It's wonderful to see Sarah Palin finally getting the media attention she deserves. Apparently some of that $150k the Republican Party spent in Minneapolis getting the former beauty queen dolled up for TV was spent buying Icebreaker tops from Midwest Mountaineering. In her Newsweek cover photo (originally shot for Runner's World) the unemployed former half-term governor of Alaska is wearing an Icebreaker top. Icebreaker responded with a fair and balanced blog post on the topic, seeing as how they likely don't want to alienate their conservative customers by bashing the woman Newsweek labeled as "Bad News for the GOP--and Everybody Else, Too." Say what you want about the moose slayer; I read everything I find about the lady. It's like reading the book Alive or learning about the Donner Party in middle school; it's unbearably difficult to read, but appeals to some dark nature that loves to see humans torn apart and eaten.
Holy crap. A tourism company out of England is running an actual Titanic Memorial Cruise that will commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the world's largest metaphor. There's been some critical response, but people who were teenagers when the blockbuster "Titanic" came out seem to think it's a wonderful idea. The trip will include a memorial service at the spot where the giant boat sank and then a stopover where survivors were dropped. It will conclude in New York City, where the Titanic was supposed to end up, but it likely won't pull into the pier where the boat was supposed to dock since it was converted into a driving range sometime in the past 100 years. Hopefully the boat becomes the 67th cruise this year to become stricken with an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness, and this cruise will be known historically as "The Titanic of Diarrhea."
Legendary skier and Jackson Hole local Doug Coombs was inducted into the Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. Coombs died three years ago while skiing near La Grave resort in France. He was trying to reach a friend who’d slid out of view when his skis couldn’t hold an edge on a rocks just beneath a dusting of snow. Both men died.
Coombs’ induction certainly isn’t a surprise. The man’s skiing accomplishments the world over are second to none. But let’s say you want to take a visit to the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. It must be located either in a bustling city or a suitable mountain town? Nope. The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame is tucked away in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the town Ishpeming, population 6,686. Why? Well, it’s claimed as the ‘birthplace of organized skiing’ in the United States, and the U.P. coalition was formed back in 1905, before common sense existed.
Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado wants to give something back to the community. Going forward, skiers who arrive at the hill with more than four people in their vehicle will be charged half-price for parking on weekends and will receive free parking weekdays. So you're telling me that Breckenridge actually charges to use their parking lot? This must be a Colorado move that helps cover the difference between their $400 season passes and the outrageous prices everyone else pays. Instead of charging at all they should offer the spots next to the slopeside bar to carpoolers while solo drivers and anyone in a vehicle that gets worse than 12mpg has to walk a mile in ski boots.
And why wouldn’t people in Breck want to carpool? Better hotboxing opportunities. Though the vote to legalize marijuana was largely symbolic (read: “meaningless”) you half expect the local police to take the hint and spend more time sleeping in their cruisers.
Employees of a few energy companies in Colorado had become fond of a big horn sheep that had peeled off its herd and made a home in De Beque Canyon. Local residents and employees of the energy company that use a road near the animal had taken to seeing it on a daily basis and shooting pictures of the animal. On October 30th, a person found the animal dead with a single shot to its neck. They contacted authorities who put the word out in the neighborhood to try to find the poacher. The energy company found out about the poaching and has offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who turns in or helps catch the poacher.
Man, energy companies are like the mob. The guy who shot and left this animal has a price on his head. We're so accustomed to hearing about energy companies screwing us over, and the one time they do something cool they're motivated only by their sense of vindictiveness. Anyone who can turn the poacher in can collect the cash through Colorado's Division of Wildlife.
I'm on the fence about the Helmet Flag (music link warning). I can't decide if it's the work of a laid-off web developer keeping his skills fresh by creating an outrageous parody website; or rather it's the work of a Utah family trying to keep their 15 kids safe. Either way, the Helmet Flag is insanely awesome. Short people could wear it at work when they have to walk around cubicle farms, and people who work on golf ball driving ranges could attach the flag to their helmet. It sells for $25 without a helmet attached. Cyclists who fear they'll look like a loser if they wear a helmet will likely have a seizure if they see someone wearing a Helmet Flag. Become the 25th fan on their Facebook page and be part of "the next Big Idea."
A recent study found that despite widespread attention to the importance of helmet use, not only has helmet use not gone up, but the severity of cycling injuries has greatly increased. The researchers looked at cyclists admitted to a trauma center in Denver over 11 years. During that time, the severity of injuries and the length of stay for rundown cyclists dramatically increased. The obvious answer is that more people are riding their bikes, which is great, but the bad news is that the cycling infrastructure can't handle all the new riders. Inexperienced people are getting on their bikes to be healthy and avoid oil wars, and more of them are getting run over.
The Freakonomics blog on NY Times ran a similar article that posed the questions, "Will Bicycling to Work Get you Killed?" They found that bikers are 12 times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than car drivers, but also that drivers have a 39% higher mortality rate. Basically, if you can survive the bike ride to work, you'll live a longer life.
Lance Mountain has been doing this for the last 30 years. The guy was an original member of the Bones Brigade, and here is still showing us how to rip it. He was also the inventor of fingerboards, making them out of cardboard, pencil erasers, and disassembled Hot Wheels toys (at least according to Wikipedia). The guy's badass, and this video's a good reminder why.
Instead
of blowing your wad on a week of being carted around Alaska in a
helicopter, just buy a snowmobile and get a full season of untracked
lines. It costs about the same, right? Shaun McKay and Pat McCarthy
show us the downside of snowmobile ownership in this video. You have to
head to Transworld to see the video since they won’t let us embed it here.
Can you blame it? A bear on ice skates attacked two Russian circus hands killing one before the other shot the 5-year-old animal. This is one of those victim-blaming situations I try to avoid. I understand there’s some cultural importance to ice skating bears in Russia, so I’ll only say that I’m sorry for the family of the man who died. I hope he loved working in the circus. The report says they’re not sure what made the animal snap. I’d recommend starting the investigation with the logic that you’re dealing with a bear on ice skates. It’s also sad that the bear didn’t live to hear the news that the Obama administration has set aside 20,000 square miles of land for his kind in Alaska. That bear would have had plenty of room to skate around during its retirement.
