Off-season in Jackson Hole is bookended by a pair of ski movie premieres, starting with Teton Gravity Research’s much-anticipated debut in September.

Tonight Darrell Miller’s Storm Show Studios presents its latest, “Magic Moments,” before a typically rabid Friday the 13th crowd at Snow King Resort.

Miller, a Jackson Hole native, continues to keep it local, with all Teton-area riders and nearly all footage shot locally. Miller and mates had much to work with last winter, with avalanche drama and more than 500 inches of snowfall at the upper elevations of the Tetons.

Screenings are at 6 and 9 p.m. in the Snow King Grand Room. The after-party, which has produced some legendary ragers and is almost as anticipated as the premiere itself, will be at the Elks Club in Jackson. DJs Richie Beats, Mr. Whipple and Deejay Sessions will spin tunes to work the crowd into a froth.

In this trailer one can practically taste the powder. Although by now, I suspect, skiers and riders can make do with less stoke and more actual snow, so hungry are they to get after it.

Tickets are $15, available at the Cloudveil Store, Teton Village Sports, JH Wine Co. and The Liquor Store. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center, and there will be a silent auction and raffle for the Brent Newton Memorial Foundation.

The designers at Cloudveil are fast at work developing a new line of high-performance clothing for this sport. The supplex Skootch Pant™ will come in extra-baggy sizes for comfort and style inside the chalet, while the lycra CrotchGrabber™ one-piece is tight and light for the track.

Watch Nordic boarders Joel and Tate get gnar-gnar as they shred the flats.

While much of the world fretted about derivatives and subprime mortgages last winter, the riders of Teton Gravity Research reaped big dividends in the form of untracked lines and face shots.

There’s an old joke in mountain towns (in which river guides or climbers can be substituted):

Q: What’s the difference between a ski bum and a mutual fund?
A: A mutual fund eventually matures and is worth something.

Well, maybe not anymore.

Now that realtors are back to tuning skis, a ski pass might be a solid investment.

TGR’s latest film premieres at 5:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday at Walk Festival Hall in Teton Village, Wyo. A party with Led Zepplica follows at the Mangy Moose. Click here for tickets.

The cast features Sage Cattabriga-Alosa, Seth Morrison, Kye Petersen, Ian McIntosh, Dana Flahr, Dylan Hood, Erik Roner, Wiley Miller, Dash Longe, Tanner Hall, Sammy Carlson and Callum Pettit. The movie was shot in Jackson Hole, Wyo.; Alagna, Italy; Poland; Slovakia; Haines, Alaska; Stevens Pass, Wash.; Colorado; Utah; Montana; and Pemberton, B.C.

After Jackson Hole, TGR takes “Re:Session” on tour to Bozeman, Park City, Steamboat and Whistler. Click here to see the complete schedule.

We’re hoping this gives folks some ideas for Memorial Day Weekend activities. Enjoy yourselves out there in the season where, as Tim Nickles said, “none of your gear is stored and everything’s on!”

6 a.m. Saturday morning, I’m up. Went to bed early last night figuring the sun would be shining bright for the first time since last June. When should I call Tweece and Holladay? It’s sunny! Too early for sure, they went big at the Coach last night…no way they’re out of bed yet. I’ll give them a few hours. Time for my 6 a.m. Yerba Mate. Clifford and Stella, my dogs are up, wife is not … we take a quick walk to the park. Lucky dogs!

8 a.m. Time to wake the crew. First text. “Glory lap?” No response from Tweece. Holladay says yes. I immediately pepper Tweece’s phone until he picks up. “Get ready, we’re going up Glory,” I say. “Could be the last good day of the year.” By Jackson standards way too late for a morning start. “I’m in, holy shit…too many boozes last night,” Tweece says.

9 a.m. Waiting at the Stagecoach bar (where we park for skiing Mt. Glory on Teton Pass). We drive to the top of the pass and the lot is pretty full for a May weekend. Pack our bags load up the skis and snowboards. Let the pain set in for Holladay and Tweece. Nothing like being hungover and looking at all the leftover dog shit the first 50 steps. Glory: you love and hate her.

10 a.m. Hanging at the top. Talking about the night before. Beautiful morning and not one cloud in the sky. I’m going down in my boardies. Why not? Just don’t fall. A few friends make it to the top, we talk about where we’re headed. Straight down the gut, no questions asked. Snow is perfect. A clean slate of spring corn and not one person following us down. Make it to the last choke before we hit the road and there’s a guy skinning up the gut. Not sure what he’s on. A mission, perhaps.

