There is a reason why skiers are pitilessly obsessed with Alaska. That reason, well it's sort of hard to explain. Sure I could throw out the typical skiing superlatives like "steep, spiny, perfect pow" and so on and so forth. But none of the words even come close to emoting the feeling of skiing down an Alaskan face in perfect conditions. How do I know this? Well, Henrik Windstedt and I just so happened to have three of the some of the most perfect days you could ever ask for in Alaska. I still can't think of any way to accurately capture the feelings from those days out in the Alaskan backcountry. All I know is that there were lots of "Best Ever" terms being thrown around on this trip.

So without further adieu, here are some pics, they'll tell the story much better than I can because we all know that photos are worth way more in lexical expressions.

Cheers, Cody

Full AK Photo Gallery

PS - keep checking back in at The Ski Life for all of my updates throughout the winter

If you have been locked in a closet for the past few months and missed the progression in skiing that happened at the X-games in Aspen, Colorado this season, well… let’s just say you missed one of the biggest throw downs I’ve ever seen, and after being in this game for over two decades, that’s saying a lot. The week following that jaw dropping exhibition in Aspen, I found myself traveling to the resort of Portes Du Soliel with X-games double-gold winner Bobby Brown (the first ever, might I add), Aussie Russ Henshaw, MSP staple for as many years as I can remember, Rory Bushfield, cinematographer Dustin Lindgren, and photographer Flip McCririck.

With the stress and hectic competition schedule behind Bobby and Russ, we began the four-day battle to get across the pond. I say battle because with one of the biggest snowstorms to hit the entire east coast in years, it put more than one monkey wrench in the machine for the crew. By the time the trip was over, the crew of six would dwindle down to three that made it to Europe together. Leaving Russ, photographer Flip McCririck and Bushy fending for themselves and living the “planes, trains and automobiles” cliché to find their way to our final destination. Add to this nightmare, Bobby’s skis made it two days late, about the time Russ and Bushy finally made it.

If you’ve never been skiing in Europe, let me just say that skiing in the Alps is an experience you will never forget. The mountains are huge – dwarfing anything you have skied in North America. Our host mountain for the three weeks, Portes Du Soleil, is one of the biggest I’ve ever been to. Fourteen different resorts make up the resort that sits on the boarder of Switzerland and France, allowing you to ski back and forth between countries. It’s a cool experience that is a must on your next (or first) trip to the Alps.

Our main goal in Portes Du Soleil was to hit a massive jump that the park crew built for us. Upon our first look at the jump during the build, it was huge much to the liking of our crew. But the finishing touches were a few days away, leaving us with some time to check out the resort and head into the backcountry to build some kickers. This would mark the first trip where Bobby and Russ could go focus on building in the backcountry. Both were excited for the experience and having a veteran like Rory along proved to be helpful for the two self proclaimed “park rats”.

With some of the trickiest weather I’ve seen in the Alps in a long while, ranging from rain, snow, wind, and clouds, we certainly had our work cut out for us. Between sunny breaks we would jam out and build features and then wait for that moment to capture some action with one of the most amazing backdrops that’s been shot.

The weather never really cooperated fully making it hard to get on the big jump for more than one afternoon. But that one sunny moment (albeit windy as hell!) let the crew session pretty hard. With a large Euro crowd gathering around the jump (and sometimes skiing right through the in-run and landing), the boys got to throw down some of the tricks that put them on podiums around the globe. Good stuff for sure. Oh, and one last moment of craziness – if you’ve been watching MSP films over the years, you know some of the antics of Rory Bushfield “off” snow. Our trip provided another great Bushy moment. During one of our down days, we headed to the Chillion castle in the town of Monteux for some “Bushy antics”. This trip will once again prove to be a fruitful one and a ton of fun, I wont get too into it, but you can see from the photo it was fun for Bushy too.

I want to thank Andrea from Tracks European Tours, Ivan and the park crew from PdS and Vero from Hotel L’Etable for all the love they provided for the MSP gang.


~Reska

Be sure to check the full PHOTO GALLERY from the trip - it is epic!

The boys are still having a great time in the Niseko region in Japan. They've been shooting some big lines along with building some roadside jumps. Jacob checks in from the field with a report from their roadside antics on Friday.

Be sure to check out Jacob's latest Blog entry along with some quick video of their day.

MSP Gets Buried by Selkirk Powder

In the first part of January 2010, the MSP crew of Dustin Lindgren and Murray Wais filmed skiers Eric Hjorleifson and Mark Abma shredding some of the deepest and driest Selkirk powder ever captured on film. “This was the best trip of my MSP career!” exclaimed MSP cine Dustin Lindgren after filming an exceptionally deep day. Hoji and Abma did what they do best and the cameras were constantly whirring getting the job done. The boys picked up where they left off spinning off everything in sight and charging deep pillows. The trip was all shot and skied on touring equipment. Being in the mountains without helis or sleds reminded the crew that you don’t need lifts, sleds or helis to have fun - all you really need are skis, mountains and snow. Fetching your own water every day and starting your own fire was also a reminder on how little resources we all really need. It gave us all a greater appreciation for running water, electricity and heat, but more importantly it reminded us to try not to waste these things in our daily lives. Ian Coble was there to get the still photos. Special thanks to Golden Alpine Holidays for providing amazing accommodations and terrain. We are stoked to share this amazing footage with the world.

Check out the photos HERE

January 22nd, 2010


After shooting for a few days during the last storm, getting sleds stuck in the deep snow and big holes, we finally had a little window of sun to get out there and get some shots. There was an awesome crew around including Sean Pettit, Rory Bushfield, Hugo Harrisson, Guilliaume Tessier and Nate Nash sledding around Rutherford Valley. Finally we not only saw the sun but it was good stable snow and you could sled anywhere. Everyone had some good lines and a good session for January. Can't wait for more...

~Heimer

check out the full gallery from the quick trip HERE

check out another full gallery courtesy of Bryn Hughes HERE

Sean Pettit and Hugo Harrisson got some of this season's early goods up in the Whistler Backcountry. Bryn Hughes accompanied the Production Team out in the field and snapped some photos of their pow hunting mission. As you can see in the PHOTO GALLERY - they slayed!

Keep checking back in with MSP - we've got two crews on the road right now crushing it in Canada - meters and meters of snow is the word!

On Saturday October 3, 2009 we set up an interview station outside the Squaw Valley premiere of "In Deep." Outside in the impending snow storm we interviewed movie goers about what Shane McConkey meant to them. The crowd response was stellar as many people gave emotional interviews about what Shane McConkey.
for more photos Click Here