“Come Find Us” by Toy Soldier Productions is by far one of the best ski movie trailers out right now, they have an excellent blend of skiing and snowboarding and offer some of the finest talent anywhere. A few highlights in my opinion, include some really nice wall rides, double and triple flip variations and even a 360 screemin’ semen (don’t see those too often these days). “Come Find Us” looks to be a solid ski movie, my only concern might be the lack of big mountain freeriding… Didn’t see too much of it in the trailer, hopefully the full film contains more!

With the 2010 Hurricane season now upon us, and with hurricane Earl expected to hit US soil in a few days as a major Category 3 (possibly even 4) storm. I thought this short video clip of a person surfing during a hurricane was very appropriate! This is definitely one of the craziest surfing clips I have ever seen. Glad everything worked out of for the surfer in that monster wave, looks like it got a little dicey out there!

For all you action sport enthusiasts out there, you’ll want to check out Zapiks for some really great video clips to get you pumped up for whatever sport or sports you are into. Take the one below for example, deep powder skiing at Jay Peak Ski Area in Vermont. Anyone who has ever skied Jay Peak on a powder day (or just skied Jay for that matter) understands what an east coast gem this place is. Many of you Utahans may not believe this, but Jay Peak has actually rivaled Alta, Utah some years for annual snowfall!

A few weeks ago I posted on the Famous Internet Skiers, today I discovered another cool site, sort of along those same lines.  The Snow Troopers are a group of backcountry and “slackcountry”  skiers and riders looking to develop an online community where other fellow backcountry enthusiast can share stories, photos and videos of their own backcountry expereinces.  One of my favorite things about this group can be found in their “about” section and rather than butcher a paraphrase, I will quote them:

Our adventures on snow follow the mantra of Live To Ski Another Day – the idea that pushing it is important, but staying safe is just as. So, although we seek backcountry adventures, we’re not adverse to getting our turns in bounds when we’re limited by the conditions.  Some of us Snow Troopers ski for a living, others wish we could, but what brings us all together is the fact that we have and always will: live to ski.

This is a great mantra and I know it  is felt by all of us who have a passion for skiing.  Years ago, their was a great introduction on the opening page of a FreeSkier magazine that talked about how when skiing becomes embedded in you, you become a skier first and foremost, it is with you wherever you go and whatever you do. For some, a passion like this many never be felt in their entire life and it can be difficult to convey such strong feelings to others about something like skiing, most just don’t understand.  However, The Snow Troopers sum it up perfectly: “Live to ski”…

Here’s a clip from their latest adventure:

In a previous post titled “Sharks At The Beach”, I talked about the Great White Sharks just off shore in Chatham, Massachusetts.  I mentioned how a group of researchers were tagging the sharks to observe their behavior.  Since that post, I have become more informed about who these “researchers” are, as well as seeing first hand just exactly what they do! The Cape Cod Shark Hunters are made up of three members, a Pilot, who operates a small, single engine plane and can spot sharks from the air, and two others who operate a boat equipped with tagging harpoons that have been specially designed for minimal impact on the sharks (despite their name, they are actually out to protect the sharks) .  Once the pilot spots a shark, he then radios to the boat and they coordinate a tagging effort.

Once the boat is in position, one of the team members walks out on a large arm-like contraption and harpoons the shark implanting a tagging device which will allow them to track and monitor the behavior of the Shark (amazingly, the harpooner has a 100% success rate).

Cape Cod Shark Hunters preparing to tag a shark

Last Saturday, August 21st, as we were packing to head back to Virginia, I noticed a small airplane circling the water just off shore.  I quickly alerted my wife and grabbed the binoculars and we headed down to the beach.  Once we got to the shore, we noticed the plane was still circling and there were several boats in the area, one of which was the Shark Hunters. I quickly peered through the binoculars, just as one of the team members, who was already out on the arm-like contraption, was throwing the harpoon! We then saw a big splash as the Great White rose slightly out of the water! They had successfully tagged the 12 foot Shark and within 5 minutes had moved on to another location where the pilot above had already spotted another one!  This time it was a Basking Shark (harmless to humans), and they again, successfully tagged that one too! It was very exciting to see the Shark Hunters in action, they are definitely committed to not only protecting the sharks, but also the general public, just as their slogan suggests “tag a shark, save a tourist”.

When Professional Freeskier Mike Wilson decides to go for a swim on a hot summer day, just like everything else this guys does, he takes it to the extreme! Check out this rope swing he puts together on the Truckee River.  The clip claims the swing at 60 feet, but that’s being conservative if you ask me.  He sure gave the rafters below some solid entertainment!

I highly suggest watching some of the other clips on YouTube of this guy,  including his segment from “Push” where you can learn more about his crazy personality…

Lighthouse Beach in Chatham, Massachusetts, is home to some of the best wind water sports on the East Coast.  Chatham, which is located right at the tip of the elbow of Cape Cod, is positioned well for favorable wind conditions for wind surfing and kite boarding.  This is where I first became intrigued by kite boarding as my wife’s family has a beach house here and each August we all travel up from Virginia for a weeks vacation.  Over the past few years, the seal population has been growing rapidly, and last summer just before we left to head home, something almost unimaginable happened.  Two sea kayaker’s  spotted a fatally wounded seal just before seeing a very large dorsal fin breaking the surface less then 50 feet away.  Within two days, all of the beaches were closed and shark teams had assembled to investigate.  8 Great White Sharks were found and tagged for research, and the little fishing town soon made headlines.  This year, the beach has been closed for several periods over the summer as researches continue to monitor the sharks behavior.  When we arrived on Saturday, the beaches were closed, but by Sunday they had reopened.  Not too many were venturing into the water though

Here’s a clip from Wahsatch Powder Productions, a local Alta, UT film crew, showcasing some of the finest deep powder skiing the Wasatch has to offer! Alta, Utah is renowned for its deep, fluffy snow and each year they receive over 500″ of it! Looks very refreshing on a hot day like today!

Just about every skier I know loves their apres skiing almost as much as they love skiing deep powder. The best kind of apres usually includes a couple of your favorite cold beverages, the few friends you shared the day ripping around with, and some good live music. Now, just imagine finishing a day of skiing deep pow with your buds and heading into the bar to watch this guy put on a show!

AccuWeather has just released their forecast for the upcoming 2011 winter season. Last year, they made headlines with their incredibly accurate forecast for the Mid Atlantic “snowmageddon”! This year, the main stories include a drier, warmer winter for the Mid-Atlantic, a “wintry battle zone” for the northeast, and a much snowier winter for the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies. Judging by this outlook, Utah is looking to be positioned very, very well with a high probability of some nice Northwest flow!

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