Archive for December, 2007

Wii Downhill Skiing, They Should Call it “Wii Skii”

Written on December 13th, 2007 at 09:45 pm by Bill
Filed Under: Ski Video

Wii Downhill Skiing is part of the Nintendo Wii Fit excercise platform that will be released in the U.S. in early February 2008 (was released in Japan this week with stellar sales). As you can see from the video, the game uses a balance board to control the skiers movements.

I have never played a Nintendo Wii but I have heard nothing but great things. The Wii Fit package includes other exercise sports ranging from the Downhill Skiing to practicing your yoga poses.

So, will you ski on your Wii?

Comment On This

Deer Valley Resort to Host First World Cup Ski Cross Competition in North America

Written on December 13th, 2007 at 12:00 pm by Bill
Filed Under: Press Release

DEER VALLEY RESORT, PARK CITY, UTAH (December 13, 2007) – Well known for hosting world-class freestyle ski events, Deer Valley Resort will welcome the Visa Freestyle International, a stop on the FIS Freestyle World Cup tour to its slopes February 1 and 2, 2008. The event will feature aerials, dual moguls and for the first time ever in North America a World Cup ski cross competition. More than 200 athletes from approximately two-dozen countries are expected to participate in the event.

Competition begins Friday, February 1 with the ski cross qualifications on Solid Muldoon ski run, followed by the aerials event on White Owl (the 2002 Olympic Winter Games aerial course) Friday evening. On Saturday, February 2, the ski cross event will take place on Solid Muldoon ski run, followed by the dual moguls event Saturday evening on Champion (the 2002 Olympic Winter Games moguls course). The evening events are particularly exciting as athletes compete under the lights, and Deer Valley entertains guests with live entertainment and fireworks. The evening events begin at 6 p.m. Awards will be presented immediately following the competitions in the finish area, followed by entertainment and a fireworks display at approximately 9 p.m.

General admission for all events is FREE to the public. For those guests looking for an enhanced spectator experience, Freestyle Feast tickets are available for dinner ($75) on either Friday or Saturday night or for lunch ($65) on Saturday in the VIP tent. Tickets also include a commemorative gift.

Tickets can be purchased beginning December 8, 2007, by calling 435-645-6510 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Children six years and under are free. Refunds will be given at point of purchase only if event is cancelled or rescheduled to another day.

In the past ten years, Deer Valley Resort has become known as a Mecca for freestyle events, successfully hosting the 1999 Chevy Truck U.S. Freestyle Championships, six World Cups (2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007), the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and the 2003 FIS Freestyle World Championships, one of the largest ever held in the history of the sport. The Resort is also scheduled to host the Freestyle World Championships again in 2011.

Deer Valley’s 2008 Visa Freestyle International will be aired on NBC television on Sunday, February 10, 2008 at 2 p.m. and on Versus at 5 p.m. E.S.T. as well as on Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 4 p.m. E.S.T on Versus. For more information on the upcoming 2008 Visa Freestyle International, or to arrange event interviews, please contact Resort Communications Manager Erin Grady at 800-424-DEER (3337), 435-645-6522 or view the Resort Web site at deervalley.com.

Deer Valley Resort – Rated the #1 Ski Resort in North America
by the readers of SKI magazine this year.

Comment On This

This Ostrich Skis Better Than You

Written on December 12th, 2007 at 02:45 pm by Bill
Filed Under: Ski Video

Yes, this ostrich is a much better skier than you are and he doesn't even use poles. They are many other ways in which ostriches are superior to you:

• A male ostrich will often have a harem of 2 to 7 female ostriches.
• An ostrich can kill a predator, such as a lion, with a single kick.
• Ostriches can run up to 40 miles per hour, that's WAY faster than you.

On to the ostrich skiing:

That was awesome, but just when I started to wish I was an ostrich, I realized that ostriches can't fly. It would be too torturous to be a bird that can't fly.

Anyway, how cool would it be to have a skiing ostrich as a pet?

One Comment

9 Gift Ideas for Skiers

Written on December 11th, 2007 at 04:00 pm by Bill
Filed Under: Featured, Ski Gear

With Christmas just 14 ski days away, we thought this would be a great time to give you some last-minute gift ideas for that skier in your life. Let’s get straight to the list:

1. Canon Digital Rebel XTi 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens

Price: $599 (normally $1400)

Wow, we just found this great deal, right now it is $800 off!!! This is THE hot deal for Christmas and you are virtually guaranteed to score major points with this one. Switching to a digital SLR will yield exponentially better ski photos than your point-and-shoot camera.

If you are looking for one step closer to professional, try giving the Canon EOS 40D 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera.

2. Oakley A Frame Goggle with Iridium Lens

Price: $120 - $130

The A-Frame’s are great goggles for those cold, sunny days. Oakley has long been the leader when it comes to ski goggles and the A-Frame is their numero uno best-seller. There are many color and lens combinations to choose from.

