Friends in Skiing Magazine

Some friends and I got a few cool photos in the November issue of Skiing Magazine. Check it out.

Me jumping the Mt. Baker road gap. Photo: Jay Beyer.

My friend Paul Kimbrough making the perfect tele turn in Revelstoke. Photo: Garret Grove.

Eliel and Carston down in Chile. This is one of my favorite photos ever. Photo: Juan Luis Heeckeren

Escape From Zion: Whistler

The 2011-2012 season has been one of thinnest I've ever seen. All across the inter mountain West, from Tahoe to Colorado, there has been minimal snowfall. To escape the grim state of things in Utah, I made a quick trip to Whistler with fellow Surface guys Eliel Hindert and Jordan Seldin. The trip was brief and I ended up tweaking my knee pretty hard a few days in, but it was worth it - it always is.

Nice to see some snow again. Photo: Andrew Strain.

We toured around and ended up finding some really good snow in the back country. The avalanche danger was high, so we kept it to fairly mellow terrain. Check out these pretty photos courtesy of Whistler photo wizard Andrew Strain.

Pillow Country. Photo: Andrew Strain.

Me finding the end of a fun little pillow line. Photo: Andrew Strain.

Eliel plunging into glory. Photo: Andrew Strain.

PRAY FOR SNOW!

Carston Skis Argentina

It takes a true master to ski harsh the conditions of Argentina's mountains and make it look smooth. Check out Carston's edit from Summer 2010 courtesy of Sweetgrass Productions.

Generation Alta - Salomon Freeski TV

Last year, the boys at Sweetgrass Productions spent a couple months in Utah shooting at Alta and Brighton for this webisode of Salomon Freeski TV. Normally Salomon Freeski TV focuses only on Salomon Athletes, but this webisode really shows the energy of the entire ski scene in Salt Lake and all the ski bums who reside here. It captures some incredible moments of deep powder and big lines, featuring many Utah rippers. I'm stoked I got to shoot with these guys for a couple days and make an appearance in this edit (at 2:24). Enjoy.

Big Cottonwwod Article - Powder Magazine

Last month's issue of Powder Magazine featured an in-depth article about Salt Lake's Big Cottonwood Canyon. Compared to the popularity of Little Cottonwood Canyon, the glories of Big Cottonwood are often overlooked - so it's nice to see Big Cottonwood get some attention in the ski world. It's not as steep and prolific as Little Cottonwood, but if you know the right spots, it can be epic.

Here's a shot of Carston Oliver on the now famous "Sendy Wendy" cliff. There are lots of opportunities to go big at Brighton Resort. Photo by Adam Clark.

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Here's a shot of myself at Brighton by Steve Lloyd. This photo was taken on the last night of night-skiing last year. What's funny is that this cliff is normally pretty big, but with the 20 foot snow pack shown here, it became much smaller.

Another shot of Carston by Steve Lloyd at one of our favorite backcountry zones outside of Brighton. If you look closely, you can see me lurking in the trees above the cliff.

Carston Jumps His Bike

We've had a slow start to Winter in Utah this season, which means Carston Oliver has been jumping his bike as much as he's been skiing. Check out this cool edit that Steve Lloyd and Carston put together:

Rest in Peace Jamie Pierre

The ski community suffered a great tragedy last week when Jamie Pierre lost his life in an avalanche at Snowbird. The resort was not yet open, and no avalanche control work had been performed. The area was considered back country, and the snowpack was extremely unstable.

Ever since high school, my friends and I considered Jamie to be one of the gnarliest skiers out there. He dropped the biggest cliffs anyone had ever seen and pioneered some of Utah's famous gap jumps like pyramid gap and the legendary 160-foot Leviathan Gap. He was one of the first Utah hucksters to push the boundaries of reason and constantly blow peoples' minds. In 2006, he broke the world record for biggest cliff jump on a 250 footer in Targhee, Wyoming. He pretty much set the standard for going big in everybody's book.

Last year I got the chance to go out with Jamie along with some other friends in Wolverine Cirque to film with Sweetgrass Productions. It was intimidating to pick out a line in the cirque after Jamie pointed out his aggressive run that culminated in an 80 foot drop at the bottom. Even though the snow in the landing was sluffed out, choppy, and generally non-ideal for such a huge cliff, he committed to his run and sent the massive drop at the end. It was truly amazing to see him work his magic in real life; I'll never forget it.

Here's a video of the above-mentioned run. January 2nd, 2011.

Here's a video of the last interview with Jamie. Although I hardly knew him, his skiing made a big impression on my life. He will go down as one of the most epic people of all time. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.