G3 2011 Skigraphiks

The snow is coming, we can feel it! We can see the snow line dropping down everyday!!!!! How Exciting!!!! It's also time to shop for new winter gear maybe even a new pair of skis! Who has never dreamt about designing their own skis?!? Here's an opportunity!

Last week, G3 Launched their 3rd annual Skigraphik contest.

You can also post your vote for your favorite skis if you are not much of an artist. Here's the leading design of the first round by Ben Jepson!

Following is the press release about the contest! Find all the details on the G3 Website

http://www.g3skigraphiks.com/

Good luck to all contestants!

"This ski season, G3, manufacturer of industry-leading gear for backcountry and sidecountry

skiing, will give skiers not one but four chances to see their graphics atop a pair of limited-

edition G3 skis. And, down the road, one graphic may be incorporated into the G3 line moving

forward.

Launching its 2011 Skigraphiks Contest this week, G3 will run four separate contests in concert

with four partners - online retailers Backcountry.com, MountainGear.com and BentGate.com,

as well as Backcountry Magazine online. Here’s how it works: Each month, skiers can submit

their designs at www.g3skigraphiks.com, the public gets to vote on them, and the winner each

month will get a pair of G3 skis with their graphic on the topsheet – inside of 90 days.

In addition, during the first three months, the skis will be available on a limited basis to the

public. Each online retailer affiliated with each respective month’s contest will take pre-orders

for that particular limited-edition ski during the two weeks immediately after a winner is

named. The skis will be delivered to anyone who buys it within 30 days of the close of ordering.

“When you boil it down, skiing is all about fun, and skis are fun, so we thought it was a natural

evolution to see how skiers could take the fun to the next level by spicing things up with

graphics from skiers, who we think are generally fairly creative types,” said Oliver Steffen,

President of G3. “And there’s an immediate gratification to this contest in that people don’t

have to wait till next ski season to see the results – the winners will be able to ski on their

creations this winter season.”

This is the third year of G3’s Skigraphiks contest, and each year the company gets more

submissions. Last year’s winner, Andrew Dye of Vancouver, B.C., will have his ski graphics

appear on the 2011/2012 G3 Tonic, which will debut at the upcoming Outdoor Retailer and SIA

trade shows this January.

The contest in affiliation with Backcountry.com started Oct. 15 and will run until Nov. 14, when

a winner will be chosen. From Nov. 15 to Dec. 14, G3 will run a second contest in affiliation

with MountainGear.com. A third contest in affiliation with BentGate.com will run from Dec.

15 to Jan. 14. And a final contest will run from Jan. 15 to Feb. 15 in affiliation with Backcountry

Magazine, via the publication’s web site. Affiliates will promote the contest on their web site

and link traffic to the contest page on G3’s web site.

Winners of each contest will have their graphics used on a current ski from the G3 line. The

graphics from the winner of the Backcountry.com contest will be used on the Manhattan, the

MountainGear.com contest of the Tonic, the BentGate.com contest on the Fever, and the

Backcountry Magazine contest the Zen Oxide. On all contests, G3’s logo must be used in the

design. In the three contests affiliated with the online retailers, their logo must also be used in

the respective contest that they are sponsoring.

At the end of the contest, one of the designs will be chosen as Grand Prize winner by G3. In

addition to skis, that artist will win a quiver of G3 gear, including their choice of telemark or

alpine-touring bindings, as well as an AviTech shovel, Carbon probe, Alpinist climbing skins, a

Bonesaw and G3 ski bag."

Last and not the less of the Series

Last Saturday in Squamish was the last race out of 5 events in the “Hell of a Series”. First off was the OreCrusher in May, then the North Shore Bike Fest at the beginning of June, then the famous and popular Test of Metal a few days after summer solstice. The Gearjammer was at the end of July and the new race in the series for this year: “Just Another Bike Race” was on August 21st.

Each of the events was really unique, testing the rider’s abilities at different levels and I have to say, that this last event was far from being the easiest! The course started at Quest University in Garibaldi Highlands and took us up the Garibaldi Park Road to the top of Half Nelson, a new bike park style trail that gives you the giggles from start to finish… The course then consisted of FSR climbs mixed in with lots of ripping single track, such as the rather challenging “Credit Line”, Roller Coaster, then up again on the FSR for the 3^rd time to Pseudo-Tsuga, then into the lower Power Smart and a then into a new trail to me called “Word of Mouth”… this one last trail was a blast.

