Helly Hansen

Team Hiroshi - Città Di Milano sponsored by Helly Hansen conquers the Cagliari RC 44 Cup 27 Aprile, Cagliari The second event of the RC 44 Championship Tour 2008 took place in Cagliari (Sardinia Island), between April 23-27. Organised by Yacht Club Cagliari, with the support of the City of Cagliari, this regatta assembled some of the world's best sailors such as Ben Ainslie, James Spithill, Russell Coutts, Sébastien Col, Cameron Appleton and many more on board ten strict one design RC 44's. Team Hiroshi - Citta di Milano sponsored by Helly Hansen increases its lead in the 2008 Championship Tour, ahead of Patrick de Barros and Igor Lah. Armando Giulietti, his helmsman, will carry on sailing with the Championship Tour leader's gold wheels in the next event, the Austria Cup (May 28-June 1). He tells: -This is a great conclusion to a nice week. I think that this is a decisive stage for the RC 44 Class. Indeed, it is growing and attracting more and more top names. It is tough to sail against all these teams but it is great when you manage to beat them.- The tactician of Helly Hansen boat is Sebastian Col, a French guy that helmed Areva Challenge in the last America's Cup in Valencia and his sailing genius makes possible the dreams of HH Team. He tells: -Our goal is clearly the fleet racing event, so we are very happy with our week. We are using the match-race to test new sails^ this worked well and allowed us to make the right decisions in the fleet race. Our speed was excellent and we managed to sail in the right spot most of the times.- MPZ Fleet race, final results after eight races (no discard): 1) HH-Team Hiroshi-Città di Milano, Armando Giulietti, 1, 2, 6, 4, 1, 3, 1, 1 - 19 points 2) BMW ORACLE Racing, Larry Ellison, 6, 1, 5, 2, 8, 6, 2, 2 - 32 points 3) Team Banco Espirito Santo, Patrick de Barros, 4, 5, 8, 3, 3, 1, 8, 3 - 35 points 4) Sea Dubai, Joki Hellmich, 3, 4, 1, 7, 5, 5, 3, 7 - 35 points 5) Team Aqua, Chris Bake, 9, 3, 7, 1, 2, 4, 7, 6 - 39 points 6) Ceeref, Igor Lah, 7, 6, 2, 6, 4, 9, 4, 4 - 42 points 7) Team Organika, Maciej Nawrocki, 5, 8, 3, 9, 7, 2, 6, 8 - 48 points 8) Beecom, Isao Mita, 2, 7, 9, 8, 6, 8, 5, 5 - 50 points 9) Cro-A-Sail, Miroslav Reljanovic, 8, 9, 4, 5, 10, DNF, 9, DNF - 67 points 10) Mascalzone Latino, Vincenzo Onorato, DNS, 10, 10, 10, 9, 7, 10, 9 - 76 points RC 44 Championship Tour 2008 (after 2 events): 1) HH-Team Hiroshi-Città di Milano, 40 points 2) Team Banco Espirito Santo, 75 points 3) Ceeref, 78 points 4) Sea Dubai, 81 points 5) Team Aqua, 84 points

