SIA.08 - Part 2

More from Vegas...

The Bonfire catwalk.

The Block girls shared some Bloody Mary shots to get the day started.

Product testing with the some young guns.

Welcome amigos, and bikini babes, to the end of the work day and ping pong at The Yard.

DJ Muggs spinning at The Yard.

Ski Bunny, taking over the dance floor (PG edit).

Apres courtesy of the Spyder truck. Thanks Bucky!

SIA.08 - Part 1

SIA is such a continuous party, it's hard to say how many times we'll report from Las Vegas. But here goes...

Luxor Sphinx, taken from the tram on the way to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center (yes, even Vegas has a Tram, just not the aerial kind)

Ironically I met Tory, who designs the "Narrow Ass Snowboard" (skis) for Lib Tech over the weekend in Montana. Here's Liberty Skis taking it the other direction with the BFF. At first glance I thought they were carve (snow) boards.

5pm roles around at SIA and people start doing crazy things. Shane McConkey is never one to shy away from a little publicity. Here he revs up the K2 Chopper.

McConkey has an incredible "07" role in the latest Matchstick ski movie, Seven Sunny Days. Watch the a short preview of the trailer below or download our media player to watch the whole trailer full screen, DVD quality.



The E408 Turbine booth had the last keg of beer within a 10 booth radius, so that's where we made our last (keg) stand on the trade show floor. Thanks girls!

Jason from Delta9 Clothing, one of our advertisers, with Liko Smith, owner of The Block Hotels. Notice Like rockin' the Delta9 hat. Liko told us they are set to announce the newest Block Hotel as early as this Friday.

Our own Mike D, Jason from Delta9, Rocky from The Go Big Project, and Liko from The Block. All from Tahoe. I felt like a distinct minority with my Utah roots.

Jay from Smokin with the new Paparazzi board.

The official SIA 08 Opening Night Party was at the House of Blues right there in the Mandalay Bay Casino adjacent to the Convention Center. Started off slow but by the end the DJ was spinning some classics and the dance floor was packed. Sorry no pics, apparently "TV" doesn't count as "media."

The Sphinx, even cooler at night.

From here we ditched our bags and cameras at the hotel and headed out on the town. The girls from E408 Turbine invited us to the Betty Rides party at Blush in the Wynn Casino. This place puts every other club in Vegas to shame, at least the ones I've been in. We were sorely underdressed but managed to get in and enjoy the scenery. And a good night was had by all.

Schralping the Wasatch

X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival and the Outdoor Retailer Winter trade show overlapped this year. Separated by a mere two city blocks, it made for a couple hectic days. But it was also a great opportunity to get three of our sponsored filmmakers together. Voleurz was in town for X-Dance, where they wound up winning the Short Film Festival with Fishbowl. Meanwhile, both KGB Productions and Thrillhead Creations got into town Wednesday night for OR.

We attended the X-Dance Filmmaker Institute Forum, then adjourned to the Brewery for our own "forum" over great food and even better beer. After getting our fill we high-tailed it to the X-Dance Awards Party, arriving just in time for Jan from Voleurz to accept his award.


The next day we were all at OR meeting with our respective sponsors and advertisers. Jake from Numa Tactical shows off his display of sunglasses and shows us how every day ends at the show.


But enough about eating, drinking, and partying. A full day working the floor of OR wasn't about to keep Ellis Smith from Thrillhead and myself from getting after some epic powder in Utah's Wasatch Range. We met up with four locals and rallied up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Ascending the ridge across from Alta to the sound of avy control bombs going off, we were rewarded with some of the best pow turns of our lives in Silver Fork.


Ellis is a sideways shredder, attacking both uphill and downhill on his preferred weapon of choice, the venerable splitboard. Check out Thrillhead's films Schralptown and Return to Schralptown to see more of these Coloradians.

