Win Orage Gear in the VholdR Top5!

Not up for an Oscar this year? No problem. We've teamed up with CountourHD and Libtech to outfit the Top5 POV cinematographers who upload clips tagged with 'skiing' on VholdR.com.

The first place winner will receive a head to toe outerwear setup from Orage and a pair of Libtech Narrow Ass Snowboards. Runners up with receive Orage lifestyle gear from our upcoming Spring 2010 collection that's about to drop in stores and online next week.

For entry details visit http://vholdr.com/video/top5-skiing-challenge. Submission deadline is April 29th.

Go Canada Go!

FollowUs.tv Ep6: Park Peuf Bosses

Fini les compétitions et le stress voici un épisode assez relax avec des images de ski de bosses et de freeride à La Plagne, et une bonne session de big air à val d'Isère.

FollowUs.tv Ep6: Park Peuf Bosses

Casabon Ice Fishing Accident

Phil Casabon was injured last week during an ice fishing trip in glacier bay with Henrik Harlaut and Level 1. There's a chance he might be back on his feet by the end of the season so we wish him a speedy recovery and a shitload of fish!

Check out the full story here: http://bit.ly/a1lwWC

Xavier On The Podium at Winter X Games 14

Xavier Bertoni, Jossie Wells, and Kevin Rolland

The past three days at Winter X 14 have produced some of the most progressive skiing to date, and Sunday night was no exception.

Record crowds in attendance all weekend at Winter X Games 14

Xavier's French teammate and followus.tv co-star Kevin Rolland made history on his second run and showed the capacity crowd two firsts in skiing halfpipe competition; a double cork 1260 and three doubles in one run.  Jossi Wells claimed the #2 spot landing at the top of the tranny on each hit with consistently huge airs and the steeziest switch 720 in the field.

Between doubles Kevin managed to slow things down with a perfect flat 360

After a run that included back to back left and right 1260's that only scored in the mid 80's it was clear that the judges were looking for perfect landings and clean grabs over big spins.  Xavier stepped up for his third and final run and delivered exactly that. Grabbing everything and opting for a 900 instead of the second 1260 Xav put everything to his feet at the top of the transition earning a score of 90.00, barely edging out Simon Dumont for the 3rd place spot on the podium.


Xavier dropping out of the 1260

Following the superpipe finals was another X Games first, the skiing 'high air' competition.


Xavier Bertoni 23' above the crowd

After twenty minutes of leap frog as the competitors pushed the height meter from 18' to 23' feet, it was Aspen local Peter Olenick who went the biggest with a record breaking 24' 11" flat 540 on the left wall.  While there's no Guinness World Record holding for most doubles in a halfpipe run, there is one for skiing's highest air in halfpipe competition, and an official GWR representative was on hand to award Peter the title.

Peter Olenick 24' 11"

Winter X Games 14 has officially come to and end and with five top 5 finishes and two medals the Orage team held it down in nearly every event.  Thanks to ESPN and all the sponsors for putting on such a great event, and the whole team will be on site again, hopefully with Taylor Seaton and Jess Cumming back on their feet, for the first ever Winter X Games Europe in Tignes, France next month!



Photos: Felix Rioux

Casabon Takes 4th in Winter X 14 Slopestyle

Four was the magic number for B-Dog and Bert at today's Winter X Slope Finals and Superpipe elimination round.  Phil entered the slope finals in 6th place and was ready to show the world of dub flippers what was up.

With eight riders in the finals Phil had three chances to prove that style is king and you don't need to double flip your way to crack top five.   He struggled a bit with his first two runs taking too much speed into the hitching post but in true B Dog style he put his game face on for his third and final run.

1st and 2nd place had been locked down by the man of the weekend, Mr. Perfect 100 aka, Mr. Bobby  Brown followed by Andreas Hatveit who both threw baller runs in the final round.  As the sun was setting and the course was getting faster Phil made the necessary adjustments to lay down a 3rd place run.  Slaying the top rail garden and finally nailing his nose tap cork 7, B Dog wrapped up his final run by taking the three last tables deep to the bottom to put him in podium position... for the time being.

Phil's spot on the podium was short lived as Sammy C narrowly beat out the steeze king by a half a point knocking Phil down to a controversial 4th place finish.  No matter where Phil placed, he has once again proved that you don't need to follow the pack to be on top.

Photos: Felix Rioux

Taylor Seaton's Return to Halfpipe Comeptition at Winter X 14

With 4 podiums and 12 top ten halfpipe finishes in 2009 Taylor's breakout season temporarily lost it's momentum when he severely dislocated his ankle in the barn at Woodward last summer.  After six long months of physio, rehab, and perhaps the most painful thing; waiting, Taylor Seaton is ready to return to halfpipe competition tomorrow at Winter X Games 14.

We caught up with Taylor as he put on his ski boots for the first to talk about his season, deadman bang, and getting dub'licious in the pipe. What makes Taylor's halfpipe skiing so much fun to watch? Switch drop in's, grabbing everything, stomped landings... maybe. Sunday night when you watch Superpipe finals live on ESPN keep your eye on the new electronic height meter.  Most riders will lock in their 'highest amplitude' score on the first hit and then slowly bring down their average as they make their way down the pipe. Taylor is the opposite. Consistently going bigger and bigger with each hit, Taylor's innate mastery of the transitions adds a fluid style to his run unlike any other.

With only one day of riding halfpipe under his belt Taylor arrived in Aspen for Winter X Games 14 hungry to compete.  After five days of training, it's 4am, and there's less than 24 hours until the long anticipated Winter X Games halfpipe competition begins.

Taylor during last nights practice session


The bad news is, after working all week to put this edit and update together, I'm finishing this post from the waiting room. This morning in practice Taylor pulled off a ski in the air and caught the grip of his pole in the stomach when he landed.  It seemed like no amount of pain was going to stop Taylor's return, but finally after not being able to sleep Taylor checked in and a cat-scan revealed internal bleeding. Not life threatening, but serious enough that he needs to spend the remainder of X Games at Aspen Valley Hospital under observation.

We'll keep you updated with further information as it becomes available, but for now the thing Taylor needs the most is high fives, shout outs, and your support as he starts on the road to recovery for the second time this season.