Featured Write-Up

I got an email on Vimeo yesterday from Denver Riddle, who runs the Digital Cinema Foundry blog, and he asked me a few questions and if I’d be willing to be featured on the site. Of course, this is right up my alley, so jump on over to the website by clicking here, and check out the little write-up about Wasatch: The Official Production Podcast and what it takes to shoot in the backcountry.

Guardsman

It was my first day out on sleds for 2010, and it turned into a pretty amazing day. Daryl Young called me the night before and asked if I wanted to join him and Dallin and Tyson for a little trek out to Claytons and the backside of Pioneer peak. I said yes. We started with a quick small cliff drop and let the boys do a little warm up, then went and poached a jump that was built earlier in the season. Dallin and Daryl both landed shots, and the stuff looks good. Thanks to Tyson for the snowmobile, and let’s do it again soon! Continue Reading
wasatch_featured

203 Down To Earth

203 Down To Earth – Wasatch: The Official Production Podcast from Parker Alec Cross on Vimeo.

Parker and the boys venture into the backcountry for the first time this season and do some man-boarding. Venturing into the relative safe zones of Cardiff Peak, Flagstaff Mountain, and Grizzly Gulch, the team gets a small sample of just how good the deep stuff is in the Central Wasatch. Jonesing for deeper and steeper lines, come watch as Andy Earl, Uriel Ruvalcaba, Derek Olthuis, Daryl Young, Stain Reichman, and Parker Alec Cross hunt for the goods and warm up their hiking legs for future episodes. Filmed entirely on the Canon 5D Mark II system, episode three is guaranteed to induce a hunger for the powder that can only be satisfied by staying tuned for future episodes.
Subscribe in iTunes here:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=311952699

Episode Three Give-Away!

Special thanks to our sponsors SIEGE Audio and Milosport for participating in the give-away for Episode Three. If you don’t have a Google account, you’re just going to have to suck it up and make one if you want to participate in the contest. Also, at this time we’re only able to extend the contest to people who are currently residing in the United States. So all you Canadians and crazy Kiwis, sorry, you are ineligible to win.

This time we’re giving away a pair of Division Headphones from SIEGE Audio, as well as a skateboard deck from Milosport. All you have to do in order to enter the contest is leave a comment on this post stating your favorite Wasatch Podcast episode thusfar, and what you’d like to see in future episodes. One winner will be chosen at random and contacted before the release of Episode Four in two to three weeks. Good luck, and May the Force Be With You.

Too Much Fun

I definitely feel like I have a very privileged life. I got lucky enough to connect with super good people from various walks of life who all share a similar passion for the raw energy associated with the mountain lifestyle. Skiers and snowboarders share this crazy bond with each other and with the environment that translates into an incredible amount of fun, no matter whether we’re riding in the terrain park, or hiking to the top of an 11,000 ft summit, or camping out waiting for the clouds to burn off, or sessioning an urban feature, that fun tends to bleed through the canvas of our lives and leave its footprint in everything we do. Continue Reading

Epic

epic |ˈepik|adjectiveof, relating to, or characteristic of an epic or epics : England’s national epic poem Beowulf.• heroic or grand in scale or character : his epic journey around the world | a tragedy of epic proportions.• best snowboarding day of the whole season thusfar : Sessioning the southeast face of Cardiff Peak today was one of the most epic days I’ve ever had.
This is one of those situations where I’m prompted to ask, “Need I say more?” Peep the video screenshot of yours truly below to see exactly what I’m talking about, and yes, this is a still-frame from the video.

Bolts


We are unstoppable. Everytime we strap on a snowboard, it’s hammers left and right. People are amazed when we show up to a spot and there’s seamless tricks being stomped time and time again.

Ok, that’s total bull, and although there are some incredible athletes that come out and shoot with me, I think my camera must have some kind of crazy curse attached to it because whenever we’re shooting something legit that is not the terrain park, nobody lands anything. Or maybe if we’re lucky we’ll get one or two shots. Speaking with a lot of other videographers and photographers, I’ve come to learn that this is actually pretty normal, and if you’re doing a next level feature, the precision required to stomp hammers must also be next level, so it’s understandable when it takes a rider a half-dozen attempts before they can put it down bolts. Nevertheless, when I’m sitting across the ridge, or at the bottom of a handrail, or perched in a tree, freezing my butt off waiting for a gap in the cloud cover so we can get a decent looking shot, it gets somewhat disappointing when everything looks good, until the tomahawk, or the upright snag, or the bomb-hole buck at the end. Continue Reading

202 Serious Business



Remember that you can subscribe in iTunes by clicking here:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=311875506


Or in HD by clicking here:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=311952699


202 Serious Business – Wasatch: The Official Production Podcast from Parker Alec Cross on Vimeo.

Avalanche danger keeps the boys grounded, and they improvise in the best way they know how: With some bagels, some BK, and a good ‘ole fashioned backflip jump. Filmed entirely on the Canon 5D Mark II in HD, Andy and JP take snowboarding back to their roots, and stomp a couple of backflips.

Lately




For those of you who don’t know, Utah has had a crazy season so far. We’re just a day out from February, and honesty, only the most arrogant and selfish shredders in the Wasatch have really had any legit turns in the backcountry. Those of you who know me understand that I seriously live for bottomless turns. In fact, it’s really the only thing that’ll get me off the couch for days on end–if the pow is good, I’ll be up before the sun waiting in line for the LCC gates to go up, and I’ll be running to the tram from my car. In fact, I’ll probably get my boots and my goggles on while I’m still waiting in line in my car. This year, though, we haven’t really had that option. We basically had a drought until two weeks ago, and then we suddenly received, in some places, as much as 80 inches of snow in a very short span, which drastically overloaded the weak pre-existing snowpack. Major avalanches have been occurring naturally, and as the result we haven’t been able to go safely into the backcountry to session some of our most favorite terrain. So, instead, we’ve been doing this: Continue Reading

The Little Run-In That Could

Sometimes snowboarding is the most entertaining and rewarding experience you could ever ask for, and other times it’s so unbelievably frustrating that you want to rip your head off and send it to your closest relatives so they can also experience the horror of what you just went through. Today was one of those days where you get a little taste of both. JP Sokolowski, Andy Earl, Keola and I went over to the Park City BMX park right by the firestation for a little mini back-flip session. What was supposed to be a quick build-and-destroy turned into a three hour try-to-get-to-the-end-of-the-run-in-without-dying extravaganza. After twenty-five thousand hits, several faceplants, a near double cork (in your face, Shawn White), and lots of uncontrollable laughter, JP laid out one of the sickest backies I’ve ever witnessed in person, and I actually managed to capture it on video. Here’s a couple lifestyle photos of our little adventure, and stay tuned for the footage.