UPDATE: Travis Rice Won the First Place Red Bison Skull
created by local artist Ryan Haworth.
Quiksilver made the coolest logo ever for its inaugural Jackson Hole Natural Selection freestyle snowboard competition this week. The competition will run for two days, selected when conditions are optimal, between now and February 5.
Brainchild of prolific (and local) snowboarder, Travis Rice, the competition will be held on Dick’s Ditch natural halfpipe and the steep and cliff-laden Casper Bowl. The two areas will be shut off from the public for the competition’s seven days to let snow, wind and fate determine conditions. Read More »
Last week’s winter Outdoor Retailer trade show was replete with green product, lingo and signage. Attendees could throw bottles, foil and food into the trashcan guilt-free knowing that some poor chap (or lass) would later sort the refuse into the appropriate recycling bins.
Everlite boasted its Solar Headlamp, Merrell revealed its lightweight Gatherer Jacket, fillable with the wearer’s insulation material of choice (suggestions include recycled newspaper, packing materials and even family pictures, as the jacket is transparent). And, the Conservation Alliance launched the Legacy Fund.
I think it was last summer that I was telling a friend about the “Screaming Meemies” (A.K.A. the Screaming Barfies) and how bad they suck and how I thankfully haven’t gotten them in a few years. I totally jinxed myself. The Screaming Meemies happen when you over-grip your ice tools and all the blood rushes out of your hands as you climb. You’re hands feel like blocks by the time you get to the belay, you clip into the anchor, relax and then it starts. The blood rushes back into your hands and the short lived pain starts.
So in the past few weeks I’ve made the trek over to Cody, Wyoming a couple times with my buddy Brian Prax to get some of the great ice they’ve had this year. On our first climb, I had the pleasure of getting some of the Meemies and Brian had the pleasure of documenting it with his camera. So putting all ego aside, I put the sequence together and added commentary to this painful process know as the “Screaming Meemies”. So remember kid’s, DON’T OVER GRIP YOUR ICE TOOLS! Photos courtesy of Brian Prax
Have you had them before?! Tell us about how you feel about ‘em!
In the summer of 1985, when I was a new transplant to the intermountain west, I thought it would be a good idea to learn some technical mountaineering skills. I had learned some things from being a Boy Scout on the east coast, but just the basics: You know, fun with white gas, drinking whiskey and smoking cigars. Read More »