Kootenay Coldsmoke Powder Fest Update

February 22-25 2008

The birth of the Kootenay Cold Smoke Powder Festival grew from the backcountry skier’s obsession with choking on powder snow. The stars are again aligning in Nelson B.C’s Whitewater Resort, the wholesome haven of all things blissful. Snow and psyche are rolling in early to the West Kootenays, setting up the sport surface, for this second annual celebration of backcountry glisse. In a nutshell the event is centered around; workshops of backcountry skiing and snowboarding clinics, competitions; in ski mountaineering, an organic slopestyle and telemark slalom…then the nightcaps…socials/films/images/tunes mixed in with lots of great food, beer and scenery.

The vision is to provide a grass-roots gathering where both experienced and debutant backcountry skiers and snowboarders can celebrate the culture of backcountry pursuits amongst breathtaking scenery and world renowned snow. In addition to seasoned veterans, this event will also draw “keen to be” backcountry skiers and snowboarders who want to give off-piste adventures a try.

We have a full slate this year, with the focal point of the festival being clinics. Clinics for telemark skiers, alpine tourers, backcountry snowboarders, and avalanche awareness aficionados. Programs on snow study, terrain assessment, route finding, or skiing/snowboarding skills improvement.

You can’t have a festival without some comps! With the organizational expertise similar to that of an Olympic organizing committee, we are hosting a ski mountaineering rally, a backcountry slopestyle, avalanche beacon Olympics and the Tele Cup!! There is something for everyone. Don’t let the descriptions below scare you away. We will have categories from beginner to advanced, and some events will have a master’s category, for the wise among us.

The aerobically disposed will go head to head in the ROAM Randonee Rally. A ski mountaineering comp, in which we will see these skiing thoroughbreds ascend and descend through the scottishness, traveling up to 5000 vertical feet total in a skiers version of the pony express.

The Valhalla Pure Powderkeg Booter Slopestyle will feature a timed and judged event that will take athletes up a short 100 foot climb, then descend through an out of bounds run with natural kickers and features. Huckers will be judged on their faculties of smooooooth, vision, and descending prowess.

The Backcountry Access Avalanche Beacon Olympics is likened to the training a SWAT team member. Contestants will make use of the buried beacons pulsing away in the Beacon Basin. Prizes will be awarded to those who thread the gauntlet of safety finding the buried beacons in the shortest amount of time.

Last but not least, is the acclaimed Gerick’s Telecup. Adrenalin Telemarking junkies will court disaster through a maze of slalom gates in this pro style slalom, complete with jumps!

Other mainstays of the Festival are all in the whip-ups. Friday night’s Cold Smoke Opener, held at the Nelson Rod and Gun club, is morphing into more of an “off piste” international film festival, and these films are off the beaten track for sure. Films from Germany, Austria, France, and of course our back yard cinematographic jedis, like Bill Heath, are all in the plot. On Saturday night the Nelson Rod and Gun club will again host the Kootenay Cold Smoke Buff-eh and Cold Shot Foto Face-off, ending the night with the homegrown groovin’ vibes of Arthur Funkarelli. Festival participants will fuel the furnace with this Nelson feast fit for kings, then the Kootenay Mountain Cold Shot Foto Faceoff begins. We will profile this, first of its kind, winter sports photography contest for the Kootenays. Five photographers and their chosen athletes have been shooting for the four days leading up to Face – Off. They will then compile the ultimate slide shows from their images, set them to music, and dueling pictures begins. Cash and gear prizes for the judged best and people’s choice award are up for grabs. Also note we have a wild card spot! If you are interested in being considered for the Wild Card spot send a DVD with a 3-5 minute slide show of your best images (set to music). We are going to choose the best submission for the Wild Card Spot. Deadline for Submissions is January 15th 2008.

Complete festival packages and info. on the Cold Shot Foto Face-off are available on-line at www.coldsmokepowderfest.com or at the Whitewater Downtown office. Also, you can buy access to parts of the festival (if you can’t make the whole thing) through the Whitewater office downtown.

Details:

http://mountaingear.com/coldsmoke/

or visit:

WHITEWATER SKI & WINTER RESORT
http://www.skiwhitewater.com/
513 Victoria Street
Nelson, BC
Canada, V1L 4K7
250-354-4944

posted by KMC Magazine at 12:40 PM 34 comments

The Booty Cometh

We're getting ready for our fourth Annual Backyard Booty multimedia at the Capitol Theatre in Nelson BC this coming Friday, December 7th. It's a real beauty night. Wicked slideshows, funny film shorts, teasers, spoken word and the infamous Backyard Booty storytelling competition. By all accounts it's going to sell out again this year so get your tickets soon eh. If you miss it, or aren't in our neck of the woods. Make your way up to Whistler January 11th. We're hosting a "Best of the Backyard Booty" at My Millenium Theatre. That's going to be a real rager. Tickets available at Ticketmaster. See you at the show.

Kootenay Mountain Culture Magazine, so thick you can open beers with it eh!

MS

posted by KMC Magazine at 11:03 AM 0 comments