Pete Thomas Outdoors

Skier, 17, videotaped falling 45 feet from chairlift

 

A 17-year-old skier who might have been trying to throw a snowball from a chairlift at a New Mexico resort was videotaped falling about 45 feet.

The teen, who dangled for several seconds before plummeting to the snow, was airlifted to a local hospital after the Feb. 2 mishap at Ski Santa Fe, but he's said to be OK.

"Basically, the kid is home and he is fine," Cody Sheppard, the ski patrol director at Ski Santa Fe, told the Santa Fe New Mexican. "It was kind of a dramatic deal. I guess he was attempting to throw a snowball to the chair in front of him, where some friends were, and when he threw the snowball, the momentum just carried him out of the chair. He did hang on for awhile, but then he had to drop."

Footage of the incident was uploaded to YouTube this week by a user named TriipyHD, and has since garnered more than 500,000 views.

Sheppard did not identify the teen. TriipyHD stated in the video description that injuries included "a concussion, skull fracture, collapsed lung and a lacerated liver."

Sheppard, however, said none of the injuries required surgery.

"They kept him for observation for a couple of days, and then he was released," the patrol director said. "I'd probably shatter. There is something about being young and flexible, I guess, and just lucky the way you land."

--Find Pete Thomas Outdoors on Facebook

--Hat tip to Jason Blevins of the Denver Post

Killington Resort suffers major damage in Vermont flooding

Extensive flooding by Tropical Storm Irene has caused widespread damage in Vermont and not even the state's historic ski resort was spared.

Killington Resort, which opened in 1958, suffered a base lodge collapse and other damage, but announced on its Facebook page that it "plans to open on schedule for the 2011-12 winter season."

Power and phone service were down Monday but the resort shared this information on the same Facebook post:

"Crews are out assessing damages around the resort including structural deterioration to base lodges, lifts and roads as well as power outages.

"Following an initial overview of the storm's aftermath, the K-1 Lodge Superstar Pub's structural integrity was compromised by the volume of water running off of Roaring Brook, dislodging the building from its foundation. Killington Resort's lift towers and structures, lodging properties and golf course have sustained minimal damage.

"Summer operations of the K-1 Lodge, hiking and golf course will reopen after crews assess the damages. Mountain biking will tentatively resume after assessment of the trail network is complete. Pico Mountain summer operations are now closed for the season."

For Lindsey Jacobellis, summertime blues are reason to sing

 

Snowboarding superstar Lindsey Jacobellis has an Olympic silver medal in the rollicking sport of snowboard-cross, and has dominated the event at the Winter X Games. She has loads of talent while on her board, but what else can she do?

Sing. (Well, you be the judge.)

Above is her remix (or parody) of Disney's "Tangled," which she titled "Curled." It takes viewers through the curly-haired athlete's summer, in anticipation of winter snow. It's creative and amusing, and probably not something her fans would have expected, but she will not be appearing on "American Idol" anytime soon. As a much older song goes, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

See more at YoBeat and Boardistan.

Shaun White chooses Northstar-at-Tahoe as home mountain

Snowboarding superstar Shaun White has chosen Northstar-at-Tahoe as his home mountain, and as part of the agreement he'll design an Olympics-caliber halfpipe.

White, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and perennial X Games star, signed a multiyear deal with Vail Resorts, which owns six ski areas in Colorado and California.

The company recently purchased Northstar, which is outside of Truckee, Calif., and near Lake Tahoe. Vail Resorts is planning to spend $30 million in capital improvements at Northstar.

As part of White's deal, Vail Resorts will donate $5 for every EPIC Pass it sells to Tennessee's St. Jude Children's Research Hospital,White's chosen charity. The company sold nearly 300,000 of the season passes last season.

Northstar was one of the resorts White visited frequently on family trips, as a kid.

"This feels like a homecoming because I have spent so much time riding at most of Vail Resorts' mountains," White said in a news release. "With Northstar as my home mountain, I now have the ideal place to train and continue to grow as an athlete and I am looking forward to all the possibilities this partnership brings."

-- Photo of Shawn White by Tomas Zuccareno/Shazamm/ESPN Images

Slopestyle snowboarding, skiing to debut at 2014 Olympics

For the world's top snowboarders, the announcement Monday that slopestyle competitions will be added to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, represented a welcome but long-overdue measure of acceptance.

