Verabschieden Österreich!

After two days of zero visibility (and zero snowfall) our crew headed back to Salzburg for a day of rest, sight seeing, and laundry, before leaving Austria. Even without significant snowfall, this has been one of the most fun, successful, and productive photoshoots Orage has had in recent years. Now its time for us to sort photos, capture video, and put it all together for you to check out on our new 08/09 website this summer.

Scroll below for some daily highlights of the trip.

Krippenstein Photoshoot - Day 4

The extended forecast was calling for a storm system to move in for the last day of our photoshoot and the whole team was pretty excited to see some snow. Unfortunately for us, we woke on Day 4 to heavy clouds, zero visibility, and aside from occasional flurries, there was no snow. Not letting the weather get them down, Phil and Tobi headed out and setup a wallride on the building that housed the gondola/tram anchor. The visibility improved just long enough for four of five attempts, and that was all Phil (and photographer Matt Harvey) needed to pull off some shots that you will most likely see in the gracing the pages of Freeskier next year.

Krippenstein Photoshoot - Day 3

This picture pretty much sums up day 3 of our photoshoot (click the image for a larger view).

Krippenstein Photoshoot - Day 2

Between runs Michelle Parker is always snapping pictures on her camera. Here are some of her photos from day two in Krippenstein...



This is our guide, Heli Putz. In 86' Heli and two other mountaineers spent 90 days on Everest, climbing a new route to 8,640m (without any porters). Some of his other "minor" feats include leading three public expeditions on Mt. McKinley, skiing 8,000+ meter peaks in Nepal, and first ascents on more than 3,000 climbs in the valley surrounding Krippenstein.



Heli carried a cross (and a good bottle of wine) to the top of this peak to celebrate 20 years of guiding without any serious injuries.



Even though it hasn't snowed in weeks Tobi had no problem finding some untracked lines.



The ceiling of this cave is 30m high. You might recognize it if you happened to see the Red Bull White Rush event two years ago.



This is only the second time that Phil has ever hit a backcountry jump (cork 7 tail grab, first hit).



Everyone at the Lodge has been enjoying the sun. This last shot is a panoramic view from the top. Thanks for the pictures Michelle!

Photoshoot in Krippenstein

The finals of Red Bull Playstreets went off on Saturday night. The streets were so packed with spectators that it was nearly impossible to move anywhere up or down the sides of the course. For those who were able to watch the live broadcast over the internet, it was a good show. For results and a full recap check out http://www.redbull.at/playstreets.




We left Bad Gastein pretty early the next morning (or tried to, but it’s hard to drive when you lose the keys to your van). Our next destination was Krippenstein, about two hours north from where we were. We made it just in time to load all of our gear into the last tram car of the day. At most resorts, “ski in ski out” usually means a condo that has street access somewhere near the bottom of the mountain or in a pre-fabricated resort village. At Krippenstein, you literally can stay at the top of the mountain. The Lodge (apparently it doesn’t have an official name) was originally built in 1877 and has been known to generations of mountaineers as the Simony Hotel. Today is has been renovated with most modern amenities including 120 beds, solar power, and a full time staff. There is no easier way to get first tracks on a powder day than waking up and already being at the top of the lifts. Hopefully by the end of this trip we will be able to say that this has happened for us.

It hasn’t snowed in over a week here and we planned on spending our first day just scoping out the area and looking for features. That thought didn’t last long and by the end of our first run we had already shot a pillow/cone jib, two cliffs, and some nice powder shots in the trees. We only ended up making two runs all day, and after you take a look at the picture of the landscape here, you can probably imagine why.

Phil Casabon in the finals

Semi-finals just finished up here at Red Bull Playstreets in Austria. The top 8 riders advance to the head-to-head final, here are the results:

Oskari Raitanen - 289
Russ Henshaw - 279
Oscar Scherlin - 257
Marlon Holzmann - 250
Sammy Carlson - 240
Phil Casabon - 230
Charles Gagnier - 230
Richard Permin - 209
-- finals cut off --
Jacob Wester - 206
Paddy Graham - 206
Tobias Tritscher - 205
Patrick Hollaus - 197
JP Auclair - 197
Sean Pettit - 196
Roy Kittler - 193
Sven Kueenle - 144
Martin Misof - 142
Jossi Wells - 135

Some highlights from semi-finals:
JP going bigger than anyone over the "road gap" with a backflip almost into the flats. Jossi, despite finishing last, was the only rider who skipped the hip jump and tried to make something out of the giant cement wallride on the side of the course. Last years winner, Charles Gagnier, had some trouble landing his run clean, but could easily be on the podium if he puts it together in finals. Phils run was right 450 over the hip, left rodeo 5 over the jump, switch left 5 over the road gap, and 270-switchup-450 out on the box. Look for Phil to add something more tech to his run on that box to hopefully get on the podium!

Finals start in less than 30 minutes now, watch it and chat live over at http://www.newschoolers.com !!

Casino Night!

Last night after practice all the athletes headed over to the local casino for a friendly game of roulette. Instead of playing for money (in the first round anyways) the athletes were spinning for their starting order in todays competition. Phil was dressed for the part and showed up at the casino wearing a black tuxedo jacket. He thinks it may have helped his luck after winning the #2 starting position in roulette, but unfortunately it didn't help his poker game later that night.