Reggie Crist on K2 Backside Skis COBB Peak in Idaho GoPro Video
After a month of heli-guide skiing in Alaska, Reggie Crist returned home to Idaho. Reggie filmed his climb and descent of COBB Peak. Through his GoPro you can see how gnarly a few sections of the climb are. Video also includes Reggie's buddy speed flying off the summit! Reggie skis on the K2 Backside line that is specifically designed for this type of skiing.
Fish and Pow in Lofoten
Got to go to the Lofoten archipelago in Norway again this year. Can't count how many times I've been there now, but the place never stops to amaze me.
Don't think there is anywhere in the world where the skiing is as close to the ocean as in Lofoten. Peaks with 360 degrees ocean view and lines ending literarily on the shore is seally special. This is the islands of sontrasts, snow to water, white to blue, storm to sunshine (in minutes), beach to mountain, ski to surf.
Lofoten is a mountainous row of islands above the arctic circle, stretching far out into the Northern Sea off the Northern Norwegian coast. Traditionally it's all about fishing, as this is where the North Atlantic Cod gather to party every year. Now it's just as much about tourism, mostly by the kind that drive around in their campers to look at the scenery in the summer, but also an increasing number of climbers, surfers and in winter skiers and snowboarders find their way to this magic place.
Check out the Shred Television Shredisode from our stay in Lofoten:
Having a clothing sponsor with a back country ski wear line named after this place helps a lot when making excuses for going up there year after year. This time I teamed up with a big bunch of my fellow Norrona riders for a photo and video shoot, hung out at the Camp Lofoten back country ski event and then did a bit of guiding. Of course I made sure to have some spare time to catch a few waves in between, and watch some of Europe's best surfers who happened to be there enjoying Lofoten in their way, video.
Working on setting up my excuses for next year's trip to Lofoten now...
Ken Lucas wins Tailgate Alaska Snowkite Event
Words by Ken Lucas
I traveled up to the Valdez area for the 4th Annual Thompson Pass Snowkite Festival held in conjunction with the Tailgate Alaska event. We ended up with great conditions and amazing competitions: Kitercross, King of the Mountain (first one to the top using a kite), Sick Line, Big Air (glide) and Big Mt. Freestyle. I was super stoked to get 1st place in 2 events.
The Tailgate Alaska village/campground was a lot of fun with people camping in snowcaves, teepees, heated tents, and RVs. Using snowkites, we were able to access some of the premier mountains in the Chugach and ride untracked powder for hours. The highlight had to be the snowkiters putting on a Big Air/Freestyle session for all the Tailgate Alaska participants on the 500’ cliff band immediately adjacent to the village/campground.
Tailgate Alaska
Ascending Mt. Oddysey
Getting near the summit
Skiing down
Ascending with Tom already on ridge with his kite
Dropping
Annual Doug Coombs memorial party at Thompson Pass
Backside Brothers in dry Chamonix
Last few weeks are not written in history books as the snowiest in Chamonix. Local old guides say that "Winter has been cancelled" or "It´s puking snow in February", depending who you ask. Go figure.
Chamonix is the place we love to be. So we do whatever is good with the weather given. Now it´s cold and bluebird sky. That means perfect randonnee conditions.
Here is a webisode from a trip we did to Swiss side, Trient. It is a kind of reality check after all this powder-mania going on 
Ski hard!
jani and skipe
Skiing where the sun doesn´t shine
The sun rose above the horizon mid January in North Norway after hiding for two months. K2 Backside skiers Jani Johansén and Kimmo Skipe Oivo did a visit to Lyngen in December at the darkest time of the year.
Here is a little photostory about the trip.
Lyngen peninsula seen from East.
It´s Kenny. No, It´s Kimmo. Jani shoots with two cams simultaneously.
Getting ready in fresh -20 degrees.
Happy hikers with sea view.
Moon was shining.
Days started and ended in headlamp light.
The world under HardSides.
Cruising the couloir with COOMBAck.
Catch me if you can.
Click. Good one Brother.
Rock on,
Jani &; Skipe
Cover story - Brant (SE)
Ended up on the cover of Swedish ski mag Brant's latest issue. Guess the front page is pretty much the high score of the ski photography game, well maybe after a giant billboard right across the street from the School of the Swedish Bikini Team. ... Stoked. Thought I'd just share how me, my K2 Rockers and photographer Mikael Pilstrand ended up with the shot.
