matthiasgiraud.com

I just got back in Salt Lake City, UT after being on the road for about 3 and 1/2 weeks It is nice to be home. Alta is open so it is time to go up and make some turns.
While traveling through Oregon, on my way to go ski some powder at Mt Hood Meadows, I got a call from Kate Siber. Kate writes for several magazines such as Ski, Skiing, as well as many others and she wanted to do an interview for Outside Magazine’s online blog. We spent about 1 hour on the phone talking about skiing, BASE jumping, Shane and of course what’s next on my list. Open the link below and check it out!

Outside Magazine: http://outside-blog.away.com/blog/2009/11/pro-skier-and-ski-base-jumper-matthias-giraud-26-was-the-the-first-to-ski-and-base-jump-off-mt-hood-tellurides-aja.html

Once again, I have to rub it in! MT BAKER WAS SICK! Probably the best first day of the season at a ski area I have ever had in my life… ESPN just posted story on Grant and I skiing Mt Baker on November 12th. Make sure the check out the slideshow on the link below.

After Mt Baker, I headed straight south to Portland to ski Mt Hood with Randy Boverman and once again, the NW snow conditions were not disappointing. This is a great start for the season, let’s cross our fingers and hope it will last!

More news to come and more pictures so stay posted!

ESPN: http://espn.go.com/action/freeskiing/blog/_/post/4667543

Mt Hood Meadows: http://www.skihood.com/Photos-and-Videos.aspx?media=9#4117805633

November 10th, I get a text from Grant: “yes, I want to ski. Wasted at a bar… call me tomorrow”.
On the 11th, I call Grant and it is game on. Mt Baker has 67inches of fresh and we are fired up. Drew Stoecklein is flying in the same day from Boise, ID and the madness is on.

I arrived on the 11th at night, woke up at 5am and headed to the hill and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Mt Baker generally gets no sunlight from November to March. I, personally, have NEVER seen sun at Mt Baker in the last 2 years. We had a perfect blue sky and 4 ft of fresh powder on top of the rest that fell before.

Grant fired the camera and we got EPIC shots. Skiing with Drew was a great experience too - humble, passionate, and fun.

Here are a couple links below for Grant’s shots and an article from Skiing Magazine.

I just arrived in Portland and I am about to pick up my new Smith, Elan and Dabello gear at The Ski Chalet. Great store with a very prefessional staff. So, come over and check out their gear. I heard Mt Hood got snow too… time to go back to work…

Mt Baker: http://www.mtbaker.us/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=8092

Skiing Magazine: http://www.skinet.com/skiing/resorts/2009/11/mt-baker-opens-with-a-hefty-base 

Just arrived in Seattle to hang out for a few days before heading down to Portland and make some turns at Mt Hood which got DUMPED on! My new skis are ready to rock and I can’t wait to start flying on snow.

I just created a Twitter account so follow me and stay posted on a life of endless fun!

Twitter: www.twitter.com/matthiasgiraud

A few days ago, we got a nice dump in the mountains around Salt Lake City. A couple days later, the snow settled nicely and we had 2ft of fresh on top of Mt Baldy. So, I decided to take my gear and boot pack to the top on October 6th to make the first turns of the season!
Check out the link below on the Freestyle Watches blog to know more about it!

Freestyle USA: http://www.freestyleusa.com/team/blog/2009/10/12/monday-blues-breaker/

I got back from Boise, ID not too long ago to shoot the new I/O Bio catalogue. I/O is a yound company with a very promising future. Their products are made from the finest merino wool but they were able to combine it with amazing style, cool colors while creating innovative pieces.

I have been skiing and BASE jumping with I/O Bio products for the last 3 seasons and I have been sold on the products since day one.

I traveled to the French Alps last season and wore the same I/O Bio Merino piece for 2 weeks straight. I traveled with it, slept with it, skied with it, partied with it everyday and guess what? No smell and the feel was the same. The quality speaks for itself so try it out and check out the new products on their website.

Inside/ Outside, you decide… A great company with a great concept ready to explode!

I/O Bio Merino: www.io-bio.com

The last 3 months have been pretty hectic! Multiple trips to Idaho to get some video segments off the Perrine Bridge and pictures (photoshoot with Karl Weatherly, TV commercials and Documentaries), wingsuit flying at Snake River Skydiving and shooting a BASE jump/ wingsuit story with National Geographic TV hasn’t left me much time to focus on my blog!

And, to make summer go even faster, the Outdoor Retailer Tradeshow was right in the middle of it all! It was a great opportunity however to catch up with sponsors, keeping them updated on our projects, and also checking out the Spring Summer 2010 products. But, before Spring comes, it is time for Fall and of course WINTER - THE BEST SEASON!

For the last few seasons, Elan has been focusing on developing its freeskiing segment. With a strong background in racing and being one of the biggest manufacturers in the world it was only a matter of time for the company to come up with unique Big mountain, Park and Backcountry products.

For the last 3 years, I have been on the M999 in 193cm. This year my weapons of choice will be the 999 Alu, 1010 Alu and the Boomerang in 190cm for big mountain/ BC and the Slingshot in 185cm for playing around. And, I have to tell you that I am very excited about these new toys!

I got to ski the Boomerang at the end of last season and I didn’t want to ski anything else. Light, responsive, precise, playfull and can still hold an edge on hard snow. It is definitely a great everyday ski out here in the West!

