johnasmo

The season out west is far from over, but the lift assisted runs have been replaced by daily hiking, except for a few more weekend hits further away. I do extensive tracking, so I've got more numbers to share than most. Not everyone has the wherewithal to move to the Rockies and make riding a priority, but if you do, these could be your numbers too: Total days so far (including today): 127 Lift assisted days: 105 Whitefish Mountain Resort, MT: 92 Aspen, CO: 7 Fernie, BC: 4 Kimberley, BC: 1 Turner Mountain, MT: 1 Hiking days: 22 Buy why stop with such simple stats? Doesn't everybody track their vertical and board usage? [table=width: 500, align: left] [tr] [td] Board [/td] [td] Vertical [/td] [td] Days [/td] [td] % of riding [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Coiler Clubby 182 (alpine) [/td] [td] 686,032 [/td] [td] 28 [/td] [td] 22% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Nidecker Megalite 163XL [/td] [td] 491,605 [/td] [td] 20 [/td] [td] 16% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Coiler Clubby 175 (alpine) [/td] [td] 462,008 [/td] [td] 19 [/td] [td] 15% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Coiler VSR 177 (alpine) [/td] [td] 249,968 [/td] [td] 12 [/td] [td] 8% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Coiler Classic 177 (alpine) [/td] [td] 192,340 [/td] [td] 12 [/td] [td] 6% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Sims Protocol 163 [/td] [td] 181,980 [/td] [td] 13 [/td] [td] 6% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Flow Solitude 164W [/td] [td] 180,232 [/td] [td] 11 [/td] [td] 6% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Nidecker Megalite 167XL [/td] [td] 162,369 [/td] [td] 7 [/td] [td] 5% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] F2 Eliminator LTD 164W [/td] [td] 114,496 [/td] [td] 6 [/td] [td] 4% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Burton Triumph 164 [/td] [td] 67,317 [/td] [td] 7 [/td] [td] 2% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Burton Triumph 169 [/td] [td] 47,300 [/td] [td] 13 [/td] [td] 2% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] F2 Respekt 176 [/td] [td] 38,416 [/td] [td] 2 [/td] [td] 1% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Burton Factory Prime 157 [/td] [td] 35,920 [/td] [td] 4 [/td] [td] 1% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] G-Force Blade 171 (alpine) [/td] [td] 27,144 [/td] [td] 2 [/td] [td] 1% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Coiler Monster 185 (alpine) [/td] [td] 26,750 [/td] [td] 2 [/td] [td] 1% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Donek Rec GS 185 (alpine) [/td] [td] 21,424 [/td] [td] 1 [/td] [td] 1% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Burton Fish 156 [/td] [td] 16,704 [/td] [td] 1 [/td] [td] 1% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Other (alpine) [/td] [td] 13,200 [/td] [td] 2 [/td] [td] 0% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Other (freestyle) [/td] [td] 12,696 [/td] [td] 2 [/td] [td] 0% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] PBR [/td] [td] 11,800 [/td] [td] 6 [/td] [td] 0% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Prior Khyber Split 165 [/td] [td] 10,000 [/td] [td] 5 [/td] [td] 0% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Volkl Renn Tiger 173 (alpine) [/td] [td] 4,520 [/td] [td] 1 [/td] [td] 0% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Never Summer Legacy 163 [/td] [td] 2,632 [/td] [td] 1 [/td] [td] 0% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Coiler Violator 188 (alpine) [/td] [td] 0 [/td] [td] 0 [/td] [td] 0% [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Other (ski) [/td] [td] 0 [/td] [td] 0 [/td] [td] 0% [/td] [/tr] [/table] Total Vertical: 3,056,000 feet 55% alpine (hardboots) 45% freestyle (softboots) Final numbers are a good month or more away. Last year I reached 163 days on July 23rd at Logan Pass in Glacier Park. :) Pry not this year as total days are down because of low November and December snow and a delayed resort opening. The remaining open resorts within 5 hours are Silver Mountain, Banff Lake Louise, and Sunshine Village.

