Nike ACG Team Blog : News from the snowbard team

Day five of our trip could not have been further removed from to the previous day’s adrenaline rushes. Although a forecast of blue skies and sunshine had been predicted the previous night, rain fell heavily from the morning until the sun escaped beyond the horizon and darkness engulfed us. With the weather forecasters seemingly incapable of calculating the conditions during our week in Argentina, it is unlikely that we will continue to trust it so readily!

On a day like today with no filming taking place and little excitement to be had, all that was left to do was to relax and unwind from what has already been a very busy, action- filled trip.

Whilst some found entertainment in playing games or working hard for various different assignments, others went about town in search of other sorts of amusement. Finding the internet was a priority and indeed we needed to upload the video version of our blog which highlights our experiences for an audience with less imagination! However, it seems that the wonders of fast-speed internet have bypassed this unique town in the Andes. It certainly makes you appreciate some of the things that we take for granted back in Europe when a video of 2 minutes takes 30 hours to upload. At the time writing, only 14 hours have elapsed.

Tomorrow, we are supposed to be expecting yet more rain and cloud, however going by today’s prediction I think I should anticipate the opposite and perhaps I will even unveil my beach body for the lucky residents of Caviahue.

At noon, we set off into the backcountry in a group of fourteen whilst being transported rapidly by snowmobiles to a spot nicknamed the ‘Amphitheatre’ by locals. The area certainly produced drama and anxiety in equal measure as the cameras started to roll. Everybody was stoked as Richard pulled off a 180 off a ridge and sped towards us down the steep face leaving a stream of mist shrouded in his wake.

Things did not go so smoothly for Eva though as she tried to get into position for her next line. As she ambled along the peak, she found herself in the grasp of a 30 metre wide crevasse that was lurking menacingly. Although she managed to escape its clutches, she was shaken up enough to stay back for awhile until her next attempt 20 minutes later.

However, just as Eva was about to drop into her next line, an area of snow 60 metres wide collapsed around her and sped down the face in an eruption of snow. Due to the warm weather of the previous few days, the top layer of powder had become too heavy and could hold no more. Luckily no one was harmed but it certainly brought an abrupt end to filming in this position.

As we cruised into yet more picturesque mountains and passed through the border into Chile, the sun hid behind the clouds and the wind picked up once more, leading to bitterly cold temperatures. Almost anticipating our wishes for a little more warmth, our seasoned guides set about making an igloo that sheltered us all from the forces of nature as filming commenced for the last time until it was time to head home.

Weather permitting; we will revisit our final spot tomorrow in search of more lines and hopefully, a little less excitement… 

Waking up to the rhythm of rainfall clashing against the tiled roof of our chalet was hardly the best introduction to our third day. We had been expecting fresh powder that had been forecast the previous night however the rain was now dissolving a lot of the snow that was left stranded on the ground.

Nevertheless, our altitude at our residence is over 1,300 metres lower than the highest peaks of the resort and we were confident for some fresh powder at more elevated destinations.

We set off in search of some fresh lines. However, the drizzle still persisted and the powder of the previous day had transformed into heavy snow that was almost impossible to negotiate, even for the professionals.

There was only one thing for it and we all agreed that the hot springs would be our next destination to relax from the exhausting task of 30 minutes filming. Heated by the active volcano that is one of the peaks of the mountain range, the thermal springs were incomparable to anything that we had seen before in our European cities. The natural pools looked tempting as the clear blue water swelled and bubbled up in front of us. It even seemed to urge us to jump in. However we resisted our cravings, safe in the knowledge that there would be other opportunities for entertainment during this trip once the snowfall has increased.

However, after being told that the Copahue Volcano has erupted three times over the last 16 years in 1992, 1995 and 2000, it suggests that we are perhaps more overdue for an eruption of ash…although an increase in powder would certainly be more than welcome.

