http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/main/C458/L41/ New West Network: The Voice of the Rocky Mountains en info@newwest.net Copyright 2010 Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:01:43 MST Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:01:43 MST http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/release_boise_will_celebrate_with_olympic_silver_medalist_jeret_speedy_pete/C458/C458/ http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/release_boise_will_celebrate_with_olympic_silver_medalist_jeret_speedy_pete/C458/C458/ Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:28:21 MST Mayor David Bieter is inviting all Boiseans to a rally to welcome Olympic silver medalist Jeret “Speedy Peterson” back to his hometown and to celebrate his incredible accomplishment at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.  The rally will be held Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. at City Hall Plaza. Just prior to the rally, all residents are invited to join Jeret in a police-escorted “Champion’s Run” from the Downtown YMCA to City Hall.  Families and children are encouraged to run with Jeret. All runners wishing to participate should arrive at the Downtown YMCA by 9 a.m. Saturday. The run, which will be similar to the 2008 Kristin Armstrong Bike Ride Celebration, is expected to deliver participants to City Hall shortly after 9:30 a.m. to kick off the rally. SPECIAL NOTE:  In an effort to encourage healthy lifestyles, anyone who participates in the run from the YMCA to City Hall will receive one free family day pass to any Treasure Valley YMCA location. The run will begin at 10th and State streets, run east on State Street, turn south on 9th Street, turn left onto Main Street and proceed east for two blocks before arriving at City Hall. KTVB anchor Mark Johnson will emcee the event. Jeret Peterson will be available to sign autographs following the rally.  http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/2010_olympics_phenomenal_results_and_less_than_mediocre_coverage/C458/C458/ http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/2010_olympics_phenomenal_results_and_less_than_mediocre_coverage/C458/C458/ Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:21:44 MST After two weeks of coaching and skiing in Big Sky it was time to get going again. Last week I competed in Aspen, Colorado. All the athletes of the U.S. Women’s Olympic team and alpine team were there, minus Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso. They are busy on their well-deserved media tour of the United States. Monday night Julia appeared on Larry King Live and Lindsey on Jay Leno.  Witnessing my friends and teammates achieve their goals in Vancouver was thrilling. My highlight, watching Bode make it down the slalom run during the combined to win his first gold medal. Bode has been surrounded by controversy throughout his career; however, one thing has remained in his skiing, passion. Bode races for the love of the sport and I find that admirable in a ski world where coaches’ opinions and outside influences are ever prevalent.  Bode will always be Bode. Plus no one can doubt that the man is exciting to watch. I hold my breath every time he steps into the start. http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/what_happens_when_you_dont_make_the_olympics/C458/C458/ http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/what_happens_when_you_dont_make_the_olympics/C458/C458/ Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:15:40 MST Since the morning of January 27th I have felt an immense amount of disappointment.  As many of you may know I recently became an alternate for the speed events at the Olympics in Vancouver. I have never in my life felt so crushed and defeated. For an entire week I dreaded coming home to Big Sky feeling like I let down the community that has stuck with me through injuries, success and failure. I thought tirelessly about what I would say to my fellow Montanans, my family and my friends. How would they react to my failure? I sat in my room for four days feeling sorry for myself, sleeping, eating and crying. I felt too ashamed to show my face in public. It’s a hard bit of information to swallow; however, I tell you this because honestly it is what I did and how I felt. I’ve got nothing to hide. I felt distraught and hopeless. I wanted nothing to do with the sport that has always been my passion. As you can clearly see, I had zero perspective on the situation. http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/famed_polar_explorer_brings_mission_amazing_photos_to_um/C458/C458/ http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/famed_polar_explorer_brings_mission_amazing_photos_to_um/C458/C458/ Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:23:10 MST Polar explorer Will Steger, one of the most accomplished Arctic adventurers of all time, has seen and done things that most mortals can’t imagine. In 1986 he led the first dogsled expedition to the North Pole without resupply; in 1988, he traversed Greenland by dogsled, a 1,600-mile trip that was the longest of its kind ever; in 1989 he launched the first dogsled traverse of Antarctica, a seven-month, 3,471-mile journey. What Steger never expected to see was the end of ice. And what he never expected to be doing is what he’s engaged in right now: a battle to fight climate change and save the planet. Global warming doubters might refute the scientific studies, Steger says. What they can’t do, he believes, is refute eyewitness reports and photos from someone who’s explored the territory for 45 years. So Steger has taken the injured Arctic on the