JT HOLMES DOES DANGEROUS THINGS

(JT Holmes Riding Red Dog Chair at Squaw Valley USA)

Watch CBS News Videos Online

If you missed JT and the rest of the birdmen wingsuit base jumping in Norway on 60 minutes the first time. Don't miss the second airing of the birmen defying gravity on 60 minutes tonight at 7pm eastern on CBS.

CODY TOWNSEND & MIKE DOUGLAS GO WAVE SKIING IN HAWAII

Such a cool project. Sounds like the ski technologies for wave skiing could be greatly improved. This could be great R&D for not just wave skiing, but future snow ski technologies as well. Hope you guys keep exploring the possibilities in wave skiing sport.

DECEMBER WINTER STORM CYCLE IN TAHOE

ROUND TOP MOUNTAIN

(Cody Townsend Skins up toward Round Top Mountain)

(JT Holmes Portrait)

(Early Season Black & White of Winnemucca Lake & Surrounding Mountains)

(Black & White Tree Carson Pass)

WINTER COMING IN HOT!

(Ullr & Koyuh Charging The Resort at Squaw Creek Golf Course)

(Window View Early Morning Pow)

(Rad Dog Powder Morning Line Up)

(Linker & Messing Red Dog Chair Lift Ride)

(Black & White Broken Arrow View)

(Gregger With Some Familiar Face In The Background)

(Jeff Wright Extra Bitch-en Pow Turn)

(Nate All Smiles After His First Pow Day at Squaw)

(Late Afternoon Skin)

(Early Evening Descent)

(Hopefully the Storms Keep Coming)

SALOMON FREESKI TV EPISODE 8 ALASKA PART II IS SICK!

What a dream trip! The amount of A+ footage these guys got in one week is unbelievable! Lucky!!!

2ND ANNUAL RETRO SKI PARTY THIS WEEKEND!

Sandy's Pub at the Resort at Squaw Creek is hosting it's 2nd Annual Retro Ski/Snowboard theme Party. DJ Nasty Nate will be spinning all the best 70's 80's, & disco beats he can find. We have lined up some great sponsors and will be giving away great prizes and schwag through out the event. Don't be afraid of bright colors, one pieces, bibs, rear entry boots, tight roffe's. Dress to impress and help us bring the snow on what should be a spectacular night!

Details:

Date: Saturday, December 5th, 2009

Time: 10:00pm

Place: Sandy's Pub at The Resort at Squaw Creek

web: http://retroskiparty.blogspot.com

TRAVIS GANONG PREPARES TO COMPETE IN HIS FIRST WORLD CUP DOWNHILL EVENT!

(Travis Pioneering Mustache Monday's Gap at Squaw Valley USA)

Travis Ganong Impressed a lot of people yesterday in his world cup training race. He placed 13th overall finishing behind Bode Miller who finished 2nd. Travis had a start position of 79 which makes his race yesterday most impressive. Travis earned a spot to compete in his first world cup downhill event.

Watch the Lake Louis, AB, Canada World Cup Downhill live today at www.universalsports.com

(Travis training at his home mountain Squaw Valley USA)

(Travis has a long impressive ski career in front of him. Good Luck today buddy)

LAKE TAHOE TO GET AN UNEXPECTED SNOW STORM FOR THANKSGIVING WEEKEND!

MODELS HAVE CHANGED SIGNIFICANTLY OVER THE LAST 24 HOURS REGARDING

THE SHORTWAVE THAT AFFECTS THE WEST COAST LATE TONIGHT AND FRIDAY.

SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT IS STILL PROGGED TO SLOWLY INCREASE TODAY

WITH ENOUGH LOW LEVEL MIXING FOR MANY VALLEY LOCATIONS TO MIX OUT

AND GET CLOSE TO 60 DEGREES. SURFACE WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO BE

VERY LIGHT HOWEVER RIDGES AND FOOTHILLS WILL SEE INCREASING

SOUTHWEST WINDS LATE IN THE DAY AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING UPPER

TROUGH.

THIS SOLUTION IS MUCH MORE

FAVORABLE FOR PRECIP WITH BETTER UPPER DYNAMICS INCLUDING GOOD

DEFORMATION AHEAD OF THE LOW AND ALSO THE SLOWER MOVEMENT MAKING

FOR A LONGER PRECIP EVENT. THIS IS ALSO AN EVENT WITH VERY LITTLE

RAIN SHADOW WHERE WRN NEVADA COULD GET NEARLY AS MUCH PRECIP AS

THE SIERRA. THE LOW SLOWLY MOVES SOUTH ALONG THE SIERRA FRIDAY

NIGHT UNTIL SHOWERS FINALLY MOVE SOUTH OF THE CWA ON SATURDAY.