For freeskiers, who three months ago learned that halfpipe skiing would debut at the same Olympics, the inclusion of slopestyle served to further underscore how popular their non-traditional, non-racing disciplines have become during the past few years.

Together, these edgier new-school athletes seem to be taking over the Winter Games.

"I'm thrilled that the IOC is embracing freeskiing in such a big way," said Simon Dumont, a dominant U.S. halfpipe specialist. "It's been incredible to watch the sport evolve so rapidly; it really shows how far we've come in such a short time."

The International Olympic Committee agreed during meetings in South Africa to approve men's and women's slopestyle as medal sports for snowboarding and skiing. Also added were men's and women's snowboard parallel special slalom.

The addition of slopestyle -- which entails negotiating a downhill course with jumps, rails and other terrain park features -- is a clear indication that the IOC is striving to ensure that the Olympics remain relevant among younger generations.

Said Bill Marolt, CEO of the United States Ski and Snowboard Assn.: "The IOC's decision to add slopestyle to the Olympics recognizes the millions of youth who are already participating in the sport in terrain parks around the world. It will have a very positive impact on the sport, including our U.S. Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing programs."

It also will make the Winter Olympics look more like the Winter X Games. The IOC reluctantly added snowboarding events -- halfpipe and giant slalom -- in 1998. The Winter Games now include skiing and snowboarding halfpipe; skiing and snowboarding slopestyle, skier-cross and boarder-cross. All six are longtime X Games mainstays.

Simon Dumont scores big with 'cubed' halfpipe performance

Halfpipe freeskiing will debut at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. That shows how popular the sport, for years a Winter X Games staple, has become.

But is halfpipe freeskiing -- and perhaps snowboarding -- already ripe for a drastic change as top-level athletes seek new ways by which to challenge themselves and showcase their incredible skills?

Maybe not, but Simon Dumont appears to be onto something with his "cubed" halfpipe, which he showcased recently with a performance at Squaw Valley USA. Gone is the security of a 22-foot wall for the duration of a routine. Gone, also, are points of reference for a rider who must pass 40 feet above ice while performing acrobatics between sections. Athletes might be scared of it, understandably, but they can adjust, and fans will love it. Judge for yourself:

 

'Amazing ski crash' video is sure to make viewers cringe

Any skier who has been involved in a violent crash with another person is painfully aware of how swiftly and unexpectedly these accidents can occur.

More often than not, they're the fault of someone traveling too fast and not anticipating the movements of slower skiers; but slower skiers also should look or at least glance uphill before making sudden turns.

Which brings us to the following video, posted last week, of what is billed as an "Amazing Ski Crash" at Deer Valley, Utah. Some lessons to be learned here, for sure:

 

Expansion of X Games a reflection of mainstream acceptance

The announcement Tuesday by ESPN that the X Games will expand from two major events in the United States to six global events staged annually underscores how deeply action sports have penetrated mainstream youth culture.

As part of the "Global X" initiative, expansion will occur in 2013, with Los Angeles and Aspen, Colo., remaining as venues for summer and winter competitions, respectively. Tignes, France, will be a second Winter X Games location, and the remaining venues will be determined through a competitive bidding process that began Tuesday. (Host cities will be announced sometime next year.)

Scott Guglielmino, ESPN's senior vice president in charge of programming, called this the biggest announcement regarding the X Games since ESPN announced the event's debut in 1995. He added that each of the six events will showcase local culture and "have its own kind of flare."

Travis Pastrana, an 11-time X Games gold medalist and arguably the world's most popular action sports athlete, said the expansion reflected the booming growth and mainstream acceptance of action sports.

"It used to be that schoolteachers and parents and other people with a big influence on kids were saying there's no future in it," said Pastrana, a freestyle motocross legend and rally racing star. "You found, really, that the true passion in action sports comes from that, but what's awesome is that it's now accepted more socially.

"It's giving kids the opportunity to really chase their dreams and parents the opportunity to see that these are legitimate sports with real money [involved]. And at the same time it's still core and fun. I'm super pumped about the expansion."

