Telus WSSF 2011

The Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival came back to Whistler with a huge bang this year. Epic ski conditions and lots of people in town seemed to bring up the energy levels overall. Plus with new events like “Intersection” and the regular sold out events such as the “72 hour film fest” and the “Pro Photographer Showdown” the festival has turned into a massive creative venue allowing hundreds of people to showcase their art, film, photos, and music. This year I participated in the Photo Showdown and was lucky enough to take first place alongside Bryn Hughes, Russell Dalby, Mike Yoshida, Re Wikstrom, and Steve Lloyd. This win came ten years after my first in 2001. Click on the show below.
In the Gallery we had an exhibit put on by Red Bull and Oakley featuring the best photos of the year from Powder and Snowboarder magazines. Thanks to all the photographers who put in their amazing work. Big thanks to Ashley Otte and David Reddick from Powder Magazine, Snowboarder magazine, Greg Strokes and Matty Swanson from Oakley USA, Gabe Authier from Red Bull Canada, The FireRock Lounge, and the Westin Hotel for helping us put this on and be a great success.
Showdown photos by Mike Taylor.

Memoirs from Kashmir part 2

Our adventure in Gulmarg has come to an end. This has been one of the best trips I have ever done and there was no lack of excitement and interesting visuals at every turn. Stormy weather gave us a few heli drops in the exotic “paper” trees and some of the best tree skiing I have ever seen. Similar to Japan with bigger vertical and much steeper. Low freezing levels allowed us to ski down to Durang and Tangmar villages for some cultural experiences and great hospitality from the locals. Even getting weathered out from our heli pick up and ski touring back in one of the biggest blizzards I can remember took us to a military camp where we were able to thumb a ride back in an army truck to Gulmarg. Unfortunately the patrol had run out of explosives to run any Avalanche control and the upper phase of the gondola remained closed. We decided to head down to Lake Dal in Srinigar and follow in the footsteps of the Beatles and Led Zepplin on a house boating trip. We got up early to see the floating market on the lake and it turned out to be visually stunning. See the video below shot with my Nikon D3S camera. Once again, if you are a skier and a traveler this destination should be on your list. Thanks to Anthony, Chris, Tristan, everybody at Gulmarg Heli Ski, Gulmarg Resort, and Salomon sports for helping us out and showing us a great adventure. Stay tuned for to see this trip in the upcoming Salomon Freeski TV episode.

Deep Winter 2011 Winning show

This was the first time I have been able to participate in this contest and it turned out to be an amazing experience that drives right from the soul of Whistler. Stormy weather and difficult conditions are of staple of Whistler and this event did not disappoint this year. All the shows were truly amazing and I think this event will only gather more steam. The most exciting part is putting together a custom made show presented the way we want to show it in front of a local whistler audience. Very cool. Thanks to Margus Riga and Mike Taylor for helping on the production end, and our skiers Dan Treadway, Kye Petersen, and Matty Richard. Thanks to everybody that came out to the Chateau Whistler to see the show!