What is a top-five pow day worth? In dollars? In groomer days? In pints of blood? In pints of beer? Here are some pix from Squaw on Wednesday. - AG

Labels: Squaw Valley, Weather

My first X Games. What can you say? I made it to X Games, and I don’t know how you guys all feel, but for me I felt like that was something I have been dreaming of my whole life. Coming into X Games as a rookie, nobody expected much of me. The first two training days went okay. I tried some different lines in the course, but they didn’t work as well as they could have. Coming into the qualifying day, I was not feeling that good yet.

Qualifying Day: Daron Rahlves started in front of me. And he looked really good on the top of the course. I knew when I crossed the finish line, I would be able to know how I did. My run felt okay, nothing to write home about. I skidded to a stop in the finish line, and looked up at the scoreboard, and it felt like an eternity for my time to pop up. When it came, I was in first. I sighed a big sigh of relief. I had just qualified for my first X Games, and I didn’t just qualify: I was able to qualify first. So, the following day we had off, and it was really nice. I was able to rest my shins which were quite sore. And I had to listen to everybody tell me how I just beat Daron Rahlves the day before.

Race Day: Sunday, Final day of X Games. Since I was the number one qualifier, I had the first heat of the day. I don’t know if you guys have ever dealt with live TV, but it’s kind of weird. We don’t get to start our race until the TV is ready to go. So we are all standing in the start gate, and they are counting down for the live TV broadcast to start. And all of a sudden you hear Sal Masakela talking about the fourth day at X-Games and “welcome to skiercross”, and next thing I know, we are going racing.

The first heat went fairly well. I was able to get second, which advanced me into the semi-finals. Coming into the semi-finals, I had never made a final before in skiercross, and I knew that this was the place that I had to do it. When I slid into the start gate, I looked to my side and saw Daron Rahlves and a stacked gate of the world’s best skiers. I knew that it was now or never. I don’t know, there’s just those moments in time when everything just kind of slows down. And that was one of those moments. And then we were off and racing.

I got off to a pretty good start. I was in third place, which is a qualifying position for the finals. Coming into the third straightaway, I had been really fast down that straightaway all week, and I knew third place was not going to guarantee me a trip to the finals. With so many fast skiers in that heat, I had to get a little breathing room. And I was able to go around two skiers in front of me which moved me into first place. And I was able to stay there until the finish.

Then we skidded to a stop in the finish, and that was probably one of the happier times of my life. I had just beaten Daron Rahlves. And then it was off to the finals. At the finals, I didn’t get that great of a start. The race kind of seemed like it was over before it began. I ended up fifth place, and that was how the X Games ended for my first trip there.

I just want to thank all of you guys that believed in me, especially Porters taking a stab in the dark for someone who hasn’t really done anything yet. I just want to say thanks to everyone, and KEEP YOUR SKIS POINTED DOWNHILL. That’s when you know you’re going fast.

Errol Out

Labels: Daron Rahlves, Errol Kerr, skiercross, Winter X Games

Hey all,

I am sure you saw the X-Games this past weekend, and what a disappointment it was :( but, it was fairly obvious that the pipe was icey and it seemed a lot of the riders were struggeling landing their tricks. There seems to be so much build up and pressure for that particular event too, I think it makes it a little harder to focus.... because as we know, Andy has been rockin it overseas all year long and is planning on continuing that great streak. He is off to Innsbruck, Austria tomorow for a 5 Star TTR Quarterpipe event going down this weekend. He is going for the rebuttle now...with a vengance! Either way, He was able to get a lot of press this past weekend. We were running around here and there doing live intereviews for tv, radio, and newspapers, and they also aired a 7 minute feature that ESPN had done with Andy about his dads situation. So, any exposure is better than none!! thanks everyone for your support and encouragement!! I will keep you updated. have a great day.

