On Saturday April 19th, The North Face Canadian Ski Mountaineering Championships turned out to be the toughest race yet. But the difficult course and conditions did not deter a record number of competitors participating in all three races at this years’ 2008 National Championships.

The North Face Spearhead Passage
Weather dawned clear and cold with starting temperatures around –18C with a steady wind. The new course this year offered up some serious surprises including a boot pack climb up Exhilaration couloir which tops out at over 45 degrees.

The colder temperatures played havoc with freezing hydration systems and some competitors had limited or no water for the entire 26km, 4 + hour race! A total of 41 racers competed with a sprint finish for the top two competitors, Aaron Chance (CAN) and Andy Traslin (CAN). Both men are members of Canada’s national squad and have been battling it out all season. Andy came across the line first but suffered a time penalty which meant he lost the race by an incredibly close 21/100ths of a second! After 3.5 hours of racing! A young Riener Thoni (CAN) came in third with a very strong performance. Clearly one of the up and coming new stars for the Canadian team. Riener’s father, Rudi, and mother, Patricia also competed on the weekend. A remarkable family effort!

The top women were Melanier Bernier (CAN) (1st), Julie Matteau (CAN) (2nd) and Erica Janakova (CZ/CAN) (3rd). Both Melanie and Julie are members of Canada’s national Ski Mountaineering team. The competitors loved the course additions with its more difficult technical climbs.

The North Face Whistler Dash racers competed on a shortened version of the same course. So conditions were not much easier for them. Their 11k course saw a number of new comers and some very fast times lead by Steven Ziff in 1st, Dave Crew 2nd and Andre Munck in 3rd. There were 12 competitors in the Dash race. Top women were Carolyn Swertka (USA) up from the Jackson Hole in her first ever race. 2nd was Emelie Steinberg (CAN) and Birgitta Nieport (DAN) in 3rd. An international field in the citizen’s race!

Sunday saw an early start for competitors in The North Face Whistler WindUP as they shook off the tired legs and lungs from Saturday and hammered up the steep 1200m climb from Whistler Village to the Roundhouse. The young legs of Riener Thoni was the class of the day with a time of 1:08:57! 2nd was Matt Thompson (CAN) and 3rd was Javier Garcia (ESP). Matt chose to use snowshoes for this race and showed the snowshoers on a steep and hard course could keep pace with the skiers only 6 minutes behind Riener.
The women’s field was lead by Melanie Bernier and followed by Lina Augattis (CAN) and in third, Birgitta Nieport. Melanie posted a fast pace at 1:30:34. Amazing performance after a hard day of racing the day before.

Total racers competing was 76, an new high. A very successful weekend of racing which is continuing to establish the Spearhead Passage as one of the most difficult and most favored stops on the North American schedule.

“Check one-two, check one-two.” I’m sitting in on rehearsal for Chairlift Revue, and until the run-through for the first play begins, those are the only words spoken in the nearly empty Rainbow Theatre. They’re repeated endlessly.

Finally, the play starts. Like all the plays, it conforms to the only rule of the Revue: It has to take place entirely on a chairlift.

This one has three characters, two late-middle-age guys and a mid-twenties woman… who immediately starts hitting on the guy sitting next to her. Then, the hit takes an unexpected turn that throws the guy into a total tailspin. The play is alternately funny and moving, fast-paced and pretty much brilliant.

When it’s over, I applaud. “Wow, that was terrific. What’s it called? And who wrote it?”

Someone in the darkened theatre answers, “It’s called Do I Know You? And it was written by G.D. Maxwell.”
Oh, Jesus. G.D. Maxwell. I should have guessed. Max is the guy who wrote the funniest play last year. He’s the guy who always outwrites and outskis me. He’s a really annoying friend.
He’s also the guy who revived Chairlift Revue, without a doubt, the best-kept secret and biggest bargain at WSSF. It’s an evening of theatre, of hilarity, revelation and self-recognition for 10 bucks. No wonder the crowd’s so wildly enthusiastic.

