Let me be frank: the event was a splash! Joking aside I had fun last weekend up at Vail. Bacardi invited both myself and Rachel to attend the Bacardi World Pond Skimming Championships. If you’re not clear on what this event is: a bunch of people ski and snowboard down a hill, one at a time, towards a 100 foot long pool filled with almost-freezing water. The goal is to skim across the pool to the other side (but most people do a half-flip and fall on their asses).

A few highlights and our thoughts:

• The Jumbotron: It was nice having a big screen to replay all the crashes and splashes. There were so many people at the event and the positioning of the run on the hill meant it would be difficult to see what was going on otherwise.
• The announcers: Like any good event the commentary from the booths was obnoxious at best. A few fun jabs and jokes but generally annoying. We could’ve done with less of them.
• The costumes: Really, the costumes were the highlight. A lot of creative (and ridiculous) people showed up and they brought their Sunday best! Everyone from Duff Man (Simpsons) to Borat showed up. Even a cowboy with his assless chaps and the Oompa Loompas.
• The flips: The ramp right before the pool was perfect for competitors buzzed (on Bacardi “Snowjitos”) individuals to hit and flip sideways and backwards. Of course, they probably don’t enjoy the crashes as much as we do.
• The flow: After about an hour we had only seen a dozen competitors go down the hill. A lack of organization at the top (people sneaking in and going down the hill) and inability to be entertaining at the bottom (see: The announcers) meant a semi-frustrating and slow afternoon.

One of the best performances was easily Duff Man as he was the first to successfully skim the pond. He casually side stepped out of the pool and headed to the hot tub. Shortly thereafter, one of the snowboarders came down and proposed in front of the entire crowd. Of course, she said yes.

While we’re not entirely convinced we would make a separate trip up to the mountains for this again, overall the event was fun. Our tips for fully enjoying the day: 1) arrive early to see people milling around in costumes before the event, 2) wear snow pants and good shoes (it will really allow you to get to a position to see better - otherwise you’re fairly limited on where you can watch from), and 3) be prepared (in whatever way you choose to prepare…) for the event to be slowly paced

Media

Visit the Colorado Snow pool on flickr for more photos and videos from the event.

If you watched the 2008 Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships at Deer Valley Resort you may have noticed a few local faces tearing up the slopes. One of them happened to be local resident Michelle Roark (U.S. Ski Team) who won the Duals Moguls title (article) this year.

Michelle is a student at the School of Mines in Golden, has competed with the U.S. Ski Team in the Olympics, and taken a number of medals including the World Cup title. Fun fact: as a chemical engineer, Roark has released her own perfume line called Phi-nomenal.

Michelle took some time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions for Colorado Snow:

How does it feel to win the national title? This isn’t your first is it?
Believe it or not I have been World Cup Champion, World Champion Silver Medalist and won a half a dozen World Cups, but never won Nationals until now … it feels great!

What’s it like competing in the Olympics? Do you get more nervous than other competitions?
Competing in the Olympics was an accomplishment of a lifetime as it had been my goal since I was five! The Olympics is a bigger stage than our World Cup competitions, but what the general public does not understand is that we compete against the same athletes in our World Cup competitions about 13 times every season. For us it is just another World Cup with a bigger audience.

What have been some of your biggest challenges over the years? Injuries probably don’t help?
I have had numerous setbacks. I have had six knee surgeries and until my most recent years I have really struggled financially to keep my dream alive.

You must’ve skied all over the world by now. I assume Colorado is your favorite snow, right?
I have skied all over the world and I can honestly say my favorite place to ski, by far hands down, is Winter Park/Mary Jane!

Where are your favorite runs in Colorado? Any secrets we should know about?
I LOVE all the runs at the Jane! There is nothing better than ripping bumps at the Jane with my family and friends!!!

Does your perfume (Phi-nomenal) help when you compete? Where can we get some of our own?
I stared making my perfume line just before the last Olympics. I wanted something that would not only last all day, but empower the wearer with energy, confidence, and focus. My first scent was made for the Olympics to help me get in the zone … and let me tell you it works! We have five women scents and one men’s now available on our web site at www.phinomenal.com.

Thanks again to Michelle for chatting with us! Learn more about Michelle and the entire U.S. Ski Team at www.usskiteam.com.

More spring fun starts next week up in Vail with a week-long festival celebrating the sun and the snow:

The mountains will be alive with free concerts from national headliners, on-snow events, street parties…and don’t miss the ever-popular…Bacardi World Pond Skimming Championships.

So head on up to Vail and have a good time. Check the website for details on the schedule, concerts, and information about pond skimming (sliding across a pond in a crazy costume on your skis/snowboard). It’ll be good!

