kids and twigs

December 31. Happy New Year!

I can't believe that Christmas "break" is already over. If you're in the ski industry like myself, you know that Christmas is a time for work, not play. I've had ten days of skiing with children ages 7-12 and it was a blast! Will, Amalie, Catherine, Blake, and Grant- you all did so good! We used our edges! We learned about pole plants and sideslipping and pressuring and releasing! We made it down Twister, a.k.a. Twigstar, faster and with more dynamic skiing than last year! Yay twiggy moguls!

Now, what does this have to do with a Grace Skis athlete?? Skiing with these kids for the last two weeks made me think about my skiing more, criticize my errors and bobbles. It made me think about why we make the movements we do and how they help us ski efficiently and dynamically. With a lack of snow everywhere but the terrain park I've had the chance to define and enhance my moves by skiing with kids. And now it's time to take my break and head for Revelstoke!

So thanks kids for the help and inspiration to keep my momentum down the fall line!

With new Grace Kylies, custom Langes from Real Balance, and a head full of kids laughter I'm ready for the challenge of the Freeskiing World Tour in Revelstoke! As fun as skiing twiggy moguls and icy groomers are, I think I'm ready for some powder...

Please help if you can!!!

Friends and family of Grace.....

I've signed up a team to compete in the 2012 Ability Challenge on March 31, 2012 out here at Alpine Meadows. The team combines 2 organizations I am passionate about. Disabled Sports USA Far West, an organization that makes adaptive sports accessible and affordable, and SheJumps, an organization that helps women take risks in outdoor activities. I will be competing in this all mountain skiing challenge with a team made up entirely of female skiers and snowboarders.

As participants, we've all agreed to raise $200 for Disabled Sports USA and so that is why I'm writing. Maybe you're feeling a little generous the day after Christmas. Maybe you need more tax deductions before the end of 2011. Maybe you're just awesome, like all of you should know you are. In any case, any amount of money you can donate will help. Donations can be made here: www.active.com/donate/abilitychallenge2012/meghankellyteles

You can read more about the work I've been doing with organization at www.meghankellyteles.com

Feel free to spread the word! I promise I won't mass email you again about this!

Thanks everyone! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year and may you have a happy and healthy 2012!

Great Email from Sweden..

We made a difference in the world....

Dear David, I noticed your post on skibuilders.com and been looking at your interview. I wanted to give you thumbs up and wish you best of luck. You story reminds me a bit of my own so I could not resist to send a message :9. I, some time ago, got layed off from a company I was working for as electronics engineer (the company closed down), and decided to start my own company making kitesurfing twintip boards, as kitesurfing is my greatest passion and I have always wanted to have own business. I even got some financial aid from my previous employer after presenting the business plan which I used approx. 2 months to make. Right now I am in the process of getting ramped up with materials etc., but in general my business model looks quite similar to yours from what I can see. So it was quite nice to hear your story. I will in the future, if economy allows, order a pair of your skis, in order to support your business! Hopefully we can keep in touch, and have some mutual benefit from each other, in whatever way. Best regards from cold Sweden, Cheers, Mirsad

Thanks,
Grace Skis

Kiva and Grace

Sitting at a local eatery today between mold waxing and aluminium purchasing, an Elevation Outdoors Magazine found its way next to the full plate. Doug's short story about Kiva on page 7 got the brain cranking. We are going to do what Doug did. We are going to micro-finance a worthy business owner. Doug chose a Goat farmer in Tajikistan. Grace Skis will let the 500 people following us on facebook the chance to pick our recipient. We will post the site and see who the crowd picks. Grace Skis will donate 1$ from every purchase to the fund.

This man has our vote so far...http://www.kiva.org/lend/367749.

lets see where this goes...

Working off the turkey

Thanksgiving. It was great! I had five days off of work to do nothing but ski. And eat pie.

We've been skiing for two months now in Crested Butte and were blessed with copious early season snowfall. Looking around town, you'd have no idea how much is already out in the mountains. A ten mile snowmobile ride (and hour skin) is all it takes to get the goods!

For Thanksgiving though, I decided to leave the snowmobile behind and put my post-ski conditioning body to the test. We drove to Red Mountain Pass early Thanksgiving morning to see what the San Juans had to offer. Touring through mining roads, trees, and then breaking out into open bowls below Red #3 was amazing. A quick shot from the top took us to a north facing aspect below US Basin with trees and untracked powder stashes. Surrounded by huge cliff strew peaks, I was in awe of the beauty and mass of these mountains. Towards the bottom of our creamy shaded powder shots I spotted a cliff zone that will undoubtedly turn into a sweet pillow zone as more snow falls. Definitely returning this winter!

After gorging on Turkey and pie Thanksgiving evening, we decided to head for Wolf Creek. Hot laps in the Waterfall zone made for my best resort runs yet this season! With about four inches of fresh to cushion the runs, it was a great day. Then, round two of turkey and pie. Yum.

Saturday we drove to Silverton and toured in the Minnehaha Basin. It's an easy skin on old mining roads with beautiful views of MacMillan, Velocity Basin, and the Silverton ski area. About half way up, we heard snowmobiles. I held the dog as they passed and wondered if we'd see them again that day. Yep. They lapped us skinners, twice, but we finally pushed up to the sub peak and powdery protected tree runs. It kind of made me wish I had my snowmobile, but then again, I skinned for two hours and felt great! Then dinner, turkey and pie, round 3.

Sunday we were back in Crested Butte. After experiencing the grandiosity of the San Juans for three days, it was time for an exploratory mission in Schofield, a townsite about 10 miles from CB. Skinning for two hours up Trailriders 401, we finally broke out about 20 yards from the northwestern subpeak of Bellview Mountain. High winds and cold temps over the weekend made skiing above treeline nothing less than heinous. After some forced turns through frozen slabs we made it to some trees that offered low angle light pow. Yay! Looking to our west, there were mountains that we didn't even know the names of, and that was humbling. To live in such close vicinity of all of this untracked inspiring beauty is really a blessing.

Thankful for friends and family. Thankful for the support of Grace Skis. Thankful for pre-season ski conditioning. Thankful for snowmobiles and skins. Thankful for mountains and snow!

-Alex R.