Winter X games and ESPN pick up Industry Impact award from NSAA

With the snow fast receding on the mountains of the Alpes Maritimes it is perhaps untimely to be talking of skiing and snowboarding but one of the reasons we write in this blog is to enthuse people of all ages of the wonder and beauty of the great outdoors so they will get off their fat asses and go and try ‘it’ for themselves. We don’t mind whether it is a ski or snowboard, a bike or base jumping, a surf board or scuba, a hang glider or a mountain to jump off or climb – the important thing to us is that you get out there and give it a go.

Look – the fact is there are far too many of us who do the square root of sweet fanny adams (whoever she was?) other than sit on our over extended backsides drinking some sugarised soda and munching on candy. Tick tock, tick tock, tick………..oh, oh the clock has stopped and there you go – just another number, another statistic for those bespectacled boffins who count and interpret numbers and tell us that we are an obese society dying too young because we have too much cholesterol in our systems.

We were therefore pleased to see that the Winter X games and ESPN have won the award presented by the National Ski Areas Association for bringing the thrill and excitement of skiing and snowboarding into the living rooms of millions of television viewers worldwide. The NSAA Industry Impact Award recognizes significant contributions made to the ski industry by an individual, business, or other entity.

Here’s some video actiom from m21d95 of the men’s super pipe final held at Aspen, Colorado in 2008, including Shaun White.

“We’d be remiss if we didn’t formally recognize the impact that the ESPN Winter X Games has made on the ski industry,” said NSAA President Michael Berry. “There is little doubt that the exciting action that these games deliver into the homes of viewers both young and old has caused them to pick themselves up off of their couch, and give skiing and snowboarding a try for themselves. Clearly the industry as a whole has benefited greatly from ESPN’s exposure.”

Watch Simon Dumont, in iamn8’s video, win the 2009 big air, beating Jon Olsson with a double front – some style, some class.

The Winter X Games have been held every January for 13 years. Debuting at Snow Summit, Calif., the event has subsequently been held at Mount Snow, Vt., Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Colo., and finally Aspen/Snowmass, where it’s remained for the past eight years.

We add our congratulations to Winter X games and ESPN and find it somewhat ironical that the award is being made on Marco Island, Florida on Thursday. Maybe the NSAA  too – like the Alpes Maritimes – have had enough snow for one year!!

Farewell to winter

Here in the northern hemisphere we are caught in between a rock and a hard place – on Wednesday we looked up into the azur skies and for the first time this year we saw arrivals from the south – swallows and house martins whirled in the blustery skies and we smiled at the thought of the impending arrival of summer and the warmth – it has been a cold, long, hard and wet winter.

On the other hand and determined not to let go of the winter we decided to head for the mountains the next day. No more than a two hour drive from where we live we headed up the Var valley from Nice and toward Valberg in the Mercantour – part of the Alpes Maritimes range. Perhaps the snow was not as perfect as what we had experienced in January and February but it was still in plentiful supply – something you could not say about  people. It was as though the lifts, pistes and restaurants had been reserved exclusively for us. Wide open mountains, clinging to their winter hue, sugared and yet warm.

It was fabulous to have the freedom to go where we wanted and when we wanted and without having to wear all the goretexed, insulated, waterproofed, windproofed paraphernalia that is so necessary in January. Probably the best day of the winter and as we left we thought it would probably be the last time this year – yes it is time to put the kit away.

But it has been an AB FAB year and as a reminder of the fun that has been had in the mountains we found this excellent video of some truly extreme skiing put together by adsaru which will hopefully give us all some happy memories.

With the arrival of the swallows it is likely that our attention will be drawn toward extremes found in and on the water and don’t forget that Formula 1 kicks off its 2009 season in Melbourne this weekend – oh and also that the clocks move forward an hour – at least in France! for once being caught between the rock and the hard place doesn’t seem so bad.