Summer 2013

Wow I cannot believe how fast time is flying by this summer. It just seems like yesterday that I was coming back from Alaska with a blown ACL now it is September almost October I still don't have it fixed but plans to have it replaced are right around the corner.

To summarize some of the greater events of this past summer; first starting with a blown ACL when I went to go in for surgery I got a call that my father was not doing well so postponed surgery and went to California instead, I was there for his passing and I know that meant a lot to him.

Shortly after ceremonies for my father I was given an invite to go to Poland and compete in a European Colt Starting Championship. With no ACL I was definitely a little hesitant but decided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like this doesn't come along twice so I better jump on it. Boy am I sure glad I did because I ended up winning the whole thing and now I'm invited back to Poland for three weeks in October to teach clinics all around the country. So stoked!

Surgery is now scheduled for when I get back from Poland and I sure am looking forward to surgery and rehab and being able to hit the slopes by January after a good lengthy rehab.

PS I will give a summary and details of competition in another post.

Play hard and be safe. Until next time,

Happy Trails,

Joe "Turns" Turner

2013 Getting Started

So 2013 just keeps rocking along! It has been a great year so far and it is just beginning. The New Year kicked off with some great skiing here in Southwest Montana and then took a small break while we went down to Denver Colorado for SIA the annual ski tradeshow. It was a great time with events happening all day and night, including Winter on the Rocks' second annual concert by Icelantic premiering Macklemore and Ryan Lewis! It was such a good time! Now back here in Montana and the skiing is pretty darn good. Getting a lot of work done with photographers and a little bit of filming work done as well. Stay tuned, thanks for checking in and I'll have some goodies out for everyone soon.

So here we are, Fall once again! I love this time of year; the leaves are changing color and falling from the trees, the elk bugle screams through the air, the nights get cold and we see the occasional dusting of snow. The more important fact to me however is, winter is right around the corner! So as usual, I, like so many others, get excited and start itching for snow to fall. For me this time marks time for prepping my mind and body for ski season, my soul is always ready for it! So to get my mind and body ready I go see Rolf Wilson at Main Street Fitness and his Ski Conditioning Class where his aim is to “make people puke”! Seriously though, this class is designed for champions by a champion. For those who don’t know, Rolf holds the World Record for Alpine Ski Jumping at 355’! He is a badass in the gym and on the slopes. Ultimately Rolf is a super nice guy except of course when he is trying to make one puke! Well in his efforts on Day 1 he put me through some endurance and strength tests to see where I had fallen off over the lazy summer of riding horses and hanging out with my kids.

The tests checked my Aerobic Fitness, Muscular Strength, Stability & Core Strength and Overall Fitness. He had me doing squats, bench presses, lunges with twists, uneven squats to jumps, push-ups, pull-ups, weight machine reps, uneven planks and crazy warm up stuff! Oh yeah did forget to mention the 4 flights of stairs in the parking garage that yuo have to run up and down on for it seems like forever (that one gets a lot of people spending time in the tripod position!! Boy did I sure get my butt kicked but it sure felt great to get back into the gym and be active again! I have now finished Day 2 of Pre-Conditioning and I am not only feeling better but I am also gaining strength mentally and physically! Albeit little strides but noticeable none the less! My Overall Assessment during Day 1 was Normal! Aaaaargh!!! Day 2 went by much quicker and I was already feeling a difference of just a couple of days with my body now adapting to the rigorous workout that I was giving it! The squats, the lunges, the skipping, the weights, the machines all trying to rip my muscles apart and make them stronger! And we haven’t even started running and strengthening exercises yet! Stay tuned as I work my way through this class and keep you all updated to the progress (and pain) that happens on a weekly basis! Even better you should join us at Main Street Fitness located at 7 West Main Street in Bozeman, MT. You can even call them at 506-556-2200! Ski Conditioning Class is starting October 23-November 24, 2012 and will be held on Tuesdays & Thursdays at various times to be able to accommodate your schedule. This is a custom designed program by Rolf Wilson, current World Record Holder in Alpine Ski Jumping. This intense class is guaranteed to get you ready for the slopes. This is one of their special classes: price is $129 A great bargain for a great program! Check them out today at www.mainstreetfitness.net

Life in the Fast Lane

Wow, does the time fly. I can't believe how fast the time goes not just by the minute but also by the day and year. As we just celebrated my daughter's 5 year birthday with a party of her fiends here at my house I reflect back through some of the years. Not only the time with her but also with my son and and all other friends and family. How the memories are great and I reflect on how blessed I have been through the years. I look forward to the many many more years that I have to make more memories!

