Chris Tatsuno
Robin McElroy
Kiffor Berg
Travis Redd
Austin Ross |
Losing friends is the hardest thing to understand and cope with in life,
and unfortunately we are finding ourselves having to do it again.
Ryan Hawks was an exceptional skier, but that is not what we will
remember first about him. Ryan's gift was his approach to life,
which felt like a big bear hug that engulfed everyone that met him.
Ryan, we will try to live everyday in a way that would make you proud,
we will miss you always -- ski hard for you every day
and remember your glowing smile and friendship.
Blizzard Skis is proud to introduce to the world, Flip Core Technology, a new way
of making skis that is going to turn the Freeride world upside down.
Click Here for a little Video Breakdown
The Junior Freeskiing Tour decided to add a 5th stop to their tour...
...so we decided to give out another pair of skis and boots!!
Congratulations to Zach Halverson who wrapped up a new set of skis and boots and
put himself in the running for a full product sponsorship with TecnicaBlizzard next season!
Josh Daiek Cleans Up at Kirkwood!
Josh had a memorable weekend at the North American Freeskiing Championships
at Kirkwood Mountain Resort in California.
First he won the qualifier...
then he won day one...
then he won the whole event...
and finished up by taking home the Sick Bird Belt as well!!!
Congrats Baby J
Check out his perspective from the Qualifier
The Pat and Tat Show -- Episode One
We asked our boys Pat Sewell and Chris Tatsuno to line us up with a few insiders
look at their lives as "professional soul skiers"
Here is EP.1
Blizzard Sport USA and Tecnica USA are proud to Sponsor
Tailgate Alaska and the World Extreme Skiing Championships
Tailgate Alaska
WESC
Aidan Sheahan Takes Second at the Winter Park Open
Aidan spun 450 off into a steezy right octo 5 followed by a switch 7 nose
grab,
to switch 270 on 270 out into a right 9 blunt and capped it off
with a switch 10 mute
to earn a decent wage for a fine day�s work!
Mr. Sheahan is not done yet...don't forget about Nothing Less Than Finesse
Click Here for Episode 2 from Aidan, Loren & Friends
Tilen Lane takes home the Tecnica Blizzard Freemountain Award at Crystal
"Watching the JFT riders today was ridiculous, I hope the guys and gals in the FWT are paying attention,
because the JFT riders are throwing down. During the finals Jim Jack (Head Judge) asked me
where I wanted to see someone ski. We talked about a line off to the lookers right that no one
had come near all day. It had a big patch of fresh pow right in the middle of some skim light, with a burly
double underneath. The next rider after that conversation was Tilen, and he just happened to
head straight over there and grease the line perfectly -- Awesome." -Frank Shine (Team Manager)
Tilen is now in the running for a full product sponsorship next season, which is on top
of the pair of boots and skis he already has in his back pocket. Tilen also had the
pleasure of meeting Arne Backstrom's father, Steve, after the awards ceremony.
COCHISE WINS SKI OF THE YEAR AT ISPO!!
Click Here to read about the big win and more from ISPO
Tecnica Cochise
Click Here to read what Lou Dawson had to say about the 120 Cochise
with Dynafit capabilities.
Congrats to Ian Borgeson on winning the inaugural Tecnica Blizzard Freemountain Award
at the Junior Freeskiing World Tour in Crested Butte.
The Freemountain award is a leadership award given to the athlete who best exhibits on-hill skiing and off-hill positive leadership and a sportsmanship attitude. A winner will be chosen at each of the tour stops and will receive a pair of skis from Blizzard and boots from Tecnica. At the end of the season, an overall Freemountain winner will be chosen and will receive a full sponsorship from Tecnica/Blizzard for the 2012 season.
TECBLIZZ Stoke Tour
The Stoke Tour is our effort to share our love for the sport with our shop employees,
mountain friends and anyone out there screaming and yelling on their skis!!
Our hope is to keep visiting areas and through the hard work of our area reps
target those that help get the TecBlizz word out there, and just go shred with them.
Though the tour has really been going on all season with early season action at Loveland,
Alta and up north in British Columbia -- the true kick off was last week when
team manager, Frank Shine, and Pat Sewell headed out to California to stoke it up
with area sales reps Clem Smith and Dana Greenwood.
Here are a few videos from the trip:
Click Here for Kirkwood
Click Here for Squaw
Click Here for Pacific Crest Snowcats
Things have been super fun and busy, and as the buzz around the new products grows and grows,
it seems like the snow just keeps falling and falling. Athletes are in love with the new Bodacious
and Cochise skis, and it is clear that everyone is starting to see how amazing FlipCore is.
Click Here for another installment from Austin Ross,
which includes a few of his first turns on a Bodacious!
From O.R. to SIA -- shoots in Aspen to Alta -- the Stoke Tour kicking off in Cali to moving
it's way to the Pacific NorthWest next week...
Tecnica Blizzard is going OFF!!
Here are a couple photo diaries for ya':
ClockWise From the Upper Left!
Clem & Dana sent the Cali Stoke Tour...Cochise and Bonafide in Kirkwood, CA
Kris Thomas with postage paid...cat skiing at Pacific Crest Snowcats
Clem Smith in the Inaugural Stoke Tour Lifestyle ShootOut
Dana Greenwood breaking down the ins and outs of the new Freemountain boot line
Pacific Crest Snowcats, SSV, and the TecBlizz Stoke Tour
ClockWise From the Upper Left!!
