Helly Hansen

40 days, 5 hours, 37 minutes and 57 seconds after thieir late start out from Quingdao, the nordic crew on board Ericcson 3 crossed the finish line in Rio as the first of the five boats on this leg's fleet. Shortly after on Thursday, the international crew on Ericsson 4 crossed the finish line in second place, strengthening their grip on the over all race leaderboard!

Check out images and videos on www.ericssonracingteam.com and www.volvooceanrace.com

All the teams are now getting ready for the in-port races that takes place in Rio on April 4th - before thei head off to Boston on the next leg April 11th.

Best of luck!!

Contact: Christina Erb, 319-310-1415, christina@hayterpr.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Biggest turnout of the series brings out local Vermont Skiers John Holcomb and Nathan Herman to take Gold at Helly Hansen’s Big Mountain Battle at Smugglers’ Notch Resort.

DELTA, B.C. (March 23, 2009) – Thirty-seven teams showed up this past Saturday to race for gold at Helly Hansen Big Mountain Battle’s final stop.

Resident skiers John Holcomb and Nathan Herman took gold in 2 hours and 22 minutes — just one minute ahead of second-place finishers, Smugglers’ Notch ski patrollers Jason Evans and Greg Cunningham.

“Everyone thought the patrol team was going to win. They know the mountain really well and they really trained. Greg would skin up the mountain two to three times a day,” said Rick Witham, on-hill events coordinator for Smugglers’ Notch. “The underdogs came out and won.”

The race challenged two-person teams to an intense, big-mountain course designed by Helly Hansen’s big-mountain skier Chris Davenport. Each team was tracked using FLAIK GPS, a unique tracking device that provided race officials with real-time data on each teams. The results will be posted today, March 23, at http://smugglershellyhansen.flaik.com.

“This has been an incredible series from the get go, gaining momentum from one event to the next. We have some pretty strong teams coming out from each resort to compete in the final Battle in the Bowls, it’s going to be exciting to see how they do outside of their own mountain” said Marc Campbell, Helly Hansen’s sports marketing specialist for North America.

The pair won an all-expense-paid trip to Aspen/Snowmass where they’ll square off against roughly 50 teams in the final Battle in the Bowls, March 29, alongside Squaw Valley USA, Sun Peaks Resort and Steven Pass Ski Area’s winners.

Helly Hansen has manufactured technical outdoor apparel since 1877. Today, the brand is recognized as a global leader in technical apparel and footwear designs for a range of alpine and water sports activities. Helly Hansen products are distributed in more than 40 countries. Helly Hansen’s North American operations are based in Delta, B.C. For more information on Helly’s products, team news, or to locate a dealer, visit www.hellyhansen.com.

Contact: Christina Erb, 319-310-1415, christina@hayterpr.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Former Telemark Ski Rivals Matt Kuharic and Peter Wesman Take Gold at Helly Hansen Big Mountain Battle at WA’s Stevens Pass Ski Area

DELTA, B.C. (March 2, 2009) – Former college telemark ski rivals Matt Kuharic, 28, and Peter Wesman, 30, beat out a field of mostly alpine-ski-equipped competitors to take gold in 2:16:00 at Helly Hansen Big Mountain Battle at WA’s Stevens Pass Ski Area.

The race challenged two-person teams to an intense, four-hour-long, mountain-wide course designed by Helly Hansen’s big-mountain skier Chris Davenport. It wasn’t an easy win for Kuharic and Wesman. The free heelers missed a checkpoint in the dense snowfall and had to double back, forcing them to complete an unintended hike. The mistake allowed second-place finishers, Michael Zaratzek and Tim Cartwright, to close in on them, and finish just two minutes later, with a time of 2:18:00. 

“My partner, Peter, almost gave up because he thought we’d be passed while we were hiking. But we hiked back up and made it,” Kuharic said. “Our strategy won it for us.”

Each team was tracked using FLAIK GPS, a unique tracking device that allowed race officials to track competitors from their laptops the instant the race kicked off. Results will be posted today, Mar. 16, at http://stevenspasshellyhansen.flaik.com

Kuharic and Wesman as well as Squaw Valley USA and Sun Peaks Resort winners will travel to Aspen/Snowmass where they’ll square off in the final Battle in the Bowls, March 29. But before that final showdown can occur, the Big Mountain Battle will make one last stop at VT’s Smugglers’ Notch Resort on Mar. 21 — and send one final two-person team on all-expense-paid trip to the Aspen/Snowmass event.

Winners will also walk away with great prizes from Helly Hansen and our sponsors Thule, Rogue Beer, Powder, Dakine, K2, GoPro Cameras, Skull Candy and Smith Optics.