11 a.m. D.O.G. burrito at Pass Gass in Wilson. Awesome, but this is going to hurt! Tweece makes the call to head to town, where I live, and check out the bike swap at Fitzgerald’s. The kid can’t pass up a good deal on a bike! “I’m going to get Pops and the cruisers,” Tweece says. “ Meet you at your place in an hour.” Get home, Caroline is up and drinking coffee. Must clean the windows before more fun….

12 p.m. Windows done, no problem. Crew shows up – dogs, cruisers and all. Time to cruise Jackson on this beautiful Saturday.

1 p.m. Head to the Fitzgerald’s Bike Shop. There’s talk of bike swap and Tweece can’t miss a deal…and I need a new chain for the mountain bike. Get to the swap. Red Rob is there scoping the scene and selling the new local mountain bike flick. I check out a few bikes and decide I need to save the cash for a surf trip with the lady. We stop at Sanchez for a few shrimp tacos and to watch the sunny Jackson scene.

2 p.m. Come home check on the dogs. Caroline has the house under control. New plan. “We’re taking the cruisers up Cache and then down Putt-Putt,” Tweece says. I’m thinking not a bad idea, but my Electra cruiser only has 3 gears and coaster brakes. Why not? Time to scratch that one off the list. Cruising up Cache, flip-flops on music playing from the iPhone we see Paul Huser and he invites us up to Jackson Peak for a Sunday morning ski. I think to myself ‘Cool idea but not going to happen.’ We crush the ride…flip-flops, no wrecks just a few odd looks. One guy did give us a little sarcastic jab. Don’t knock it till ya try it, bud.

4 p.m. Snake River Brew Pub. Going down from here. Haven’t had any water all day. Epstein shows up ready for a few suds. Beers are flowing out on the front deck, people are talking…I’m drinking…time to get the hell out of here! We decide to check out the view from the new parking garage across the street. Great view and good times! Check it out sometime.

7 p.m. Need food….Teton Thai. Best food in Jackson Hole hands down…And when the deck is going off, there’s no better place to eat in town. BYOB by the way and the DJ is spinning sick rasta tunes outside. Lot’s going on but I’m fading a little. What the hell? Getting old I guess.

9 p.m. “Hey Jackson Peak tomorrow morning,” Tweece says. “Jackson said we’re meeting at Huser’s house at 6 a.m.” I think to myself, ‘Why not?’ Never been up there before to ride. Time for another Blue Moon….then I’m biking home to pack.

10 p.m. Get home. Pack the gear. Fired up. Make a few PB&J’s and go to bed.

SUNDAY May 17, 2009

5 a.m. Alarm goes off. No way I’m going. Too tired and a little foggy from Saturday’s double trouble. I text Holladay and Tweece to say I’m out. Holladay texts back….”Bullshit, get out of bed…see you at the parking lot by the rodeo grounds.” Roll over in bed, tell Caroline I have no choice. It’s a done deal. I’m going on a walk-about to Jackson Peak.

6 a.m. Rodeo lot. Chad Jackson just pulled up and Paul Huser is fired up! He’s ready for some corn skiing on Jackson Peak. Meanwhile, I’m still pulling the cobwebs out of my eyes. We pile the gear in Holladay’s truck. It’s time. The morning is perfect and we see a few elk out on the refuge. I’m going to get my elk next year!

7 a.m. Make it to the Curtis Canyon overlook. The gates are still up so we park there and get the gear ready to roll. I rode my bike up here a few weeks ago. I can tell we are in for a trek. By this time, the crew consists of Jeff Wogoman, Chad Jackson, Holladay, Tweece, Paul Huser (the leader) and Andrew…sorry man forgot your last name. Time to start walking…no snow until we get to the trailhead off the road about two miles or so ahead. Bushwhackin’!

Time is getting fuzzy at this point…so bear with me.

8:30 a.m. Board is split, skins are on. A little snow in front of us, but the mountain is way far away. Let the fun begin. Huser is filling us full of Jackson Peak info. If you ever need beta about skiing off Jackson Peak or the Ski Cabin, Paul has it. Awesome guy!

9:30 a.m. Getting closer, I think. Good thing I’ve been skinning this season…just a little. Glory laps all day long…skinning not so much. Better late than never! Starting to think to myself skiing back down on the split board is definitely going to be a pain if the snow doesn’t soften up on this trail…could be a long ride back. I don’t care. I’m just happy to be outside.

11 a.m. Like I said, time is off the back end. So we may be here sooner than later. Make it to the boot pack. This is going to be a sick morning. Snow is starting to soften up. Huser points out his favorite couloirs on the west side of Jackson Peak. Looks sick and no tracks. By the time we make it to the top, prime conditions. We can see the tracks from the day before by JK and his crew. Nice lines!

