We try to post different skiers every week but this one from Nikolai Schirmer is just too good to not share. We all know Nikolai is an animal but it's sometimes hard to tell just how good he is at what he does. In this episode long time pro skier Mark Abma links up with Nikolai for some dogsled-accessed Norwegian skiing. Watching the difference between how the two ski this tight and twisty "Monster" couloir really demonstrate just how high of a level these two are skiing at.

12/12/23 - This week’s stoke:

What we’re watching:

• Freeride Skiing in Romania - Here’s another great off-the-beaten-path ski film. Loïc Isliker and Paul de Groot get a call from a Romanian mountain rescue worker offering to show them around his local mountain. On a whim they take him up on it and end up four wheeling up though snow mountain roads, taking old gondolas and ripping beautiful faces.

• Lost in Thought by Lucas Wachs - Oregon-based rider Lucas Wachs gathers all his friends to go sled skiing, ride pillows and hit big backcountry jumps in his latest short. It’s good old western pow riding at is finest and we are so here for it.

The Beta:

• Heads Up with Avalanche Conditions Out West - A skier was caught and partially buried in the Colorado's East Vail Chutes, a skier-triggered avalanche hit and closed a road in Wyoming's Teton Pass, and there's lots of reports of remote triggers from skin tracks in Utah such as this one.

• Powder Skiing in Europe - Austria and many other parts of the Alps are experiencing deep conditions right now, with riders enjoying powder turns in terrain that hasn't been skiable over the last few seasons. Arianna Tricomi shows off some of her favorite runs around Tyrol.

Elevating the Craft:

• Dynafit Releases a New Touring Binding - Dynafit released a new tech touring binding called the Ridge. It focuses on ease of use with easy step ins, easy heel rotation with a dedicated lever, and easy to use heel risers. While this binding won't compete in the ultralight touring catagory, at 410 grams it is lighter then their existing classic the Radical with many more features.

• Sidetracked:

• Jackson Hole sets Guinness World Record - JHMR had some early-season fun last Saturday, with 3114 skiers showing up to shred in jeans. That set a new Guiness World Record for most skiers riding together wearing denim. Might not look like much, but it's a testament that ski (and skid) culture is still alive and well in the Tetons.

  Thanks for reading and see you next week,
  Max Ritter and Andrey Shprengel