It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Super Dave Treadway

Dave Treadway is one of the best backcountry skiers in the world, which is part of the reason why Swany Gloves is so glad to be his sponsor. But the fact that Dave is one of the nicest guys out there makes our partnership with him even better. He’s always up to something cool and has been blogging about it, with great pictures and the video you see above. Check it out and look at other videos featuring Dave on Vimeo. And don’t miss his blog.

Dave will join other big names in freesking — Sean Pettit, Tim Durtschi, JP Auclair,  Grete Eliassen, Suzanne Graham and, competing for the first time since being injured two years ago, Tanner Hall — at the Red Bull Cold Rush 2011 at Silverton Mountain in Colorado. Learn more about the event, including how to see daily highlights, right here.

Other great stories to check out:

• Our recent Video Contest winner was rescued via helicopter from a 2,000-foot-cliff in the Tetons.
• See what Lindsey Vonn did this past weekend on the World Cup circuit (hint, it was fast).
• 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.

Riesch rallies with razor-thin win in Super G over Vonn, the day after American’s Downhill win

Lindsey Vonn reacts to her 40th World Cup victory.

Take that! The day after American superstar Lindsey Vonn cut into her lead in overall points with a World Cup win in downhill, Germany’s Maria Riesch struck back on Sunday with a win of her own in Super G, edging her rival by one-hundredth of a second in a Super G in Are, Sweden. Read more.

SATURDAY

Any questions about Lindsey Vonn’s health now? Not in the wake of Saturday’s victory in a World Cup downhill in Are, Sweden. Not only did Vonn put a concussion from three weeks ago completely behind her, she claimed her 40th World Cup victory. Read more to learn who else reached the podium and how close she now is to overall point leader Maria Riesch.

FRIDAY

Lindsey Vonn isn’t the only skier feeling better as the World Cup season heads into its final events. German Maria Riesch, over the fever that dogged her at the World Championships, stormed to the win on Friday in a Super-Combined at Are, Sweden. The win helped Riesch extend her overall points lead over Vonn, who had the fastest time in the Super G before struggling in slalom and finishing a respectable sixth. Read more.

Other great stories to check out:

• Our  Video Contest winner was rescued via helicopter from a 2,000-foot-cliff in the Tetons.
• 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 helps us experience The 24 Hours of Telemark in Wisconsin

We pay homage to the skinny-ski set with our latest winner in the Swany Outdoor Adventure Video Contest. Meet Jessica Gammey of Boulder (by way of Wisconsin),  who takes us on an adventure at the 24 Hours of Telemark race in Wisconsin.

In her own words: “I started nordic skiing in Madison, Wis., after someone told me about a “Women On Snow” weekend up on the Birkie Trail (Wisconsin’s famous Birkebeiner Trail). I signed up for the clinic, bought some demo skis and now I’m about to do my third Birkie (race). I sometimes wear my downhill goggles and beanie hat and look like a real dufus, but that doesn’t seem to negatively impact the strange yet exhilarating feeling of skating through the woods.”

About the race: “The 24 Hours of Telemark is like childbirth, I imagine (because I don’t have any children, but I hear it’s pretty painful), but people keep doing it. Even if you do it as a relay … it is an emotionally demanding and sanity-testing event. The event has the serious 24-hour solo FREAKS (actual name of the category) and the six-person teams who dress up in costumes. The only motivation to get up at 2 a.m. to go outside and ski your turn is your other teammates expecting you to pull your weight. When you get that tap on the shoulder at 1:30 that you need to be out there at 2 a.m., you swear to yourself this is the last time! But just as soon as the sun comes up, comes renewed energy and the memories of exhaustion fade. So, we sign up for it again.”

For her video, Jessica 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:

• Our last Video Contest winner was rescued via helicopter from a 2,000-foot-cliff in the Tetons.
• See what Lindsey Vonn just said about her health for the rest of the World Cup schedule.
• 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.

Look out! Lindsey Vonn says she’s rested and ready to go fast at this weekend’s World Cup

Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Vonn told the Denver Post she has “no concussion symptoms” after taking a week off. In fact, she says in a weekly diary in the Post, the time off should “give me a little bit of an advantage going into the closing stretch of the season.” Vonn with an “advantage?” This could be really FAST. Read her diary.