Six months before the Festival, Max puts out a call for submissions from all over North America. To his amazement, many writers demur: “No, I’ve never written a play.” “No, I don’t know how.” No, I’m not sure I’m up for it.”

When he tells me this over a single-malt, I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “Dude, don’t they know how many real playwrights can’t get a reading, much less a full-fledged production?”

“I know, I know.”

“And don’t they know the freelancer’s first rule?”

“Which is?”

“Don’t you ever let a chance go by.”

Some of us do know the rule and jump at the chance. Johnny Larochelle, Michel Beaudry, Feet Banks, Michele Bush, Max and I all write one-act plays for the event. Most are comedies; all have comic elements. One of Max’s (an over-achiever, he’s done two) has a talking dog; mine has a couple of short musical numbers.

The actors are all talented locals: Johnny Larochelle, Stephane Delage, J.T. Townsend, Katie Svenson, Bronwen Thorburn, Leslie Anthony, Cheryl Massey, Chris Quinlan, Raphael Sabatini, Michele Bush, Darcy McKay, Magdelena Regdos, Cole Manson, Angie Nolan and Fish Boulton. Remember those last two names.

The evening ends when, at the end of his play, playwright Feet Banks leaps to his, well, feet, jumps onto the stage, and shouts at Max, “You turned my play into a fookin’ comedy! A comedy! See if you think this is funny!”

Then he pulls out a pistol and shoots G.D. Maxwell in the chest at close range.

The evening’s unflappable producer, Michele Bush, steps from the wings and calls for a couple of stagehands to haul poor Max away. She then announces, “Rather than end on such a gory note, we’re adding one more short play. Here it is.”

Angie and Fish return to the chair, now playing a couple of friends. She’s cheerful and optimistic; he’s somewhat sour and world-weary. She tells him he needs an attitude adjustment, and that his main problem is fear of intimacy.

After rejecting this analysis as standard chick blather, just as they reach the top, he suddenly realizes that she’s right about him, that he’s been missing the joy and love that’s been right in front of him all this time. She skis off.

But he calls to her. “Angie, please come back.”

Angie, not her stage name — “Angie, please come back.”

She does, not knowing where this is going, preparing to adlib, wondering if she’s about to be the next one to get shot.

But no, Fish is now on one knee. And he’s, well, fishing in his pocket for a small rectangular box, from which he produces a ring. His next line is…

“Angie, will you marry me?”

Angie bursts into tears, they embrace, the other actors scream, and folks, there ain’t a dry eye in the house, mine included.

Now why can’t I write an ending like that?

– by Jules Older

Launch into Vancouver 2010 with this 25-cent coin featuring Freestyle Skiing. Look in your change to collect a piece of the action. Plus, order the Sterling Silver Freestyle Skiing Hologram Coin today! It�s a great way to start celebrating the action on the slopes in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter games.

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For information on all of the exciting new Olympic coins, call 1-800-267-1871 or visit www.mint.ca/olympic.

More than 130 sport leaders committed to making Canada a long-term world leader in alpine ski racing will meet in two weeks to focus on improving performance at all competition levels.

Alpine Canada Alpin said the 2008 Sommet ACA Summit brings together coaches, administrators, officials and others leaders to share information, advance development programs and access the most advanced expertise as Canada pursues the goal of attaining and sustaining world leadership in their sport.

“The Sommet ACA Summit is critical to ensure that the latest information and teaching techniques are filtering throughout the Canadian coaching system at all levels. Events like this help to develop a team atmosphere among all stakeholders in Canadian ski racing, which is important as we now reach a critical stage in pursuit of the goal of being the best in the world by 2010,” Alpine Canada Alpin Chief Executive Officer Ken Read said.

The three-day event, taking place May 5th to 7th in Calgary, AB, is a joint-initiative between Alpine Canada Alpin and the Canadian Ski Coaches Federation.

It will be highlighted by a presentation from Patrck Riml, the new Director of Canada’s Ladies Alpine Ski Team, who recently left the highly successful American Ladies team to join Alpine Canada Alpin.

