There's a lot we like about this one, including the term "recovering ski racer." Put together with a collection of some leftover footage and some new interviews, Jim Ryan hows us his vision for a career as a modern freeride ski mountaineer.

12/27/23 - This week’s stoke:

What we’re watching:

• Arianna Tricomi What if - Three-time FWT overall champion Arianna Tricomi kind of went dark last season. With a record dry winter across the Alps last year, there really wasn't much skiing to film without traveling halfway across the world. Instead Tricomi produced a short film What If..? that investigates her relationship with skiing and it's place in today's world.

• Sensus trailer from The Bunch - The Bunch never cease to amaze with their annual films, and their latest Sensus is a full-on trip to outer space. It won them Short Film of the year. Catch the trailer here, and buy the full film on their site.

The Beta:

• Little snow for most of the west, Alaska continues to get storms- Western British Columbia and the Cascades will receive some snow during this week with fairly high rain/snow lines, the Sierra will get some snow as well but a little less moisture from this storm. Another storm will impact both of those areas over the new years weekend with a few inches of snow expected. The inter-mountain west will only receive a dusting from these storms. Alaska should will get hit by a storm late this weekend tat should bring over a foot of snow into early next week

• Colorado gets a mini powder day for Christmas Eve - Colorado got a much needed surprise 6 inches of snow on the 24th. While 6 inch barely counts a powder day by last year standards given the current state of the forecast many skiers were pleasantly surprised.

Elevating the Craft:

• Sophia Schwartz Talks Purpose on the High Route Podcast - When pro mogul skier Sophia Schwartz moved to Jackson many years ago, she quickly fell in love with the mountains surrounding her and was compelled to transition her career to focus on expedition ski mountaineering. Spending that much time in the mountains is a recipe for lots of exposure to high-risk situations, and Sophia talks about her approach to seeking purpose every time she goes out.

Sidetracked:

• Colorado reintroduces 5 wolves the western slope - After voters approved a controversial bill a few years ago to reintroduce wolves in Colorado, the parks and wildlife service released 5 more wolves over the weekend bringing the total to 10. While many were in support of the plan, some ranchers and farmers had concerns that a wolf population may pose danger to their farm animals and house pets.

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