By: Sara Tollestrup

Whistler Blackcomb's website is claiming that "it's officially the snowiest November ever," so naturally I had to get up there and see for myself. Like many office dwellers, students and other non-snowboard bums I missed opening day on Whistler. My recompense for missing the big day, or what friends were calling "the best they'd seen it," was to hit the mountain for the opening day of the Creekside Gondola and Garbanzo Express.

The claims laid down by Whistler Blackcomb online and practically every British Columbian who has a facebook or Twitter account proved accurate. The pow was deep. Admittedly some zones were a bit tracked out, but that's to be expected when shred hungry riders have had over a week to get after the snow. In and around the trees there were plenty of powder stashes. Our best tree runs of the day were off of Garbanzo where the snow was easily waist deep.  

Yes we all love powder that reaches our belly buttons, but that doesn't mean our legs do. Half way through my first run I was wondering if I had just imagined all of the olympic bar squats I'd been doing with pro rider Spencer O'Brien. Red Bull has a gnarly trainer named Damien that they send Spencer to so that she's in tip-top shape come competition time. His workouts are made up of lunges, squats and even bike sprints. But despite Damien's crazy workouts I was calling for a hot chocolate break five runs in. My friends, who are also 9-5ers, were equally as happy about heading into the Roundhouse for a time out.

After a longer-than-I'm-willing-to-admit-break we headed back out to find some more pow. We found plenty of freshies as did a couple of other girls we spotted who were covered from head to toe in snow.  At 3:00 it was time to head home and being the keen bunch that we are we opted for the ski out. A word to the wise, even if there is heaps and heaps of snow at mid-mountain it doesn't mean that lower down is any good. I would recommend sticking to downloading on the gondola for now. With a cumulative snowfall of 530 centimeters and more coming down I think it's more than safe for Whistler Blackcomb to claim the snowiest November ever.

Creekside Gondola

Less than half way up Creekside and look at all of the snow

Lift line at Big Red Express

Snow

More snow

Hot chocolate break

Thigh deep snow

Post by: Sara Tollestrup

If you've ever been to Montreal then you've probably noticed that it has more strip clubs than any other establishment. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that the all girl film crew, most of whom are originally from the province of Quebec, have named themselves "Peep Show." The Peep Show peeps are: Esther Preda, June Bhongjan, Magalie Dubois and Laurie Gauvin.

3/4 of the Peep Show Crew: Esthera, June and Magalie

Their new teaser is not so much of a peep show, as it is a free pass into the VIP room. The ladies hold nothing back with sizable ledges, lengthy rails, gnarly slams, and the sounds of The Seeds to accompany them.

 Esther, June, Magalie and Laurie are heading up the business side of the film. On the snowboarding side they have an eclectic crew of riders  including Sara Phillips, Jess Kimura and Iris Lazzareschi. No, they don't have a huge budget and there won't be any cable cams to capture the action, but in the two plus minutes of the teaser the girls offer up some solid snowboarding, and a look into the lives of a group of friends who love to shred.

Click here for a link to the teaser

The final film (film hardly seems like the correct word now that everything is digital, and downloadable) will be released as a free download in coming days. Do not miss out on what is sure to be a great Peep Show.

Post by: Sara Tollestrup

On Friday January 9th the Fairmont Chateau in Whistler welcomed an unlikely bunch. Yes, Dr. and Mrs. Jones from Albany were checking in as per usual, but they were followed by hundreds of snowboarders, skiers, photographers, industry types and their friends who were there for the 3rd Annual Deep Winter Photo Challenge.

5 pro photographers; Jordan Manley, Dan Carr, Andrew Bradley, Crispin Cannon and Brian Hockenstien spent 3 days shooting photos on and around Whistler with a crew of their choice. They were then asked to put together a slideshow of their best shots for everyone to see. The resulting slideshows were met with thunderous cheering, whistling and people yelling "siiiick."

 The only thing missing from the event? Ladies! In the film Lost in Translation Scarlett Johansson says "Every girl goes through a photography phase...you know like horses...you know take pictures of your feet," and it came to mind as I watched the show. Why are there so few female photographers in snow sports and why were the few who do exist not participating in the photo challenge? Fortunately, SBC contributor, Ashley Barker's roommate, Robin Van Gyn was standing next to me and explained that Ashley was going to do the Challenge until her flash, computer and cell phone all blew up  the week before. Even still none of the featured riders were women.

Despite the lack of female contribution I was blown away by the slideshow, and equally impressed by the judging (when does that ever happen?) Jordan Manley's creativity and talent stood out, which is undoubtedly why he won the Challenge and the award for Best in Show. His most eye catching photo was rider, Dave Short, reflected in an icicle. Crispin Cannon's overall presentation was impressive,  several time lapses interspersed with great action stills. Cannon's day-in-the-life approach was awesome too, and capped off with SBC Editor, Gerhard Gross passed out in a candlelit bath with a beer resting not far from his reach. The photo of Gross was of course, in a room filled with more empty Stella bottles than people, a crowd pleaser. Third place was given to another SBC contributor, Brian Hockenstein. Hockenstein captured the camaraderie of his crew exceptionally well. My favourite shots in his show were the opening and closing black and whites of the crew in a tunnel on the mountain. In the opening shot the guys are lined up side by side, in the closing shot they are each busting an on-the-spot snowboard move. Each of the photographers, including those that weren't awarded prizes, should be proud of their work. To keep a ballroom full of party people silent isn't an easy feat, but they did it with their art.

