WINTER/SPRING 2011 THE SUPREME EXTREME ISSUE KIT DESLAURIERS PHOTO: CHRIS FIGENSHAU THENORTHFACE.COM THE NORTH FACE® TRAILHEAD APP DEER LODGE, ACROSS FROM THE BREWHOUSE, WHISTLER VILLAGE 604.932.4193 TNF_WB_MOUNTAIN_LIFE_F10_OUT_2.indd 1 9/27/10 7:52:58 PM Come. Sit. Stay COME to Tantalus Crossing for the breathtaking scenery, the picture- of-health lifestyle and the around-the-corner convenience. Your furry friend will COME for the Hound Lounge, a totally fenced in o -leash park your dog will ip for. SIT at Tantalus Crossing stretched out in front of your replace re ecting on a day hiking the Chief, Skiing Whistler or visiting your favourite shing hole. SIT to recharge for tomorrows adventure. For further information STAY because you’re surrounded by people who share your enthusi- Call Gena Belanger asm for life. And STAY because you value the quality and craftsmanship in the Cell 1.604.892.4012 perfect home you’ve discovered at Tantalus Crossing. Sales O ce located at : 3 bedroom Townhome in Squamish #5 - 40437 Tantalus Road starting from the mid $300’s Garibaldi Highlands, BC Preferred Pricing for Phase I Registrants TantalusCrossing.com This is not an o ering for sale Tantalus Crossing Ad #3 - Mountain Life Magazine 8.375” x 10.875” Final - Full Page - 4 Colour Process Revised: January 14th, 2011 - Material Deadline: January 14th, 2011 [email protected] (234) POWDER BUFFET PREPARED FRESH DAILY PAUL MORRISON PAUL PHOTO: PHOTO: Bottomless turns just 30 minutes north of Whistler. Two, three and four day trips available. Book today. 1.604.894.7669 SNOWCATS.CA BCSC-ML-OCT10-8.375x10.875 nUmBer one WiTh Passion nordicacanada.com nemesis for her. enforcer for him. The freeride rocker-Technology for versaTiliTy. Your Eyes Won’t Really Notice The Difference But Your Feet Will Surefoot Contoura X1 Liner Nothing has ever skied like this. Nothing has ever fit like this. Whistler • 604-938-1663 At the Crystal Lodge, next to Lululemon www.surefoot.com The Smart Way to Own Whistler Resort Real Estate Intrawest Quarter Ownership Whistler’s premier ski and snowboard shop www.comorsports.com 4338 Main St. Whistler, BC 604.938.8898 CONTENTS p56 p76 p38 p41 THE SUPREME EXTREME 14 Editor’s Message Extreme History ADRENALINE ISSUE 25 Backyard On-Mountain Hucks 31 Culture The Need For Speed FEATURES 38 Local Artist Love Jules Leather 49 SOS 41 Comin' Up Eliel Hindert Search & Rescue in the Coast Mountains 44 Mountain Home Hempcrete 56 Siberia Craig Kelly, Scot Schmidt and Ace MacKay-Smith 54 Map Sea to Sky 76 Epic Trip 70 Key Gear Extreme! Hello Iceland! A Mountain Biker’s Dreamscape 72 Shopping Local's Picks 74 Gallery UPFRONT 81 Wellness Fast-Track Enlightenment 18 The Keys to Reality 86 Environment A Bug’s Afterlife 20 Mountain Lifer - Kevin Hodder 91 Food Hot Knives 22 WASA 98 Back Page Hoppin’ the Train COVER: Skier Colin Puskas. DELANEY ZAYAC PHOTO. Iceland. stERLING LORENCE PHOTO. On THIS paGE: (TOP TO BOTTOM, LEFT TO RIGHT) Love Jules Leather PHOTO. Craig Kelly. ACE MACKAY-SMITH PHOTO. Eliel Hindert. NICOlas TEICHROB PHOTO. 12 mountain life WINTER/SPRING 2011 eco-exhilaration™ Lonely Planet’s Top 10 CANADIAN Adventures! located inside the Carleton Lodge across from the Whistler Village Gondolas 604.935.0001 1.866.935.0001 ziptrek.com EDITOR'S MESSAGE It's not the steepest or the deepest but this looks Extremely fun. Skier Matt Elliott. ABRADLEYPHOTO.COM. Feet First For a while there, “Extreme” was a dirty word. Personally I liked Schmidt’s more subdued than ever before – that’s Extreme, always has Or perhaps it still is. These days you can style of charging better but it was Plake’s sig- been. And that feeling of focus and adrenaline, of buy Extreme underarm deodorant and hair gel, nature Mohawk haircut that took Extreme to its fear and excitement, of peace and bliss, that is super caffeinated Extreme soda pop or Extreme most iconic and recognizable level yet. what brought most of us to the Coast Mountains tanning spray. Anyone looking to really get crazy Then Snowboarding hit like a ten-car passenger in the first place, and that is what keeps us here. can purchase Extreme water heaters and Extreme train full of neon punk rockers with something So I hope you enjoy “The Supreme Extreme pita bread franchises. And that's where I draw the to prove and nothing to lose. Boarders spread Adrenaline Issue” and I assure you, this is not a line – there is absolutely nothing extreme about mayhem and brotherhood and snatched up the marketing gimmick. (Okay maybe a little bit, but pita bread. Extreme, it seems, is played out. ski industry’s youth like Extreme alpine shoplift- the people within these pages are all the real