Cost for the event is $75 per team and includes two Helly Hansen Lifa baselayers valued at $45 each. For more info and to sign up go to www.hellyhansen.com/bigmountainbattle.

Helly Hansen has manufactured technical outdoor apparel since 1877. Today, the brand is recognized as a global leader in technical apparel and footwear designs for a range of alpine and water sports activities. Helly Hansen products are distributed in more than 40 countries. Helly Hansen’s North American operations are based in Delta, B.C. For more information on Helly’s products, team news, or to locate a dealer, visit www.hellyhansen.com.

A great sunny day in Verbier today - the Bes des Rosses gave the riders a good challenge! HH rider Aurelien Ducroz won todays event and also the over all title as World Champion and winner of the 2009 Freeride World Tour. Just a few points behind, HH rider Reine Barkered impressed with massive airs and fluidity and captured the second place in todays event and also the second place on the Freeride World Tour.

Congratulations, dream team!!!

The circus has started! All the top freeriders in the world are gathered on the last and final stop of this years Freeride World Tour in Verbier.

Current leader of the tour, Aurelien Ducroz, and winner of the 2nd FWT event, Reine Barkered are ready to charge down the mythical Bec des Rosses, a 500m north face, in places some 55 degree sheer terrain with steep and narrow couloirs, high rock cliffs, changing snow and terrain!

Best of luck to both of you!

Japan managed to fit a trip to Japan into his busy schedule.  He went straight from shooting with Absinthe in Switerland to Japan and linked up with the folks of Helly Hansen Japan.

Sounds like next year's Absinthe movie should be amazing yet again.  Word on the street was that the session that went down prior to JP heading to Japan was all time.

It's Jake Knigge checking in from beautiful Breckenridge, Colorado. I spent the past three days riding and shooting with up-and-coming photographer Nick Adorni.

We spent our first day shooting jumps and rails in Breckenridge's Freeway park. Nick posted up on one the jumps and snapped some sick shots. His fisheye produces really cool images.

On our second day shooting we shot some handplants on a quarterpipe, some slides on a rainbow box, and some bonks on a triple-stacked tire jib. The rainbow box is pretty cool because you can see through it. Check out the pictures!

Mother nature gave us about 5 inches of fresh to play around with on Nick's last day. We ventured into the woods to shoot a battleship (up-flat-down) log jib. From there we worked a mini-pow-zone for a few slashes.

Thanks to Nick for journeying to Colorado to shoot some pics. Keep your eyes out for his pictures and check out his website: http://nickadorni.com

WELCHES, Oregon (March 16, 2009) – Nimbus Independent is pleased to bring you the second installment of their short film series titled, “En Route – Austria,” presented by K2 Skis.  This episode follows the Nimbus Crew to Austria, where they start out skiing bottomless powder in Krippenstein, then pack the cars in search of sunshine, try on some Lederhosen, experience large steins of beer and then rally to the Arlberg region.   Enjoy this and addition photos, stories and videos from Nimbus at www.nimbusindependent.com. 

Use the new free HD and iPod downloads to view the whole webisode on your own computing devices.  Then surf the rest of the site to view and download all of last seasons project, “Hunting Yeti.”  Feel free to communicate with Nimbus by leaving comments on blogs and videos.

Nimbus, along with BNQT and its partners, is building a new model for filmmaking and what it means for audiences, athletes and sponsors through exclusive online distribution.  “En Route”, presented by K2 Skis, is streamed using the Nimbus media player on our supporting partner websites: K2 Skis, Evogear, Helly Hansen, Oakley, Tecnica, Marker, Dragon, Dakine, Atomic, Line, Bern, VAS Entertainment, Freeskier, Fri Flyt, Transition, Fall Line Skiing, Skieur, Freeskiers.net, Raiders.ch, Skizofrenia.cl, Downdays.eu, Poor Boyz Productions, and BNQT. 

“En Route” is presented by K2 Skis and produced by Nimbus Independent in association with Poor Boyz Productions.  Nimbus is producing three webisodes premiering on the 15th of February, March and April. Check the Nimbus website regularly for blog, photo and video updates.

Contact: Christina Erb, 319-310-1415, christina@hayterpr.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local Ski School Instructors Steven Mulcahy and Stephen Beaver Take Gold at Helly Hansen Big Mountain Battle at B.C.’s Sun Peaks Resort.

DELTA, B.C. (March 2, 2009) – The Helly Hansen Big Mountain Battle spurred rivalry among British Columbia’s Sun Peaks Resort resident skiers and mountain employees Feb. 28 as two 20-year-old ski school instructors, Steven Mulcahy and Stephen Beaver, took gold in 2:30:57.

