Snow Sports
Archive
Who rules the freeskiing world of big air and deadly steeps—The technical European perfectionists or the up-all-night American hot-doggers? We brought Micah Black and Dominique Perret, the stars of each continent, to British Columbia for some head-to-head competition. No excuses. No exceptions. No slowing down. And the winner is...
Follow all the action from Turin and the Piedmont Alps as the 20th Winter Olympics gets underway in Italy
The last time the U.S. led the final medal count at a Winter Games, in 1932, only 17 nations took part, dogsled racing was an exhibition sport, and alpine skiing wasn't even on the program. Since then, Norway, Germany, and Russia have controlled the Olympics like an Axis of Snow, while Americans still cling to 1980's Miracle on Ice. But a look at the talent poo
The U.S. men's ski team, once equal to the world's best, has spent a generation falling short of past glories. But the bad boys of alpine racing are back—with a killer gleam in their eyes. Here's how the Yanks rebuilt the beast from the boots up.
Alpine skiing we can do. Ditto hockey. But bobsledding? Ski jumping? Some winter sports seem about as accessible as Dick Cheney. But getting started in these cold-weather exotics is easier than you think, and you can do it at some of the best facilities in the world.
Whether you're skating perfect corduroy or blazing backcountry powder, skinny-skiing the wide-open West is the path to cold-weather bliss
What is the best current model of the Motorola Talkabouts to purchase for skiing? I gather the 280SLK and the T-Series are no longer made, but I find today's models confusing so I need some help. The units must be rechargeable. Diane Roslyn, New York
A new documentary takes on the snowboarding revolution—and launches one of its own
With heli-ski tours in the central Alps, the Swiss prove their mastery of perfection�again
Stop arguing. We surveyed the experts and shall now define, once and for all, a good skier.
Outside has partnered with Teton Gravity Research to bring you the latest and greatest in the world of ski films. “The Tangerine Dream,” the latest from Teton Gravity Research (TGR), is a film that represents ten years of broken down trucks, wanderlust and some down and dirty skiing and snowboarding.
Andrew McLean is a shaggy-haired, left-brained industrial designer whose inventions are revolutionizing the world of adventure skiing. He's also found the perfect guinea pig to take his gear to outrageous new heights: himself.
When an avalanche killed an out-of-bounds snowboarder in Utah, many assumed he was a reckless novice. The scary truth? Experts make most of the lethal mistakes.
What gear is required for heli-skiing? What works best, from a pack to shovel and survival equipment? Colton Chaska, Minnesota
Let Cancún have the crowds. Four spots that lend style to spring debauchery.
If you were to die and go to snowboarder heaven, it might look a lot like the DC Mountain Lab, a 22-acre R&D facility and crash pad in Utah’s Wasatch Range, operated by SoCal-based DC Shoes, maker of snowboard boots, skate footwear, and board-sport apparel. Company president Ken Block, 37,…
From Italy's classic Sella Ronda to a new peak in the French Pyrenees, here's a primo selection of the best skiing on the continent
Our big roundup of supercool North American ski hills serves up 20 rides of your life—and tells you where to kick back in style
Let's be honest: Heli-skiing means blowing a significant sum—you'll typically drop at least five grand per week. Like all the finer things in life, however, it's not about the cost. It's about what you get for your money. And with more than three dozen outfitters now operating in North America, you can practically handpick the accoutrements that will make
U.S. students have Cancún and sunburns. The British university elite have Austria and tingling buttocks.
I can't find boots that allow me to do it all. What lightweight options are there that allow me to hike in on a long approach, climb with crampons, and carve home smoothly wearing a loaded pack? I suppose a good example would be something suitable for the Sierra Haute backcountry route. Pavle Redding, California
The Four Seasons Jackson Hole, which opened last year and is the chain’s first hotel in snow country, does everything for its guests except ski: Attendants bring complimentary heated robes and towels, hot chocolate, and s’mores to the outdoor, geothermal-style Jacuzzis and heated swimming pools. The ski concierge provides custom…
Come along for a wild ride with Warren Miller, the man who invented the art of extreme-ski filmmaking. Even at 80, he can still out-rip you on any slope in the world.