deal.) But it wasn’t always so. Extreme, as we in the ers. Once the kids crossed over, the Marketers Coast Mountains know it, began in 1960s and weren’t far behind. –Feet Banks ‘70s in Switzerland and France with “le ski ex- The Extreme Games, a made-for-TV, spon- treme” and the steep-skiing exploits of legends sor-laden showcase of “action sports” hit the Editor's NotE – One of the nice things about like Sylvain Saudan, Anselme Baud and Patrick airwaves in 1995 and by ‘96 the name had the staff of Mountain Life is we are not robots. Vallencant. changed to X-Games and that was the start of We are people, and as such, we screw up. So I’d Here in Canada, extreme skiing came onto the ending for the word “Extreme.” like to apologize to Tofino, BC, surfboard shaper the radar in the late ‘80s as local rippers like But not for the actual sports or the industries; Stefan Aftanas for misspelling his name last Eric Pehota, Trevor Petersen and Johnny Foon instead, everyone started making money doing issue, although at least “Stefan F Tanis” sounds took ski-mountaineering to new heights, climbing what they loved. Magazines, film companies, the same when you read it aloud. As well, our and skiing huge peaks and incredibly serious athletes, team managers, manufacturers, and sincere apologies to Paul Beswetherick for lines. The rise of video allowed everyday skiers to career photographers all owe a lot to the rise misquoting him in an article about XC ski racer watch the real steep and deep from the com- and commodification of Extreme. And even if nicki Murdoch. We had him describing her as fort of our own homes thanks to companies like EXTREME SkIInG felt the need to shamefully “a slinky” when in fact he meant the actual race RAP Films out of Alberta and the gonzo Extreme rebrand itself as Freeskiing or Big Mountain they were in was like a slinky, with each racer flicks of local Peter Chrzanowski. Skiing, the concept remains the same. swapping leads back and forth. Down south, Greg Stump movies ruled the Because when you’re riding the steepest, While ultimately the blame for any mistake roost and two skiers in particular captured the most exposed pitch of your life, or dropping a cliff is mine alone, both stories were written by the attention of every kid on skis – Glen Plake and you’ve been staring at for years, or hammering same author so to make it up to Paul and Stefan Scot Schmidt were true heroes of slope and just a tiny bit more speed out of your bike, or do- this issue we sent her down to Vancouver to eat screen. ing anything that pushes you higher, faster, harder insects. Check it out on page 86. 14 mountain life WINTER/SPRING 2011 publishers jOn BURAK [email protected] todd lawson [email protected] GLEn HARRIS [email protected] editor FEET BAnKS [email protected] creative DIRECTor calyPSO dESIGn [email protected] Managing EDITOR nEd Morgan [email protected] production director AMéLIE Légaré [email protected] webMaster KEvIn crawford [email protected] Financial controller SHEROnE HARRIS [email protected] contributors Kelly Schovanek, Jeff Hawe, Ashley Barker, Jess Smith, Paddy Kaye, Will Edmundson, Ken Achenbach, Paige Harley, Andrew Strain, Matt Domanski, Chris Winter, Michel Beaudry, Justa Jeskova, Dagan Beach, Mike Berard, Nic Teichrob, Steve Fisher, Oliver Kraus, Brian Hockenstein, Dave Barnes, Andrew Bradley, Kate MacLennan, Chris Ankeny, Dominic Gauthier, Dan Carr, Dave Steers, Matt Mallory, Chris Christie, Damian Cromwell, Colin Field, Cooper Saver, Les Anthony, Brian Finestone, Rich Glass, Mark Gribbon, John Haines, Sterling Lorence, Blake Jorgenson, Todd Lawson, Ace Mackay-Smith, G.D. Maxwell, Jim Martinello, Bryn Hughes, Allie Jenkinson, Erin Hogue, Delany Zayac, Sam McRae, Rich Duncan, Paul Morrison, Bruce Rowles, Matt Domanski, Mike Crane, Joe Mama. sales & Marketing jOn BURAK 604 815 1900 [email protected] TOdd lawson 604 932 1974 [email protected] published by Mountain liFe publishing inc. Copyright ©2011. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Publications Mail Agreement Number 40026703. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: We’ve seen cheap knock-offs. Mountain Life Magazine, PO Box 2433 Garibaldi Highlands BC, V0N 1T0. Tel: 604 815 1900 We’ve seen expensive knock- Mountain Life Coast Mountains is published every February, June and November by offs. But for quality and wear, Mountain Life Publishing Incorporated and circulated throughout Whistler and the nothing steps up like the Sea to Sky corridor from Pemberton to Vancouver. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly original, time-tested prohibited. 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