Evolution is a necessity, particularly in the snowsports world. Do the same thing the same way for more than a few years, and it can get stale, wither and die. For the 2013 World Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler, BC, evolution became a necessity. And the Festival Formerly Known as Telus once again proved it was the best spring-time party in Canada...

On Saturday, April 20, we lost five well-loved members of the mountain community to an avalanche near Loveland Pass, CO: Christopher Peters, Joseph Timlin, Ryan Novack, Ian Lamphere and Rick Gaukel. The lone survivor of the massive slide, reportedly remotely triggered from below, was Jerome Boulay. This is a huge blow to the snowboard community and our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of those affected by this tragedy. Ride In Peace.

All around positive person and friend to many Megan Pischke needs our help. Come to what should be an outstanding gathering April 17 in Whistler or, if you can't make it, please consider making a donation online. The details...

The Burton US Open at Vail, CO: The Finals

The week was a nice warm up at the Burton US Open—the weekend is when things get wild.

It started with waking into the Burton store Thursday night and immediately bumping into a girl chugging beer out of a shoe while Jake Burton and Shaun White playing host to a warmed-up VIP crowd. With snow falling outside, I didn’t stay long. An imminent powder day trumps a night on the town 99 percent of the time...

The Burton US Open at Vail, CO: Day 3

Things I’ve learned in Vail in the past 24 hours:

- Matching full-length his and hers fur coats exist. Fur boots, however, are optional.

- Despite the glamorous façade, there is a typical dirtbag community here. And, like in most mountain towns, they like to party on Wednesday nights.

- It’s possible to have a bronze statue on every corner.

- The free public transportation system here is amazing—every mountain town should have such efficient people movers.

- Vail is a very big mountain. The tree riding is probably pretty damn good when it snows enough.

- Style still counts. Case in point? Scotty Lago qualified in first place...

I was sitting in the hot tub Tuesday night watching the gondola spin—little specks of light lacing their way up a cut in the mountainside. A red tail fox ran by no more than ten feet away with something in its mouth. Hard to say whether it was organic game or not, but he seemed to be on a mission. Ten minutes later he traipsed past again, making his nightly rounds, maybe returning for round two of dinner for his family back in the den. It was about then that light snow stopped falling and stars appeared through the steam—a good sign for today’s slope semis...

With full-on winter back in session at Mt Baker, WA, I found myself in the backcountry with the Never Summer crew this past Sunday for some powder lines and good times. A couple feet of snow had fallen over the weekend and twitchy avalanche conditions kept us confined to safer zones with limited exposure and low slide potential. But there were still pow turns aplenty and a few features to occupy our time...