This is what Red Bull can do for your sport.
First off Red Bull is in my oppinion the best tasting of all the energy drinks. What also amazes me is what Red Bull is doing for almost every sport out there. Basically what it comes down to is the simple, Red Bull is one of the best marketing / PR companies in the world. They can take any sport and make it have mass appreall. Here is a great example.
Red Bull if you need my shipping address please hit me up at redbullplease@gear-addicts.com
1.5m vetical feet
As many of you already know, thing have been pretty slow on the site lately. Lets just say sometime work gets in the way. Well with a potentially evil ski season coming up in which I am not going to get to ski, I am glad to see that Greg Hill is making up for everyone. This inlcudes people like me that wish we could ski, people that will get injured this season, last season, and for the next 4 seasons. It also includes people that don't even know what skiing is but should.
For anyone that doesn't know what Greg is doing, he is in the process of logging 2 million vertical in a year. What is more impressive is that from what I understand he is right on track. The video is about the gear that he uses, a topic that hit close to home for me. Well right now it hits more of a nerve than anything and it is gear I wish I was using and not selling off, but that is beside the point.
Rocky puts it best in saying,
"I can’t help but think he gets a free piece of gear every time he mentions a brand name. I hope so; that’s a lot of vert for one person."
For more information about Greg Hill check out the Greg Hill 2 Mill site.
story via: The Goat
The Way I See It
Matchstick productions just let loose the trailer for their upcoming feature "The Way I See It". I am always amazed how Matchstick constantly improves the quality of their films and athletes.
via: The Goat
Massis K2 skis
Now I am a big fan of the fat ski trend but I think this takes it a bit to far. At 16 feet tall the glass skies were designed and made by Joel Berman Studios for K2 in celebration of the Olympics.
Found at: K2 Skis Blog
And here is a link to one of most fun pairs of skis I have even been on. The K2 HellBents.
Best Base Layer Ever
This year I was having a hard time figuring out what I wanted to get my wife for our anniversary. One thing that came to mind was a new set of base layers. That is always a safe bet around our house. Well after looking over Backcountry.com for a bit I came across something that I have been debating on getting for myself for quite some time. Not wanting to pull the classic anniversary bowling ball gift scenario, I decided that it was best to get us both a one, in matching smurf blue.
What you might ask. Well it is the AirBlaster Ninja Suit, and it is by far one of the best purchases I have made in a long time. Even though I hate to report that the wife returned hers. (I will talk about why in just a bit.)
As for mine, well again this thing rocks and here are a few points why.
- One-piece means, one less waist band, and one less shirt coming un-tucked, and one less thing around my neck. With the integrated hood it is solid coverage from head to ankle. This has been a much bigger advantage than I expected and why I am placing it at the top of the list.
- Integrated hood, with a high front zipper. This has basically gotten rid of the need of a balaclava. Now for someone that likes to have something over there mouth and nose on cold days, this just won't cover it. As for me, I like to cover right to the bottom of my chin and stop there. This is exactly were the Ninja Suits hood comes to and works well for me. With a little modding it would not be hard to add a small fleece face mask that integrates into the hood.
- Long arms with great thumb holes in the cuffs. I have heard some people call them monkey paws, but what ever you call them these work, and work well.
- Small and simple, around the waist, waist disposal zipper. Yep that is how I am saying it. Instead of a flap in the back like your grandpa used to have, the whole thing practically zips into two parts. This was a plus for my but a minus for my wife and the reason why she returned hers. The zipper just wasn't quite in the right place and made the process much more complicated.
Now I have the synthetic version, but Airblaster does make a version out of merino wool. One day this will get added to my bag of goods. They also make a cheaper version that I hope to get my hands on at the up coming SIA show. I will let you know what I think. As far as the price goes, you just have to remind yourself you are getting a top, and bottom together.
With all that said I highly recomed giving the Ninja Suit a try. Check out Airblaster at http://www.myairblaster.com/
Shane McConkey — In Deep tribute
via: The Goat - thanks for posting this. I was hoping it would show up online.
Yay for Snow!
Grand Targhee 10-1-09!!!
Yep as everyone knows there is snow all over the North West. Hell there is even snow up at Bogus Basin here is Boise. Now yes, it will most likely melt away but hey I will take it. Just a little teaser to help promt the tuning of skis. Heck now I fell rushed to get my wifes new skis mounted up. She picked up the Line Pandora and is going to be rocking them with the 22 designs Bombshell.
Now even if the snow is just a tease it still is useful for the industry. Mostly due to the fact that it should have a huge impact on ski sales and tuning services early in the season. I hope it translates into more early season ticket sales as well. In talking with Carrie Gochnour from Boise based Greenwoods Ski Haus they defiantly saw an increase. "It was a busy weekend in the store and a good reminder that it's time to get ready to ride!" Well even if it is just a teaser, I will take it. Time to start the religious monitoring of the Snotel site, looking for a good place to go put down some early season tracks. I wonder if my boss will let me bring back lunch and a ski flick Friday? Never hurts to ask.
Useful Links for the upcoming season: (Focused on the Boise area)
Greenwoods Ski Haus : Best selection, best staff, and voted best tune in the Boise area by me and many others. Oh also the best boot fitters I know.
Snotel : National Water and Climate Center provides massive amounts of data on more than enough areas covering the western United States.
Bogus Basin : The local Boise ski hill. A great mountain with some of the more varied terrain I have seen. Yes there are better but for a hill 45 min away it can't be beat.
Brundage Mountain : Small resort up in McCall Idaho. Don't worry about them they don't get snow and it just sucks to ski there. I promise. I would never lead you astray. Don't even waist your time clicking the link.