The Weekender: Snoop Dogg narrates; backcountry skiing phenom; more
Every Friday in The Weekender we take a look at the best videos from the week that was—like surfing in Bend, Oregon and Snoop Dogg's new documentary—and give you a preview of some of the most important events in the world of action and outdoor sports coming up this weekend.
This is Not a Disability
While most people would find skiing in the backcountry a serious endeavor with two legs, Vasu Sojitra doesn’t care for excuses. Sojitra was stricken with a blood disease known as Septicemia as a child and had to have one of his limbs amputated. It has never stopped him from doing what he’s passionate about: namely skiing. He released this trip report from an expedition into Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains where he stayed at the Bench Hut run by Sun Valley Trekking. The University of Vermont graduate custom built himself a pair of poles using snowshoe parts to make a wider base when he climbs so his poles don’t sink through the snow. And he skis really well. Here’s more on Vasu’s story from T Bar films, as well. Kind of reminds you to check your excuses at the door.
Snoop Dogg On Animals
Snoop Dogg doing narration of animal fights? This is some Internet genius. Why didn’t someone think of this earlier? Apparently a whole base of fans did. Inspired by Snoop’s regular appearances on Jimmy Kimmel’s ‘Plizzanet Earth,’ an online petition that sought to have the ‘dee oh double G’ narrate Animal Planet, a BBC docu series, went viral, garnering some 75,000 signatures. And Snoop’s people ran with it. ‘Planet Snoop,’ will air exclusively on the rapper’s marijuana-centric Internet media platform, MerryJane.com. The great outdoors never sounded so cool. Hopefully, we’ll get plenty of gems like this: "If he can bust a nut, you know he can bust a snake head open, no problem!"
The Road with Family
There is absolutely nothing like getting outside and living the life with family. Here, Herbie Fletcher and son Nathan re-ignite their love for Baja, Mexico with a road trip full of surf, camping and just being together. Herbie is one of surfing’s most influential surfers and entrepreneurs who has played an integral part in promoting both the sport’s equipment and lifestyle. His son Nathan is an equally influential, modern-day big wave charger and performance surfer (Herbie’s other son, Christian, helped ignite surfing’s aerial revolution in the 1990s). Together, Herbie and Nathan explore life south of the border, an experience Herbie often provided for his children when he was raising them. Candid interviews act as narration for this gem from Riley Blakeway, an Australian filmmaker based in Los Angeles.
The Surf is Everywhere
The inland surf movement has certainly taken hold in the last decade. And whitewater parks have had a lot to do with it. Missoula, Montana, Boise, Idaho and now Bend, Oregon, featured here in a short edit from Bend-local Paul Clark, have played a big part in opening up the sport to aspiring surfers who don’t live anywhere near the ocean. And the conditions are never that bad. In this piece, Conway Bixby shreds the new Bend Whitewater Park to pieces on a fun looking retro board. And this is low water. Wait until the spring runoff really gets started. Similarly, a new surf park is set to open in Austin, Texas sometime this spring based off the Wavegarden technology out of Europe. That park is 160-acres and includes lodging, food, retail locations and a surf school. There is little doubt now that the inland surf revolution is on.
What’s On Tap?
Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach | WorldSurfleague.com | All weekend
The men and women of the World Surf League will by vying to “ring the Bell,” all weekend as the World Tour heads into the second stop of the Australian leg at Bells Beach. Power surfing will be on display on the open walls of the famous beach some 50 miles southwest of Melbourne.
Best of X Games Oslo | ABC | Saturday, 2 p.m. EST
ESPN will air a one-hour best of show Saturday recapping this year’s X Games Oslo competition. Chloe Kim’s win in the superpipe will take center stage as will the rest of the superpipe and big air podium finishers.