“There were a couple of other guys from ski school racing; we had to beat those guys,” said Steven Mulcahy. “We know the mountain really well. There was only one hike we didn’t know. It was one of those backwater runs we never need to do. It was neat to find a different part of the mountain.”

The race challenged two-person teams to an intense, four-hour-long, mountain-wide course designed by Helly Hansen’s big-mountain skier Chris Davenport. Ross Thompson and Todd Feschuk grabbed second with a time of 2:37:54 followed by Bodie Shandro and Ryan Dale Johnson just over a minute later.

Each team was tracked using FLAIK GPS, a unique tracking device that allowed race officials to track competitors from their laptops the instant the race kicked off. Results will be posted today, Mar. 2, at http://sunpeakshellyhansen.flaik.com

Mulcahy and Bauer as well as Squaw Valley USA’s winners John Morrison and Alan Riley will travel to Aspen/Snowmass where they’ll square off in the final Battle in the Bowls, March 29. But before that final showdown can occur, the Big Mountain Battle will make stops at WA’s Stevens Pass Ski Area and VT’s Smugglers’ Notch Resort on Mar. 14 and Mar. 21, respectively — and send two more two-person teams on all-expense-paid trips to the Aspen/Snowmass event.

Winners will also walk away with great prizes from Helly Hansen and our sponsors Thule, Rogue Beer, Powder, Dakine, K2, GoPro Cameras, Skull Candy and Smith Optics.

Cost for the event is $75 per team and includes two Helly Hansen Lifa baselayers valued at $45 each. For more info and to sign up go to www.hellyhansen.com/bigmountainbattle.

Helly Hansen has manufactured technical outdoor apparel since 1877. Today, the brand is recognized as a global leader in technical apparel and footwear designs for a range of alpine and water sports activities. Helly Hansen products are distributed in more than 40 countries. Helly Hansen’s North American operations are based in Delta, B.C. For more information on Helly’s products, team news, or to locate a dealer, visit www.hellyhansen.com.

Contact: Christina Erb, 319-310-1415, christina@hayterpr.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local Squaw Skiers John Morrison and Alan Riley Take Gold at Helly Hansen Big Mountain Battle at Squaw Valley USA

DELTA, B.C. (February 23, 2009) – The Helly Hansen Big Mountain Battle brought a huge crowd to Squaw Valley USA as locals turned up to watch longtime resident skiers John Morrison and Alan Riley win the first stop of the Helly Hansen’s Big Mountain Battle.

The race challenged two-person teams to an intense, big-mountain course designed by Helly Hansen’s big-mountain skier Chris Davenport. Each team was tracked using FLAIK GPS, a unique tracking device that provided race officials with real-time data on each team.

“The course was great. It took us all over the mountain, said Morrison”. It was a good test of both our ability to navigate terrain and know where the good traverses were, and test our ability to hike and go downhill.”

The pair won an all-expense-paid trip to Aspen/Snowmass where they’ll square off in the final Battle in the Bowls, March 29th. But before that final showdown can occur, the Big Mountain Battle will make stops at Sun Peaks Resort, BC; Stevens Pass Ski Area, WA; and Smugglers’ Notch Resort, VT; this February/March — and send three more two-person teams on all-expense-paid trips to the Aspen/Snowmass event.

“The first stop of the series was a great success” says Marc Campbell, Helly Hansen’s sports marketing specialist for North America.  “Everyone had an awesome time and walked with great prizing from our sponsors Helly Hansen, Thule, Rogue Beer, Powder, Dakine, K2, GoPro Cameras, Skull Candy and Smith Optics.

B.C.’s Sun Peaks race will be held Feb. 28; WA’s Stevens Pass, Mar. 14; and VT’s Smugglers’ Notch, Mar. 21.

Cost for the event is $75 per team and includes two Helly Hansen Lifa baselayers valued at $45 each. For more info and to sign up go to www.hellyhansen.com/bigmountainbattle. For results of the first event at Squaw go to http://squawhellyhansen.flaik.com .

Helly Hansen has manufactured technical outdoor apparel since 1877. Today, the brand is recognized as a global leader in technical apparel and footwear designs for a range of alpine and water sports activities. Helly Hansen products are distributed in more than 40 countries. Helly Hansen’s North American operations are based in Delta, B.C. For more information on Helly’s products, team news, or to locate a dealer, visit www.hellyhansen.com.

