Mount Washington | Sunday – March 20, 2011
UPDATED (3/20 | 8:15pm): Well today was interesting, got up there bright and early and slowly made our way up to the hut. Once at the hut we started to realize that snow wasn’t softening up as much as we had hoped and our options were limited. We decided to head back to a zone we hit last season, the Lower Snowfields. Above the snowfields is a large chute called The Duchess – center right in the photo below – Lucas decided he would hit it first. 
After a long trek up Hillman’s and over into The Duchess, he started to make his way down. He made it below the ice bulge in the center and clipped a small sapling mid-way through his third turn. I guess you can just watch the video to see what happens next.
Sherbie was in amazing condition on the way down, looks like Winter Storm Warning up there for tomorrow into Tuesday.
UPDATED (3/19 | 10:15pm): The moon is as big as it’s been in 18 years, this was a huge part in our decision to make an early morning assault tomorrow. Here are a few from the Beach this evening.
Firstly I’m testing out a new program that will allow us to put media up in a more live fashion, so this is the test post.
Secondly, we are planning a super dawn patrol on big ol George Washington on Sunday. Looks like tomorrow’s full moon will be awesome and if all goes as well – we’ll be skinning up into Hillman’s in the moonlight (no headlamps required).
It’s about to be a party up there on Sunday so make sure to get in touch with one of us.
Peace,
Ryan
Colin Campbell
Alpine-live.com team rider Colin Campbell left the area just after New Years for Colorado. A Sugarloaf native, Colin has been riding Breck everyday and it definately shows in his video below. Colin mentioned that he wanted to get his doubles locked in early, competition is always heated out in CO and this year is no exception. Breckenridge has gotten over 25′ of snow this season and it’s still pounding, Colin is also a big surfer and he’s got a trip planned for SD after the season is over. Keep ’em comin’ Colin.
Beach Sunset
A little of that sunset stuff by itself. All this warm weather is making me think of summer.
MRG | Ski The East Freeride Tour | Stop 1 – February 5, 2011
February 5, 2011 | Stop 1 of the Ski The East Freeride tour is Mad River Glen, VT, setting the season off with a bang. This place breeds excellence, skiers like world class Lars Chickering Ayers grew up here, Lars won the 2010 Freeskiing World Championships at Snowbird, Utah, last March and continues to move his way up the ranks on the Tour. Mad River Glen is a gem, every ounce of the mountain demands commitment, living up to the motto “ski it if you can”. This years competition brought over 100 contestants, with many more entries than they had predicted the event started an hour early to make sure everyone got a chance to run.
Conditions were good – most of the terrain around the mountain was skiing excellently, with help from the 40 some-odd inches ULLR had delivered to Northern Vermont in the last 7 days. The course was bumped up and patchy in places but for the most part it was holding snow very well. The course also claimed it’s victims – not any serious injuries that we are aware of but there were certainly some gruesome spills on the bottom section. 
It’s an outstanding venue, one for it’s hollywood bottom section but also because it’s so gosh darn long. The bottom most challenging it holds the largest cliff band on course and competitors are usually pretty gassed at this point. A lot of the terrain up above on the single chair liftline is steep and exposed but most of it has safety lines or patches that don’t require mandatory drops. This section has it’s safety exit out the skier’s left but down the center it’s got endless opportunities. Looking at it from the side or the bottom just doesn’t do it justice. It’s seriously intimidating sitting on the lift looking down, most people picked their way through the cliff band, a few competitors went big, essentially a 25′ to 30′ huck and you gotta be able to send it deep to get past the 3 stages of rock and ice. The lowest cliff band had plenty of opportunities as well, it looked like the landing was starting to wash out but some sent it big, even a few old school moves.
From our side stand outs included Luke Catlin, this guy came in 6th overall – He played it safe up top and didn’t go huge but sent the last cliff big. Luke meticulously picked his way through the cliff band like he had skied it a thousand times before, clean, controlled and stylish. This is him.
Ryan Hughes, this guy went big at the bottom but washed out in the bumpy section between cliffs, an unfortunate fall but he stylishly threw a 180 off the bottom drop. Here is Ryan.
Chris Stearns, Chris had one of the cleaner hucks through the bottom section and he certainly deserves an honorable mention. Here’s a shot of Chris and also his POV footage from the day.
POV | Chris Stearns
Collin Boyd, a competitor who finished 38 but he threw down pretty hard, we also think he stood out because we saw him in the woods after the competition picking his way through some super technical cliff lines. Here is a shot of Colin and a quick clip of him in the woods after the competition.
Alpine-Live.com | Post-Competition Hucking with Collin Boyd
Lastly, Brad Coffey – he finished one spot above Collin but his line choice towards the bottom section was super technical and he stuck it.
Worst fall of the day | Bryan Dudiwka – yes that is his ski…thankfully he was okay and all smiles.
Some other supplemental POV
10th Place | Drew Gilmore POV
Our video edit from the day
Here are the top 5 finishers:
1. Carson Barbour | 103.85
2. Colby Vavolotis | 103.85
3. Andy Weis | 102.4
4. Jeremy Walker | 102
5. Brent Harrewyn | 98.1
Level 1 Productions Presents “Eye Trip”
Come down and check out the new film from Level 1 Productions “Eye Trip” tonight from 6-10 at The Redhook Ale Brewery located on the Pease Tradeport. There will be tons of free giveaways & plenty of beers on tap! The Alpine-Live crew will be there, so come down grab a pint with us & catch some fresh footage from Level 1.
Bridger Bowl | January 5, 2010
We got to Bozeman safely and immediately indulged in some fast food and cheap beer. The time zone change is a little hard to get used to but things are coming around. We got up at 8:00am and saw Bridger was boasting 7″ of 5% water content blower powder. Like every new snow day that I’ve experienced here, Bridger welcomes you with avi explosives going off up on the ridge throughout the morning. It’s a little intimidating putting your boots on in the lot and hearing the bombs going off but something about it gets the blood flowing. 
NOAA is forecasting 25″+ here by Saturday night, looks like it could get pretty ****** insane! Time for bed..
Still without a camera I had to rely on the trusty GoPro. Here is what we came up with, Day 1 of 18. Enjoy!
The New Year
Well, I’m finally on my way.. sitting in this god forsaken rocketship of death, cameraless I may add — en route to Bozeman. I will highlight cameraless because I’ve gone the last year pretty much glued to the DSLR and now that it’s gone I feel like I’ve lost my child or something. With little to do, strapped in — I cannot wait until this stewardess brings the cart by so I can purchase a 9 dollar Heiniken and drift off into this influenza cave.
On another note, Roberto jus returned from Alta…actually we’re crossing paths both leaving respective locations at almost the same time. Rob saw some pretty blustery temps out there in Little Cottonwood Canyon as well as some serious POW. Stoked for Rob — here is a little sample of what he’s been doing.
I’m out, beers here – looks like Bridger Bowl could see some flakes over the coming days…GoPro at the ready (argghh) we will be blasting off with steep, deep and exposed stuff right off the bat. Stay tuned and enjoy – hopefully will be posting daily.
alpine-live.com 