Sunny Nails The Slopes

NAIT's board room POW-WOW

Sunny isn't just hitting the slopes - she is nailing them, three lessons in and she is attacking the slopes with a serious appitite.  And everyone involved in the production of this documentary is loving it.  Today they took a chance to go through footage and see how things are shaping up.

Progression on the documentary being produced between SnowSeekers and NAIT showcasing the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance is coming along better then anyone could have expected.  Just this week SnowSeekers announced the addition of Jaro Malanowski to it's team, recognized as one of Canada's preeminent directors/film producers. Malanowski's job in working with SnowSeekers Director of Photography, Brandon Boucher is to take the film from an idea to reality.

The reality is securing the film's goal of increasing diversity on the slopes, attracting a wider demographic to take up skiing and with Sunny and her family being from Mongolia, things are looking bright.  "One thing we notice is the diversity on the slopes of Snow Valley, let's capture this with more b-roll," says Malanowski.

Things really picked up this past weekend when mom took to the slopes with Sunny- taking a lesson program on site at Snow Valley right along side her daughter.  Word is that the dad is not far behind, stay tuned as the whole family gets ready to tackle the Canadian Rockies, Dec 10-12th weekend down at Castle Mountain Ski Resort just outside of Pincher Creek.

300 CMS in Seven DAYS!!!

Record November for Mount Washington

Image:  Mount Washington’s grooming crews have their hands full with 300 centimetres of snow in 7 days!

Credit:  Mount Washington Alpine Resort

It’s official; Mount Washington Alpine Resort has now surpassed- make that blown past- their old snowfall record for the month of November.  The resort received a whopping 440 centimetres of snow over the last three weeks.  With one week left this month, conditions are looking ideal for this Saturday’s opening day.

“Our old record for November snowfall was 300 centimetres in 2006,” explains resort spokesperson Brent Curtain.  “Needless to say, this month we’ve seen unprecedented amounts of snow up here.  We received 300 centimetres in the last week alone!”

As of Monday, November 23rd, Mount Washington was reporting a snowbase of 240cms.  “This is a base we usually see in mid-January.  We’re standing on 6 feet of compacted snow in front of the Alpine Lodge and it gets deeper the further you look up the mountain,” Curtain adds.

Check out the video and learn more about this epic destination by visiting us at SnowSeekers.ca 

More terrain for Big White and Sunshine Village

British Columbia's Big White Resort now has 18 runs open as of Nov. 21 while Alberta's Sunshine Village announced the opening of Goat's Eye and the terrain park today. Sunshine now has all three mountains open, giving skiers and riders a tonne of options to play on.
Ready for a preview of the Olympics? Make sure to head to Alberta's Lake Louise Ski Area for the Louise World Cup which kicks off with the men's alpine events Saturday, Nov. 28 followed by the ladies Dec. 4. The races are part of Banff's WinterStart Festival – a kick off to the ski season and Christmas.

For more on these resorts and many others in Alberta and British Columbia, visit www.snowseekers.ca

SnowSeekers Receives front page coverage

Today's Edmonton Journal has a great story about our documentary with Sunny.

Have a read by clicking here

SnowSeekers first turns of the season!

check it out! we got our first turns in with the cameras at Sunshine Village in Banff. It was a great day, having some fun with the cameras, shredding some gnar.

Affirming the Passion

Last night I watched a girl learn to make the most of winter; I watched her learning to ski and it was an event that re-affirmed just why I love snow sports so much. With eyes wide open and a big smile on both her and her mother’s face, Sunny Gantumur took to the slopes and nailed it.

                                                                         Photo by Kristy-Lynn Polowich

It was really the debut of a project we here at SnowSeekers have been working on since July - that to produce a documentary about a little girl who learns to ski.  It's in partnership with the Digital Media Students at NAIT, so it was a full on film crew out there last night, boom mic, two cameras and all.

With rosy cheeks and a big cheer in her eyes, I sat at the end of the lesson in awe with how energized our subject of the film was. The biggest and brightest surprise I received was when she asked if after her lesson this Saturday if she could stay on to practice and this was after her first lesson! As her family originates from Mongolia, only moving to Canada four years ago, Sunny was already conditioned for a big winter outside. With a brother who speed skates Sunny was looking to enjoy winter in a new way by hitting the slopes instead of the ice.

