Alden Spence, skiing’s playboy model weighs in on snurfing, skiing for Joystick, & more. What’s it like being a prettyboi Versace model? How has this lifestyle influenced your skiing? Actually a Versace ad You might be the 4th NS employee to ask me about modeling. It’s all hype, a fantastic running joke. No checks, no fast cars… no car at all right now, no Milan fashion week here. What has been your idea behind the Dark Futures & Joystick webisodes?...

I grew up at one of those fabled local hills. As I grew up I began to drift away from Baldy. I skied at bigger, more famous hills. They were steeper, and had more snow, and faster chairlifts. On paper those hills seemed a heck of a lot better than ol Baldy. Last winter, I had a chance to go back to my home hill on a Saturday afternoon. I had been seriously sick with mono for a few months, and was just regaining my skiing legs....

The Wanna be a Knight? online video competition is looking for fresh talent to complete the roundtable of esteemed knights. If you think you have what it takes, send in a short edit to participate. The Il Castello setup is rising to the occasion with more ingenious features and creative transfer options. 
Wanna Be A Knight? Send in a max. 2-minute video with your nine best tricks, show us airtime with technique and style....

Meet Cora, the 6 month old Australian Sheppard who LOVES to play in the mountains. What’s your favorite toy? What do you like better, water or snow? I LOVE SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! My mom keeps trying to convince me that I like water but I don’t see it happening. I don’t know why anyone wants near that stuff. I get really concerned around waterfalls too. My mom always makes me take pictures and I get really sad....

Blizzard may not be a name too familiar to the average park rider. Having skied and enjoyed other Blizzard skis in the past I was optimistic about what these skis could offer. One thing I did question the rep on was the mount point. There is a scale on the ski with recommended being 0cm which is 6cm behind center. One thing I was noticing however was I was struggling with the lack of tail....

A towering rendition of Sazae-san, Japan’s most beloved manga family. Around two million tourists from across the world come to Yuki-matsuri each year. Anime characters are a popular theme. Twelve international teams took part in a snow sculpture contest. This was the Malaysian team’s entry. Team Malaysia’s Kenyah tribesman. Weapon of choice: the blowpipe. But the team from Thailand took the win with their sculpture of “The Ubiquitous Tuk-Tuk.” A traditional Hokkaido family harvesting wheat....

There was a lot of cool shit at SIA. Electric Moon Trooper Helmet Alright that’s not the actual name of it (maybe it is?). I did not find out what they call this hilarious helmet mask combo. Everyone will be peeping the steeze with these. Vishnu Wet Kale and Emmett were the coolest dudes I met at SIA. They are the true (TRUUUUUUUUUuuuuu) definition of building a company based off their passion....

The good people at Line Skis have teamed up with NS to revamp the Member of the Month contest. Congrats to this month’s MOTM winner stupendous-man! I’ll probably try dubs with a landing next time. I’ve been on NS for a few years and it has taught me so much about skiing. I usually just post whatever is on my mind, and I guess people think that is funny sometimes....

But who are the people behind the parties? The folks behind the fun? The riff raff behind the rabble? I give to you, the Humans Of SIA. Charlie Owens- (beer connoisseur) What do you have to say to the people of Newschoolers? “Yikes, I’ve got a lot of things I could tell Newschoolers” Just one thing? “It’s a roller coaster ride.” “I was in St Thomas and we wanted to swim through this underwater arch....

Cam, this year you joined the 4FRNT Global Team. Can you tell us a bit about your decision to move to them? Where do you feel the ski movie industry is heading? It’s obvious that there is this desire for mass amounts of shorter, online based content. My hope is that the public’s interests circle back to the full length films. Similarly, what are your feelings on Stept’s decision to not produce a movie this year?...

By this point I’m sure most people have seen the information flying around about the Backland. I will hopefully be getting them back to do a more in depth review. The pair I would be trying were the Backland Carbon. These are not the super light version but are still incredibly light. The tongue was removed and the boot put into walk mode and I pulled it on. Instantly I was impressed by how natural the fit felt....

Living in London and only usually getting a week or two on snow every winter, I tend to satisfy my cravings by watching the X Games, ski movies and segments posted on NewSchoolers. But while its good to keep up to date with the latest big mountain lines and progressive new tricks, there are only so many Alaskan face shots and Himalayan expeditions I can take before I start to switch off....

Can you guess what colour and size Masta Killa ended up picking? Here’s a few more photos of Phil Casabon’s B-Dog Jacket in action.