-Amber Finch

Labels: Andy Finch, Halfpipe, Snowboard, TTR, Winter X Games

Labels: Snowboard, Zak Shelhamer

Darren Rahlves takes the Gold at Skier X and Errol Kerr makes the final. Both of these guys are proud Truckee boys.
Errol & Darren were killing the course in all of their quaterfinal & semifinal heats easily making it into the finals. In the finals, Darren got out of the gate strong, took the lead and made it stick. Errol had one of his worst starts, but had the strongest showing for a rookie at X on the skiercross course. Errol earned the respect of his peers and a ton of attention from the media and the ski racing world. We're stoked to have Errol on board at Porters.
U ditch finals also took place last night and I decided to watch it from our condo courtesy of The Collection. It started to rain then snow out there. If you saw on TV there was no one allowed on the deck. It was so slick up there that due to liability reasons, they didn't allow anyone up.
Since you probably saw it on the tube as well, I don't need to go into details....but yeah Shaun White won and threw down a 1260 and made it look good! Not a hoolahoop 12 but a grabbed and stylie one....He's Shaun White.
I'm glad its over and I'd love to get home. I heard it's dumping there and as I look out the window this mornign here in Aspen, it's dumping here as well...My flight will probably be delayed....See you all back out on the hill.
(View Eric's X Games Photos)

Nate Holland does it again! What can you say, the man is fast & gnarly. He didn't start to well in this whole day of competition, but his patience and knowledge of where to pick up speed is impeccable. Also, his tuner, Curtis is a magician. He kept Nate fast all day and when Nate needed to turn on the gas, it was bye bye. He was behind Seth Wescott for almost 3/4 of the race, but Nate saw an opening, took advantage of it and shut the door! Congrats Nate!
Halfpipe mens qualys also went down tonight. It got real cold and Porters had a great chance to final w/ Andy Finch. Unfortunately, things just didn't turn out right. Finch was killing it all week in practice, but for some reason, he just couldn't hold on to some of his stock tricks. Watch out for Ryoh Aono from Japan....His runs were straight nasty! I hope he didn't show the judges his whole bag because they should just give him the gold now! Insane! Lets watch the finals and see what he does, cause I don't think anyone can touch that run....sick.
(View Eric's XGames Photos)

Errol Kerr takes matters into his own hands.....He's a virtual unknown and speeds his way into the limelight. Like I've said before no tech, no corporate sponsor, just a lot of determination & confidence. I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow when his heats start. As promised I got you a shot of him in his long down coat. GOOOOOOOOOOOOO Errol!
In the Womens snowboard Halfpipe finals, it was once again the big three. Gretchen, Torah, and Kelly once again set a new standard for womens halfpipe riding. They finished in the above order and they were busting. Gretch busting out huge frontside 9's. Torah kills everything switch and rides with so much steeze. Kelly, well can you say just goes Huge? Yeah way large.
(View Eric's XGames Photos)

The Battle Continues

Does big and gnarly beat techy & smooth? Techy and smooth wins again in
the Judges eye by .33 of a point. Tanner Hall once again defeats Simon Dumont in
the Skiing Mens halfpipe finals. Tanner won the judges, but Dumont won the
crowd. I have never in my life seen a crowd boo as hard as they did....they were
even throwing snowballs up at the judges stand! It was that intense. I have no
idea of how to even explain this one....Tanner was booed by the crowd on his
victory lap down! Now, lets just get this out of the way...of course both of
these athletes are on a totally different level in the halfpipe than their peers
and it's obvious these two are pushing the sport of halfpipe skiing. Each one of
them takes great pride in what they do and they have spent countless hours and
dedication to get their level to where it is. Both should be commended and I
think to really settle this sucker....they should have had a game of SKI...just
like a game of SKATE or HORSE. I do a trick you match it...simple. Blow the
trick you get a letter and if you spell the game ...done.

I don't think Tanner should have been booed by the crowd....really wasn't
necessary. If the crowd felt that way they should have just been quiet or golf
clapped. Same message just not as degrading and maybe a more powerful statement.
I personally like big and gnarly but it is and has always been up to the judges
to decide. I thought both runs were great...Tanner almost makes things look too
easy even though the things he is doing are super dificult. On the other end of
the spectrum, Dumont looks like he's on the verge of death! There is that fine
line of control and recklessness that brings out emotion and the crowd really
feeds on that emotion.

I remeber back in the early 90's during snowboard halfpipe contests where
everyone would say that "The Judging Sucks!" Snowboardings answer was,
boardercross...but as time has shown, it really wasn't an answer. It just
created another event. So what needs to be done? Who knows....both guys rip!

