A Sunset Sesh
One warm day at Grouse, we found the park had melted. So, as the sun set, we pulled out the camera, played on this rail and had just as much fun. Check it out!
Keep it real Grouse!
-Eric Beckstead
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Get Your Sunny Spring Laps In!
You may all have heard this already, but Grouse is going to stay open till May2nd. And yes, there will be a park on Cut as long as there’s enough snow. Either way, Grouse is going to be the place to be on the North Shore till May starts. Get up and get shredding. I went up last night with Grouse local, Callem Peake, and it was a beauty. The sun’s out longer and the snow is staying softer later into the night. you have no excuse not to be there.
Cheers,
Sam
Jon Olsson Super Sessions
For those of you that have not heard of Jon Olsson Super Sessions or Jon Olsson for that matter..quit riding! Just kidding. But, I do hope you’ve heard of him. Jon Olsson is a super pro freestyle skier and racer. He’s been hot on the scene for years and doesn’t do too badly for himself seeing as he drives a Lambo to the hill. Anyways, several years ago Jon started his own competition called the Jon Olsson Invitational because he was fed up with formats and poorly built features of other comps. This competition has turned into JOSS.
JOSS has been voted as the most prestigious freeskiing event of the season. In this competition 21 of the world’s best freeskiers and 12 of the world’s finest ski film makers work together in 7 different teams, representing 7 nations. The teams are: Sweden, Norway, Europe, Down Under, Newschoolers, USA and Canada. Each team consists of 5 people, 2 filmers, 2 pro skiers and a rookie skier. The rookie is new for this year and the only condition to classify as a rookie is that you haven´t participated in X-games before 2010.
The teams have 264 hours to let out their creativity on the features in and around Åre including urban features. The goal is to put together the most amazing and entertaining 5-minute edit. There’s a healthy cash prize and winner takes it all.
The teams’ efforts will be unveiled at the Mix Megapol Arena in front of a massive audience. This venue is somewhat of a gala night. Different nominations and awards are handed out here but instead of rewarding the best sound etc the best trick is rewarded, the most spectacular crash etc. All the 5-minute edits are shown and the judges will present the winner of JOSS 2010.
Keep it real Grouse,
Eric Beckstead
Chug Lyfe!
So for those of you that not only enjoy skiing but like too have a little fun off the hill as well i recommend watching this video. Basically its a video blog of pro skier Ian Cosco’s travels. That doesn’t sound too amazing but if you knew the guy you’d know that your gonna have a good five minutes of laughs during this video while Cosco and friends make complete fools of themselves while looking so prooo! Check it out.
Keep it real Grouse!
Eric Beckstead
This and that; GOOD TIMES
Hey everyone!
Grouse has been killing it lately, and there have been a lot of opportunities to free ride as well as hit up the Cut park and Paradise jib park. Last night, we mostly looked around for natural jibs and fun little side hits on expo. At one point, Reid Alex, Anthony Cervantes and I were riding up the Greenway Express chair. A small child decided that it would be a good idea to hop onto our chair last minute. He managed to get on half way, and we all tried to pull him up. By this point we were a little ways up, and without him saying anything, we had no idea what he was trying to do, so we held on. After about two meters, he jumped off and ducked just in time for him to miss the chair that was coming towards his head. I’m going to have to say that at the time it was one of the most bizarre experiences of my life and thank goodness he’s okay! Keep your kids on a leash! Haha, don’t actually. This was one of the exciting points of the evening, as well as scoping out some fun logs and natural stalls. By 7pm, the sun was starting to set, but the snow remained slushy and fun!
It’s awesome to see everyone having fun on all the local mountains, as well as Whistler! Heres a video of one of the best days in Whistler ever! Most people switched skis for snowboards and vice versa and had one of the funniest days filming ever. Ex-Grouse locals Liam Casey, James Anderson, Spencer Watson and Ryan Belich killed it, and make sure you watch to the end to see the banger! Enjoy!
Orage March Madness Ski Comp
For all you skiers out there, the only ski comp in Vancouver is dropping on March 6th at Mount Seymour. Here are the details from the Facebook group, which you should also join.
“Join us March 6th, 2010 for Orage’s “March Madness Slopestyle Contest” at Mount Seymour, BC, where we’ll be getting the shred down with Comor Sports, Mount Seymour and Snowrider.org. Registration is only $15 bucks which includes your lift ticket and lunch. Athletes will kick off the day at approximately 10am and ride till we’re done! Top three will take home a fist full of goodies including a $1000 Orage shopping spree to Comor Sports for 1st place, a $750 Orage shopping spree for 2nd and a $500 Orage shopping spree for 3rd. We will have a grom level heat for plankers under the age of 15. Be sure to bring your own BBall jersey for the contest and as with all contests, helmets are mandatory! No Jersey, No Helmet, No shred.”
