Going Big, Starting Small

Treble Cone is a mecca for a great many big mountain skiers (and 'wannabe' big mountain skiers). Our expert level terrain really is exceptional - exceptionally steep, exceptionally exposed and exceptionally challenging (the photo is of me dropping into Indicator Chute, a front-side run, a couple of weeks ago). In the Snow Sports School we constantly work to make sure that the public knows and understands that TC also is a terrific place for families and for beginner skiers and riders to learn and grow. In the hands of our instructors, the difficulty of our mountain and the jump in ability required for a student to move from our beginners' teaching area to the green runs up on the hill becomes far easier. We like to think that the result is that first time skiers learning at Treble Cone do not stay beginners for long.

The combination of these two traits - big mountain mecca and leading snow sports school - means that some of our instructors have some legitimately great big mountain "creds". One of our guys, my Kiwi friend and colleague Alex Lynden, has been competing in the New Zealand big mountain scene for several years, has a lot of results on his resume, and is a well-respected member of the NZ freeski community. Another of our Kiwi guys, my buddy Campbell Smith, is relatively new to the scene but brings great technical skill and a bright future. Both Alex and Campbell are also great instructors and are just as likely to be teaching beginners on the their first-ever day on snow as they are to be hucking themselves off of Treble Cone's many cliffs, switch. I like to brag about all of our staff to our guests while they wait for their lessons at line-up, particularly considering that most of our intructors - and it's certainly true of Alex and Campbell - would never do the boasting themselves to their students. All the guests know is that they've got this cool Kiwi instructor (or Austrian, Italian, British, American, Canadian, Czech, French, Swiss, etc.) who is excited to share their sport with them.

The video linked here is from the recent Black Diamond Big Mountain Competition at Temple Basin here on the South Island, part of the Chill Series of events. Alex Lynden is interviewed, there is some awesome footage of Campbell Smith going very, very big in the competition, and many of the other athletes featured regularly train at Treble Cone. Big mountain comps like this one are an increasingly important venue for the industry, whether it be among equipment manufacturers, resorts, apparel makers, film makers, or kids who simply want to show their stuff and who drive their families' consumer choices in the snow sports business. Alex and Campbell, and many other serious athletes devoted to big mountain skiing, provide a great example of how being cool, going big, and being on the edge is not antithetical to the idea of being a great, modern instructor. Ok, well, not at Treble Cone anyway. Way to go guys!

Black Diamond Big Mountain Event from Temple Basin from Richard Sutcliffe on Vimeo.