Does a video of still photos belong in the Photos forum or Videos forum? Source material is photos, so I choose here. <iframe width="1280" height="720" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/K9NULn86Kz4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Fabulous closing day at Whitefish Mountain Resort. One of the resort photo dudes finally set up someplace worthy of good carving shots, Ptarmigan Bowl. This is a video of stills, but at least I get to be in it this way. I'm the one doing the dredman impersonation in the fashionable Burton one piece. Watch in full 1080 HD to see what a Canon 5D with a big ass $2000 L series lens can do. <iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/K9NULn86Kz4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Yeah, he is smooth. I think it's something he learned from Diana. He and Diana are featured (at 05:00 minute mark) in the Part II video of that same day. It is here: The whole SES 2012 playlist (still a work in progress) is here:

I don't know if Bomber Industries SES is the biggest or oldest or whatever-est carving gathering worldwide, but it undoubtedly is a top shelf event. It attracts a critical mass of really cool and talented carving personalities, and it's held in the world class resorts of Aspen, Colorado. My video posts may get lost in the SES discussion threads, so starting a thread here to focus on SES videos. If you're on the fence about spending the money to attend SES, watch theses videos to help make up your mind. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL4628FD8268A4F3CA&hl=en_US" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> It's a video playlist, so it rolls from one to the next, and there's a control in the viewer to browse through them, or follow the link below. SES 2012: Past johnasmo SES Playlists: SES 2011: SES 2010: SES 2009:

Cool stuff Ace. Helps keep the riding stoke up even off the hill. I happen to like some shots with both the subject and the followers shadow in the same shot. To me, it evokes the sensation of tail gunning with someone -- that there are really two people playing together and the viewer is a 3rd party watching the game they are playing. To illustrate, check out 13:20 to 14:15 in this video of mine ( ). I think the late afternoon sun helped the shot capture the tail-gunning experience, not just point of view.

A couple more uploads complete. This is still just day 2, pretty much same edit as shown at the Banquet, but with a soundtrack to make the length tolerable. I probably could cut all this down to a few minutes of really good short, 1 to 3 second, slow motion shots, but that would leave so much of someone's riding on the cutting room floor. Though long for 3rd party viewers, I hope these edits are still nice for those actually present at SES or at least those riding in the clips. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DHYDliB1ef0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-EXXVGbBgj0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The whole 12 minutes, of solo cam? Only a true boarder would do that. It's more compelling to watch someone's riding. Did you see last year's "tree riding" video, when I found a buddy who liked the tree riding too? I was talking to someone on the lift today, about how much ride-able terrain we have here if you're comfortable tree riding. I had to point out that we differentiate between tree riding and glade riding. Glade riding is just off-piste riding -- tree riding is sticks in your face, blind corners and dead ends, moguls with attitude. Life is not all groomers and corduroy. :)

<img class="attach" src="attachment.php?attachmentid=29702&stc=1&d=1329764343" alt="" /> Alpine boards at the beach. Another chance to add to the off-snow product reviews?

Made it back to town Friday; just in time for this dump. It was epic. Both snow and crowds. You must have been the only one who didn't call in sick. Why couldn't it have been today (Monday)? The singles lines were backed up Middlefork all morning. I hate lift lines, so I rode powder stashes in the trees between Chair 2 and Big Ravine all morning, then finally began lapping Hellroaring Basin in the afternoon. It was enough snow to bring out my 176 F2 for the first time this season; not my typical tree runner, which would be a Fish, but the float was better. Switched to Nidecker Megalight 167 in the afternoon; it was happy with conditions too. No friends on a powder day. Not intentional, but avoiding the crowds, I apparently avoided my buddies too. Shoot some video, but nobody to follow cam. :( <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dTs_secoorA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> P.S. Today was the same snow, but S U N N Y ! ! ! Woo Hoo! Worked down in size to a 163 Megalight. Maybe tomorrow I'll downsize all the way to the Fish and explore even tighter trees, though they don't come much tighter than what I've already been riding.

I didn't notice any major changes. Just the ability to crank off a ton more runs each day, and park within 50 yards of the lift. Thumbs up on the new lift in my book.

