A first-day video from Wolf Creek in honor of Denver’s first day of snow

WATCH: http://vimeo.com/30335463

OK, it’s really ON in Colorado now that Denver has gotten its first snowfall of the season. Granted, it’s not a powder day by any stretch of the imagination in the Mile High City, but it has us even more charged up for skiing and riding.

To honor this unofficial first day of winter, we’re sharing this terrific video sent to us by Benton Iscoe of Breckenridge, who hit the slopes at Wolf Creek earlier this month when it became the first Colorado resort to open.

And even though we haven’t officially opened the gates to our third annual Outdoor Adventure Video Contest, we’re going to dub this the first entry. Check out last season’s winners.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter for even more.

Latest video contest winner delivers great freestyle with Bobby Brown and Grant Savidge

Tyler Adams, the latest winner in the Swany Outdoor Adventure Video Contest, delivers plenty of incredible freestyle skiing in his entry and also some major star power: slopestyle superstar Bobby Brown and his good friend and fellow freestyler maniac Grant Savidge. But let Tyler explain.

In his own words: “I’m from Denver, now living in Boulder and going to the University of Colorado. I started skiing at age 6 but switched to snowboarding at 9. Being a weekend warrior growing up, I would get 20 to 30 days in. For my 14th birthday I got a camera and have just been shooting videos of skiing and snowboarding ever since. With some down time at the beginning of the season, my friends Bobby Brown and Grant Savidge asked me to come out and shoot an early season park edit. Breck let us get up early on their jumps and with a sunny day, empty park, and shooting with two of my best friends, it was one of my favorite shoots this season.”

We’d have to agree, it’s an awesome video. If you like to see more of Tyler’s work, visit tylerjosephadams.com.

For his video, Tyler gets a pair of great Swany Gloves. Have a video that you’d like to enter? Just upload it to YouTube, Vimeo and the like, then send us the URL at swanygloves@gmail.com. That’s all there is to it! Complete rules here.

Previous Swany Outdoor Adventure Video Contest winners:

• Michelle Smith was rescued via helicopter from a 2,000-foot-cliff in the Tetons.
• Josh Christensen takes us off cliffs and through the trees in Utah.
• Jessica Gammey helped us experience the 24 Hours of Telemark race in Wisconsin.
• Snowboarder Tommie Bennett of Vail helped glide through the trees and fly over jumps.
• David Zemens did some riding at Breckenridge, “just cruising some in-bounds pines & sidepow.”
• Nathan Balli of Salt Lake City took us upside-down in his video.
• Mike Alcott of Durango, Colo., and his friends had a ball in the powder, including some wild sledding.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter.

The action starts NOW at the Burton U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships at Stratton

Some familiar names topped the podium for halfpipe on Saturday at the U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships. How familiar? How about last year’s winners repeating this year? That was the case when Kelly Clark and Kazuhiro Kokubo won on the women’s and men’s side at Stratton Resort. See how they did it and find out who completed the podium.

PREVIOUSLY

The World Cup ski circuit was in the news recently with its World Championships. Now it’s time for the riders to take back center stage at this week’s Burton U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships.

In fact, qualifying started today at Stratton Mountain Resort in Vermont leading up to the slopestyle and halfpipe finals on Friday and Saturday.  Although Shaun White had to bow out, owing to foot surgery, plenty of the sports biggest stars will be on hand, including Kelly Clark, Peetu Piiroinen, Jamie Anderson, Kazuhiro Kokubo, Louie Vito, Hannah Teter, Mark McMorris and Danny Davis.

You can get a schedule here, and there also will be a live webcast of all semifinals and finals Wednesday through Saturday. We’ll have results on the blog as they happen.

Other great stories to check out:

• Lindsey Vonn is on a major tear on the World Cup circuit. See how she wrapped up three titles in one weekend.
• A recent Outdoor Adventure Video Contest winner was rescued via helicopter from a 2,000-foot-cliff in the Tetons.
• Get a roundup of the Dew Tour Championships.
• Find out what happened at the FIS World Championships of skiing.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter.

