Hot Laps With Banks, Xavier & Margetts In Breckenridge

With only a few days to go before the Winter Dew Tour kicks off over in Breckenridge, photographer John Vandervalk had the chance to catch up with a few members of team Orage for a quick Q&A between hot laps in the park.

BANKS GILBERTI

Banks casually waiting for his government bailout.

JV: How was your summer?
Banks: It was really good! But it's great to be back on the snow gettin' ready for the Dew Tour.

JV: Are you going to be competing in both events? Slopestyle and Pipe?
Banks: Yeah for sure... I made the qualifiers for slope again this year as well as pipe.

JV: You're absolutely killin it out there today! Do you have some new tricks up your sleeve?
Banks: Well I'm workin on a few new ones and just havin fun out here today. The weather is perfect... the jumps could be a little bigger but are pretty good for early season. Can't wait for the big line at Breck to open up next week!

If you missed it last week, check out this edit from Banks & the Surface crew shredding in Breck's early season park...

COLORS: Early Season at Breck from josh bishop on Vimeo.

XAVIER BERTONI

JV: Xavier, it's good to see you again! How was the flight over from France?
Xavier: Long as always, but stoked to be out here in Colorado again!

JV: The halfpipe over at Copper is closed for a few days, how was it last week?
Xavier: Really good! The trannies are smooth and the pipe is almost as good as they get. Kinda frustrating not being able to ski pipe for 5 days, so I'm just cruisin Breck's park and workin on the slope aspects. Not really my forte though.

JV: You went down to New Zealand in August, how did that go?
Xavier: Well I would have liked to ski a little better, but over all it was pretty good. I'm really amped up for the Dew Tour this next weekend!

Xavier is clearly uncomfortable riding the park. He can't even decide which ski to grab...

JV: Rumor has it that you have some new tricks in your toolbag this year... what are you workin on now?
Xavier: I'm doin doubles this year and just workin on gettin the grabs down. There are quite a few skiers this year doin them, so I'm just gettin them more stylish right now and workin of some big flat spins as well.

JV: Well good luck and I can't wait to see you in the finals!

MATT MARGETTS

JV: Marg, it's been way too long! How was your summer, did you go down to New Zealand in August?
Marg: For sure, the weather didn't cooperate as planned and we only had about one week of good weather out of the 3 weeks I was down there... Then we headed over to Australia for a few days and pretty much burned the place down! (Laughs) It's great country and wanna go back some day.

JV: It's good to see you here at Breck finally, you pumped for the Dew Tour?
Marg: Super pumped, it'll be a good time as always! Legs are a little sore right now. Been hittin it pretty hard.

JV: Are you going to be skiing in both slope and pipe?
Marg: Definitely! Just gonna do my thing and see what happens.

JV: Let's get some shots for your fans, can I tail you off the first few kickers? Which way to you drift when you spin?
Marg: You're gonna go off the jumps with me?!? Sure man, I'll get blunted out for ya. Depends which way I spin, usually to the right. I'll just do some super tweaked cork 7's, will that work?

JV: Yep, that'll work... lets do it!
Marg: That's the first time I went off that last one, went a little too deep! Did you get the shot?

Large Marg- Back scratcher iron-cross. Look for this move in the finals!

JV: I did, went all the way to the bottom of the landing! Camera took a little spill, but still works! We'll have to speed test next time! lol I'll see you out here next week and rest those legs!

Marg: Sounds like a plan. Catch ya lata!


Stay tuned to orage.com for continuous coverage of the Winter Dew Tour stop #1 in scenic Breckenridge Colorado. We'll be on site dishing out more photos, athlete interviews, and maybe even some technicolor video (with stereo!). 

For up to the minute ramblings from the chairlift in Breck follow us on Twitter.

On the road with Kaya: Montreal to Mammoth

Whatup everybody!

Can't believe it's already that time of the year again... it's starting to snow and we are SHREDDING! Wooo!! So I just took the roadtrip of my life! I wanted my car over on the west coast, so me and Maude Raymond decided to drive from Montreal to Mammoth Lakes, Californiaaa! 4,625 km through Ontario, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada then Cali baby!