TOTAL MODEL QPF HAS BEEN STEADILY INCREASING WITH ROUGHLY 0.75"

NOW ALONG THE SIERRA CREST NORTH OF LAKE TAHOE...AND NEARLY 0.5"

EXTENDING JUST EAST OF RENO ALONG INTERSTATE 80. SNOW LEVELS DROP

THROUGHOUT THE DAY FRIDAY WITH SNOW EXPECTED ON MOST VALLEY FLOORS

BY FRIDAY EVENING. CONTINUED TO RAISE POPS AND QPF

Bring It, Happy Turkey Day!

JT HOLMES JUMPS OFF SQUAW VALLEY CABLE CAR

(JT Holmes Base Jumping off the top of Squaw Valley Cable Car)

Yesterday, marked the beginning of the 50/60 celebration squaw valley has in store for this upcoming winter season. Skiing and snowboarding kicked off the season at Squaw Valley USA with a foot of fresh snow. Around 2:30 JT Holmes base jumped from the top of the tram car. The Vibe is good here in Squaw Valley and were all hoping for an amazing winter.

FIRST SIGNIFICANT STORM OF THE SEASON BEARS DOWN ON SQUAW VALLEY

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS

AFTERNOON TO 10 PM PST THIS EVENING...

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS REMAINS IN

EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 10 PM PST THIS EVENING.

* TIMING: RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION

THIS AFTERNOON...WITH A PERIOD OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOWFALL

BETWEEN 2 PM AND 8 PM.

* TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: 8 TO 16 INCHES WILL ACCUMULATE ABOVE

7000 FEET...WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS ALONG THE WEST SIDE OF THE

TAHOE BASIN. ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 8 INCHES WILL OCCUR AT LAKE

LEVEL.

* SNOW LEVELS: SNOW LEVELS THIS MORNING WILL START AROUND 7000

FEET. AS THE STRONG COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THIS

AFTERNOON...SNOW LEVELS WILL LOWER TO LAKE LEVEL.

* IMPACTS: SNOW AND STRONG WINDS WILL CREATE LOCAL BLIZZARD

CONDITIONS OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS...REDUCING VISIBILITY TO

NEAR ZERO AT TIMES AND CREATE DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS.

JT HOLMES SCHEDULED TO JUMP OUT OF SQUAW VALLEY CABLE CAR

(JT Holmes Taking in the View from a top the Squaw Valley Cable Car) Photo: Scott Gaffney

". . . JT Holmes will be BASE jumping from the Cable Car at approx. 2:15 pm. If nothing else, come out to see this historic legal BASE jump. JT is jumping from right below Tower 1, and his jump is a tribute to Shane. Last March, Nancy asked Shane to jump for 09-10 60^th Anniversary Opening Day. She has asked JT to jump in his place, in his honor, and to celebrate 60 crazy F-ing years."

CODY TOWNSEND GOES STREAKING OFF THE PALISADES!

(Two perfectly heterosexual men streak the palisades in honor of Shane McConkey)

So the night before Cody Townsend & Greg Lindsey decided to go streaking off the Palisades Cody came into Sandy's Pub & sat at the bar to have a couple of drinks & some chow. I happened to be bar tending that night and Cody & I got to chatting about Shane and how he was the fucking coolest!

Then we started talking about ways to honor Shane & the types of things that would be remotely worthy of honoring him. Cody mentioned something about the Squaw Valley Dare Force. I'm not going to go into the details of what that is, because it doesn't really exist yet, but I'm gonna throw it out there and say that it will.

Mainly, Cody and I spoke about doing crazy things that are somewhat stupid and very dangerous. Right before Cody left the bar we made plans to go skiing before Shane's service. He told me I should bring my camera. He didn't really tell me why or what he had planned, but when Cody tells you to bring a camera to capture something it generally means something is going to go down that day.

(Cody Townsend & Greg Lindsey Stacked Naked Spreads off The Palisades!)

ALASKA LOOKS SO AMAZING! I NEED TO GET THERE!

This is the best episode of Salomon Freeski TV that I've seen so far. The terrain and skiing is unreal. Makes me want to move to Girdwood, AK!

POWDER MAGAZINE NAKED SPREAD EAGLE PHOTO

My first published photo in POWDER magazine. Even though it's of a naked man spreading his legs on skis. I couldn't be more proud & psyched! Check out the last page in the December issue of POWDER.

LEVITATION PROJECTS SICK TEAM EDIT!