X-Dance - Final Day & Awards Party

More films, a Filmmakers' Institute Panel, dinner with nossaTV sponsored filmmakers KGB Productions, Thrillhead Creations, and Voleurz, and the X-Dance Awards Ceremony at The Depot. Words can't really describe. So here's some photos:

X-Dance Ice scupture

Jan Schuster from Voleurz accepting the award for "Best Short"

Bra Boys on stage accepting their award

Jan furiously texting all his friends

Jan with proud parent, Don

Tony Hawk accepting his award as "Action Sports Athlete of the Year"

Making use of the ice sculpture

Mako Urabe (X Games Gold Medalist and X-Dance presenter) Jan Schuster of Voleurz, Rocky Romano of The Go Big Project, and Johnny DeCesare of Poor Boyz Productions

X-Dance Day 4 - The Go Big Party

The Go Big Project is a magazine style action sports show hosted by top action sports athletes. A wide world of sports for Generation X, the Project will span the globe reporting on the wild world of action sports. The Go Big Project will focus on professional athletes, competition, music and culture.



The Go Big Project was at X-Dance for all the films and parties. They interviewed the athletes, kicked it with the Bra Boys and put back a few with the X-Dance crew.


On Day 4 of X-Dance, The Go Big Project went huge. They rocked into town during the middle of Sundance and X-Dance, found a venue, found some talent, and threw a party for the ages. All on the heels of three straight nights of the Bra Boys, Tara Dakides, and Tony Hawk parties. Look for more big things from these guys and gals out of Tahoe!

Harrison from The Project filming on stage at The Go Big Party

Outdoor Retailer Backcountry Base Camp

Taking a break from the action at X-Dance, nossaTV headed up to Snowbasin to catch up with some of the local athletes and film crews. An epic day of powder skiing followed. While the retailers stayed close to the demos at the bottom of the mountain, we got after it. Josh Madsen from Lipstick Films was there doing his best to represent Rossignol. The trailer for Since We Last Spoke is below, or you can check it out on nossaTV. I also bumped into Zack Houston, who told me they are working on a new film for Tough Guy Productions after a one year drought.

X-Dance Day 3 - 199 Lives

Picking up where Bra Boys and Against the Grain left off, 199 Lives is a documentary that explores the life of action sports phenomenon Travis Pastrana. At the age of 22, Travis has become a living legend as a motocross racer, FMX rider, action sports hero, film maker, and rally car driver.

Some other top notch films opened the "12 noon to 10 pm" action.

Why, directed by Taylor Congdon, is a Transworld MX film by The Assignment "juxtaposing the rider's intense talents on their bikes with their own unique personalities off" with plenty of quotes from Greek philosophers.

The sixth and final short film followed. Autumn Dream, by Jenny and Brenton Gregory from the Wavestone Group, is a "mystical immersion into one surfer's dream of private gentle waves."



New Emissions of Light and Sound is a ideal description for the next film. Directed by Joe G and George Manzanilla, this film by Globe Entertainment features the music of world-famous DJ Sasha. "Sit back, relax, and open your mind..."

Lost & Found brought us back to the snow. The annual epic from Teton Gravity Research ends with one of the most intense big mountain snowboard scenes ever, as Jeremy Jones slays Alaskan peak after Alaskan peak in a dance with the devil. You have to see it to understand! Check out the trailer below or on nossaTV.



Source was a movie that I was truly looking forward to. Directed by Rush Sturges, and Produced by Brooks Baldwin and Marlow Long, all of Young Gun Productions, this movie did not disappoint. Traveling all over the world to document the most intense whitewater kayaking and waterfall descents, they even find time to call attention to endangered rivers. We hope to add the YGP's videos to the stable on nossaTV very soon.

The Windsurfing Movie is the much anticipated film from Johnny DeCesare of Poor Boyz Productions. Breaking from his ski movie heritage, DeCesare teams up with Jace Panebianco and Levi Siver to document the resurgence of windsurfing. Featuring an incredible musical score with music from The Rolling Stones, it has been called "the definitive film on the history of the sport."

An absolutely packed house greeted Travis Pastrana for his second film of X-Dance, 199 Lives. The show was sold out earlier in the day, and that meant standing room only, even on the balcony. Godfrey Entertainment delivered with one of the most memorable films in the history action sports. If you missed it, go see it soon, you be glad you did!

X-Dance Day 2 - Against the Grain

Against the Grain is the Tara Dakides documentary. This was the world premiere, and once again an amazing must-see movie to cap off another great day at X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival.

