Cas and Jonesy...Crossing the Ice

I first came across Cas and Jonesy a while back listening to a radio interview, where they introduced their idea to travel unassisted to the South Pole and back. Considering a few years earlier they had managed to "cross the ditch"  paddling 3318km across the Tasman Sea [braving 10 metre swells and howling winds, enduring severe food and sleep deprivation] I thought they might just pull it off.

And they have done it .......... in the longest unsupported polar expedition of all time, these two have recently trekked from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and back without assistance. It took 89 days and they skied 2275km with everything they needed to survive in the harshest environment on Earth, succeeding where many, many others had tried and failed.

I love this story of these two crazy adventurers who seem to embody some larrikin Aussie spirit!

Their film Crossing The Ice has won the GRAND PRIZE in the 2013 Vancouver Mountain Film Festival, a 9-day event in Vancouver that includes live presentations, films, photography, live music, and international film and photo competitions - lots of stiff competition there, I'm guessing.

Really hope I get to catch this one as its part of the Banff Mountain Film Festival which is currently touring Australia, hitting Melbourne for a few nights mid June, with last stop Mt Buller 29 June. (If you're flying QANTAS the movie is also part of the in-flight entertainment package).

Both have been painted for individual portraits for this year's Archibald Prize which is on now at the AGNSW.

There are books and dvd's on the adventures for sale here. They also seem to be making some in-store appearances for The North Face and by all accounts are excellent speakers.

Solar Flares

Courtesy NASA ... toasted marshmallows anyone?

The Snow Travel Expo

With less than a month to go till the start of the ski season 'down-under' things are ramping up: there's been some early falls with more snow forecast for next week; ski jobs are filling up fast; the pundits are coming out of the woodwork with predictions; the snow magazines are hitting the shelves and the Warren Miller yearly expedition is on our doorstep.

Exciting times!

And now, add to that list the Snow Travel Expos that will be hitting up Sydney and Melbourne this month - May 19 + May 26.  It's the perfect way for us snow-addicted folk to catch up, check out the latest winter toys and meet some reps from iconic ski destinations around the world.

Representatives from 50 of the world’s top ski resorts will be there, offering snow enthusiasts the opportunity to ask plenty of questions, see lots of drool-inducing pics and start plotting the next OS destination.


Snow Travel Expo 2013 TVC from Snow Travel Expo on Vimeo.


“The Expo is a high-energy and fun day.  It’s a gathering of the tribe and chance for us to indulge our snow passions,” says event director and self-confessed snow addict Phil Osborn.  “It’s like a candy store for snow lovers.  You can talk to experts from all the best mountains and resorts from Japan, Canada, USA, NZ, Korea, Europe, South America, Kashmir and our local Australian resorts and get great insider tips to help plan your ideal snow holiday.”

Entertainment includes the Live City Rail Jam, fun for kids in the Burton Riglet Park and jumping castle, skiwear fashion parades and inspiring presentations on the big screen.  to get everyone fired up and ready to hit the slopes. There's also a chance to win a dream winter escape to California or Chile.

Entry to the Snow Travel Expo is free with a gold coin donation to Disabled Winter Sports.

www.snowtravelexpo.com.au

MELBOURNE:         Sunday 19 May 10am – 4pm
                                    Melbourne Exhibition Centre, Southbank
SYDNEY:                  Sunday 26 May 9am – 4pm
                                    Sydney Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour Hall 1

‘Chasing Ice’ The Documentary

The Acclaimed Documentary ‘Chasing Ice’ 
is the story  of renowned Nat Geo photographer James Balog's quest to document the fast decline of the Earth's glaciers. It's an incredible story with stunning imagery from  Iceland, Greenland, Alaska and Montana.

Balog and his Extreme Ice Survey (EIS) team launched an ambitious plan to create a comprehensive record of unprecedented geologic changes. His cameras capture glaciers as they recede more kilometers in the past 10 years than in the previous century. In just one hour, the team captures a 450-meter ice block calving, or breaking off, into the ocean below. And, in Chasing Ice’s most striking sequence, Balog’s team captures a mammoth ice block the size of lower Manhattan tumble into the watery depths — the largest calving event ever caught on film.

Balog was once a climate change skeptic, but no longer. Over 3 years he ventured deep into the underworld of ice — rappelling into crevasses and scaling vast ice canyons, carved out by raging torrents of meltwater and says "the sea level rise that will happen in my daughter’s lifetimes, will be somewhere between a foot and a half and three feet... minimum."

"When they look at me 25 or 30 years from now and say, what were you doing when, when … global warming was happening and you guys knew what was coming down the road. I want to be able to say, ‘Guys, I was doing everything I knew how to do.’

CHASING ICE won Best Cinematography Award at Sundance and deserves to be seen... check National Geographic channel for dates and times.

