More Info: http://www.ski-blog.com/2010/02/decent_storm_brewingwolf_creek.html

Sunrise got 4" or so from the storm last night which is not exactly a powder day, but still is fresh snow. They have gotten a foot and a half in the last 4-5 days so the snow should be fresh and enjoyable.

Will report on the day tomorrow or Saturday.

More Info: http://www.ski-blog.com/2010/02/sunrise_trip_tomorrow.html

It really puts a face on the people that compete in the Olympics. So much of what we see is Shawn White this and Bode Miller that, but these are not the Shawn Whites with multimillion dollar endorsements. These are some of the most dedicated people you can find barely earning a living off sponsor money and ski team money to compete at the highest level.

What they do is not fun. It is not enjoyable. It is brutal. Most of the athletes describe some multiyear rehab from an injury that happened doing 60 miles per hour on icy snow. Bouncing from town to town and continent to continent to prepare.

And it is four years of preparation. Come the 1st of March, after the flame goes out in Vancouver, these athletes start gearing up for another four years of World Cups and qualifying and training to get ready for another go at the Olympics.

And if not, they prepare for the fact that their careers are over.

From the US Ski Team's site:

"Truth in Motion" stars 2010 U.S. Olympic Alpine Ski Team athletes Ted Ligety (Park City, UT), Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO), Jake Zamansky (Aspen, CO) and Tommy Ford (Bend, OR). There are also cameo appearances by Bode Miller (Franconia, NH), Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) and Scott Macartney (Crystal Mountain, WA) along with numerous coaches and ski technicians who support this Team.

"You see exactly what we're going through every day," said Ligety, the 2006 Olympic combined gold medalist. "I don't think anybody has ever gotten a truly in-depth look at ski racing. It's cool in that respect. This portrays what we do.

Directed by Academy Award nominee Brett Morgen, the film takes you inside the locker room in every aspect of the being an elite ski racer, only their locker room is Portillo, Chile; Saas Fee, Switzerland; Soelden, Austria, on airplanes, long car rides and hotel rooms across the globe.

"This film spends more time on the characters and people, the personalities and the perseverance," said Scott Keogh, chief marketing officer for Audi of America, which has supported the U.S. Ski Team since 2007.

There is a noted lack of glamour as the film takes you through pre dawn wakeup calls to check lactate levels and stretch before riding a frozen chairlift to work. The athletes are candid, raw and provide an insight to their sport that cannot be seen in a two-minute race.

"There were numerous moments where people said things to us that shocked and surprised us at how open they were," said Morgen, who followed the Team from Chile to Park City and then to Switzerland and Austria. "It was very important for us to let the skiing tell the story."

Schleper provides a unique aspect to the film as she delves into the difficulties of juggling motherhood with working to achieve her Olympic dream. Following two missed seasons after the 2006 Olympics ? one to a torn ACL and the other for the birth of her son Lasse, who turns two Saturday ? Schleper battled back into the World Cup elite and successfully made her fourth Olympic Team.

I strongly recommend that you watch it when it repeats on NBC this week.

My comments to Jake after we finished watching it:

Jake, I have watched you ski since you were 5 and seen how much better you get every time we go out. If you really put your mind to it, dedicate yourself, and train hard for the next few years, one day, you might be good enough to make the US Ski Team and get a job waxing and tuning their skis.

I am a supportive dad. It is what I do.

More Info: http://www.ski-blog.com/2010/02/truth_in_motion_1.html

Filed under: Apparel, Events, Sports

Aspen Fashion Week Set for March originally appeared on Luxist on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More Info: http://www.luxist.com/2010/02/01/aspen-fashion-week-set-for-march/

Wall Street financiers say they are going to put the Whistler Blackcomb resort up for sale while the facility is hosting Winter Olympic events next month.

Creditors who have lent $1.4 billion US to the ski resort's owners, Intrawest ULC, have effectively seized control of the company and are attempting to auction off its assets.

Whistler Blackcomb, one of numerous ski resorts Intrawest owns in Canada and the U.S., is set to host major ski events at the Olympic Games next month.

On Tuesday, a notice of a public auction to be held Feb. 19, 2010, was published in newspapers in Canada and the United States, soliciting bids for a membership interest in Intrawest Holdings. Among the assets in the notice were "partnership interests in two resort properties located in Canada (Whistler and Blackcomb)."

In 2006, Wall Street hedge fund Fortress Investments LLC bought Intrawest in a $2.8-billion US deal. Fortress recently missed a $524 million debt payment connected to that purchase.

The primary lender on the Intrawest deal in 2006 was defunct investment bank Lehman Brothers. New York debt managers Davidson Kempner and Oak Hill Advisors also helped finance the deal, and a source familiar with the process told CBC News the major creditors are united in pursuing the auction process.

Typically, lenders are willing to work with borrowers to avoid foreclosure. But the lenders' inability to move the debt repayment plan along seems to have spurred this week's unexpected developments.

Most of these issues are symptoms of the economic meltdown. Especially the meltdown in real estate values. There is more fallout coming.

