The first annual Quiksilver Natural Selection wrapped up yesterday with Travis Rice standing atop the field. Travis himself came up with the idea for the contest a few years ago and has been trying to make it all come together ever since. The idea is that the contest gathers the world’s best riders for many of snowboarding’s disciplines; pipe, park, back country and all-around freeriders.

Featuring semi-natural hits and powder landings the contest showed a new direction for both the sport and contests alike. Riders threw variations of 180s, 360s, 540s and 720s through out the day including a few that opted to flip. Among the participants were legends DCP, Nicolas Muller, David Benedek, Gigi Ruf and other of the sports superstars.

Pictures and Video coverage are available to those interested.

Unique to the contest was a win-win situation for all riders who participated. All of them received prizes just to come and put on a show, regardless of who well they placed in the competition. With a combined purse of more than $75,000 in cash and prizes the contest went off huge. Rice, the overall winner donated a chunk of his $18,000 check to the Jackson Hole search and rescue and other charities in the local community. Other prizes included a snowmobile donated by DC Shoes for the best trick, won by Mark Landvik for his huge 720. Top three finishers received painted bison skulls. The skulls were painted by local artist Ryan Haworth. This is definitely a contest that will raise the standards among all other contests and I’m hoping we see something similar expand into other action sports.

The trend in skiing and snowboarding these days seems to be headed in the direction of more and more back country riding. Whether it’s a back country hit or a just touring, the back country is receiving more traffic than ever before. Although it’s good to see people progressing and enjoying the back country, it can also be a serious cause of worry.

Most people that enter the back country have no experience whatsoever with avalanche safety or avalanche awareness. I want to use this post as a reminder to anyone that is planning on going out of controlled areas. You should, at the very least have a basic knowledge of avalanche safety and know what to look for so you can minimize the risk of being caught in a slide.

Most states that have any kind of serious back country terrain have websites that forecast avalanche danger. Utah, for example, has many sites that help educate people on avalanche basics. Also offered are classes that use hands on experience taught by professionals. Utah Avalanche Center is a site that offers classes, forecasts, and information on avalanches throughout the state of Utah.

Whether you are a first timer in the back country, or a veteran, it is always wise to check avalanche forecasts before setting out for a day of pow riding. Continued learning courses are also recommended, even if it’s just a refresher course for someone who is well rounded in back country travel.

There are many false thoughts and ideas that are circulating around about avalanches and you should be aware of both common truths and falsities. Many deaths occur each year as a result of common mistakes made by inexperienced visitors. Remember, when it comes to avalanches you can never be to safe.

Happy riding!

Next years Poor Boyz Productions movie, Reasons, is set to be one of the best the industry has possibly ever seen. Setting the stage with an all-star cast including; Jon Olsson, Pep Fujas, Eric Pollard, Simon Dumont, Tanner Hall, Andreas Hatviet, Mark Abma, Peter Olenick, Sammy Carlson, Tim Durtschi, Mike Douglas, Chris Benchetler, Charles Gagnier, JP Auclair and Michelle Parker, Poor Boyz try to provide the “Reasons” why skiers do what they do.

Bringing together such a cast has never been done on such a large scale. From X Games medalists to some of the best back country skiers out there, Poor Boyz covers all the bases for what is set to be an incredible film. Each cast member will bring something unique and innovative to the table. From back country hits to urban rails, park to big mountain lines this movie will show all different aspects of the progressing sport. A documentary format will allow the viewer to be able to see the triumphs and disappointments of the season, the ups and downs, the work and the “Reasons” behind a lifestyle sport.

Check out the Reasons trailer.

This coming week of Jan 29th-Feb 1 is the annual Snowsports Industries America expo, better known as S.I.A. With over a thousand snowsports companies in Vegas showing new product for the coming year, this is a chance to have a seek peek at new skis, boards, boots and bindings that will be released to the public for the ‘08 - ‘09 winter season. Some of us , I for one can’t wait to see the new ski line up. Fortunately there has been an expo in Sweden already so I did get somewhat of a sneak-peak. If you’re anything like me this is a major event and you can check out a few new skis at Freeride.

All the buzz these days seems to be about the next rockered or reverse camber ski. Well there are a number of new designs and skis that will be flooding the market next year. If you haven’t tried a reverse camber or rockered ski in the powder you’re missing out. This shape seems to be the new trend, as with good reason because there is nothing else that compares in the pow. S.I.A. is the place to learn about new product straight from the source, the ski companies and the reps themselves.