Check the following links to see the 0910 products. You won’t be disappointed! In the meantime, keep doing your leg squads and riding your mountain bike because ski season is right around the corner! Finally, stay posted for the time/date of the National Geographic TV piece. Happy September!

Elan 09/10 Freeride Series: http://www.elanskis.com/pcc.asp#xpath=/products/freeride#xpathid=#lang=usa

Elan 09/10 Freestyle Series: http://www.elanskis.com/pcc.asp#xpath=/products/freestyle#xpathid=#lang=usa

I just got back from a little vacation in Costa Rica where we attended our friends wedding. This place is amazing and we got to surf amazing waves for 10 days! The jungle was beautiful with toucans flying around, howler monkeys, white face monkeys, crocodiles and many more interesting creatures. Good times…

Got an email from photographer Scott D.W. Smith saying we landed a publication in Inside Outside Magazine about the Ajax ski BASE. Check out the link below to read the article.

I am back in Salt Lake City, UT where the weather is not cooperating so far but it’s ok, that gives me the oppotunity to start planning new adventure in the mountains.

Inside Outside: http://www.insideoutsidemag.com/issues/2009/June/Voila_Shanes_Cliff/

I just got back from shooting with Justin Wiegand at Nimbus Indenpendent right in his backyard also known as Mt Hood! Justin and I got in touch a few months back. He wanted to film some ski BASE jumping off Mississippi Head - a 250 ft cliff on the south side of the mountain. After trying to coordinate it for a few months, we finally got a window and everything fell into place!

This jump is one of my favorite because this is where I did my first ski BASE ever. Moreover, the scenery is amazing with Portland on the west and Mt Jefferson on the east. All this made me think about Shane one more time. It hadn’t been long since we lost THE MAN. Shane actually came here last year after we opened this cliff and ski BASEd it a few times with his best bro Miles Daisher. He showed us what could be done and if any of us skiers are ski BASE jumping now it is because of him. He gave me some very valuable pointers in the past such as “don’t die” or “don’t turn on the sink with your wipe hand” and everytime I jump, he is on my mind. We lost the master but the art is not dead and we have to keep pushing it.

Hanging out with Justin was awesome. He is one of the most passionate person I have met about the mountains. We also had a very deep conversation about his recuring dream of being chased in the forrest by werewolves and other magical creatures, jumping off a cliff to escape and stomping his landing everytime! In fact, his dream keeps getting better and better over the years. Everytime the werewolf is chasing him, he doesn’t even bother outrunning it, he goes straight for the cliff because it is just too much fun to fall. This requires skills. In fact, his skills are soooooo great that I am pretty sure Napolean Dynamite was referring to him when he was explaining how girls like guys with skills - werewolf fighting skills, cliff jumping skills, computer skills, editing skills, snowboarding skills, sledding skills, snowball throwing skills - I could go on and on…

Anyway, the point is: keep checking these updates, watch these webisodes and new movie coming out called “Contrast” because shooting with these guys is a BLAST and Nimbus Independent makes some of the best movies out there. You can feel the stoke, the energy and it will make you want to go fight a werewolf with your bare hands.

Nimbus Independent: http://www.nimbusindependent.com/blogs/detail/A-ski-base-with-Matthias-Giraud/66.html

I just got back from travelling through Colorado for the backcountry season. After doing the first descent of the South Face of Engineer Mountain in Durango and the first ski BASE jump off it as well, I got call from my friend Matt Skinner who lives in Telluride. He sent me a picture of Ajax Peak and said “Matty, you have to come over here and do the first ski BASE jump off Ajax. It would be awesome”.

After ploting it for a year, we decided to get it going this spring. I called local ski legend Herb Manning and pro ski mountaineer Kim Havell to see if they wanted to come and help with the project. Both of them were fired up and willing to help.

We spotted a couple cliffs - one off Ajax and one off Ingram. Both faces were right next to each other. After, a couple hours of climbing, we realized that Ingram was a little small so we decided to focus on Ajax.

The cliff was very intimidating with an overhung top and a positive/ angled rock below. We couldn’t get a precise estimate of the height but after throwing a couple rocks, it looked like it would work.

Herb was standing on the edge while Kim was checking out the jump from a side angle and spotting us for potential avalanches or other dangers while climbing.

The wind was perfect as well as the sky and the runway was a little chaotic but doable.

I gave a 3, 2, 1, droping and started skiing towards the edge. It was a bumpy ride but the excitement was at its top. The edge is getting closer and closer and last thing you know, you are flying through the air and you can see your shadow on the rocks several hundred of feet below you.

Once the canopy opened, it was a long ride - over a minute of gliding over looking Telluride in the background.

This jump happened less than 2 weeks after ski legend and BASE jumper Shane McConkey passed away. Shane inspired all of my generation of skiers to take our skiing to the next level. In my case, he made me want to add BASE jumping and follow his foots steps. Shane will always remain a reference and this is why I wanted to dedicate this jump to him. We even named the cliff after him: “Shane’s Cliff”.

This was a great adventure and it gave me many ideas for next season!  I am back in Salt Lake City right now which is my new home and getting ready for more adventures in the Northwest so stay posted! The footage was featured on Good Morning America. This is a great way to show the general public what big mountain skiing is about as well as BASE jumping. This was my second time on the show. You can see last year and this year video segment by clicking on the link below.

Plum TV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw52pBgPuHQ
Good Morning America 2008: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4377478
Good Morning America 2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBENYzwenZY