The 2009 Baldy Bash was a blast! The competition consisted of coming up with, and singing a team theme song loudly to everyone in the Lodge, a Photo-op Scavenger hunt all over the Mountain, and finally costumes were judged as well. Needless to say our amazing team (YMCA): Riley Berman, Lily Debray, Lynsey Dyer, Madi DuPont, Allegra Gordan, and Conor Davis(me), won the days events. I cannot wait for Baldy Bash 2010.

Hot-CoCo CanCan

Conor’s Amazing Tail Grab

Hanging with the Lifties

All-Star Team!!!

This morning I woke up and I was ecstatic that mother nature gave us over two feet of fresh light fluffy snow for Christmas! There was so much snow in fact, that I couldn’t find my car when I went out side to look for it! Anyway, after standing in line for 2.5hrs with my friend Chris Tatsuno, the ski patrol finally declared the lower portion of the mountain open at 11:00. The scene was awesome, people were hootin’ and hollering and laughing and there was a vibe of an old resort, where everyone is in a great mood and having a blast. Chris and I stormed down for first tracks on Exhibition, passing about 50-60 poeple, and we continued charging down the whole morning. We ended up getting eleven runs in on the Exhibition chair before the top opened at 2:00. By the time the top opened the mountain had already tired out most of its morning skiers, and we had to many untracked lined to choose from the rest of the day. During a quick water break, Chris and I met up with Lynsey Dyer and Sven Kueenle and we skied until the mountain closed at 4:00. This was probably one of the days I’ve ever had at Sun Valley resort, and it was the best present I’ve ever received for Christmas

Dude where’s my Car?

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Lift Line

Megawatts=best powder ski ever!!! I love these skis

Chris and I are loving life!

Besides the cliché half-binding/half-brained hippy statement: “because the turn looks and feels so sweet dude,” I telemark because it is a key to unlock the hidden treasures of the mountains and because it allows access the backcountry. Telemarking allows me to enjoy mountains, and express myself better than I could do with tradition alpine skiing. “Then why don’t you just A.T.” you might ask? We all know that A.T. means “Almost Telemark.” I feel that A.T. doesn’t allow the seamless and fluid movement through the mountains, that telemarking does. I believe that A.T. is a great way for beginners to experience touring, but why not loose that clunky heelpiece?

To me, telemarking is like using handwritten calligraphy instead of type: it’s more technically challenging, it boasts additional style, and it contains an individual flair unique to each artisan… Plus it just looks cooler. Duh!!!

Haig Glacier

As you can imagine, I was surprised to see posters up around town for a ski competition on August 18th this summer. Sure enough on August 18th, The DNA Evolution Tour set up their mobile rail park outside PK’s ski and sports for a summer jib-sesh. It was super fun to break out my ski equipment on one of the hottest summer days. The event was great, there was lots of music and it drew in a pretty good-sized spectator crowd. I had a great time, and I got a lot of respect from the other competitors for competing on tele-gear. I think I even invented some telemark specific rail slides, like my “tele-stance slide” which got a lot cheers from the spectators. At the end of the day, I even qualified for The DNA Evolution Tour Finals in Las Vegas, unfortunately I won’t be able to attend main event this year…

Conor Davis|Big Mountain Telemark Skier and Ambassador

I honestly cannot remember a time in my life before snow or skiing. My first memories seem to be mental recordings of me sliding past the snow banks of our driveway on little plastic skis from the local drugstore. I remember the hours I spent in our backyard, playing in the snow, never feeling wet or cold. My mother would always have to drag my brother and me back into the house, away from the jumble of backyard ski runs and jumps we made. Skiing has always been a way for me to connect with the world around me, a way to live in the moment. When I’m skiing I’m free.

Photo: Chris Holmquist

My First Time Skiing

I believe that my skiing career started when I was old enough to stand(2-ish), when my ambitious father pushed me, down the driveway on cheap little plastic skis. As I became skilled enough to make my way down the slopes of the “bunny hill,” i was retrofitted with “edgy-wedgies” and  “racer-chasers.”  Soon i joined the early stage of ski team, which was more like a super cool after school daycare, where i got to ski with all my friends. As time progressed, my friends and I became alpine racers on the A-team. We would head to the mountain almost every day after school to run gates and occasionally free-ski. By the time my first year in high school came around, I was pretty bored of the monotonous routine of training for alpine races, so I made a radical shift and I joined the Cross-Country/Nordic ski team. I had always been a great endurance athlete, and I was a varsity cross-country runner my first year in high school. I stuck with the Nordic team for two years, until an unfortunate health issue forced me to quit. However, the Nordic team instilled a life long passion of the outdoor-fitness, and made me want to lead and active outdoor lifestyle. After Nordic team, I knew that I wanted to continue to downhill ski, but I wanted something new and exciting, something unique, and I took up telemark skiing.
My father has always been a Telemark skier; he is from an era of leather boots, three-pin bindings, and big long wooden skinny skis. He was the major influence in my decision to lose half my binding and free my heel. Telemarking came very naturally and quickly to me, I had some difficulty letting my knee drop at first, but I slowly felt more and more comfortable. I fell in love with the fluidity and beautiful style of the “tele-turn.”
-I haven’t gotten back in my alpine boots since…