Day 1, point A: St-Laurent Street, Montreal

So we started driving, and about 4 hours in we got stuck in deadlock traffic. Turns out there was actually a truck that had been blown up (we saw it after, it was full of big black holes - crazy!) so we waited there for 3 hours. We sat there charging our stuff, watching a movie when suddenly I realize the battery is dead!! Great way to start out 50 hour roadtrip. Haha! So we got boosted right on time and went on our way.

Gotta get my stretch on since we're driving so much!

The first day was a breeze, we drove and drove and drove, taking turns to sleep (which was really hard in the car). The second night was when it  got a little rough. We pulled over on the highway for 30 minutes twice because we were both too tired to drive, but other than that we just cruised along.

Went out in the desert to soak up some sun

Getting into Utah, I got stopped because my tints were too dark. I mean really? Turns out they were fine and we kept on truckin, but common, don't you have better things to do!? Basically to keep ourselves busy we blasted a lot of lil wayne, jay-z, bob marley, zion i, moby.. (the list goes on) and I also whipped out some mags and books and started reading to Maude. Hey, 53 hours on the road and you need to find some time consuming things to do right!

Cute balloons, I know : )

We finally got there on Wednesday evening (we left on Monday afternoon) to Chris Benchetler's place, where we are staying. What a good feeling!!!

Stoked on the Cali sun!

We've been skiing the past few days here and it's been awesome. So nice to be in the Cali sunshine, all day every day!

Will keep you all posted, wait for our edits coming soon!!

Max Hill's Virgin Cover Shot!

It only happens once in the life of every pro skier; so if you see Max Hill this winter give him a high five and then get him to autograph your copy of the Fall 2009 SBC Skier, which boasts his first ever (of many) appearance on the cover of a major ski publication. Congrats!

Check out the full story behind the photo in photographer Dan Carr's blog.

SBC Skier Fall 2009 / Dan Carr Photo

Casabon in 2nd at the Glacier 3000 Invitational

On Friday Phil Casabon took second place at the Glacier 3000 invitational, one of the first (the first?) on snow slopestyle competitions this winter. Matt Margetts landed just shy of the podium with a fourth place finish. Congrats to them both!

Next stop: Winter Dew Tour, Breckenridge Colorado.  

Results:
1) Elvis Harsheim (Nor)
2) Phil Casabon (Can)
3) Kim Boberg (Swe)
4) Matt Margetts
5) Charles Gagnier (Can)

Riding News 2.4 - Glacier 3000 Invitational on Zapiks

Phil Casabon Interview / Edit

It's not every day that we get to have our pro athletes walking through the halls of our office in Quebec. So when Phil Casabon came in last week to check out the latest specs on the upcoming 2010 B-Dog pro model, we took the opportunity to sit down with him and get a little refresher on his past season, shooting with Level 1, and his debut appearance in Winter X slopestyle.

Big thanks to the whole crew at Level 1 Productions for hooking us up with some bonus footage of Phil for the edit.  This is only a small taste of what's in the movie so if you like what you see be sure to help support Level 1's legal efforts and check out the entirety of Refresh!

 Charles Spina Photo

Stay tuned for more as we hit the road with Phil and the rest of the Orage team for an early season photoshoot in late November and then travel on to the first stop of the Winter Dew Tour December 18th in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Jess Cumming and Kaya Turski Join the Orage Team

Orage is proud to announce a freshly revised and refocused team. A collective of diverse, accomplished and influential athletes that represent Orage’s continued focus on defining the current state of the sport. Blending new faces with Orage’s most established veterans, the Orage team boasts the best of the new generation and now one of skiing’s most elite female freeski teams.


Phil Casabon, JP Auclair, and Michelle Parker in Retallack, BC

Simply stated, Orage has a diverse team. “At any given moment there's a hundred different athletes doing a thousand different things promoting our sport in a million different ways. The formula that applied to a team 10 years ago no longer exists. Skiing is as diverse as its athletes choose to make it and Orage is a diverse brand living to evolve. You have to continue to change if you're going to stay relevant and our new team of riders will help us stay relevant in ways we never have before” comments Felix Rioux, recently appointed Orage Team Manager.