Of course, you can also enter our contest to win one of 3 pairs of Smith Triad Goggles.

3. Ski Lift Tickets to Snowbird

Price: $100 for 2 out of 5 Day Adult Tram Tickets

Of course, if you don’t live in Utah then this could be part of a far bigger present. If you have never skied Snowbird then you know that you need to, and if you have skied Snowbird, then you know you need to get back.

4. The North Face Denali Jacket

Price: $165

It’s no fluke that this is The North Face’s best selling jacket by far. Get one for the wife and reap the rewards.

4. Ski the 14ers (Hardcover Book by Chris Davenport)

Price: $39.16 (book was released on Dec. 10)

This 152-page hardcover book is the perfect conversation starter for your coffee table. This book is less about the word and more about the spectacular images.

5. Subscription to Powder Magazine

Price: $10.97 for 12 months (6 issues)

You can always have more ski-related magazines to get you psyched. If Powder magazine is not suitable, then perhaps Ski Magazine, Skiing, Freeskier or Outside Magazine will do the trick.

6. Ski Porn

Price: $29.95

Since giving actual porn on Christmas may not go over great with the in-laws, give the next best thing. If you still don’t want to give anything with the name porn on it, then how about these other great ski DVDs: Warren Miller: Off the Grid , Lost and Found Ski DVD or Yeah Dude Ski DVD.

7. Swix Waxing Table with Swix XC Profile 3 Piece Vise Set

Price: $108 (table) and $99 (vise set)

For the skier with everthing (except for a decent tuning setup). This combo waxing table/vise set is provides a sturdy surface for you to tune. The table can collapse for storage and transport, making it ideal for at home or slope-side. An additional Christmas gift could be the Toko T8 Wax Iron.

8. Suunto X6HRT Titanium Heart Rate Monitor Watch

Price: $899 (normally $1100)

Simply put, this watch is beyond remarkable. It records loads of information which you can then transfer to your computer to dissect and store with the included software. You can use the heart rate monitor and altimeter together to see how altitude affects your heart rate, or measure the slopes’ angle and the atmospheric pressure as you descend it. Unreal.

9. Outdoor Research Super Couloir Glove

Price: $152

Skiers often spend thousands of dollars on their equipment only to use their 7 year old duct-taped gloves. Nothing can ruin a day in the powder quit like ice fingers. With these gloves, the cold is an after thought.

If you are still having troubles finding the right gift for the holidays, be sure to check out our Ski Gear.

What is the best gift you are giving this Christmas?

Comment On This

Tahoe, Utah & Colorado Get Hammered!

Written on December 8th, 2007 at 08:45 am by Bill
Filed Under: Snow Report

32/52/78… No they are not the measurements of your snowman, although that is quite a sexy snowman, in fact they are the 24/48/72 hour snowfall totals at Crested Butte. Not only that, but you can ski Crested Butte for FREE!

Also in Colorado : Aspen 20” and Silverton 26”.

We already gave you the snow report for Utah ,and it’s still coming down steadily.

Tahoe has been hit hard too. Sugar Bowl and Boreal are reporting 30” new, Squaw and Alpine Meadows are reporting 16” and 15” respectively.

Even Taos is getting in on the action with 13” of frozen silver.

The powder gods are smiling on Zermatt , Switzerland (base of the Matterhorn ) as well, 39 inches in the last day!

Photo Credit: SkiCB.com

Comment On This

It’s Dumping in Utah

Written on December 8th, 2007 at 07:00 am by Bill
Filed Under: Ski News

The “Greatest Snow on Earth” has been falling on Utah for the last 2 days. Check out the three images above from Snowbird’s SnowCam at various times during the last 24 hours (Snowbird received 20" in the past 24 hours and 24" in the past 48. Looks like they are gonna need a bigger measuring stick.

Here are some of the snow totals for Utah resorts for the past 24/48 hours:

• Alta Ski Resort - 21"/29" (past 24 hours/past 48 hours)
• Brighton Ski Resort - 18"/29"
• The Canyons - 13"/27"
• Deer Valley - 9"/21"
• Park City Mountain - 9"/19"
• Snowbasin - 13"/20"
• Snowbird - 20"/24"
• Solitude - 22"/32"

Currently it continues to snow, there is a HEAVY SNOW WARNING in effect until 4AM Sunday morning. Additional accumulations of 10 to 20 inches are expected by Sunday morning!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

Comment On This

Lange Playmate 2008

Written on December 8th, 2007 at 03:30 am by Bill
Filed Under: Featured, Ski News

Not much is better than a sexy girl wearing almost nothing but a pair of big gorgeous ski boots. That is why we LOVE the annual Lange Playmate.

