Backcountry.com just launched two new websites. One for scab-covered mountain bikers, one for jersey-wearing road cyclists.
These sites are important because the bike industry is one of the last in the outdoor sports world to really be represented in the online marketplace. Its awesome that backcountry.com is finally taking care of it, beacause there is no company out there that would do it with such a high level of proven customer service, as well as a staff that lives the lifestyle behind the products they’re selling.
So check out the new sites!
www.hucknroll.com
www.realcyclist.com
share.
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
The Nissan Freeride de Tignes was a couple weeks ago. I skied a really good line up top, and then clipped some peppery rocks near the bottom, stupidly tumbling and dislocating my shoulder. I was sitting at the bottom feeling sorry for myself as I watched Adrien Coirier (FRA) take the worst crash I’ve ever seen. I stopped feeling sorry for myself. I thought my friend was going to die, and memories of Neal Valiton flashed through my head. Neal did die, in a freeride competition on this same mountain two years ago.
Luckily it turns out Adrien was OK. Two lungs filled with blood. 5 broken vertibrae (but no spinal damage). 4 broken ribs. Broken scapula. Just two weeks later when I visited him at his parent’s house in Landry near Les Arcs, France he was mobile and talkative. Though skinny; he lost 10kg in 10 days after the accident since he couldn’t eat with all the morphine intake.
Adrien is an inspiration. He is fearless. Where seeing his fall and his injuries shake my confidence in my continued participation in the sport, I see in his eyes only another challenge to overcome (this was his first year back after a year off due to knee injury) and the intense desire to once again be standing confidently on top of another challenging mountain.
The Grande Baume
My line. I crashed lower.
Adrien’s line. Yellow is the fall.
In the hospital.
A real skier.
share.
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
On Tuesday I skied Mt. Rainier from the summit with friends Hannah and Dan. Check it out, it was rad! We drove up to Paradise at sunset on Monday, and after a few hours of light sleep we started the climb around midnight. We climbed through the night and took a short warming, eating, hydrating, foot care, napping rest at 11,000 ft. as the sun rose at 730AM. We then slowly worked our way to the top in increasing winds that felt like about 60-70mph at the summit, 14,410 ft., at 1PM.
Then we skied down via our climbing route, the Fuhrer Finger. Its an amazing run! No traversing or mediocre skiing, just straight fall-line turns for thousands of feet. When we arrived on the Nisqually Glacier, our friend Amar skied up to congratulate us. He had been watching us climb through his camera’s zoom lens from the Muir Snowfiel. Since the snow was in such good condition, we skied well below Paradise (and our cars) to the bridge that crosses the Nisqually River. Dan and I hung out and relived the 10,500′ vertical ski descent while Hannah and Amar hitchhiked back up to retrieve the autos. Pretty much the coolest run I’ve ever skied. Photos by Dan and Amar.
Finally some light on the eastern horizon.
Amar’s photo of us climbing, taken from literally miles away. Dan and I are seen as two dots, Hannah is behind us, down and to the right.
It was pretty breezy, but luckily not too cold. Mt. St. Helens in the distance.
Skiing down the Fuhrer Finger.
Right where we bumped into Amar. The Finger is directly above Hannah’s head.
The end.
share.
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
I just got back from Krasnaya Polyana, Russia where I competed in the first stop of the 2009 FWT. I skied quite poorly, and landed a backflip on my face, placing myself firmly in 14th place. Oh well. It was a great trip anyway. My lawyer Davide “Marq” De Masi has been in Val Desire, France all winter, and he was able to fly over and meet me in Russia. He took some really good pictures, which I will now use without his permission.
share.
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
After a torrential storm dropped almost 20” of rain in the Cascades below 7,000′, and something like 15′ or 20′ of snow above that level, I went on a tour with Amar and Kat on Mt. Rainier. The road to Paradise washed out partially, so we started from the much lower Rampart Ridge trailhead at Longmire. We did a tiny bit of skiing and a lot of walking, but we saw the signs of some really large recent avalanche activity and got some much needed sun.
Rainier! The red line shows the Eastern Success Couloir, maybe later this season?
Mt. Adams to the south.
Amar next to some substantial destructive force.
Amar skinning overrain runnels from the recent storm.
Rainier at sunset. We were still a few miles from the car, and it was a fun trip through the dark forest wondering if we were lost.
share.
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
Took this video on Washington Pass of the North Cascades Highway, WA. Filming by me, still photos and snowboarding by Kyle Miller, music by Andrew Bird.
share.
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