"Alaska virgins. After ten dozen last minute phone calls, desperate e-mails, and a lot of stress, I finally found myself sitting on the plane to Alaska. A dream was about to come true. I was going heliskiing in Haines, Alaska. I'd seen all the pictures, all the movie segments, but was it really as good as everyone claimed? After landing in Juneau, I could only confirm that all of my luggage had disappeared on the way, a really good start to the trip. Shortly after, I ran into Tanner Hall, who had suffered the same destiny. At least we were two in the same boat... After a crazy small-plane flight, I met up with my buddies in Haines, needless to say we were all pretty stoked just to be there! All of a sudden, things started to happen. My baggs arrived, we signed the registartion paperwork, went through the helicopter breefing and were ready to go. The next day, we laid down the first turns in Alaska. It was only a warm up run, and the snow was a bit wet, but it was enough to drop the shoulders and I felt way more relaxed. And we got to see how big the mountains really were. They were big, really, really big. I was ready to throw down the big lines. The following days, were spent \"chaising rainbows\", flying out to mountains and waitnig for the light. We got to ski some lines on really good snow, but not too many. A lot of the time went by, waiting for the sunlight. A coupple of days later, we finally hit bluebird. Expectations were skyhigh, and they didn't get any lower after a quick warm-up run. The snow was some of the best I'd skied in years!! I decided to go for a badass line straight away, and after a quick discussion with a slightly sceptical guide, I was airborne. The top of the peak that I had spotted, wasn't big enough to land the heli, so ex-vietnam pilot \"Al\" (Mr steadyhands himself!!) had to put me down on a \"toe-in\". This means that you have to get out of the heli, while it's basicly hovering above the ground. A bit scary. I said to Al^ \"Can you put me down over on that little ridge?\" He replied: \"Sure I can, but I'm glad you're the one gettin out there, not me!\" Not a big comfort, when you're about to ski your first big AK line.... After a bit of struggle to get my gear on, nervous as hell, Yvon \"Frenchie\" (our excellent guide!) counted me down on the radio, and I dropped in. A few moments later I came \"hauling-ass\" over the bergshcrund, and out on the bottom glacier, screaming of joy. The line worked out perfectly, and was one of the sickest I've ever skied!!! A few hugs and a lot of high five's later we moved on to hit more lines. We managed to get some really good stuff on tape, unfortunately for me the day ended with a twisted knee, that kind of said \"snap\"..... I got the knee checked out by a doctor, and luckily nothing was torn. It was just a matter of, rest, ice, and crossed fingers. That day turned out to be a real emotional rollercoaster. The next week or som went by slow-roastin'in the waiting game. There was quite a few hours spent on \"33 Mile Roadhouse\", a truckstop by the helipad, known for great burgers and bad coffee. The waiting game can be the hardest thing in Alaska, trust me when I say, there is not much to do on a weather day! After some heavy snowfalls, the weatherforecast smiled at us, claiming sun on our last days. Expectations were again skyhigh! Too bad the wind came in during the night, and killed almost every inch of powder. As we flew out there on the last day, we discovered that the only last few lines with good snow had such high avalanche risk, that tryin to ski them would be plain stupid. This was kind of the end of our trip to Haines, a bit sad, since we were hoping for at least one more good day in the crazy mountains of Alaska. Conclussion:We skied some of the biggest, scariest mountains on earth, I got to ski one of my best lines ever in sick powder. We played the waiting game full on, and got to hang out with some of the sickest rippers on the planet, sharing stories, beer and bad coffee. A special thanks to big moutain-pioneer and snowboard legend, Tom Burt. He shared all of his experience with a bunch of green-horns from Norway. But I also have a strong feeling that I have unfinished buisness with the mountains up there. Will I ever go back to Haines? Oh hell yeah!!! Per Mundhjeld"

Nico Zacek, one of Germany's finest freeskiers, Suzuki team rider and head organizer of the event, had a big smile in his face. 30,000 cubic meters of snow was moved to build the monster over the last few weeks, and at the end the obstacle looked like an ancient castle. Nico had invited riders from six different countries in Europe to session this unique obstacle - and of course some well known filmers and photographers to capture the event. A big shout out to the shape crew of Schneestern, who built a perfect jump, which not only worked out fine, it also looked really stylish and clean. Also plenty of spectators showed up on the mountain to have some good skiing first and then watch this high quality show of some of the world's best freeskiers. The level of tricks was really high and nobody got hurt, which also showed the quality work that had been done by the organizers and shapers. Thanks to NBH events for their great support! When a bunch of international pros come to together on a big jump like this, there is always some kind of contest going on as well. As there were three different sessions on the agenda, the plan was to announce the winners at the end of the day, counting the overall impression of riding during the whole day. There were two different obstacles built into the castle, a kicker and a quarter pipe. In terms of the kicker there was no doubt about the winner: Henrik Harlaut, a 17 year old Swedish kid convinced everyone with massive style and his big bag of high standard tricks like cab 9's and cab 10's with various grabs, Cork 5 true tail and nose mute. Also the title in the quarter pipe was no discussion at all. Event organizer Nico Zacek showed the young groms how to ride a quarter properly. He had the highest air, did some stylish quarter transfers and showed loads of different tricks all day long. The quarter was divided by the big kicker, so basically there were two identical quarters next to each other, which lead to idea of having a team challenge as well. So now there were two riders in the in run at the same time, howling towards the quarter at almost 100 km/h. Both hit the quarter doing the exact same trick. Garmisch local Thomas Hlawitschka and English ripper Paddy Graham did best in the team challenge. But the session was not over yet! When the lifts were closed, a helicopter turned up to shoot a sunset session. The light turned out to be epic! First there were clouds and everyone thought it wouldn't work, but it cleared out and Mattias Fredriksson sent his Swedish posse up to do the jump again and again and again. At night there was a big party at the HÖrbar in Oberstdorf, where also the price giving took place. Henrik won a trip to the X-Fighters in Wuppertal, Nico got a trip to the Suzuki Offroad Camp in Spain. Then Swiss gangsta rapper and Nine Knights rider Mickael Deschenaux took over the mic for some freestyle action. He's been working on his hip hop career for a while now... So Nine Knights really worked out fine at the end, make sure you get to see the pics and footage of it, all Nine Knights were ripping hard during the sessions. For more pics, videoblog and stories check www.nineknights.com