Click here to visit the Spring Back to Vail website for details.

April 12th is the day to head up to Breckenridge and visit the Massive Beerfest:

The festival features 17 microbrews and craft beers with unlimited tasting. Breweries include Breck Brewery, Widmer, Red Hook, Kona, Stone Brewing Co, Bristol, Lefthand, Palisade, New Belgium, Sam Adams, Wolf Rock, Oaskar Blues, Ska Brewing, Steamborks, Great Divide, Flying Dog, Backcountry and Aspen Brewing! Enjoy live music from Tony Furtado, Subdudes and the The Rail Benders. For more information call KSMT (970) 453 2234.

For just $60 you can get into the 2008 Massive Festival, a bigger mug than everyone else and a catered lunch. Check it out!

Click here for more information on the Massive Beerfest.

Sure, it’s April and it’s starting to look like Spring, that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun! Over Memorial Day weekend, Arapahoe Basin is hosting the 7th Annual Festival of the Brewpubs and Memorial Weekend Beach party:

Join us for our largest party of the year! Spend the day sampling mugs of beer from a variety of Summit County brewpubs for one low price per 14 oz mug (must be 21). Breweries include Pug Ryan’s, Breckenridge, Dillon Dam, Backcountry and Wolf Rock.

Click here for more details on the festival of the brewpubs.

Get some spring skiing in and then buy your mug at 11am. Drinks flow from noon to four. See you there!

The Rippin Skiers have announced a special screening of Warren Miller’s newest film, Playground, to benefit SafeHouse Denver.

Details

• What: Screening of Warren Miller’s Playground
• When: January 24th, 7:00PM Movie starts at 7:30P
• Where: Denver Film Society at the Starz Film Center
• Why: Proceeds benefit SafeHouse Denver
• How Much: $25 (click here to purchase tickets online)

Bonus: not only will your money go to a good cause, all ticket holders will also receive: coupons for Two-for-One lift tickets at Steamboat, Copper Mountain and Winter Park, and “swag” giveaways at the event.

Click here for all the details from Rippin Skiers.

The 3rd Annual Vertical Rally for the American Cancer Society has raised $370 dollars and there’s little over a month until the race. Something tells me that Colorado skiers and snowboarders could raise at least 10x that much money. If you want to help out there are three ways to participate: compete as an individual, join a team (5-15) or sponsor a participant.

Teams and individuals compete on total dollars raised and total vertical feet. Prizes will be awarded and plenty of fun will be had.

Details

• Who: Individuals and teams (companies, church groups, etc.)
• When: February 23rd, 2008
• Where: Loveland Ski Area
• Why: Raise funds to support American Cancer Society-funded research, education, advocacy, and patient service programs.

So, if you’re looking to give back this season and hit the slopes for a good cause, check out the American Cancer Society’s Vertical Rally at Loveland.

Click here to visit the Vertical Rally website.

Learn the story of World War II’s famous 10th Mountain Division as experienced by the soldiers themselves. Using artifacts from the Colorado Historical Society’s collection and photographs, letters, maps and diaries from the Denver Public Library, the exhibit highlights the men’s experiences at Camp Hale, CO and their battles in Italy’s Apennine Mountains.

Exhibition runs through December 31. For details visit www.coloradohistory.org.

This season Alpinist Magazine is hosting a film festival in Wyoming (which is a short-enough drive from Colorado, right?):

The 2008 Alpinist Film Festival will take place January 17-20, 2008, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In addition to the Snow, Surf and Stone nights, which showcase, respectively, the world’s best skiing, surfing and climbing films, a new People’s Choice Ceremony will screen the People’s Choice award winners from the preceding evenings, allowing the audience to choose the 2008 Grand Prize award winner.

This year’s beer sponsor is none other than Fort Collins’ New Belgium. Certainly reason enough to go, right?

Learn more about the 2008 Alpinist Film Festival.

Not only does it sound like a great time, the festival will offset it’s entire carbon footprint (and then some):

In keeping with the Alpinist’s commitment to preserve the places of our inspiration, the 2008 Alpinist Film Festival will offset its estimated carbon footprint with the purchase of renewable energy. All energy consumed by the 2008 Festival–from the travel of the speakers and the audiences to snow removal, the delivery of films and the ink consumption for posters and banners–will be accounted for in the estimated carbon footprint. In order to eliminate unaccounted carbon, an additional ten tons of offsets, nearly double the Festival’s estimated footprint, will be purchased.

Read more about the green initiative details.

The festival is sponsored by Patagonia which (via it’s founder, Yvon Chouinard) is known for pioneering the ‘green movement’ back in the 1980’s.

Tickets are not yet available but you can visit their site and learn more about prior-year’s festivals. Colorado Snow may be there this year to cover the events–stay tuned.

