90 Degrees takes to the Stage

DOC POW, SnowSeekers Inc.

It doesn't happen very often but sometimes, just sometimes, even the best of 'em get caught with their pants down.

You'll find her ripping up the slopes of Marmot Basin in Jasper Alberta- deep in the Canadian Rockies.  It was last Saturday when the girl, only known as mountain megs, earned herself a new nickname.

This is the photo blog on just how she was crowned '90 Degrees"...can you unlock the mystery of how?

Just getting off the chairlift she is looking confused....

                                                   really confused...

                                                              hey did someone say oi?

 the aerodynamics with those reno'ed poles was brilliant

 she is just showing off the science before she shreds some gnar

And it didn't take her long to ditch the reno'ed ski poles for a pink one that was 

registering at 90 degrees....

First person to email me the correct response for what happened to 90 Degrees' poles wins a set of Marmot Lift tickets valid right through the 2010/11 season – docpow@snowseekers.ca

For more on Marmot, cause you know you have to go there, get over to here and start planning your escape for next winter.  Who knows ... it might just throw you 90 Degrees.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca, friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Find your snowboard stance with StanceFind™

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Nine days ago, the SnowSeekers crew was at Marmot Basin shooting video and writing editorials, which you can find here. While we were there we ran into a fantastic fellow by the name of Sean MacCarron, who not only pioneered the non-profit Free Mountain program at Marmot Basin, but has also invented the world's first dynamic snowboarder's stance calibration device.

Dubbed StanceFind™, the device allows a boarder to determine – scientifically – his/her optimal stance given his/her skeletal structure. And it takes less than 15 minutes.

StanceFind™ has been endorsed by BASI and installed by TSA, Europe's largest independent snowboard retailer, in its stores across the UK. More recently, StanceFind™ has been adopted by two resorts a little closer to home: Big White Ski Resort in British Columbia, and Marmot Basin in Alberta.

If you'd like to find out more about the StanceFind™, as well as cre8iv-uk, the team responsible for it, headover to www.cre8iv-uk.com

Until then, though, check out these demo videos to get a better idea of what StanceFind™ is all about.







For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Marmot Basin's Spring Scene is Stellar

DOC POW, SnowSeekers Inc.

Marmot Basin, a ski resort found minutes from Jasper Alberta, has had one of its top season's in many many years.  There were a ton of times where a good friend of mine, Megan Gibson, a Jasper local, called and said "it doesn't get any better then this, another 20cms last night- and a full bowl of pow was waiting for this morning's breakfast!"

It's a classic destination that if you haven't had the chance to visit yet you need to....
For the full report visit us @ SnowSeekers.   You'll find some stories here from last weekend's visit.

You could still squeeze them in over the next 10 days, they are wide open through April 25th.

Here is a shot taken on April 12 of what it looks like.....

If you are a family - perfect, Marmot's got the terrain.  If you are an intermediate group of friends, perfect cause Marmot's got the terrain.  If you are a couple of cats looking to get in some outstanding hikes into some steeps and deeps you'll find this here too.  Just don't forget to take the camera- Marmot, in the heart of the Rockies, never disappoints when it comes to the views.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

SnowSeekers' first documentary premieres to rave reviews

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Last night was an important milestone for not only Brandon Boucher, our director of photography, but our entire company as a whole, in that we premiered our first ever documentary, Sunny on the Slopes. The film was shown at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), in its beautiful, new NEXEN Theatre to a capacity crowd. There wasn't a seat to be had, which was a rewarding sight for everyone involved on the project.

The film was inspired by the need to encourage all ethnicities to get out and experience the snow, and as was the case with Sunny on the Slopes, skiing. The documentary profiles a young Mongolian girl, named Sunny, on her journey through the Canadian Ski Instructors' Alliance (CSIA) Skier Progression Program. Her adventure began at Edmonton's Snow Valley and ended with her skiing in the Canadian Rockies at Castle Mountain.

The film was produced in conjunction with the CSIA, and will be used as a learning tool in 200 ski schools across the country. It will also be broadcasted nationally in the fall, so stay tuned to the blog, as well as www.snowseekers.ca, for further details.

SnowSeekers would like to thank NAIT for their support, especially NAIT's Digital Media students, many of whom worked on the project. We'd also like to thank the CSIA for their involvement and unwavering enthusiasm throughout the entire process. And finally, the biggest thanks of all goes to Sunny and her family, who inspired us all, and whose passion and excitement rubbed off on everyone. We couldn't have done this without you.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

World Ski and Snowboard Festival Contest Winner

The entire SnowSeekers crew would like to congratulate Pamela Basaraba, of Edmonton, AB, for winning our World Ski and Snowboard Festival contest for March. Along with a friend, Pamela will be spending five days skiing/riding at Whistler/Blackcomb while staying at the Delta Whistler Village Suites. She's also received tickets to a number of specialty events, including the Chairlift Revue and The End, an all-hours afterburner party. 

Congrats again, Pamela. You're going to have a blast!