"The Suburban Rush Adventure Race, which Todd and I would be competing in as a team of two, was amazingly salvaged for us the night prior by a rather random act on my part. I was thinking about the race, and guessing (completely ignorantly) that the terrain would be easier, flatter and faster than most AR's that I had done. With this in mind I proceeded to my mountain bike and decided to up the tire pressure, which I really never, ever touch. I put an additional 10psi in each tire and went about putting together the rest of my gear and hitting the sack for the night. When I was loading my bike onto my car the following morning I was greeted with a flat rear tire. Weird I thought, but whatever, I could replace the tube in Port Moody before the event. Once we arrived at the race start area we went about fixing the flat when Todd noticed that I had a torn sidewall, which is a gash in my actual tire that leaves a hole in it and exposes the enclosed tube! Todd went to work slicing up the old tube and with the ever handy roll of duct tape created a band-aid for my bike. This is pretty standard in this type of situation, but the tire was now compromised and could blow another tube much easier. Todd was confident in his repair and I pretty much forgot about it as there was nothing else I could do now anyways. Had I not inflated my tire the night prior, the tube would not have popped in advance, and we would surely be left dealing with this at some point during the race itself. Being a shorter event of around 30km, it would have all but ended our chances at a top finish. I was very thankful for the randomness of my action and my complete misconception of what this race would entail! Todd and I had both agreed that The Suburban Rush Adventure Race was a beginners A.R. and that we didn't quite feel right about going out to race and try to win the event. It wasn't until we learned that our Helly Hansen Vancouver Island counterparts Justin Mark and Jeff Reimer were making the trip over that we started to give the race serious consideration. I know Todd would confirm, that after enjoying an incredible and challenging race yesterday, we were both wrong, very wrong in fact, in every single one of our assumptions about The Suburban Rush! As a testament to this statement, the race, as always, had sold out at 200 racers with many more left wanting in from the outside. Everyone was treated to the nicest day of the entire year with temps getting up in the high teens, not a cloud in sight and for the first time in awhile, no wind. For a sprint race where we guesstimated our time to be around 2hr, we wanted to get a warm up in as redlining right off the start, and from scratch on the day can create an overload of lactic acid in a hurry. We decided to bike up to the bike drop and run back down, plus I was able to get Roxy a pre-race run and since it was a flagged course we could legitimately see what was in store for us on the run. As we were running down I turned to Todd and commented on what a great climb this was going to be and how it was already shaping up to be a tougher course than I had envisioned. We got back down with 15min to spare, but after I fumbled about for a bit, changed my clothes and subsequently lost my bib number, Todd and I ended up sprinting through traffic to barely make the official start as they were counting down. For the record here, my watch said I still had 3min to spare Dean! (which of course means my watch is five minutes slow) The race started and with our heart rates already racing Todd and I worked our way to the front of the pack. We knew that a good 25min straight uphill climb awaited us, and with our race plan centered mainly around the other HH team we figured we needed to gain a lead on the run as they are both very solid bikers. Todd and I hit the transition with about a 1min lead and were departing just as Helly Hansen Vancouver Island started to change into their biking gear. Even after almost a half hour of uphill running our climbing had just begun. We seemed to match this elevation gain again on our mountain bikes. As Todd and I followed the flagging up the never ending climb we came to a major intersection that was all of a sudden devoid of any flags or flagging tape. In a bit of a panic we turned back around and doubled back to our last know flag, which temporarily looked like it could jut off in another direction. This cost us our 45sec lead and with HHVI knowing the area fairly well they hit the intersection, cut left, and were gone. Todd and I did not want to make any hasty decisions as we've seen all too often what an ill timed decision can lead to. Once the next team of two caught up to us, who ended up being the winners of the previous two editions of S.R. we realized that we did indeed need to take the left, and once again continue climbing. We went to work trying to catch up to the now lead team of HHVI and managed to close the gap as we came into a short 'off the bike to run to a CP n back section'. The Suburban Rush course was covering some similar