STAND STRONG AGAIN LAUNCHED TO HELP INJURED SKIERS
While training at Mammoth in December of 2004, norwegian skier Lars Veen overshot a jump on a switch 720 and crashed. he felt a compression in his back and immediately lost feeling in his legs. Lars had fractured his spine and was left paralyzed from the chest down. Spurred by lars’ injury, the Stand Strong Again foundation was established as an organization dedicated to helping athletes who suffer spinal cord injuries. After winning the Ullr competition in Whistler in 2007, Grete Eliassen donated a portion of her $25,000 winnings to Stand Strong Again. “Lars Veen is one of my best friends,” says Grete eliassen of the fellow Scanner. “i grew up racing and skiing with him… that was my crew. donating to Stand Strong Again was a no brainer.”
TANNER HALL DOES A SWITCH 9 OVER CHAD’S GAP
Will any skier ever step up to Chad’s gap again? In 2005, Tanner Hall and crew set up the infamous gap to set a new standard for backcountry jumping. Coming into such a massive gap jump requires hours, even days, of digging and preparation. Coming into it switch requires even more. And that is exactly what
After stepping up to the gap with an insanely stylie switch 540, Tanner kicked things up a notch and stomped a switch 9. Sequences of the trick ran in magazines around the world, and movies dedicated unusual amounts of time to showing it from all different angles. The setup that became the talk of the year is also the setup that ended Tanner’s season early. After clearing the jump with the switch 5 and switch 9, Tanner stepped up to do it again, but the warm weather had slowed the inrun and he came up a mere couple feet short. The force of the impact was enough to break both of his ankles, and sideline him for several months.
With the advent of double flips coming into play, it is possible that someone will step up to Chad’s with two or more corks. But for all intents and purposes, Chad’s gap has been dominated for the foreseeable future by Tanner Hall’s switch 900.
THE JACKSON HOLE TRAM STARTS UP FOR THE LAST TIME
The famous red tram of Jackson that served over 4,000 vertical feet celebrated its last year in 2005. Fifty-two People maxed the capacity of the lift and it will be sorely missed by locals and tourists alike. The new tram is set to open in 2008 and will house over 100 ski and snowboarders in one trip.
OTHER EVENTS
• Reverse camber skis make a splash with Armada, K2 and 4FRNT, picking up where the Volant spatula left off
• Tanner Hall and Simon Dumont suffer career-threatening images, but return to the sport within a year to dominate.
