
NASA Scientist: California Has One Year of Water Left If you’re not taking the drought in California seriously yet, this may change your mind – a senior scientist at NASA predicts there’s only one year of water left in California’s reservoirs. In an op-ed published Thursday by the Los Angeles Times, Jay Famiglietti, a senior water scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said “we’re not just up the creek without a paddle – we’re losing the creek too.” Given the historic low temperatures and snowfalls that pummeled the eastern U.S. this […] Weather ameliatraynor | March 16, 2015 2 Comments
The Benefits of Living Alone on a Mountain It’s a lonely job, but someone’s got to do it. Lief Haugen has spent every summer since 1994 as a fire lookout in a remote outpost of Montana’s Flathead National Forest. Filmmaker Brian Bolster profiles Lief’s day to day life alone on top of a mountain. “To be a lookout, you really have to love solitary time by yourself,” he says. “This is a reminder of keeping it simple. It’s just me and this place and the work.” ameliatraynor | March 15, 2015 2 Comments
VIDEO: Aussie Skier Rescued After Burial in Swiss Avalanche January 30, 2015 – Les Crosets, the Swiss-French border. Australian skier James Mort and his three friends were just a week into their month-long ski trip when a storm brought more than three feet of fresh snow in a 48 hour period. Although the avalanche risk was a 4/5, the men were eager to make up for the dry conditions during the week prior. After spending most of the day playing it safe, they decided to head off-piste for fresh tracks in a wooded line known amongst locals as a safer option due to its short length and low pitch […] Avalanche ameliatraynor | March 12, 2015 0 Comments
Can High-Tech Snowmaking Save California Skiing? As you already know, California is suffering through what might be its worst winter in history. By mid-February, almost every hill in Tahoe had received less than 50 percent of its average snowfall – resorts like Tahoe Donner, Soda Springs and Homewood have all closed for the season. But the snowmaking team at Heavenly is doing all they can to fight back against California’s drought. Owned by $3.1 billion company Vail Resorts, Heavenly is equipped with some of the most sophisticated and expensive snowmaking machines in the US […] ameliatraynor | March 9, 2015 3 Comments
VIDEO: 1985 Breckenridge Ski Ballet In what might be the most 80’s thing you’ve seen this week, we reflect on ski ballet- a bizarre, glorious sport that brought together figure skating and freestyle skiing. While their puffy-sleeved jackets are hilarious, these guys were at the top of their game. This stuff takes skill, but more so, some serious bravado – like Richard Schabl’s fabulous back-tuck somersalt entrance to his 1985 routine in Breckenridge, CO: Olympics ameliatraynor | March 4, 2015 0 Comments
NASA’s First Global Rainfall and Snowfall Map NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first map of global rain and snowfall. In the most detailed map of Earth’s precipitation that has ever been created, NASA scientists can follow the planet’s weather patterns in near real-time. NASA teamed up with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to launch the GPM Core Observatory just over a year ago. The Core Observatory, which acts as a tuner to bring together measurements of 12 international […] Weather ameliatraynor | March 4, 2015 0 Comments
VIDEO: Himalayas at 20,000 ft. | Teton Gravity Research In yet another incredible video from the folks over at TGR, unprecedented footage of the Himalayas takes us up to 20,000 ft. to see Everest, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam. The aerial cinema experts at Teton Gravity Research release the first ultra HD footage of the Himalayas shot from above 20,000 ft. with the GSS C520 system, the most advanced gyro-stabilized camera system in the world. Filmed from a helicopter with a crew flying from Kathmandu […] ameliatraynor | March 4, 2015 0 Comments
Winter Park Ski Train Rides Again Amtrak and Winter Park Ski Resort announced last week they would operate a one-day, roundtrip ski-train excursion from downtown Denver to Winter Park. The Ski Train’s awaited return is scheduled for March 14th, in celebration of the resort’s 75th anniversary. After tickets sold out for the “one-time only” Ski Train in just 10 hours, officials announced Tuesday that they would be adding a second trip on March 15th. This time, the 450-plus tickets were gone in nearly four hours. The $75 ticket price […] Industry News ameliatraynor | March 4, 2015 0 Comments
Amelia Traynor
Amelia Traynor
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