terrain to Diez Vista did just a few weeks prior. In my two runnings of the Diez course I had yet to see a single view. As we grabbed this out n back CP I was startled to see how incredible the scenery around the area was. No wonder the D.V. is such a renowned course! It made much more sense to me now as otherwise I just figured it to be a super tough 50k trail! After this we were finally riding some downhill terrain and I started to feel bad for Todd as there were pretty large strewn rocks all about. I was getting bucked around on my full suspension, yet Todd still rides a hardtail bike! (he assures me that his new full suspension in in the mail) I was very impressed at Todd's ability to keep a decent pace over this terrain as I personally would have either bailed or submitted to the constant bashing on the body to act as the main shock absorber! From here we hit up some sweet single track riding and HHVI managed to distance themselves from us again as the terrain was rough and did not lend itself to hardtail riding. Once we hit the more open and faster section of the bike leg we hammered on the pedals to try and once again close the gap. The bike leg lead us into what was listed as a bushwhack, but was 90% on packed runnable trails. We arrived before HHVI were able to depart and with a quick transition managed to catch and pass them within a few hundred meters of running. As a foursome we all blew right past the first CP, which was hanging off to the side of the trail. We were under the assumption that the CP's would be on the main route and it was not until we ran back down an embankment that we were able to determine that we had to backtrack. HHVI had continued past us and stopped a few hundred meters down the trail. We yelled at each other and indeed confirmed that neither of us had found the CP. Todd and I decided to turn around, while HHVI continued on with the intention of snagging the missed CP on the way out. As Todd and I ran back up hill to find our first CP on the trek we were passed by the previous years winners, sporting the 'leaders yellow jerseys'. At this point I recognized one of the racers from a random training encounter in Wash State in 06 and immediately knew that there was now a solid three way battle for the lead happening. Once Todd and I realized that the CP's were somewhat hidden Todd went into his 'superhuman dialed into the maps mode' and I knew that we were in a position to make up some serious time on the other teams, "Let's be the first back to the bikes Todd, we can win this thing out here right now!" With the exception of one additional CP that we overshot and dropped about forty five seconds searching for, the stage went like clockwork and we ran a solid pace back to the bike transition. A quick scan allowed me to see that everyone elses bikes were still in place and we made out of there like bandits in the night trying not to be spotted from any potential teams coming back into the transition area behind us. Once up the hill and around the corner I figured there to be about thirty minutes of racing left, and knew that barring any serious issues or cramping, that we should be able to maintain our lead. Todd faced some minor cramping issues that did not seem to slow him that much and I prayed that my torn sidewall would continue to hold. We bombed down some nice open flowing single track and upon reaching the finish area has to crawl under some netting to cross the line in 2h08m and claim the 2008 Suburban Rush win! The 2007 winners crossed the line about ten minutes later and Justin and Jeff of HHVI claimed third. The day had only gotten nicer and we all enjoyed the social atmosphere and incredible weather. Suburban Rush is a top notch adventure race. The organization was second to none, the volleys, as always, were amazing and the energy around the event superb. We had a stellar day and after heading in with so many misconceptions about this race we were both happy to have educated ourselves a bit better and opened up our eyes to another staple event on the adventure racing scene in B.C. Thanks to Dean Wutke, Shawn Leclair, the entire Suburban Rush crew, and Bryan Tasaka of Mind Over Mountain Adventure Racing as he was the one who constantly told us that we were completely wrong in our assumptions and insisted that we come out and try it for ourselves. I'd also like to thank Cap's Westwood Cycle for their very generous prizing donations, along with all other sponsors as well of course! Todd will vouch for the fact that we had some incredible customer service at Cap's Cycle. My brain was shutting down and I was surprised at how tired I found myself after the event. I created what could only be described as the longest and most confusing transaction in the history of retail, and the girl behind the till handled it all in stride and with an actual genuine smile upon her face. I personally would have snapped on someone attempting 1/2 of the mess that I had created! Six days till Miwok, thirteen till MOMAR, fourteen till the hangover of the year for me! GR"

