Some more insane high-flying action coming your way courtesy of Romain de Marchi and his YES Crew. Here they hit Whistler-Blackcomb backcountry and just hit some big stuff. Watching this makes me just cringe at the high-stakes maneuvers they're hucking. Any miscalculation when you're throwing yourself over 30 foot cliffs has serious consequences. Yes, these guys are highly talented athletes with a body control that rivals some of the world's best, but while they shun the head protection, it's at least a little calming to know they wear back protection.

But don't take my word for it... see this insane action for yourself...

YES. Quick and Dirty Whistler from YES. Snowboard TV on Vimeo.

Slytech Shredder Marcus Caston won the Overall Skier title for the 2010/2011 Rhalves Banzai Competition. That's a quite a feat when you check out the deep line-up of skiers. Ultimately, taking Beaver and Eagle Bowls was enough to secure the overall win and buncha cash. Congratulations, Marcus!

For anyone not familiar with the format of the Banzai contests this year, just take a look at this video taken from Sugar Bowl just a few weekends ago. With so much carnage, you'd better be wearing protection!

We recently received an email from a shredder that we just had to pass on...

Dear Slytech,

My name is Sophia Winfrey, I am fourteen ( second year J3 racer). On
Sunday, January 16th, 2011, I crashed and I crashed hard. The back brace
made by your company, saved my back, and probably more than just my back .
So I would like for you to check out my clip. It was a Super G race, on
Tiehack, at Buttermilk ski area in Aspen Colorado. I got launched into the
air from a compression that I wasn't ready for. Instead of breaking my
back, I tore my ACL, stretched my MCL, and broke my thumb. It could have
been a lot worse, and I feel lucky. I love ski racing. To sum it up, it is
my life. I have skied since I was five for Loveland Race Club in Colorado
and have been a competitive ski racer since I was ten. I have been training
four days a week this year, and hope to increase that to five days next
year. I am always going to love skiing and speed is still my favorite event.

Sophia Winfrey (LRC racer)

These are the REAL STORIES we receive from people who see back protection on par with helmets and that it's not a matter of IF you will need one, but WHEN. Accidents are a probability and the more we reasonable protect against that probability, the less injury we'll incur, the more money we'll save (on forgone medical bills) and the more fun we'll have.

And by "reasonable" I mean, it's got to be COMFORTABLE. Who wants gear on that hinders you from full and natural movement? Certainly not racers like Sophia and CERTAINLY NOT big mountain guys like Wolle Nyvelt who need every ounce of personal grit and movement possible to make it down potentially fatal spines, fingers and chutes.

Thank you Sophia for sharing your amazing story!

Here's a video of Sophia's crash...

Prior to the earthquake and tsunami devastation in Japan, Lisa was there for the most epic shred sesh. Here's the vid...

Happy Riding in Niseko - JAPOW from True Color Films on Vimeo.

Wolle, Lucas, Nicolas, Jake and Bode hit Alaska in this, the last installment of Absinth's FLIPSIDE behind the scenes. Watching this makes me really realize and totally 100% appreciate the athletic prowess of these guys. They do things at such high speeds and from such huge heights that even the smallest miscalculation or error can mean certain doom.

Hats off to these guys.

Finals in Lenzerheide are not only about competition now. They're also about a group of skiers who are banding together to make a difference in the lives of people in Japan.

Shredders like Julia Mancuso, Ted Ligety, Akira Sasaki, and many more have pledged to donate half of their prize money to "Skiers Helping Japan. " In addition, many have come together to send personalized messages to Japan.

Here are just a few...

As if there weren't reason enough to watch World Cup skiing, now you've got racers plunking down big bucks if they win for a worthy charity.

Hey there!

After having an awesome time in Japan we (Alvaro, Nicholas, Prendi and me) went to Canada for the second trip of our project. There we met up with our G Mr. Mario Käppeli and snowboarding storyteller and iconic photograph Mark Gallup.

After running through airports, almost missing flights and super slow pass controls we finally arrived in Kelowna interior BC. Some of our boardbags didn't quite make it in time and our filmer being really sick and our photographer having a stomach flue, Nico, Alva, Mario and me checked out the Monashee area and built a kicker on our first day. We had four incredible days there, doing drops, cliffs, lines and a kicker.

Next stop K3 operations, a bit further north. There we stayed down in the valley at a hotel, and got driven up every day. The terrain looked so sick, real alpine stuff, but unluckily everything on the top was really windblown, so we couldnt do all the good stuff. It looked so nice.

But we found some stuff to do in the woods and on the last day I must have really fallen in love with one tree and headed home with three stitches. Please wear helmets when you go ride!

All in all we had a blast, thanks to Monashee Powder and K3 !

Sick terrain, good snow, amazing food and a lot more...

Thank you Mark for taking us to such a sick place.

Cheers,

Lisa

The 2011 Asian Winter Games from Kazakhstan in February saw some hard-fought alpine ski battles. In the end it was South Korean Slytech Athlete Jung Dong-hyun on top in men's super combined event.

Congratulations Jung Dong-hyun and our South Korean Slytech distributor Mr. Yong-Chul Kim of TOLES. The whole Slytech Team in Europe and the USA sends you big-up!

Rockin the Slytech Nerve Series 4Arm Guards and 2nd Skin Backpro Superlite, Ted Ligety skied to a Giant Slalom gold medal victory at  FIS World Championship's in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany on February 18th, 2011.

He came back from a  4th place the first run to win by  0.08 seconds. Ted is on top of his game now... check out his run down below.

Congratulations, Ted!