Nimbus Independent scored again! Following up on the success of “En Route - Japan,” we headed across the pond once more to bring you “En Route - Austria.” You roll the dice when traveling overseas, but we nailed it again with epic snow conditions and sunshine between the storms.  Pep, Andy, Erin, Wiegand, and Ike flew over the pole on the 8th of February. Pollard was waiting for us in Munich, Germany. He’d been in Europe doing some shop signings. From Munich we drove six hours to St. Moritz, Switzerland to pick up Benchetler. He’d been shredding deep pow with Nico Zacek and the rest of the ‘Down Days’ crew. The following morning, under cloudy skies, the now complete Nimbus team drove five hours to our ultimate destination, Krippenstein, Austria.  Our first day was spent exploring the mountain with our guide, Martin. The main tram wasn’t open due to weather, but Martin got us on a military gondola, which accessed the same terrain. This was the scariest lift we’d ever been on. The cable looked like dental floss, the cars were dusty and five cases of empty beer bottles lay in the bottom terminal. We quickly learned the value of having a guide. The mountain was like Swiss cheese, littered with holes that could easily swallow a skier.  We skied the same terrain for two days, as the weather was brutal above tree line, so we filmed in the forest. As the snow piled up and the wind lay down, we were able to break out and hit the exposed areas. The amazing terrain stoked everyone. Though we were skiing the deepest snow of the year, we were also hurting for some sunshine. The forecast in St. Anton, five hours away, was promising. So we packed up all our gear and off we went.  We arrived to bluebird skies and two feet of fresh. Nobody knew where to start. We bought tickets deciding to explore, since one ticket gets you onto lifts at multiple resorts. Needless to say, you could spend a lot of time here and never take the same run. On our search we decided to shoot a nice little gap over a cat road.   While the crew built a jump, Ike planted himself on the sunny deck of a nearby chalet. This worked well until the owner arrived. Understandably, he freaked out for poaching his deck without permission. Luckily, most of the anger got lost in translation. Ike left with a smile and a thumbs up. Morale soared with the day’s success. We looked forward to more of the same.  The next day we awoke to a bright sunny morning. Avalanche conditions had improved, allowing us to access the upper mountain. First order of business was to hit some avalanche barriers we’d scoped the day before. After a few runs, it was off to the backside of the resort. There we found an untouched playground of cliffs and never ending ridgelines. This was our final ski day and also the most productive. Everyone got a couple tricks off the cliffs. That evening we loaded the cars with big smiles on our faces.  This journey wasn’t quite finished though. We still had a date with some Lederhosen and authentic German beer steins. Many thanks to Korby, Martin, Wolfgang, and Skye for showing us a great time on our last night! Tune into www.nimbusindependent.com on March 15th for the live and uncut version of this story.

Southern Ocean (Mar. 9, 2009) - A bold tactical play last week has resulted in Ericsson 3, the Nordic crew of Ericsson Racing Team in the Volvo Ocean Race, stretching a large lead at the head of the fleet on the fourth week of Leg 5.
 
The team's second yacht, Ericsson 4, is running second as the yachts make speeds between 20 and 25 knots across the Southern Ocean and advances on Cape Horn, the legendary point at the bottom of South America, some 2,800 nautical miles to the east/southeast. It is hoped that the leaders would reach Cape Horn around Mar. 15.
 
"Finally we can bear away just a bit and put some pace on," said Ericsson 3 watch captain Thomas Johanson of Finland. "It's a relief and it's so much more fun to sail when you can work the boat in the waves and go around 25 knots instead of 15 to 18."
 
At today's 1259 GMT position report Ericsson 3 had completed a 24-hour run of 516 nautical miles, tops in the fleet, and had 5,227 miles remaining to the finish in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Skipper Magnus Olsson's Ericsson 3 led Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael, by 208 nautical miles.
 
The rounding of Cape Horn is a moment that all sailors cherish in this race. The cape has claimed many lives of explorers and adventurers through the years, but those that successfully navigate the rocky outcrop earn a gold earring as a mark of accomplishment.
 
Visit the official Ericsson Racing Team Web site (www.EricssonRacingTeam.com <http://www.ericssonracingteam.com/> ) to participate in a competition against the Ericsson 4 crewmembers, who have provided estimates for their rounding of Cape Horn.  To see the latest results check out www.volvooceanrace.com <http://www.volvooceanrace.com>  and www.volvooceanrace/TV <http://www.volvooceanrace/TV>  for some awesome movies.
 
VOLVO OCEAN RACE LEG 5 LEADERBOARD
(Mar. 9, 2009, 1259 GMT)
1. Ericsson 3, 5,227 nautical miles to finish
2. Ericsson 4, +208 NM
3. Puma, +222 NM
4. Green Dragon, +346 NM
5. Telefónica Blue, +499 NM

In between spinning off huge Alaskan cliffs and getting burried in BC blower Mark Abma has found time to launch the 1Step Foundation.

Go to www.onestepnow to sign up for more news as it comes out.