Greeted in the morning by a fresh fall of at least a foot of snow, our expectations were high for filming on day two. Due to the lack of snowmobiles, the plan was that we would travel up to the shoot in two clusters. However, the Caviahue wind prevailed once more and it was deemed it was simply too strong to pursue our goal of riding up through the powder and allowing Richard Permin and Eva Walkner to crash through the snow whilst we would watch expectantly at the base.

Back to square one and after an hour and a half of waiting, the wind died down enough for a group to travel up and film the exploits of our two professionals. Everything did not run as smoothly as first expected though as Richard managed to ride a mini avalanche that was thirty metres wide over a cliff. Fortunately, he was able to power out of the snow and hunt more lines across the resort. Indeed, we decided that Eva’s drop off the cliff would no longer be ‘on’ and we were forced to find another section of mountain to work with. Undisturbed by his dramas on the last ridge, Richard was unrelenting and threw in a clean 360 off a five metre drop half way through the afternoon whilst Eva continued to free-ride through the increasingly heavy powder that was at times, extremely difficult to traverse.

Perhaps our highlight was the waterfall that we found at the end of the day that sheltered caves standing undisturbed beneath. This piece of nature set up some spectacular shots for our resident photographer to got to work with. Lesson for the day – when the weather closes in, you work with what you’ve got. Having seem some of the footage back though I think we’ve got some killer lifestyle shots already.

Here are some images from the filmshoot so far.

After awakening from some much needed sleep after an exhausting thirty hour journey from London to Argentina (via Sao Paulo and the rest) I made my way over to the shower to get ready for our first day. Having battled for a few minutes and woken myself up thanks to extremes of hot and cold I was ready to face skiing Argentina style.

With a reputation for being extremely windy due to its exposed location, Patagonia and indeed the resort of Caviahue itself certainly lived up to its name as we hit the slopes. It was bitterly cold, and as the wind picked up it spat fresh powder into our faces- although it was impossible to feel any negativity as we looked down the piste of fresh snow and admired the lake at its base which hugged the mountain all the way around.

For most of us, months had passed since skiing had been a priority whilst in our European climate and the gentle warm up that we began with was unquestionably welcome. However that tame gradient soon became tedious as we searched for fresh challenges whilst the sun was still glowing down and reflecting pleasingly off the Argentinean snow.

After lunch, and a pizza that was more akin to cheese on toast, we headed off in the direction of the snowmobiles that were waiting further down the mountain ready for our experimentation. Indeed, due to the very few lifts around in our resort, this method of transportation is a necessity and everybody needed to learn how to use them quickly. Having never used one before, I found my introduction fairly difficult. Led off by one of our professional skiers Richard Permin, I set off up the mountain being towed along up a trail that was less intimidating than first appeared. However, connecting myself to my belt whilst being towed was a mistake that I paid for half way up the hill as it snapped in half and I saw the snowmobile speed away. Unfortunately, I was no longer connected and had to ski down through the wall of snow that was eclipsing me from every angle.

Once home, all I hoped for was another shower that wouldn’t result in third degree burns and for tomorrow to be as full of blue skies when the proper filming gets underway.

We arrived in Norway late on Friday night and made good time to Bergen from the airport after Seb received his standard strip search by customs, fortunately they let him in cause obviously he had nothing except a bad smell! We hooked up with the Czech and Rusian crews who were over to do a shoot for the weekend and headed to the hotel.

The next morning we made our way up to Myrkdalen and it was a beautiful day and an amazing drive and we settled into the hotel which was at the bottom of the ski run. The first task in hand was to find a spot for teh retail shoots and Seb found some good spots. They were night shoots and everyone was in high spirits even though it took quite a while.

 With the retail shoot out of the way it was full steam ahead, Andreas and the crew had already finished the big kicker so it was only the monster hip left to do - and what a task it was. I jumped in to help as I need all the exercise I can get these days to keep the middle age spread at bay and started digging. It was a 2 day build which we did on Monday and Tuesday - we finished in time for Andreas to hit it up and start filming on Tuesday afternoon as the bad weather was rumoured to be coming in. See below for some shots from teh session taken from my little camera, Seb has the bangers.

