01.20.2011– Salt Lake City, Utah– Beyond Coastal, the Sun Valley, ID and Salt Lake City, UT-based manufacturer of premium sun care products for the outdoor lifestyle, is pleased to announce support of several top skiers straight from the company’s snow-crazed backyards. On the team for 2011 are Salt Lake skiers, Grete Eliassen, McKenna Peterson, and Caroline Gleich and Sun Valley-based pros Conor Davis and Danny Walton.

Each skier brings a unique skill set as the crew’s specialties include freeskiing, telemark, big mountain, and downhill. This youthful team is united by their ambitious goals and new media mastery, bringing fans as close to the action as possible via the social web, video, and TV content. These skiers also share a keen understanding of the potential skin damage they face while spending countless hours outside at high elevation and do their best to spread a safe sun care message to their peers.

Eliassen, a regular in major media like Shape magazine and ESPN, has a longstanding love affair with sunscreen. “Sun exposure is a significant part of my life since I’m always outside and, it might sound crazy, but I’m addicted to sunscreen. I wear Beyond Coastal Active 15 on my face everyday and try to educate my friends and other skiers about its importance,” Eliassen said. “The advice I give to my friends is don’t be afraid to use sunscreen. You only have one face and you need to protect it.”

Roster Profiles:
• Grete Eliassen is a bilingual freeskiing sensation, blending her Norweigan roots with electric freestyle skills honed in Salt Lake City, Utah. She is a four-time U.S. Open freeskiing champion and has won X Games’ gold and silver medals.

• Conor Davis, the poster boy for Sun Valley Resort, is a young skier who puts in an incredible amount of days skiing (167 in 2010) and regularly showcases his versatility in alpine freeskiing competitions on his tele boards.

• McKenna Petersen is a Sun Valley transplant, currently attending the University of Utah while competing in the Freeski World Tour. She also runs the University of Utah ski and snowboard club (1,000+ student members).

• Caroline Gleich, covergirl for SKI magazine’s January 2011 issue, is a USSA Level II Certified Freeride Coach and big mountain skier who also attends the University of Utah.

• Danny Walton is a Sun Valley telemark skiing wunderkind. He is responsible for organizing the Northern Rockies Telemark Institute Clinics, as well as several Sun Valley Telemark Series events.

Beyond Coastal’s sun care products appeal to outdoor athletes because they are formulated to deliver skin-nourishing ingredients such as Green Tea, Grape Seed, and Shea Butter while offering complete broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection. It puts back what the elements strip away. Always Paraben Free, Petroleum Free, Fragrance Free, and Cruelty Free Beyond Coastal is for athletes and enthusiasts alike who spend a ton of time outdoors. In 2011, Beyond Coastal will bring to market its newest product, the Facestick, answering the “call of the gloved” by helping snowsports’ athletes wearing bulky gloves to simply remove the top and rub on high exposure areas.

Beyond Coastal produces some of the highest quality skin protection on the market and is top rated by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), an independent, non-profit consumer research group. Find fresh and exciting content from each of these athletes on Beyond Coastal’s social channels including Facebook and Twitter.

About Beyond Coastal
Beyond Coastal’s mission is to offer the cleanest, healthiest sun care products possible at a reasonable price. Their formulas contain natural ingredients; Yerba Mate, Green Tea, Algae Extract, Grape Seed, Pro Vitamin B and Rose Hip Oil that Protect, Nourish, Repair, and
Hydrate. It’s nutrition for the skin!

Please visit: www.beyondcoastal.com and facebook.com/BeyondCoastal

For my last day in Revelstoke, I went touring in Rogers’ Pass with my friends; Jake Sakson, Mark Welgos, and Lange Adams. The day started at 6:00am with a drive up the pass and a mission to ski in a secret pillow zone that Jake called “The Dagobah System.”  After admiring the morning alpin-glow on the surrounding mountains at the trail head, we started our four hour trek up the mountainside through a beautiful glade. With lots of kick-turns, some creative route finding, and practicing our skin-astics over fallen logs and through tight trees, we made it to the ridge and headed up to just above tree level. With well below freezing temps we geared up quickly headed down for one of the most fun runs I’ve ever skied. Check out my GoPro video and the days photo gallery below:

