Occasionally, the team at the worldwide webquarters decide that we have finally had enough panini sandwiches and we head out to a gourmet lunch. In the corporate world they call it “Team Building” at T.V.S. we call it a bonus. Most people wouldn’t consider the buffet lunch at Pizza Hut a bonus, but for a ski bum it is as close as you can get to a bailout package. Don’t let the news out that the executives down at www.tetonvillagesports.com have been receiving huge “parmesan parachutes”. The press will eat it up. I bet you didn’t know that aside from Wall Street, ski shop employees are the most highly incentivized group in the workforce. We are among a select few professions where “skiing powder” is a benefit. We think it is a huge bonus.
I know what you are thinking. My parents don’t agree with that thought either. “You can’t take powder to the bank”.
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The photos above and below were sent in from one of our valued Teton Village Sports customers, Julian Cantenys! Julian is ripping “Volcano” at Las Lenas in Argentina.
We look forward to more photos from Julian. Hopefully, he will be showcasing his new Verdi Plaid jacket that he picked up.
Thanks for the pix Julian
squirrel murphy General News, Skiing
What do you see in this picture? Personally, this photo just makes me feel like I missed my true calling; Hand Model. Granted this is not my best side, but still that is a fine looking paw!
A lot of people tell me they see the Sporks when they look at this photo. I don’t see it, but we can talk about sporks just for the heck of it. I have nothing else going on right now since I think I have walking pneumonia and I am just trying to stop myself from coughing up blood. (I throw ridiculous lines like this in here in an attempt to find out just how many people actually read this blog. I don’t trust google analytics) These particular sporks are made by a Swedish company called Light My Fire. I had the opportunity to rap with the nice people of Light My Fire recently over a nice piece of Norwegian Salmon and some of that delicious brown Norwegian cheese. I don’t think they loved the fact that I was rocking so much Norse food while in their booth, but I bought a ton of sporks to make up for it.
I am a bit of a spork connoisseur. I really appreciate the ingenuity and efficiency represented in the spork. Now, I could be wrong, but I thought someone had a patent on the name spork, but maybe since this is a Swedish company they are side-stepping some copyrights or patents. My other thought is that since there is a knife option on this spork maybe that is how they got around any potential patents that are held.
I’m not much of a backpacker. I would say I only go “backpacking” a couple of times a year. I am much more of a car camper. When I do feel like testing my back strength I always try to find the lightest, multi-use items I can to minimize what I carry (and my complaining) and maximize my enjoyment. I think this spork fits perfectly into my backpacking philosophy. So much so that so you will be able to purchase all kinds of cool camping products from Light My Fire!
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One of the many things we have learned about our online business is that not everyone likes or needs what we sell in here in Jackson Hole. We may not understand why yet, but we are working on being sensitive to this issue. In one of many attempts to “reach across the aisle” to figure out how we can bring you the products that you want and not just the ones we want to sell we sent one of our owners into a recent trade show meeting with Arbor Snowboards. I have no idea what he came up with, but we should all feel better that he has taken a step toward embracing the other party in the spirit of working together for the greater good.
My guess is that Bill is negotiating a new line of Arbor Skis, which would be sick and not a bad idea, but I don’t see it happening. Just know that as we here at Teton Village Sports enter a new season of buying (you think buy a new pair of skis is fun, try buying as many as we do) we are approaching it with an open mind and desire to bring you everything your little gear loving hearts desire.
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There are so many great things about working for the online sales arm of the best ski shop in the world. One of the many is that you get to sit at a desk while everyone else gets to have a good time. Case in point: One of our great vendors, Skullcandy just furnished all of my colleges who are in Las Vegas for the SIA show with tickets to the Snoop Dog, Mix Master Mike show.
Sure, the employees of the worldwide webquarters love to work hard in the attempt to make the web a better place for online gear sales. I’m just saying, maybe we like fun concerts. Most of the people going to the concert don’t even like rap music. In fact they loath it to their very core. They would prefer to see what is left of the Grateful Dead with an opener of Steely Dan. Which sounds like misery in a jar to us hear at the Worldwide Webquarters, but we aren’t mad. We are just going to make a round of panini sandwiches and get back to work.
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The phenomenon know as the “Inversion Layer” is a strange occurrence in which the temperature is actually colder closer to the ground and the hot air is higher up. This happens occasionally here in the Teton’s. The picture above was taken by local adventurer Phil Gyr. It is a classic representation of how things look when the temperature is inverted.
Why does this occur? I have a few “less than truthful” answers that I have told in the past, but since you are not allowed to lie on the internet I will give a brief, truthful answer. The long and short of temperature inversions deals with air density. Warm air can be less dense than the severe arctic temperatures we are experiencing currently. Thus, the hot air stays aloft.
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I finally got one of my snowboards out this weekend. I love to snowboard in powder. There really isn’t anything better. Fat skis are getting close to being as much fun, but it is still an entirely different feeling. So anyway, I grabbed one of my 195cm Glissade Big Gun and headed for Teton Pass. Had a great run. The Big Gun one again charged through all of the variable snow that was up there and made for a great run.
I actually have two of these monster snowboards. They are the best thing going when it comes to riding powder. I have turned one of them into a split board using the Voile split kit. I have some Voile plate bindings mounted on this board which has made it the lightest weight touring setup I have ever used. I love it. Anyway, if anyone is looking for powder boards this is a great one. I think Glissade is still making boards. If they are I would try to get my hands on a big gun.
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Occasionally the life of a ski bum gets a little stale. As with everything, too much of a good thing can wear on you. Yesterday I took the day off from skiing to participate in another time honored winter tradition. Sledding. I love sledding. I don’t know if it the memories of the huge sledding parties of my youth or what, but there is just something about it.
So along with a few friends I dug out the old sleds and we went to work. We warmed up on the hill behind our house. Why did we need to warm up you ask? Well, one of the “sleds” we were using was a vintage 1965 era Snurfer. You can do some serious damage to your self and others on one of these if you are not prepared. After some great face-plants we decided we were ready to kick it up a notch. So we climbed up the Butte at the base of Heck of a Hill Rd. and pioneered a few first descents. The butte in question has a south westerly aspect so the snow was a little sun-effected and very fast. This sun crust proved wicked on any exposed skin, but made for some record setting speeds.
Bottom line, I’ve decided that I want to sled Mt. Glory. I can’t wait to see the look on peoples face as I hit the boot-pack from more extreme sledding!
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I don’t know what it takes to become a sponsored skier. As far as I can tell you have to either jump off big cliffs, or get someone to take a whole bunch of great shots like this
This is TVS employee Eric Lynch. He is not a pro skier. I keep telling him that it isn’t any good if you can’t market any of the pictures. I mean really. Give me a logo to work with or something.
squirrel murphy General News, Skiing
People often ask “so what is it like when you crazy ski bums finally stop taking life so seriously and let your hair down”? With such a hard working, dedicated crowd of professionals it can be difficult to find to enjoy each others company. Here are a few things to help illustrate how we roll.
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