Ride Utah Blog

Check out the video’s from the 2010 North Face Masters at Snowbird. http://vimeo.com/tnfmasters/videos

Here are the top 3 runs.

Jason from Snowboard Magazine entered The North Face Masters competition at Snowbird.  The contest got delayed by two weather days after Utah got it’s biggest dump of the season.  In order to cram the contest into one day each competitor got one run on Silver Fox to show their stuff. Jason popped on the helmet cam and got her done. Looks like a great run on epic snow.

Snowbird, UT, January 25, 2010 – After two days of being grounded due to weather and unsafe snow conditions, The North Face Masters was finally given the green light today on Snowbird’s famed Silver Fox venue. With nearly seven feet of snow in seven days, competitors have had to put themselves on hold, although they were treated to several epic days of riding the greatest snow on earth. As the athletes boarded the tram this morning, the nervous anticipation permeated through the crowd of eager riders. The women were slated to start things off, but low visibility threatened to shut things down yet again. Fortunately, the fog began to lift and the middle and bottom portion of the venue revealed its powdery goodness. By eleven o’clock the riders were on the course laying down smooth lines through untracked fields of fresh. With an abundance of soft landings to be bombed, the women showed their fearlessness as they hucked themselves off every terrain feature in sight. Squaw Valley’s Iris Lazzareschi slayed a technical line down the east side of the venue just as the clouds parted, if only for a brief moment. The windlips up high were great and the course was fun, said Iris after her run. Other standouts included Snowbird locals Kaitlin Locke and Laura Dewey. However, it was former Master’s champ, Shannan Yates flawless performance that earned her the coveted Katana Sword.

With the conclusion of the women’s competition, the men prepared for their assault on the course. Due to the delays brought on by weather, this event would be one run and done style, so every turn meant the difference between in and out of the rankings. Heavy hitters, Rob Kingwill and Travis Rice, promised to bring the best to the table, and the crowds weren’t disappointed. Some world-class billy-goating high up on the venue marked Rob’s run, and his solid stomp of a 30+ footer at the bottom of the course drew applause from all in attendance. Always the showman, Rice started out his run with a big slash for the cameras up top and several big airs over peppery take-offs throughout the venue. After his run, Travis simply said, Damn fine course, damn fine snow. As the comp continued, the international riders from New Zealand, France, Japan, Russia and Canada made their countries proud as they carved and hucked their way through the course. Another fine performance came from the event’s oldest rider Dave Watson, 41 years young, as he tore up the Fox and went huge at the bottom. When asked what was going through his mind as he sent it over the last cliff, Dave laughed and said, I hope I don’t hit those rocks. By the time the dust settled and the judges conversed, Mark Carter of Jackson Hole was crowned the winner of the men’s division. Fluidity and aggressiveness were the hallmarks of his run, and he noted, I just wanted to do something that nobody else had done.

Yates and Carter will defend their titles at the next Masters event in two weeks at Crystal Mountain in Washington.

Everyone knows that Utah has some of the most iconic spots in the snowboard world.  Head over to Nike 6.0 and show some local pride by voting up your favorite spot in Utah to jib. Then go shred it for real.

While magazines, filmers and athletes always try to find fresh locations, there are a handful of jib spots around North America so legendary that it seems we never go a season without a crew sessioning at at least one of them. And all the years of innovation that have gone down at these spots makes them relevant in any winter.

So this winter, Nike 6.0 is creating the GREATEST HITS Park at Mt. Seymour, BC to support the local shred community and bring innovative park design to Mt. Seymour by recreating three legendary features that have played a part in snow-culture history.

Read more at Snowboard-Mag.com.

Go vote at Nike 6.

The Utah choices for these classic hits are:

The Snowbird Wall Ride

The Rail Garden

If you’re skiing in the backcountry you can never know too much about avalanches. And one of the best ways to learn about Avalanches is from people who have been dealing with them for decades. Experience is everything in the backcountry. On December 17-18 Snowbird will be offering the Freeride Avalanche Summit a two day clinic targeting advanced and expert skiers and riders who want practical and professional instruction on avalanche awareness, safety and rescue.

Participants include:

“With the increase in backcountry and sidecountry traffic, it’s more important than ever to offer tangible and affordable avalanche instruction to upper level skiers and riders,” said UAC Forecaster and Freeride Avalanche Summit founder Craig Gordon. “This Summit brings together an awesome group of leading forecasters along with some of the best winter athletes in Utah.”

http://www.snowbird.com/freerideavalanchesummit.html

The Yeti will be there. I hope to see you there as well.

Is it really spring already? Somebody forgot to tell Utah. I’ve been riding powder for weeks straight. I rode the last 4 out of 5 days and I don’t think I touched a groomer for longer than 10 seconds. Check these newest videos for proof.

Snowbird:

Brighton:

Brighton #13 from spencer finlinson on Vimeo.

Think again.

Snowbird was awesome today.  More snow on the way.

When was the last time you practiced with your avalanche beacon?  Ever?  Knowing how to use your beacon with efficiency can mean the difference between life and death.  It never hurts to brush up on your skills when it could be your best friend’s life on the line. Wasatch Backcountry Rescue has setup beacon training facilities at Snowbird (near the heliport on the Alta Access Road), Solitude (in the lower parking lot), Snowbasin, and The Canyons (at the top of the gondola).

A group of Ski Utah staffers took some time out to do some searches at The Canyons and the results were somewhat humbling.  But, we all came out of there with a better handle on how to use our beacons.

For more information on how to actually use your avalanche beacon and conduct searches, please check out the Utah Avalanche Center: http://utahavalanchecenter.org/resources/beacontech. Next time your up on the hill, take a few minutes and stop at the beacon training course at your favorite resort. You’ll be glad you did.

Despite some dicey snow conditions, the action was fierce on Saturday at Snowbird.

Here’s some footage of the recent snow at the Bird.