The Expert Regatta was the first event borne from the new partnership between Helly Hansen and Fraglia Vela Riva del Garda. This is one of the most important sailing club in the North Italy and the best of Garda Lake. In this regatta more than 300 sailing boats came from 47 different countries and they raced in the last weekend to selected themselves for the Olympic Games. The best Italian crews competed in different classes: Zandonà-Trani in the male 470, Conti-Micol in the female 470 and Sibello brothers in the very fast 49er. Helly Hansen made a gift to each sailors and each member of race committee and his flags waves on the tower of Fraglia. Now the partnership will go on with the sponsorship of Fraglia Vela Sailing Team, 45 guys and children more their 5 coaches that race in different classes: Optimist, Laser, 29er, 49er and Finn. Then Helly Hansen will be present year-round by his logo on the bows of 23 Fraglia rubber dinghies and on the sails of two j80 that Fraglia Vela use to make sailing school and incentive activities.

Thursday night was the Vancouver premiere of the Collective's new mountain bike movie Seasons. We are always looking for a reason to throw a party so we had a little social get together before the premiere. Some industry people including staff from the Collective, athletes from the movie came by including our own Andrew Shandro and Cam from NSMB, Radek from Pink Bike and Sterling Lawrence just to name a few. After a couple hours of drinking, eating, chatting and getting pumped up on watching ROAM (Collective's last movie) we headed down to the Commadore to a packed house. I have to say that this movie was worth every day of waiting from ROAM for me, the Collective puts out the best mountain bike movies hands down. I only know this because my buddies and I haev seen them all! After the show I think that everyone there wished they had their mountain bike outside the theatre so they could go rip it up! If you haven't seen this movie make sure that you get to a location that is showing it or buy the DVD after May 15. Until next time. Marc Campbell Sports Marketing North America Helly Hansen

"April 21, 2008 Helly Hansen's 2008 Ride of a Lifetime: Five retail winners from across North America were flown into Vancouver and taken to Whistler, BC for a 'Ride of a Lifetime'. This year's winners were: Kandie Kemp from Ski Tak Hut in Courtenay, BC Samuel Martin from La vie Dehors in Rimouski, QC Justin Richardson from Carling Tommy and Lefevbre in Ottawa, ON Melissa-Lynn Lachance from Sport Experts #529 in Montreal, QC Bart Petryna from Ski Barn in New Jersey. All the winners arrived in Vancouver on Thursday, April 17th and were limo'd up to Whistler in style. A full outerwear outfit and $500 spending money awaited them at the Delta Suites resort in Whistler, BC. A fantastic dinner and VIP entry to the Whistler Telus Ski/Snowboard Festival SBC Party that evening kicked off the weekend with quite a bang...the kind of bang only shooters can give! As much as EVERYONE was feeling the effects of the first evening, Friday was a full guided day on Whistler mountain. Unseasonably cold temperatures and fresh snow gave way to a day much different than April spring skiing could expect. Whistler/Blackcomb guides Nikki and Max led the skiers and snowboarders to the best snow and best runs on the mountain. Helly Hansen Pro riders Shin Campos and James Heim joined for the afternoon to give the winners a sample of local success and skill on their local hill. Friday was topped off by a large group dinner and premium seats at the industry famous WSSF Fashion Exposed fashion show, featuring Helly Hansen and our body painted LIFA models. They even got a chance to get in a picture with Kiss rock legend Gene Simmons. Saturday morning: 10-15cm of fresh, cold, light powder, temperatures as low as -19C in the alpine, spectacular blue, sunny skies and a helicopter...sound like a Ride of a Lifetime??? Everything that could go right did for the lucky, lucky winners. 4-5 runs in Whistler's famous Spearhead range of untouched, fresh, cold POW!! Such an amazing day - permanent smiles on every face throughout dinner and into the night of WSSF DJ Experience party, etc, etc. Sunday AM late breakfast and a limo ride back down the Sea to Sky highway on their way home. "The Ride of a Lifetime contest went over really well in BC. Not only did it create some buzz in store throughout the Winter about HH but it gave me an excuse to be in touch with my retailers more often. When a buyer in my territory actually won the ROAL contest I was so excited to call her and let her know. What a great morale booster! Since the contest was held in Whistler which is part of my territory I was able to go up and spend quite a bit of time with her and the other contest winners, on the hill and off, and it was a great opportunity for me to build on a fairly new relationship with her. On top of that the group got to ride with some of our sponsored athletes which was really cool." Megan Soutar, BC Rep H/H"

Hey guys, There is still not o much happening here, at the Nine knights Event in Oberstdorf, because of the bad weather, but we have a cool videoblog from the spontanious jib session & a World Record!!! Lukki Brucic ollies over 5 Red Bull cans on a Rail

Hi all, Another amazing day in our awesome Elk Range. Penn and I rode the sleds in to just below Jim and Mike's cabin (where there is at least 10 feet of snow) and had a quick approach up to the base of the east face. Conditions were near perfect for the ski, but the climb required some effort. Got some great shots of Penn getting after it on a classic Elk Range steep face. Chris

