Paraplegic skier Josh Dueck learns Sit Ski backflip at Woodward at Copper ​Salomon Freeski TV's clip of paraplegic skier Josh Dueck hucking the first-ever Sit Ski backflip has us as stoked as any other trick we've seen filmed this season. Dueck -- formerly a competitive freestyle skier before a T11 spinal chord injury in 2004 -- won bronze in the Mono Skier X event last week at Winter X Games and won gold the year before. He's also been in the news this month after the Switchback Entertainment film The Freedom Chair won Best Documentary at Powder Magazine's 2012 Powder Awards. More >>

Mountaineering legend Fred Beckey, 89, signing books tonight at Patagonia Boulder ​Fred Beckey, author of more than a dozen mountaineering guides, has made more first ascents than any other North American climber -- and possibly more than any climber anywhere. And that's not just because he's been at it the longest, though the fact that he just turned 89 and is still bagging first ascents is going to make his records awfully tough to top. Tonight at 7:30 p.m., Beckey will be talking about his latest book, Fred Beckey's 100 Favorite North American Climbs, to Patagonia Boulder, 1425 Pearl Street, where he'll be introduced by Patagonia CEO Casey Sheahan. More >>

This Weekend in Stoke: Make the most of Denver's dump Make a run to Echo Mountain, where 24 inches of new snow overnight make it the best powder pick in Colorado today​To make the most of your snow day today, believe it or not, you're going to want to stay fairly close to home: Denver got more snow than most of the ski areas, and you might find more powder at your local sledding hill than at your favorite ski resort. This morning's Facebook post from Loveland Ski Area, where they got just two inches over night, sums it up succinctly: "Mother nature, you're mean." But it also means you can spare yourself some time on I-70 today: Echo Mountain got more snow than any other ski area in Colorado, reporting 24 inches this morning and with another 6-10 inches in the forecast today, according to our friends at OpenSnow.com, just in time for this weekend's Rail Jam and Winter Festival at Evergreen Lake and the SnowDash Extreme 5K at Echo Mountain on Saturday. And Eldora Mountain Resort -- motto: "Friends don't let friends drive I-70" -- is reporting 18 inches this morning, with another 5-9 inches on the way. More >>

Something Independent's Art of Winter auction closes this weekend ​If you'll be sad to see the Art of Winter exhibit downtown conclude when it comes down on February 6 you can still get in on the auction of one-off artist works and brand gallery items from the show, including original work by 20 local artists as well as skis and boards by some of Colorado's coolest local companies. The auction ends Saturday, February 4 at 8:00 p.m., and proceeds benefit the second annual Something Independent Snow Sport Entrepreneur Award (Denver-based ski apparel company Flylow Gear won the first annual award, presented in October). More >>

Breckenridge's 12,840-foot Imperial Express, the highest lift in the U.S., opens today Courtesy Breckenridge Ski ResortBreckenridge is turning all 31 of its lifts as of this morning.​Here in Denver we like to throw the number 5,280 around a lot. Skiers and snowboarders at Breckenridge prefer a much bigger number: 12,840. That's the elevation at the top of the Imperial Express SuperChair, the highest chairlift in North America, and it's open this morning for the first time all season, thanks to some recent snow. The opening also marks another first for the season: All 31 of the resort's lifts are now running. More >>

The Art of Winter, SIA and the Winter X Games take over Colorado ​Recent powder dumps across the state couldn't have come at a better time: This week the entire snow sports industry is in town for its annual SIA Snow Show confab at the Colorado Convention Center and related Mile High Snow Fest events all over town, all the top pros are in Aspen for the Winter X Games, and Something Independent's Art of Winter show downtown is featuring skis, snowboards, and even gondola chairs designed by many of our favorite local artists. Whether you're just visiting or you live here and you're stoked winter's finally upon us, here's a handy guide to the week ahead... More >>

Colorado athletes Eric Willett, Torin Yater-Wallace top Dew Tour in Vermont Alli SportsBreck rider Eric Willett tops the Dew Tour podium in Killington, VT​It was a big weekend for Colorado athletes on the Winter Dew Tour, with Breckenridge snowboarder Eric Willett and Aspen skier Torin Yater-Wallace each topping the podium at the Pantech Invitational in Killington, VT. Check out the highlight reels after the jump. More >>

