Just two weekends ago at Big Sky, friends and supporters of the Billy Poole Memorial Fund got together to remember Billy Poole and teach Montana youth about skiing and enjoying the outdoors.

People will stand at the top of Chair Eight at Mt. Baker to watch this guy ski lines off the Shuksan Arm. Arriving from Gold Hill, Colorado, Zack Giffin and his brothers showed up in Washington seven years ago, not to become local celebrities, but to ski a place that gets more snow than anywhere in North America. After working in the park and patrolling, Zack now spends most of his time shooting with local photographer, Grant Gunderson, or skiing the resort’s extensive sidecountry. We caught up with him in between trips to Mt. Shasta and Nelson, after a day of schralping the holy ground.     

Born and raised in Norway, Karine Falk-Pederson spent her college years racing for the Denver Ski Team. Last season she initiated her big-mountain competition career, placing fifth place overall by the end of the season. Filming with Warren Miller and competing keeps her traveling all winter, only spending a few weeks back in Norway each season. Luckily, she just started using a helmet cam, so everyone at home can live vicariously through her videos. Read on to hear about where she has been, where she wants to go, and what she always takes with her when traveling.  

Seriously, why is it that when I find out about events that are happening in Canada I look at my life and feel like such a stiff? Kicking Horse’s Wrangle the Chute event, which just took place February 6 and 7, 2010, provides all the proof I need for my theory; Canadians just know how to get it done. Breathing some life into an otherwise serious competition scene, Wrangle the Chute exhibited riders’ talents from straightlines to switch skiing the entire venue, plus a mechanichal bull competition. Check out the press release, results, and photos here.    

Last season every time the snow got deep in Little Cottonwood Canyon I would inevitably see the Smith Optics team manager, Gabe Schroder, out skiing. After the lenghty storm cycles, I would find Schroder's web edits, documenting those perfect days via helmet cam, supplemented with his own lyrics. Schroder has found one of the golden nuggets of the ski industry; a job that allows him 100 days plus of skiing and biking each year. I chased Gabe down at S.I.A, X Games, and back at his office in Idaho, before we could talk about the perks of his job, sponsorship emails, and his freestyle rapping career.

Come support NWAC Saturday, March 6, 2010 at Alpental for the fourth annual Outdoor Research Vertfest.

Growing up in Bellingham, Washington, half-pipe skier Angeli VanLaanen, practiced skiing backcountry lines her entire childhood. When park skiing finally hit Mt. Baker, VanLaanen transitioned into the pipe. Since moving from Washington to Colorado, she has competed in the X Games, won first place in the 2009 Park City World Cup Superpipe, and second place in 2009 at the World Skiing Invitational in Whistler. In addition to her podiums and star roles in films, such as Oakley’s “Uniquely” and Atomic’s “44 Days”, I always knew Angeli as the girl who went huge out of the half-pipe. We sat down in Boulder after an athlete meeting in Winterpark with Atomic to talk about the Olympics, her plans, and a recent move to Salt Lake City.