Well, the ski season is finally over here at Red and after a slow start it turned out to be a good one. Simon Skied 94 days this season and only had to miss his 1/2 day kindergarten on 6 big powder days. He is still skiing at a level well above his age group and amazes everyone who sees him ski. In the Nancy Greene Ski League Zone Finals for 5-12 year olds, Simon finished 16th overall out of 90 racers and he beat all of the 8 yr and under kids.(and lots of the 9-12 year olds). It was an amazing 2nd run he had, I got it on video and will put it on the DVD. The only thing holding him back from going faster is his weight, he needs more mass! He also won the E1 class outright in the club final fun race. (See photo) Simon also spent a lot of time in the terrain park going for big air, riding the rails and hitting the wall. Pretty amazing stuff to watch. Simon is attracting a lot of attention around the area and it will just be a matter of time before he gets some media exposure. Simon has now skied most of the most difficult lines on the mountain, except the really big drops. He can ski these with complete confidence without regard to the snow conditions. Even in conditions that are rather poor by my standards ,Simon finds them just fine. He can change his skis between any of the 4 pairs of K2's in his quiver, and then go out and ski any terrain. His equipment was really great this year. As he gets bigger he has more choice. He attracted a lot of comments about the 119cm Bad Seed's being so fat for such a little guy, but boy did they float in the powder! And powder is Simon's favorite! We had first chair on at least 10 powder days and were on one of the first 10 chairs on at least another 30 days. The early skier gets the POW! (or the corduroy for that matter!) His Helly gear was awesome this season and we cannot thank you enough for providing everything on Simons wish list. Simon was never cold or wet this season and this was a direct result of his HH gear. Oh yeah, He was also the best looking little ski bum on the hill, all dressed in red. Although I took a lot of photos this season ,I do not feel that I got many really good ones. This is why I was not sending photos all winter. I kept thinking I would get better photos the next time. In the end we got some OK photos. As Simons speed in the trees increases, I have found it more difficult to capture the perfect moment with my present camera equipment. This has made me realize that I will have to upgrade to professional quality SLR and lenses for next season. This is the only way I will be able to get photos with digital files large enough to publish. It is a large investment but necessary. I missed way to many great shots this season because of the camera. Sometimes I forget that he is still only five years old so I guess the photos are not all that bad. At the beginning of the season I could not seem to get enough contrast in the photos but we came up with a solution we think you might like! We put a large HH sticker on the top of Simon's helmet and it jumps right out at you in many of the photos. Thanks again for supporting Simon with such great equipment. If any of the equipment designers are interested in more feedback, we would be happy to talk to them. Kind regards, Peter and Simon Hillis

"Hey, I'm stoked to finally announce that my first invitational Event - the Nine Knights- is gonna happen in Oberstdorf/Germany from April 22nd-26th. I've been working on the whole concept for a couple of months and am now super stoked with the results! 9 of my best friends and best skiers in the world are gonna show up and shred a special feature with me which i just call: "The Castle". It's a mixture between a Floater and a channel Gap Quaterpipe. I also invited 4 top Photographers that are gonna compete against each other in different categories. Main purpose of the event is a big foto/film shooting, including Heli chases, sunset shoots and matrix action. But on Saturday the 26th, the Eventsite is gonna open for public and the "knights" are gonna throw down in a competition, which is open for public. But just check out all the facts/videos and win some free gear on www.nineknights.com! Greetz Nico"

Competition day To see Janina's final run that put her in second click here http://www.usfreeskiing.com/video.html (Womens AK finals part 4) Saturday morning, competitors boarded an early tram where Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" played, drawing tears from several passengers. A steady line of skiers marched to the summit, where Nicoletta's closest friends spoke about his love of the sport, his excitement to be in Alaska and his feelings of anticipation before the competition. "He was the kind of guy that even though I'd only known him for a week, he made you feel like you'd been best friends forever," said Jackson resident Ryan Hawks, who'd made backcountry turns with Nicoletta days earlier. The athletes let out a loud cheer for their friend at the end of the gathering, posed for a group photo and were even saluted by a passing airplane. Just before the competition resumed, more than a dozen Aspen skiers descended the venue in unison, making powder turns for their fallen friend. The Jackson Hole contingent finally took their lone runs of the contest Saturday afternoon. The final male skier to go, LaPier bounced from feature to feature at the top of the venue, but he was carrying too much speed at the bottom of the course and crashed. He entered the finish area and immediately reached for his left knee. "I felt it pop at the bottom when I spun out," LaPier said. "I didn't want it to end this way." McMillan's hard-charging style and aggressive line selection had her briefly in first place, but she eventually dropped to third behind Crystal-Rose Lee of Whistler, British Columbia, and Janina Kuzma of Fernie, British Columbia. Wright descended her chosen line cleanly, taking a pair of cliff drops, but her skiing lacked the aggression that she's accustomed to displaying. "I was skiing a little scared," Wright said afterward. "The one-run thing is tough for me. I need all three runs." Horigan's run looked smooth, as well, but the judges awarded her 12th place and she finished behind several women she felt she should have beaten. "I thought I skied well," Horigan said. "Half those people ahead of me weren't in control." On Sunday, an awards ceremony was held, with McMillan getting her moment on the podium and Wright achieving her goal of winning the U.S. tour. Kent Hyden of Alta edged Craig Garbiel of Kirkwood, Calif., to win the men's field. The Sickbird award, traditionally given to the most exciting line choice in the competition, was given to Kiffor Berg, an Aspen skier and friend of Nicoletta's. Fighting back tears, Berg climbed the podium, lifted his beer and poured it on the floor in tribute to the one name that was missing from the final results sheet.

