Last weekend at the Sammy Carlson Invitational at Mt. Bachelor, Ore., former Winter X Games gold medalist Tanner Hall returned to his first competition since injuring both knees three years ago.
"Today is all about fun for me, just feeling the vibe and getting back in the start gate with all of my friends," Hall said about competing at Mt. Bachelor last weekend. "I'm just trying to find the zone again, my first step coming back."
Hall placed fourth in the big air contest, a more than respectable finish for a guy who's been benched since 2009 (his last contest was the February 2009 Winter Dew Tour). At SCI, he threw a double backflip off the jump and did a flatspin 540 on the wallride.
The past few years, up-and-coming park and urban skier Dale Talkington has turned heads with his edits from 4BI9, New Intelligent Group, and Meathead Films. Recently, it was Nike that took notice. Talkington and Andrew Napier recently won the Nike Ski Chosen video contest, where the winners received $10,000 cash, free gear, and an all expenses paid trip to join Nike's end-of-season ski team shoot at Keystone, Colo., where this recap, produced by Poor Boyz Productions, was filmed. We talked to Talkington, who's originally from Vermont but now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, about his season.
How has your season been?
It has been good. I tried to film as much urban as possible with 4BI9. We were in Denver, Salt Lake, and Idaho for most of the season. Then I went to Spain for a comp, followed by the Carinthia Open at Mt. Snow, and finally the Dumont Cup. I also skied a lot at Park City.
At athlete meetings before each Freeskiing World Tour event, Jim Norm Jack would get his turn on the microphone. In an overcrowded room that usually reeked of ski boots, Jim, the FWT's head judge, would start his speech on judging, safety, and the venue. His monologues were informational, sure, but they were also a sort of pep rally for the athletes. Jim spoke animatedly, his arms waving and his face lighting up, referring to the events as "celebrations," not contests, and the people in the room as "family," not competitors.
His words made rookies feel welcome to the brotherhood and made veterans feel like they were coming home to a family they hadn't seen in a while. Everyone paid attention to Jim, the most passionate man in the room.
Three months ago, on February 19, Jim was killed in an avalanche in the backcountry near Stevens Pass, Wash. In his passing, the ski community at large lost their head judge, their mascot, and a close friend. Jim was not only instrumental to the IFSA, the Freeskiing World Tour and the Junior Freeskiing Tour from a functional standpoint; he also personified the spirit and atmosphere of the tours. In many ways, Jim was the soul of the tour. Without him, the IFSA and FWT families are forced to face the daunting question, "What now?"
Megan MichelsonThe CoreUPT booth at Winter X Games Tignes in France.
French ski brand CoreUPT has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company, which was founded by four-time freeskiing world champion Guerlain Chicherit, has until July 16 to find a new source of capital to sustain its operations.
Failure to find a new investor or other source of capital by July 16 would downgrade CoreUPT's status to Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which calls for the liquidation and redistribution of the brand and its assets. "We have two ways [to go]," said CoreUPT General Manager Pierre Gjurasevic, "the first being a capital increase from a new investor, or for the second, a handover of the brand."
"For now they are very bad outcomes," said Gjurasevic. "It's not very comfortable but we work hard and I'm sure we will find a solution in a few weeks." According to Gjurasevic, CoreUPT is already in talks with 10 different potential investors from the United Kingdom, the U.S., Russia and France.
Kyle MckeeSammy Carlson and first place finisher Torin Yater-Wallace at the Sammy Carlson Invitational earlier today.
Two years ago the inaugural Sammy Carlson Invitational (SCI) was cancelled due to bad weather. On Saturday, SCI's second coming did more than make up for the past. The sun was shining and the crowds were cheering as Mt. Bachelor, Ore., played host to a stacked roster filled with the world's best skiers.
Even though the SCI's laid back format was more like a group of friends getting together to ski, a winner still needed to be crowned and Saturday that winner was Torin Yater-Wallace. Following Yater-Wallace, Bobby Brown, Parker White, Tanner Hall, and Henrik Harlaut rounded out the top five respectively. Phil Casabon walked away with the "Best Style" award, while "Best Rodeo 5" went to Clayton Vila.
"I was just having fun and trying different tricks all day and keeping the variety going," Yater-Wallace said. "The rodeo 5 onto the wall ride was my favorite."