More Info: http://www.ski-blog.com/2010/02/intrawest_defaults_on_loans_le.html

Reported snow conditions may or may not be accurate. The truth is there's very little consistency or regulation in how ski resorts report fresh snowfalls and exaggeration is common. Studies have shown that resorts regularly report more new snow on weekends than during the week, apparently in hopes of encouraging impulsive last-minute weekend trips.

Continue reading What You Didn't Know About Your Ski Resort Vacation

Filed under: Journeys, Sports

What You Didn't Know About Your Ski Resort Vacation originally appeared on Luxist on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More Info: http://www.luxist.com/2010/01/27/what-you-didnt-know-about-your-ski-resort-vacation/

Saturday was 15 degrees, sunny without a cloud, and almost zero wind. Plus four feet of fresh.

And even at that, we were done around noon because we had seen and done all there was to see and do. Roulette. Check. Face of Giant Steps and Engens. Check. Several laps on Dunes. Check. Hit all the usual powder stashes. Skied all the places we love to ski.

Here is how bad it was--after a perfect ski day, we were so thoroughly bored with Brian Head (5 years of 20 days will do that to you) that we spent Sunday SNOWBOARDING. First time for me, Jake and Jackson. Dude, I am sore. I really don't like falling on my face, but falling on my ass and worrying about broken wrists is worse. I am sore. Tired. Have a headache. Jake broke his goggles he fell so hard. And in general I suck ass at it. Jake and Jackson are much better than I am.

I hate to speak ill of a bluebird powder day, but I am just growing so bored of skiing the same terrain over and over. That said, Jarrett has been in lessons every trip this year and because he is an advanced intermediate and there are very few of them here, he gets either a private lesson or a lesson with 1-2 other kids at worst. He is really coming along.

Which brings me to another point. Jake talking trash. He tells me how bad I suck and how much better he is than me at the top of Engens. I say, tell you what, let's race to the bottom and see. Knee to waist deep pow, steepest place on the mountain (not saying much). I blew him away. So then he says, "Well I meant best form, not fastest." OK, we head down to the next big drop and we try again so I can see his form. He ate it about halfway down, total faceplant yardsale.

It helps having my brand new Nordica Zeros. I am not going to lie. Good gear helps a ton. Skiing the pow was effortless and there is no way to keep up with me when my skis are 20mm wider tip-waist-tail than his. But I ain't telling him that. I will keep my superiority as long as I can afford newer better gear which will be pretty much forever given his grades this year. He is a much better skier than student and that ain't saying much.

Jackson on the other hand just quietly goes about shredding.

More Info: http://www.ski-blog.com/2010/01/perhaps_the_best_ski_day_ever.html

Saturday was 15 degrees, sunny without a cloud, and almost zero wind. Plus four feet of fresh.

And even at that, we were done around noon because we had seen and done all there was to see and do. Roulette. Check. Face of Giant Steps and Engens. Check. Several laps on Dunes. Check. Hit all the usual powder stashes. Skied all the places we love to ski.

Here is how bad it was--after a perfect ski day, we were so thoroughly bored with Brian Head (5 years of 20 days will do that to you) that we spent Sunday SNOWBOARDING. First time for me, Jake and Jackson. Dude, I am sore. I really don't like falling on my face, but falling on my ass and worrying about broken wrists is worse. I am sore. Tired. Have a headache. Jake broke his goggles he fell so hard. And in general I suck ass at it. Jake and Jackson are much better than I am.

I hate to speak ill of a bluebird powder day, but I am just growing so bored of skiing the same terrain over and over. That said, Jarrett has been in lessons every trip this year and because he is an advanced intermediate and there are very few of them here, he gets either a private lesson or a lesson with 1-2 other kids at worst. He is really coming along.

Which brings me to another point. Jake talking trash. He tells me how bad I suck and how much better he is than me at the top of Engens. I say, tell you what, let's race to the bottom and see. Knee to waist deep pow, steepest place on the mountain (not saying much). I blew him away. So then he says, "Well I meant best form, not fastest." OK, we head down to the next big drop and we try again so I can see his form. He ate it about halfway down, total faceplant yardsale.

It helps having my brand new Nordica Zeros. I am not going to lie. Good gear helps a ton. Skiing the pow was effortless and there is no way to keep up with me when my skis are 20mm wider tip-waist-tail than his. But I ain't telling him that. I will keep my superiority as long as I can afford newer better gear which will be pretty much forever given his grades this year. He is a much better skier than student and that ain't saying much.

Jackson on the other hand just quietly goes about shredding.

More Info: http://www.ski-blog.com/2010/01/perhaps_the_best_ski_day_ever.html

Record storm in AZ last night.

I am debating going to the condo tonight or taking the ski bus to Sunrise tomorrow. Still 50-50.

More Info: http://www.ski-blog.com/2010/01/sunrise_closed_due_to_massive.html

Record storm in AZ last night.

I am debating going to the condo tonight or taking the ski bus to Sunrise tomorrow. Still 50-50.

More Info: http://www.ski-blog.com/2010/01/sunrise_closed_due_to_massive.html