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When the Austrian engineers received the plans, they returned them to Turner and reportedly commented,“’There’s something wrong with the file you sent us. The curves are all wrong. The ski is backward. You need to resend the file.’ Then when I said, ‘It’s what we want.’ They looked at me like, ‘You have to be kidding.’”
Pouring valuable time and money into developing it and was one hurdle, but selling it was another. There were no proven market examples to estimate revenues. It was nothing short of gamble, even if the design was endorsed by the world’s best freeskier.
In the fall of 1994, the Gaffney brothers convinced MC to go west… to a place where skiers carved out legendary careers. Where mountain faces were so extreme and so rowdy they attracted only the world’s best skiers to give it a shot.
Blatant exaggeration and exaggerated boasting revolved around the day’s powder skiing before the topic finally landed on the ‘ultimate ski design.’ Then within a matter of minutes, the secret to powder skiing was sketched out on a bar napkin for all to see….
Dismissed by outsiders as a band of renegades who rejected rules and boundaries, they kept to themselves, worked in secret, and sought first tracks, even out of bounds, whenever the opportunity arose. They risked their coveted passes, their livelihoods, and at times, their freedom to doggedly chase their heart’s desire. Now that their historical significance is firmly planted it’s easy for me to assign them as the obvious first choice to kick off this monthly series.
Welcome to the last article of this five-part series looking at some of the world’s best ski and snowboard tours. Our goal is to look beyond traditional alpine racing and bring to you some of the most inspiring competitive skiing and riding happening today.
Welcome to part four of our five-part series looking at some of the world’s best ski and snowboard tours. Our goal in this series is to take a look beyond traditional alpine racing and bring to you some of the most inspired competitive freeride skiing and riding happening today.
Part Three – The Winter Dew Tour
Welcome to part three of our five-part series looking at the world’s best ski and snowboard tours. Our goal in this series is to take a look beyond traditional alpine racing and bring to you some of the most inspired competitive freeride skiing and riding happening today.
Part Two
Welcome to part two of our five-part series, looking at some of the world’s best ski and snowboard tours. Our goal in this series is to look beyond traditional alpine racing and bring some of the most inspired competitive freeride skiing and riding happening today.
Welcome Message
Welcome to the first part of our five-part series looking at some of the world’s best ski and snowboard tours. Our goal in this series is to take a look beyond traditional alpine racing and bring to you some of the most inspired competitive freeride skiing and riding happening today.
Where is the Birthplace of Modern Skiing?
According to the International Skiing History Association, the art of skiing dates back some 3,000 years when archaeological evidence across the Eurasian arctic region shows evidence of primitive skis. But surely that doesn’t reflect today’s modern skiing with perfectly groomed slopes and high-speed lifts. So where do you go to find the birthplace of modern (mechanized) skiing?
The Skiing Experience
The ski industry changes every year. New technology. New designs. New gear. You name it. And the ski resorts are changing, too. You see improvements to guest services, amenities, and online conveniences being made all across the country. But what rarely seems to change is the skiing experience itself.
Related: The 9 Best Independently Owned U.S. ‘Mom-and-Pop’ Ski Resorts, According to SnowBrains Readers
As tough as it is to define a list of ‘up-and-coming’ ski areas, we chose to identify those that are showing signs of advancement and ambitious development of the true skiing experience. While no list is perfect, and this one undoubtedly misses a few, we are excited to share a very nice collection of candidates. We hope you enjoy reading.
We recently reached out to our loyal readers to ask the question, “What are your favorite independently owned mom-and-pop ski areas?” Here’s a list of the top responses. Thank you, and we hope you enjoy reading.
No Looking Back
Coming in waves, circling white sheets of snow whipped around him as he ceremoniously slowed to a stop halfway up the face of one of Colorado’s gnarliest 13,000 ft. peaks. Michael Wirth stops, not necessarily because he wants to, but rather because he has to. Storm conditions have worsened over the last few hours and now his right eyelid has frozen shut.
If these concepts are simply beyond your imagination or you think it’s too good to be true MC suggests you, “Trade skis with a friend for a run. Just to compare what you used to ski on to what you have now. I guarantee you will only try this (Spatula) once….”