High pressure is a wonderful thing in Gulmarg. The mountains really turn on their charm. The last week has been blue everyday and we made the most of it by venturing away from the resort into the high country where the crowds are thinner than the air.

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So, where have we been? Good question. We have been stranded offline. Apocalyptic storms have had the power on again off again. The internet is its usual self, meaning I am online now, but might be by the end of this post. And them we have been busy skiing pow and working hard.

To elaborate a little, working hard has entailed camping out under a million stars, actually make that a billion, getting up early and sending Colin, Forrest and Pete on their merry way to ski incredible lines while Will and I stamp our feet in camp trying to keep warm until the sun comes up.

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b4apres Media's debut film is a cultural documentary as seen through the eyes of skiers. We will travel into the mountains surrounding the Gulmarg Ski Resort, Kashmir in order to capture the aesthetic beauty of the landscape and the livelihoods of a people eager to dispel the stigma that Kashmir is a dangerous place to travel.

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With 10 days to go, Whistler had already received more snow than any other month on record. A whooping 5 plus meters and over 350 cm in a seven day period. Skiers and snowboarders were loosing their minds. Whistler Blackcomb opened early unleashing the masses on the Mecca.

Meanwhile, we ventured into a small hut in the Purcell Range, the last stop when headed east before the Rockies. It was cold, only we four and oh so deep. Check the video inside.

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This was our last day skiing at Gulmarg this year. The conditions weren't especially inspiring, but the need to get out and get some blood pumping proved enough to get us onto the gondola. Hiking and traversing to this zone inspired even less inspiration than that which could be seen from the hotel. But, sure enough, our bet bet on decent snow came through and we enjoyed soft snow, and as this video more than conveys, a long, long fall line that is so representative of Gulmarg. There is always incredible vert no matter the snow.

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The Banff Mountain Film Festival climaxed on Sunday after nine days of incredible films from around the world. Hosted at the creative cauldron affectionately known as The Banff Center, theaters were near capacity for most screenings, but particularly so for the Radical Reels on Tuesday night, The Snow Show on Wednesday and afternoon sessions on the weekends. Morning sessions were a little tough for sore heads.

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A quick update on the last week. Lots of thoughts, photos, etc to come, but here is a POV vid from our trip.

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Gulmarg has reveled itself to me far beyond my expectations. The last week has been blue skies and with the Avalanche Advisory at Low, we ventured a little further and were rewarded with 3 incredible descents, not to mention the epic descent the sun made, casting some of the most incredible light over the mountains and ourselves as it set.

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Niseko might be a well-known ski destination these days, and sure it’s been done, but does skiing copious amounts of powder ever get old? After three weeks skiing Niseko and the surrounding backcountry, we aren’t tired of the snow here yet.

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Whilst hanging out at the Sweetgrass Productions condo here in Kutchan, Japan, one of the myriad of characters to walk through the low revolving door of athletes was one Forrest Coots. An artistic and sensitive Californian whose favorite color is purple, he has imparted his skiing and positive vibe to the whole dozen of us living in close quarters here in Japan. Come meet Forrest..

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The last 2 days have been great, not especially epic, but deep none the less. Check out the helmet cam footage inside.

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When you google “skiing in Japan”, if you have any of the luck I had, you will find nothing. That is unless you are looking for an expensive condo or some expat Australian-come-guide to drag you around the mountain. So when you are done sifting through anything key-worded with Niseko, check out Moiwa. Like most things, if you want to know more, you either have to go, or you could just read on.

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We opened our powder account today at a small resort, Niseko-Moiwa. Lastnight brought a full 60cms of blower pow, but it was blown around by equally copious amounts of wind.

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I'm going to call it. "Confess" might be the euphemism – I don't like bush-whacking, skipping rocks and skiing shitty snow early season. It gives me no fix what-so-ever. No offense to those who relish hiking with their boots on their pack half the day until they reach the snowline. That attitude though has left me without anything to show in terms of winter stoke. Last week, I made amends.