So remember, no basketball jersey, not helmet, no ski. Oh, and don’t forget your $15. Yea!
Go Pro!
Have you ever claimed an epic line just to be shot down by non-believers? Or wanted to have your own personal filmer but no one’s down to miss out on laps? Well, the new Go Pro Hero is basically the best POV camera money can buy. It records on SD cards, is shockproof and waterproof, so you can take the gnarliest of falls and know you got the footy! The only real disadvantage to this camera seems to be the lithium-based AAA batteries, which it kills quickly, but that aside, this camera is the only way to go for you POV fans out there.
Check out Tom Wallisch absolutely slaying some runs at the Breckenridge Dew Tour stop, entirely shot on GoPro cams mounted on a ski pole and the helmet of the man himself.
Keep it real Grouse!
Eric Beckstead
Liam Casey Reviews His 2010 Surface New Lifes
As many of you may know, Liam Casey is now a Surface team rider. As he has just gotten the 2010 Surface New Lifes, I got him to tell us what he thought.
Photo - Scott Titterington
First Impressions
My first lap on these bad boys was down Couloir Extreme above Jersey Cream Chair on Blackcomb Mountain. I was pretty nervous at first as I have never skied on rockered skis in my life and this was one of or the steepest run on blackcomb. The conditions were soft which helped and after a few turns I got into the groove and ripped the rest of the bowl. WOOO so much fun! James Anderson and I ripped down to go up Glacier Chair and headed to good ol’ spanky’s ladder. We ripped Ruby Bowl twice and oh boy these skis were just a treat. I did a few 180s off cliffs and airs and was amazed how well riding switch was on these babies. I remember thinking “I should have fallen by now. What’s going on?” but I hadn’t. I have never skied that fast switch in powder before. It was as if I was if I was on a normal groomer… suuper easy.
After this we met up with Andrew Pires, Zavier Vaillancourt, and Yu Sasaki (4frnt freeride slayer). We spent the rest of the day in CBC trees and my skis were allowing me to stomp cliffs, ride pow, hop pillows better than I have ever done. The rocker and the width on these allow you to land upright and not backseat so you are in more control and comfort. just like a groomer.
Anyways that was my first day. I have never skied a better ski in my life and I had a grin from ear to ear all day.
2010 Surface New Life
Groomers
I knew that these were going to be able to slay pow like nothing, but I was worried how riding groomers was going to be like. To my surprise, these actually ripped! I was still able to lay down fast carves all the way to the next pow run. I was very pleased.
Performance Spec
Flex
The flex on these is quite stiff, just the way I like it. Actually, all the Surface skis are on the stiffer side. No noodles here.
Strength
They seem to be stronger than an ox, although I haven’t had many days on these guys, so time will tell I guess. I haven’t heard of any issues yet with them or any other skis in the line as of yet from the Surface Skis boys or anyone else.
Overall
My overall impression on these beasts is simply wow. By far the best ski I’ve ever had the pleasure of riding. They make pow skiing a breeze forwards and switch. The rocker makes for great landings way more often. Really a nice solid, fun, ripping ski.
If you want to check these skis out or any other Surface skis, North Shore Ski and Board on Lonsdale carries the brand. Eliel Hindert (Surface Skis rider and rep) and crew will be in Whistler January 18th at TMC shop for you to demo them out. If you can’t make it on that date, send Eliel a facebook message to demo a pair and I’m sure he can hook it up as he will be in Vancouver and Whistler a lot this season.
Thanks for reading.
Second Oakley Night Jam
Hey everyone,
So if you didn’t know, this past Friday was the second Oakley Night Jam of the year. Hosted in the Quiksilver Park, there were plenty of features to hit. The jam took place on the Flat Down and the Up Box, providing great fun for all. Congrats to everyone who killed it, I hope you got your prize. The prizes included the Oakley wallets, backpacks, laynards, toques as well as POW spring gloves. The final prize included 10 Boardroom gift cards which were given out to just about anything ‘unique’. The Jam was wrapped up with a raffle for a pair of Oakley Sunglasses and the new Shaun White A-frames. Be sure to come out to the next jam February 5th, 2010.
Jeremy