We were down at Snow Valley, a ski resort here in the heart of Edmonton Alberta for the first shoot of our documentary to be released February 1, 2010 and in association with the Canadian Ski Instructors’ Alliance. After a few stretches in the parking lot, Sunny took to the slopes like a champ. “She is really picking things up quick,” said her instructor Christina Schmidtke, who learned to ski on these same slopes and now gives back by instructing a few hours a week. We watched as Schmidtke passed Sunny through a few drills, like getting in and out of her skis and becoming confident in moving around in them. After the first half an hour of giggles and laughs shared by Sunny and her instructor I asked if she was cold and needed a break, “no I am good, but my cheeks they feel a bit cold,” my immediate response was “yah, you’ll be the one in class tomorrow with the rosy cheeks and all your class mates will be asking you where you were last night!” You could see her eyes light up with excitement from the statement as she jumped back onto the magic carpet for another spin.

Those rosy cheeks are the sign of a skier, snowboarder or fan of the snow. Get out there and get your glow back, visit us at www.snowseekers.ca! Watch for more updates as Sunny takes to the slopes through the next few weeks leading up to her climax December 12th weekend at Castle Mountain Ski Resort as she tackles the Canadian Rockies for her first time.

Stay Tuned!

Snow days are continuing

Alberta hills are getting hit with the good stuff, but British Columbia is getting blasted with snow as well which is causing delirious smiles on resort staff throughout the province. Records are being broken and resorts are continuing to get a jump on the season and open earlier.

Mount Washington Alpine Resort received a memorable November snow lambasting over the last two weeks. With more snow in the forecast for the next few days, the resort announced that it will open for winter operations on Saturday, Nov. 28, two full weeks before the originally scheduled opening day of Dec. 11.

Kicking Horse is getting dumped on as well, and is looking to give everyone a sneak peak on Dec. 5 and 6, with full operations beginning Dec. 11.

Big White was scheduled to open this weekend, but the amazing snow dumbs had the crews flickin' the switches on the lifts last weekend. With an alpine base of over 65 cm, epic turns are being made off the Ridge Rocket Express, Plaza Chair and Lara's Gondola. Sister hill, Silver Star, where Nordic fans have already been enjoying the trails for the last two weeks, is also set to fire up the lifts this weekend with amazing conditions for everyone attending its opening weekend festivities.

Sun Peaks, another hill that opened early thanks to Mother Nature, has eight of its 11 lifts in operation and there is skiing and riding from top to bottom.
With over 362 cms (142.5 inches) of snow so far this month, Whistler Blackcomb has more than doubled its average November snowfall of 148 cm (58 inches) and is well on its way to the possibility of breaking the record of snow in the month of November, 416 cm (164 inches).

Shot at Marmot Basin Wednesday Nov 18th.

Now that's some serious snow.


For full details on the hills in Alberta and British Columbia, head on over to snowseekers.ca You will find news on all the latest developments, plus accounts of our team members who have already been making some epic turns this season.

Giddy UP!!

Lake Louise Opens up all lifts this weekend!!!!

Get Ready for a really powder filled weekend at Lake Louise as ALL LIFTS OPEN THIS WEEKEND!!


Thanks to abundant natural snowfall during the first three weeks of November, the Lake Louise Ski Area is pleased to announce that all nine lifts at the popular Banff National Park ski resort will be operational for the upcoming November 21-22 weekend.

With 30cms of new snow during the past week and a settled upper mountain snow base of 87cms, both the Larch and Ptarmigan Chairs will be opening for the season at 9 am on Friday, November 20.

“This is truly an exceptional start to the ski and snowboarding season,” confirms Lake Louise Ski Area Marketing Director John Ross. “With all nine lifts in operation, skiers and snowboarders will be able to explore all four mountain faces and enjoy over 60 different runs at Lake Louise. The weather forecast is also calling for continued snowfall, so conditions throughout the mountain will only get better.”

Although ski conditions are exceptional for mid-November, skiers and snowboarders should still exercise caution as plenty of natural hazards still exist throughout the mountain. Please be aware and ski with care!

For more on the Lake please click here

Marmot Vid's

it just keeps snowing at Marmot, check out the vid from yesterday-


Marmot's Got some serious snow from Jim Barr on Vimeo.

For more on what you may be missing check out the Marmot section of our site....

let 'er snow, let 'er snow

The snow if flying at Marmot- more on the way!!!

