Absinthe Films presents Neverland in 16mm HD.

Neverland is a state of mind, a mountain pushed up from the ground by imagination. Anyone can go but most people have trouble with the simple directions: Follow your dreams. This winter Absinthe dropped down the rabbit hole to explore this elusive place and brought back some mind bending tales and a pocketful of surprises. Travis Rice, Dan Brisse, Bode Merrill, Nicolas Müller, Sylvain Bourbousson, JP Solberg, Romain deMarchi, DCP, Marc Frank Montoya, Annie Boulanger, Marie-France Roy, Jules Reymond, Wille Yli-Luoma, Cale Zima, Phil Damianakes, Wolfgang Nyvelt, Kevin Pearce, Eero Ettala, Gigi Rüf and the rest of the Lost Boys continued down the road less traveled and explored some new possibilities during a winter that saw the progression of snowboarding take some giant strides.
This place has everything….. come on, I show you.

Neverland by Absinthe Films from Absinthe Films on Vimeo.

You’ve probably read a lot about the tragic death of Natasha Richardson lately. She fell during ski lessons in Quebec, Canada and suffered from an epidural haematoma.

It’s a freakish occurrence that reminds us that the alpine sports we love so much carry with them an element of danger. It’s this danger that perhaps brings many of us back to the mountain again and again. For some it’s purely the adrenaline rush they crave so much and yet for others the draw is a deep emotional and spiritual connection with the activity (and of course, it’s also both of those things together). For the latter, the act of skillfully flirting with danger and then making it through gives immense satisfaction and a connection to life that’s unparalleled.

It’s that paradoxical feeling of excitement and peace all at the same time, when you stand before a steep, scary section and that calm voice of confidence says: “you’ve prepared for this moment and believe that you’ve minimized the probability of peril through a lifetime of preparation and laser focus in this moment. Now go charge this thing.”

It’s you who understands that all of life carries with it certain risks and that there is nothing worse than living in a cocoon, safe from all harm. You’d rather push the envelope, learn, grow, and live fully with zest and stoke than hesitate and bail.

There’s no question that we live our lives with higher than average danger, but if we use our intuition and knowledge, take sensible precautions like wearing beacons, helmets, and backprotectors, well then our chances of dying are about as high as the potential heart attack victim wasting away in front of the TV.

Only difference is, we’ve really lived.

Adios,
Stephan

- fellow shredder

KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (Feb. 28) – Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) came from third place after the first run to win a World Cup giant slalom Saturday in Slovenia. Ligety out-skied Switzerland’s Didier Cuche and Massimiliano Blardone of Italy, who were second and third, for the win.

The win makes it a back-to-back situation for Ligety, who also won in Kranjska Gora last year. In fact, the hill marks the place where Ligety truly burst into the racing elite. Longtime fans recall his Europa Cup slalom win on the Pokoren in 2004 following a pair of World Cups.

“This year has been tough, and to come to Kranjska Gora is always an awesome experience. It’s been such a good hill for me for so long,” Ligety said. “My coach set the second run and it was just how I like it. You know, I like those big sweeping turns. I had a couple of bobbles along the way, but I’m really happy.”

For Ligety, who is coming off a World Championship bronze medal, it’s the fourth win of his career and 15th time he’s been on a World Cup podium. Though the win keeps Ligety in third for the season’s discipline standings, Ligety said overcoming Cuche, who is 73 points ahead after Saturday’s race would be a tall order.

“I’m still a long way off. It’s going to be hard to make up so many points on Cuche. I’m happy with the day, but I’m not really figuring the red bib anymore,” Ligety said.

Austrian Benjamin Raich sits in second in the giant slalom standings, just 21 points behind Cuche, making the race even tighter.

“In Sestriere, at that point when I went out in the second, I knew the crystal globe chances were gone. It was pretty disappointing. Then I let that go. We had a couple of race to go. At least I wanted to come away happy,” Ligety said.

“After last week’s performance, to step up and win a race is amazing,” Men’s Alpine Head Coach Sasha Rearick said. “Cuche is skiing really hot, so to go out and catch him took a lot of effort and a lot of risk.”

Rearick said American coaches took the opportunity to set a course for Ligety that would give him the best shot at a win.

“We set the second run set really turny to try to give Ted an opportunity to shine at his skill, and he skied super.”

ISPO in Munich was hoppin’ yesterday (ISPO, in case you didn’t know is the International Sporting Goods Trade Show in Munich)! Sometimes it was impossible to scoot past people in the halways between the booths, it was that packed. Slytech/ Shred was no exception, filled with representatives from stores, distributors and the people like you and me who just simply use it. Anyway, if you’re in the neighborhood, stop by today, because at 10:30AM CET, we’ve got Olympic Golden Boy Ted Ligety signing autographs at the booth (A-118) and then at 4PM we’ve got YES snowboard legend Romain di Marchi stopping by to chit chat and sign autographs. You might want to come early to either session, because it’ll be packed.