ASPEN, CO – Big mountain steep skiing icon Dean Cummings was awarded Best Line at Powder magazine’s annual Powder Awards ceremony here last night. Cummings had two epic first descents last spring featured in his movie, The Steep Life. Cummings called The Tusk direct the most committing line he’s ever skied. The equally challenging Dragon’s Back Spine of Meteorite Mountain garnered the award.

Cummings, who has been making and producing ski films for the past 20 years, said he was humbled to earn the honor given the achievements of the other finalists in the category including defending champ, Ian McIntosh (TGR), Dane Tudor (PBP), Eric Hjorleifson (MSP), Sage Cattabriga-Alosa (TGR), and Kye Petersen (All.I.Can.).

Cummings said he thanks his family, wife Karen and children Wyatt Kodiak and Tesslina as well as his H2o Guides team all of whom make it possible for him to continue to go after the big peaks of Alaska’s Chugach Range. Cummings said that winning the award at a time when the snow sports community is reeling from tragic losses, inspires him even more to give back to the sport through teaching practical techniques and protocols to help people avoid avalanches. Cummings’ award-winning avalanche safety curriculum has won two safety awards from the Alaska governor’s office and recently helped earn him the Educator of the Year award from Avalaunch/Outdoor Retailer Winter Market.

Now in its 12^th year, the Powder Awards has grown to become one of the biggest nights in skiing, attracting a veritable who’s who of the industry—professional skiers, ski legends, ski film production crews, industry brands, media, non-affiliated celebrities (who may not even ski) and even the odd ski bum. While the Powder Awards primarily highlight the best of the year’s ski films – like Movie of the Year and Best Male and Female Performance – the ceremonies also acknowledge our readers’ favorites with our annual Reader Poll. Hence, the all-inclusive celebration of skiing,and why everyone who’s anyone comes to Aspen for one big night in January every year. For the complete list of winners at this year’s Powder Video Awards, visit the magazine’s website.

 

ABOUT DEAN CUMMINGS.

Big mountain, steep skiing icon Dean Cummings has been pushing the limits of what’s possible on skis for more than 20 years. The former captain of the US Freestyle Ski Team and 1995 World Extreme Skiing Champion, Cummings has been featured in nearly 50 films from some of the best filmmakers in the industry. He founded and owns H2o Guides, the premier heliski operator in Valdez, AK and recently founded his own line of skis and packs with his company H2o Outdoor Gear. Cummings also enjoys the generous support of the following sponsors. Helly Hansen, Polarmax, Ortovox, S4 Optics, AEE and Traser Watches.

 

 

Valdez, AK – Amid one of the deepest winters on record, in a town already known as the Snow Capital, the premier heliski operator in Alaska’s famed Chugach mountain range is offering a value package designed to make it even more appealing to make this year THE year for skiers and snowboarders take their dream heliski vacation.

“We’ve never seen it this deep, this early. It’s insane,” said big mountain steep-skiing icon and H2o Guides founder/owner Dean Cummings, who has been guiding heliskiing in the area since 1991. “We’ve got such a huge snowpack, it seems only right to try to make it more accessible to all the snow-starved ski area season-pass holders in the some of our favorite places.”

 

Valdez, year-round home to Cummings and headquarters for his family-run H2o Guides, has been getting pummeled with snow that’s so relentless, the town elementary school closed for fear the roof might collapse. With no place left to clear snow from the streets, snow removal equipment is dumping loads of the white stuff into Prince William Sound. According to the Anchorage Daily News, “The record snowfall for Valdez, 560.7 inches, was recorded in the winter of 1989-1990. The current snowfall is on track to eclipse that.”

The Valdez Epic Deal offers special pricing on a heliski/ski package to any powder-craving ski area season pass holder in California, the Central Rockies including AZ, CO, NM, MT, UT, WY, and the East Coast. The promotion is also available to former guests who are already in the H2o Guides database.

The Valdez Epic Deal includes the following: Discounts on multi-day heliski packages the first two weeks of March and Cummings’ signature hybrid powder skis that carve from H2o Outdoor Gear; $550 for skis regularly priced at $899. Valdez Epic Deal customers will also get a free souvenir hat and t-shirt. Savings total nearly $600 for a dream heliski trip and skis.

Discount heliski packages are limited in number and available on a first come, first serve basis the first two weeks of March as follows: Discount skis, free souvenir hat and shirt plus 10 percent off a 5-day/7-night trip or 5 percent off a 3-day/5-night package trip. To take advantage of this offer, call 907.835.8418 and be sure to mention “Valdez Epic Deal.”