It was a really fun 40 km race. Since it was the Series ender, the organizers went all out with the awards and the meal! The awards were not only for the race but also for the overall Series categories Champions. Awards were also given for the riders who raced in all 5 events. Congrats to my friend Michael who had another great race and won his category. He also did all 5 events and finished 1^st in every event he entered so he won his age group category of the Series! Congrats also to my friend Olivier who finished just behind Michael at the race. On my side, I was pretty happy finishing 1^st in my category and fastest time on the ladies side which also gave me enough points to win the 20-29 series age group. I guess crossing the finish line 1^st also drew some attention to my wound which I’m still nursing… which in the end gave me concert tickets, and a nice set of devil horns for being the Queen of the Series… thx for putting me on the spot Michael!… pictures to come soon!

For full results:

http://testofmetal.com/pages/jabr.php

First Xterra Experience!

I was thinking mmm... it would be fun to do something different like a multi-sport race, something challenging like swimming, something that involves endurance and being outside… and I always wanted to do a tri but I’ve never been really excited about the fact that most for the race is spent on pavement… So an Xterra sounded like the perfect objective for the summer!

The swimming I think is the part that creates the most headaches to athletes and it has been quite a learning curve for me specially when it comes to open-water swimming

But hey! I wanted a challenge so there! Unfortunately, during a bike training session the tuesday

before the race, I got in a fight with my bike and it won… as a result I ended up with quite a few stitches on my thigh. So I was really on the fence about racing and of course the swim was out of the equation. The option left was the duathlon…I nursed the wound as I could for a few days and first thing I knew, Andrew and myself where on our way to Canmore…!

The day before the race, we were playing with our gear a bit, practicing the switch from our stiff bike shoes to our comfy runners; which really reminded us of ski-mo. We biked the course and I also wanted to make sure that my gorgeous scare would stay sealed over the extended exercise. All the nice stitches stayed in place so I was thinking to myself: GAME ON!… but carefully on!

7am Rockies time, we were at Quarry Lake getting our mountain bike gear ready at the first transition. A different crowd then usual was present for the day, high-level athletes with high value toys…! It was really nice to see! We all gathered at the Nordic Center to get body marking out of the way and get the instruction for the race. We then wondered back down to Quarry Lake and Steve (from ski mo) was out to cheer us on! The duathletes were the first wave to start. At 9 am sharp, we sprinted around Quarry Lake for 3 kms before the first mountain bike transition. We then did 2 laps of about 10 kms on the Nordic Center trail network. The route was nice and challenging with a few long steep climbs, really muddy and slippery sections and nice little chutes. Then the second transition was at the stadium from mt biking to trail running. The run consisted of two laps of over 4 kms.

It was a really fun adventure and we both learnt from the experience and had a great race. Andrew took the overall men category and I won the female and 3^rd overall. We also agreed that next time, we would both do the swim…!

For full results:

http://www.winningtime.ca/index.php?content=10xterra

Thx to Skookum Tom & Greg and Giant for hooking me up with another Anthem while mine is getting all fixed up. Even if the remote fork lock-up on the handle bar is as sharp as a razor blade, I really like the ride!

First Toonie Race in Revelstoke!

Last Wednesday night was the first ever Toonie Mountain Bike Race in Revelstoke. The event was put together by Revelocity, cycling association which goal is to organize and promote road and mountain bike training and racing events in Revelstoke BC. Having spent 5 years in Whistler where the Thursday Toonie Races were events I religiously attended every week, I could not be more excited when I found out about the Revy Races! About 13 racers were on the start line on Wednesday and I would not be surprise if the number increases week after week since the 1^st edition was a success. The race started at the Beaver Lake Parking Lot and took us through some of the nicest trails in the MacPherson Network. There was a lot of great prices for everyone and it was just a really nice and social event. This race was the first of 3 which will be on the 11^th and 25^th of august.

Thank you very much to organizers and volunteers!

More Details at:

http://www.revelstokecurrent.com/2010/07/29/revelocitys-first-mountain-bike-race-was-fun-and-successful/

An other GearJammer

On July 24^th was the GearJammer, an amazing mountain bike race in beautiful Squamish BC. This race was the 3^rd event of 5 in the “Hell of a Serie” . I always look forward to this event since it’s a 47 kms race mainly on single track with very little logging roads. The trails were in perfect shape again this year; dry and fast! We quickly checked out the course on Friday night just to get even more excited about the upcoming event.