Video contest winner takes us into the Utah backcountry for a wild ride

Josh Christensen, our latest winner in the Swany Outdoor Adventure Video Contest, delivers plenty of special effects in his entry. First, there are the “real” kind delivered by POV skiing through the Utah backcountry, including plenty of jumps off cliffs and powder. Then there’s the digital kind, with slow-motion shots and split-screen views of multiple action. It’s good fun!

In his own words: “I grew up in Salt Lake City.  My dad took me skiing for the first time when I was 5.  After a day and a half of lessons he let me start skiing with him.  By the time was 10 years old I was already skiing the cirque at Snowbird.  I dabbled in the park scene through high school, and still like hitting jumps and rails whenever the snow sucks, but you can’t beat a powder day or a nice long day in the back country.  Cliffs are more fun than jumps, powder is better than rails.  Enough said!”

For his video, Josh gets a pair of great Swany Gloves. Have a video that you’d like to enter? Just upload it to YouTube, Vimeo and the like, then send us the URL at swanygloves@gmail.com. That’s all there is to it! Complete rules here.

Other great stories to check out:

• Lindsey Vonn is on a major tear on the World Cup circuit. See how she wrapped up three titles in one weekend.
• A recent Video Contest winner was rescued via helicopter from a 2,000-foot-cliff in the Tetons.
• Get a roundup of the Dew Tour Championships.
• Find out what happened at the FIS World Championships of skiing.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter.

Video Contest Winner No. 4: Flying high in Vail

It’s time to announce our FOURTH winner in the Swany Outdoor Adventure Video Contest. Meet Tommie Bennett of Vail, who takes us through the trees as well as in the air over some jumps.

In his own words: “I shot some park video at Vail Mountain and some time lapse at Vail as well. I am a nationally competitive athlete and a snowboard coach. I  compete in slope style, halfpipe, boardercross and rail jams. I spend a lot of time shooting videos and photos. “

For his efforts, Tommie gets a great pair of Swany Gloves! Have a video that you’d like to enter? Just upload it to YouTube, Vimeo and the like, then send us the URL at swanygloves@gmail.com. That’s all there is to it! Complete rules here.

Other great stories to check out:

• Get a roundup of the entire X Games.
• Denver Bir Air was a BIG hit. Find out why.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter.

Swany’s Weekly Best: Snow Show, X Games, video contest winner and Lindsey Vonn’s big fall

The Snow Show offered a peek ahead at next year's clothing and gear

We’ve had a month’s worth of action in the past week, with X Games, Snow Show, World Cup action and more. Here’s your chance to catch up with Swany’s Weekly Best:

• The great Lindsey Vonn took a brutal fall in a training run this week, which forced her to miss a World Cup slalom today in Germany and perhaps another race on Saturday. But will it knock her out of next week’s World Championships? Learn more.
• The X Games served up its usual raft of wild action, including great performances by Shaun White and Kelly Clark in the superpipe and heroic performances in the face of injury by snowboarder Scotty Lago and Bobby Brown in big air. Read more.
• The Snow Show delivered next season’s skis, boards and clothes last week in Denver. Find out what’s hot.

The Swany Outdoor Adventures Video Contest rolled on as we revealed our third winner, riding the pow in Breck. Watch and learn how to enter (it’s easy!)

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, enter our Outdoor Adventures Video Contest.

Video Contest Winner No. 3: Ridin’ pow in Breck

It’s time to announce our THIRD winner in the Swany Outdoor Adventure Video Contest. Meet David Zemens of Berkley, Mich. But he’s not skiing the Great Lakes State. David shot this at Breckenridge “a few days after a storm, just cruising some in-bounds pines & sidepow with a handheld follow-cam.” Add some good music and it’s an enjoyable ride.

In his own words: “I’ve been snowboarding for about 15 years but avidly only for the last 4-5 years.  I do most of my riding in Michigan but try to get out West at least once a year with some friends, started taking that trip after graduating from college and that’s what really got me hooked on snowboarding.  There are so many ski resorts I’ve yet to visit, so I can’t say I really have a “favorite” place, but two of the best days we’ve had were at Snowbird (UT) and Grand Targhee (WY).  Looking forward to one day experiencing a real, knee-deep powder day – someday we’ll luck out & get one! Until then – whether it’s local hills, backyard rail jams or real mountains out west – I’m just thankful for any day I get to ride!”