At the end of the night when they were escorting Tanner to the podium, I ran
into him and told him good job, congratulations and we exchanged knuckles. Hell,
he just won X Games, again. The look in his face was quite apprehensive and
confused. I really would like to have known what was going on in his head, but
other people were congratulating him as well and his demeanor was not that of
excitement. I think the negative energy of the booing really affected him.
Strange, but interesting.

Labels: Halfpipe, Sean Field, Simon Dumont, Ski, Tanner Hall, Winter X Games, X games

Just a little update from Eric.

Labels: Errol Kerr, Shawn Palmer, skiercross, Winter X Games, X games

Today was a full day. Pretty much every event was having practice and every one of the athletes was soaking up the sunshine. Errol & Nate were on the X Course today trying to dial in the long & technical course. Skiers really didn't have a problem with the course today but the snowboarders were coming up a tad short on some of the step ups & more difficult sections. Nate, Seth Wescott & the Palm were having no trouble at all as I was able to catch a glimpse of their runs. I think the course definitely had the women competitors psyched out a bit.

Errol Kerr is a funny guy. First off lets mention that Errol got into this event the hard way....no corporate sponsor, no tech to juice up his skis & just an underdog from the start. He had a strong showing at the Jeep Tour event coming in 2nd to Darren Rahlves in the time trials. He impressed the US coaches and with a strong showing at the Jeep Tour, earned himself a spot on the US Team. He's my kinda guy...DIY all the way. Anyways, back to being funny. OK yesterday you saw the many hats of Errol. Today he was running this fleece scarf that looked like you aunt Mimi would give you and you wear it once for the holidays just to please her cause your mom said so(See photos). He also had this long down coat down to his ankles?????!!!! Didn't get a shot of it, but I'll try to get one manana. Let's not forget his old faded orange Rousch mittens....classic.

In the U-ditch world, qualifiers took place tonight. Sean Field was in the mix and he just got in. He qualified 10th and was right on the bubble. Tanner Hall was destroying the pipe once again with super smooth style and techy steeze. Someone has got to come up with something spectacular cause I think Tanner has gotten into everyone's head....I know that Dumont is going to put up a fight but he has to control himself and nail his runs.

Off to bed...I'm wiped.
-E

Labels: Errol Kerr, Nate Holland, Sean Field, Ski, Snowboard, Tanner Hall, Winter X Games, X games

All sunshine today! I woke up to a snowy morning, but the sun came out and blessed us with a beautiful day. More practice went down today in the Halfpipe both for Skiers & Snowboarders. The slopestyle & boarderscross courses were being finished today as the groomers have been nonstop 24/7. Just ask Snow Park Technologies Gunny Gunderson. He has been at Aspen since Jan. 2nd getting all his minions in a roe in order to make all the killer features.

Crazy thing happened today, a bomb threat in the athlete parking lot caused raised a red flag. We couldn't go out to the lot to get to our vehicles for 4 hours. Lots of tired athletes were stuck at the mountain who needed to get out of there for other obligations. Kind of a weird scenario as security surrounded the lot as police tried to locate the so called bomb. No kaboom though thank goodness.

Porters Team Rider Sean Field got his first runs in the pipe tonight and was super stoked to be at his first X Games. Look for Sean to be putting on a good showing...he was ripping.
Long day tomorrow...gotta get some rest, in the meantime, check the photos(Eric Asistin Photography)

Labels: Sean Field, X games

OK...so I left Reno this morning at 6:15 am but I didn't arrive in Aspen until 4:30 pm....Delay after delay, I've finally made it. Yes the flight from hell took place, but I got here in one piece and thats all that matters. My board bag didn't make it though...it's somewhere out there & hopefully it will surface tonight.
Getting in later than I had planned, I was still able to snap some shots and see a few practice runs in the halfpipe (Eric's X Games Photos). Skiers & Boarders were sharing practice time and the lineup was pretty deep. No one was getting nasty just yet, but I can assure you it will once we get closer to qualifiers.
Going to be touching base with the rest of the team tomorrow and seeing what their schedules look like. There's a good vibe out here right now and I know that the Skier Crossers & boardercrossers are getting amped up....the course is supposed to be longer & more technical this year. Can't wait to meet up with Nate & Errol and watch them go fast. Do you wanna go fast?