Some recent memories of lately are being out in the mountains and have included some great adventures here in South West Montana, my other travels have been good too but the best ski days so far this year have been here in snowy Montana. Too many things to recount so I will try to highlight a few events that really made this year a great one so far; Incredible skiing in Middle and Beehive Basins in the Big Sky Backcountry including skiing the 4th of July Couloir in early January, skiing near waist-deep powder in the Big Couloir, thigh deep first tracks in the North Summit Snowfield, skiing with 18 Mountain Goats in the Lost Lake Cirque, getting first tracks in First Fork of the Headwaters Bowl, Straight-lining A-Z chutes and Bert's Main at Big Sky Resort and more. Some other great moments of this year so far would be ripping around on the new Icelantic Nomad RKR (my new fav ski!), SIA, Winter on the Rocks at Red Rocks, CO, hanging with Erick of Atmosphere out and about in the big city of Denver, and of course skiing with my kids and Briahna's 5th birthday!!

As with all things there are the pro's and con's to life and some of these con's have been losing some of the greatest people in the ski industry this season to the other side. Please everyone be very very careful out there this season the snow is incredibly variable so please use your heads and come back alive so us as your friends and loved ones can enjoy life's greatest moments together! Thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by these tragedies!!

I highly recommend getting knowledge of backcountry travel and not expect your equipment to keep you alive only smart decisions can do that!

For the most innovative of Avalanche Survival Tools check out Mystery ranch Backpack: BlackJack Avalanche Air-Bag at  http://www.mysteryranch.com/recreation/skiing-snowboarding-packs/blackjack-pack.

Welcome 2012

The new year has been incredible so far! After spending the X-Mas week in California with my kids and the dry weather I was welcomed home to a 3 day powder storm! Needless to say the skiing has been phenomenal!

Hanging with the fam in Cali for a week was great! I spent some time golfing and got to meet my new little niece Paige as well as my kids got lots of time to hang out with their cousins, so great to see them all play together. California was fun but it is always nice to get home to Montana! Like I said I was greeted by three days of powder falling from the heavens and was it oh so nice to land in a blizzard! While most of the states are hurting for the white fluffy substance we here in South West Montana have been fairing decently with our snow pack. Alas we do have a dangerous base that developed and there have been a few fatalities. Please be careful while out traveling and playing in the back country!

With that being said the skiing has been great and we have been trying to get after some of the better skiing while keeping avalanches in mind. We have been doing quite a bit of travel in the Beehive Basin and Middle Basin areas of the Big Sky back country. We have been finding great snow and stablizing conditions. Pretty much all west and south facing aspects are now a hard sun-bake while the east and northern facing aspects are still nice and soft and skiing good, the snow-pack is healing nicely and upon inspection we have found about 12" of soft wind snow on top of about 30" of condensed well bonded snow pack sitting on top of about another 12" of faceted sugar which is getting compressed and condensed daily making for a stronger base. Shovel shear tests were able to define the layers but upon compression tests and reusch block tests the snow seemed to be well anchored! Game on!!

Have to take a break today though, after 3 days of incredible skiing, to get hay for the horses and catch up with the world. I have lots of video to edit and will try to get out an shorty soon so be patient. In the mean time pray for snow and be safe in your adventures!

P.S. Moonlight Basin will be hosting the FWT Qualifiers this Jan 2012 so if around come out and support Moonlight Basin and the competitiors of the FWT!

Ski ya later,
Joe "Turns" Turner

Some of the lines that are skiing well right now! Beehive Basin, SW MT Backcountry

Moon Rising over the Beehive Basin Buttress!

Holiday Powder!

So the Holiday Season is upon us. Merry Christmas everyone!

The past couple of weeks have been the epitome of early season training. Not a lot of snow on the ground and the backcountry has just been a little too dangerous to really do anything of great fun so we have been in conditioning mode for winter. Well it seems to have finally hit this week!

This year's Winter Solstice decided to make sure it would be noticed and remembered as a day that still holds clout when the Solstice graced us with a foot of new snow, the weather gurus estimated 3" - 5". Love it when they are wrong like this, bless their hearts, he he. Winter is full on now with bell to bell face shots accompanied with burning quads fueled by whoots and hollers. The sounds of "so sick" and "hell yeah" were echoed all day in between shit eating grins and experiences that make us remember that life is meant to be lived to it's fullest. Can't wait to experience this with my kids! :-)

Some how Brad Biolo and I managed to be one step ahead of the crowd this particular day and while everyone was waiting around for chairs to open we happened to be getting first tracks in all the zones we were hitting. Making a few laps, never crossing a track, and then head to a new lift just as they were opening it. Make a few more virgin laps and then on to the next lift, that was the progress of the entire day until around 3:30pm the quads, glutes and calves screamed for forgiveness. OK, time to rest and fuel up there is always tomorrow!

This past few weeks also saw new product being delivered from sponsors. Core Concepts shipment came in and I must say that this year's line is SICK! Diggin the new Entourage and the changes to the Stripes sweater are bomber. Again every piece is well made and stylie. Don't forget that you can get all of their products at 50% off when you go to www.corelayers.com and enter code "jturn50" upon check out. Use it up and tell your friends too!

Mystery Ranch Backpacks also has made sure that my travel and adventures would be well organized with new travel bags and accessories. Check them out at www.mysteryranch.com, guaranteed to be the BEST hand made backpacks and bags you have ever used!The Spandura line is killer and really stoked on my One Man Duffel!

