SNOQUALMIE PASS, WA, December 22, 2008 - The Summit at Snoqualmie, CAPiTA Snowboards and Snowboy Productions bring you Jib This! on December 27th.

For 6 years Jib This! has set the standard for local NW jib events. Whether this is your first, fourth or sixth time out it promises to be a blast...especially with guest judges Scott Stevens and Jesse Burtner...plus the park crew will be debuting two new jibs.

Registration is from 8:30-10 AM in the Main Central Lodge. $20 entry fee. Helmets required. Under 18 needs a parents signature (liability form online).

Categories are Open (for cash prize), Ladies, 14 and over & 13 and under. Snowboards only.

BELLINGHAM, WA, December 18, 2008 - With unprecedented amounts of sea level snowfall wreaking havoc on the roads of the Pacific Northwest, many of us had the day off yesterday. And with nothing much to do and a sizable backyard hill on Puget Street, the choice was obvious: bring it back to the early days and build a backyard booter. Rustling up a discarded picnic table, a few benches and a bottle of Canadian Club, we made for the backyard and it was on until the clock struck midnight and the landing was reduced to a patch of frozen grass. Puget hill-it's the new pinkie park.

MT BAKER, WA, December 14, 2008 - Like any year, ants are in all our pants to get out and ride for the first time. On this cold cold day, Mt. Baker opened to a thirty-six inch base. With no snow being farmed it was all about dodging rocks and stumps down low, with almost epic lines up top. "I was stuck on a line for twenty minutes," says Matt Edgars. Riders like Matt, Ryan Davis, Matt Cummins and a few other luckies found extreme lines on the elbow all while I was riding mogul terrain inside the resort. With snow falling throughout the week and Mt Baker in full time operation, the northwest is getting better every day. Pray for more snow!

WHISTLER, BC, December 12, 2008 - Two years of effort culminated with the opening of Whistler Blackcomb's groundbreaking Peak 2 Peak Gondola on Friday, December 12. Despite uncertain forecasts, the crowds came out in full force to hear from a cast of government officials, snowsports luminaries, and the engineering and construction crew for Dopplemayr before the ceremonial ribbon was cut at 11am and the first cars loaded...but not before Shane McConkey and Red Bull jumped off the roof with squirrel suits and parachutes for good measure.

Spanning 2.73 miles and sitting 1427 feet above Fitzimmon's Creek, the Peak 2 Peak is a first in the North American market. We were escorted onto one of the first cabins out of the station and the ride was smooth despite gusting winds. Impressive views to the valley floor were enough to have the multitude of media representatives from around the world snapping photos. Later in the day, we decided to ride back to Blackcomb and found some powder turns in the more sheltered zones mid-mountain, utilizing the gondola to its full potential.

Thanks go out to Michelle, Ryan, Amber, and the rest of the Whistler-Blackcomb team for a smooth opening and a good weekend of riding in sub zero temperatures. With more snow on the way this week, it's a good time to go ride the Peak 2 Peak and get your pows on both mountains.

WHISTLER, BC, December 10, 2008 - Whistler Blackcomb's PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola will officially open to the public December 12, 2008. A live webcast of the grand opening will broadcast at whistlerblackcomb.com starting at 10:30am PST on Friday, December 12, if you want to watch the first passengers get inside.

While preparations are in the final stages for the launch, fresh snow is providing the final touch. In the past week 23 centimetres has fallen and up to 10 centimetres is in the forecast this Friday. Adding to that, the snowmaking crew has turned over nine million gallons of water into snow within the last week.

The live webcast will get underway at 10:30am PST and will include a surprise visit as Red Bull drops in and gives wings to the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola Launch. At 11am the ribbon will be cut and the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola departs from each of the Whistler and Blackcomb terminals with its first guests on board.

The PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola Grand Après in the village will close the day with a community-wide celebration featuring live art, a performance by entertainer Norman Foote for the kids, fireworks and a Red Bull DJ to kick the unofficial celebrations off at Whistler Blackcomb's famed après bars Merlins, Dusty's and the Garibaldi Lift Company. Hope to see you there.

Squaw Valley, CA - Forty of the world's best freeriders will travel to Squaw Valley in late February, where for the first time ever they'll compete on the ram Face section of the mountain, which has been closed since Squaw Valley opened in 1949.

Participants arrive at Squaw on February 26, opening ceremonies take place on Friday, February 27 and competition is scheduled for Saturday, February 28 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. In the case of inclement weather, the event will be postponed to an alternate date between February 29 and March 5. There will be live music and ongoing events at The Village at Squaw Valley plus another village at Squaw Valley's High Camp.

Riders participating in the Squaw event, which is the second leg of the Nissan sponsored Freeride World Tour (FWT), will arrive in California after Sochi, Russia. After Squaw, they travel to Tignes, France and Verbier, Switzerland. The FWT is only going into its second year but boasts the largest prize purse for a freeride event in the history of the sport at $250,000 and, through a qualifying tour including the North Face Masters Events (see frequency TSJ #6.3) and sponsor exemptions, some of the best big mountain riders in the world are sure to be there.

With a week-long window and mid-winter snow conditions, the Squaw leg of the FWT should prove to be a weekend full of big hucks and big lines in some of the gnarlier terrain in the lower 48. See you there.

Photo: Olivier Marie

BRIGHTON, CO-November 18, 2008 - Friday, a group of students at Brighton High School were asked by high school administrators to remove Grenade stickers from their cars or face serious disciplinary action. But they fought back.

Kathy Gustad, an English and Journalism Teacher and head of the school newspaper at Brighton High School says several students were called into the school Vice Principal's office on Friday and told to remove the Grenade stickers from their cars, because they were allegedly offensive and a symbol of terrorism. Ms. Gustad says the students explained that the grenades are simply logos for snowboard/ski gear company Grenade Gloves, and that even a number of teachers sport the stickers, but the kids were still ordered them to remove them.

After the incident, Ms. Gustad and the students contacted the Student Press Law Center, an organization which provides free legal assistance to students on free speech issues. Ms. Gustad says the SPLC encouraged them to fight the sticker ban.

On Monday, the students went back into the office to declare that they would not be removing the stickers. Students say they were told that they would be ticketed if they parked on school grounds, and could also face more serious disciplinary action. Tuesday the students obeyed by parking their cars off school grounds, but did not remove the stickers. The students are also running extensive coverage of the story in their school paper.

Late Tuesday afternoon, school administrators changed their minds, and decided to allow Grenade stickers at school. The school district spokesperson, Allison Lockwood told Fox-31 News, "This is what they teach the kids to do-to speak up if they think something is not fair, and they did that, and it had an impact on the decision."

Danny Kass is sending a large box of stickers to the students to congratulate them on their efforts. Kass told reporters Tuesday night, "I'm really proud of those kids and fans who stuck up for it, and stuck up for their rights and made it acceptable."

- Hilary Hutcheson

Fight the power - sticker the world.