Post by: Sara Tollestrup

Arctic Blast 2008 hit Vancouver in mid-December and didn't let up until well into the New Year. If you were flying to or from any Canadian destination at that time, then you have probably vowed never to do it again, but traveling into winter storms is what pro snowboarders do. On New Years Day Gabi Viteri and Natazsa Zurek rolled into town to see what they could make of Mount Seymour and the surrounding snow covered city.

Nat and Gabi along with Burton filmer, Aaron Leyland and photographer, Chris Owen spent the first 4 days of the year riding Mount Seymour's 659 centimeters of snow, hiking to some top secret local's spots and jibbing the nights away. Originally the crew had planned to hit park style jumps on Seymour, but with all of the snow that had fallen there were plenty of cliffs to drop and powder turns to capitalize on. After a day of fun on Seymour's Dark Run, Nat and Gabi were stoked to check out a new spot on Seymour that local Snake Bullet shred, Rupert took them to. There was probably more hiking than snowboarding that went on that day, but both Nat and Gabi were stoked on the beautiful scenery, and in all honesty who doesn't need a good hike after December's festivities? 

Nat hiking at Mount Seymour. Owen photo

When the crew wasn't riding Seymour they were either checking out potential jib spots, or hitting them up -always with coffee in hand. With more snow than the city has seen in over two decades there were plenty of  crews out and about. Gabi shared a popular North Vancouver rail with the Sandbox crew, and shortly after who else showed up, but JP Walker, Simon Chamberlain and the Stepchild guys. Needless to say the rail Gabi was going after was no walk in the park, even the guys were having trouble getting their tricks on it, but she did what my mama always told me to do -practice, practice, practice.

Gabi chilling at the rail. Owen photo

The second jib session was a true mission. The crew headed out to hit a wallride some time after dinner, and didn't get home until 1:30 in the morning. The snow turned to rain which intermittently turned to heavier rain. In the middle of the session a loud bang that sounded like a snowboard being dropped flat-based onto pavement rang out. In the pouring rain Owen's flash had exploded. When he unzipped his back pack a cloud of black smoke filled the air. Despite bad weather, low temperatures and explosions the crew pushed on until they got some shots.

Building the jump. Owen photo

The next day the crew packed their bags and headed out, undoubtedly in search of another storm.

SEE WHAT I SEE

There is nothing quite like waking up to 40 centimeters of fresh snow, but what are you supposed to do to get hyped for a day on the mountain when conditions are less than perfect? May I suggest Runway Films' See What I See. Yes, the guys' videos are sick, but as a girl I get extra inspired when I see what ladies like you and I are capable of.

See What I See is filled with progressive riding from 30 of snowboarding's top female shreds, and though it's impossible, all of them deserve a mention. Natasza Zurek earned closing part thanks to her ability to adapt to all kinds of terrain and to ride it all with style. Zurek's smooth spins in the park, stomped backcountry tricks and solid pillow lines make me proud to be part of women's snowboarding. Sunset 360 tail grab -need I say more? Calgary girl, Raewyn Reid's rookie part looks more like the work of a seasoned pro rather than that of an up-and-comer. Reid jokingly says "this might be dope," before she pops an on-the-spot-tail-stall, but all jokes aside, her part is dope. Other notable newbies include Robin Van Gyn and Meghann O'Brien. Speaking of seasoned pros, Janna Meyen's snowboarding and snowmobiling are insane. I always hear guys say that girls can't hold their own in the backcountry, I guess they haven't been out there with Meyen. Desiree Melancon's part adds the urban flavour that every well-rounded snowboard film needs. Japanese superstars Izume Amaike and Hiromi Takahashi may not be well known in North America, but their riding is top notch, props to them!

I love that Runway incorporated footage of the cultures the riders encountered. While the Runway film might not satisfy your desire for borscht, sushi or wiener schnitzel it will give you a taste of mountain life in Russia, Japan and Austria. If foreign countries and Super 8 camera shots aren't enough to dazzle the artiste in you then perhaps the awesome soundtrack complete with tunes from The Black Keys, Shout Out Louds and She & Him will do it for you.

The only bad thing I have to say about the film is that there isn't a lot of  variety in the jib sections. Yes, the pyramid urban jib is cool, and the rock jib too, but I could have done without the repetition of riders and tricks on those.  Go ahead and see what I see every morning while lacing up your boots. I guarantee you will be pumped to get out and strap in. —Sara Tollestrup