The innovative AIM2WIN, a ground-breaking new long-term skier development guide to improve performance at the local level will also be publicly released for the first time. Prepared by ACA coaching experts, it is a key tool for building sustainable, highly successful long-term racing programs across the country.

The Sommet ACA Summit will also include a special round-table on race quality with leading officials, coaches, provincial and national sport administrators as well as an update and educational session on international rules from FIS experts.

Other topics on the agenda include the physical development of young ski racers, training and recovery, the science of strength training and prevention of ACL injuries.

“High performance programs at the club level are becoming more sophisticated each year and this event is one of the reasons for that. The Canadian Ski Coaches Federation is committed to ensuring the tools to improve ski racing in Canada are available at all levels of coaching,” CSCF Managing Director Peter Goodman said.

Combined Canadian and US snow sports sales surpassed $2.75 billion in February with $768 million in equipment sales, $1.1 billion in apparel sales, and $895 million in accessories sales. While apparel and accessories sales have increased in both units and dollars through all channels this season, equipment sales have remained relatively flat overall.

“Apparel and accessories have sold very well this year in all channels, in fact, apparel and accessories are primarily responsible for the 11% gain in dollars sold across the snow sports market so far this season,” said Kelly Davis, Director of Research for SnowSports Industries America (SIA), the not-for-profit industry trade group that represents manufacturers and distributors of snow sports products.

Equipment sales in snow sports specialty shops increased less than 2% in dollars over last season with slight decreases in the number of alpine skis and in the number of snowboards sold. Chain stores sold less equipment than they did in 2005.06, but dollars spent on equipment were up slightly. Although equipment sales on the Internet are quite strong, the channel is still too narrow to make a significant difference overall.

Snow sports consumers have spent more than $1.7 billion dollars in specialty shops so far this season. Apparel sales lead the way with $609 million followed closely by accessories with $579 million in sales. Apparel sales have increased 6% in dollars over the August to February period last season and accessories are up more than 7% in dollars. Curt Geiger, Vice President at Descente reported, “Leisure Trends and Descente/DNA dealers report to us that we performed very well this past season at specialty retail.”

Only equipment sales have remained flat this season. This time last season, 436,133 pairs of skis had been sold in specialty shops compared to 429,621 this season. Snowboard sales weren’t much brighter in specialty with an overall decrease of about 1% in units so far this season. Nordic propped the equipment category up with increases of 26% in units and more than 28% in dollars.

The Internet channel continues to become both wider and deeper with vast increases in sales of equipment, apparel and accessories. Overall, the Internet channel for snow sports goods has increased 42% in units and by 47% in dollars. Clicking consumers have spent $453 million this season online for snow sports goods. At the current growth rate, Internet sales will reach more than $650 million and account for 25% of all snow sports sales by the end of the 2008.09 snow sports season.

Snow sports equipment sales over the Internet increased by 60% in units and by 79% in dollars. Compare that to the flat or decreasing sales of equipment in specialty shops and in chain stores. Equipment is the fastest growing category in the Internet channel this season. For example, online sales of adult twintip skis have increased from 7,500 pairs last season to more than 22,000 this season.

The final stop of the Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series and the Freeskiing World Tour wrapped up Saturday at Alyeska Resort, Alaska. The emotional day of competition began as nearly 200 competitors hiked to the top of Alyeska peak to pay tribute to fallen competitor John Nicoletta of Aspen, Colorado.

A memorial took place on the peak where competitors shared their favorite stories and memories of Nicoletta. Before the first competitor left the start gate a large group of Aspen athletes foreran the venue in unison and dedicated it to their lost friend.

With half the field of competitors unable to complete their runs Friday, the decision was made to run the remainder of the field Saturday morning. Incidentally, four out of the top five overall male competitors ran Friday including Jake Cohn of Telluride, CO, whose run included a high speed straight-line with a sizeable cliff-drop. Cohn finished fifth with 34.69 points. Luke Nelson of Fernie, B.C., finished fourth with 35.75 points just ahead of Aaron Schmidt also of Fernie, BC. Schmidt, who ran Saturday, pioneered a new line which he skied with authority, earning him 36 points overall. Craig Garbiel of Kirkwood, California, skied an incredibly fast run, gaining precious line score points by skiing through exposure, to finish second with 36.25. Kent Hyden of Alta, Utah, executed four perfect cliff drops with no hesitation. His speed and aggressive line choice earned him a total of 36.63 points, which put him on the top of the podium.