Jon Hatveit was using the parapont to film from and got some great images. It also proved quite amusing as he has not had any training and only did it once 4 years ago, but he picked it up really fast and didnt have any serious crashes.

The sweetspot is going to be sick, just seen the clips, the shots from the parapont are unreal and the riding is down right bad boy.

Check www.nikeacg.com next season to see the final product. Thanks to the resort (www.vossfjellandsby.no) , drivers and all the shapers for the hard work.

Sverre Liliequist report from Mica Heli Guides, Canada , April 2:nd 2008

After a pretty crazy season with a lot of traveling and a lot of free skiing competitions I’m now in Canada at the Mica Heli Guides lodge.

We’re not far off the end of the Sweetspot shoot in Golden and things are still going well. Since the original update Rich Permin and Seb Leon have rolled into town. They had a pretty perfect start with bluebird for the majority of their first day. Since then though it’s been a mixed bag with the sun breaking through from time to time.

Our first day as a full crew was pretty eventful. After a bit of a late start (thanks to more bags being lost in transit) we pushed well into the late afternoon as energy levels were still high. Both Gary and Rich were drooling over some great chutes and a natural hip we found late on. On the way back down for the day the tail end of the group found a local guy who’d obviously been charging a bit too hard on the lower levels. Boris and Soaper ended up having to dig his sled out of the forest (and by all accounts the guy himself). Boris ended up getting tired of all the digging and, like a true pro, he ended up filming the latter part of the rescue mission. Look out for the eagerly anticipated release ‘when snowmobiling goes wrong’ from Blank Paper

We have been venturing deeper and deeper into the wilderness though and uncovering some more sweet zones. Looking up at some of the climbs we’ve been doing to move into new bowls you’d think they were vertical. I can’t say enough how mind blowing the scenery is; for the majority of us, the first snowmobiling experience is going to be super hard to top.

Back to the riding though, Rich is absolutely slaying everything he’s going after. 2 days ago he dropped at least a 30ft cliff that the snowmobiles only just managed to get him up to. Yesterday he took on 2 sweet drops, nailing a 180 on one and getting beaten up after a 5 off the other. The landing was super flat and his knee opened his chin up pretty nicely. 7 stitches for $700 – ouch and ouch. Glad to say he’s all good now though

As for Gary – he’s loving the pow and put together a sick kicker off a wind lip yesterday that he rode a super floated f/s 3 off. It’s been great to see the 2 guys feeding off each other and pushing the other to go bigger.

Before I sign off I need to give big props to Brian, a guide who’s been with us since Rich arrived, as it’s his Birthday today. We’re heading over to session his mini ramp later and share a couple of cold ones.

Hey all- we’re 2 days into our Sweetspot shoot in Golden, BC with Blank Paper and Gary Zebrowski.

From the cluster of civilisation here we can look up to the peaks of Kicking Horse, the main focus for the holiday-makers in this area. Golden isn’t a resort though, if you want to ride around here you’ve got to trek. In our case that means snowmobiles and pushing into untouched terrain way up the valley.

We fire up the sleds in the morning and head a good 15 kilometres before we even stop to look around us. Up at this level the climbs get steep and the knack of hanging onto your sled becomes more of a necessity than a skill. I’m glad to say though that Gary seems born for this kind of stuff and he’s charging around looking for new zones to hit.

We spend the best part of the day moving through valleys and spotting new lines for Gary to shred. It’s unreal to be able to drop into a bowl which seems so remote from civilisation and then push further and further into the unknown. We’re spoilt to say the least and that includes our guides and new friends. Both Spencer and Soaper are not only essential to keep us working the right areas but are great company.

The weather has been on and off. A fair amount of snow fell through yesterday and into the night but left us with some great fresh today and cleared for odd windows of perfect conditions.

Rich Permin and Seb join us tomorrow… more updates to follow.

Jimmy