With the recent addition of Xavier Bertoni, French gold medalist (X Games 13 Superpipe) Orage hinted at signs of team expansion, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Orage is also proud to welcome Jess Cumming and Kaya Turski to the pro team. Jess is one of skiing's most decorated and recognized female pipe skiers and Kaya, a Quebec local is single handedly changing the face of female park skiing. Joining veteran athlete Michelle Parker, Orage’s expanded female team will spearhead an upcoming campaign focused specifically on women to further support the brand’s direction as one that sees the need and value of putting women in the driver’s seat.


Kaya Turski


Kaya training in New Zealand

“Orage has always supported and pushed the women’s movement in skiing. From product that fits, feels and performs unlike any other, to our mandate that each team competing in the Orage Masters include at least one female competitor on the roster. Orage will now back and support the women’s market with one of skiing’s most decorated and diverse teams. Michelle, Jess and Kaya are three of skiing’s most influential athletes and now the three will work in direct contact with our product team to continue Orage’s evolution of women’s product” says Mike Nick, Orage Marketing Director. “The idea is simple; it’s our goal to offer the best product for women, developed by the best equipped women in the sport.”


Jess Cumming


Jess at WSI


Orage also has a strong belief in its development program, case in point; Taylor Seaton who has gone from local Colorado rider to Dew Tour standout will now lead the charge alongside Bertoni as Orage’s Superpipe duo.


Taylor Seaton in Whistler earlier this year


With the North American winter on the horizon, Taylor has already taken two podium spots within the past ten days at the NZ Open and the NZ Winter Games where this past weekend both Taylor and Xavier shared podium spots taking first and third place respectively.


Winter NZ Games Halfpipe Highlights


Adding to the team’s core made up of JP Auclair, Phil Casabon, Xavier Bertoni, Taylor Seaton, Michelle Parker, Jess Cumming and Kaya Turski, Orage is stoked to represent some of the most unique and talented personalities in skiing. With athletes like Will Wesson and Andy Parry, best known for their Traveling Circus webisodes, Max Hill who fits the Orage mold by refusing to fit into a mold, Banks Gilberti and Matt Margetts and a host of supporting talent across North America and Europe, the Orage team is diverse, talented and ready to make a major impact on both the Orage brand and the sport for years to come.

X Games 13 Gold Medalist, Xavier Bertoni Signs with Orage

Hot off the press with wet ink still on the paper, Orage is proud to announce French superpipe phenom, and Winter X Gold Medalist, Xavier Bertoni as the newest member of the Orage pro team.



Hailing from La Clusaz, France, Xavier joins fellow X Games 13 Slopestyle Gold Medalist and veteran Orage athlete TJ Schiller, along with Phil Casabon, JP Auclair and Michelle Parker to round out what is now one of skiing’s most diverse international teams.  Xavier is no stranger to Orage and the brands presence throughout the global freeski scene.  “We’ve had our eyes on Xavier for a few years now stretching back to ‘07 – ‘08 when Xavier took home the silver medal at the Orage European Freeski Open in Laax, Switzerland,” comments Mike Nick, Orage Marketing Director. 

2007 European Open in Laax, Switzerland

Xavier’s been on the scene for a few years now but officially launched himself into the big leagues last season at the Winter X Superpipe event where he put pressure on, and ultimately introduced some of skiing’s biggest names to podium spots they were not at all accustomed to.  In a showdown of epic proportions Xavier threw down three flawless runs to outdo the likes of Simon Dumont and Tanner Hall taking home his (Bertoni’s) first X Games Gold.


Xavier Bertoni's gold medal superpipe run at Winter X 13

There’s a new breed of pipe skiers on the scene and Xavier’s one of the best.  With a huge bag of tricks and the rocket boosters to match, Bertoni will spend his summer in New Zealand training for a jam packed comp season to come.  Included in the deal, Orage and Bertoni have begun working on Xavier’s first signature model outfit slated to hit stores in 2010.


Left to right: Tanner Hall, Xavier, Simon Dumont

Stay tuned to orage.com this winter and follow him along the 2009 – 2010 competition circuit with stops at the Orage European Freeski Open, Winter X 14, Winter Dew Tour, the European X-Games, the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival and many more.