“I was looking up the venue this morning and had an idea of what I wanted to ski,” overall winner Kent Hyden said yesterday. “Right before my start, I looked down at my line and was able to see my take-off and where I would land I figured and I knew that as long as I had enough speed I would be alright. It worked out pretty well.”

The international women’s field represented five nations and was one of the deepest in history. Ex U.S. National Ski Team member Crystal Wright of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, skied a technical line with a few impressive cliff-drops, skiing into the bowl with controlled speed, which earned her 29.88 points and fifth place overall. One of the youngest competitors in the event, 19 year-old Jacqui Edgerly of Aspen, Colorado, impressed the judges with her extremely fast run, earning her 30.88 points and fourth place on the day. Former Freeskiing World Tour champion Jess McMillan finished third overall with 31 points just ahead of Janina Kuzma of Fernie, BC, who skied her exposed line with confidence, landing her in second position overall with 31.75 points. Tour veteran Crystal-Rose Lee of Whistler, BC, made quick work of the venue, skiing a fast, technical line littered with cliff-drops, which earned her the first position overall with 32.25 points.

“This was the most nervous and weird I have ever felt in a competition,” said third place finisher Jess McMillan. “I always ski to ski another day, and after yesterday, the weight of that was heavy. Today I wanted to ski for myself, for John… and for the sake of skiing. I didn’t really care how I did, I just wanted to make it down to the bottom and it feels really good to be down here.”

Although the awards ceremony will take place Sunday, overall tour winners were released Saturday evening solidifying a Whistler, B.C., sweep of the Freeskiing World Tour as Brett Crabtree won his first title and Jen Ashton claimed her fourth. Fernie B.C. skiers made a statement with strong performances from a very young team, expectations have been raised for future events. The Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series titles went to Josh Daiek of Kirkwood, CA, and Crystal Wright of Jackson Hole, WY.

Tropical rainforests are the lungs of the Earth. Protecting them from deforestation not only saves the ecosystem of the region, it also has a global impact in terms of CO2 containment and reduction.

The Cool Earth initiative, founded by HEAD CEO Johan Eliasch has been able to gather over 19’000 supporters and protect close to 8 million tons of CO2 within less than a year, making it one of the world’s fastest growing environmental organizations.

As a way of thanking them for the most successful season in HEAD history, Johan Eliasch now awards his top skiers with 25 acres (10 hectares) each of Cool Earth protected rainforest: Bode Miller, Didier Cuche, Marco Büchel, Hermann Maier, Maria Riesch, Šárka Záhrobská, Elisabeth Görgl.

The athletes own certificates to 25 acres each within the Maderia project in the Amazon. While the athletes do not possess rights to the underlying land, the Forest is sponsored in their name and is secured from destruction or deforestation by Cool Earth, who also monitors biodiversity, quality of the canopy and carbon storage. 25 acres of land equal 6’500 tons of contained CO2.

About Cool earth – visit www.coolearth.org

The final stop of The North Face Masters competitive big mountain snowboarding tour wrapped up yesterday at Alyeska Resort in Alaska’s Chugach Mountains.

After stormy weather postponed the super finals for two anxious days, patient competitors finally had the opportunity yesterday to showcase their skill on the permanently closed Shadows section of Alyeska’s Headwall.

The fight for the women’s crown was close, as less than five points separated the top five women who advanced to the super final round. Rachel Sheidow of Mt. Buller, Australia, improved her standings moving from fourth to third overall with a total of 59.30 points.

The North Face Masters Snowbird event winner, Susan Mol of Crested Butte, Colorado, was the first woman to drop into a new zone on the venue that became the choice for top male riders later in the competition.

She executed a fast and decisive final run to earn her second spot overall with 65.33 points.