12 p.m. Quick lunch and time to make the first run. I’m psyched, never boarded or skied Jackson Peak…as the rest of the crew, other than Wogo and Huser. Check out a few lines. Time to watch Holladay make a his turns. Looks good. Time to go. Make the first turn and it’s money. I can see the others finishing up. I wait in a safe spot and let the sluff go down. Make it to the bottom! Awesome. Favorite turns all season. Time for another lap!

12:30 p.m. The call is for another! Huser is psyched because he usually can’t get a group of seven to go up, let alone do a second lap. Skins are soaked. We head back up. No pain no gain.

1 p.m. Hiking back up. Huser is talking about the west couloir. We checked it out on the way up the first time and it looked good to go. We split the crew up, 3 to the north (suckers) and 4 to the West. Huser gives us (Holladay, Tweece and I) the lowdown on how this is his favorite run off the peak. I’m cool. Looks pretty mellow but has a good angle and the snow looks nice!

2 p.m. It’s on. The others head to the north side of the summit, while our group stops just short to enter the west couloir. I’m psyched. Spacecamp is starting to set in. Huser directs us in and gives us a little history. “Who’s up,” Huser asks? Holladay takes the plunge and I follow right after. Yep, another perfect spring line. No ice, just good ole’ soft spring snow all the way to the bottom. I’m psyched! We all slap fives and decide it’s time for the bushwhack back.

3:45 p.m. Make it back to the truck. The north side crew had the fort ready. Beers open, tunes playing and a sick view of the Tetons to the West.

I can’t complain it turned out to be one hell of a Wyoming weekend. Just the way I like it: no plans and letting the day dictate our adventures.

When not on impromptu adventures with friends, Dax Kelm works for Backbone Media.

It’s really for anyone – boarders, skiers, bunnies – who wants an excuse to shed their bibs and shells ’cause the Asian themed Shanghai Nights shindig requires guests to Dress to Kill (which usually means wearing the fewest clothing items possible).

The annual event will be held this year at 9 p.m. on Saturday at the Snow King Resort and all proceeds from the raffle will benefit the Jackson Hole Ski & Snowboard Club. It costs $25 in advance and $30 at the door (see flyer for details).

So, what’s up with the mag anyway? It’s FREE and beautiful. It’s filled with local art by Ryan Haworth and others, stories by and about snowboarding sensations Rob Kingwill and Jeremy Jones and gorgeous photographs by tons of locals, including publisher/editor/genius Jesse Brown.

We asked Jesse some questions about the mag to ponder as we plan our outfits. Here’s what he says:

MOTIVATION:

We are motivated by idea of being able to progress with every issue. We started as a 64-page saddle-stitched ‘zine and now we are a full-blown 140-page perfect-bound magazine with distribution in about 15 states. We are very lucky to live in a place like this and to be able to pursue our dreams with our careers, but also our dreams with our lifestyles.  We have an amazing team and we all thoroughly enjoy what we are doing.

COMMUNITY:

I think we are contributing to the community by creating a product that people here can be proud of. We have over 60 contributors and over 50 advertisers involved in this publication and 90 percent of them call Jackson Hole home. It is a real grassroots project that was started by nothing other than a few good local businesses that believed in the idea and were willing to advertise with us. We try to encourage all to believe in themselves and to follow their dreams.

ECONOMIC SURVIVAL:

The economy right now is affecting every aspect of business and there is no escaping it. We are no different than anyone else and are very susceptible to downturns in the economy. We have always been very cautious of creating mass overhead and have done everything possible to keep our expenses down. We have a small team that all works from home and we all have other jobs as well. To be honest, I don’t know exactly how the economy will affect us.  I do know that we have been in a recession for over a year and we were able to add 20 pages and more distribution this issue. Only time will tell, but the way I see it is, if we can move forward during a recession, what do you think we are going to do when things get good again. Stay positive and optimistic and the sky’s the limit.

And after mostly dry fall, avalanche forecasters predict white-out conditions in open areas today with a 100% chance of heavy snow accumulating to 8 to 12 inches in the next 24 hours.

There will be powder for those first tram riders. Oh yes, there will be powder.

Festivities begin aprés-ski at 3:30 p.m. at Nick Wilson’s with Steam Powered Airplane’s bluegrass and continue at 5:30 at the Lower Tram Terminal.

