K2 Big Mtn Wrap up from New Zealand
The final day of the K2 Big Mountain CHILL Series was bound to provide a great spectacle and it did not fail to live up to expectations. The competition was held in Mt Olympus’s Little Alaska, with firm conditions softening in the sun before setting again as the shade grew later in the day. A mandatory boot pack in competitors had to earn their turns and with $4000 cash up for grabs they made the most of them.
Words from www.chillout.co.nz
View the full right up here: K2 Big Mtn Chillout
Final Results
Another awesome webisode from team athlete Adam Falk and the Winter-Project
There are a bunch of film crews doing webisodes these days but few do it as well as K2 Team Skier Adam Falk and the Winter-Project. These guys put some rad vids together. Here's their latest webisode...
Winter Project - S03 EP05 from Winter Project on Vimeo.
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
Lofoten: the magic archipelago
Going up north on the west coast of Norway in late winter is a big highlight for me every season. When the sun is returning after months of darkness and harsh winter weather, I dare claim that this may be one of the most beautiful places in the word - at least for those with a love for the combination of mountains and the ocean.
photo: Sverre Hjørnevik / www.digitalnatur.no / www.camplofoten.no
Lofoten is an archipelago of magic mountainous islands stretching out from the coast towards the North Atlantic, well above the Arctic Circle. Historically known for the great cod fishing feeding large parts of Europe, it is now a well-known destination for tourists, including climbers, skiers and surfers. Snow covered lines between huge, clean granite walls with white sandy beaches and clear blue water below them may well be a tourist brochure cliché, but it is also actual reality.
This year the ski conditions in the north of Norway started out very bad, with little snow and extremely cold weather, but got sorted out and turned perfect just in time for peak powder season, March and April. Going this far up north earlier than these months would anyway be for those possessing special interests in lots of darkness, lots of down days and lots of time to get in touch with the Nordic alcohol culture. Keep in mind most of the Alaskan territory does not even touch this far north...
Using another cliché, the big contrasts is what makes this place special: from 24 hr darkness in winter to 24 hr sunlight in summer, from mountains to fjords, white snow to blue water and from skiing to surfing in the same day. It is actually magic, and it just gets better every time I go there. Try it yourself; just bring some backside skis and skins, a thick wetsuit and a surfboard, some climbing shoes and a rope. Also bring a big down jacket as well as a pair of shorts, you might very well need both of them in the same day.
photo: Sverre Hjørnevik / www.digitalnatur.no / www.camplofoten.no
photo: Sverre Hjørnevik / www.digitalnatur.no / www.camplofoten.no
photo: Sverre Hjørnevik / www.digitalnatur.no / www.camplofoten.no
photo: Sverre Hjørnevik / www.digitalnatur.no / www.camplofoten.no
I got to join the annual gathering Camp Lofoten again this year, to enjoy the skiing, surfing and good times together with a happy bunch of enthusiasts. On the last day, after a late good bye party I rode a line together with snowboarder Håvard Ånesen, a couloir that in many ways sums up the essence of skiing Lofoten: alpine terrain, short approaches, magic views and skiing all the way down to the ocean. Join us for both the climb up and the ride down in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dntnfvx9Ow
more Camp Lofoten video here: http://vimeo.com/10418632
See you in Lofoten next year!
/ Torkel Karoliussen, K2 Adventure Team telemarker
Traveling Skis: March schedule!
The traveling skis (a snazzy customized pair of Lotta Luvs!) have been gallivanting around Europe since October 2009, and it continues the worldly tour around North America till April 2010. Women from around the world have been testing the pair of skis; charging, bumping, jumping, and providing K2 their testing feedback.
Now we are looking for your feedback! Check out the schedule below and and see if the traveling skis are coming to a mountain/participating dealer near you!!
