The cowbell goes virtual

The age-old method of cheering on a skier by shaking a cowbell in the air above your head has gone digital. Just in time for the Olympics, a boulder-based company has released an iPhone app that simulates the noise a rattling cowbell makes. Ringing a cowbell is the traditional way…

Colorado homegrown: Icelantic skis moving up

At the SIA show a couple of weeks ago, the Icelantic skis drew a lot of well-deserved notice. The graphics, which were based on a music theme this year, were stunning, and designed so that each ski made up half of a painting, a first for the company this year…

Like hiking 14ers? Show your support with a sticker

Dig climbing Colorado’s storied 14,000-foot peaks? You aren’t alone: 500,000 people attempt to bag one of our 58 high-country monarchs every year. But those mountains just don’t take care of themselves — each year, groups like the Colorado 14er Initiative and Colorado Mountain Club put in days of trail work…

Snow Porn: Colorado snowboarder Clair Bidez strips down with Lindsey Vonn, Hannah Teter, Lacy Schnoor for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2010

We’ve been following Clair Bidez all season on the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix and Winter Dew Tour, but apparently we hadn’t seen everything yet: The 22 year-old snowboarder from Minturn, Colorado is peeling off her winter base layers this week for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2010, alongside Olympic snowboarder Hannah Teter,…

Hey skiers: Get married at Loveland

Psst, wanna get married, but can’t settle for giving up day of skiing during the season? Wanna ski for free? Loveland, appropriately, has the answer. This Sunday, February 14, Valentine’s Day (again, ridiculously sappy and appropriate), Loveland will host its 19th Annual Mountaintop Matrimony Ceremony. Couples are always looking for…

Skiing vs. Snowboarding, Round 2: ‘The Truth About Powder Skis’

Last week my On The Edge colleague Ted Alvarez shared a video clip of Mike Douglas stating his case with a historical perspective in favor of freeskiing in the great Skiing vs. Snowboarding debates. Alvarez closed his post with the question, “How ’bout it, snowboarders? Anybody got a quality Riders’…

A-Basin names lift-to-be, and it’s not Quadzilla

As announced in December, Arapahoe Basin is replacing the 32-year-old Exhibition triple chair in its first high-speed quad this summer. The resort decided to name it with a contest and got some interesting ideas from the peanut gallery. We have a winner…

Silverton: Land of the endless vertical

Cross one off. At the beginning of the year, I wrote a five things to do this year list. The number one thing to do was ski Silverton, and that goal has finally been achieved. Let me just say, it’s all it’s been promised to be and more…

Colorado Head-to-Toe: Smartwool snowboard socks, layers

In my mission to piece together head-to-toe snowboarding gear sourced from Colorado companies showing their wares at the SIA Snow Show, one stop was a no-brainer: Steamboat Springs-based Smartwool is my pick for socks, base layers, and mid-layers. The Merino wool in these products comes from New Zealand, mostly, so…

There’s Crested Butte, and everywhere else

On Day two of my “Follow the snow tour,” I traveled to Crested Butte. This was the second time I skied at the Butte, and the same feeling struck me: The Butte is a skier’s mountain. Other places may try to claim it, but the Butte is the real deal…

Skiing vs. Snowboarding: A history

This guy Mike Douglas throws down the gauntlet in favor of skiing in the old skiing vs. snowboarding debate. (Wasn’t that settled at the Tahoe Accords back in ought-three?) He does it by throwing a bunch of skiing history in people’s faces, claiming it’s “the original adrenaline sport.”There’s the requisite…

Shaun White bashes brain, wins third title anyway

Nobody ever said snowboarders need brains to win, but Shaun White gives us new, compelling scientific evidence to back this up. On a practice run Friday in Aspen, he mistimed his most difficult trick (a 1260 Double McTwist — anybody want to translate that from Riderese?) and smacked his skull…

Backcountry skier falls into hole in earth

More Ski >> We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this video of a backcountry skier exhibiting some of the worst luck and some of the best in the very same death-defying jump…

What’s safer: Skiing or snowboarding?

Would you rather hurt your knee or your wrist on the slopes? If you’re still undecided on whether you want to spend the rest of your life as a skier or snowboarder, you might want to ask yourself that question. Just as you might think, skiers tend to have more…