SnowSeekers thanks The Delta Whistler Village Suites, WhistlerBlackcomb and The Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival for their support of this contest.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

80s day at Sun Peaks this Saturday

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Things are about to get radical at Sun Peaks Resort this Saturday, April 10th. Dust off your neon clothing and too-big-for-your-face shades, because the 80s are back and they don't want to see any of your two-piece snow suits or fashionably modest colors.

All staff and guests are encouraged to deck themselves out in their most bodacious outfits before they hit the slopes for some double-daffies and back-scratchers.

For any of you who may not remember the 80s (for reasons illicit or otherwise...), I thought I'd offer you a few helpful tips to get you started. When dressing for the 80s, it's important to keep three things in mind:

1. Headband – always, always, always wear a headband. Under your helmet, over your helmet, it doesn't matter. Headbands are like legwarmers, but for your face. In other words, a must-have. No self-respecting Duran Duran fan would be caught dead without one.

2. Shades – the larger the better, and you damn well better make sure that people can see through them. If people aren't able to see your eyes, they're clearly too reflective. In fact, your shades should almost be completely useless.

3. The Neon Onesie – Pastels were sooooooo early 80s. By the time the 80s got into gear, neon was all the rage. Those arrogant early 90s try their best to claim neon, but the 80s hair-bands had a firm grip on the scene way before the Fresh Prince came along. And don't let me see you in a two-piece snow suit! Have some respect for yourself, for god's sake.

Stick to these three rules, and you should be well on your way to looking as ridiculous as you possibly can this Saturday, or, as 80s as you possibly can.

If any of you guys take some stellar Polaroids this weekend, send them to rick@snowseekers.ca and I'll put 'em in a blog next week.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

"Sunny on the Slopes" Premiere

SnowSeekers is pleased to invite you to the release of its documentary, "Sunny on the Slopes."

Earlier this winter, SnowSeekers – in partnership with NAIT's Digital Media Design program and its students – filmed 10-year-old Sunny Gantumur as she took to the slopes for the first time. The film, produced for the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance, will be seen around the country to encourage people of all ages to get outside and enjoy the snow through skiing.

The documentary chronicles Sunny's trials and tribulations in learning how to tackle the snow, lead by her Snow Valley instructor, Christina Schmidtke, and follows them from day one right through 'til when Sunny was ready to take on the Canadian Rockies at Castle Mountain Resort.

No one involved could have imagined what happened over the course of Sunny's adventure.

Join us Thursday, April 8th, at 7 p.m. in the multi-million dollar NEXEN Theatre at NAIT to find out how it unfolded. The NEXEN is located on the second floor of the Spartan Centre for instrumentation Technology in Room Y240, located on 117 Ave & 102 St., east of the NAIT HP Centre.

Seating is limited. Showing is from 7 p.m. – 8 p.m.

If you plan to attend, please contact jim@snowseekers.ca and he can set you up with a parking pass for the night.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Bobselds: the sasquatches of the Olympic Games

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Sadly, I was only able to attend a single Olympic event during my nine days in Whistler. Fortunately, though, that event was the 4-man Bobsled. These things are fast on TV, but they're really fast when they're ten feet from your face. Faster than a Tiger Woods sex scandal. So fast that it is nearly impossible to get a good photo. 

Sorry, let me rephrase that. They're so fast that it is nearly impossible to get a good photo when you're using something that has the shutterspeed of a box camera. I half expect my camera to let out a huge puff of smoke every time I take a shot.

Needless to say, my photographs left a little to be desired. The following is a montage of how my afternoon went.

"How hard could it be?" I thought. They're not moving that fast.

I was sure that I had the dexterity and peripheral vision to

capture a vehicle moving at 140 kilometres per hour.

I still don't know if I took the photo too early or too late.

I swear that this is a different photo. My problem was clearly

that I was trying to get in too tight on the track. But I wanted

that money shot.

Wanting to at least capture something in a photo, I

stood behind some people. Unfortunately, those people

became the entire focus after yet another miss.

When in doubt, shoot the Olympic Rings.

I'd like to tell you that this was meant to be just another

shot of the Rings, but a bobsled is just off camera. I think.

Things were getting quite ridiculous at this point. I feel

the need to point out to you that there's about a 3-4 minute

wait time between bobsleds. So I would wait 4 minutes

every time just to get a shot of some dude in a tuque.

This is as dynamic as it was going to get for me on this day.

A shot of a guy filling in divots with snow. Wow.

It was at this point that I started to worry that I wouldn't

be bringing any decent photos back for my piece. Hence,

the Canada hat. People eat this stuff up. Theoretically.

Realizing that my tight shots weren't cutting it, I moved

back. To similar results.

*Sigh*

A couple of Brits who found a silver lining to Great

Britain's disappointing Olympics. The sign reads

"CURLING WAS BETTER".

This was my breaking point. I had been standing in freezing

rain for nearly two hours trying to get anything that could be

used. After this shot, I got fed up. "Screw it!" I said. "I'm going

back to the rails, and I'm not coming out until I get my shot."

Persistence, as they say, pays off.

Almost there ...

ALMOST THERE ...

SUCCESS!

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.