My first trip to Europe on the World Cup Skiercross circuit was interesting, and it went rather well. When we arrived at the first venue, which was Les Contamines, we discovered that no one at the hotel spoke English. Everyone spoke French. When we tried to set up our ski tuning in their garage, the lady came running out, waving her arms, and screaming at us in French. So we proceeded to walk into the hotel, and we got into the dining room and started moving the dining tables around. We set up our tuning area right in the middle of the dining room and the lady just smiled at us. So we proceeded to tune our skis in the middle of the dining room.

First Day of Training: The first day of training went well, except that 2 of the teammates that I came over with got hurt. One of them, David Lamb was knocked out for a minute and half and is not going to be able to race for a while. The other one Langley McNeil, overshot a jump by about 30 feet and hurt her knee really badly. So that was day one in Europe.

Day two we raced, and it went really well. I started 89th, and skied into 12th, so that was really awesome for my first World Cup.

Moving on to the next place, Flaine. Flaine was, I guess, interesting. Everything in the entire town is built out of concrete. There is not a wooden structure in the place. We stayed at a hotel called the UPCA which is, I guess, France's version of the YMCA. So that was rather interesting. The racing didn't go so well. I ended up 28th, but I was first for Americans, so that was okay.

Now we are off to X Games, so wish me luck. Just remember, "The sky's the limit. You can only go as far as your dreams will take you."

Labels: Errol Kerr, ski cross, skiercross

I know this update is a little late, so in the snowboard world this news is already ancient! But, i just wanted to let you know that last week at the European Open Andy was still able to take a 5th place despite his injured back. He came home for one whole day yesterday and was off again this morning for the X-Games. His back is feeling much better and his overall health is great, so he is ready to rock it this year at the X!! Be sure to watch it live and watch for some extra footage that Andy filmed specifically for air time during the XGames. Hope your all doing great and I will keep you updated as we go! have a great day.

For more info on Andy check out Andyfinch.net

-Amber

Labels: Andy Finch, X games

Just got through security check and now looking at some happy Monday morning faces. What a better way to start your day than at the Reno Tahoe International Airport. Especially, when you know your on your way to an EXTREME winter adventure. I'll be here to update you with my second installment of Winter X Games and whatever shenanigans that Team Porters may encounter. Nate Holland, Andy Finch, Sean Field & Errol Kerr will be on point for Porters Sports and going for some hardware.
Side Note: Just saw four of my photos being used here in the airport on huge light box billboards. Funny thing is, I didn't receive a dime for them. I know how they got them though...courtesy of the UNR photo dept. No photo credit either. Stoked! Issue to be resolved at a later date.
Well enough bitching and on to the X Games.....the flight attendant dude just called my name for seat verification and murdered my last name. Yow!

Labels: Andy Finch, ericasistinphoto.com, Errol Kerr, Nate Holland, Sean Field

Burton European Open Finished today with Kelly Clark & Kevin Pearce taking the Womens & Mens halfpipe titles. Shaun White took 1st in the slopestyle and recent Truckee transient transplant from New Hampshire Chaz Guldemond took 2nd. Our own Andy Finch landed in 5th place maintaning 2nd place standings in the TTR race. K.P. is right on his heels by a one point difference. Risto Matilla placed well in the slope & halfpipe events giving him the lead(8th slope & 7th Pipe). Check the TTR site and Go211.com for video footage.

Labels: 2008 Burton Cartel Bindings, Andy Finch, Burton European Open, Chaz Guldemond, Kelly Clark, Kevin Pearce, Shaun White

LES CONTAMINES MONTJOIE, FRANCE - JANUARY 13: (FRANCE OUT) Davey Barr of Canada, Jakub Fiala of the USA, and Errol Kerr of the USA in action during the FIS Men's Freestyle World Cup Ski Cross event on January 13, 2008 in Les contamines Montjoie, France. (Photo by Agence Zoom/Getty Images)

The Burton European Open is going down right now in Laax, Switzerland. All qualification runs in Slopestyle & Halfpipe have taken place. Porters Team Rider Andy Finch makes it into the final by the skin of his teeth. The Juniors have already thrown down and it looks like Tahoe Local Bryan Shuey landed in 2nd place in the Halfpipe competition. Congrats to Bryan!
Watch all the action live on go211.com or freecaster.tv.