Founded in 1995, H2o Guides is the longest-running heli ski business under one owner in Alaska and the only company based in Valdez year-round. Guests of H2o Guides enjoy premium all-service customer service and unparalleled terrain. H2o’s permits through federal land managers give guests a gateway to over 2.6 million acres, more than any other operator in the world. With nine unique staging locations, H2o Guides accesses good snow when other operators cannot. The company’s safety record is unmatched. For more information about H2o Guides visit their website, http://www.H2oGuides.com

 

 

Denver, CO – For skiers and riders who assumed style, performance and comfort are only possible at a premium price, Optic Nerve introduces a new way of thinking about what a goggle can and should be.

First, the Boreas is versatile, it ships with two interchangeable lenses to keep you skiing no matter what Boreas, the purple-winged ancient Greek god of winter, has in store – from a sun-drenched bluebird day to a snowy gray powapalooza fiesta.

The Boreas’ fleece-lined foam gasket does double duty, caressing the face like a tender lover while providing the kind of precision fit needed for all-day comfort and clarity.

Optic Nerve’s longtime Chief Tinkerer Tom Fox explained, “The design juice behind the Boreas exhibits the classic Nerve alchemy that’s equal parts function and style.”

At $119 suggested retail, Fox said he was aiming to impress buyers accustomed to paying much more for premium goggles.

“My personal design jihad has always been to figure out ways to pack the most performance into our products at the fairest price,” Fox said. “’Why pay more’ is my battle cry. Our customers tell us they couldn’t agree more so that’s what I’ll keep doing.”

Available in a choice of three frame colors – black, white or green, and five cool lens pairings: Dreadlock, Smoke Red/Zaio Mirror; Rocker, Smoke Green/Zaio Mirror; I’m Your Venus, Brown/Pink; Dark Knight, Smoke/Blue; and Redbone Smoke/Red.

The Boreas and Optic Nerve’s full line of sunglasses and goggles with soul can be seen at upcoming winter trade shows. At Outdoor Retailer Winter Market in Salt Lake City Jan. 19 – 22 visit Booth # 33059. At the Snowsports Industries America Snow Show in Denver Jan. 26 – 29 you can find Optic Nerve at Booth #3434. The Boreas and other new goggles shown at these shows will be available to the general public Fall 2012.

About Optic Nerve and Mountain Shades
Since 1976, Optic Nerve and Mountain Shades have been making performance-driven, price-conscious eyewear. Optic Nerve is dedicated to continually finding ways to blend style and technology to deliver durable and comfortable high-performance eyewear. All styles have the same 100 percent UVA and UVB protection; lightweight, durable construction; and fashion-conscious styling found in more expensive brands, at a fraction of the price. For more information visit the Optic Nerve website.

Lyons, CO –Beyond the usual uptick in interest most summer sports enjoy during an Olympic year, whitewater paddling in particular seems poised for growth in 2012, says former US Canoe Slalom Olympian Scott Shipley.

Shipley should know. His company S2o Design and Engineering, one of the world’s leading whitewater park design builders, is on the front lines of the industry with a project roster that is booming.

For starters, the world’s eyes will be focused on Shipley’s handiwork at the Lee Valley Whitewater Park, host to the 2012 Olympic Canoe Slalom competition. S2o completed the design of the Lee Valley Whitewater Park this past summer. Lee Valley was the first of London’s Olympic venues to be completed ahead of schedule and under budget.

Looking ahead to 2012, S2o will be working on a diversity of projects around the globe including the following:

- North America. Freestyle parks in Montana and Idaho. A second feature at the freestyle park in downtown Missoula and an in-stream restoration via a new whitewater park in Ketchum.

- Pacific. A new whitewater park in Hawea, New Zealand

- Europe. A mammoth whitewater park in Moscow, Russia; in conjunction with UK-based Engineer Paddler Designs

Shipley notes that S2o’s proprietary RapidBlocs are also contributing to the surge in demand for projects. RapidBlocs allows operators to alter whitewater park thanks to a proprietary system of large synthetic blocks that can be easily re-positioned to create different hydraulic features. Since their invention two years ago, RapidBlocs has been installed in seven whitewater channel and has become the standard for all modern whitewater parks in the world.  These include:

• Two channels at the Lee Valley whitewater Park, the official Olympic Slalom course and the Training Channel course. Lee Valley will also host the 2015 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships.

• Two channels at Teeside (UK), the world’s first “green” pumped whitewater park. RapidBlocs are installed in Teeside’s Main Channel, an Olympic Training Venue, as well as a short and steep channel that doubles as a swift water rescue training channel. Both channels operate on a system that includes Archimedes screw pumps that can be operated in reverse to generate hydroelectric power. The system allows for rafting on-demand and also generates more power in a year than is used to operate the facility.

