Top Five Fridays: August 16, 2024
Karl Fostvedt, bouncing his way to success on his brand new pro model: the K2 Reckoner KF 114. Learn more about the ski's creation below!Image: K2 Skis
#1: Vail Announces Season Openings for 11 Resorts, While Park City Announces New Early Season Terrain:
Along with an opening date of 11/22, it was also announced this week that Park City plans to open the Tombstone lift on, or shortly after, opening day. Image: Park City on Facebook
Hello, and welcome to Top Five Fridays, the August 16, 2024 edition! If you joined us last week, you know that things got particularly dense for a moment when we dove into the realm of taxes and fees on short term rental properties. Seeing as Jeff, Bob, and just about the entire SkiEssentials team have been working tirelessly these past couple of weeks compiling the content for our annual ski test I (Matt) have decided to take it a little easier on them this week, opting instead to serve up a round of nice, easy ski news. So, if you’re up for an easy read that’ll get you in the mood for ski season, congratulations, you’ve found yourself in the right place!
First up on our simple and fun highlight reel is a round of news coming to us courtesy of Vail Resorts, as the company has just announced the anticipated opening dates of eleven of its resorts. While ten of the eleven openings come with firm dates, Vail expects to get the season underway sometime in “mid-October” at Keystone, CO, pending early season conditions. From there, Colorado will continue to come online as Breckenridge is scheduled to open on 11/8, followed by Vail itself on 11/15. The following week, ski season really gets underway when Utah’s Park City, California’s Heavenly and Northstar Resorts, and British Columbia’s Whistler Blackcomb all fire up their lifts on 11/22. Five days later, on 11/27, it’s anticipated that Beaver Creek and Crested Butte will join the party in Colorado. Finally, on 12/6, Washington’s Steven’s Pass and California’s Kirkwood will also begin spinning their lifts.
Now, those are the straight facts from this week’s announcement, but there are of course a few additional considerations and announcements to be aware of. First of all, just because you don’t see your local Vail resort in the above list doesn’t mean that it won’t open prior to 12/6; it simply means that Vail hasn’t set the date yet. Here in Stowe for example, the resort is always open in time for Thanksgiving, meaning 11/27 at the latest. While we didn’t see our name on the list above, it doesn’t mean we’re panicking, it just means we have to continue waiting patiently to find out our opening date.
The other tangential announcement we caught this week that should be of particular interest to those calling Park City home, is the news that when the resort opens this year, it plans to do so in a much larger way. This summer, the resort has added snowmaking capabilities to a trail called Chicane, which would connect early season terrain to an additional chairlift, called Tombstone. While we don’t know the specific trails that would be open off of Tombstone, the bottom line here is that the resort hopes to expand from what was essentially just the Saddleback Express trails, into a second zone for the opening weekend. For a resort that’s known for its opening days crowds and congestion, this is pretty big news. To learn more about this announcement, check out the recap from the Salt Lake Tribune. To learn more about Vail’s announced opening dates, check out their press release here.
#2: Want to Ski For Free This Season? Go Earn a Pass by Cutting Grass For 12 Days at Mad River Glen:
Another benefit of joining the Mad River Glen mow crew? An entire winter’s worth of bragging rights. Image: Mad River Glen
Speaking of getting the season underway, we caught another “get ready for winter” type of highlight this week, as Mad River Glen has announced that recruitment is underway for its annual mow team. Now if you immediately find yourself asking, “is the mow team what i think it is?”, then the answer is, “yes, yes it is.” As a ski area that’s known to go about things differently, it should come as no surprise that Mad River Glen assembles a team of locals each September to mow the mountain by hand. To be clear, the mow team isn’t responsible for every trail, just the ones that are either too steep or rock laden for a traditional mower to safely handle.
So, how does it work? Well, should you sign up for this opportunity, you and anyone else who's crazy enough to join you will ascend each of Mad River’s steepest trails, side by side, swinging a provided scythe, chopping down the grass and weeds that have grown amongst all the nooks and crannies of the mountain. At the end of the day, typically around 3PM, you’ll be provided a ride down the chairlift where you’ll be able to relax, take in the views, and start daydreaming about the food and beverages you’re about to consume at the base area’s General Stark’s pub, should you choose.
As for what���s in it for you? Well, as a reward for your twelve days of effort, you’ll earn a season’s pass, for one. In addition to that, you’ll also be paid for your time while also making new friends along the way. In other words, the opportunity is this: if you’re feeling hearty enough, want to earn a free season pass, and get paid while doing it - all you have to do is help clear the grass from one of the rowdiest mountains in Vermont. If the offer sounds a little bit crazy, that’s because it is. But, it’s a brand of crazy that makes Mad River Glen one of the most fun mountains to ski at in the East. To learn more, check out the announcement on Mad River’s website.