Then, The Village will ramp it up. Here’s the sched:

5:30 – 6 p.m.: Lower Tram Terminal “On Snow” Jumbotron Plaza
While chugging Snake River Brewery’s commemorative Big Red Ale, tram fans can watch a slideshow of photographs from the last five decades at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

6 – 6:15 p.m.: The Tram Show.
Watch fireworks reflecting in the tinted windows of the newly revealed tram, toast your neighbors, plant your feet in the tram maze for dibs at a place on board one of the first Saturday morning rides up to 10,450 feet.

The party continues at Mangy Moose, free of charge, with optional donations going to Teton Adaptive Sports. Rock out to local The Outfit followed by Fort Collins’ seven-piece Euforquestra.

Click here for the weekend press release from Teton Village, which details Saturday’s Opening Ceremony (speeches from resort owner, Wyoming’s governor and a reverend’s blessing).

It’s a cheap date, a $5.00 donation at the door supports Teton County Search and Rescue and gets you access to the best local avalanche information you can find.  Rod Newcomb will give his annual update on the present (lack of) snowpack and what that layer might mean later in the season.  Jim Woodmency will discuss weather and its impacts on avalanche conditions, and Mike Rheam and Bob Comey will update you on your Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center.  John Griber will close out the evening with what is sure to be an excellent multi-media presentation on his recent expedition to Gasherbrum II.

We at Cloudveil are always stoked to support Darrell and the homegrown footage. Get your tickets before Friday (see below for locations), or at the door to support Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center, and bid high on the silent auction items so that a big check can be handed to the Brent Newton Memorial Foundation.

The Details:

What: WORLD PREMIERE 600 INCHES
Where: SNOW KING RESORT GRAND ROOM JACKSON, WY
When: TWO SHOW TIMES: 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. TODAY FRIDAY, NOV. 7
How Much: $12 ADVANCE, $15 DAY OF SHOW

**Doors open one hour before show times with award-winning beers from Snake River
Brewing, cocktails, and pre-show shenanigans….
**DJs from FOUR4 Productions spinning mad beats throughout the night!!!

***After party at 43 North with DJ Thunder and Deejay Sessions, coming straight out of Seattle to provide ample ear candy. Sessions has music featured in the
flick 600”!

TICKETS SOLD AT: JH Wine Co., Teton Village Sports, Cloudveil Flagship Store and Wilson Backcountry Sports. Ticket sales benefit the Bridge-Teton National Forest Avalanche Forecast Center

Silent auction and raffle ticket sales benefit The Brent Newton Memorial Foundation

Raffle prizes include: a Never Summer snowboard, Cloudveil gear, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort ski pass, Alyeska Resort Lift and Lodging package, Yellowman tattoo shirts and tons of freebies!!

(Susie is pictured far left.)

My name is Susie Molnar and I am a full time professional ski patroller at Blue Mountain Ski Area in Palmerton, PA. I am excited to report that our patrollers, myself included, are featured on truTv’s “Ski Patrol,” a new reality show that debuted Oct. 20.

Bunim/Murray Productions, well known for its work on “The Simple Life” and “The Real World” chose Blue Mountain as the ideal place for this show due to the patrollers’ personalities as well as the large volume of people we deal with (370,000 skiers, boarders and tubers flocked to Blue Mountain’s flanks last year!)

Thanks for your support and look forward to a wonderful winter!

truTV has this to say about Blue Mountain:

Climbing to a height of 1,082 feet, Blue Mountain is the highest vertical ski slope in Pennsylvania. Its three terrain parks include a snowcross trail and a 350-foot halfpipe. The slopes feature 33 trails for all abilities spread out over 155 beautiful acres, with the longest run spanning 6,400 feet. The trails, which are lit for evening fun, can be accessed via nine lifts, including the only detachable, high-speed ski-pack lift in the region. Blue Mountain is also home to an immense snow-tubing park. And the park’s extensive snow-making and grooming ensure perfect conditions on every slope.

truTV’s overview of “Rough Start” airing this evening:

The day is off to a rough start when a call comes in of a little girl laying injured and trapped in the rugged backcountry. But her remote location along with a storm rolling in is making it nearly impossible for patrol to pinpoint her. Meanwhile, a group of kids put everyone in jeopardy when they jump off the ski lift, a beginner snowboarder gives up mid run and a skier who’s traded in his snow pants for a toga learns that it’s not always a party on the slopes.

Check out more on truTV.com.

Here’s the newest trailer from PowderWhore, coming to a ski town near you. Featuring Black Diamond tele monsters Kate and Will Cardamone, SKIING magazine’s own Female Telemark Freeskiing World Champion, Megan Michelson, as well as Cloudveil ambassador and Male Telemark Freeskiing World Champion, Nick Devore.

Check out the following or click the link to Watch Nick rip up the Jackson backcountry in the RPK Jacket.