Category Archives: Skiing/Snowboarding

Jun11

Freedom in a Wheelchair with Josh Dueck

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Kim Kircher

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Imagine crashing off a ski jump and waking up paralyzed. Paralympian Josh Dueck lived through that nightmare and emerged a better man. Through hope borrowed from the words of his doctor, Josh knew that even though he’d be confined to a wheelchair for life, he didn’t have to give up skiing.

Josh Dueck

Instead he took to sit-skiing, and quickly become a dominant force in adaptive skiing. He recently returned to jumping, and landed the first ever backflip on a sit-ski. But Josh’s positivity and message of hope are even more inspiring than his amazing feats.

At first, simply getting out of bed was a struggle that required several breaks. Then, little by little, Josh dreamed of “rocking a sit ski” as his doctor promised that he would. Josh kindled that flame of hope until he would join the Canadian Ski Team in Vancouver and win a silver medal in the men’s slalom sit-ski event.

Like Josh before his accident, I too have feared the ultimate loss. What if I lost the use of my legs? What if I couldn’t ski anymore? Through a dark hole of fear and loss, Josh Dueck has emerged as an inspiration. He was recently named National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year in skiing, and will join the Canadian Ski Team in Sochi. Through all of this, Josh has stayed open to his struggle, been honest about his emotions and emerged as a beacon of light for others to follow. I’m not sure that if I suffered the same accident I could return with such hope. That’s the beauty of putting ourselves out there–because it is often on the edge that we can glimpse our truest selves. And Josh Dueck’s true self has proven to be more golden than any medal.

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Join us this week on The Edge Radio as Josh talks about how he came back from his injury to inspire the world. The show airs at 8 a.m. pacific Wednesday morning.

Getting GNAR With Robb Gaffney (kimkircher.com)
Ingrid Backstrom: Girl on Fire (kimkircher.com)
Adventurers of the Year in Their Own Words (Vote for the People’s Choice!) (adventureblog.nationalgeographic.com)

May16

Chinook Pass Opens Tomorrow

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Kim Kircher

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The WSDOT recently posted an update on Chinook Pass opening progress. Crews have been hard at work clearing the road and are planning to open at 10 a.m. tomorrow May 17th, “weather and conditions permitting.” If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to open this highway every year, check out the WSDOT blog for a little education on the process. First the avalanche crew use explosives to create slides, hopefully knocking as much snow as possible off the slopes above the road. Then the road crew must begin clearing the highway with up to forty feet of snow piled on top of it. As described on the WSDOT site, it’s much like peeling back an onion one layer at a time. Check out the video for more details and what it takes to get the highway open. I, for one, am looking forward to a little touring before all the snow melts.

May13

Do We Have An Adventure Gene?

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Kim Kircher

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Cynthia Thomson testing her theories on Mont Blanc

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Why do some athletes reach for the extreme while others enjoy safer, less thrilling pursuits? Is it nature, nurture or a combination of both? Ask most world-class extreme athletes and they’ll tell you some version of the same story. They’d always loved getting close to the edge, pushing themselves to their limits even as young children, driving their parents sick with worry. Once introduced to their chosen sport, they followed it passionately, stopping at nothing to pursue their dreams.

Do they possess an “adventure gene” driving them forward or is there something else going on? University of British Columbia PhD Cynthia Thomson set out to discover just what made these athletes tick. Her recent study of 500 skiers found surprising results. Turns out action sports athletes, like skiers, take up dopamine—one of the brain chemicals associated with reward—in a very different way. Dopamine, along with it’s sister reward drugs seratonin and norepinephrine, keep us humans on the path to seek rewards by doling out the good feelings associated with these chemicals. Ski a double black diamond run, get a hit of dopamine. Give a speech in front of a large crowd, get some seratonin. The brain wants us to push ourselves to be our best. Incidentally, this is the very same high drug users are seeking, but in an ironic twist, the more one uses drugs, the less thrill the body receives each time. Natural highs, on the other hand, act differently.

Thomson found that natural highs, however, are not the same for everyone. Those that seek more thrills, might actually be getting a smaller high every time, thereby skiing the extremes in order to get the same reward others would get on the bunny slopes. Thomson found that the dopamine receptor DRD4 has a variant in the -521 C/T polymorphism. Those with this variant tend to be sensation seekers. Some are even calling this gene variant the “adventure gene.” Thomson claims, however, that thrill seeking is a polygenic activity, or one that brings several genes into play. Furthermore, one’s upbringing can have a major impact on their choice of sport. I was raised in a skiing family (thank God); but had my parent’s been bowlers, I may have followed their path.

This week on The Edge, I’m talking to Dr. Thomson about skiing, sensation seeking and the “adventure gene.” Don’t miss this show, Wednesday at 8 a.m. Pacific, when Dr. Thomson explains the implications of this ground-breaking research.

May10

High-Five Report: Shirley Sundt

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Kim Kircher

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Shirley Sundt is my hero. She came to skiing later in life, but once she started, she never stopped. Now she’s in her 80′s, has battled cancer three times, and most recently she wouldn’t stop for chemo to save her last breast because she’d already bought her season’s pass. Instead, she told the doctor to, “just lop it off.” She didn’t want to miss a season at Crystal Mountain.

I recently wrote a story about Shirley for Powder Magazine. Check it out here, and see if you don’t just feel a little more inspired. I dare you.

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May6

Getting GNAR With Robb Gaffney

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Kim Kircher

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Robb Gaffney dropping in

Imagine telling a professional athlete, “I can’t believe you’re a pro. I’m so much better than you.” That’s exactly what the game of G.N.A.R., played at ski areas around the West, encourages participants to do. Meant to showcase the good-natured part of the sport of skiing, G.N.A.R points can be scored anytime, anywhere.