This year S.I.A. is going to be bigger and better than ever. If you don’t have the chance to go for yourself I recommend reading the online forums the next few weeks to keep up an eye on what’s happening in the industry. S.I.A. is a one of the most important expos of the year and helps show the coming trend for the next season. Keep your eyes open and ears tuned for any info on the expo. I am sure you won’t be disappointed, it’s going to be awesome.

Citing the need to give big-mountain riders an opportunity to display their style and skill, North Face has recently unveiled their plans for a two-stop big-mountain tour. The inaugural 2008 North Face Masters will hold its first competition at Snowbird, UT. on Feb. 8-12 while holding the closing stop of the tour April 2-6 at Alyeska, Alaska.

For decades, the world has seen the sport of Snowboarding grow rapidly in many forms, with amateur and professional competitive outlets for half pipe, park, snowboarder-cross, and traditional racing …yet until the introduction of The North Face Masters Tour, Big Mountain snowboarders, even those publicly embraced heroes at the highest level of their sport, have not had the opportunity to put their skill and talent to work against other athletes in a competitive arena.

With the tour, North Face is making a serious push at being the main face of Big-Mountain Snowboarding. The make it pretty clear on the tour site, that they believe they are filling a major void in the industry with these events. By limiting the this inaugural tour to two events and wisely selecting these two legendary mountains to hold them on there is a real possibility they may do just that.

Can it seriously be possible that we are now beginning the year 2008 and there are still mountain resorts in the United States that are getting away with banning snowboarders from their hills? Unfortunately, and unbelievably, the answer is yes. While we are now down to the final four mountains that refuse to lift their snowboarding ban, it’s still not good enough. Mad River Glen, Vt., Taos, New Mexico, Alta, UT., and Deer Valley, UT. all somehow continue to institute a ’skiers only’ policy. Apparently the godfather of snowboarding, Jake Burton, has had enough.

Burton is encouraging all of us fellow knuckle-draggers to band together and peacefully protest this atrocity at each of these mountains. On Dec. 15 of last year, a sneak attack was led on Mad River Glen. About 40 white-clad boarders organized themselves at Burton HQ, conveniently located 45 minutes from MRG, for an early morning sneak-attack. They were armed with donuts and smiles, taking an early morning hike up the mountain and catching the elitists before they even knew what hit them. With cameras rolling, the brigade took to the hill while on-lookers below gathered to see their mountain being poached. Once the group made it to the bottom they proceeded to greet skiers with donuts and a friendly hello while staging a peaceful picket line in protest of the continued segregation.

In addition to the protest that already took place, Burton is encouraging snowboarders to poach other mountains and submit a video that documents their experience, and the best video will be awarded with a cash prize worth $5000. So far there are no user generated videos posted on the site. Is that a sign of a failed attempt at Burton trying its hand in social media marketing? Or is simply because snowboarders don’t care enough that only four out of the hundreds of mountain resorts in the U.S. don’t allow boarders?

I’m sure each of these resorts has their reasons for limiting their guests to two-plankers, but at this point those reasons just don’t fly anymore. There simply is no way that these mountains can continue to justify picking and choosing who is allowed on their slopes. Burton has it right as he continues to encourage more of these peaceful poaching-protests, even going as far to call it our “patriotic duty.” Poach away my friends, poach away!!

Ken Block Co-Owner of DC Shoes was featured in this months December issue of Snowboarder Magazine, Check out the Press Release. *Read all the way at the bottom we added in a video of Ken busting a 170 foot gap in the desert.

SUBARU DRIVER KEN BLOCK FEATURED JUMPING HIS RALLY CAR ON THE COVER OF SNOWBOARDER MAGAZINE AND IN THE NEW DC SNOWBOARD VIDEO

Subaru Rally Team USA driver Ken Block and his Monster Energy Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car have landed on the cover of the December issue of Snowboarder Magazine, hitting newsstands this week. The cover shot features Block getting airborne in his Subaru at New Zealand’s Snow Park Resort with DC Shoes pro-snowboarder Torstein Hargmo flying alongside the car on his snowboard.

Block, an avid snowboarder and co-founder of DC Shoes, recently brought his Subaru to the snowboard park at New Zealand’s Snow Park Resort to join the DC Snowboard Team for a multi-day session that combined filming, snowboarding, and driving for a unique experience captured for DC’s second full-length snowboarding video, Mtn.Lab 1.5. Along with the cover shot there is a multi-page feature full of photos from the session and a double sided pull-out poster featuring two more photos of Block’s rally car catching air in the park.