This was actually the winter of 2009. I was schredding the Alps along with Pilstrand and now deceased Fredrik "Frippe" Ericsson, who tragically died on his way up to try and ski K2 this summer. We had hit up the Italian Dolomites, gotten some good snow, good coffe, good pizza and some really nice Couloir runs in there, before heading to France and Frippes place in Chamonix to get a piece of the big dump there and on both the Swiss and Italian side of the Mt Blanc. The alps were getting pounded and we were in another ski area every morning welcoming it with open arms (and a pair of rockered skis, at least mine).
Frippe in Canazei, Dolomites, Italy.
Chamonix.
Anyway. I decided to make it east again, and got on the train to Switzerland, to the town of Disentis and the ski area where a dump like this can last for weeks before it is all tracked. Pilstrand joined for a day before going to a job in St Anton, Austria, and it turned out to be quite productive. It's of course a luxury to be in an uncrowded place like Disentis when the conditions are perfect, but of course there are a couple other factors who needs to be thre in order to get the cover, for example a photographer that has got his shit together, to put it that way. Pilstrand is experienced and quite on top of things, and we actually ended up with two covers that same day.
See what I mean... even in the piste there is hardly any tracks... And yes that stuff over there is lift access. More correctly, it is actually under the lift.
For me that day and that cover is pretty much the essence of what I'm in this game for. Big fields of untouch pow to make some slashing telemark turns in. Then I'm happy and can go home .... or get on the lift and do it again.
Taking shots like this can be a hazzle though, because it steals a lot of time that could have been spent on a couple of additional lines instead, but at least when it ends up on the cover that makes the wating seem a bit more worth while. Another good thing about this show is that it was taken in a line and not just as a one-shot-wonder. That way as a skier you get a bit more out of it, doing some real skiing when it happens and not just a turn for the camera. This was on a ridge with nice light coming in from the side, where Pilstrand could find a comfy position, sit back and regret that he had stopped using snus, and do some shooting with the tele lens as me and Austrian skier Tine Hüber did a couple of laps and had some fun at "work".
Hoping for another winter of the same deep pow!
-Torkel Karoliussen /K2 Backside Team
Narvik - the world's ugliest ski town
Hardly the average catalogue dream mountain holiday town, Narvik is railway, iron ore and architecture that still suffers from quick and cheap post-war rebuilding. Yet this was one of the highlights of my trips last winter and watching the footage now is fueling a crave for snow that has started to become stronger and stronger lately.
The terrain at Narvik's ski resort (or maybe we should call it hill, depends what time of year and what day you are there) is good, the slackcountry awesome and the surrounding mauntain areas unlimited. It's been haunted by some thin snow years lately, but late winter - even in May when the hill is closed (ironic?) - is the time to be there and it will always be good as the snow has accumulated thorugh winter, weather is better and new dumps can still occur.
Check more shots and read about Narvik in Norrøna Magazine
and this clip:
-Torky
Backside Team shooting Chile
Hey Guys
I´m on the way home to Austria after 2 weeks shooting in Chile;
1st week shooting with the K2 backside team and 2nd week for the Marmot catalogue.
The first 7days we were up in El Colorado, which is pretty close to Santiago.
check out some pics from up there
view from the K2 lodge
Reggie checks out the view down to Santiago
one of the really amazing sunsets
our ride when we did the road lap
Backside of El Colorado
so much good food
On the 2nd week I went to Chillan with a photogrpaher
finally some pow in Chillan
pics by Michael Neumann
Mountain Niceness...Cobb Pk-Comma Couloir/Pioneer Mts,Idaho
Danny Walton
Cobb Peak 11,650
Harvesting some corn on Cobb!
Comma Coulior
Gropple and creek crossings...must be spring.The bikes made for a quick exit to cold beers.
Cobb Peak/Pioneer Mountains,Idaho
AMGA Guide Certification - Video blog
The fourth in a series of posts from K2 skier and AMGA-certified Ski Guide Evan Stevens, as he teaches and evaluates students in the AMGA’s Ski Mountaineering Guides Course in BC this month:
Guide's Course Video Wrap-Up
Okay, all I have time for is to post the link for this video I just made of the AMGA course I taught last week. Enjoy!
Now I gotta get set for a few more days of ski touring in the Chugach, based out of Valdez.