• Two channels at two different venues in the Czech Republic, one is the classic Prague-Troja channel that has played host to a number of international events in the past thirty years.  The new obstacles are a part of a remodel of the course for the upcoming 2013 World Championships.  The other RapidBloc course is the Budejovice Course (that is Budweiser to us Americans).  This new whitewater channel features the RapidBloc obstacles and is being prepared to host the 2012 Czech Olympic Team Trials.

Shipley noted RapidBlocs installations are also planned at Cardiff International Whitewater Course in Wales and Dutch Water Dreams, a unique, Olympic-level whitewater sports complex in the Netherlands, as well as a new international standard channel in Moscow, Russia.

For further information on Shipley’s services and RapidBlocs, or to submit a request for consultation, visit the S2o Designs website at www.s2odesign.com

 

Big Mountain, steep skiing icon Dean Cummings brings his Steep Life Tour to Reno, NV this week.

Cummings will share his Be Snow Smart avalanche education program and his new film, appropriately named, The Steep Life, when he stops in at Reno’s newly opened CommRow urban adventure entertainment center. The event takes place Thursday, Nov. 17 at 8 p.m. in the Cargo Room at CommRow.

The Steep Life represents one man’s passion and  commitment to a lifetime of skiing. Before the feature and presentation, be sure to arrive early as Dean will be available for poster signings in an informal meet and greet atmosphere. Be sure to join us for a night of big mountain skiing at its finest.

Cummings is the former captain of the US Freestyle Skiing Team and 1995 World Extreme Skiing Champion. Cummings went on to  pioneer Alaska helicopter skiing. His company, H2o Guides, is permitted to guide an area in excess of 2 million acres. His Be Snow Smart avalanche education program, a practical approach to protocols everyone can use to cut down on avalanche deaths, has won governor’s awards for safety.

The Steep Life movie chronicles Cummings’ epic first descents this spring of two enormous and steep peaks in Alaska’s fabled Chugach Range.

RIDGWAY, CO – By popular demand, Multisport Journeys, LLC (MSJ) introduces stand up paddling to their unique line of custom artwork and outdoor activewear.

Mutlisport Journeys founder and CEO Sue Field explained her reasons for adding stand up paddling to her lineup of customizable apparel featuring popular sports and adventure activities. Field said friends and fans encouraged her to include stand up paddling in her offerings and when she looked more deeply into the sport, found good reason to act on the requests.

“Stand up paddle boarding has become all the rage in the outdoor industry, gaining more momentum than even surfing,” said Field. “Crossing a broad range of ages and demographics, SUP has become quite popular at the ocean and inland, challenging folks to consider yet another sport as they contemplate the answer to the timeless question, ‘What Do You Live To Do?’.”

MSJ offers a continuum of casual to technical adventure apparel that allows sports enthusiasts to create shirts, fleeces and hats that proclaim their love of the outdoors and the sports that are their passions. The company’s ever-expanding art library now totals more than 50 sports and travel images representing mainstream and niche adventure sports activities.

MSJ’s online shopping portal lets consumers create custom wearable art and accessories by mixing and matching single, triple or quadruple groupings of the Company’s art depicting a wide array of sports and outdoor activities. The resulting design can then be printed, lasered or embroidered onto a choice of cotton or high performance wicking T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, fleeces and mugs. MSJ’s products are available in men’s, women’s, youth and baby sizes and styles.

About Multisport Journeys. Founded in 2009 in the heart of Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, Multisport Journeys allows consumers to express their sports passions on tees, polos, fleeces, baseball caps, snow beanies, mugs & totes. To learn more about Multisport Journeys visit their website.

RIDGWAY, CO – Multisport Journeys, LLC (MSJ) has retained Brand Amp to elevate the profile of its active lifestyle apparel brand. Brand Amp is one of a trio of marketing specialists recently brought together by MSJ founder and CEO Sue Field to increase awareness of the company’s custom sports gear.

In addition to trade and consumer media relations and search engine marketing, Brand Amp will coordinate the brand’s editorial calendar with social media specialist MoBloggy of Vail, CO and South Carolina-based Carolyn Evans who specializes in the Gift and Retail industries.  Field said she welcomes the knowledge and connections Brand Amp has in the outdoor, snow sports and adventure travel industries.

Field created Multisport Journeys after deciding to throttle back from a high-powered career that included C-suite tours of duty on Wall Street as well as at the likes of Sears, Roebuck and Co, and Vitamin Cottage Natural Grocers. Settling into a more tranquil life in the heart of Colorado’s spectacular San Juan Mountains, Field explained the apparel line is a prequel to a series of active travel guidebooks she intends to write and publish that will be aimed at Boomers, like herself, among others.

MSJ offers a continuum of casual to technical adventure apparel that encourages sports enthusiasts to create shirts, fleeces and hats that proclaim their love of the outdoors and the sports that are their passions. The company’s ever-expanding art library, created by Field’s brother and award-winning San Diego-based artist Jeff Field, now totals more than 50 sports and travel images representing everything from mainstream to niche adventure sports activities.