Other great stories to check out:

• Catch up on the World Championships of skiing in Germany.
• See who the season-ending champs were in the Dew Tour.
• This winner in our Outdoor Adventures Video Contest shared her rescue from high in the Tetons.

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.

Go to The Extremes (and then some) in Crested Butte for freeskiing championships

Lobbing explosives into Headwall.

You are already on the extreme edge if you compete in The Extremes at Crested Butte. But what about the guys who have to ensure the safety of those athletes at the top of the daunting Headwall run in howling winds? Join reporter Jason Blevins of the Denver Post for a wild visit to their workplace. Read more. And here’s a look at who won this past weekend’s competition from Doglotion.com.

Other great stories to check out:

• Catch up on the World Championships of skiing in Germany.
• See who the season-ending champs were in the Dew Tour.
• This winner in our Outdoor Adventures Video Contest shared her rescue from high in the Tetons.

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.

Meet The Women of Whistler

Ace MacKay-Smith is one of The Women of Whistler

One’s an X-Games gold medalist in superpipe, another an Olympian, and this one’s a big mountain skier. Those ladies, and many others, are The Women of Whistler, the latest slideshow of awesome women skiers collected by Skiing Magazine. In this edition, you’ll see Sarah Burke, Britt Janyk, Ace Mackay-Smith and Heather Roberts, among others.

And don’t worry: It’s not some sleazy ripoff. It’s great photos of these talented athletes with mini-bios that tell their stories.  Like this? Then you should check out the slideshow of The Women of Squaw Valley

Other great stories to check out:

• Catch up on the World Championships of skiing in Germany.
• See who the season-ending champs were in the Dew Tour.
• This winner in our Outdoor Adventures Video Contest shared her rescue from high in the Tetons.

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.

Our latest video contest winner takes on a hair-raising, high-stakes rescue on Grand Teton

It’s time to announce our next winner in the Swany Outdoor Adventure Video Contest. Meet Michelle Smith of Jackson, Wyo., who takes us on an adventure unlike any we have featured so far, one that that will raise the hair on the back of your neck and leave you with vertigo. Her story, which earns her our “monthly” award prize, is how she suffered terrible injuries in a climbing accident and … well, let Michelle tell the story.

In her own words: “I have been climbing up peaks in the Tetons and snowboarding down them for the past 4 seasons. The climbing fall I took happened on the Grand Teton last August. I slipped on ice and fell about 30 feet. During the fall I shattered my leg, broke my back in two places, and suffered multiple contusions. Luckily my climbing partner that day, Stephen Koch, is one of the best alpinists and snowboard mountaineers in the world. He helped me to stay calm during my rescue.  I have been recovering from this climbing accident for the past 5 and a half months and expect to make a 100% recovery. I just made my first pain-free turns snowboarding on Feb. 13.  My recovery plan during the past 5 months has been physical therapy, swimming, skate skiing, climbing up 1,500 vertical feet on Snow King Mountain in Jackson Hole and then taking the lift down, and rock climbing in the gym with my good leg.

For her video, Michelle gets a helmet cam, courtesy 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:

• See what Lindsey Vonn just said about her health for the rest of the World Cup schedule.
• 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.

That’s a wrap: Frenchman takes men’s slalom to conclude World Championships in Germany

Jean-Baptiste Grange flashes his golden smile after men's slalom victory

And on the last day … Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange won the gold medal in  slalom at the World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkitchen, Germany. It’s been awhile for the French, who haven’t had a world championship since 1970. Even more interestingly the win gave the French two gold medals (they won the team competition) while the host Germans won no medals. Find out who filled out the podium by reading this story.

DAY TWELVE

The Austrian women’s ski team may not want to leave the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Germany. World Cup slalom leader Mariles Schild won gold in the slalom on Saturday, the Austrian team’s fourth win in five events. The Americans didn’t factor: Resie Stiegler was the top U.S. finisher in 18th place, while Julia Mancuso failed to finish the first run. Read more.

DAY ELEVEN

Now THAT’S how the World Championships ought to be winding up for the Americans! Ted Ligety claimed gold in the giant slalom on Friday. In some ways the win was no surprise, since he had won three of five GS races his season, but a deteriorating course in Garmisch-Partenkitchen, Germany, made for hazardous skiing. Bode Miller had the fastest  second run, but wound up 12th thanks to issues with the conditions on his first run. Read more.