#3: From 20 Prototypes Down to 1, Karl Fostvedt Shares His Experiences Designing the New K2 Reckoner KF 114:
Karl Fostvedt, laying it over on the new K2 Reckoner KF 114 this summer in Chile. Image: Karl Fostvedt on Instagram
Moving on from resort news, our next highlight takes us into the world of Karl Fostvedt, as he recently sat down with Freeskier.com to discuss the intricacies behind his new pro model ski, the K2 Reckoner KF 114. Before we get into that discussion though, let’s start by briefly reviewing Karl’s resume so that it’s clear why he deserves a promodel ski from K2 in the first place. After getting his start by appearing in early 4bi9 movies, Fostvedt quickly made the jump to “professional” films, produced by the likes of Poorboyz, TGR, and Matchstick productions. In the early part of the 2010’s, Fostvedt’s career was highlighted by accomplishments like winning the “Rookie of the Year” award at IF3 (the International Freeskiing Film Festival) in 2013, as well as the War of Rails contest in 2014. At that time, Fostvedt’s career was very park and urban skiing centric. Then, as tends to happen, Fostvedt grew to love backcountry skiing above all else and his accolades began to shift. In addition to being the man behind the always entertaining “Brap Ski” series, Fostvedt’s most recent claim to fame is being a two time winner of the Kings and Queens of Corbet’s contest. Now, after being a relevant name in the world of skiing for well over a decade, Fostvedt has a pro model ski with the first ski brand that he ever fell in love with: K2.
In his interview with Freeskier, we learn quite a bit about both what went into the ski, as well as Fostvedt’s extensive testing of it. Starting with the ski itself, Karl reportedly told K2 ski engineer Sean Fearon that he wanted a ski that resembled a trampoline. In the interview with Freeskier, Karl confirms this take, saying that he also pulled inspiration from professional skateboarders who ride with extremely loose trucks. Bringing that comparison into the world of skis, he says, “soft skis can be easier to ride for people who are less experienced, which is great, but the softness can also be a great tool for an advanced rider once you find the balance point.” Mix in another comment from Karl, saying, “these days I look for a ski that has a good rocker profile, is light and has a lively core,” and you can start to get a pretty good idea of the type of ski he was hoping to build. When all was said and done, the aim was to make a ski that’s playful, energetic, lightweight, and surfy. Fortunately for Fostvedt, K2 has plenty of experience making skis just like this, as their Reckoner line already embodies quite a few of these adjectives.
As ski nerds, the fun part of this story comes when Karl discusses the intricacies of the ski’s construction itself. Noting that the foundation of a ski is its shape, Karl wanted to increase the Reckoner’s maximum width by 2mm, bringing it to 114, while also adding plenty of rocker into the fold. Then, to accomplish the combination of “lightweight and energetic,” K2 gave the ski a soft flex pattern, combined with a ton of carbon. The result is just that: very light, and very energetic. Of course, building a new ski isn’t as simple as planning the materials, building a mold, and calling it a day. Rather, the team built roughly 20 versions of the concept before whittling it down to just five. Labeled as J1-J5, Fostvedt spent a considerable amount of time on each version before one singular experience made him fall in love with a specific model: the J2. As Fostvedt recalls it, the first time he skied the J2, he was skiing bowls at Sun Valley on a Powder Day. By the end of the day, the powder had turned to chopped up crud, at which point the skis came to life. Suddenly, Fostvedt found himself on the trampoline skis of his dreams, “double-bouncing” off every small bump on the trail. After that afternoon, Fostvedt knew he’d found the one. All in all, we found this interview with Karl share-worthy not only because we think he’s a skier worth highlighting, but also because we found reading about his experiences designing his own pro model ski to be fascinating. If that’s the kind of thing you also like to read about, we encourage you to give the interview a read in full over on Freeskier.com.
#4: Introducing B&E SKI: the Henrik Harlaut (Edollo) and Phil Casabon (B-dog) Video Game We Didn’t Know We Needed:
Finally, for our last highlight this week, we’ve got a pretty quick one, but one that’s also undeniably fun: someone is making a Henrik Harluat and Phil Casabon ski game, called B&E SKI. Most of you are likely familiar with these names, as they’ve been two of the most creative, talented freeskiers in the game for a long time now. Henrik Harlaut in particular has made quite a name for himself by combining competitive success with ridiculous outfits and reminders that “Wu Tang is for the Children.” It’s in no small part due to these eccentricities and ties to hip hop that Henrik has earned himself the nickname “Edollo”, as well as the animated characterization of a gremlin. For Phil Casabon, while being less eccentric as a human, his connections to hip-hop and longtime friendship with Harluat have earned him the nickname B-Dog, and the animated characterization as, you guessed it, a dog.
Now, in 2024, these characters are being adapted into an independently made video game called B&E SKI. In a preview video shared this week, the video game’s developer released gameplay footage in which players can seemingly explore open worlds, jumping and jibbing off natural features and subtly placed jumps. For those of you with experience in the ski video game world, the vibe we’re getting is something of a mix between Steep’s open world and terrain layout, combined with an elevated version of Shredsauce’s graphics and game physics. The best part of all though? Your character isn’t your typical skier - a human dressed from head to toe in Gore Tex, wearing a helmet and goggles. Nope, in this version of skiing, you appear to either have a choice between playing as B-Dog, who is a ninja-themed Basset Hound, or as Henrik Harluat (aka Edollo), who is a green gremlin wearing sunglasses with red mirror lenses. Like I said at the top of this week’s report, this week is all about having fun, and if playing a skiing video game as a ninja dog isn’t fun, well then, I don’t know what is. To learn more about this game and to check out additional footage, check out the video game’s YouTube channel.