X Games competitions have been held abroad in recent years but as lower-profile events. Under the Global X plan all six events will be similar in size and scope, and a website will be created to devote year-round coverage to all things related to the events.

Unlike the U.S. Dew Tour, a summer and winter action sports series run by NBC, each Global X event will be stand-alone, with no points or standings determining a series winner. Each, Guglielmino said, will be regarded as a major, like the PGA Tour's four majors.

The bidding process will begin next year and the most likely scenario is that there will be four summer and two winter Global X events, but it's possible that there will be three summer and three winter competitions.

Core sports will remain the same at each venue. For example, the gargantuan mega-ramp, used for immensely popular big-air skateboarding and BMX competitions, will be featured at each summer venue.

But it's also possible, according to X Games creator Ron Semiao, that sports will be added at specific venues where certain sports are important to a specific area's culture. For example, if Australia were to land an X Games, surfing might be added as a discipline for that event.

Semiao does not believe the expansion, which will include 130 hours of live programming for the six events, is a gamble. Rather, he said, the timing is perfect because action sports have worked their way into the mainstream youth culture to the point where they're as accepted, if not more so, than traditional sports.

"You now have a situation where if you go into a teen's garage, you will see a football and a basketball and a baseball and a snowboard and a dirt bike, a BMX bike and a skateboard along with a soccer ball," Semiao said. "They are all part of sports and have worked their way into the generally accepted sports culture, particularly with youth."

The timing of the expansion comes shortly after it was announced that freeskiing halfpipe competitions -- staple X Games events for men and women -- will debut at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Freeskiing star Sarah Burke acknowledged that her already busy schedule will become more hectic, but said she'd work the X Games competitions into her itinerary. "The X Games has always been the main one; the dream that everyone strives to be part of," she said. "I know it's going to be the top event on everyone's schedule and they'll make room for it. And I think everyone's really excited to see how it goes."

-- Travis Pastrana image (top) courtesy of Dom Cooley/Shazamm/ESPN Images. Sarah Burke image courtesy of C. Van Hanja / ESPN Images

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Lindsey Vonn's surprise call to young fan a video classic

One of the greatest thrills for a kid is to receive an autograph or perhaps a handshake from a major sports star, so when 11-year-old Kristina Wolff received a personal call from her longtime idol, world-class ski racer Lindsey Vonn, she was ... well, watch the video and witness for yourself the touching interaction between the two and the uncontainable joy and excitement spilling from the child:

 

This came about after Kristina's parents had phoned the Red Bull consumer affairs office to inquire about receiving a signed photograph from Vonn, the 2010 Olympic downhill gold medalist and the most successful female ski racer in U.S. history.

Red Bull is one of Vonn's major sponsors and during one of the athlete's visits to company headquarters in Santa Monica, Calif., she graciously agreed to place the call and chat with to Kristina, a budding ski racer who lives in New Hampshire. Kristina's parents knew the call was coming but Kristina was told only that she should stay up a little longer because someone special might be calling.

Fortunately, Kristina's parents videotaped that end of the call with a cellphone. Red Bull, of course, videotaped Vonn making the call, and the result is a two-way conversation that went public Wednesday morning and is sure to tug at the heartstrings of viewers from around the world.

Kristina, of course, will cherish those moments for years.

Matthias Giraud's avalanche cliff jump 'best run of my life'

To experience the thrill of skiing down steep virgin powder and launching from a cliff with an avalanche in hot pursuit, watch the video.

You'll undoubtedly get a feel for what it was like for Matthias Giraud to have done just that, thanks to high-definition helmet cameras worn by him and his partner, Stefan Laude, during a carefully planned stunt recently in the French Alps.

 

Giraud, on his website, explains that he and Laude -- both expert skiers and skydivers -- wore avalanche location devices and had a helicopter rescue team on standby. Laude was parachuting and filming from overhead as Giraud skied the ridge line leading to the cliff. He deployed his chute as snow spilled from the ledge to his right.

The video production has gone viral, and while it there is a strong commercial aspect to the production, it should not diminish the remarkable nature of the stunt itself. On the contrary, because of improving technology and the increasing use of helmet cameras by extreme athletes, viewers are able to get more of a vicarious feel.

Said Giraud, "It was probably the best run of my life."