Pete Thomas Outdoors

Lance Mackey's Iditarod hopes fade as dog team dwindles

For Lance Mackey, prospects of winning a fifth consecutive Iditarod sled-dog race are becoming increasingly slim. He pulled into the halfway point Thursday with only 10 dogs, having left six at previous checkpoints because of concerns for their health.

Mackey as of Thursday afternoon was listed in sixth place, but realistically he was in third because three of the top six -- including the top two competitors -- had not yet taken their mandatory 24-hour rest period. The top six were Trent Herbst, Kelley Griffin, Martin Buser, Hugh Neff, Cim Smyth and Mackey. Herbst, Griffin and Smyth still have to take a 24-hour rest and will be passed by several mushers.

That essentially makes it a Buser, Neff and Mackey battle at this point during the 1,131-mile race from Anchorage to Nome. Buser, however, still has 14 dogs, and Neff has 13. To see and hear Mackey talk about his diminishing chances of winning for a fifth time and adding to his legend -- it was shot when he still had 12 dogs -- check out the video:

 

Terrorist activity on Russia's Mt. Elbrus leads to tourism ban

Skiers, snowboarders and mountaineers are being cautioned not to travel to Russia's Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe, because of the presence of terrorists who are being blamed for the shooting deaths of three Moscow tourists last Friday at a popular Elbrus ski resort in the North Caucasus region.

The attack reportedly involved masked Islamic separatists who blew up a cable car pylon, causing gondola cars to plummet to the snow. Nobody was hurt in that incident. The slain tourists were shot as they traveled in a small bus.

Since then, deadly clashes between government troops and militants have occurred, and on Wednesday air strikes and mortar bombings were carried out with unknown results, according to the Moscow Times. Also, a large shelter stocked with explosives and firearms was discovered on the slopes of Elbrus.

About 5,000 people visit Elbrus annually. As Europe's highest mountain (18,510 feet), it's popular among climbers during the spring and summer.

A top Russian official reportedly has demanded that tourists be banned from Elbrus until anti-terrorist operations are complete.

All of this has to be unsettling to those planning for the 2014 Winter Olympics at Sochi, which is not terribly far from the troubled area.

-- Pete Thomas

All signs point to freeskiing making Olympics debut in 2014

First came snowboarding, accepted into the Olympics ungraciously in 1998, stumbling over unpleasant obstacles before eventually flourishing to become one of the Winter Games' most-watched sports.

Now it's freeskiing's turn.

Though it's not yet official, freeskiing halfpipe and slopestyle disciplines -- like their snowboarding counterparts, incredibly popular X Games sports -- are widely expected to debut at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

 

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Assn., the national governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding, is so sure about the impending adoption of both sports that it has formed U.S. Freeskiing, a development program that parallels its U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboarding brands.

Likewise, freeskiers are rallying behind the fairly new Assn. of Freeskiing Professionals, which aspires to provide a unified voice when dealing with promoters and governing bodies, including the International Ski Federation, or FIS, which governs ski sports for World Cup competitions and World Championships -- both of which play a role in Olympics qualification.

"We are extremely excited," said Target-sponsored Simon Dumont, a perennial X Games medalist from Bethel, Maine, who last Friday finished third in the halfpipe competition at the X Games in Aspen, Colo. "The sport has progressed so much in the last five years and to get a chance to showcase what we can do on such a global stage would be amazing for our sport."

Torstein Horgmo's climax moment: X Games triple cork

In case you missed it, below is the video showing Torstein Horgmo's amazing triple cork performed on his final run during Friday night's Winter X Games Snowboard Big-Air final.

It was the first triple cork performed by a snowboarder at the X Games and clinched the gold for the Norwegian. Making it more impressive is that he nailed the triple with broken ribs, suffered during an earlier crash.

Also impressive was the punting of his helmet into the crowd. But perhaps not so impressive, as far as the ESPN brass is concerned, were the sexual innuendos directed toward his curvaceous snowboard during the post-victory interview. Check out the trick:

 

Denver Big-Air competition produces mile-high mishaps

To give him his due, Rocco van Straten of The Netherlands was the winner Wednesday night in the Denver Big Air Snowboard World Cup, with an impressive double-cork 1080 and a clean landing.

But for many in attendance, the unsung heroes, those who didn't land cleanly after soaring more than 30 feet above snow, provided the most entertainment.

Because wipeouts on the giant manmade ramp were so numerous, the Denver Post produced a video aptly titled,"Sometimes Big Air gets you." Enjoy:

 

Mammoth Mountain Ski Area boasts 'most snow in the world'

As powerful winter storms continue to churn across Europe and North America, it's becoming increasingly clear that this will go down as one of the most incredible skiing and snowboarding seasons ever.

Many resorts are boasting more pre-January snow than ever and some are approaching totals that surpass their season averages -- with three months left in the season.

