Now this is the way to start off a season: sunny, crisply cold, eight inches of fluffy snow--and an entire upper mountain closed to chairlifts but open to the willing. Whistler Peak and its sprawling bowls were awash in mountain light and buffed with a solid enough base to allow for touring to its outer extremities. While Saturday was confined to cold, windy, and snowy piste skiing, Sunday was the day that powder skiers had been dreaming of over the long, hot summer. If Sunday was any indication, the Pacific Northwest is in store for another great season. Many thanks to Whistler's Michelle Leroux. Whistler will remain open daily and Blackcomb plans to open Thursday, Nov. 22.

It was mid-November and it hadn't snowed in weeks. The people of Golden, British Columbia, were getting antsy. Not only was Kicking Horse lacking snow, nearby resorts such as Sunshine Village, Alberta, had delayed opening due to a shortage of the white stuff. Rather than sit idly by, yours truly and a contingent of snow-jonesing locals banded together to appease Ullr with a ritual ski burning. Piling a couple pairs of rock weathered K2's onto the fire, we worked through a cube of Pilsner and a bottle of fireball, sitting, waiting for Ullr to respond. And respond he did. Flakes started to fall from the sky big, thick, sticky flakes. As the storm came slowly across British Columbia's interior, it was apparent that this was no early season trickle--it was a full on blast of winter. Four days later, the drive west over Roger's Pass and through the Coquihalla looked entirely different. Sideways snow obscured the tail lights of chain adorned big rigs working their way westward. More importantly, the resorts were reporting snow--lots of it. 37cm (14 inches) and counting was enough to get Sunshine Village open, while the site of the ski burn, Kicking Horse Resort, is now reporting 132cm (55 inches) of fresh over the past week, deeming the alpine ready to go for those willing to hike for it. Whistler-Blackcomb is opening early with 95cm (36 inches) over the past seven days and plenty more in the forecast. Winter is here for those of you lucky to live enough in BC, thanks Ullr!

"It is here, and it is good," begins the glowing review of The Ski Journal issue #2.1 by author, critic, and backcountry blogger extraordinaire Lou Dawson, whose opinion on all things technical and cultural in the ski industry turns heads from ski-shop boot rooms to corporate boardrooms. "You open up Ski Journal and the ski porn hits your retina like you?re staring at the sun with your eyelids duct taped," he continues. "The format is big, almost full bleed to the edges with color reproduction that yields painterly tones that seem to engage senses beyond the optic nerve." Read Lou's entire critique Here

And from the French title, Skieur :

Translation: ?The second issue of The Ski Journal is out, and it's another success, both in form and content. A coffee table format with images worth fawning over, it's also as dense as a newspaper in weight as well as content. A large article on Shane MacConkey, a return to the madness of the 80's with mythical [director?] Greg Stump, a little on Jackson Hole, a little "east coast" skiing in Vermont, and even an alpine piece on Kitsbuhel. With contributions from experienced journalists (Jeff Galbraith, Grant Gunderson, Kris Kaiyala, etc.) formerly of Powder, Snowboarder, Skier and others, we wish a long life to this American cousin and the format that made The Surfer's Journal great...?

On October 4th, a La Nina cold front dropped 20~30 inches of white gold on the Mt. Baker Ski Area setting a new record for the largest dump ever recorded in October. Thus signaling the start of the 07-08 season. With bluebird weather on tap for the following day, four generations of Baker locals blew off school, work, cutting firewood and family obligations to see the curiosity of it all. Arriving at the ski area early Friday a.m. a motley crew of skiers and boarders had assembled to put in the first boot pack and skin track of the season up Table, out to Herman Saddle, and up to Pan Dome. Not be left out, even Fido was eager to put time in to break trail. After many turns, a group of normally unlikely associations united in the parking lot for apres high-fives and beers with the common stoke of the earliest start in memory.

Photo caption: Fubar looks on with curiosity as Eliot Marsh drops into the start of the 07-08 season.

Mt. Baker, WA ? The snow is already falling and stoke is rising at the headquarters of The Ski Journal, skiing?s highest quality publication, with shipping having begun on the new limited edition, #2.1. Featuring a lot more skiing than advertising, the coffee-table quality and craftsman printing of TSKJ compliments the home of any dedicated skier.

Incidentally, on the same day The Ski Journal shipped the new issue, nearly 30 inches of fresh snow fell in the nearby North Cascades. Coincidence. We think not.
Building upon the same high-quality that sold out our premiere issue, TSKJ #2.1 transports readers to an endless global winter. Anchored by a lengthy and revealing interview with Shane McConkey, this issue is all about ski culture. Other standout features in #2.1 include a tell-all on the making of Greg Stump?s classic Maltese Flamingo by cinematographer and long-time Stump collaborator Bruce Benedict Jackson Hole in the post-Vietnam/pre-TGR era the deep soul of Vermont hardcore hideaway Jay Peak Austria?s legendary Hahnenkamm and much more.

The Ski Journal is a publication whose time has come?a collectible journal of skiing?s greatest imagery and compelling stories. More than just another ski magazine, TSKJ is a fresh perspective for the future: The world?s highest quality ski publication. Owned and operated by skiers. In the mountains. Subscribe today before another issue sells out.

*All entries must be received by February 15, 2008, current subscribers automatically entered.

Portillo, Chile: After nearly 20 hours of travel, our elite force of alpine scribes, retailers, athletes and assorted skiing underworld characters arrived in Santiago, loaded up into a not-quite-big-enough passenger van, survived aggressive tip-seeking porters, rallied up past a couple hours with of vineyards, the most ridiculous switchbacks on earth... and made it to one of South America's premier resorts. K2’s "Fall Training" was on. Jet-lag be damned, the crew, including Seth Morrison, Pep Fujas and Bryce Phillips, hit up the lifts. With sunny skies, soft but carvable snow and the granduer of the Andes around us, all agreed instantly that this trip was worth it.

Built in the earlier part of the last century on the foundations of German-immigrant estqablished ski camps, American ski developers purchased Portillo and eventually hosted an FIS World Cup in the late 60's

The vista is utterly spectacular with a large lake (Laguna del Inca) directly in front of a stately lodge built in the 1930's. Amazing terrain, and perfect spring conditions. We all gathered to watch Pep, Andy Mahre, and Eric Pollard's new film "Idea" last night in the cine. This film is really, really good and I can see that is has the potential to changes things. Taking progressive skiing from the park all the way to the gnar of Alaska.

Another day, more sun, more turns in Chile's version of March.

Skiing is believing.

JG