New Website!!!!!

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Jackson Is Still Going Off! In March?

What month is it?  There will be no corn skiing in Jackson this year.  Jackson has received more than 40 inches in the last week and the forecast is more snow.  The last week of March has been filled with days of bottomless powder.  The skiing is better than ever and the mountain scheduled to close in six days.It is time to get your “huck on” in Jackson.  Locals are going crazy.  Each season skiers create a mental check list of what they would like to ski.  Right now is the time.  This week I was able to check off SNS.  SNS is a 25-35 ft crack drop (depending on who you talk to) at the top of Rendevous Bowl.  The sun peaked through on Friday morning and Cody Bowl was attacked.  Nothing was left untouched.  It was pretty incredible watch.  People flung themselves off everything and anything, getting the last winter rush before JHMR closes for the season.  The weather forecast for the next week is snow! 

Big Drops

 While everyone is Jackson is chucking themselves off big drops, my friend Ben Stookesberry is also chucking himself – off waterfalls. This was a possible world record first descent.  The current waterfall world record is 107 feet run by Tyler Bradt.  According to the Denver Post, “Kayaker Tyler Bradt dropped 107 feet over Alexandra Falls, located along the Hay River in Canada’s Northwest Territories, and in the process setting a new World’s record.”   Ben estimates the drop he took to be around 120 feet.  Not only is the falls big, but at the bottom of falls live a 22 foot anaconda, according to locals.  Ben’s account of the event came to me in an email:  

"I can´t take the title away from Tyler Bradt yet but

there is a good chance I will run this one again with some sort of supper glue on my spray skirt and a willingness to get beat down by massive converging currents in the pool below.   This 33 - 39 meter falls is an example of hydraulic perfection in Brazil.  3000 cfs on the Current River converge into a 15 foot wide power tongue that plummets into the pool 107 - 115 feet  below.  Due to heavy rain, the river was running about 9 feet above base flow creating a roiling pool with a 6 - 10 foot boil in the pool below.  Certainly the act of running a falls like this seems to be the epitome of hedonism, but I like to think about it as a group descent.  My safety and film team at the bottom consisted of Ryan Mac and Chris Zawacki.  Ryan McPherson has been to Brazil for the last 5 years and knows more about Brazil's class V rivers than anyone else on the planet.  Chris Zawacki is your go anywhere do anything positive laid back kind of guy that is an amazing boater and photographer.  My company at the lip consisted of two of the most positive people on the planet... Jesse Coombs and Pedro Olivia.  Pedro has been pushing this trip to the amazing quantity of huge runnable falls that exist in central Brazil and he can be seen in the photo living it up in the 70 degree spray of this monster.  As you already know, Jesse Coombs is the hardcore kayaker \ business man that brings a coherent analytical perspective to extreme end of the whitewater spectrum."

 Ben’s sprayskirt blew when he reached the bottom of the falls, which means he cannot claim a the Wolrd Record.  But I give him huge props for the attempt and cannot wait to see his upcoming video.  To see his trailer click on the Whitewater Kayaking link.

US Freeskiing Nationals, Snowbird 2008

 What an amazing event. Between rain in Europe and the “American Peso” I decided to fly home just in time to visit my friends from the IFSA and MSI and compete at the US Freeskiing Nationals. The women skied like men, ripping down the venue and stomping thirty foot cliff drops. It was sick. I don’t know what these women have been doing this year, but the competition level was the highest I have ever seen. After three runs, I skied into third place. Next stop, Alyaska. The competition results, photos, and webcast can be found on www.usfreeskiing.com. There will also be live coverage of Alyaska. Check it out!

What is the Freeride World Tour?

FWT PRESENTATION:The Idea : after 13 years organizing the Verbier Xtreme Freeride competition, it is now time to move one step up. The organizers, the athletes and the Freeride industry is ready and waiting for it… This winter, professional freeride skiers and snowboarders will finally go head to head in a Freeride World Tour made up of five events and boasting the biggest prize money ever in the history of this sport.The Freeride World Tour : the top international Freeriders, Men and Women, Ski and Sowboard, battle for the first ever professional World Champion Title.The locations : the best Freeride spots on earth have been selected by the organizers and the Pro Freeriders Board (PFB) to host the 5 main events of the Freeride World Tour (FWT), the 3 qualifying events of the Freeride World Qualifying Series (FWQS) and 2 open events.  