On Saturday, the inaugural Sammy Carlson Invitational big air will take place at Mt. Bachelor, Ore. The first event, originally scheduled in 2010 at Mt. Hood, was canceled due to weather. The list of invited skiers includes Alex Schlopy, Henrik Harlaut, Torin Yater-Wallace, Bobby Brown, and more.
"I've got some really good skiers coming out for it so it should be really cool," says Sammy Carlson, who won't be competing due to a knee injury.
Tanner Hall, who hasn't competed since getting injured in 2009, is rumored to be competing on Saturday. Kaya Turski is the only female on the invite list and backcountry freestyler Sean Pettit is also on the list.
Willie Borm, who turns 15 years old on Monday, will also be competing. This week, Borm, an up-and-coming big air and slopestyle skier from Minnesota, signed a new contract with Apo Skis, the same Swiss company that Sammy Carlson signed with late last year. Borm will be riding on Apo's new Sammy Carlson Pro Model during the big air contest this weekend.
Gabe Taylor Chris Benchetler heading into the Eastern Sierra's Bloody Couloir.
After a successful adventure one year ago, Gabe Taylor and I decided to take advantage of the low snow year and embark on another mission up to California's Bloody Couloir, a classic, must-do Eastern Sierra couloir.
We hoped to out-do our last year's spring adventure, Unbound to Bloody, so this year, Gabe came up with the brilliant idea of riding our mountain bikes up the access road to Laurel lake, hike and ski Bloody, and ride out.
Courtesy photoDavid Lesh, founder of FD Wear, posing as Secret Service.
In late April, President Obama gave a speech at the University of Colorado at Boulder. While he was there, he met up with David Lesh, a skier and the founder of FD Wear, a ski outerwear company. Lesh, for reasons even he can barely explain, was allowed to drive along with the presidential motorcade and was able to talk one-on-one with the President about skiing and small businesses in America.
What strings did you have to pull to get a meeting with Obama?
It sort of just fell into my lap. A friend of a friend works for the White House and coordinates various aspects for presidential trips. Obama was scheduled to give a talk at CU and I was invited to meet him as well as drive a vehicle in the presidential motorcade. I had to subject myself to a Secret Service background check, which I miraculously passed. It ended up working out perfectly.
Sierra Quitiquit Gallery
You may not know Sierra Quitiquit by name. But you may recognize her face. The Park City, Utah, native and sponsored big-mountain skier recently signed with a modeling agency and has been pursuing a full-fledged modeling career.
The former Freeskiing World Tour competitor has walked runways or shot campaigns for companies like Nike, adidas and Fred Meyer, and for several designers, and she filmed an episode of the TV show "Portlandia." After her mom dragged her to an audition for the reality show "America's Next Top Model," she was flown to Los Angeles but, "It became obvious early on that this [the show] was not for me," she says.
"I'm fully, completely in love with skiing," Quitiquit says. "But I'm hoping to be able to model full-time, too. It's kind of a strange thing to go after. But I figure, why not? I don't want to have any regrets in life. I'm going to go after both skiing and modeling and see where it leads me."
Courtesy photosParker White in Tomahawk's street style, technical Warbag down jacket.
Throughout his storied career as a sponsored freeskier, snowboarder, Olympic athlete and ski marketing manager for Electric Visual and Skullcandy, Jimbo Morgan harbored a dream to create a clothing brand. In 2006, Tomahawk International was launched in concept and the first pieces of clothing will hit stores this fall.
"I always wanted my own clothing brand and it had to be named Tomahawk," says Morgan.
With a quiet advertising launch in the 2010 final issue of Freeskier Magazine featuring marquee athlete and Tomahawk part-owner Parker White, Tomahawk became official. The line, which includes outerwear and streetwear, was shown for the first time at the 2012 SIA trade show in Denver.
"I'm hyped to be a part of Tomahawk," says Parker White, a Level One Productions athlete who in 2011, took home Rookie of the Year awards from IF3, Powder Magazine and Freeskier Magazine. "I have full faith in the company and Jimbo. I'm pretty much an ACL away from being a janitor so having Jimbo give me part-ownership and helping Tomahawk grow is amazing for me. Our clothing is created by skiers and snowboarders for skiers and snowboarders. We haven't made anything I don't want to wear."
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