If you are one of the lucky individuals to test the skis, be sure to grab the testing postcard from the participating dealer and read the rules! Take 2 runs , record your feedback, sign the skis, and email their feedback or send the postcard (pics welcome as well) to K2 to be entered into the raffle. One fortune tester will win a pair of their very own pair of K2 Skis! (must submit feedback by April 9, 2010 to qualify).
We hope you're ready to get your test on! And check out this traveling skis blog to see updates on the Traveling Skis ventures, and see if your test results made the grade! Check out the March schedule below. April coming soon!!
March 2010 Schedule.
| DATE | DEALER | CITY/ST |
| March 10-13 | Rudy's at Wisp | Wisp Resort, MD |
| 16-Mar | Sign up at Bobos for the free K2 Women Ski Day | Tahoe, CA |
| March 18-21 | Alta Sports | Alta, UT |
Questions?
Japan - confirming the myth
Just came home from a great couple of weeks in Japan. Having never been to this place much written about and pictured in the ski media in the later years I wanted to go over there myself to experience it and see if the snow was as deep as I’d been told.
That did not take very long:
Hokkaido, the northern of the major Japanese Islands, gets huge amounts of snow, making resorts such as most famous Niseko a 100% bet for powder, at least in December and January when the average number of dry days are about zero. My skis were lost in transition and I feared I’d be riding on rental gear the first day. Luckily, or actually because of some years experience of air travel with ski gear, I had carried the boots in my hand all the way from Scandinavia and actually found a kind local who would lend me his Hellbents on one of the deepest powder days I have ever experienced - probably just another average ski day for him though.
Following my friend and maker of Signatures, a pure Niseko back country pow movie, Nick Waggoner, on the first run lap beside the bottom lift the myth was confirmed. Immediately everything that I had heard about the Japanese powder was recognized as indisputable truths, as I unconciously opened my mouth to let out a scream of joy and had my instantly filled with snow. I have skied a lot of good snow, and some really deep powder in my life, but nothing like this. It is not about faceshots, but air shots. The stream of snow over your head is constant, except for the valuable, short moments when you are lucky enough to pop over the surface for a breath of air and adjusting your direction between the trees.
Obviously it is not always exactly like that, even in Niseko, as the snow quickly settles after a day on the ground, but it definitely stayed soft. After cruising the hill and the slackcountry for some days, we were lucky enough to get on a cat and into some really fun minigolf terrain with lots of stuff to take air off of and even some short pillow lines. Lots of flat landings, yes, but who cares when it is bottomless?
Japan is awesome, that was concluded already on the first run as told, but also the food - sushi especially, the toilets – with heated seats and more, and the onsens – hotsprings, are part of making your ski trip to Japan unforgettable. The terrain on Hokkaido is in general quite mellow though, at least that where the ski areas are located, and our trip had another purpose; to check out the Japan Alps on the main Island and make an article obout the skiing there for Norrona Magazine. This is to be published at the start of next season. I can tell you now that we did not find the same kind of snow, but nevertheless the trip there was maybe even more memorable. Check the Norrona Blog for more about that.
Face to face with the Japan Alps. photo: JM Øvervoll / Norrøna Magazine
- See you on the mountain!
Torkel “Torky” Karoliussen, K2 Adventure Team telemarker
A Story in Photos.
This past month has gone by too quickly. From Tahoe, Retallack, Mustang Powder, X Games, Las Vegas, Tahoe, and now Colorado...it's been hard to keep up. Here are a few of my favorite photos from my travels. Most of them from Retallack and Mustang Powder. Good times...let it snow!!!
Good thing we had this trusty weather chart!
Another amazing view. Canada isn't all igloos and Kokanee, there is always Beautiful British Colombia.
I think I'll submit this one to Powder.
Not a bad view (That's what long days of work will get you, a nice sunset)
On top of the world...well at least Canada.
Lovely Boris...not allowed indoors and smells pretty funny, but still lovely.
Trees...go hug one.
Sean Pettit used to be shorter than me.
Just a little bit of snow.
Andy getting face shots off the trees!