Yours truly missed some of the early movies while out getting some turns in the famous Utah backcountry, then guest coaching with a local youth telemark "tribe." Fortunately I'd already seen Optimistic, but if you haven't you can get a taste of the action on nossaTV or by right here:



Returning to the Off Broadway Theater in downtown Salt Lake, there was no way I was going to miss the latest ski porn from Matchstick, Seven Sunny Days. Watch below or head to nossaTV to download our player and watch the whole trailer full screen.



After that it was Driven, the first of two films in X-Dance about Travis Pastrana, the "world's best Freestyle Motocross Rider" and but really "an average person that just does extraordinary things." Driven focuses on Pastrana's recent foray into the world of Rally.

Three more entries in the Short Film Festival also premiered today:

Tide, by Colin Jones - A skimboarding movie:



Find My Way, by Mark Hannah and Remi Drozd - A surf movie about "leaving the ordinary for the unknown path."



Skater Made, by Bart Saric and featuring his son, and asking the simple question: "When is it too early start skateboarding."



Last by certainly not least, Against the Grain - The Tara Dakides Documentary. Directed and produced by Josh Landan, narrated by "Pink," and staring one of snowboarding's most celebrated athletes, Tara Dakides. This movie provides a revealing and deeply personal look at Dakide's most devasting moments (and there are many of them) and her bigger triumphs (just as many if not more). Like Bra Boys the night before, this movie was a truly heart-wrenching story about an action sports star. A must see this winter.

Brian Wimmer of X-Dance, Josh Landan, and Tara Dakides on stage

X-Dance Day 1 - Bra Boys Throw Down

nossaTV Action Sports Video is here in Salt Lake City sponsoring the X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival. The "Academy Awards of action sports" runs concurrent with Sundance Film Festival. X-Dance outgrew its digs on Main Street of Park City, moving to the Off Broadway Theater in downtown Salt Lake. The Aussie surf documentary Bra Boys capped off the first day of world class films, with special guest appearances by producer Sal Masekela and director Sunny Abberton, and a kickin' after party at The Broadway Bistro.

The first day of X-Dance mixed wake, mountain bike, snowboard, and skateboarding videos. Here's just a few:

Push Process is Justin Stephens, Oakley, and 1242 Productions' latest HD action sports film, showcasing the progression of wakeboarding and wakeskating through a travelogue of the world's best riders.

Justin Stephens, Pat McIlvain, Matty Swanson

Sliding Liberia follows four young surfers to Liberia in search of more than perfect waves. Risking everything to explore the West African country devastated by decades of war, they record the stories of people they meet -- people like Alfred, who became Liberia's first surfer after finding a bodyboard while fleeing from rebels.

Britton Caillouette with X-Dance Director Brian Wimmer

Alterna Films shakes Apples & Oranges out of the tree, bringing you a film about the crew of international riders brought together for the same mission: to bring their individual talents to the big screen.

Carlo Wein of Alterna

Headlining the evening was Bra Boys. Directed by eldest Bra Boy Sunny Abberton, this film is about the cultural evolution of the inner-Sydney beachside suburb of Maroubra and the social struggle of its youth - the tattooed and much maligned surf community known as the Bra Boys. Narrated by Australia actor Russell Crowe, the film was produced by Berkela Films (Jason Bergh and Sal Masekela) among others, and has recently been picked up by Universal.

Brian Wimmer of X-Dance, Bra Boys, Jason Bergh, and Sal Masekela

Also playing were two of the six videos in the Short Film Festival sponsored and powered by nossaTV.

First up was Fishbowl by Voleurz. These crazy canucks impressed with their underwater, skateboarding film...



Later on we got to see Another Day in LA...

Go to the X-Dance Channel on nossaTV to view and rate these films.

X-Dance Update

01.17.08 // Snowboarder extraordinaire Tara Dakides just got into town and Travis Pastrana is here filming with his crew. Members of the Aussie surf tribe called the "Bra Boys" will descend upon Park city on Friday. Their film "Bra Boys" will kick off the festival Saturday night followed by a party with DJ Trouble. If you're not at X-Dance, where the hell are ya?

Via X-Dance News

The Beating Results

The Beating Film Festival and nossaTV Action Sports Video have announced the winners of this year's festival. With the exception of the viewers choice and overall awards, these awards were created by the judges at the festival to best reflect the "undiscovered talent" of the contestants.

