Product Testing Mission

Our friends at Silverton Powdercats treated us to a day of awesome turns in the San Juan backcountry earlier this week. We used the opportunity to take the crew on a little product testing mission. Prototype boards for the 09.10 season were under foot - including some new rockered shapes. We can't say too much about next year's top secret board lineup at this point, but you can see from the photos below that we had a rockin good time!

Thanks to Jon, Todd and Tim at Silverton Powdercats for hooking it up (including a great lunch spread!). Check out their operation at www.snowcat-powder.com. And muchas gracias to photographers Scott Smith and Jason Ebelheiser for spending a powder day behind the lens!

December Photo Winner Announced

The winner of this month's photo contest is Natalie Cromwell.



Natalie's photo of fellow rider Chris Gallardo bursting from a cloud of cold smoke elicited hoots and hollers from our judges, who also commented on the photo's use of crisp black and white imagery. Natalie will be rewarded with a Venture t-shirt and pint glass, and will also be entered into the grand prize competition, giving her a one in seven chance of winning a brand spanking new Venture deck.

Several other photos earned our judges' accolades this month as runners-up, including Sam Kikuchi's photo of some determined hikers earning their turns on the Center Ridge at Alyeska Resort in AK.


Gene Sackman's very artistic black and white photo of Aspen trees taken near Telluride, CO also appealed. Can I get a copy of this to hang on my wall?



Kelly Chaffee's shot of a rider shredding a couple feet of freshies in the White Mountains of New Hampshire was noted for its great composition - our judges really liked the way the trees framed the rider. Yay for New England pow days!


Lastly, Dave Dunmeyer's shot of a Colorado local launching over a trail sign in downtown Pagosa Springs, CO was chosen for its composition and perfect timing. Too bad that's not a Venture under foot!


Many thanks to all the photographers who entered this month's competition. There was definitely some great eye candy in this batch!

If you missed this round, you still have three more chances to get a shot at the grand prize – a brand spanking new Venture board. Monthly competitions will take place from now through March 2009, with winners entered into a second tier competition, to be judged in early April. The contest theme is "The Mountain Life" and anything goes - lifestyle, action, scenic, humor... as long as it reflects life in the mountains.

Click here for details on how to enter.

Think snow!