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If you don't recognize the name, you will surely recognize his photography. The modest Vancouver local has been developing his skills behind the lens, keeping his head down and his focus sharp unveiling himself the last few years as a photgrapher mature beyond his 24 years. Knocking off some of the biggest names in the business - Morrison, Gunderson - for covers and in photo comps, if he hasn't already arrived, then we can only wait in anticipation for the time when he does. We caught up with Jordan after a recent trip to Anarctica with Chris Davenport.

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You have heard about it and the idea impresses you, but is the new line of boots from Black Diamond, and the “hard charging” Factor in particular, all it is cracked up to be? After putting these boots through a gamut of conditions across the world, I think it is pretty fair to declare the Factor a revolution in alpine skiing. Not back country skiing, but alpine. You heard me.

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I have a wee dilemma on my hands here you see. There is this incredible place to ski that I discovered with friends and normally I would never make its whereabouts public on the World Wide Web. But, you see, this particular place is rather removed and the local people are crying out for visitors to kick start tourism again in this black listed part of the world. If you hadn’t guessed, it is Kashmir. But inside I’ll give you the finer details.

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During a photo shoot on 28th March 2008, snowboarding professional and winner of this year’s Freeride World Tour, Xavier de le Rue set off a massive avalanche that carried him over two kilometres. Thanks to the ABS avalanche airbag, he survived the incident virtually unscathed. In an interview, Xavier talks about the spectacular photos, his experiences and views of the sport and emergency equipment.

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The 3/4 Couloir in the Valley of the Ten Peaks in the Canadian Rockie Mtns is so aesthetic, they even printed it on their money. On October 13th, we decided it needed to be skied and it made for the most memorable first day skiing of the season ever.

Check the revolution. The Rocky Mountain Sherpas have teamed up with The Canadian Avalanche Foundation to revolutionize both the medium and the message. Read on for more info and to see the Teaser.

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For six long days, we’ve been sitting in a motorhome watching the snow fall in enormous amounts. Almost two meters are stacked up here in the valley and there is no way of knowing how much has fallen in the mountains above. We watch DVDs, drink whiskey cooled with glacial ice, and are just waiting for the blue skies to return to the Chugash.

From deep in the coastal mountains of Niseko, Hokkaido comes a backcountry documentary full of mountain culture. Amongst Japan's northern hardwoods, along a misty coastline, Signatures tells a story of seasonal shifts and the snowy brushstrokes of renowned alpine athletes. On the heels of their break-out film Hand Cut, a rugged, hand-hewn homage to frontier life released to great acclaim in 2008, the Sweetgrass Productions family brings you a soulful look at life in the Japanese mountains.

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Praise abounds for Sweetgrass Production's sophomore film “Signatures”. It is a cinematically stunning film that is patient and oh so potent for getting one excited to book a ticket to Hokkaido. The film speaks for itself, but the back story of what went into making this film serves to elevate it another notch or three. I spent January with the Sweetgrass crew in Niseko and witnessed how unique in approach and execution “Signatures” is from any other snowriding film to date.

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Opening Day on Whistler was not what we have come to expect over the last few years, but perhaps the biggest thing to take away from it was the simple fact that despite meager snowfalls, it still opened.

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We spend most of the year chasing, skiing and celebrating these wonderful frozen crystals that fall in deep quantities. The rest of the time, we create moving pictures to document the incredible experiences that winter provides. FLAKES showcases the deep and light powder from around the world that our audience has come to expect, blended together with the often flaky characters who thrive on this wintery existence.

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On August 4, 2009, Dave Watson became the first person in history to ski down the "most difficult mountain on Earth".

In doing this, Dave realized a dream that many of the world's best skiers would not even consider. "As challenging as the skiing was, the climb to get up there was much more difficult. K2 is a really hard mountain."

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