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The Man Skis The Forbidden

Where will the bar be raised? Can it be raised much higher? How much bigger can you go without the use of fossil fuels?

If you have not had a chance to check out any of the seasons ski films, then prepare to have your mind blown away. The sport has yet again been taken to a place that only pubescent kids with Mom and Dad’s health insurance would dream of taking it. While it is incredible to watch, where is the reward? I am reluctant to ask a leader of the progression such as Tanner Hall, who in pursuit of his career broke both his legs this past spring how he feels about it. However, I also ask myself, where is the attrition rate and how do we make room for new legends in a sport where the legends themselves are not ready to step off the pedestal or mythical podium of glory? Therefore, the kids of tomorrow are risking everything to fall in the shadows of heros not ready to take a seat.

In my career I have been shadowed by many, and for good reason, but I felt there was a gap in the generations of progression. With the heros of yesterday remaining strong, but not enough change to create change, guys like Glen Plake, Seth Morrison, JP Auclair, as well as others have been leading this sport in their respective positions for years now. Glen went from zero to hero in the days of skiing’s greatness and as a result earned himself the self appointed title of “Spokesman of the Ski Industry” to which I see no better fit. Seth, well, he is just Seth and incredible at what he has been doing year after year while progressing the art of Big Mountain skiing; yet even “The Seth” he has hit a wall of innovation that generationally would be imprudent for him to compete with. PJ Auclair has been an innovator from the start, by inventing new tricks, new ways of skiing, and setting the bar high in every aspect of the sport that he participated while remaining strong and still innovating years longer then the others of his generation like JF Cusson, Vinnie Dorion, Mike Douglas and Shane Szocs, who along with JP collectively comprised the “New Canadian Air Force.” However, while the others have fallen into their perspective industry positions, be it announcing for events, a professional golf career, or company representative; JP has comfortably found his spot in the industry by inventing new ski designs and staying involved in other ways through companies and film while perceptibly knowing when to keep has ass on the preverbal bus while the younger kids play.
Needless to say the sport is constantly changing and this year more then the past I saw it go to a point that I have come to the conclusion that I am a spectator of greatness. It is obvious that the use of gymnastics and growing up skiing perfectly manicured parks is to this generations advantage if that is the kind of skiing you are trying to perfect. Stars of the past have had to invent their style from a background in racing or freestyle, which I can exclaim from experience is a difficult transition and almost impossible to break certain habits. Personally I used to hit the half pipe in my GS suit and slalom skis on my way to training because it was new back then. Now, there are schools you can go to that focus on just that. I remember the first twin-tip skis I had and how innovative they were. I remember the Pocket Rocket and how unprecedented it was as a “fat” ski at 90mm at the waste. Today the sport has taken a new direction as kids are growing up watching a different sport and learning from the start what the heros of today have taken a lifetime to create.

MSP’s “Ski Movie I,” and “Global Storming” or Greg Stump’s “Blizzard of AAHHH’s” were the flicks I tried to emulate as a kid, but now the impression kids are getting is on a completely different level and the progression is sure to continue. With facilities like the Woodward center in Copper and other similar air sense training facilities pooping up all over the country, the progression is sure to be mind blowing as well. At the same time I just hope the kids are doing it for the same reasons as the mentors of the past. Skiing is a sport and a game at the same time. It is a sport for the athletic prowess it requires, but it is a game, because it can not be take too seriously if approached with the wrong attitude. If you are lucky enough to be on skis there is nothing serious about it.
Have fun and let it snow.

Well, where do I start? The summer came upon me rather quickly this year, and has hit me in the reality face hard. After getting hurt this season and missing a few months of the skiable winter, I feel like the season passed me by before I was able to find a groove and really accomplish anything I set out to do. When I was healthy at the beginning of the season I was plagued by issues ranging from weather, conditions, family obligations, work issues, and just plain life challenges. However, I am not different the any other person, so I had to take the battles as they came and keep my nose to the wind.

So, to make a long story short, the summer came and I had to make some decisions. Now that it is towards the end of the summer I am realizing how badly I have neglected the sweetness of tysonbolduc.com. Rather inane I know, but in the midst of the hectic winter and having to take life as it came at me, I decided to start something new this summer. Therefore, instead of using gravity as a counterpart to my activities, as I have my whole life, I am now studying to tame it and harness it. Back in May I started flight school and have been learning how to fly helicopters for the last few months. It has been a feat far more difficult then I anticipated, in every stretch of the imagination, but I am loving every time consuming minute. The process has been interesting as finding a school, learning the process to get in the FAA’s program, taking class, learning the whole new language of flight and radio jabber, and most of all learning how to play with gravity and not die have all been a full time job. It has been an exciting few months, but given the difficulties I have been faced with I apologize for my lack of posting and knowledge tossing here on the page.

However, keep in touch as the fall will be filled with product reviews and preparations for the winter and I hope to do my part. Deals from backcountry.com will be posted directly on this page so stay tuned. Otherwise, enjoy the last few weeks of summer and keep your eyes to the sky, because I could be flying over you.

~Tyson

On a recent trip out to the wild-wild-mid-west, I had the opportunity to take in a spectacle know as the Indy 500. I hesitate to call this a sporting event, as the term sport to me would have to exhibit direct human functionality or individual effort. However, am not trying to say there is no athletic ability involved with driving a car at that level, but I just fail to see the benefit in spending millions of dollars and wasting precious resources while polluting the earth on many levels just to drive around in circles. But,,, that may just be the hippie in me.

However, having attended the event, with approximately 300,000 of my closest friends, it was quite the experience to say the least. Just imagine the largest amount of people you have ever seen, all hammered, with a mean education of around the ninth grade all watching toys go around in circles. Additionally, not only are these toys really really expensive and fast, but the people with mullets and handle bar mustaches live solely for this day. The combination not only creates the most tense energy alcoholic brethren-hood, but it is nothing short of spectacular.

The people watching was comparable to standing in front of a Sam’s Club on black Friday, however the vibes were slightly more exhilarating and intoxicated. As a guy who grew up in Vail Colorado, I felt right at home in the white sea of un-diversity, but I felt safe because everyone was flabbergasted or elated. Aside from the one ignorant group who thought it was okay to run off with our cooler of beer, and when I say run I mean take it fifty yards away and drink out of it; the event was rather innocuous. We frolicked around the infield of the massive track, socially/binge drinking out of the coolers we carried with us, interacting with the crowed of pandemonium. We saw every Dale, Joe, and Sally, and all their cousins, who had come out of the wood-work to experience the event they had clearly been planning since last year. People set up camp for days before the race. RV’s for miles surrounded the track and people had come prepared with everything you could imagine from grills, to bathtubs, to personal lit up stages for nightly entertainment. To make things more interesting this is all taking place in a state that promotes the use of fireworks. There was explosions all over the place going off every few minutes and loud enough to send veterans into flashbacks. Enough to scare you if you were not paying attention, but scarier knowing the people lighting them had been drinking for days too.

None-the-les, like any event there is a high and a low. Winning or loosing in this event is no matter, in fact I bet half the people walking out of that place couldn’t have told you who won, but the experience and energy that is shared created a unique camaraderie. For me a one-time thing, but forever something I can say I have done. Plus, having never watched the whole race before, I now know that the race is really only 200 laps, not 500.

There are a few of us out there that are panicking for reasons other then Swine Flu. A risible situation that if you click the link below you will see that it is NOT the first time it has been considered a “pandemic” in the US given that this video is from the 1970’s.