Marmot’s rec’d over 47 cms in the past 24 hours and 35 cms since the blizzard blew in Sunday night….

they are expecting another 20 cms in the next 24 hours with another storm cell hitting this Saturday.

One of Marmot's marketing gurus Meg's Gibson said to me this morning that they physically could not ski all the lines yesterday….you may want to look into booking your flight now.

As she drove up to the mountain this morning she had tears in their eyes from the epic conditions they were witnessing.

giddy up! and get up there!

doc pow

Happy First-Day!!!

There are a few excellent things we can say to a person, one is to wish them a happy birth-day, the other is to wish them a happy first-day with the start of a ski season!

SnowSeekers, Tanya Roth aka "Tweety" and Marmot's Brian Rhode celebrating their happy first-day!

There were a whole lot of those wishes going around yesterday at Marmot Basin in Jasper- and it was with some serious just cause- Mother Nature had all delivered us a serious first-day present!


"This is the best first-day I have ever had," said snowboarder Jaro Malanowski of Edmonton, Alberta. "The snow is fantastic! Man I love this sport and it's wicked to be back out on the board."  The snow was light, fluffy and there's lots of it!  I think Marmot's been thanked by Ullr, the Snow God, for the recent install of their new chairlift and that thanks resulted in a whole lot of hootin' and hollering yesterday on the slopes.

 The snow continued to fall all day at Marmot Basin- over two feet in the past two weeks!

Moving through the Grizzly Glades yesterday morning, found under the Eagle East Quad, my buddy Will Colford and I were met with face shot after face shot.  "This is cat ski quality skiing right now," exclaimed a seriously stoked Colford after our second lap.
It's epic to be getting days like this in so early in the season when traditionally are not meet with this type of euphoria until maybe mid-December....but hey who is complaining?

Marmot's Supreme Poster Child- Meg Gibson and her good friend Nicole celebrate the slopes epic offerings!

With the install of this new chair, the Canadian Rockies Express, any snow seeker can get from the base of Marmot and into the goods so much quicker,  it's now only a smooth seven and a half min ride away.  For more on this impressive system have a look to some of their videos off the Marmot website

Marmot's opening with four lifts turning and 43 runs - the most amount of terrain available currently in Western Canada!  These kind of stats can't help but make it a happy first-day!  For more on all the adventures in Jasper, consult our website at www.snowseekers.ca

While in Jasper getting in these goods you are going to need a place to stay so dial up a night a two with any of Decore Hotel's properties.  We stayed at the Tonquin which is home to some awesome outdoor hot tubs, a pool and Nick's Prime Rib Village, who makes a mean prime rib sandwich.


FYI, Banff's Sunshine Village and Lake Louise, are now open as well and are getting some glowing reports.  It's time to get out there and enjoy the winter.

SnowSeekers first of many go-guides submitted to Apple

Yesterday was a big day in SnowSeekers world.  We made our first of many submissions to our friends at Apple with our SnowSeekers Go-Guides.  Launching Dec 15, 2009 SnowSeekers is stoked to announce a world first- Go-Guides for your iPhone and Blackberry....

Here is the outline we sent into Apple:

Heading into any winter resort can be a daunting experience especially when you consider something the size of Whistler - consistently ranked as the number 1 ski resort in North America (13 years running by Skiing Magazine - October 2009).  Unlock the best of Whistler by having the latest and greatest information from the resort right on your iPhone.  Over 40 years of industry expertise has gone into the construction of these SnowSeekers Go-Guides.

Considering between the two mountains - Whistler and Blackcomb - that there are well over 200 runs and that the village of Whistler includes dozens of bars, restaurants and shopping options, this app will provide you with all the information you need to maximize your winter vacation.  Not knowing where to eat, where to ski and what to do while in town is a challenge for any skier or snowboarder, whether it’s your first or tenth visit to the destination.  Leave Whistler having the best time possible, pick up a the Whistler SnowSeekers Go-Guide today.

This app includes:

      STILL TOP SECRET!!! but things like GPS locator technology, digital trail maps and daily snow reports are all in there, plus lots of other exciting features.

This digital guide book was crafted by the ski and snowboard industry experts at SnowSeekers™ Inc.  Recently recognized by the Canadian Government as one of Canada’s most innovative companies these SnowSeekers™ Go-Guides are part of a cross platform Western Canadian based new media company which brings its audience the best of the best from the winter destinations throughout Alberta and BC via a TV series, a e-newsmagazine website @ www.snowseekers.ca and a series of SnowSeekers™ Go-Guides including Whistler, Fernie, Banff and many others found here in iTunes.