From Dave’s Backcountry Ski Blog (click here to read more):

The 2008 COSMIC race dates have been published on the official website and this year they are going Canadian. 7 races will make up the Cup this year, with one of them being at Whitewater in Canada. The COSMIC series started up last year and gave the ski mountaineering scene here in Colorado a taste of competition and European flare.

Schedule

• January 19th - Snowmass Winter Wild
• January 20th - Sunlight Mountain COSMIC Race
• February 9th - Crested Butte • Arc’Teryx Race - Ski Mountaineering Race
• February 23rd - Whitewater Arc’Teryx - Roam Rally - Whitewater Canada
• March 8th - Loveland COSMIC Race
• April 19th - Silverton Mountain Hardcore Challenge
• April 26th - Arapahoe Basin Marmot Grind

I’ve never even seen nor thought about a mountaineering race but they sound like a true feat. “Starts are LeMans style: athletes run 50 ft. to clip into their skis, then skin uphill to the first gate, remove their skins, ski down to the second gate and back up to the third. This continues for four to five ascents and descents (including a boot pack for the race division on some courses) … all racers must carry the following mandatory pieces of equipment:

• Skis or Splitboard
• Skins
• Avalanche Beacon
• Shovel (Snow Claw ok)
• Probe
• Helmet

Learn more about COSMIC at cosmicski.com

I know it’s a bit premature to mention this but it has been asked: when will Colorado resorts close?

• Steamboat: April 6th, 2008
• Keystone: April 13th, 2008
• Vail: April 13th, 2008
• Winter Park: April 13th, 2008
• Copper Mountain: April 13th, 2008
• Breckenridge: April 20th, 2008

This will be updated as I find more dates.

Pack up this weekend to catch your new york flights to attend Events of a lifetime! Your flights to new york will instantly give you 10% discount to all events and Resorts. If you fly with allegiant airlines, you might get 20% discounts to these once in a lifetime events. If you’re headed to hawaii this summer, book your flight with aloha airlines for an exotic flight. For all connecting orlando flights to new delhi, make sure you don’t lose your in-transit visa. The indian airlines will stop for only half an hour before embarking on its journey home.

Roxy’s team skiers and snowboarders are announcing the first all-women team film, Labor of Love:

The Roxy Snow team has been hard at work. Follow Sarah, Amber, Alexis, Erin, Kjersti and Torah as they drop pillows in Japan, snowmobile into the midnight sun of Sweden, and ride their way through the southern hemisphere. From a producer of Misschief Films bring you this full-length feature flick about the ultimate Labor of Love. Doors open at 7pm for pro athlete autograph signings, & product raffle, including a chance to win $1000 shopping spree.

Read the full article at Freeskier Magazine.

Teaser:

View the teaser on YouTube.

Details:

• Where: Boulder Theater, 2032 14th Street, Boulder, Colorado
• When: Thursday, November 29, 2007, at 8:00 p.m.
• Price: Free!
• Online: roxy.com/laboroflove

In the market for new skis? Then you might be interested in demoing skis (or snowboards) at one of many demo days at Colorado resorts. Hop to, though, as most demo days occur in early season. Below is my attempt to aggregate all demo day information into one area.

Contact your travel advisor for this month’s Events. Once you find a month of fun and excitement, get your chicago hotel reservations from our online site. You’ll be able to compare prices for cheap hotels from this site. All hotel rooms book quickly, so get your rooms booked fast! Contact your flight centre for your flight to chicago daily for any change in departure and arrival timings. For a scenic journey to chicago, we recommend train travel for all tourists.

If you enjoy the Warren Miller productions, then it’s quite likely you’ll enjoy the Powderwhore videos. You don’t have to be a telemarker to appreciate the insane powder and drops these guys are skiing. It’s hard not to get excited for the season when watching their films.

I caught the PW06 film last year, and it was awesome. I’ll be at the Trailhead in Fort Collins tomorrow night for the PW07 film. Unfortunately, it looks like the only other remaining Colorado viewing is in Golden on Friday (11/16). The full tour schedule is on their website.

The 2007 Colorado Ski & Snowboard Expo kicks off this weekend:

Where do you go to get last minute deals on skis and boards? The Expo. Where do you get early season prices on passes and Lift-tickets? The Expo. Where do you get to meet former Bronco greats and world-class ski and snowboard athletes for free? The Expo.

I’ve never been but if I may go check it out tomorrow…

Expo Details:

• Cost: $10 for adults ($3-off with a coat donation), kids 12-under are free
• Location: Colorado Convention Center at 14th and California in Denver
• 2007 Colorado Ski & Snowboard Expo (PDF)