Here is a video clip of the memorial hike held for John.

The Nimbus crew gasses up, grabs their snowmobiles and heads north to explore the backcountry of Whistler, BC. Here they team up with pro snowboarder Shin Campos for a tour of his favorite zones, hitting pillows, cliffs, and natural features.

The Nimbus crew continues to showcase their backcountry snowmobiling skills with road trips to Sonora, CA and Cooke City, MT.

FREESKIING WORLD CHAMPS: MSI OFFICIAL STATEMENT For Immediate Release Alyeska, Alaska, April 11, 2008—At approximately 3:45pm this afternoon, 27-year-old John Nicoletta of Aspen, Colorado, died due to injuries sustained during a fall while competing on the first day of the Freeskiing World Championships at Alyeska Resort, Alaska. Nicoletta was the 47th competitor of the day down the Headwall below Alyeska Peak. Alyeska Professional Ski Patrol reached Nicoletta within seconds of the accident and evaluated his injuries. After stabilization, he was transported via toboggan and helicopter to the Alyeska Aid Room where he was unable to be revived despite efforts by local physicians, paramedics, Girdwood EMS and the Alyeska Professional Ski Patrol. Time of death was reported at 4:45pm. Contrary to initial press stories, Nicoletta had a loss of control after a 20-foot cliff drop and was propelled into an exposed rocky area. A veteran freeskiing competitor, Nicoletta was an accomplished, well-known, and extremely respected athlete. An experienced skier, he has appeared in ski movies, been a featured athlete in television interviews and recently finished second at the Telluride Freeskiing Open in February 2008. Mountain Sports International extends our deepest sympathies to John Nicoletta's family, girlfriend, and friends. This is a deep blow to the freeskiing community. After discussion with the competitors this evening, the decision was made to continue with the event tomorrow. Athletes will make the hike to the top of the peak together in a celebration of John's incredible life and love of big mountain freeskiing. On behalf of myself and everyone at Helly Hansen we would like to send our deepest condolences to John's family and friends. This is quite a blow us and the freeskiing community.

Porto S.Stefano, April 8th, 2008 The event, organized by the Yacht Club Santo Stefano, saw 69 boats on the starting line from Estonia, Slovenia, Switzerland, England, Norway, Austria, Germany, France, Sweden and Italy. Seven high intensity races has been run in the wonderful Argentario who betrayed only Sunday allowing only one race with unstable weather conditions. The wind, during the regatta, blew between 6 and 20 knots and our boats HH Uka Uka Racing Team, with the strategist of Luna Rossa, Francesco Bruni and Alina HELLY HANSEN were favourites. After alternating at the top of the two past world champions, Nicola Celon on Marchingenio and Flavio Favini on Swiss Blue Moon, HH Uka Uka Racing Team was precisely to win thanks to last perfect race when it cut the finish line in the first placement in front of its two great rivals. The success of HH Uka Uka Racing Team has a greater value when you consider that in the third race a technical problem had damaged them that have been outdone by more than ten boats. -Finally, this is the goal of several months of work.- Federico Michetti, team manager HH Uka Uka, tells us in this regard -We wanted testing our reserve mast for the World, to ensure that everything will be perfect. Luckily we have done that here in fact the gennaker halyard was broken and we did half downwind without gennaker in the third race.- Our other boat, Alina HELLY HANSEN, helmed Luca Valerio and Daniele Cassinari like tactician, have sailed the first two days in positions of head up to be in the fourth placement in the overall standing but they resigned themselves to second disqualification that they obtained by premature start in the last race. -We are really fast and we are always there with the strongest boats.- tells Cassinari -Pity that for one reason or another one we fail to conclude in the best possible way each regattas in this first part of season. In the next month, in Cagliari where there will be the Italian Championship we'll be concreter.- -We made a good regatta- the helmsman Bressani is satisfied -but our direct opponents are ready and strong. There is a very high level and at the end who makes less mistake wins. We were skill to react in the third race when we remade the start because we were too early outside of the starting line. Now we must only think about Italian Championship and World one.- Next appointment for HH Uka Uka Racing Team and Alina HELLY HANSEN will be Melges 24 Italian Championships in Cagliari, from May 1st to 4th. Final Standings after 7 races with one discard: 1) HH Uka Uka Racing, L. Bressani, 2-5 - [17] -13-2-3-1, 26 pts 2) Marchingenio, N. Celon, 4-3-6-9 - [30] -2-3, 27 pts 3) Blue Moon, F. Favini, 13-1-1-14 - [17] -4-2, 34 pts 4) On Line Sime Fire, R. Martinez, 11-5 - [31] -3-15-7-6, 47 pts 5) Giacomel Audi, R. Simoneschi, 1-4-3 - [21] -4-17-32, 50 pts

