La Nina, take a bow. Thanks to the weather pattern that is known for precipitation, the ski fields of America's North West received a right royal pounding this winter just gone.
Snowbird in Utah copped over 18 metres of snow in their best season on record. Breckenridge and Vail in Colorado broke their records too with Vail having the best season in 10 years. Squaw Valley in California hit the 18-metre-plus mark, another record breaking figure, and Whistler Blackcomb in Canada recorded it's second snowiest winter on record.
The optimist in me thinks snow is like a new release movie, it opens in North America first and presents itself in all it's red carpet glory to Australia second. With that delusional logic I am convinced Australia and New Zealand are in for their own pounding come winter time with tales of broken snow records and powder face shots as early as June.
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Australia has already broken records before a single flake of Australasian snow has fallen in 2011. Alex Chumpy Pullin from Mt Buller in Victoria became our first World Champion in boarder cross at the FIS World Championships in La Molina, Spain in January. He went on to claim the Crystal Globe for ranking first for the entire winter season in March giving him the double hitter.
Sydney-based halfpipe snowboarder, Nate Johnstone, did the same as Chumpy in his discipline. Aussie Holly Crawford also stepped it up winning the World Championship title for halfpipe snowboarding in January and finishing the season second in the world.
Anna Segal and Russ Henshaw represented Australia in ski slopestyle at the Aspen X Games and the FIS Freeski World Championships in Deer Valley, Park City. Russ came home with a silver in Aspen and a bronze at Deer Valley. Anna stepped it up in Deer Valley and took first place on the podium and world championship status giving us four world championships in snow sports in the 2010/2011 season.
The Ski and Snowboard Australia (SSA) organisation praised all four by awarding them the coveted Suzuki Snowsport Athlete of the Year Award. Though we can't help but think a gold star for each misses the point - imagine if the Academy Awards gave each nominated actress the Oscar because they couldn't decide, or if the prestigious Laureus Sports Awards did the same?
Regardless, all this record breaking has got me thinking about our winter season, less than six weeks away. Perisher and Thredbo in Australia and Treble Cone in New Zealand are all launching radio frequency identity passes for less time in the lift queues and the ability to pre-purchase online. Mt Hotham has a new iPhone app so you can check lift status, snow reports and entertainment updates and a new 'indoor endless dry ski slope', AlpineX, arrives in Melbourne for those who just can't wait.
The Hilton comes to Queenstown with a brand new resort on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, Cardrona has a new chairlift and Treble Cone has partnered with Glenorchy Air for 15-minute day flights to Treble Cone from Queenstown. Plus it's the year for the Winter Games NZ when the elite snowsports world descend upon New Zealand's South Island.
I for one am already dreaming of burnt out thighs, chapped lips and frozen smiles. So to get me, and you, in the mood and get us through the next five and a half weeks before the chairlifts start turning I have thrown together some of my favourite ski and snowboard clips from the web below.
Snow It All is also giving one lucky reader a GE DV1 Full HD Mini Camcorder that's waterproof and shockproof and designed for the great outdoors so you can make your own snow films this winter. It has an integrated USB stick so you just plug and upload to the web. Full details on how to enter are at the end of this blog.
Below, twin tip creator and ski god, Mike Douglas, goes heli skiing in interior British Columbia, Canada with Salomon Freeski TV. Disclaimer: tissues may be required to mop up drool
Jackson Hole in Wyoming have done their own tilt shift style video of skiing in the backcountry. This effect makes everything appear miniature and was used by Whistler for their Whistler XXS video too.