Block had the impetus for hitting the snow with his Subaru rally car after successfully jumping it 171 ft. for the Discovery Channel show Stunt Junkies late in 2006. After several attempts to set up a snow jump in the USA, the opportunity came together in New Zealand and Ken Block joined the DC Snowboard team as they filmed at Snow Park Resort in New Zealand’s South Island.

“After I completed the Stunt Junkies jump last winter, I started kicking around the idea of trying a jump out on the snow,” explained Block. “I’ve been a snowboarder for a long time and have loved driving in the snow since I first got behind the wheel. It was always a dream of mine to take a rally car to a ski resort and really see what I could do with it. I started talking with Mtn.Lab 1.5 Director Pierre Wikberg and some of the guys from the DC Snow Team and we decided to film it for the snow video and see what would come out of the idea.”

Block and the team of DC snowboarders filmed together in the Snow Park Resort’s main park on several obstacles and the crew built a 55ft tow-in kicker on flat ground to create a unique playground for the rally car and snowboarders alike. Block towed the snowboarders into several park obstacles behind his Monster Energy Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car which was equipped with spiked ice tires from BFGoodrich Tires. Block then successfully jumped his car over 70 feet, with the snowboarders jumping beside him, creating epic photo sequences, one of which is featured on the cover of Snowboarder Magazine.

“All in all I’m really stoked on how well it went,” said Ken. “In all the experiences I’ve ever had, it truly was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done.”

Video of the entire rally car/snowboarder session will be featured in DC’s Mtn.Lab 1.5 set to release on DVD early November 2007. Additional video clips will also appear in Travis Pastrana’s next DVD, Nitro Circus 5 ‘Thrillbillies’, which will release in late November 2007.

Here is a link to a brief history of DC as well as the Team Riders Section of Subaru

Video Ken Block 170 ft Gap

We had a tip about a crazy sale for all you ski junkies out there. A new home-grown, Utah-based ski company is launching a pre-season sale. With 9 days to go, we wanted to let you know so you could pre-register and score some great looking skis with flexible bamboo cores to satisfy your winter sessions. Interested in the sale and the company, we had an interview with Jared Richards, co-owner of BlueHouse:

5ones: We caught wind of your September 1 – September 14 pre-season sale. We think it is a great way to get your products on the mountain, but is it really wise for such a young company to basically give its skis away?

Bluehouse: Well our motivation for the company is a bit different from that of some of the larger corporate players. First, we don’t have to play by the same rules as many other companies in the industry since we are a private company operating on paychecks from each of our other jobs. We don’t have a huge financial backer that we have to please, so we really get to take this company in the direction we want. We created Bluehouse to produce skis lines in which skiers especially on a local level in Utah and neighboring states can have serious input into the designs and ultimate outcome of our skis. We want personal interaction with those on our products. We care more about people enjoying our products than we do about raking in loads of cash, so long as the money we do take in will allow us to cover our costs in addition to expanding our R&D and product lines. We have done our homework though and believe that based on the sale price we will be able to at least break even. We plan to continue to provide well designed and durable products at a reasonable cost even after the sale. The sale was conceived as a way to show our appreciation for those who believe in Bluehouse early on and to give many of those people how could not otherwise afford a new pair a chance to ride them, work them hard, and then let us know what they think. For us, we thought this a much superior method to providing demo days across the world.

5ones: Recently there has been a lot of news unveiling shoddy workmanship from Chinese manufacturers. How can Bluehouse sure that the same will not be said of its products?

Bluehouse: Although there are so many factors that will determine the overall outcome of a product, we are convinced that our manufacturing partner is competent, socially responsible, and is mature enough to prevent foreseeable defects. For starters, our Chinese manufacturer has been around for quite a while producing products in the snow sports industry most significantly snowboards. Furthermore, together with our manufacturing partner we provide quality controls at several levels beginning with the selection of materials, then after production, before finishing, and finally before shipping. Products we find unacceptable will not be delivered to our customers, even if that means us losing a sale. Furthermore, a Bluehouse representative personally visited the manufacturing facility to oversee some production, as well as to insure that the plant complied with labor and environmental laws and acceptable practices.

That said, we are very interested to see how our products hold up after 100 days of use. Although Adam and I skied on the Bluehouse prototypes last year, we know that there are lots of skiers out there with different styles and who put more time on their skis and can really put the skis to the test.

5ones: We understand that you recently had a group test your skis in Chile. How did that turn out?