Labels: Andy Finch, Burton European Open, go211.com, Halfpipe

Last year I blew out my ACL in my left knee. I have been riding for the last two months and it has now been just over six months since my surgery. Well last Saturday I was trying to get a shot on this sweet wall ride in Tahoe City and failed to make it to the landing causing me to land flat and have a shooting pain in my left knee. I though for sure that something was messed up, but the Dr. gave me good news on Tuesday and said that my ACL was still intact and nothing else was torn. Thank God. So went to Northstar today to take some turns and see how the knee would hold up and it ended up still being a little too sore, so probably take the rest of the weekend off in hopes of a solid recovery. I also have to give props to the Eric the Porters Team manager and photographer for sitting out in the snow for two hours with no results. Hope to see you all on the hill next week and you can bet I will be back to that wall ride to get the shot.

The final list has been made for the Honda Session at Vail to be held Feb 8th-10th in Vail Colorado. Top riders from around the world as well as yours truly Silas Stannard have confirmed there spot for the Steel and Skye Rail Jam as well as the Super Slopestyle. There will be a live webcast of the event as well as a one hour t.v. show on NBC Feb. 17th at 2:30 P.M. EST. Check back for updates as the event gets closer.

Silas

With all this new snow we got I decided to head down to reno with local rippers Andy Lewis, Matty Mcginnes and Bj Baur to do some rails, we went to the first spot everyone knows of, a true snowboard spot designed for snowboarders. Clayton elementry. I hit it a few times got the tricks that i wanted and moved on to taking photos. here are some of the shots.

Zak

What a great weekend Squaw had. Saturday saw only a few lifts open but what was open was amazing. Finally it feels like winter again with large snowfall amounts. It was finally time to break out the powder board and go rip some mean McNasty turns. It seems like a lifetime ago since we last rode powder in these parts, since last year was such a bust of a season. Saturday also saw another storm rolled in fast on the heels of friday nights dump and made for an even better day with tracks getting filled in after each run. If you weren't rocking the yellow lens your days was more like a zen "feel you're way" than actually riding. If you had the legs to stay all day you were treated with the Funitel opening and the opportunity to sneak way out to sunnyside for some amazing turns that no one was hitting.

Fast forward to today and I didn't think it could get much better but to start the day with no lines to get on the Funitel and then to be able to hit Sun Chutes first was the best way you could start your day. The Sun Chutes were amazing at the top, wind buff in the middle and epic at the bottom. Next was solitude followed by shirley and finally tower 16. There were no bad turns, the snow is chalky and wind effected and all around amazing. Again the best part... their is nobody around right now due to the holiday last week. Get out and make turns now before the weekend crowds race up 80!

Labels: Lake Tahoe, Porters, Squaw Valley

After tonights QP event in Davos, Andy has been confirmed the Current TTR World Tour Leader. A 1st in the halfpipe last night and a 6th in the Quarter Pipe today has given Andy the lead. There are plenty of events still to come and lots of fierce competition left.

Our good ole boy Andy does well in Europe snatching 1st place and 15k . Check the footage on freecaster.tv. Andy is currently competing in the Quaterpipe comp as I do this post. Go Andy!

I had to repost this one, it is just so odd.

It's been a slow start this winter. Went to Utah...did some skiing, more sledding than skiing. I thought I would share this shot of Mike Wilson jumping his sled in Utah. Sorry you have to turn your head sideways. After I shot this (his first time) I decided to watch because I couldn't do both at the same time. He killed it and went way bigger later that day.

Also wanted to wish everybody a Happy New Year. Personally, I fell asleep around 11:30. Didn't quite make it to 2008. I drove up to whistler, started on the 30th and got here at 10:30 last night. I was tired and my eyes stung. That's two years in a row that I didn't make it to 12:00. Does that make me lame?