Saturday was blue bird and 28 degrees! And the

race started in the heat of the day at 11am. Everyone lines up at Alice Lake Provincial Park with big smiles up on their face ready to sweat a whole lot! The race course took us from Alice Lake on a short FSR to Ed’s bypass, Cliff’s Corner, fast downhill on Bob McIntosh. Up Mike’s Loop, up the Mashiter Creek ….(long climb), up to Skookup, Power Smart and linked to Recycle and Pseudo Tsuga… which to my surprise has been buffed a lot and was fast and nice! From there, we linked to the Garibaldi Park Road where we climbed to the famous power house plunge. From there, we were not done climbing! We connected to Crumpit Wood, Father Side and S&M Connector, Three Virgins (under the power lines… it was smoking hot!…), Seven Stitches and back to the subdivisions on Plateau Drive. It was a technical and challenging course but one of my favorite so far this year.

The race went very well with no mechanical and over all good energy!

Congrats to my friend Michael who won his category and had an amazing race. On my side, I raced 29 minutes faster then last year so I was pretty happy.

For more details on the results, check the following link.

Thx to all the volunteers involved in the race and to Jodi for being there for us as the feed station!

http://www.gearjammer.ca/pages/results.php

Hottest Race in Revy!

For the second year, Skookum Cycle was hosting last Sunday a really fun mountain bike race in the MacPherson Trails in Revelstoke and for the second year, the race turned out to be on one of the hottest weekend of the summer! The racecourse took us through the Revelstoke Classic double and single tracks with really nowhere to rest so it made for a challenging race for sure! This year over 140 racers showed up for the event divided in different categories, the youth, Adult sports and Adults Elites. The elite course consisted of 2 loops of 17 kms. This year, we had the chance to race aside Catharine Pendrel, 4^th at the last summer Olympics; which was quite inspiring. Catharine is now traveling around BC to go to the National this weekend in Canmore and then to other races around the globe. All the best to her for the rest of her racing season.

The race started just after 10 am, and god did it start fast. It did not take long for the pack to get spread out nicely in the ascent on the “Main Loop” and then on “Space Man” to TNT. Then connecting to “Break a Leg” there was already a few people here and there getting thrown off their bikes. Up to “Dusty Beaver” a new section of trail built last summer unto hydro hill, a really fast descent on double tracks logging road. Then back to good old tantrum. By this point, I was pretty much racing on my own. It was just like going on a casual weekend ride, except a little faster! It’s really fun to get the race at home in trails that you know well. And there’s something about not having to travel in order to race. I was really happy to see the end of that race since it was really demanding. I managed to finish 1^st in the elite 19-29 category but the real star of the race is my friend Michael who came up from Whistler to race. He had a great consistent race and finished 1^st of all categories and set a new course record. Great work Michael!

After the race, Skookum put together a great BBQ and had a lot of great prizes for everyone. Thx to all the volunteers and Skookum Staff who made this event a success!

Chilcotins Canada Day Adventure

After a busy spring with a few races and a lot of work what better then to escape to one of the best kept secret in BC; Bralorne. This small town is pretty much a paradise for mountain bikers who are not scared to be self-reliant. Bralorne has it’s own network of trail which we tackled a little bit… well let’s say one of the trail started pretty much from the front porch of the beautiful log cabin where we stayed (thanks to Andrew’s friends Charlie and Matt) so we had no choice but to go for a spin in the area around Mt Ferguson.

The main goal of our trip was to go on an overnight trip in preparation for longer exploratory missions later on this summer. Both Andrew and myself have dreamt for quite a long time now to ride the famous Spruce Lake area. This is a trip that can be done with floatplane access but we decided to use our legs and lungs

to climb the long Gun Creek Trail. The multi use path presents obvious sings of horses use but is really nice and easy to ride. We started the first day armed with our big packs and climbed slowly our way to Spruce Lake. To our surprise, the meadows were blooming which gave us breathtaking scenery… it was actually hard to keep the eyes on the single track ahead. We camped for the night at the main Spruce Lake Campground where to our surprise, we got snowed on! ….the white stuff milted by breakfast time and the sun came out to guaranty us an other day felled with amazing views. We first explored the trails on the Tyaughton Creek side, and climbed back up to Spruce to take the trail to Cowboy Campground and to Hummingbird Lake. Unfortunately, there was a fair amount of fallen trees in the trail to Hummingbird lake but it should be all clear by now since we met the magic chainsaw men on the way.

From Hummingbirds Lake we then charged back all the way down the valley… and god was it ever fun. The single track that we nicely climbed the previous days was now a flowy tunnel through high grass, flowery meadows, sandy berms and thick forest. You can get going so fast on that trail it’s pretty scarry… Euh.. I mean amazing.

After our 9 hour day, we got back to the car with scratched legs, a few bruises (well not Andrew, just me), soaking wet shoes from river crossings, squeaky bikes but most importantly large smile up on our faces. As images are worth a 1000 words, here they are!