Bluehouse: Yeah. Shane hooked up went with a few decent skiers, took our full ski fleet, and got a few reviews from a variety of skiers.

They went to Portillo and the ski conditions were mediocre while they were there. Especially since our skis are designed primarily for Utah conditions. The snow was either hard-pack, groomed, or slushy. They managed to find a few soft turns nonetheless. Regardless, we got a few people’s unbiased opinions about the skis.

5ones: Let’s talk about the skiers’ responses to the park skis first. What was the overall feeling about the MRs?

Bluehouse: Well, Shane was very clear with the skiers to tell him everything they thought, even if there was something they didn’t like. In spite of that, we got very little negative feedback about the MRs. It was everything they expected in a park ski. Basically, our testers raved the MRs flexibility and light weight. They felt great maneuverability and a lot of dampening on landings, although jumping was minimal with the conditions. Shane rode each of the skis for the first time as well. He was most impressed with the MRs for the way they handled the crud at fast speeds.

5ones: What about the Districts?

Bluehouse: The Districts are a little more complex and the reviews were more mixed. We had one rider who loved them from the moment he clicked in. He couldn’t get enough of them and made offers to buy our demo pair on the spot. He liked the bamboo performance. He spoke of enjoying the soft flex while stomping mediocre landings and floating through somewhat soft turns. He was also pleasantly surprised how well they held an edge at high speeds despite the way they hand flex. He never felt chatter from the charge. Then we had another skier who only took a few runs and wanted to switch out. He felt like they were too soft. I personally think it takes a few runs to adjust to the bamboo flex. When you learn to trust it, it provides a nice experience. Chile was Shane’s first time on the skis. He felt that they were soft until he learned to ski them after a couple of runs. After adjustment he was pumped on them. Shane rode them mounted at both traditional and more center-mounted settings and found the ride superior at the traditional mount.

5ones: So how do you feel about the upcoming season and Bluehouse skis?

Bluehouse: I think as long as we’re honest with our customers and the ski community, we’ll achieve our goal. That is to be a ski company for the ski community. This is our first year. Our company identity and product line are far from established. I’m excited to see the renditions, advancements, and additions we’ll make from this year to next and then the next. As far as we’re concerned, it’s all about what our skiers will want.

To register and to be notified for the pre-season sale, visit www.bluehouseskis.com.

Ski filmmaker, Rage Films, has signed a deal with The Ski Channel to distribute both exclusive and non-exclusive content through Time Warner Cable’s Video on Demand service. In addition, the deal includes an investment from The Ski Channel into Rage Films with the option to buy the company outright at a future date. They will also be a major sponsor on the yearly Rage Film Tour.

Congrats to Rage Films. While they’re aren’t quite on the same level as say Poorboyz or MSP, they’ve consistently produced some of the sickest ski films year in and year out and deserve the success they’re having. This gives them a great opportunity to expand outside their usual audience onto the biggest media platform imaginable, the TV.

It will be great for the sport of skiing as well; aside from Fuel TV most channels only show oldschool skiing that is quite frankly very lame and makes the sport look ridiculous. Now when you tell someone you’re a skier maybe, just maybe they won’t have that stereotypical racer in neon spandex cruising down the groomers pictured in their mind. Skiing has come a long way in the last 10 years and no longer deserves the gaper stereotype.

I can only hope this turns into the a nice liquidity event for them later down the road and I’m expecting big things out of Rage with the new capital infusion. I have included the trailer from their latest flick, Enjoy, for your viewing pleasure… Enjoy.

The Artec Project, once a sub-series of Elan Snowboards, is now being announced as an independent snowboard company simply called Artec Snowboards. Originally conceived in 2004, The Artec Project has picked up several awards in recognition of innovative triumphs including the patented Omega Sidecut and Artec Blueprint.

The ‘08 collection will be available this fall featuring 8 different models for freestyle riders. There will be two pro model series for Artec riders Gabe Taylor and Laura Hadar. The rest of the Artec pro team consists of Nima Jalali, Jake Devine, Gus Engle and Johnny Miller. Not exactly the all-start team found in companies like Burton but not a horrible team either. I should mention that we’d never expect an all-star team from a startup though. Not only do they not have funds to support it but often times the top-notch riders don’t want their names associated with an unproven brand.

Elan has never really achieved a high level of success with either snowboarding or skiing. Their products have always been sub-par and often times associated with the ‘barney’ image. It will be interesting to see if Artec can breakaway from those stereotypes and become a core brand. The company currently has no website but says one will be available in September at http://www.artecsnowboards.com.