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...
Michael Aschaber at the "Ochsendaumen"
Last week Gregor Haas, my trusted mountain guide, and I sallied forth on a little ski tour in the Loferer Steinbergen. Just beneath the Ochsenhorn, there is a rocky spire known as the Ochsendaumen, which looks as if it was made for highlining.
Staying true to the motto "quick and clean", we wanted to ascend, set up the highline, complete the traverse, and then ride down the slope, which was covered in the finest powder.
A heavy backpack, weighing about 30 Kg, nearly brought us both to our knees, and our "quick“ approach turned out into an 8,5-hour long slog. Unfortunately, climbing the Ochsendaumen just couldn't be done in skiboots. So we returned to our tent, prepared our gourmet dinner, and dozed off as soon as we sat down.
Awakened by the sun the following morning, and still not fully recovered from the previous day, we decided to descend. Skiing down through the beautiful powder, however, made the strenuous ascent well worth it.
The Ochsendaumen is probably one of the most beautiful highline spots in our area. I think the pictures speak for themselves.
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
Norwegian coastal pow
Winter usually starts slow in Norway, and normally has it's high when lifts are closing and slush cups are on in most other places. January has been really good this year though, and the west coast has been at it's best, receiving one big storm after the other and staying cold enough for the rusult to be pow.
Photo: Sverre Hjornevik - www.digitalnatur.no
There are lots of little resorts and ski hills on Norway's west coast, that are really worth visiting on a powder day. Weekdays you can find yourself pretty much all alone in the lifts some days, and mostly it's just the locals and no tourists skiing threre at all this time of year. Myrkdalen near Voss is one favorite, with it's non existing liftlines and pretty much endless sidecountry terrain as long as you don't mind a little Norwegian bush-skiing at the bottom, and got some a cross country skating skills to pull out of your backpack for the road back. Here is a little edit from one of the good days I've had there this month:
-Torkel
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
My favorite K2 dealer in the Alps
There are tons of ski resorts and ski towns in the European alps, with, naturally, a bunch of sport shops. A lot of these have got their shit together with a fat K2 lineup in store, and one of them is my definite #1 choice.
Engelberg is a favorite spot for pow hungry skiers and snowboarders from all over the world. Even the Swiss themselves, who often try to avoid the herds of foreign snow destroying intruders by staying in the few local secret spots left in the country, can’t deny Engelbergs quite unbeatable combination of easy access, perfect mix of Alp village feeling and freeride spirit, good snow statistics, high altitude and extremely easy accessible grand freeride terrain.
Heli skiing, only it's the thing you're sitting in that spins, it's attached to a wire, it's full of asian tourists and plays really really bad music.
... and you can skip the guide, ride where ever you want and slide right into this killer terrain straight from the piste.
For me there is even another reason for always swinging by Engelberg when I’m in the Alps: Dani’s Okay Freeride Shop. 100% dedicated, 100% freeride and backcountry focused and 100% welcoming and laidback feeling is the stats for this place. Dani, who is a skier himself, though with a pair of worn out knees that he’s working on a pretty high tech hardware solution for, runs the place pretty much himself and is the man to come to when the pow is getting deep and you need to get some rockers, when you’ve got a weird gear problem or when you just want to have a coffee and check your emails to see if your girlfriend has decided to terminate your relationship because you have been “snowed in” for too long, your bank account to see if your mom has transferred any money or the snow forecast to see if the Snow God is going to be your daddy for the next week too.
coffee machine, couches, beer, ski mags and ski movies in the chill out deptmnt
very experienced super skilled technicians in the back
advanced telemark binding costomizing... Okay, no probs.
Dani is rockin rockers, flying the K2 flag high, renting out the fat planks and always greeting you with a smile, at least if you bring him some snus.
Big ups to Dani and Okay Shop, and see you there this season too!
-Torkel Karoliussen
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
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
Telemark Freeheel mount location for Obsethed
Allright all my forward tip eating telemark friends. Chances are, if you've mounted your newly polished Obsethed skis in the alpine location you're too far forward.....DAMN! If you haven't yet drilled, you're in luck.
I found this mount position to be just forward enough to have a fully active ski without feeling like I was going over the handle bars.
Because Garmont's don't have a midsole indicator line I indicated where the back screws from my BD bindings lined up with the ruler on the ski, but Rotefella, Voile, and G3 all have the same hole pattern so this mount technique should work for them as well.
My stats: 140 lbs, 5'9''. Boot size 25/26.5 (8 street shoe). This location should work for anyone within near range of myself
Ski: 179cm "ObSethed"
A - Center of back screws line up with (B) - mark 5 1/4 forward from traditional line
C - Traditional line lines up with (D) - 12 cm back from 3 pin holes on sole of boot
E - shows the mark 5 1/4 forward from traditional line.....which lines up with the back screws.
F - shows the center of rear screw line corresponding to the 5 1/4 mark
G - traditional line mark that again lines up with a place 12 cm back from the 3 pin holes on the sole of the boot and on Garmont's where the grey meets the vibram sole
Hopefully this helps and hope you dig your new Obsethed(s)!
Happy Skiing - K2 BackSide Athlete - Charlie Cannon