Hand Cut - Las Lenas by Nick Waggoner of Sweetgrass Productions was the runaway winner of the Viewer's Choice Award held on nossaTV, and also took home the judge's Best Inspiration award.


Dear Silverton, Love Aspen from Mike Cuseo easily won the Best Pillow Lines award.

A Film By Matt Mulligan of Shadow Puppet Productions took home the Best Nutter award.

Furthermore, by Jason Ebelheiser and the San Juan Pirates, earned Best Edit.

SASS 2007 by Skylar Holgate of South America Snow Sessions won Best Method.

Black Magic by Drew Lederer of Fatman Productions was the overall runner up.

Finally, There's Always Something, a seemless integration of "big mountain skiing on Red (Mountain) and jibb'n at the terrain park," by George Knowles won both Most Original award and the Overall competition.

A snowboarder, Knowles takes home a pair of K2 Pontoons. While he was overheard musing about a possible switch to the dark side, one has to wonder if a single Pontoon, with a 130mm waist, might work as a snowboard. Knowles also earns a tour of Studio411 in Los Angeles, a career accelerator if there ever was one.

The 2nd annual version of The Beating attracted a standing room only crowd at the Miner Theater in Silverton. It was an appropriate kick-off to the weekend, as the San Juans were in the path of the major winter storm pounding the Western U.S. A couple feet of fresh welcomed powder hounds at Silverton Mountain on Saturday morning, and it kept coming down all day.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature also caused a premature end to the weekend's powder festivities. A massive natural avalanche covered the road to the mountain on Sunday, leaving a reported 15 feet of avalanche debris. Best guesses in town put the overnight snowfall at 2-1/2 more feet of fresh snow at the base of Silverton. The storm also closed Red Mountain, Molas, and Cole Bank Passes effectively isolating the town of Silverton from access to the outside world. Stranded shred-heads were forced to survive on the 200 feet of vertical at Kendal Mountain in town. Silverton expects to be open for business on Thursday, and you can bet it will be all-time conditions!

The X-Dance Short Film Festival

Voting Starts Today on nossaTV for Action Sports Films

January 4, 2007 - It's a new year and a new twist on the X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival. The voting for the Short Film Festival kicks off today on nossaTV, as five carefully selected filmmakers and their short films will compete for the ultimate big break, a fully paid trip to Los Angeles and a full slate of meetings with the movers and shakers of the film industry.

"X-Dance is the centerpiece of actions sports filmmaking,"

says Constantine Papanicolaou, winner of the 2006 X-Dance Short Film Festival, who won meetings with action sports industry players and a tour of Studio 411. His meetings resulted in financial backing to film Show and Prove featuring Tanner Hall and CR Johnson.

Voting for the best video will take place from now until January 22nd. Fans can learn more about the X-Dance Short Film Festival on the festival page. In order to vote, viewers must first login or create an account on nossaTV. Then head over to the X-Dance 2008 channel and "rate" each film from one (lowest) to five stars (highest) in overall impression. It won't take long to watch and rate the five videos, and help a deserving filmmaker take the next step in their career!

Competing filmmakers are encouraged to embed the nossaTV flash preview player on their own sites to generate interest and a link to nossaTV where their fans can vote.

The grand prize winner will be announced January 23rd along with the feature-length winners at the X-Dance Closing Party at The Depot in downtown Salt Lake City.



ABOUT X-DANCE

For one insane week each winter, the world's top action sport filmmakers and athletes, along with cutting-edge bands and DJs and key figures from the entertainment industry, gather in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, to celebrate action sports culture at the annual X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival. Launched in 2001 and coinciding each year with the Sundance Film Festival, X-Dance showcases the year's top action sport films, followed by post-screening Q&A's with filmmakers and athletes. X-Dance also features open forum panels with athletes, filmmakers, industry figures and icons from the action sports world, plus special screenings, privately sponsored parties and a legendary Closing Party / Awards Ceremony. With roots in both the core industry as well as the mainstream, no other event on earth harnesses the creative energy of adrenaline culture and brings it together under one roof like the X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival.

Let The Beating Continue

Voting for The Beating has been extended to go through the actual screenings at Silverton tomorrow night. If you're attending the event, you can vote right there at the festival. Or if you're a slacker and just haven't got around to it, you have until tomorrow.