I have flat feet. I find most Burton snowboarding boots are too narrow, so my feet get tired and sore very quickly. Do you have any recommendations for a good pair of boots for my flat feet? Chao New York City
Over 170 of the world’s best—and craziest—athletes tested their mettle at Crested Butte’s 2004 Saab U.S. Extreme Freeskiing Championships last month (February 25 through 28), each hoping to beat the competition with hair-raising runs down the mountain’s steep and technical Extreme Limits terrain. extreme skiing, Colorado Airborne at the…
Freeskier Seth Morrison, 30, thinks nothing of hucking off 60-foot mountain ledges. Snowboarder Keir Dillon, 26, routinely performs McTwists 15 feet above halfpipe lips. Speed skater Derek Parra, 33, powers around an ice oval at 25 miles per hour. All three are superb athletes, but which of them is the…
What happens when a veteran mountain guide has to follow someone else's lead for a day of heli-skiing? Heads swell, powder flies, and somebody gets handed a big slice of humble pie. Dave Hahn confesses.
Bode Miller has everything you could want in a World Cup ski racer. He's fast, fearless, and frequently out of control. He can drink like a sailor and swear like a snowboarder, and he's got the talent to take it all from those grim Austrian cyborgs. Most amazing, he's American. Can we make this guy a hero already?
Ramp up your winter repertoire with new skiing and snowboarding skillz, brought to you by the pros who know.
Two dozen high school seniors from the Nebraska flatlands roadtrip to the peaks of Colorado for their first winter trip to the Rockies. It's an all-American rite of passage, complete with gangsta rap, debauchery, and terror on the bunny slope.
Slicing through powder at Copper Mountain Q: Can you tell me which ski areas open the earliest? Would it be worth making a trip to snag some early turns or am I better off waiting? — Heidi Hagemeier, Bend, Oregon Adventure Advisor:…
Sage Cattabriga-Alosa is Outside‘s November 2003 Rising Star—and for good reason. The 23-year-old Utah native is one of the hottest names in fusion skiing, an extreme style that crosses freeskiing with terrain-park tricks. Below, watch a video clip of Cattabriga-Alosa performing high-flying stunts in Teton Gravity Research’s latest film, High…
Brothers Tom (the good son) and Jerry (the bad seed) are about to join their fellow flatlanders for a zero-to-60 weekend of skiing and snowboarding at a skyscraping resort two miles above sea level. Watch as they confront the pitfalls of poor preparation, altitude sickness, dehydration, muscle fatigue, and draft beer. With this survival guide, we'll show you, w
READY TO GRAB FRESH BIG AIR? We’ve got hemispheres of the white stuff—and timely beta on boosting your stamina, choosing the right equipment, and finding singular steeps close to home. Who says winter ever needs to end? Get Out There For more great worldwide skiing and snowboarding destinations,…
There’s something immensely appealing about lacing up a pair of skates with long, thin blades and soaring so fast on ice that your snot freezes. I’m not alone in my feelings; participation in distance skating is growing, across open ponds and lakes and on manicured 400-meter outdoor ovals. The two…
The call came on Tuesday. A friend had to bail from a trip to the Bill Putnam Hut, a helicopter-accessed ski cabin of near-mythic fame in eastern British Columbia. The catch? I had to leave on Friday. DETAILS Reserve the BILL PUTNAM (FAIRY MEADOW) HUT and helicopter transportation through the…
The author's father traveled the world, shipped out on the last commercial sailing voyage around Cape Horn, and handed down a legacy of adventure. But his risk-taking spirit had a dark side—and its shadow fell across a final winter rendezvous in Aspen.
Noted ski mountaineer Andrew McLean, named one of the planet’s finest athletes by Outside in December 2001, departed his home in Salt Lake City with an ambitious goal in his sites: to be the first to complete a continuous ski descent of Alaska’s 14,573-foot Mt. Hunter. With first descents already…
Ten years ago, extreme snowboarder Stephen Koch cooked up a media-savvy plan to become the first to climb and ride down the Seven Summits. Now there's only one mountain left to conquer: Everest. And for his grand finale, Koch is determined to fling himself down the most dangerous descent possible.