Sitting in first after the two qualifying days, Laura Dewey of Snowbird, Utah, rode with controlled aggression, utilizing rock gardens and exposure and was ultimately able to hang onto her lead, winning the title with 66.05 points. Mol and Dewey share The North Face Masters 2008 overall women’s tour title.

“We were all pretty anxious at the top,” said Dewey after learning of her narrow victory yesterday. “The conditions were super variable, with everything from these bugged-out sharky chunks to some really clean, open stashes. This was a huge opportunity to either shine or leave knowing I’d only gone halfway, so I pretty much knew I had to go for it full-on.”

The top 15 men who advanced were separated by less than 10 points going into yesterday’s super finals.

Notable runs include sixth place finisher, and Alaska native, Ryland Bell who perfectly executed a backside 360, tail-grab at high speed in the middle of an already aggressive run through the rocks. The North Face Masters Snowbird winner Clif Dimon of Crested Butte, Colorado, pioneered a daring billy goat line, earning him fourth place and enough points to win The North Face Masters 2008 overall men’s title.

Martin Gallant of Whistler, British Columbia, sealed his spot on the Alyeska podium with sweeping powder turns and rock-skimming cliff drops. Gallant accumulated a total of 75.83 points, to finish third overall.

In his first ever big mountain competition, Rob Kingwill, of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, who was sitting in second position going into the super finals, pulled every last card out of his sleeve with an aggressive line choice and plenty of rock exposure to earn him a total of 80.67 points overall.

Kingwill’s performance was enough to edge out Korey Kaszmarek, whose final run, which included a high-speed double-drop, was ultimately not quite enough to keep his lead. Kaszmarek finished in second with 79.83 points.

“The light went really dark right before my run, which made this wide open space kind of eerie to deal with,” said men’s winner Rob Kingwill. “To be honest, I didn’t hit the exact line I meant to, because I had a hard time seeing it. But I did end up hitting a lot of other big stuff out there.”

The North Face Young Gun Award honors outstanding new talent in competitive big mountain snowboarding. Points accumulated throughout the season earns one deserving under-21-year-old a full sponsorship from The North Face. This stop’s winner was 20 year-old Jonathan Penfield, from Snowbird, Utah. Penfield, who also won The North Face Young Gun Award at The North Face Masters Snowbird, took home The North Face Young Gun overall title for 2008.

Fernie Alpine Resort has now received 1107cm (Over 36 feet) of snow to date this season. With 13cm (5 inches) in the past 24 hours, 20cm (8 inches) in the past 48 hours, and 50cm (20 inches) in the past week, Fernie is continuing to have a Legendary season, and holds the lead for most snowfall of any major ski resort in Canada. The mountain snowpack is currently 379cm (149 inches).

The Griz has certainly delivered this winter!

Marjan Cernigoj, who led Canada’s Ladies alpine ski team over the past two seasons, is leaving the national ski team to pursue private sector opportunities, Alpine Canada Alpin announced today.

Cernigoj led Canada’s ladies ski team to its best season in over 20 years last season, finishing with a total of seven World Cup podiums including two victories.

“The past two seasons have been a tremendously fulfilling and enjoyable experience for me and I am proud of the success that we achieved. Everyone in the organization is working very hard to build a world-leading ski racing nation and I wish everyone the best,” Cernigoj said.

The 2007/08 season highlights included World Cup victories by Britt Janyk (Whistler, BC) at a downhill in Aspen, USA and Emily Brydon (Fernie, BC) at a super G in St. Moritz, SUI, with Janyk also finishing third in the overall downhill standings.

“The ladies program has clearly moved closer under Marjan’s leadership to our goal of being the best ski racing nation in the world by 2010. He has made a lasting contribution over the past two seasons to the success of the Ladies program,” said ACA’s Chief Athletics Officer Max Gartner.

Cernigoj said he intends to return home to Salt Lake City, USA to lead a ski equipment supply company that he began prior to taking the position with the Canadian alpine ski team.

Gartner said a replacement for Cernigoj would be announced shortly.