It’s been snowing here in Revelstoke almost non-stop since the Freeskiing World Tour arrived here a couple days ago. Revelstoke Mountain Resort has reported 55cm (21.7in) in the last 48hours! This new snow left the venue in pristine condition for both the men’s and woman’s qualifying runs, held yesterday and today. I felt good on my qualifying run, and i skied a fun line, but the cut was deep and the judges only took the top 20 athletes to compete in the semi-finals tomorrow. Although I would have liked to see at least one of us make it all three mens Telemark athletes were cut, but Big props to Jake Sakson and Rory Camm for sending it today!!! I would also like to congratulate fellow Sun Valley skier Collin Collins for killing is in his first run! Snow is still on the radar so im “revel-stoked” to go get some pow in the morning!!!

I also got the cover shot for the Freeskiing World Tour’s Website for today!!!

check out the video from today!!!

REVELSTOKE 2011: Mens Highlights from Qualifying from Subaru Freeskiing World Tour on Vimeo.

Yesterday my friend, North Parker, and I woke up at 5am to ski a sick couloir on Hyndamn peak. With our skis and boots strapped to our packs, we started the 5mile approach to the base of the mountain. After crossing a river in the basin we scrambled our way to a small dwindling snow field, and started our 5000ft climb. About halfway up it became too steep to continue skinning, and we started an epic boot pack. The ski down was really fun and I’d like to ski it again in the winter, but the trek back to the car left us exhausted. All in all, it was a good time on one of Idaho’s most famous peaks.

The pictures below are from my cell phone, not the best quality but pretty good:

I’ve been physically back in Sun Valley for a few days now, but I think I’m mentally  still in Alaska. Even today as I got ready to ski at the resort, I put on my beacon and my avy-pack with out even thinking, then I remembered, and felt like a a dork as I walked back to the condo to take them off… Then, even though the mountain was empty and the snow was awesome, the skiing felt droll, nothing felt steep or exciting… Oh well, I’ll get back into the swing of things eventually…

Here are some Pictures form the last two days of the trip:

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So after a nice relaxing day after lying in bed yesterday, I finally got my broken body out of the yurt and into the mountains. We got an early start, but ended up waiting for avalanche debris to be cleared from the highway, then Josh remembered that he’d forgotten his boots/skis, so we finally got going around ten. We did a really mellow tour on a mountain called “Sun Burst.” The snow wasn’t super stable and it was a little crusty, so Corky Still and I ended up doing some sweet powder-8’s for the camera. Then the group mobbed (snow plowed) through the lower death crust to the cars.

On our way back to the yurt we stopped on the side of the road to play in the mud to get some sweet “lifestyle” shots. Having not acted like a 4-year-old in at least a week, I jumped on the opportunity:

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I’ve been in Alaska for three days now, the skiing has been good, but this morning we woke up to a foot of new snow up top. After a great breakfast, Jake Sakson, Paul Kimbrough (Who drove their modified ski-bum ambulance form Colorado) and I went to go shred Alyeska resort. We met up with the rest of the Tele Crew: Paige Brady, Corky Still, Candy Froerer, Dave Magoffin, etc… The snow got to be a little heavy down low but we still had a sick day! Comp Run tomorrow morning and we’re all super stoked to ski some AK mountain niceness.

Jake Sakson's ski-bum ambulance, it runs on grease!!!

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I’ve been having so much fun traveling and skiing, that I haven’t found the time or motivation to sit down and write. However, after driving through countless snow caused accidents on the California highway, and then having to entertaining myself in the Nevada hell-hole that is I-80, I’m taking a day off.

I can’t believe that this season is but a few months from coming to an end, and that the first comp in Revelstoke, BC was almost two months ago. Now over halfway through the comp season, the 2010 Telemark Big Mountain/Freeride Comp in Alpine Meadows, California is also already over. This last comp went smoothly even though the weather and snow conditions didn’t feel like cooperating. I did however, have a major break threw, in that I was finally able to stay on my feet, and not get lost for at least one comp run! Even though a hip-check/slide would put me into the 8th spot, I feel that my falling/getting lost streak is finally over! Hopefully I can finally “have one” at the next stop in Kirkwood and show those alpine skiers that a guy on tele-boards can SKI. With three comps down and three more to go, there is still a lot of skiing to be had.