5 REASON I THINK THIS KICK ASS!

1. TALKING HEADS, ONE OF THE BEST BANDS OF ALL TIME

2. CODY & ELYSE TOWNSEND ARE 2 OF MY FAVORITE PEOPLE TO SKI WITH

3. 100% BIG MOUNTAIN FREESKIING. NO RAILS, NO CHEESE WEDGES

4. HIGH CALIBER SKIING AND FILMING

5. JAMEY PARKS NAILED IT. SOLID, SOLID SKIING

GREG LINDSEY SHREDS FULLY CHUBBED!

Greg Lindsey is another one of my favorite people to ski with. Gregger quietly assassinates Squallywood's terrain on a regular basis. Born and raised in Tahoe, Greg is a true California kid. You can count on Greg winning the race to fingers on a powder day even if he's 4 chairs back from the front.

(Greg sending waterfall on an early Silverado morning)

A go to route for Greg to win the fingers race goes a little something like this. A hard skate off the chair, from the patrol shack a straight line traverse to coleman's railroad. With no hesitation, he'll punch Coleman's railroad. Done right this gives you a straight shot to the start tree and generally gives you more than enough speed to pass several, if not all the skiers that got a head start on you. From here you can bet on Greg either going directly for main air or maybe the box chute. Either way it's almost a guarantee that he'll flash his line and stomp it clean. Once he arrives back at KT line Gregger will give you one of his classic lines. Most likely, he'll look at you stoked as can be an say "fully chubbed bro, fully chubbed".

Greg is easily one of the best skiers at Squaw today. He's another one of the many silent assassins that shreds Squaw for nothing more than the thrill and stoke of all the greatness Squaw Valley USA has to offer. He grew up skiing with Cody Townsend, George Hjelte, & Kyle O'neal. These guys know Squaw like the back of their hands. Growing up chasing around Shane McConkey, JT Holmes, Kent Kreitler, Scott Gaffney, & Robb Gaffney teaches you how to shred.

So if your ever out at Squaw look for Greg. He's hard to miss, as an official member of team tie die you might find him wearing his tie die hoody. He also likes to sport the purple people eater Salomon one piece. Whatever attire you find him in let him know if your having a good day. And if you are, make sure you let him know that your "fully chubbed". He'll be psyched.

(Dawn Patrol back side of Squaw. Check out munchkins in the background)

(Punching the Lounge Chair pioneered and named by Greg Lindsey)

(Surfing Pow on an epic powder morning)

(One of the cleanest 35 ft 360's off a cliff you'll ever see. Stomped the shit out of it)

DR. ROBB GAFFNEY IS BETTER AT SKIING THEN YOU ARE!

(Dr. Robb Gaffney at the Top of Granite Chief Peak)

Every sport has it's humble hero, an individual who gracefully makes their mark on his or her sport in a compelling manner, but does it with the utmost professionalism & dignity. Baseball has Cal Ripken, Football has Joe Montana, Basketball has John Stockton, & skiing, well skiing has none other then Dr. Robb Gaffney.

To me Robb Gaffney is easily one of the most influential skiers to ever grace the sport of skiing. He's right up there with Scott Shmidt, Shane McConkey, Seth Morrison, & Doug Coombs. His skiing technique is unrivaled. Very few skiers if any have ever been able to approach technical lines & steep descents with the confidence, style, & precision that Robb has. My favorite scene in any ski movie ever made is of Robb skiing McConkey's (formerly known as eagles nest) in the movie 1999 filmed and produced by his brother Scott Gaffney. I've never seen anybody ski McConkey's remotely close to as well as he skied that line in 1999.

Not only is Robb a living legend, he's also one of the kindest, straightforward, & honest persons you will ever meet. I've been fortunate enough to get to know Robb over the last few years & it's truly been an honor. He was kind enough to include me in his 2nd edition of his book entitled "Squallywood". He even gave me the cover shot, which to me is one of my finest accomplishments. I've also had some memorable ski descents with Robb, which is literally a dream come true. Robb is a bit more settled in life these days. He has a career, and he's married with two wonderful children, but when he gets the chance to Shred, he still Shreds with the best of them.

(Robb getting some on a glorious morning during a Squallywood Clinic)

(Robb straight lining a less know chute back in Silverado)

(Robb Skiing Plake's Line effortlessly with Flawless Technique & Control)

(Sending the Cornice off of Mainline Pocket for a Solid 40ft)

(Robb Perfectly Composed & Ready to Stomp Glory Rock)

SLIP & SLIDER TAKES 150FT OF AIR TO MINI POOL!

I'm pretty sure this is Real. Maybe not, but if it's real pretty darn cool.

PHILADELPHIA PHOTO THREAD

Here is my little photo tribute to Philadelphia. Go Phighten Philadelphia Phillies!

(Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway Under the Lights)

(Philadelphia Museum of Art)

(Boathouse on boathouse row glowing at night)

(30th Street Station Reflection on the Schuylkill River)

(Philadelphia Circa Center One of the newer building in the Philadelphia Skyline)

(View from the top of a Parking Garage on 12th & Samson St)

(Philadelphia's Historic City Hall)

PHILADELPHIA CHEESESTEAK REVIEW

(Pat's "The king of steaks" This is a "provolone without" so tasty!)

So, I'm from Philadelphia & I love cheese steaks. I spent last week back in Philly visiting my family. Whenever I'm back in Philly I alway visit my favorite cheese steak shops. On this particular visit I was especially psyched to take down a couple of real cheese steaks.

My favorite cheese steak shop in Philadelphia is a little less know shop named Dalessandro's. They make the best steaks in Philly hands down & that was my first stop after landing in the Philadelphia airport. If your ever in Philly & your looking for the best cheese steaks go to Dalessandro's.

A trip to Philadelphia is not complete until you make it down to South Philly where the Cheese Steak was born. Pat's & Geno's claim to be the original's of all things cheese steaks. I think more tourists go to Pat's & Geno's then visiting Independence hall & the liberty bell. I mean people line up at these places like ski bums line up for first chair on KT after a 3 ft dump.

So on my final day in Philly I decided to make a trip to both Pat's & Geno's to decide for myself which place makes a better cheese steak. I started at Pat's "The king of steaks". When you arrive at the window of Pat's you better be ready to order. They are like the soup natzi's of cheesesteaks. When you order a cheese steak at Pat's or Geno's you just tell them what type of cheese you would like and if you want fried onions or not. It's simple and it's fast. You either say "I want a whiz with" or maybe "a provolone without". It's that simple & don't mess up because you don't want to piss off the Italian family that originated the cheese steak.

(Pat's "The king of steaks" located in the heart of south philly"

After quickly scarfing down my "provolone without" I decided to go directly across the street to Geno's to order another "provolone without" to get my fill and finally decide which cheese steak shop in my opinion is better.

(Geno's "provolone without" as you can see a little less meat then the Pat's "Provolone without")

Pat's Critique: The shaved rib eye Pat's uses has amazing flavor. The steak seems to get better with each bite. It has just the right amount of grease. The last bite is the best, you almost always think about getting another. They use Amoroso rolls and they seem to give you a bit more steak then Geno's does. The only complaint I had about this particular cheese steak is that the roll could have been a little warmer.

Geno's Critique: The shaved rib eye at Geno's seemed to be a little bit bland. The roll on the other hand was warm and soft, this helped melt the provolone in with the steak. Geno's makes a great cheese steak and I savored every bite even after having already devoured a steak directly before this one.

Synopsis: After a lot of thought on a subject matter that most people might think is absolutely ridiculous. I have finally reached a conclusion on which cheese steak house I like better. And the winner is; PAT'S "KING OF STEAKS". I just found the steak to have more flavor. Flavor goes a long way in my book.

Lets go now Phighten Philadelphia Phillies! Beat those damn Yankees!

(Geno's directly across the street from Pat's on the opposite corner"

SHANE ALWAYS MADE ME LAUGH!

I was thinking about Shane today and how every interaction I had with him he made me laugh. He sent out an email last season with this youtube video attached to it. Pretty classic freestyle skiing segment.

He wrote:

"Uuuuuhhhhhhh............Wow!

Thank God this sport died!"

Just writing this makes me laugh. Miss you Shane!!!!

What's It Gonna Be?

This is one of the funniest YouTube videos ever. Figured I'd post it to give anybody who follows my blog some Halloween costume ideas. Enjoy and don't be afraid to watch it several times because it gets better each time you watch this masterpiece.

SILENT ASSASSIN KRAZY KYLE O'NEAL

(Kyle O'neal ski base jumping off Lovers Leap)

With ski season and the cold snowy wintery months quickly approaching. I would like to feature some of my favorite people to ski with. Some of the guys and gals I will feature are full on pro skiers and snowboarders, but most of them are silent assassins. These guys are soul skiers and they are some of the best out there. Without further ado let me introduce to you Mr. Kyle O'neal. Kyle is a homegrown Tahoe City Local. He's built like a linebacker and he is a pro at stomping large airs. When he stomps his landing it looks like he is hurting the ground beneath the snow. He charges squaw day in and day out and he does it because he loves the sport of skiing. Kyle is also one of the best and youngest ski base jumpers out there today. He has a passion for the mountains and gets off on the thrill of flying through the air. Kyle doesn't have any major sponsors and he doesn't receive any kind of monetary pay checks for what he does on skis, but I don't think he really cares.

(Kyle O'neal River Ranch Air)

(Kyle O'neal sending in the Ruby Mountain Range)

(Kyle doing his Anronld Schwarzenegger impression off the Iron Curtain)