Just like Kiwi’s drive on the opposite side of the rode they put their bike brakes on the opposite side of the handle bars on bikes.  Here’s a clip of Mat learning the hard way.  More mountain bike footage to follow, stay tuned!

After four days of waiting around for luggage and making way too many
phone calls to Air New Zealand baggage services, Mat Jackson's equipment finally
made it to Queenstown. Ralph and Mat were able to spend the day at
Treble Cone where snow conditions were thin and less than ideal. We
spent they day shredding around the terrain they had open and taking
in New Zealand’s spectacular scenery. We hope you enjoy this little
taste of winter. Even though the snow wasn’t great we still laughed
our way though the day and smiled at the fact we were sliding on snow
again.

Patagonian Summer by Miles Clark

I've been down here in Bariloche, Argentina for two weeks now.  In that time I've been fully reminded why I love this place so much.  The people are cooler than we could ever hope to be in the US, the skiing is ridiculous, and the views are basically extraterrestrial. 

During my first week here myself and two other guides were in charge of training all the SASS coaches in avalanche, medical, and guiding protocol.  The training went well and once the campers came, we went through similar training with them as well.  Since everyone has been dialed in, I've been able to ski what I want and push it a bit.  The Patagonian winter has been helping us out a ton with about 6 inches of snow every couple days.  Right now, we are getting our first big snow cycle and I'm super anxious to get up to the mountain and witness it's transformation.  We already have a deeper snowpack than we ever did last year which sends my mind reeling into a fantasy world where un-doable cliffs and lines become commonplace reality.

Mat Jackson and myself, Ralph Backstrom, are in New Zealand where we'll be competing in the World Heli Challenge, as well as having a little adventure.  After getting our bags checked, for only a $20 tip, when we were expecting to be paying nearly $400, we thought the flights would be smooth sailing.  WRONG!!!  Our SFO to LAX flight was delayed 2 hours immediately after we arrived to the gate.  Not a problem, it just shrunk our 3 hour layover in LAX to a 1 hour layover in LAX, with 2 hours to kill in SFO.  The flight apparently boarded a bit earlier than we expected it to, and left without us (it was still connected to the gate, but they wouldn't let us on!).  So we ran to the next flight, that was already boarding, and got on, knowing that our 1 hour layover had shrunk even more.  

Luckily, between our sprint to the next gate and our landing in LAX, I lost my boarding pass for our next flight.  Instead of sprinting from the domestic terminal in LA to the international terminal and waiting in the long security line, we sprinted to the ticketing desk in the international terminal, got a new boarding pass printed, and then were escorted through security!  

Twelve to thirteen hours later we arrived in Auckland, without Mat's ski bag.  This put a big damper on our plans to hit the slopes in Temple Basin the next couple days before driving down the West Coast of the South island and surfing a bit.  Instead, we've been tethered to Christchurch, where Mat has been making more than 5 phone calls each day to hear that there is no record of his bag anywhere.  The swell has been pretty small, so we've been enjoying the scenery and trying to find waves, hoping Mat's bag shows up.  Here are a few pictures from the trip thus far.

WANDERLUST

The biggest event in Squaw Valley this summer is the music, yoga and nature festivel known as Wanderlust. The official Wanderlust website tells us "WANDERLUST IS A ONE-OF-A-KIND YOGA RETREAT & MUSIC FESTIVAL IN A SETTING OF GREAT NATURAL BEAUTY. JULY 29 - AUGUST 1 AT SQUAW VALLEY USA IN NORTH LAKE TAHOE, CA."

Unlike last summers high camp event, this years festival will be held in the OVI parking lot which is not nearly as cool. Musical highlights for the 2010 festivel will be Moby, Brazilian Girls, Pretty Lights and many, many more.

"This mini-documentary explores the interaction between yoga and live music at the 2009 Wanderlust Festival. Features interviews with John Friend, Shiva Rea, Andrew Bird, Amanda Palmer, Elena Brower, Schuyler Grant, Doug Swenson and many more."

More info on the Wanderlust Festival, including the 2010 lineup, is available at www.wanderlustfestival.com.

Photos by Miles Clark from Patagonia, 2010.

Come down and ski with us at South American Snow Sessions! (www.sasnow.com) It is already on down here! I just dug a pit that had over 4 meters of snow!

Cerro Putiagado

Lake Nahuel Huapi, Bariloche, Argentina

Mt. Tronodor

15 year old Squaw local, Nico Monforte, is taking a shot at the big time by trying to lockdown the TGR Grom Contest to be a star in next years TGR movie. Check out his clip from Truancy Productions and make sure you vote for one of the raddest dudes in Squaw.

"Rider: Nico Monforte Filmed By: Truancy Productions My name is Nico. I ski at Squaw Valley. I'm 15 years old. I race, ski a little park, and ski big mountain. Skiing is my passion."

Freeride World Tour Tram Face 2010 from UnofficialSquaw on Vimeo.

Here are some of the highlights from the Freeride World Tour stop in Squaw Valley USA.

World Freeride Tour Highlights from UnofficialSquaw on Vimeo.

Unofficial Video Guy Jeff Wright has been following around JT Holmes and Timy Dutton as they compete on the World Freeride Tour. Here is a look at some of the action he has captured from the first two events.

This is footage from the last two days of skiing at Squaw Valley.  The big storm allowed Squaw Valley locals to send it big and have fun getting face shots.  Hopefully it's not over yet!  Enjoy.

Revelstoke Comp Highlights video from UnofficialSquaw on Vimeo.

Take a look at our footage from Day 1 and Day 2 of the Canadian Freeskiing Championships up in Revelstoke, BC Canada from this past weekend.  It was a great weekend for us as we got to document Blaster Arne Backstrom win big and take home the Sick Bird Award.  All the competitors went large and skied very impressively.  Big thanks to Revelstoke Mountain Resort, Mountain Sports International and everyone else that made the comp fun and successful.

Silver Peak is one of the peaks across the valley from KT-22 and Red Dog, which makes it a perfect destination for an afternoon tour after getting loads of vert in on KT in the morning. This is exactly what I did yesterday. I met up with J. Jones and his friend Travis a bit after lunch time, and we began skinning out of the OVI parking lot.

Alaska In December. from UnofficialSquaw on Vimeo.

turn on HD and watch it in full screen!

A few weeks back the Unofficial Crew headed up to Juneau, Alaska with Kevin Quinn and Jason Mack of Points North Heli. The whole trip worked out really well skiing and filming wise. Here is a look at some of the action.

Riders: Timmy Dutton, John Lange, Mattias Sullivan, Ralph Backstrom and Arne Backstrom

Flimers: Nik Sullivan, Greg Martin and Tim Konrad

Guides: Kevin Quinn and Jason Mack

Trestle Peak Pillows from Adam Ruscitto on Vimeo.

Here is some really great skiing up on the trestle in Tahoe. Squaw locals, Jon Rockwood and Adam Ruscitto slaying pillow lines. Very cool!!!!! Wish I was there to film it. Nice Work Guys!

Sunrise Powder! from Adam Ruscitto on Vimeo.

So, Rockwood and I (Adam Ruscitto) got out for a few sunrise missions this week and lucked out skiing some really good snow, and seeing spectacular sunrises. It was really fucking cold though! Anyhow, we shot some video, and I had the helmet cam on for all the runs. We put together a short clip of the adventure. Nothing special, but a few good early season Tahoe Pow shots. We are by no means cinematographers, but we'll get better.