MSJ’s online shopping portal lets consumers create custom wearable art and accessories by mixing and matching single, triple or quadruple groupings of the Company’s art depicting a wide array of sports and outdoor activities. The resulting design can then be printed, lasered or embroidered onto a choice of cotton or high performance wicking T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, fleeces and mugs. MSJ’s products are available in men’s, women’s, youth and baby sizes and styles.
“I think Multisport Journeys has a bright future. Sue has a vision for the brand that celebrates a well-rounded approach to life and sports and challenges folks to really consider ‘What Do You Live to Do?’,” Hart said. “In MSJ, the average but avid sports enthusiast finds products and a rallying cry they can relate to: Live to Play Another Day® – have fun, but remain in one piece!”

About Multisport Journeys. Founded in 2009 in the heart of Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, Multisport Journeys allows consumers to express their sports passions on tees, polos, fleeces, baseball caps, snow beanies, mugs & totes. For further information visit the Multisport Journeys website.

SALIDA, COLORADO – Brand Amp, founder and president Lee Hart, is pleased to welcome veteran publicist and event manager Angela Kuepper to the company.

From the Pacific Northwest to the Alps, Kuepper has served a plethora of music and arts organizations as well as multiple tourism and outdoor industry businesses. Prior to her career in marketing, Kuepper worked as a linguist researching speech and language communications. Trading in her doctorate degree for a life in the mountains, when she’s not working, Kuepper can be found exploring the backcountry by foot, bike or skis.

Hart said Kuepper came highly recommended from outdoor industry friends and neighbors in this mountain-river town in south central Colorado. “Angela has quickly proven she has a well-deserved reputation for excellence,” Hart said. “Angela brings great energy, intelligence and creativity to everything she does. I feel really lucky to have her join me at Brand Amp.”

Kuepper lives a stone’s throw from the Arkansas River in Buena Vista, CO, with her husband, Bobby, and their three very large dogs.

Valdez, AK – H2o Outdoor Gear has retained Brand Amp to elevate the profile and support sales of Dean Cummings’ new signature line of skis.
The iconic Big Mountain skier and Alaska heli-skiing pioneer, is introducing a trio of skis infused with knowledge gleaned from two decades skiing some of the most innovative lines in the most demanding environments.
Cumming’s new skis feature proprietary Lay-Down Technology, a unique hybrid combination of powder and carving design that eliminates chatter and allows the ski to confidently track in all conditions from powder to hard snow.
Cummings said he is confident his Lay-Down Technology has created “the most forgiving ski for the greatest variety of conditions on the market today.”
The Tazlina, Kodiak and Karen’cito models are available in a choice of three lengths each with a unique and corresponding radius that works to optimize performance. The custom handmade wood core skis, made in the USA, are built to for all environments: Big Mountain, All Mountain, backcountry and resort.

Skiers can see the skis in action this fall in Cummings’ upcoming new film release, “The Steep Life.” Later this fall, Cummings will tour with the film and skis at select backcountry ski retail outposts along the West Coast, East Coast and Rockies. H2oG will also exhibit at two major industry trade shows this January, Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2012 in Salt Lake City and the SIA Snow Sports Show in Denver.
Brand Amp has been retained to manage the tour and provide overall public relations support for Cummings’ launch as a small production specialty ski manufacturer.

Brand Amp founder and president Lee Hart said Cummings fits with her motto to only work with people she likes and product she believes in. “Dean is a globally recognized name as an athlete and as a leader who continues to pioneer the development of techniques and protocols for Big Mountain, glacier and remote mechanized skiing. These ski designs are manifestations of the innovation and excellence Dean brings on and off the mountain.”
Cummings said he chose to work with Brand Amp because Hart hit the mark in designing a public relations campaign that aligns with the short-term goals and long- range vision of H2oG.
About H2o Outdoor Gear. H2o Outdoor Gear is a brand extension of H2o Guides. H2o Guides is the the family-owned and operated Alaska heliskiing operation founded in 1995 by World Champion extreme skier and former US Freestyle Ski Team member Dean Cummings . Cummings has been laying fresh tracks in the establishment and evolution of globally recognized standards in safety education both as founder of the North American Outdoor Institute and lead architect of the American Mechanized Ski Guide Course. With his new line of skis, Cummings brings cutting-edge concepts in ski design for the world’s most precision-demanding slopes to skiers exploring the boundaries of their own backyard backcountry stashes. For further information visit the H2oG website.
About Brand Amp. Brand Amp offers strategic communications counsel and a range of smart, scalable public relations solutions, including brand-building social media campaigns, to clients primarily in the outdoor adventure, snow sports and adventure travel industries. For further information visit the Brand Amp website .