During two deadly weeks this winter, avalanches swept away 14 lives in the heart of British Columbia's remote backcountry. Were these simply unpredictable, unstoppable acts of nature with a brutal cost? Or did somebody make crucial mistakes? An exclusive report details what really happened—and unfolds the agony of a grieving guide who led his clients to th
He's got a three-week Greyhound Discovery Pass, a map of mom-and-pop ski hills, and a yen to see the west from the vantage of a pungent window seat. From Utah's Beaver Mountain to Idaho's Bogus Basin, our telemark-toting reporter logs 5,000 miles in search of the answer to the immortal question: where's the fresh?
When it comes to winter sports, there are skills, and there are skillz. We're talking about catching big air off the halfpipe, making like Apolo Ohno on skate-skis, building a perfect snow ramp for launchpad jumps, and climbing a frozen waterfall. Ready to get with it? Then listen to the mad wisdom of pros who know.
The process is the point. But just try telling that to your younger, untutored, world-conquering self.
What are those chubby things? Shane McConkey unveils his freaky new powder skis.
Hoping to snag high-rolling adventurers, Nepal green-lights its first full-time heli-skiing operation
Majoring in steeps at New Mexico’s Taos Q: I’m getting older and I’d like to learn to ski better. Even if you’ve never been to my home state of Illinois, you probably know there aren’t many ski slopes nearby. I’d like to spend a week to ten…
From technical clothes for sport to chic outfits for dinner, here's how to dress like a local
After its triumphant coming-out party in Salt Lake City, American snowboarding faces a bright future. Is that a good thing?
A vetern journalist argues that the ski industry has sold its soul to Wall Street, turning too many mountain towns into overbuilt Disneyfied retail hubs. But don't despair: All over snow country, a back-to-basics counterrevolution is under way.
He is the undisputed king of an immensely grueling sport. So why must Reid Sabin shovel dirt just to get by?
Going deep in Poland's Tatra Mountains, where the forests are soulful, the slopes steep, and the trails most holy
Milky skies marked our February arrival in Alaska as we bounced along the tarmac in Anchorage. Soon we were winding south on the Seward Highway toward Girdwood and our palatial base camp, the Alyeska Prince Hotel, while Celeste, our driver, pointed out the paths of hulking avalanches that pummel the…
North American resorts have expanded boundaries, opened gates, and liberated skiers to revel in ungroomed wildness. Our guide to the great stuff you won't find on the trail map.
We don’t need no stinkin’ chair lifts: skiers and their ride above Lake Wanaka Q: I will be on New Zealand’s South Island the last week in August and am looking for information on the best ski areas, heli-skiing trips, and lodging. I am having difficulty deciding…
Once you've made a name for yourself in the burly world of ski mountaineering, astonished your buds, bagged a few sponsors, shot some sick footage that had Banff buzzing—in short, once you're at the top of your game, can you actually take a vacation? The author investigates in Peru's Cordillera Blanca, where six adventurers scramble to beat "poachers" to f
For generations, it's been a curious springtime pilgrimage: hiking up, then skiing, boarding, sliding, or crashing down Tuckerman Ravine. But there's a first time for everyone.
Look out, Alaska: Doug Swingley is coming back. And this time he's… happy. The author picks the brain of the greatest musher in the Lower 48 and reveals his cunning plan to slay that 1,100-mile-long monster of the North, the Iditarod, for the fourth time.
Eight friends. Four volcanoes. Nine days. A primer on self-guided ski mountaineering.
How did a mellow, mop-haired, lackadaisically unfashionable snowboarder achieve freeride immortality? First he lifted his carve to a fine art. Then he linked turns down impossibly steep terrain on some of the planet's highest peaks. Now he bucks industry trends, eschews money, and foreswears fame. But most important, he just rides.
Where do you want to go? Whether you're planning a weekend getaway or a full-blown vacation, Outside Online's Adventure Advisor is here to show you the way.
A major new resort opens in the affordable Great White North, where they apparently didn't get the word that skiing is dead
