ORANGE EXTREME: March 2013

Orange Extreme has been on tour interviewing snowboard athletes for two open positions on the Orange Extreme Snowboard Team. Our stops: Aspen, Beaver Creek, Salt Lake City, Lake Tahoe, Mammoth, and the Alps-Tirol. Interested candidates can contact us via ORANGEXTREME.COM. The riding interview consists of a ski resort day, a backcountry day, and a meeting over coffee and beer with review of riding resume and professional goals.

Orange Extreme Winter 2012-2013

En route from Aspen to Tahoe, we stopped in Grand Junction to meet with Jess Rigg of LOKI Gear. In addition to supporting Orange Extreme, LOKI sponsors Kaelin Bamford, who is currently recovering from shoulder surgery. Kaelin drove to Alaska last season and spent many months in Valdez, where he celebrated his birthday and worked successfully for Big Mountain Taxi, shuttling riders for backcountry runs on his snowmobile at Thompson Pass.

Kaelin rips glaciers at Tailgate Alaska. Photo courtesy of Justin Befu

Both Petes – Peter Hunter from Golden and John Peyton Hunter from Aspen – have been spending weekends out on sleds looking for pow in the Colorado backcountry, in areas around Aspen and Steamboat. That is, until front range Pete wrecked himself snowboarding, taking a knee to the face and fracturing his orbit. He is recovering from the fracture and symptoms of a concussion.

Pete and Onna in the sled & board lair

Steamboat backcountry has been deep, but the base in Colorado was severely compromised all winter due to early unstable layers. Avalanche danger is currently reported as moderate across both zones according to CAIC, refer to their website for details. However, low probability, high consequence deep persistent slab avalanches are still a concern across the Steamboat and Aspen zones. Colorado backcountry riders: check weather and snow conditions daily, as well as CAIC updates.

Large Avalanche, Aspen Zone ~ Independence Pass March 14, 2013

Tyler Dewitt is heading to Valdez Alaska to help out with Tailgate Alaska and compete in the Flow World Freeride Championships. This will be his third year in a row in the competition.

Tyler Dewitt competing at the King of the Hill ~Valdez, AK

As we have a number of team riders and friends recovering from injuries, we would like to mention athlete safety. Undoubtedly extreme sports carry a risk of injury. Going big coupled with risks inherent to backcountry travel and riding warrant careful planning and a preventive strategy. Our motto has always been 'Live to Ride Another Day', a mantra which we share with AAIC – Alaska Avalanche Information Center, directed by Sean Wisner.

A few things to keep in mind: never leap without looking. Landings must be inspected, with consideration given for underlying terrain, ice, snowpack levels and unanticipated hidden obstacles. Poke around your landing and make sure it is clear before you go huck yourself. Riding with articulated hard shell knee and elbow pads in gladed or rocky terrain is highly recommended. Patellar and olecranon fractures can be easily prevented. We need our knees and elbows ladies and gentleman! A snowboarder with bad knees is a hurtin’ unit.

Regarding head injuries, if you do take a melon hit and sustain a concussion, you must avoid impact sports until all symptoms of the concussion are resolved. Taking another hit to the head after the initial injury carries risk of Second Impact Syndrome, in which a second head injury following a concussion causes rapid and fatal brain swelling. This occurs if an athlete returns to sports too soon, before the symptoms of the first concussion have resolved. It can happen days to weeks after the initial concussion, and can occur even if the second head injury is minor.