“We got a young ripper here named Conor Davis. Conor is super passionate about Telemark skiing. He has been one of our youngest racers for years. He represents the total youth movement: rails, high speed and has been competing in the Big Mt Comps for a couple of years. Did I mention he is a fitness freak. Remember the days…” -Danny Walton

Goals for the Sport
I want to tear down the traditional views of telemark skiing. With ever-evolving gear and technology, there are more possibilities to push the sport than ever before. I strive to ski faster, go bigger, get in the park and invent new tele-tricks, and ski better than my alpine companions, and have an amazing time doing it.

Photo: Buck Naked Films

After competing in the 12th Annual Extreme Freeskiing Telemark Championsips in Crested Butte a weekend earlier, I knew that I was good enough to step up, and ski with the “big dogs,” the guys I had been idolizing in telemark movies just a few years ago. Guys like: Nick DeVore, Dylan Crossman, Will Cardemone, JT Robinson, etc… With the financial support of the Sun Valley Ski Patrol I was able to get a last second ticket to Alaska.

Alaska was amazing! I had only ever seen it in ski films. I had never imagined the vastness and the overwhelming scale of its beautiful and pristine mountains. I had never skied anything as steep and rewarding, and I cannot wait to do it again.

This was my first freeskiing competition of my 2008 winter season. I had a lot of fun and I placed well considering I was the only competitor on telemark equipment. The snow was amazing, but the visibility went to zero soon after the competition started, so finding my line was a bit difficult.

2009-2010 Competition Highlights:

Competed in 6 freeskiing comps (3 of which were alpine comps I did on my tele-gear)
6^th at Alpine Meadows Big Mtn Telemark Comp
5^th at the Telemark Extreme Freeskiing Nationals in Crested Butte (fell in super-final was in 2nd)
7^th at the Telepalooza World Extreme Comp
Tough Guy Award at the World Comp
-In Telemark Skiing Mag’s movie

2008-2009 Competition Highlights:

1st big air category of all terrain Comp Sun Valley Tele
1st Overall Sun Valley Tele All Terrain
Highest Ranked Telemark skier: Canadian Freeskiing Open
36th Crested Butte Freeskiing Championships: Subaru Freeskiing tour (best on Telemark)
Highest Scoring Run: Alpine Meadows Free-heal open
8th place Alpine Meadows (fell in super final)
10th National Extreme Telemark Championships

Other Life Highlights 2008-2009

-As far as I know I invented a new tele-surf technique (video coming as soon as the snow falls)
-127 days skied, at 14 different resorts in the US and Canada, and 20 days of amazing back country touring.
-expanded my bag of tricks with: Back Flips, 720′s, Lincoln Loops and others inverts.
-Biggest air I’ve ever hit: 50ft ish from takeoff to landing… stuck it

2007-2008 Season Competition Highlights

-1st Bob Marley day big air telemark comp.
-7th Extreme Freeskiing telemark world championships– Alyeska resort AK
-9th Canadian Freeskiing open– Red Mtn. BC (alpine comp i did on my tele’s)
-10th US Extreme Freeskiing telemark nationals–Crested Butte CO
-lots of top results in the mens elite class for the Sun Valley Telemark Series

Other Life Highlights 2007-2008
-two week yurt ski trip in the Sawtooth Mountains “Boulder Yurt” with friends

-148 days skied (37 in backcountry)

-Three week trip to Moab, for river rafting, Climbing, and Mountain Biking

-Graduated High School!!! (and i even gave a speech)

I am always looking to develop relationships with new sponsors, and i would be thrilled to represent your Company. I am available for Films, Photo Shoots, Product Promotion/Testing, Modeling, Expeditions, and any other adventures you can come up with…

here are my awesome current sponsors:

Sun Valley Resort I’m an ambassador for Black Diamond Equipment I would really like to express my gratitude and say thank you to the Sun Valley Ski Patrol. Thank you all for funding both of my trips to the world championships in Alaska. They were truly an eye opening and enlightening experiences, and it wouldn’t have been possible with out your help. All of you guys and girls are awesome! Chums

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