Auckland, Sunday 6 April, On the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, Claire Leroy's HELLY HANSEN Team secured her second consecutive world championship title in the sport of women's match racing. American Liz Baylis took silver, and Silja Lehtinen of Finland bronze in a frustrating day that was mostly spent waiting for the wind to arrive, meaning that final placings for the split at 1st and 3rd place were determined on countback. Leroy, who at 28 years of age and representing Sport Nautique de Saint Quay Portrieux, is current Rolex World Yachtswoman of the Year. She has been virtually untouchable in her recent match racing career, hanging on tight to the Number One spot in the Women's ISAF World Match Race Rankings since May 2005. "We are feeling very good, very emotional," she says. "It's a great moment. We had a cry." HELLY HANSEN Team is formed by Claire Leroy, Marie Riou, Elodie Bertrand and Claire Pruvot, both Riou and Pruvot are newcomers to the team, and in true Leroy style they have pulled together to achieve a distinctive edge in boatspeed that enables them to win time and time again. While Leroy was disappointed not to meet up with Baylis in the finals, she was glad to have the confidence of knowing she had great results to fall back on from the Round Robin. "We are very happy with all of the results. It's nice to come back with a trophy." Of missing out on meeting Leroy in the finals Baylis says, "It would have been nice but the conditions were what they were. It pays to win early, then you're in position if races are cancelled." Baylis is one of the sport's most important patrons. A former Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, and 2002 world champion, she has been instrumental in seeing women's match racing become an Olympic sport. Now her attention is turned to the remainder of her 2008 campaign, and plans to be at the 2012 Olympics. Conditions were light for the final's racing, with a range often less than five knots and racing stalled for some time due to 180 degree wind shifts that Auckland is as famous for as its gusty south-westers. The 2009 event will take place in Lysekil, Sweden. Final results 1st - Claire Leroy (FRA) 2nd - Liz Baylis (USA) 3rd - Silja Lehtinen (FIN) 4th - Josie Gibson (GBR) 5th - Katie Spithill (AUS)

As an avid mountain biker, cruiser rider and now a road rider (just for commuting) I try to stay up on what's going on in the bike world through any bike mag I can get my hands on, this usually happens at variety stores, grocery stores or my favorite magazine shop while my wife is getting her nails done. I was reading this months Decline and read a great article on the new Remedy and there was our boy Shandro sporting H/H all over. In this months Decline there was an ad for Shandro's Gravity Camps in Whistler and Hunter in a Collective ad. If you want to see Shandro and Matty in action you can go to the Whistler Bike Park website, http://www.whistlerbike.com/index.htm , to see Shandro getting some air and you can click at the bottom to see them both ripping it up on B Line. Keep up the great riding guys, I love the pics and vids! Makes me want to leave my desk and get out there everytime! Marc Campbell Sports Marketing Helly Hansen

Here are some photos of Adam and I the first week in AK. We skied a peak called python. It was so amazing. The photos might show that. We climbed up that baby, after making a skin track up the couloir. According to the ABA guides, the skin track has never been done, and it rarely gets climbed. Awesome experience! We're in Girdwood now at Alaska getting into competition mode. It was definitely hard to come back here with no untouched fresh pow and big peaks. We do have some plans for our return to Thompson Pass though. We have been filming with a small production company called Sweetgrass and Danny Brown has been taking some very inspiring pics. We are hoping to get another heli drop out in an area called The Books, or in the Valley of the Tusk when we get back. Both areas have some super intense AK terrain with couloirs to climb and more gnar to be skied. Hopefully we can get some more good shots for you to document the experience. We will write to you again with some more updates before we head back out to Thompson Pass. Hope all is well back in Canada. Talk to you soon. Forrest is skiing in our new Odin outerwear system and I am attaching a YouTube video for your viewing pleasure. Thanks Forrest and Adam for letting us know what you're up to. We'll update as soon as they finish their comp in AK.