95 Year Old Skier George Jedenoff

George Jedenoff took up skiing in his forties, despite some well meaning advice that he shouldn't learn to ski as "he might get hooked"........ at age 95.5 George has now been skiing 50+ years.. ...seriously, what some people will do to get a lifetime season pass!



According to George "the worst day at Alta is probably the best day in most places..."

BIG SKY

What do you consider to be the best ski resort in the US? According to voters in the 2013 Visitor's Choice Awards its Big Sky Resort in Montana.



And if you're keen to get there for 2013/2014 season the season's passes are on sale till the end of this month (starting at Gold Pass $800)

Brodie Summers podium at Nor-Am

Another podium for the Aussie skiers today, this time from up-and-coming Mogul Skier, Brodie Summers. Brodie, an Australian Development Mogul Team athlete, placed second at the Nor-Am held at Apex Mountain Resort and is looking to be in pretty fine form.

We caught up with Brodie as he was about to head out to presentations and feeling pretty stoked with his result. He told snow-blind..... "I came into today feeling confident after skiing well on the two training days. I like the course here and I'm really happy with the way I skied all day today. I tried to keep the focus on my skiing instead of the results and it really paid off for me."

BDS in action via the Mogul Skiing Academy

Brodie was pretty happy with a podium place after missing out by less the a point at the last NorAm!
And he's "'looking to carry my form through into the duals event tomorrow. Next up, the team and I travel to Val St Come, Quebec for the third NorAm in the series. Super excited to get onto that course this year!"

He sends a shout-out and a "big thanks to everybody who has supported me - NSWIS, Clubs NSW, Bolleyewear, Karbon and of course mum & dad!"

Good luck for the duals Brodie!

Here's the run.........

Sochi Olympic Test Run

With less than 12 months to go till the start of the Winter Olympics and athletes descending on Sochi for a FIS Freestyle World Cup Olympic test events this weekend, excitement is beginning to rise as we get first glimpses of the village and the terrain the athletes will be competing on, come February 2014.

According to FIS "over 350 of the world's best freestyle skiers have converged on the area perhaps best known as “The Mountain Cluster” and the future home of the freestyle, alpine, nordic/cross country, sliding, and jumping events for the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games – the town of Krasnaya Polyana at the base of Rosa Khutor alpine resort."

Test events were held last year for alpine skiing and earlier this month for cross country and nordic events, and now it's the freestylers' turn to get a little taste of what things will be like come OLYMPICS for those fortunate enough to qualify for the big show taking place a little less than a year from now. Most of the biggest names in halfpipe, ski cross, aerials, and moguls skiing have arrived at the future Olympic venue.

The Rosa Extreme Park stadium serves as finish line for 3 disciplines -  halfpipe, moguls, and aerials events, with ski cross and slopestyle (in 2014) concluding just a five minute walk away.

There has been some rumbling about the host city which, lets face it when it comes to the Olympics, always has a bit of controversy. One critic has questioned the decision and even labelled the Sochi weather "sub-tropical" and the 11th hour cancellation of the slopestyle events didn't boost confidence in that arena and must have officials worried - a repeat of the Vancouver problems would be a major headache.

But FIS says "a tremendous amount of work has been done by the organising committee, course builders, and legions of volunteers to ensure that varying temperatures and a mixed bag of warm sun, rain, sleet, and snow don't effect the quality or integrity of the facilities."

This weekend we can look forward to moguls, aerials, halfpipe, and ski cross competitions and with snow control and course inspections out of the way, organisers will be hoping for some smooth sailing whilst ironing out the minor kinks in preparation for the big event down the line.

A  detailed schedule can be found here (all times in CET), but expect to see moguls competition on Friday, halfpipe on Saturday, aerials on Sunday, and ski cross to finish off the event on Tuesday. Halfpipe, moguls, and aerials will all take place in the evening, under the lights at the Rosa Extreme Park.

The Olympics are 359 days away.


HIGHLIGHTS:

The 2013 Sochi World Cup stop on the FIS Freestyle circuit is the main test event for the freestyle events at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.
Approximately 365 athletes are on hand to compete in four of the five freestyle skiing events; slopestyle was unfortunately cancelled due to adverse slope conditions.
Some of the biggest names in freestyle will be on hand to compete, including men's overall freestyle World Cup leader Mikael Kingsbury (CAN, moguls), ladies' overall World Cup leader Mengtao Xu (CHN, aerials), last year's ladies overall Crystal Globe winner Hannah Kearney (USA, moguls), ski cross overall leaders Alex Fiva (SUI) and Fanny Smith (SUI), as well as halfpipe stars like Torin Yater-Wallace (USA) and Maddie Bowman (USA).
The qualifying period for the 2014 Olympics is in full swing, and athletes will be competing for the standard FIS points critical for ensuring eligibility for those upcoming Olympics.
Competition begins on Friday with moguls finals slated to take place at 19:00 local time.

pics via : FIS Freestyle, Freeskier US Freestyle Ski Team