Sorry to miss you Allee, but I'm on my way out of the country right now. You missed some challenging steeps carving Thursday. They winch groomed the "Chute" (south end of Big Face), Heep Steep. Those, along with Corkscrew and Middlefork made at least 1500 vertical feet of butt puckering turns all in one run. It took me 4 tries to get a clean run down the Chute, which makes Heep Steep feel easy in comparison. Hero snow, even at 2:00 PM when I arrived. Hope you have fun this weekend.

I would have included more of KarverKai, but we never made any runs together. I guess he was too busy following Ace. The little bit I included I scrounged from one of (Big Dog) Dave's GoPro clips, but that's all there was of him. Anyway, here's footage from the first Saturday at Buttermilk. Nearly the same cuts as previewed at the banquet, just uploaded and with soundtracks. Featured in the first are Dave and Angie. Featured in the second are Andy, Norm, Diana, and one short slalomy Virus whose rider's name escapes me (European, maybe with PureBoarding). That was an active ride tail gunning with a 182 ~14M. :) <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oOLne6NOjwU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/s90A52WXf88" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> More beautiful Aspen carving to come... I started a to capture them all.

Well, I do, of course. It's Beck. Song is Cellphone's Dead from the album The Information.

Priority goes to the kid's vids, so here's a fresh edit of the young ones clips from the week. First is some carving by the Steamboat racers, Maggie and Dave Winters boys, Cody and Billy. The next is from a single late afternoon pass through the Snowmass terrain park with the Winters boys. These edits are better than what was shown at the banquet on Friday, and thanks go to Michelle's iPod for a fresh injection to my soundtrack material. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fBxkOH99pwA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ceWV5pICkuk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Made it back to Montana today. Did the driving myself this time so no videos edited on the way back, but here's a teaser for those yet to come. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/z3ZhdNCVgR8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Great thread, Kelly. Love the judge's barrister wig.

Any soft boot powder boards in the demo lineup?

Onsies. Wear 'em if ya got 'em.

Darn, I'll miss you again. I leave for India 6:00 AM on Friday the 17th. Work trip. It's snowing like crazy now. A face shot morning. WooHoo!

What weekend will that be, Allee? Didn't get to see you much during WTF week, and I'm off to SES the next one and a half. :(

Would I lie? Best carving day of the season (so far), followed by best powder day (so far). Even a few bits of sunshine. When it's good here, it's really good. Opened the day with the same run as yesterday, 'cept on a powder board, and since then the two days have few similarities, other than the smiles. If you want pictures, come take some, we're busy. Just stopped to take a work call, now back to the pow pow....

8 inches fresh overnight. Pow day. I can live with that too. :)

Looks like POC is no longer making it with a carbon fiber outer shell. The new "Cortex Flow" has a fiberglass shell, and I suppose with the added weight they are no longer marketing it as a snow helmet. The old Cortex DH was listed in both snow and MTB helmets, though designed as a MTB helmet. http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=POC+Cortex+DH&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=np&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=7562661986836544926&sa=X&ei=PRAgT7OzC8fHsQKg1_StDg&ved=0CGoQ8wIwAQ Mine is the year before they added MIPS, which lets the inner shell rotate free of the outer shell on oblique impacts. Maybe you can still find a new-old-stock POC Cortex DH MIPS. That's a top of the line brain bucket. There are only two sizes though, S/M and L/XL. I wear a L in Giro Nine.9 and the POC Comp, a 58 cm in Leedom Scream, and a Medium in Giro Remedy full face MTB. The POC L/XL just fits; perfect with no liner/balaclava but a little tight with any extra layers. If your head needs >58 cm in other helmets, the Cortex DH L/XL is probably going to be too tight. I already had the Giro Remedy (non-carbon) for downhill MTB, but found it bulky for snow use. Even in the carbon snow version, I think the Giro Remedy would feel bulkier than the POC DH, but that's a cheaper alternative with more size options.

Skier collision. 7 or 8 minute LOC according to the skier and his son. No memory of that days riding, and most of the week prior. ER, CAT scan, the whole nine yards (though I don't remember any of that). Was wearing a Giro Nine.9; only slightly damaged. Replaced with a POC competition race helmet. Now wearing a POC Cortex DH full face. Pretty sold on POC.