earlyups

We here at Earlyups have a dream. A dream of a place where steep, high alpine, granite framed couloirs melt into endless powder fields continuing into the most playful spines and pillows one has ever seen.  A place where the vert is big, the snow bottomless and conditions never turning bad. A place so remote no one can reach it except by a once-a-week heli. A place with a backcountry palace sitting right in the middle of the goods. Oh, wait, that’s no dream. That’s just our trip to the Bill Putnam hut in BC. Take a read for the scoop on the best ski trip of our lives…(so far).

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If you wander aimlessly around SIA you’re sure to find a whole range of ski gear, from gimmicky to groundbreaking, fun to funny, useless to useful, etc. Before we unload a whole bunch of gear features on you, take a look at what we saw on our first hour of wandering the floor. Some of this is awesome, and some of it is not…

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More evidence Teton Pass not only is full of magical turns but magical creatures as well. Professional freeskier Pip Hunt joins Jeff Brines as they venture South Side… (Editor’s note…it had better snow soon…not sure how many “illustrations” we can post  on the site…)

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I’ll admit. I’m a bit of a 9 year old trapped in a 27 year old’s body. So…when I decided to go skiing and tell a story out of it this is what you get. Apologies for my really good illustrations. I’m not sure my mother would even hang them on the refrigerator  (check this out if you are wondering what the conditions look like around Jackson on 15-Nov)

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Mike Douglas aka “The Godfather” needs no introduction, so we’ll start out his pro playlist in his own words.  ”I spend a lot of time listening to crappy indie music to use in our productions – occasionally we find some gems. The rest of the time I’m picking up things I like on the radio, classics, or songs that my kids like that make me laugh.”

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The early season snow stoke is inevitable. You’ve made it through a snow-free summer and spent your Fall going to ski movie premieres, so obviously you’re going to be psyched that it’s snowing. Just remember that this snow is likely what will form the foundation of our snowpack all winter long.

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We pride ourselves on providing ample opportunities for our viewers to procrastinate at work and daydream about skiing. This is yet another way to make that happen…

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We’re back with 15 more skiing related Instagram accounts you should be checking out, from super duper ski stars like Ian McIntosh and Candide Thovex to summer ski camps and production companies like Sherpas Cinema and Sweetgrass…

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Guest contributor Colin Boyd offers up some Southern Hemisphere motivation in the form of words and photos from a 5-day backcountry trip last season in the Southern Alps of New Zealand…

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Yup, we’re still geeking out non-stop on our iPhones, checking out the best skiing-related accounts on Instagram.  Here are 15 more of our favorites…

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“Ski Bum of the Month” is a new Earlyups series aimed at highlighting some of the “non-pro” skiers that live the dream and ski everyday. We’re starting out with Zach Simon, a classic ski bum and tram line fixture here in Jackson Hole. Tune in for the tale of a Jackson Hole ski bum and his maiden voyage to Chamonix this spring…

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We’ve been all about “the gram” ever since the intern informed us that we were the ones being rookies by not having an Instagram account.   Since then, we’ve been geeking out on our iPhones, snapping photos and following some of our favorite brands and pro skiers.  Here’s a quick list of 15 of our favorite Instagram accounts in the ski world…

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Lynne Wolfe writes for The Avalanche Review, guides for Exum and teaches avalanche classes with the AAI.   Here she runs us through a checklist of things you should be thinking and talking about before, during and after a day in the backcountry.

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Five skis we’re stoked to get out on next season, from K2, Line, 4FRNT, Nordica and Salomon.  Clearly we are biased and looking for an “everyday Jackson ski”, but with that in mind, take a look at some of our favorite concepts for 2012-13…

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There’s always gaper day and buying presents for your 4-year old nephew so I’m not going to guarantee it, but…

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Part of the magic of the SIA tradeshow is the pure chaos and over stimulation that it provides. Here’s a random walk around the show with a look at its atmosphere and products, both functional and bizarre…

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Before heading down to the madness of SIA we got in an extra tasty pow lap in Jackson. JH has been going off!

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Get up close and personal with Praxis’ radically different ski with the goal of achieving reverse sidecut performance with traditional sidecut verstaility by combining fatter-underfoot technology and rocker with conventional sidecut and camber. To our knowledge, there isn’t anything else out there like the Concept. Take a look for yourself and see where the future is (maybe) heading…

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Jackson Hole Mountain Resort will open up tomorrow with a 29″ base depth after 79″ of snow so far this season.  While it’s tough to compare to last season, there’s been some great skiing in JH for the past week or so.  Take a look at how this season has been shaping up thus far…

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