Bodacious poised and ready...Justin Fisher in the Deep...Kiffor Berg doin' his thing
Display at SIA...Aidan Sheahan sending Denver Big Air...Ashley Magnuson Shredding Alta, UT
Longest BullRide gets a free pair of Bodacious @ SIA...Kiffor Berg grabbing the bulls by the horn
Hamilton Sports in Aspen, CO is the first store to open the new line of Freemountain Skis!
Nothing Less Than Finesse
Please Check out the work of Loren Creer and his work on the web series Nothing Less Than Finesse: Click Here for the first Episode
January 17, 2011
In the last week we have had competitors throwing down from British Columbia to California,
in both big mountain and slopestyle.
Other skiers like Christ Tatsuno and Pat Sewell have been hard charging with one of the world's best
ski photographer's Jordan Manley at AspenSnowmass. Check his blog out:
Jordan Manley Blog -- Click Here
A recent trip with Freelance writer Greg Fitzsimmons to the Canadian Freeskiing Championships
opened our eyes to one of the most breath-taking resorts we've ever seen.
Here is some of what we saw at Revelstoke:
Look forward to the Denver Big Air / Battle of the Brands as TecnicaBlizzard athletes Aidan Sheahan,
Charlie Lasser and Kiffor Berg take on teams from several other ski brands.
Yes, I said Kiffor Berg -- the 3 time sick bird belt winner and big mountain huckster is trading in
his Argos for a pair of Solutions to bring some old school fun to the big air!!
Don't miss the double corks, spread eagles and all around good times on January 25th.
More info on the event here!
Game on!
Things are picking up for our athletes, as skiers are moving on from early season training to shooting and competing. Several athletes will be heading North for the Canadian Freeskiing Championships in Revelstoke, British Columbia (Jan5-10). The team plans to make a strong showing in a return to the event where Arne Backstrom won the main event and claimed the Sick Bird title in 2010. Arne will undoubtedly be on all the skiers minds, as he is everyday, but we hope to use the time as another opportunity to celebrate our good friend and the inspiring life he led.
Lynsey is planning on heading north as well, as she continues to shoot with the Rocky Mountain Sherpas in early January at Island Lake Lodge. Check out the trailer to their upcoming film All I Can:
Click Here for Trailer
Many regional athletes continue to get it done for the lens down in Colorado as the early season has been very kind for good shooting conditions:
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Warming Up in Early Winter
Seems like the season is off to a quick start all over the USA, stories of huge storms pounding California, Jackson Hole opening the entire hill their first day, and endless chatter at happy hour about mid-season conditions.
TecBlizz Freeriders have been out there getting a closer look at the goods, and what they see -- they like.
Click For Vid Clip:
Austin Ross taking his Zeus out north of the border
Click For Vid Clip:
Greg Ernst helping to "Ski Pack" Aspen Highlands Bowl
Kiffor Berg lighting it up:
Pat Doyle in deep:
Ashley Magnuson training for US Freeskiing World Tour:
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South America 2010
Members of the Tecnica/Blizzard Freeride team were in South America this past "summer" trying to get their snow fix in. Despite less than perfect conditions the crew came back with lots of positive vibes:
"I skied the Answer in Chile this August...in the Chilean Freeskiing Championships the snow was 3 weeks old and very unpredictable. The Answer stood up to the test and charged through all conditions, helping me finish in 5th place and get my season off to a great start." -Robin McElroy
"Conditions were variable at the event so I rocked the Argos. They don't care what the snow is like, and apparently neither do I. Snow is snow, and skiing is madly fun; here's to winter -- bring it on!" -Patrick Westfeldt
"Felt super fortunate upon Arriving in Bariloche, Argentina, after a long summer of jonesing to ski...tough snow conditions and sketchy landings were not as welcoming, the only way I would be able to ski through it all would be with help from the Answer. Never have I, and never would I have thought to hit a jump at sunrise when the 40 degree days before meant hard as rock frozen ocean landings to stomp through. Not only does the Answer give me confidence with its beefy and strong build to hold it together, but it also give me the feeling of having a safety net when coming out of a switch 9 at 7:30 in the morning onto hardpack in the Southern Hemisphere." -Aidan Sheahan
"I cashed in on a summers worth of work and sweat for the chance to go shred the Chilean Andes on my brand new Blizzards and it was Epic! The snow was super variable, but my Argos shredded everything I could throw at 'em: 5000 feet of nonstop steep chalk on Portillo's Super C, warm wet slush, frozen crud and the cliffs on Max's Face for the Chilean Freeskiing Championships. I can't wait for Old Man Winter to arrive..." -Ryan Haws |
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Arne Backstrom
When we heard of the passing of Arne, it started an endless array of emotions, disbelief being the most prevalent. With time it has not gotten easier to imagine moving on without him, so the Freeride Team has decided not to.
Instead, we are going to do everything we can to push ourselves -- the way Arne pushed himself every moment of his life to experience more. The Tecnica Blizzard Freeride team challenges you to ask yourself from time to time: What Would Arne Do? The answer is simple and complicated because he undoubtedly would do more, not stop, keep learning, grow stronger, share more, plan ahead, act in the moment, step it up, make it look easy, stomp a landing, make you dinner, do something for the first time, turn the TV off, listen but most of all -- he would go skiing.
WWAD
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Ryan Hawks
Aidan Sheahan
Pat Sewell
Sonja Lercher
WWAD
Josh Daiek |
