Plug in the iron, grab the wax, and sharpen those edges, it’s time to lay some mothah f*ckin’ hip! Dylan Siggers and the Burrrlapz crew have given us a wonderful reminder of why sliding side to side down a mountain is so fun. You don’t need laughable amounts of snow and steeps, or unbelievable features and meticulously sculpted jumps to appreciate what a ski can do. And that’s where the beauty lies. It seems as though skiing as an industry can all too often be caught up in the antics of being the top dawg. While the competitive edge is necessary to driving the progression of the sport we all love, there can be times where it detracts from the simple pleasure of traveling with a purpose as gravity takes you on a ride down hill.
In ‘Touch the Snow’, Dylan and pals travel to Pass Powderkeg to slice and dice Alberta’s favorite tow rope-powered hill. The gently falling snow and dimly lit night skiing will bring a a grown man on a sentimental rewind, flashing back to younger days of hot chocolate poorly fitting ski boots. As the name implies, this video focuses on the rewards associate with taking the time to be deliberate in your turns, and let the skis do the work. That being said, this here ain’t no old school carving tutorial. Over at their staple home town hill of Fernie Alpine Resort, the cat tracks are sent and the banks are greased. It turns out to be one big demonstration of how to peer outside the box and make the most with the bare minimum. Across these two playgrounds, the Line Blade is the trusted paint brush of the earth. When in the right hands, this new creation can be as versatile as any ski on the market, being used to carve with the best and still surf and spin like no tomorrow. It’s far from the softest ski out there, but can nonetheless be used with great joy wherever the rolling hills of your local resort take you.
Burrrlapz never ceases to highlight the best parts of skiing. They remind us that something as simple as dropping low, layin’ that hip down, and just putting a hand on the ground is so rewarding. Pursuing the sheer pleasure of the sport can be a hard thing to do in a culture that continuously increases its push toward comparison and winning. But with so many crews surfacing who seem to value the true passion of skiing what you love with people that you care about, it’s easy to be optimistic about the future of this little activity.
