March 2011 Archives

Correspondent

Snowboarding is all about self-expression. Its jumps, flips and twists are a creative blend of movement and athleticism displayed in a graceful air ballet. Snowboarding is an art, and some snowboarders are also artists.

So what better way for Mammoth Mountain to pay tribute to a local fallen snowboarder than with an art exhibit that's also a terrain park?

Mammoth's Art Park is a first of its kind for the ski resort. It's a melding of original works of art into something that can be ridden on, jumped off or just enjoyed in its outdoor gallery setting on one of the mountain's named runs. The exhibit, "I am Snowboarding," honors Jeffrey Lin Anderson, a professional snowboarder, artist and Mammoth resident who died in 2003 at the age of 23.

  "A lot of artists are influenced by action sports. Snowboarders are influenced by art. Their tricks are influenced by art, music and lifestyle. That integration between art and snow; we wanted to create that connection," said Josh Chauvet, action sports brand manager for Mammoth Mountain.

"I am Snowboarding" is an art project created by the Jeff Anderson Memorial Fund to raise money for the construction of the Brothers skateboard park in Mammoth Lakes, which opened in Sept. 2005. For the project, photographers were teamed with artists to create a one-of-a-kind work of art. Photographers submitted a favorite photo of Jeff which was enlarged and placed on canvas. The artists, using various mediums, applied their artistic touches overtop the photographs, transforming then into unique works of art. The 23-piece exhibit traveled around the country and to Japan in 2010.

But it was at Mammoth where terrain expert and metalworker Dustin del Giudice turned the artworks into his own masterpieces. Del Giudice, a longtime snowboarder and owner of a metal shop in Mammoth, transferred the images onto large pieces of plywood. He then used the plywood and steel to make the strikingly colorful rails, ledges and boxes that form the Art Park.

The Art Park is located on Round Robin run off the Canyon Express lift near Canyon Lodge. Finding it can be a challenge. With no signs on the mountain, it's a bit of trial and error.

For those who want to utilize the features, the park is a place where they can ride and be creative. But it's also a place where visitors can take a breather from skiing or boarding and pause to read about Anderson and discover the stories behind the photographs.

The sign at the entrance to the Art Park features a photo of a 1-year-old Jeff and his older brother Billy dressed in Superman outfits for Halloween. The photo was taken by their mother, Jane.

 "This is what Jeff wanted," Jane said in a video taken at the opening of the Art Park at Mammoth in December. "He wanted to mesh art with snowboarding; an art with everyday life. That's what makes (the Art Park) so awesome."

"Having Fun," a joint work with photographer Stan Evans and artist Robert Shaw, shows Anderson riding a stair rail surrounded by night and the creatures of the night with JLA written in the stars. On a nearby plaque, Evans says this about the photo:

"At the time, the rail we were shooting had never been done before. I got a late night call to shoot and ended up meeting Jeffy, (photographer) Shane Charlebois, and (pro snowboarder) Colin Langois. We ended up being there till 2 a.m., and when Jeffy pulled it, I knew I had a magical shot. Everyone was so jazzed, but Jeffy had a plane to catch to Japan the next day so we packed it in.

"Two days later I got a call from Shane telling me Jeffy had died in Japan. I went from the ultimate high to the ultimate low. This shot is forever blazed into my mind as the last time I saw Jeffy, and every time I see it, time stops for an instant."

Ever pushing his limits, Anderson died doing a trick. Not on a snowboard, but on his backside. While in Japan for a snowboarding competition, he attempted to ride the stair railing in a hotel down five flights of stairs. He made it one flight, lost his balance and fell to his death.

One of the most stunning works in the Art Park is a self-portrait that Anderson's brother found on Jeff's laptop computer after his death. The artist turned the picture into a shadowy, fractured image in shades of black and gray. It marks the end of the terrain park.

The Art Park will be up until April 18, the date when Canyon Lodge is set to close for the season.

The last week of February is usually a pleasant time to ski the Canadian Rocky Mountain resort. But this year, the cold front sweeping across much of North America was keeping the temperatures below zero.

Today, all lifts were open. But there were warnings posted everywhere: "Watch for signs of frostbite. Keep skin covered." With wind gusts on the mountain of 17 mph, the temperature felt much colder than it was, and frostbite was definitely a concern.

My daughter April and I layered up with everything we had and hit the front face of the ski area first. The resort, located within Banff National Park a few miles from the tiny town of Lake Louise, encompasses three mountains with most of the resort's named runs on the front side, and the backside an incredible selection of black and double-black diamond powder bowls for expert skiers and snowboarders.

We are intermediate skiers, but this was April's first time on skis for the season, and we wanted to take an easy beginning run to get the feel of our skis and the snow.

The problem with Lake Louise, though, is most of its beginning runs would be labeled intermediate at other resorts. Our driver on the shuttle bus from the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, where we stayed for the weekend, had warned us about this. And he was right.

From the main base area, a 12-minute ride on the gondola takes skiers and snowboarders to the mountain ridge.

From here, the map indicates Easy Meadows is a long, winding green trail from the top back to the base area. We thought this would be a good warm up, but it turned out to be a bit more than we wanted.

In several places the pitch was steep for a beginning run and the trail narrowed. Both of which could be difficult for beginning skiers to navigate. We saw one petrified skier looking down at a particularly long, steep pitch wondering what she got herself into.

The resort categorizes itself as 25% beginner, 45% intermediate, and 30% expert. But that's somewhat misleading - both on the beginning and expert calculations. If you include all the bowls on the backside, it's more like 50% expert, and maybe 15% beginning. But within that 15%, beginners can ski the front and back of the mountains.

 With the temperatures so cold and no new snow in several days, the snow was hard-packed. It was a bit crunchy and even icy in places. Our skis at times felt gripped by the snow, like a car about to stall.

As we worked our way across the face, then to the top of the mountain, the wind became so fierce it turned our fingers painfully cold within a matter of minutes - even with two sets of gloves.

We needed to find a more sheltered spot on the mountain to ski.

Fortunately, Lake Louise is one of the largest ski areas in North America with 4,200 skiable acres and 139 marked runs plus its numerous bowls.  Among the bowls on the backside are four very long runs for intermediate and beginning skiers that gracefully meander down the slopes, all meeting at the Temple Lodge. It was here we found the perfect place to ski.

From Temple Lodge, skiers and snowboarders can access the fourth area of the mountain - the Larch Area.  Here, out of the wind and in the partial sunshine, it felt warm. The snow was softer and the skiing more pleasant. This was like a little slice of heaven after the icy, windy front face.

The 600-acre ski area on the side of a yet another mountain has maybe a dozen or so beginning and intermediate runs. And for those skiers who don't want to take the lift back to the top and ski down the face to the main lodge, there's an easy ski-out that takes you back to the main lodge.

Also hunkered down in this section of the resort were Zev and his young daughter. The family has been coming to Lake Louise every year for the past three years. And despite the severely cold weather, he professed his love for the resort.

 "It's my favorite ski resort in North America - and I've been to all of them," the New Yorker said. "It's got great terrain, and it's not crowded." He paused, and continued. "My wife doesn't like the cold (this year) and doesn't want to come back. But we'll be back next year."

His daughter nodded in agreement.

I turned and looked at my daughter.  She was smiling.

It seems a Canadian deep freeze won't keep a father and daughter - or mother and daughter - from coming back for more.

Mammoth Mountain reports that the 2011 Sprint US Snowboarding Grand Prix, the longest running domestic snowboard tour, will stop at Mammoth from Thursday to Saturday.

The riders will take to the half pipe on Saturday and then unleash their slopestyle skills in the Unbound Terrain Park in the final Paul Mitchell Progression Session of the season. 

Riders include 2010 US Olympic Team members Louie Vito, Greg Bretz, Kelly Clark and Gretchen Bleiler - they'll go big trying to get a piece of the almost $200,000 prize purse.

Last season it was all about the double cork - check out the Grand Prix this season to see how snowboarding will progress in 2011!

2011 Sprint US Snowboarding Grand Prix event link:  http://www.ussa.org/magnoliaPublic/ussa/en/events/snowboarding/competitions/grandprix