January 26th, Mammoth CA

 The Freeride World Tour kicked off in Mammoth CA, on January 22nd.  I arrived a couple of days early to scope the venue, Mount McGee.  Eric and I arrived in the parking lot of Mount McGee to be greeted by our friends Nick Greener and Drew Tabke.  I was armed with my digital camera and prepared to take as many pictures as it took to find the winning line.  Why a digital camera?  The rules of the competition state that no competitor shall ski the venue one month prior to the competition.   The boys came armed with a snowmobile which they towed in from Utah.  They looked at my camera and then looked at their snowmobile and laughed.  ”Jess do you want a ride to the top?” “I thought we weren’t allowed to the ski the venue?” “I don’t see anyone around, do you?”I looked around and thought about this, “It would be pretty sweet to ski the venue.  Are you sure you guys haven’t seen anyone?” “Nope!  Come on, let’s go.” I quickly put all my gear on and the next thing I knew, I was hanging on to one handle of a snowmobile and heading up the face at about 40 mph.   At the top of the mountain the wind was nuking.  I started for the ridge and was blown over by a huge gust of wind.  I decided I would find some place that was protected and wait for the wind to die down.  After about an hour, the wind had only gotten stronger and I decided I better get myself off the ridge asap.  I put my pack on and clicked into my skis.  I couldn’t see anything and decided not to bother with scouting.  At this point I just wanted to get off of the ridge before I was blown off the ridge.  I started to ski down the ridge and all of the sudden I felt a huge shock in my hands.  It was so strange.  I couldn’t figure out where it had come from.  I paused for a moment and then began skiing again.  Again, another shock.  This time I realized the electrical shock was coming from ski poles.  I thought, what the hell, is that possible?  So ofcourse, I had to try it again.  I stuck both my poles in the snow and zap!  Yep, I was being shocked by my poles.  Did I mention that it was really windy up there.  At this point I was a little spooked.  The wind was so strong.  I couldn’t see anything.  And I was being electricuted by my poles.  I decided not to ski the face and ski down the backside of the mountain.  An hour later, I arrived in the parking lot, where the boys were losing it.  During my windy descent, an avalanche had triggered down the face and the boys were concerned that I was caught in it.  Luckily, I wasn’t and all of decided we better call it day.The next day, I returned to Mount McGee armed with only my camera and proceeded to create a line for the competition.  I was psyched about my line, but concerned about the snow.  After the 100mph winds and a natural slide, I wasn’t sure how great the snow would be.  In fact, I was pretty sure it would be kind of gnarly.The competition started the next day.  We arrived at 7:00 in the morning.  The scene was so cool.  There were hundreds of people there to watch.  Two helicopters buzzed around with guides checking the face for safety.  The men were scheduled to ski first.  At 7:30, the male competitors started to load the helis and were shuttled to the top of the ridge.   Again, the wind began to pick up.  An hour later, the wind was nuking and the helis were having a difficult time flying.  The guides were the first to ski the face.  They dropped in  and imidiately radioed that the snow was bullet proof.  Not the best conditions for a freeride competition, where hucking and sick lines are what is expected.  Eventually the organizers decided to postpone the event due to heavy winds and bad snow conditions.All of the competitors gathered for a meeting at the base of Mammoth Mountain to discuss an alternate venue for the competition.  Everyone agreed to hold competition within the boundaries of the Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort.The next morning, I woke up to at least a foot of snow.  We loaded the lift at 7:00 to look at the face.  The comp was scheduled to start at 9:00.  By the time 9:00 rolled around it was dumping.  Once again, the organizers decided to postpone the event due to poor visibility.This started the waiting game.  The snow kept piling up and all the competitors went powder skiing.  Not a bad alternative to competing.  On friday a descision had to be made.  There were only two possible competition days left and it was time to make it happen.  A tough descision was made.  It was decided to have the competition on “OH Shit” ridge due to massive amounts of snow an poor visibility.  The ridge was not ideal for a freeskiing competition because it is extremely short with very few features.  The other alternative was not hold the competition which wasn’t really an option.The competition began on Saturday morning at 9:00.  I dropped in from the top of ridge, beginning with a straight into deep powder turns.  I finished my run with another big straight line into a mandatory air.  My run took a total of 15 seconds.  My second run was about as quick.  I started from the left side of the ridge and dropped a 15 foot cliff, skied some more powder and then dropped a 20 foot cliff.  I think this run took about 20 seconds.  To my surprise, this was enough to win the first stop of the freeride world tour.

"Line Score"

Coreshot films has documented the IFSA Freeskiing Tour.
Check it out!