road. http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/where_have_all_the_ski_bums_gone1/C458/C458/ http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/where_have_all_the_ski_bums_gone1/C458/C458/ Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:07:30 MST They’re not on the ski slopes. They’re not in the bars. Have all the ski bums left Big Sky? “A lot of guys are skiing backcountry now because it’s free,” said John the physical therapist. “Also, a lot of them worked construction to support their skiing habits. Those jobs don’t exist any more.” A footnote to the current recession is its effect on Big Sky’s ski bum culture—girls and guys who live to ski and will work for ski passes or at part-time jobs that permit time off on powder days. http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/chaos_in_kitzbuehel_and_bibs_for_haiti/C458/C458/ http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/chaos_in_kitzbuehel_and_bibs_for_haiti/C458/C458/ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:17:40 MST This weekend I had a pitcher of beer dumped on my head…in the middle of the day. Okay, let’s take a step back. Why would that happen do you ask? And where in the world could I have been? I am assuming you are wondering what kind of activity, an athlete such as myself, would be engaging in to have this happen. Let me set the scene for you: 70,000 screaming, stumbling, for the most part drunk Austrian ski fans. The Hahnenkamm in Kitzbühel brings ski fans far and wide to watch the premier ski racing event in of the season. I’d say that if you wanted to experience true Austrian ski spirit go to the Hahnenkamm.  The streets are crammed with people blowing air horns, ringing cowbells, and cheering for the racers as they careen themselves down the craziest downhill in the world.  It is a spectacle of madness. Women don’t race the Hahnenkamm and for good reason. Speeds of ninety mph, dauntingly big air off jumps mixed with an icy, bumpy track. No thanks. I would cry if someone told me I had to ski that course. http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/the_complicated_life_of_shaun_white/C458/C458/ http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/the_complicated_life_of_shaun_white/C458/C458/ Sun, 24 Jan 2010 10:39:28 MST Snowboarding icon Shaun White made more in endorsements last year (some $9 million) than any football or baseball player except for Peyton Manning - and that pretty much sums up the conflict that confronts a media superstar in an ostensibly counter-culture sport. A New York Times story today discusses the unease that White’s fame and fortune has created in the sport, though it generally credits White with balancing it all about as well as he does his double-cork backflips. He might have a secret half-pipe http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/in_time_for_olympics_acclaimed_vancouver_museum_has_a_new_face/C458/C458/ http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/in_time_for_olympics_acclaimed_vancouver_museum_has_a_new_face/C458/C458/ Sun, 24 Jan 2010 10:20:40 MST Vancouver’s acclaimed Museum of Anthropology, long known for its magnificent totem poles, has added a whole lot more, and shows its new face to the public this weekend, just in time for Olympic visitors, regardless of the snow pack. The museum at the University of British Columbia has been crafting its new face for three years, expanding by 50 percent and adding new dimensions to one of the Pacific Northwest’s premier cultural showcases. The museum is a masterwork of Vancouver’s celebrated architect, Arthur Erickson, and is one of his most admired works. A formal launch of the new museum at 10 am Saturday begins three days of free admission to the public; hours are Saturday 10 am to midnight, Sunday 10 am to 5 pm and Tuesday, 7 pm to 9 pm. (The museum closes on Mondays.) http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/skier_dies_in_sun_valley_avalanche/C458/C458/ http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/skier_dies_in_sun_valley_avalanche/C458/C458/ Sun, 24 Jan 2010 09:51:32 MST A 54-year-old Ketchum man was killed Friday in an in-bounds avalanche on Sun Valley’s Bald Mountain. The Blaine County Coroner confirmed that Timothy L. Michael of Ketchum had died. Earlier the Sun Valley Resort made the following statement: “At 2:31 pm today the Sun Valley Ski Patrol responded to a report of a buried male skier on Bald Mountain. Avalanche rescue procedures were instituted and at 2:46 pm the ski patrol located the skier. He was found in a slide below Fire Trail Lane above Lower Broadway. CPR was started and the skier was transported to St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the skier and his family. We would like to acknowledge the outstanding efforts of the Sun Valley Ski Patrol and the Ketchum Fire Department,” said Tim Silva, General Manager, Sun Valley Resort. http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/fantastic_skiing_in_austria/C458/C458/ http://www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/fantastic_skiing_in_austria/C458/C458/ Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:42:07 MST I spent New Year’s Eve on the United 902 flight bound for Munich, Germany. The flight attendant gave me a tiara sparkling with Happy New Year letters and I passed out on my neck pillow. As you read, before Christmas I crashed racing in France. Unfortunately, that meant I did not get to ski Big Sky during my ten day Christmas break. I mostly hung out with my physical therapist, doing deep knee bends and ankle exercises.  “Patience young grasshopper,” kept ringing through my head over and over again.  Nevertheless, my therapy paid off and my ankle and knee are now ready to rock. I resolute to stay that way!