All right enough for now...

P.S. There will be a Jamie Pierre Memorial Fundraiser for the wife of the late Jamie Pierre, Aimee, and their kids Clementine and Royal. Please contribute and help with some form generosity for this incredible woman and her kids!!!

Merry Christmas and Face Shots to All.

Turns

Skiing Magazine Dec 2011

Here is another published photo from our Alaska trip this past winter. This was taken while on our recon mission of Manitoba Mountain on the Kenai peninsula. Great photo by Tom Winter and published in the Dec 2011 issue of Skiing magazine! Thanks for all the support and don't forget to get in motion with the Mountain Rider's Alliance, we are changing the face of ski areas!

www.MountainRidersAlliance.com 

Winter is underway...

So as the world continues to spin and as the the winter sets in we find our selves in the Holiday Season! For most that I know this is a fun, family filled time of the year and not only a time of reception but also a time of reflection and thankfulness, a conscious acknowledgment of the gifts and blessing that each one of of us have. This winter is starting off particularly tough for a few that I know and for the ski community with the loss of our friend Jamie Pierre and then his mother, Pam Pierre. I pray that the times get easier and sympathetic for the Pierre family and the blessings just pour into them. They are an incredible family that has endured a lot in a short amount of time. I am thankful for my family and for this life that I have been gifted with. Donations can be made at Wells Fargo Bank to "Jamie Pierre Memorial Fund" for the benefit of his wife Amee and his children Clementine and Royal. The snowpack here in the majority of the Northern Rockies is pretty rough starting as well with a large layer of faceted snow acting as the bonding zone between the snowpack and the ground. What that basically means is that we have a lot of great snow sitting on top of a layer of 6"-8" of Styrofoam packing peanuts. Please be careful out in the backcountry while traveling around. Think avalanche in all conditions and watch and listen for whooomps, cracks, faceted layers, and all other tell tale signs to a suspect slope. There is a lot of "season" to go so we can always ride tomorrow and live today! Go take an avalanche course and save your life as well as your friends! Thanksgiving was good and I hope it was well for all of you as well. Big Sky Resort opened for the season on Thanksgiving morning so I took the fam up to the snow, I skied the groomers for a while then played in the snow with the kids and the sleds for a bit. Turkey dinner was great that night and of course I ate too much! Again thankful for all the blessings and people in my life! Freezers are full of elk and all we need is some snow on these meager snow packs that we have, Christmas is right around the corner and we have a chance to show all how thankful we are for our lives! What are you doing for Christmas Season? New Year's Eve? Have any ski plans? If in this part of Montana then hit me up also I will be in California from Dec 26th - Dec 30th. Looking forward to seeing the family and also some maritime snow love! Don't forget Moonlight Basin is having some great Holidays Specials so don't miss out at www.moonlightbasin.com P.S. Order gifts for your loved ones and yourself from www.corelayers.com and enter code "jturns50" when checking out and get 50% off entire order! Happy Holidays! Ski ya later, Turns

Life in Ski South West Montana

So life continues to rock on here in south west Montana. Everyday brings me closer and closer to achieving my dreams of having this website and magazine up and in full throttle. Everyday I am meeting more and more incredible people to share my journey with and to be included in theirs is a huge blessing! I believe that we have something to learn from every person that we come into contact with! Whether we have our eyes, ears and hearts open to their message is another matter altogether.

Yesterday was Ski South West Montana athlete Paul Herberger's birthday and the day before was his girlfriends birthday so we celebrated out on the town and once again had an incredible time! My body was actually sore from all the laughing, boogieing down and over all good fun that we had! Today was another day of great progress and meetings for Ski South West Montana and the future looks very bright!

Forecast calls for snow here in the valleys next week and skiing is right around the corner! Hunting season starts this weekend and all my projects that I am involved with seem to be just exploding! I again just have to thank all my great friends, support crew, sponsors and family for all the support and am stoked on all the now contacts that seem to fall into place daily! This world is amazing and I couldn't ask for a better life although we all have our problems and the roller coaster ride of life and emotions it really is all about what we make of them. Do we pick our selves back up out of the dirt and learn from our mistakes or do we lay on the ground looking at all the crap surrounding us, I believe we are made to fall so we learn how to do it better next time! Hindsight is always 20/20 so take a brief glimpse back and learn and then watch for the next step and the open doors! The doors are always opening so take advantage of what you have been blessed with and don't stay stuck in the doorway trying to figure out whether to stay or go right or go left, just do it! Commit, enjoy and live life!!!

This season's first published shots! Mountain Mag 2 page spread!

Here is the 2 page spread with my first two published shots of the season, so stoked. Thanks Mountain Mag, Tom Winter, Mountain Rider's Alliance, Icelantic Boards, Zeal Optics, Core Concepts, Columbia, Leki, Swany, Bern Helmets, DownUnder Insoles, Main Street Fitness, Mystery Ranch Backpacks, Moonlight Basin, Dry Guy & Crash Pads for all the support. Looking forward to another great season!!