DAY TEN

It was a first for Tina Maze and her home country in giant slalom at the World Championships. For Maze, it was her first gold medal at a major championship after four silvers and it was the first gold ever for Slovenia. See the rest of the results.

DAY EIGHT

It’s official: Lindsey Vonn will skip the three remaining events at the World Championships to see if she can resolve lingering issues caused by a hard training fall two weeks ago that has left her foggy and losing concentration while racing. Even though Vonn had run ninth in Super G and an amazing second in Downhill at the World Championships, many have questioned the decision to let her race when she was admittedly not entirely recovered from the hard blow to the head.

For her part, Vonn has said she “passed all the tests” and trusted the U.S. Ski Team doctors that cleared her to race. Here’s what she said in a conference call. Vonn’s not the only one ailing. German superstar Maria Riesch will skip the team race on Wednesday to recover from lingering effects of the flu in hopes she will be better prepared for the giant slalom and slalom events at Worlds.

DAY SEVEN

Enough of these upsets! Aksel Lund Svindal repeated as the gold medalist in super combined at the World Championships on Monday. American Bode Miller stood 10th after the downhill portion but crashed out of the slalom on the second gate. Find out who else medaled by reading the story.

One day after Lindsey Vonn battled through her concussion symptoms to take silver in the downhill, The New York Times has a story that casts a critical eye on the U.S. Ski Team’s handling of her symptoms, suggesting they had taken a huge risk to let her ski. Read more.

DAY SIX

Say what you want about Lindsey Vonn, but everyone should agree on one thing: she’s one tough skier.

The American superstar proved that fact again on Sunday when she managed an impressive second place finish in the downhill, in the wake of a bad training accident the week before, at the World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkitchen, Germany.  Elisabeth Göergl of Austria took gold while Vonn’s chief rival, Maria Riesch, took bronze (another gutsy performance, given her recent bout with the flu). Read more.

WEEK ONE RESULTS: Today’s race began week two of the World Championships. Catch up with all the winners and news in week one here.

The Swany Outdoor Adventures Video Contest rolled on recently as we revealed our fourth winner, riding the pow in Vail AND flying through the aire. 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 or follow us on Twitter.

Schlopy wins the day at Dew Tour, Bobby Brown owns the season; Louie Vito, Kelly Clark also win

Here’s ALL the news from The Dew Tour, Aspen Snowmass Open & Gatorade Free Flow Tour, thanks to Freeskier.

The Dew Tour Championships

Bobby Brown and Louie Vito won Dew Tour Championships this weekend, even if they didn’t get on the podium.

Brown finished fourth on Sunday in men’s freeski slopestyle, but still won the season title based on silver and gold finishes in previous Dew Cup stops in Breckenridge and Killington. Alex Schlopy, just 18, won his first Winter Dew Tour final in the slopestyle to add to his X Games gold. Read more.

Vito didn’t win the men’s superpipe event Saturday at the Dew Tour Championships, but like Brown, he claimed the season championship based on previous results. Luke Mitrani topped the podium while Vito wound up seventh. Read more.

It was a French invasion on Saturday in men’s ski superpipe at the Dew Tour Championships as Kevin Rolland’s amazing run took gold, but find out the surprise second-place finisher. Read more and see a slideshow.

On the women’s side, Kelly Clark continued her impressive snowboard season by winning the superpipe event and clinching the season title.  Read more.

PREVIEW

It’s another big weekend for winter extreme sports as the Winter Dew Tour Toyota Championships invade Snowbasin in Utah. Expect the usual suspects: Louie Vito, Simon Dumont and Bobby Brown on the men’s side, with Kelly Clark, Elena Hight and Queralt Castellet for the women. Qualifying begins Friday with a free concert by Ice Cube wrapping up the night in Ogden. On Saturday you can see men’s and women’s finals in Freeski and Snowboard Superpipe. Sunday brings finals in men’s and women’s finals in Freeski and Snowboard Slopestyle. What does the slopestyle course look like? Take a video tour and ride it yourself! Check out this event preview from the Dew Tour and this story from the Deseret News. Here’s how to watch on TV.

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.