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Splitboarding Highlights

My buddy Greg Joyner, whom I know from PCMR, and his lovely wife run the Salt Lake Surf Co. retail shop in Sugarhouse. For a few years they’ve been specializing in aquatic recreation and have been a premier dealer for kayaks and stand-up paddleboards, servicing our landlocked state and mostly little rivers with premium and specialty products. Last winter, after dealing a lot with Forrest Shearer, who is super tapped into the local SUP scene, decided that if they’re a surf company, they might as well break into surfing the white wave too.

Now, Salt Lake City has no shortage of snowboard retailers, so Greg opted to take a unique approach to the sport, and only stock splitboarding products and supporting brands. They’re currently carrying Voile, Jones, Spark R&D, Karakorum, BCA, Dakine, and Pieps in the realm of white wave shredding. Greg threw an Avy awareness night on Thursday 11/3/11, and the above video is a quick edit I put together for the party featuring some of my favorite shots from 2010/2011 season, and all except for the opening GoPro shot were shot off piste. Mad props to Andy, Tony, Tanner, and Benny for coming away with some super cool shots last season. Oh yeah, I have a couple mixed in there too. Enjoy.

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Climbing: Merging my Worlds

by Parker Alec Cross

My passion for splitboarding, and my increased desire for proficiency in mountaineering in order to ride bigger and better terrain, has caused a couple of recreational collisions over the past year or so. I never thought of myself as someone who could get super into rock climbing, and although I admit that I’ve wanted to do it for years, I never had a core group of friends that was passionate enough about the sport for me to get any actual access to real climbing.

Sure, I’ve spent a few days in the climbing gym here and there, but it wasn’t until late last summer that I ever actually was able to climb on natural rock. Now I’m addicted. One of the rad things about rock climbing is how actively the skills you develop translate into mountaineering and climbing in the winter. The techniques you master in rock climbing are absolutely essential for effective mountaineers to understand and have practice doing. The lines of my sports have been progressively blending, and although I never even considered that rock climbing and snowboarding could be, in any remote sense, related, I’m beginning to discover that they are more blended together than I realize, and it’s a realization that next year’s videos will visually identify for you, the humble viewer. Continue Reading

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Lone Peak

by Parker Alec Cross

May 13th marked the day that we reached the summit of Lone Peak. Such an epic experience. 3AM start time, 1PM finish. 2500 Vertical Feet of climbing before we even hit snow. This is a tour I’ll keep with me forever. Tony Pavlantos, Blake Nyman, Chris Coulter and myself in an elevated hustle to one of the Wasatch range’s most remote summits.

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Scouting

by Andy Earl

Our next weather window we are going for Everest Ridge. Parker, Tanner and I took our weather window and used it to scout the approach. I really just wanted to go for it but Tanner didn’t have his crampons and ice axe so we couldn’t do it safely.

It took us just shy of three hours to get to baldy saddle, roughly 3,000 vertical feet above the valley floor. The more I am around that mountain the more I love it. It was such a beautiful day, I wish we could have pushed for the summit… but that calls for a 1 a.m. start this time of year. Hopefully this week.

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302 Inconsistency

Provo Peak (11,068′) marks the next summit on the hit list, when the boys discover alpine ice crust existing on all the summits above 10,500′. Leaving the peak-bagging for later in the season, the crew sessions the trees and couloirs of the mid-elevation slopes and ride the blower Utah powder in classic Wasatch form.

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301 Revitalized

Another season starts off strong when the boys summit two peaks over 11,000′, adding Superior and Monte Cristo to their list of mountains to climb for 2011. Featuring the talents of Parker Alec Cross, Andy Earl, Hayden Price, and Blake Nyman, episode one will keep you hungering for more. The song is by Radical Face. Check them out on iTunes here and buy their music!

Cinematography and post-production by Parker Alec Cross
Additional Camera work by David B. Kaplan

Blake Nyman (Video Freeze Frame)

The Fast Track

So far the season has been moving forward really well, and we’ve been spending a ton of time in the backcountry. I’ve been out a total of 6 times on snow, with some of the guys in the crew making it out into the mountains quite a bit more than that. On Wednesday we went out to Days Fork and Flagstaff Mountain and had a super fun day touring and getting some killer turns. Blake Nyman, Andy Earl, Stain Reichman, Tanner Colledge, David Kaplan and myself kept it real on the easterly areas, while Hayden Price and his buddy went out into Cardiac Bowl and made a mess of the faces out there by skiing some sick lines. Here’s a photo gallery of the day’s antics. Special thanks to all our sponsors for making this happen for us.

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204 Determination + Giveaway

204 Determination – Wasatch: The Official Production Podcast from Parker Alec Cross on Vimeo.

In response to what viewers like you have asked for, the Wasatch Team put a whole lot of miles on their boots, snowmobiles, and chairlifts to generate the hardest hitting episode yet. With locations varying from the streets of Ogden, to the 11,000 foot faces, Episode Four will leave you wishing the season were longer.

Principle Cinematography shot on Canon 5D Mark II by Parker Alec Cross
Colorist: Parker Alec Cross

Featuring the talents of Parker Cross, Andy Earl, Daryl Young, JP Sokolowski, Uriel Ruvalcaba, Derek Olthuis, Stain Reichman, Cooper Hoffmeister, Ben Millsaps, Jason Hindman and Stosh Lemberes.


Well, it’s time for another episode. Check it out above, and make sure to watch it in fullscreen mode for full effect. In order to qualify for the giveaway, you need to become a fan of Wasatch: The Official Production Podcast on Facebook. Since winter is winding down, we need to show the world how much we love the snow. Post a picture of yourself skiing or snowboarding on the wall of the Facebook page, and we’ll choose the picture that is the raddest as the winner of this week’s Nomis hoody giveaway. Thanks to John at Board of Provo for hooking up the giveaway.
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Turning Up the Volume

In my screenwriting class, my teacher is always talking about ways for us as writers to “turn up the volume.” My goal as a new media producer is to generate content that gets people stoked and makes them want to come back for more–in essence, my goal is to turn up the volume. The better my stuff is, and the cooler the content, the more hits we get and the better we look to potential sponsors, and the better my peanut butter sandwiches taste because I know that I can actually kind of afford it, instead of pilfering it from my mom’s pantry when she’s not home. Continue Reading
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Getting Deeper

I’m just now starting to go to the places I’ve been aching for all season, because we’re starting to get a decent base in the Wasatch, and it’s filling in all the bony scary sections that were too exposed to ski. I’m also pretty excited of the GoPro HD Hero helmet camera that Andy and I purchased last week. Took her on her maiden voyage today, and she performed wonderfully. The workflow is identical to the 5D Mark II, so it makes things pretty simple for me to work with. Anyway, check out the teaser trailer for the newest episode, which I haven’t started editing yet, but I’ve been compiling the footage and I think it’s going to be really good.

Episode Four Trailer – Wasatch: The Official Production Podcast from Parker Alec Cross on Vimeo.
Episode Four is ready to deliver on what everyone has been asking for. More of…….everything. More shredding, more rails, more jumps, more powder, and more intensity. Get pumped because it’s coming at you in the next few days. Filmed on a GoPro HD Hero.