No X Games in primetime for Canadians

This past weekend featured the biggest thrills and spills someone can expect to see in the sports of skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling. Top athletes flocked from around the world to the sunshine of Aspen, Colo. to compete in the Winter X Games. While there are lots of stories including Simon Dumont failing to top Tanner Hall in the men's skiing Superpipe once again, Lindsey Jacobellis falling again when in the lead of of the women's boardercross, and disabled monoskiers flying down the skiercross course, the one I want to discuss is me watching the thrills and spills on a two-inch part of my computer screen instead of my nice 27-inch flatscreen TV at home. The X Games, both summer and winter are an invention of ESPN and shown during primetime on that station. Being in Canada prevents us from watching ESPN and therefore we are forced to watch the events online. But if you were going to turn on the TV to sister Canadian station TSN, you would get a plethora of highlights from around the NHL. Why TSN doesn't broadcast more X Games action is hard for me to say. Maybe Canadians are so involved with hockey that we fail to see what is going on in other sports? Maybe Canadians don't want to watch different sports that are outside the traditional main idea of sports? Either way, this is one person who would like to watch more skiing action on TV.

Go big at the Winter X Games

If I had to make a list of the sporting events I would most like to attend it would include the America's Cup, the Tour de France, the Superbowl, and anything at the Olympics.
If I was making a list of the coolest sports events I've actually attended, number one would definitely be the Winter X Games. The 11th edition of this adrenalin-junky spectable started with practice sessions today in the usual location of Aspen, Colo. For those, like me, who think the only way to ski is to go big or go home, this is an event you have to see live (even if it means standing out in the cold for hours on end). After a few years of wanting to see the games, I finally got around to it last year (living in Snowmass, Colo. helped). The television doesn't show how big these guys go.
I had the fortune to stand under Simon Dumont when he flew 22 feet out of the 21-foot Superpipe. That is 17 feet above my head. And he travelled over 60 feet down the pipe. This isn't flying, but it is as close as one can get without growing wings.

If you like controversy (will Dumont actually beat Tanner Hall in the judges eyes and not just the fans like last year) this has it. If you like excitement (Dumont is preparing a three-and-a-half-spin trick in the Superpipe) this has it. But most importantly, if you like all things gnarly you need to watch the X games in person. For Canadians this might be the only way to see the games. Instead of being able to watch live coverage during primetime on ESPN, Canadians will be watching selected coverage of last years games during the daytime on TSN. This is one person who will be glued to EXPN.com for all the excitement.

Teleing is great in bounds too

As I mentioned in my previous blog, a lot of people get into telemark skiing as a way to access untouched backcountry terrain. This past Saturday I taught a group of future tele skiers who were mostly taking the clinic for this reason. While skiing deep, virgin, back-country powder is one of the greatest things one can experience in life, teleing can be great in bounds as well. Whistler offers heaps of great in bounds terrain with limited hiking meaning lots of bang for your buck and lots of turns that you don't have to earn. Some say earning turns (through hiking) is what makes them so great, but I say turns are great based on many more factors and the more turns you do the better chance you have of skiing a great line. Lifts exist for a reason and even if it means fighting crowds, it still means more skiing. Teleing doesn't just have to be in the backcountry. I think it is the coolest way to slide down an open, groomed run or a powder covered, off-piste chute.

Tele Tigers

When going down a snow covered mountain people usually think of two different forms - skiing and snowboarding. Those weird people bending the inside knee while on skis are taking part in a sport called telemarking (teleing). An activity I consider the best choice of ways to descende a powder covered mountain. It is the fastest growing winter sport in Colorado. The fastest growing sport is Lacrosee, but Teleing is the fastest growing winter sport. It is a sport that is not as big in B.C., but the people that are teleing are really good. A number of people I talk to on lifts who notice I'm teleing ask if it is hard and tell me that one day they will be teleing as well. I wish them the best.
People say they are drawn to it as a way to access the backcountry or for reasons like me, because it looked cool. One thing is for sure, it is gaining in popularity. The Varsity Outdoor Club at UBC is offering a tele clinic this Saturday. Nineteen people have signed up. It is hard to explain the difference or why we do it, but once people do it they rarely go back to skiing or snowboarding. Check out my blog on Tuesday to see if any of these 19 new tele tigers will keep it up or go back to other forms of sliding down the hill.

Sunshine and Summertime

It was hard to erase a smile from anyone's face this past weekend in Whistler. Endless blue skies, white mountains and sunshine were the backdrop for some great skiing. But not everywhere is having such a great seaon. Whistler and surrounding mountains are reporting over 300cm of base - that is slightly higher than from your floor to your ceiling in compressed snow. World Cup races were cancellend in France last month and the season is struggling in the eastern part Canada and the U.S.
The largest mountain resort in Ontario, Blue Mountain, is currently experiencing white-out conditions, but it is the first real snow of the year. They were seeing near summertime weather for beginning of what should have been the first part of the season. With five runs open and a tenth the base of Whistler, it's not the year to ski anywhere but the West. I just hope this isn't a sign of things to come or I don't think I'll entertain the idea of ever living in Ontario again.
Over the past six years, I've been blessed with great snow where ever I've lived. Whistler was downloading until after Christmas a couple years out of the last five due to a lack of snow at the bottom, but this year has been explained by one local as the best snow in 15 years. Global warming can be blamed for the lack of snow out east, but the great snow here can only be attributed to one thing - or one person.
The moral of the story seems to be that if you stick with me, the snow will be there.

Wet Coast Skiing

A 7:20 wake-up call startles me. I knew it was snowing when I went to bed, but I could never have predicted how deep the powder would be. My car was burried up to the windows, so we rushed to the bus stop. Despite starting our day at 8:15, the crowds were not small. It was an absolute blue bird day (not common for Whistler) and with the high pressure system, the snow was as close to fresh Colorado powder as I have seen on the wet coast. The 30 cm of new jumped up into my eyes as my telemark skis sliced through the white, fluffy stuff. My friend Andrew looked over at me after a fabulous untouched line to ask, "How does it feel to win at life?"
My name is Jordy and skiing isn't something I do, it is my obsession, my passion, and my favourite reason to be alive. I grew up in Toronto, Ontario skiing a 150-foot vertical hill called Earl Bales. I moved to Denver for school when I was 18 and skied all over Colorado for four years before taking a job with the Aspen Skiing Company. I moved back to Canada for graduate school and have been skiing Whistler since the day it opened this year.
I am creating this blog to share my thoughts about skiing-related issues. I will report on and give commentary to events taking place in the skiing world, but mostly in Whistler. I will express my opinion on why people are taking a bigger interest in telemarking and other debatable issues such as the best runs to ski given the different conditions. I will also leapfrog off other's comments. I encourage comments, hope to spark debate and most importantly want to feel like I'm on the hill everyday.