Skiers and snowboarders of Stevens Pass showed up en masse to pitch in and clean the resort on a sunny day. The resort pays just enough full timers to clean around the base of the mountain, so they ask suckers, er volunteers, to come in and clean up the mountain in exchange for an afternoon of ‘hiking’ and a free meal. In a few short hours they managed to find a broken iPhone, a broken pipe, a tire and several hundred pounds of cans and bottles.

The Olympic Committee finally realized that there are loads of money in skiing and snowboarding slopestyle, and not wanting ESPN to get all the revenue with the X-Games, they’ve decided to include the sports in the upcoming Olympics in Russian. The committee still isn’t sure if sport climbing is marketable enough, but they’ll let us know in time for the 2020 games, wherever those are held. Hey, maybe this means Jonny Moseley will get an announcing job besides the MTV Real World vs Road Rules challenge.

Despite the bleak economic outlook of last year the piles of snow helped create one of the most financially successful ski seasons of all time. Not only were ski resorts selling more lift tickets than they ever have, but shops were stacking skis like cordwood into the backs of family minivans. The more skiers the better. The more people interested in outdoor sports in general the better - it means that many more advocates for protecting wilderness. One of the biggest areas of growth continues to be backcountry skiing, with more people trading the lift lines and mid-mountain lodges for solitude and powder.

Photo by Tim Zimmerman

The Brain Farm crew that shot The Art of Flight with Travis Rice descended upon the now-closed Aspen resort to build a 90-foot kicker and shoot a private park and pipe session this week. ESPN sent a photographer over to get some shots of the crazy gear Brain Farm has at their disposal - Snowcat truck with a crane and carbon fiber encased cameras? Why not. If you’re sick of watching The Art of Flight trailer over and over, check out the Brain Farm channel on YouTube.

Anthony, when the Recording Industry Association of America calls you about your unlicensed use of Clapton in this video, you’re going to wish you’d stayed in the treewell. This video serves as a nice reminder of how serious treewells can be, and also how we all go through an Eric Clapton phase.

Thanks Dave