In 2003, Robb Gaffney wrote the book “Squallywood“, a guidebook to the most exposed lines at Squaw Valley. Legendary skier Shane McConkey added the chapter “G.N.A.R”, which stands for Gaffney’s Numeric Assessment of Radness, poking fun at those on the slopes taking themselves a bit too seriously.

Skiing certain lines at Squaw, where the game originated, score a certain number of points. But there are ways to improve the score. You get extra credit for skiing a difficult line while also talking to your mom on your cell phone. If you really want to up the fear factor a notch, try skiing the line BN, short for Butt Naked. That provides an extra 5,000 points for men and 10,000 points for women. (I suppose that extra 5,000 points is a either a consideration of how we women actually have more to show or perhaps a way of encouraging us to show it off more often.)

In fact, rumor has it that a certain female ski patroller scored 10,000 G.N.A.R. points for an after-hours naked ski run at Crystal Mountain recently. She even tried to call her mom on her cell phone at the same time, but her mom didn’t answer. Certainly leaving a message for your mom while skiing Discovery Chair butt naked deserves a few extra credit points. But I digress.

Robb Gaffney topping out

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Robb Gaffney takes a look

Robb Gaffney is no stranger to extreme skiing. He lives with his wife Andrea and two children in Tahoe City and works as a psychiatrist in Squaw Valley. Starting in 1990, and continuing through medical school and residency, Robb helped his brother Scott produce numerous ski films including the most recent and probably the most popular, “G.N.A.R. The Movie“. He skied in most of his brother’s movies and has had several segments in Matchstick Productions films.

Currently Robb’s interest lies in backcountry skiing all over the Sierra Nevada and sharing some of these excursions with his kids. He has also founded a project called Sportgevity, with the goal of increasing the lifespans and physical health of athletes in action and mainstream sports.

This week on The Edge Radio, Gaffney will talk to us about playing the game of G.N.A.R, the late McConkey and how to get close enough to the edge without going over it. So often big skiing has been filled with big egos and bigger checkbooks. But Robb Gaffney reminds us of our roots. Sometimes the biggest risk is to throw away the rules and just have fun. Robb Gaffney is the man that knows how to do that.

Apr29

Ingrid Backstrom: Girl on Fire

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Kim Kircher

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Ingrid Backstrom in Chamonix

Ingrid Backstrom is one of the most influential skiers in the world. But you would never know it if you met her.

Kind, humble and exploding with integrity, Ingrid never boasts or brags.

In fact, if you ran into her at the bar after a day on the slopes, you’d never know she probably spent the day ripping the biggest, gnarliest lines on the hill.

Her professional ski career started unassumingly. After ski bumming for a year out of college, Ingrid entered a freeskiing contest at Kirkwood, and placed a very respectable third place. She realized people were actually getting paid to ski, and she wanted to be a part of it.

Her big break came in 2003 when she filmed Yearbook, a Matchstick Productions movie, which launched her career into the stratosphere. Since then, Ingrid has been on a tear, slashing huge lines, appearing in countless ski movies and raking in the awards. At the 2013 Powder Magazine Awards, Ingrid won her 8th Reader Poll award. She has also taken the Best Female Performance Award 6 times, and, in 2005, took away the Breakthrough Performance award, an honor most often given to a man.

Don’t miss my guest on The Edge Radio this week, Ingrid Backstrom, as we talk about big mountain skiing, pushing the edge and the ingredients of a perfect day. Her skiing defies logic, and her low-key attitude demonstrates her humility and grace. Tune in Wednesday May 1st on The Edge.

Apr22

The Mind of a Downhill Racer: Scott Macartney

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Kim Kircher

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Scott Macartney spent 10 years racing World Cup speed events on the US Ski Team. To understand what motivates someone like Scott, you must first understand the mind of a Downhiller. Downhill racers ski in excess of 90 mph, on slopes as steep as 40 degrees, over conditions as slick as an ice-skating rink.

The difference between winning a World Cup Downhill and coming in 20^th place is so microthin it can be only .08 of a second.

Scott Macartney laying it out in Val Gardena

Macartney grew up skiing at the Crystal Mountain, where his parents were members of the volunteer ski patrol.

During his twelve-year tenure on the National Team, he also attended Dartmouth and earned a degree in Economics.

Macartney competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City as well as the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino. He had two World Cup Podium finishes., one in Super-G in Garmisch, Germany and one in Downhill in Val Gardena, Italy.

On his 30th birthday in 2008, Macartney competed in the Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbühel, Austria. The second racer on the course, he had an excellent run going until he suffered a spectacular fall just five seconds from the finish line. After descending a high-speed section and reaching a speed of 87.7 mph Macartney was challenging for a top ten finish. At the final jump he was twisted left while airborne and could not recover. During the high-speed crash he impacted hard on his right side; his skis released, as did his protective helmet after a direct impact with the icy course.

Macartney recovered from his injuries and was named to the “A Team” of the U.S. Ski Team for the 2008-09 World Cup season, before he retired in 2010.

The sport of dowhnhill racing requires supreme physical conditioning, razor sharp skis and a willingness to put it all on the line. Scott knows what it takes to stand on a World Cup podium: above all else, it takes absolute confidence. Listen to my interview with Scott Macartney on The Edge Radio this Wednesday April 24th at 8AM Pacific.

Apr5

Skiiing Waves and Kayaking in the Snow

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Kim Kircher

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Still doing just one sport at a time? How 2012 of you. These days, its all about hybridizing your sports. Like to ski when it’s cold, and surf when it’s warm? Why not ski a wave like Chuck Patterson? Or perhaps you prefer your waves in rivers. Why go snow kayaking like Miles Daisher. Check out these two videos and the watch how the new edge get cut away.

Showtime Chuck Patterson skiing Jaws.