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Josh Madsen from Telemark Skier Magazine also did a fantastic job covering the comp:
(if the video doesn’t open in a player click the transparent “facebook” I cant figure out why some videos load and some don’t)

Demo Days was a big hit this last Sunday (Dec 13), I was able to help/teach almost 25 people how to Telemark and we all had a great time. If you missed out on the action you can still demo all the killer gear at eaither Backwoods or The Elephants Pearch.

I’m in the best mood EVER!!! Want to know why? …Because today was the first day of my 09-10 ski season. It felt so good to finally get reacquainted with the snow, and I am so happy to be sliding down mountains again. I forgot that I would have to get used to my equipment again, but after a few runs i was quickly charging ahead at full speed. After skiing today, I have a feeling that the rest of this season is going to be truly epic!

With the skiing dreams really showing up in the last few months I have been so anxious to ski that I was thinking about driving all the way to the Breanu Sand Dunes to go sand skiing. When I awoke this morning to find snow pouring out of the clouds, I could hardly contain my excitement. I ran around the house waking up everyone, making sure that I wasn’t dreaming. After running outside and throwing some snowballs for Bailey, my dog, I went onto the Sun Valley website to check out the real time status of the snow on the mountain cams and the snow depth indicator read 9in! Update: it now reads 12inches one hour later

I hope that this fresh blanket is a tell tale sign of a big winter to come. I have a bet with some friends going on about how many inches we’re going to get here in Sun Valley. How many inches do you think we are going to get here in Sun Valley? Leave a comment on this post, and if you’re the closest at the end of the year you will win the prize!

This is also the first snow the New Gondola has experienced

Two weeks, two comps, and 3000 miles later, I’m finically back home in Sun Valley, Idaho. It all started with the Subaru U.S. Extreme Freeskiing Championships in Crested Butte, Colorado. In typical ski bum style, North Parker, Bryce Newcomb, and I all mobbed over to the Comp in my mothers Big Blue Van. We were greeted with a much need blanked of fresh snow, followed by an amazing blue bird sunny weekend. With these ideal conditions I had the most fun I’ve ever had at Crested Butte. North kept his Jr. title for the second year in a row, and Bryce and I both fell which caused us to place further back than what we wanted(I ended up in 36th). I also skied the most burly line I think I have ever skies and aired a 50-footer at the bottom of the Dead End Chute. I got to meet lots of the alpine athletes and make friends outside of the SV-Possy. Then we were on the road again headed back to Sun Valley. After I dropped Bryce and North off, I only had time to Unpack, do laundry, Repack and get some food, before I was on the road again headed to California for the first extreme Telemark comp at Alpine Meadows.

The Alpine Comp was another great competition, and it felt good to be back in the company of so many rippin’ Telemark Skiers. The First day I skied well but I had an unfortunate bobble upon landing the bottom cliff out of the “Key Hole,” but I redeemed my self second run, with the highest total run score for the whole comp, which put me into 3rd place, right behind Jake Sakson, and JT Robinson. The next day in the Finals I was hoping to bypass JT and Jake by skiing the “money-line” faster and better than I had done the day before. I ended up being too aggressive and I lost my balance as I dropped into the keyhole and I fell in the “NO-FALL Zone.” Obviously my scores suffered, but I with the great run the day before, I was able to pull off a 8th place finish.

Now it feel like have time to breath, but im back to training, Crested Butte is coming up in a few weeks…
Click here to see my Videos

The Canadian Open Freeskiing Championships at Red Mountain Resort was my first big mountain competition of this season. In training I fell and when I self arrested I injured my wrist. I decided to take a more conservative line than I initially planned because I didn’t want to hurt my wrist any further and because the crash rattled me and shook me up a little. The event went well although I missed the cut to the finals by 0.8points! Even though I was cut, I feel good about the line I decided to ski and I stomped it. Also I feel that it is worth mentioning that this was an alpine skiing event and I beat over half the field on telemark equipment, and I’m happy about that… Hopefully I can heal up my wrist and come back strong and do well in my next comp at Crested Butte.

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!