The Verteblog

Polartec Scufoneda 2010

Nate — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:28:34 +0000

Last week I was lucky enough to attend the Polartec Scufoneda Telemark Festival in the Dolomites near Moena, Italy. I went under the guise of work but it really was way too much fun to call it that.

Polartec has sponsored the event for the past 3 years and plans to ramp it up next year – so mark your calendar now – it’s an amazing event.

For a week each year a crew of tele skiers from around the world convene to ski tour, enjoy the local food and culture, and generally have a great time. Everyone there was super friendly and supportive – no egos, no pressure.

Skinning up – descended the other side in a white-out. 10 turns, regroup, count heads, 10 turns…

Dan Abrams and Eben Mond of Fly Low

Scufons Village Base Camp – Freeride Course in Background on Col Margherita

Nice to be the sponsor – got to take a few laps on the edge of the freeride comp course – found the soft snow in the shady, North facing gulleys:

Eben Mond launching off the roof of the refuge at Alpe Pampeago:

I’m sure you think you’ve seen this dance before – but hold out for about 1:12+ – whoa!

Every direction you look the mountain views are insane.

Backbone CO visits Backbone Jackson Hole

Mavis — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:04:48 +0000

Ok, not an complete office exchange, but this past week Jonathan, Kara & I headed north to visit our WY co-workers.

We embraced the tourist roll for a little on-mountain, around-n-about town, & backcountry fun:

, , ,
We did of course spend quite a few hours at the sister office…noting some differences:

1. we may have a kegorator & ping pong table, but they have:

and:
,
This call out may not be obvious, allow me to clarify: solo office space complete with gnome collections & donuts daily (already consumed, but size described by Mike’s hand gesture)

Thanks for a fabulous week BBM-JH!

Searching for Press Coverage

jonathangeorger — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:50:41 +0000

Too often we see brands dominate the search engine results with a highly optimized website, only to fall short with a lackluster media center component to their website. [To clarify, a website's media center is where a brand can display new product releases, innovative designs and recent press.] So why does this matter? As journalists/bloggers become more fluent with the social web and take advantage of its immediacy, they are more open to finding fresh content to help their story. Identical to consumers, journalists/bloggers continue to take advantage of search engines to start their research for content and leads. When that is tapped out, they turn to social media searches (think Twitter Search) to find quotes and comments left behind from users on social networks. The key takeaway is, if brands want to increase their chance to earn more media coverage, they should have the latest news readily available in a media center or via blog – wherever the announcements are made. Tools like PitchEngine and Wordpress offer content management systems that allow brands to upload content at any given moment – we use both! So don’t let your media center hold you back.

Check out this video of Social Media/PR pro Lee Odden explain the importance of SEO/Social Media to connect with journalists.

Norway-1, US-0

Sarah — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:39:11 +0000

Usually I would say that the US Ski Team is the best in the world and blah blah blah… but in this case, there is just no question, Norwegians rule. It’s nice to see athletes of this caliber relax a little… or a lot. Not sure how much Aquavit it took to get these guys to do this, but all I have to say is KUDOS boys, KUDOS.

And the French team responds…

The State of the Internet

Sarah — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:40:24 +0000

Here is a set of staggering factoids summarizing the state of the internet. The amount at which the web has changed even in the last year still baffles me but the bigger question as you watch these stats roll is.. so what is next?

Hot Tub Time Machine

Ian — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:36:33 +0000

If you’ve been watching the Olympics coverage (if you can call it that) on NBC, you might have seen the previews for Hot Tub Time Machine. Almost two years ago we got a call from a production assistant at MGM asking permission to use vintage Kästle skis in the movie. At the time, we could hardly believe this was a real movie, but the paperwork looked legit and there were some big names associated with the film (John Cusack, Chevy Chase)…so what the hell, right?

Fast forward (or time travel in this case) to 2010 and the movie hits theaters on March 26.

Despite the premise, this actually looks pretty damn funny. “Twitagra?” Awesome.

A bulk of the movie apparently takes place in an 80’s ski resort and the trailer includes some gratuitous shots of neon one-piece suits. At the least we’re hoping for a few shots of some sweet retro Kästle skis. In a dream scenario, we’ll see a Lane Meyer-esque ski scene down the K12. “Go that way really fast. If something gets in your way…turn.”

In related movie news, we were also just contacted by a producer looking for gear to use on the set of 127 Hours, a movie about Aaron Ralston starring James Franco….not sure what to think of that one.

Stream of social/PR/media consciousness

Penn — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:20:42 +0000

Backbone 2010 goes something like this so far:

Ski Day, conference calls, NYC, FAM trip, FB and mobile apps, Vail, Crested Butte, ice climbing, Steamboat, avy class, Beaver Creek, Fort Collins, 1% iTunes, Shot Show, Monarch Cat Skiing, truck crash (walk away), OR, Dawn Patrol, dog commute, SIA, Bluebird, On-Snow, Rando Race, ISPO, hut trip, Olympics, Clients in Town, 30″ new, pow ski, PowderWeek, ski tests, Birkebeiner, Telemakuri, Scufoneda, Aspen entertain, Big Lepowski.

if you have extra time to burn try reading above to this tune…REM End of the World As We Know It.

And we feel fine

Vail? Pfft. The Travelocity Roaming Gnome knows what’s up.

Fielding — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 03:59:24 +0000

This past Saturday evening, while “Digital” Dave Amirault and I were sipping cocktails and putting out the vibe at the Sky, we had the pleasure of running into the coolest corporate identity around… the Travelocity Roaming Gnome! It was good to see the legendary dwarfish creature in Aspen after weeks of convincing him not to go to Vail.

Travelocity Roaming Gnome

Most Likely the Only Time We’ll Post Nude Pictures

Hillary — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:29:14 +0000

Last Wednesday Spyder hosted a party for the media to unveil the new Slippery race suit that is being worn by all American and Canadian Alpine Racers during the Olympics. The suit was on display and journalists stopped by to ask questions about the suit and enjoy some of the entertainment that Spyder had arranged for the evening.

Outside the entrance there was an ice sculptor:

And inside there was a live model who was painted to match the exact graphics of the suit.

The local artist who did the painting said that Spyder is not her typical client. “I usually end up painting lots of liquor logos on girls for parties,” she said. For the daytime event the girl wore a bikini top to promote a more family-friendly atmosphere:

Turns out Spyder is pretty on-trend with their choice of entertainment. This year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue featured the following model in a painted on bikini in a move to skirt around their no-nudity policy:

And at least we were more tasteful than Red Bull:

Crazy Brits … or are they?

Megan — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:49:54 +0000

A new off-season training technique or just a fun day at the pool?