Generally, first annual is synonymous with junk show, however Snowbasin did not disappoint, organizing one of the best first-time events I've ever witnessed. Their two rail set-up (a flat-down and an up-flat-down) was located at the base area just lookers left of the Little Cat lift and was held this past Saturday, April 11th 2009. Even though the sun did not grace us with its presence, nearly 30 competitors signed up to put on a show. 4FRNT was fortunate enough to get the invite, along with Monster Energy Drink, DC, and Canyon Sports. Along with the rail jam, 4FRNT hosted a free on-snow consumer demo debuting the latest and greatest from the 09/10 line up.
SIA is North America's largest ski and snowboard tradeshow. Annually, the snow wookies of this world travel by the truckload to Vegas for 3.5 days of complete debauchery and "business." We popped some quick shots of the booth and our products we're rolling out for next year. All this stuff will be in a shop near you this fall.
Corner presence. Dayne Anderson and Jeff Peay holding down the fort.
Yesterday, freeskiing took a step backwards. A rising free ride skier named Billy Poole, passed away while doing what he did best in Utah's legendary Wasatch backcountry.
Poole awoke like most Utah shredders, welcoming clear sky's and a reported 2 feet of fresh powder. Charged for shredding, Billy and friends rallied out in the back country were he entered into a line of steep and exposed features near the Wolverine Cirque. A line when out the bottom he ultimately met his fate upon impact. Poole was immediately transported via care flight to a local hospital where they announced he wasn't going to make it.
In the afternoon I spoke with some fellow ski buddies about the accident, including Derek Taylor, an editor of Powder, about skiing's loss and how surreal the incident felt. "It seems like when we hear of these life threatening accidents, almost always does the skier pull though," said Derek. Here's a writer whom recently published a profile on Billy Poole in Powder Magazines' Fall Line, and now we're scratching our heads wondering how this could happen. Its the harshest of realities.