For his efforts, David gets a great pair of Swany Gloves! Have a video that you’d like to enter? Just upload it to YouTube, Vimeo and the like, then send us the URL at swanygloves@gmail.com. That’s all there is to it! Complete rules here.

Other great stories to check out:

• Get a roundup of the entire X Games.
• Denver Bir Air was a BIG hit. Find out why.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter.

Video winner No. 2: Jumping (high) for joy in Utah

It’s time to announce our second winner in the Swany Outdoor Adventure Video Contest. Meet Nathan Balli of Salt Lake City, Utah. He served up a video with lots of great tracking shots of jumps, including one where the cameraman FLIPS. Yikes.

In his own words: “I have been skiing now for the last 22 years. I am 25 currently, a student finishing up school in Digital Media at the University of Utah. I have been super fortunate to grow up in and around the mountains here in Utah. I ski everywhere from Park City Mountain Resort to the backcountry with a little bit of touring. I love filming with our group of friends and getting out and enjoying nature. If everyone could ski every day the world would be a better place.” (AMEN, we say to that!)

For his efforts, Nate gets a great pair of Swany Gloves! Have a video that you’d like to enter. Here’s how.

Other great stories to check out:

• Denver Big Air competition takes place Tuesday and Wednesday (Jan. 25-26).
• It’s Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month in January. Find a lesson deal near you.
• The X Games are Jan. 27-30 in Aspen. We have the event schedule, broadcast schedule and more.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, enter our Outdoor Adventures Video Contest.

Denver Big Air ready to fly today downtown

A crew member preps the ramp for today's Denver Big Air competition. (Denver Post)

Denver is ready for takeoff. Denver Big Air, that is, which begins two days of competition with Ski Big Air at 6 p.m. today (doors at 3:30 p.m., practice at 5 p.m.). Get a feel for the event with this great story and video from the Denver Post. Want to see what it looks like from a rider’s perspective. Check out this helmet-cam view.

Snow started flying in Denver last Wednesday, but not all of it was from Mother Nature. A crew from Copper Mountain had set up camp in Civic Center Park for the next four days to make snow for the 10-story ramp that will be used for Denver Big Air. Read the Denver Post story.

What’s this giant (10-story tall) setup going to look like? Check out this awesome graphic from the Post and read their story about the roots of this event. There has been  one sour noted sounded: event organizers learned that Tom Wallisch, Freeskier magazine’s skier of the year, would not be able to compete because of an injury sustained recently in training. More. But there are a number of talented competitors ready to step up. Meet them.

Denver Big Air presented by Sprint will be held on Jan. 25-26 in the heart of downtown at Civic Center Park. Recently they built the 10-story high ramp that will be used in the competition. Check out this video.  Two great concerts have been announced: Switchfoot (day one)and One Republic (day two). Get more details on how to see the shows.

Day one competition will feature skiers; on day two snowboarders will rule the hill. Want to buy tickets? (one-day and all-session passes available, as well as VIP tickets) Look at this cool rendering of the jump and the seat locations. Get daily updates on theirFacebook page.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventure. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, enter our Outdoor Adventures Video Contest.

Yeehaw! The Cowboy Downhill rides ‘em down the slippery slopes of Steamboat

There are great ski races and then there is the Cowboy Downhill. The annual race in Steamboat is one of the most entertaining sights of any ski season. Rodeo cowboys, in their hats and western wear, compete in events that combine the likes of roping and ski racing. But it’s not just for grins: These cowboys COMPETE!

The latest edition went off on Tuesday with the usual collection of thrills, spills and smiles. Check out this slideshow and watch the wild video of the race, which includes commentary from Olympic Gold medalist and longtime Steamboat ski icon Billy Kidd.

Swany Gloves is dedicated to bringing you the best of outdoor adventures. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and enter ourOutdoors Adventures Video Contest.