This year you can vote for a deserving girl to buckle up her Lange ski boots as the 2008 Lange Playmate.

Or, perhaps if you are feeling particularly sexy as you read this, you can enter yourself into the contest.

The most ideal ‘Lange Girl’ will have "Athletic style, Sex appeal, Originality and Glamour." If you are interested, email your info and some photos to webmaster@dynastar.fr to enter. Lange is inviting all ski instructors and professional/expert skiers to participate.

"The winner of this contest will be an ambassador for the brand, will join the Exclusive Team and will be publicized on web sites and in magazines."

The winner gets a pair of Lange ski boots signed Hermann Maier and 20 Lange Playmate T-shirts. That doesn’t seem like a huge prize package but I assume the big prize is the related publicity and exposure the winning model receives.

We’re not quite sure how it works if you want to enter yourself or a friend into the contest because it appears that they already have 6 professional-looking models from which to vote. Let’s have a quick look at the contestants:

The voting shows that Titia is clearly in the lead, but we don’t think she has ever skied in her life. We would rather see the title go to Alexandra, Roxanne or Patricia.

Once again, you can vote here for the next Lange Playmate.

Who did you vote for? Do you think she can actually ski?

4 Comments

December Contest: Win Smith Triad Goggle!

Written on December 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am by Bill
Filed Under: Featured, Site News

December is a month of giving and we are giving away Smith Triad Goggles to three (3) lucky winners.

Each goggle prize (retail value of $90) will have a separate contest ending at 11:59PM on December 31, 2007.

Listed below are the three contests and instructions on how to enter. Be sure to use a valid email address that you check, because if you win, we will contact you via that email address. Your email address is safe with us and will not be shared or abused in any way.

Contest #1: Enter by making comments on SNOWNATION.com

You will receive one entry for every comment that you make. Make as many comments as you would like, however, comments need to be thoughtful and related to the post in order to be eligible. You will need to enter your email address (or be signed in) when you make a comment so that we can contact you if you win.

Contest #2: Post a topic or reply in the Ski Forums

You will receive one entry for every post that you make in the SnowNation.com Ski Forums. Eligible posts will only include those that contribute to the discussions. You will need to be registered to use the ski forums, we will contact the registered email address of the winner.

Contest #3: Subscribe to the SNOWNATION.com by email feed

In the right sidebar of this page you will see a box titled “Subscribe to SnowNation.com”. Simply enter your email address in the “subscribe via email” box and hit subscribe. You will receive our RSS feed via email and you can unsubscribe at any time. The winner will be randomly selected from the list of subscribed email addresses when the contest ends… so don’t unsubscribe before then.

Further Contest Details

If you have any questions, leave a comment here (you will also receive a Contest #1 entry for your comment!) or ask me in the Ski Forums (where you will gain a entry into Contest #2!).

Contest starts at midnight MST on December 6, 2007 and ends at 11:59PM on December 31, 2007.

Good luck!

16 Comments

Bearfire Resort - Where Skiing Meets Texas

Written on December 5th, 2007 at 12:30 pm by Bill
Filed Under: Featured, Ski News

Skiing, this is Texas… Texas, meet my friend skiing. Now don't kill each other.

Well if you can ski in London and if you can ski in Dubai, then someone was going to bring skiing to Texas.

Scheduled to open in 2009 is Bearfire Resort, located in close proximity to Dallas and Fort Worth.

The Bearfire Resort will be open year-round using a virtual snow surface called Snowflex:

Snowflex is a polymer composite consisting of a monofilament fiber and impregnated carrier layer. This sits on top of a unique shock layer, giving a responsive and reactive feel. Manufactured in tile form, Snowflex forms a homogeneous surface that can be made into complex features and shapes.

This appears to be an extremely ambitious project. Not only will 250-foot tall, 35-acre artificial Glacier Peak offer skiing and snowboarding, it will also attempt to create a ski mountain atmosphere.

A gondola will transport skiers and boarders to the peak, slicing through a ice crevasse and skimming a glacial lagoon.

Bearfire Resort also has ice skating trails, snowball caverns, glacier climbing wall, ice rafts, tobogganing, bobsleds and a tubing hill.

Get the full Bearfire Resort fake experience by watching this video:

It remains to be seen if the idea will translate into success after the initial hype has worn away. If Bearfire Resort is a hit, expect one to show up in Vegas before you know it.

Is this where the future of skiing is headed with the threat of global warming?

3 Comments

Skiing in London (Underground)

Written on December 5th, 2007 at 11:00 am by Bill
Filed Under: Ski Video

Here is one that you won't find in Rick Steves' London. This is the Angel Tube Station in London and this is the longest escalator in Western Europe with a length of 60 meters (we think that is about 2 miles) and a vertical drop of 27.5 meters (roughly half of two miles). Now London is known for bad food AND escalator skiing.

2 Comments