But only one resort can claim supremacy when it comes to how much powder blankets its slopes: Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, which boasts that it has "the most snow in the world."

The claim is backed by the Skiinfo.com, which keeps track of base depths at resorts around the world. Mammoth, which is nestled on California's eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, is No. 1 with a base depth of 559 centimeters, or 221 inches. That's 18-plus feet.

Mammoth is followed by Mt. Washington Alpine Resort (518 cm) in British Columbia, and Ghiacciaio Presena-Adamello (450 cm) in Italy. Rounding out the top five, as of Wednesday, are Alpine Meadows (450 cm) and Sugar Bowl (356 cm) in the Lake Tahoe area, in the northern Sierra Nevada range.

Actual snowfall for the season at Mammoth, which picked up three feet Tuesday into Wednesday, is 290 inches.

Speed flying's Antoine Montant grinds the cables at Chamonix

Speed flying is an obscure and dangerous sport that is blends skiing, paragliding and hang-gliding, and enables an athlete to literally fly down the slopes.

According to one website dedicated to the pastime, nine people perished while speed flying in 2009.

That said, there's a surreal beauty associated with speed flying, for athlete and spectator, and the use of helmet cameras are helping to deliver the sport to an Internet audience.

One of the sport's premier athletes is Antoine Montant (at right). Catch him in action as he becomes the first to speed ride atop the old cable car wires at Chamonix, France:

 

Skiers, snowboarders enjoy magical start to the season

 

It was truly a November to remember for skiers, snowboarders and resort operators throughout western North America, where record or near-record levels of snowfall led to one of the best-ever Thanksgiving holiday opening weekends.

Wyoming's Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, where skiers and boarders made first tracks on nearly 11 feet of fresh powder during Saturday's season opener, is referring to this month as "Snovember" on its website.

"This is the beginning of a season without equal in Jackson Hole history," Jerry Blann, JHMR president, said during the weekend. "We anticipate being able to open the entire mountain in November -- this has never happened before."

At Squaw Valley USA, which has already received 10 feet, 35-year employee Joe Curletti, who is responsible for clearing resort roads and parking lots, said that's the most November snow at the Lake Tahoe-area facility since 1973.

Derek Taylor, editor of Powder magazine, said mid-winter conditions exist at many locations, even though the start of winter is still three weeks away. "I had three days in Utah last week that were better than anything I skied up until the end of January last year," he said. "And the storms keep lining up."

This scenario is similar in parts of British Columbia, throughout the Pacific Northwest, down the Rockies, into the Great Basin and throughout the Sierra Nevada. Though resorts do not release visitation figures, those contacted for this story said Thanksgiving weekend visits were up sharply -- double, in some places -- compared to last year during the season's first busy holiday period.

The best part is, weather experts are predicting more of the same for the coming months, thanks to a strong La Niña pattern that's expected to funnel a long series of storms from the Pacific into an area essentially stretching from British Columbia down into Northern California.

"During a La Nina, it tends to be colder and snowier in ski country," said Ken Clark, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeater.com. "So we could be looking at a banner year in some of these areas."

People are awesome, and the proof is in the video

Among adjectives that might be used to describe those who appear in the following video compilation: talented, crazy, phenomenal, unbelievable, danger-loving ... and so on.

But the title, "People Are Awesome," is appropriate, and it's no wonder that nearly four million viewers have tuned in since the compilation of outdoor/indoor stunts was posted on YouTube last week.

Enjoy:

 

Among improvements for ski areas: magnets to keep kids safe

Ski areas preparing to open for 2010-11 are making all sorts of improvements in the hope of making customers happy and preventing them from visiting competing resorts.

But only Alpine Meadows is using powerful magnets that literally keep its most treasured customers -- the little ones -- in place.

The Lake Tahoe-area resort has affixed large, round magnets to the backs of each chair on two of its lifts servicing beginner terrain. Children who wear specialized vests cling securely to chairs until they've reached the unloading area, whereupon the magnets automatically deactivate and enable them to stand and ride off.

Alpine Meadows says it's the first resort in North America to implement technology, from a French company called Magnestick, that has been used in Europe for three years.

"I keep saying this, but the beauty really is in its simplicity," said Rachael Woods, a spokeswoman for the resort. "We'll be interviewing parents and the children to see how they like it."

Vests will be provided free of charge to kids enrolled in lessons programs, and are available for rent to the general public. Alpine Meadows last year became the first resort in the United States to offer small GPS tracking units so parents can keep track of the precise whereabouts of their children.

Below is a sampling of improvements making headlines elsewhere in ski country:

-- Kirkwood Mountain Resort, also in the Lake Tahoe area, has opened a zip-line system to serve as an alternative to skiing and snowboarding. It carries riders from platform to platform, 90 feet above the ski and snowboard runs. There's no age limit but riders must weigh between 85-275 pounds.