Upon the start of the Whistler SnowSeekers™ Go-Guide you will be welcomed by a short video introducing Whistler and all its potentials.  After this short movie a table of contents allows you to further your areas of interest with chapters on:

-The Mountain

-Dining, Après and Nightlife

-Accommodations

-Off-Hill Attractions/Events

-Transportation

-Shopping

-Deals & Coupons

and within each section you’ll find those tips from the locals to deliver you the “inside edge” to what Whistler has to offer.

13 titles are coming including Mount Washington/Comox, Whistler, Vancouver (Cypress/Grouse/Seymour), Sun Peaks, Big White, SilverStar, Revelstoke, Golden/Kicking Horse, Red Mountain/Rossland, Fernie, Kimberley, Banff (Sunshine/Lake Louise/Norquay) and Jasper/Marmot Basin.  They will retail for only $1.99 per title and will be available soon off the iTunes and BlakcBerry apps stores.

For more info drop us a line at info@snowseekers.ca

Languages:

English

Requirements:

Compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch

Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later

Data connection

And only 3 More Sleeps Till Lake Louise!

Lake Louise Opens Friday, November 6

Lake Louise, Alberta: Lake Louise, Canada’s Favourite Ski Area, will officially open for the season on Friday, November 6 thanks to Mother Nature and one of the most sophisticated snowmaking systems in the world.

Skiers and snowboarders will be able to experience those first delightful turns of the season from the top of Glacier Express Chair down three runs: Bald Eagle, Wiwaxy, and Easy Street.  These runs descend 1,450 vertical feet over their 3 kilometer length.  More runs and lifts should be open by the following weekend, and most of the mountain following one or two more good snowfalls.

All amenities at the full-service base area will be open, including food and beverage facilities, retail, rental and repair shops, the daycare and ski school.

“We’re extremely excited about being the first major ski area in Canada to open” says Lake Louise Marketing Director John Ross. “Because we are one of the few ski areas in the world that can offer superior early season snow, the World Cup circuit will once again start at Lake Louise on the weekend of November 28^th prior to moving to the U.S. and Europe.  This winter will also be jam packed with various other exciting events such as the Canadian Powder 8 Championships, The Olympic Torch relay, and various other races, festivals, and snowboard events”.

Lake Louise is also reaffirming its commitment to offering a superior terrain park and is pleased to welcome back Jeff Patterson who is world-famous for his designs. Offering a unique and exceptional variety of rails, boxes, jumps and other special features, small portions of the park will be ready, already, by Friday.

Reduced lift ticket prices will be in effect for opening weekend. Adults can ski or ride for $38, seniors (>65) and youths (13-17) for $26.40 and children (6-12) $12.50. Louise Card holders will receive a $10 discount and do not have to use their first day free.

And of corse, for more information visit the Lake Louise section of http://www.snowseekers.ca/story.php?loc=2&dest=10

Only 7 more sleeps!

MARMOT BASIN OPENS NOVEMBER 11^th

 EARLIEST OPENING EVER!

Jasper, Alberta

November 3, 2009 –Marmot Basin opens on Wednesday November 11^th, the earliest opening date ever for the ski area located in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. Six lifts will be open on the first day of the season including the Eagle Express Quad Chair, Paradise Triple Chair, School House T-bar, Eagle Ridge Chairlift, the Magic Carpet and the NEW Canadian Rockies Express.

A combination of natural and manmade snow has given the area a solid base with good snow coverage throughout the mountain. Marmot Basin will open with 38 runs on the 11^th with more runs expected to open soon thereafter. The runs will include terrain in the lower area, upper mountain and the Eagle Ridge area.

With above average snow coverage Marmot Basin will open the new Canadian Rockies Express, the longest high speed quad chairlift in the Canadian Rockies.

From the ski area base, the Canadian Rockies Express travels 2.3 km (1.5 miles), whisking skiers and boarders 596 vertical metres (1,955 ft) up to the mountain top in less than eight minutes. The lift is the largest chairlift development in North America this season.

For more information be sure to check out the Jasper section of http://www.snowseekers.ca/story.php?loc=1&dest=6

SnowSeekers New Home Page

Here is a sneak peak to SnowSeekers new website launching later this month!!