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Nike’s All Conditions Gear

promotes its return to the U.S.

snow apparel market this winter

with Sweetspots, a series of videoshorts featuring European pros like

Andreas Hatveit, Sverre Liliequist,

and Gary Zebrowski. Nike invites

amateur skiers, riders, and filmmak-

ers to submit their own videos too.

Every winner gets a shot at filming

his own official Sweetspot video

next year. But just because the

three-minute films feature skiers

doesn’t mean they feature snow.

The latest clip follows Robin Kaleta

down a nasty chute in Slovakia, and

then cuts to Tomas Kraus trac-

ing the same line in the summer,wrecked bases and all. “It all started

as a kind of challenge between

me and Kaleta,” says Kraus. But,

warns Kraus, “I’d never recommend

anyone try that line in the summer.” 

[nikeacg.com]  —MATT CRANE

ROCK SKIS

NO SNOW?NO PROBLEM.

buzz

BUZZ INDEX: WHAT’S HOT (AND NOT) THIS MONTHHOT

SCOTT JAKE GOGGLESJake Pearlstein, age 16, won an online contest to designthese megabright Alias goggles. [$100; scottusa.com]

SNOW GUARANTEESResortQuest’s Snow Guarantee program lets yourebook your hotel reservation if your destination is bone

dry. If only airlines were so forgiving. [snowguarantee.com]

SQUALLYWOOD CLINICSRobb Gaffney runs his Squallywood Clinic on March 8, giving youinsights into the ski-film biz while showing you Squaw Valley’sbest terrain. [$499; squallywoodthebook.com]

    C

    L    O    C    K    W    I    S    E    F    R    O    M    T    O    P   :    B    O    H    U    M    I    L    P    O    S    P    S    I    L    L ,

    C    O    U    R    T    E    S    Y    O    F    N    I    N    T    E    N    D    O    /

    J    A    P    A    N ,

    C    O    U    R    T    E    S    Y    O    F    S    K    I    S    P    A    C    E ,

    N    I    A    L    L    B    O    U    Z    O    N

Junior Woodchuck

n. [Origin: the

Boy Scouts of

America–esque

organization from

Disney’s Duck Tales 

cartoon]: A begin-

ner or intermedi-

ate skier allowed

to tag along with

a group of better

skiers. Example:

Silverton is a big-

boy mountain—no

Junior Woodchucks.

Submitted by Kaya

McLaren, Cle Elum,

Washington.

Hear something

funny? Send us your

slang at editor@

skiingmag.com.

TECH

Wii SKIAfter getting our butts handed to us playing the excessively difficult

SSX Blur ($30; easports.com) for Nintendo’s get-up-and-do-it Wiiconsole, we were psyched for another ski game, Namco Games’

Family Ski, released in Japan this fall. That is, until we found out

that game play essentially equates to virtual poling. Players gain

speed by using the motion-sensing Wiimote to simulate ski poles

and maintain balance by staying low to the ground. But there is

reason for hope: In April, Nintendo releases a balance-board acces-

sory—part of a WiiFit bundle that provides a full workout through

simulated sports like soccer, yoga, and ski jumping—which may

make ski simulators more lifelike. If, of course, game developers

realize there’s more to skiing than pushing across traverses.

[wii.nintendo.com] —JONATHAN RITZMAN

NOT

SKI SPACESA slew of online ski communities is cropping up, includingSkiSpace.com, founded by Bode Miller, and the Loop’dNetwork (loopd.com), which helps emerging skiers getsponsored. Lonely “girls” hawking Macy’s gift cards, rejoice.

SELF-WAXING SKISDeveloped by the UK’s Wildfire Snowsports, these de-vices apply wax while you ski. Pardon our skepticism. [shef.ac.uk]

GLOBAL WARMINGTechnically it’s “hot,” but it still sucks. [myspace.com/skiersagainstglobalwarming]

The hottest new

trick in Slovakia?

Air to rock.

Skier: Tomas Kraus

W W W . S K I N E T . C O M FEBRUARY/MARCH 2008  skiing  25