Gear: Boulder's ZEAL Optics gets all 21st century with new iON Goggles ​This week I've been inundated with press releases from various companies headed to Denver to show off their wares at the SnowSports Industries America Snow Show, January 26-31, at the Colorado Convention Center. One actually caught my eye: The new iON Goggles from Boulder-based ZEAL Optics features an embedded camera capable of shooting both 1080p True HD video and 8-megapixel still shots. More >>

Lil Wayne drops in on the skate bowls at Copper's Woodward Woodward at CopperLil Wayne stopped by a session at the Barn at Woodward at Copper last week.​Lil Wayne dropped by Copper Mountain last week and dropped in at the skate bowls inside the Woodward Barn, home of several extreme sports training camps. Weezy loves the experience and may have left a little blood behind. To hear about it, check out the video below. More >>

Win a pair of passes to Loveland Ski Area Loveland Ski Area: As seen on TV​Update, 2:53 p.m., January 16: We've picked a winner! Check your e-mail to see if you've won. Thanks for playing along.Of course you watched the Broncos beat the Steelers on Sunday. And if you watched the CBS broadcast of the game, you saw footage of Loveland Ski Area on Saturday and all the skiers and snowboarders donning Broncos gear. Excellent "free advertising" for the ski area, which received a dump of snow after an early-season dry spell. Looking to go to Loveland for free? We have two passes to give away. Read on for details. More >>

Null Skateboards: Make your own kind of music ​In addition to being a pretty cool clip, we're certain this new edit from Boulder's Null Skateboards must be the first use of a Mama Cass track in a skateboard video. Local skaters Josh Steele, Max Garson, Bernie Keith, Jack Spanbauer, Chad Seidel, Derek Yale and Monico Candelaria each sing their own special song: More >>

This Weekend in Stoke: How are those New Year's resolutions coming along? Estes Park Winter Festival and Winter Trails Day​Get to steppin'! The 3rd annual Estes Park Winter Festival opens tonight with a free "Ceilidh" Irish barn dance and runs through Monday at the Fairgrounds at Stanley Park, with a CandyLand Ice Castle for kids and family-friendly events including ice skating, ice bowling, horse and carriage rides, a town-wide scavenger hunt, and the annual Chili Cook-Off, sanctioned by the Chili Appreciation Society International (festival grounds open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., $5 per person). The main event is the 17th annual Winter Trails Day in Rocky Mountain National Park on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with free snowshoe demos on Saturday and free entrance to the park all weekend. More >>

Just for the heli of it: Silverton Mountain offering $50 helicopter drops this weekend Photo courtesy Silverton MountainWish you were here? This week Silverton Mountain is offering its best deal ever on helicopter runs​The 22,000 acres of new ski terrain open at Silverton Mountain last season thanks to its new Heli Board/Heli Ski operation was a no-brainer for our Best New Ski Terrain award in Westword's 2011 Best of Denver guide, and the heli drops, starting at $159 per run, remain one of the best bargains in big mountain extreme adventure anywhere in the United States. The deal gets even sweeter this week, Thursday through Sunday when -- just because -- the mountain is offering $50 heli drops. More >>

OutsideOnline.com screening Sweetgrass Productions' ski film Solitaire tonight ​Boulder-based filmmaker Nick Waggoner's Sweetgrass Productions film Solitaire -- documenting two years exploring South American backcountry terrain on a human-powered trek around Argentina, Peru, and Chilean Patagonia -- was the year's most surprising ski film, winning the Best Cinematography award at the IF3 International Ski Film Festival and earning Waggoner a spot on the National Geographic 2012 Adventurers of the Year list. Tonight at 6 p.m. Outside Magazine is presenting a free online screening of the film in its entirety at OutsideOnline.com, followed by an online chat with Waggoner and skiers Kim Havell and Stephan Drake. More >>

Scorpions, slams, and faceplants: Female snowboarders go hard ​The ice ceiling in snowboarding has led to inequalities for female competitors on the Winter Dew Tour and other professional events. It has also led to a near dearth of women's parts in this season's crop of snowboarding films. That point is something Peepshow is aiming to address with its new all-female film, Winter Wars, premiering online at www.SnowboarderMag.com on January 16 and available now as a $5.99 purchase or $2.99 rental from iTunes. The Peepshow films -- Winter Wars is the followup to Let's Make Better Mistakes Tomorrow -- feature top riders like Bryn Valaika, Claudia Avon, Colleen Quigley, Danyale Patterson, Darrah Reid-McLean and Desiree Melancon. More >>