America

LINE

2011-09-23T09:31:00.000-07:00

I can't wait for this upcoming season to begin, mostly because I will be riding on Line Skis! Last week I made it official that I'm going to be on the Line team this season! so yay! they made a blog post about it here: Line Skis News I couldn't be more excited to get this season going!!

This was my personal mini edit from a trip to Pennsylvania last year Line posted it on their Youtube page. You should check that out because there are so many great edits and videos to watch on that page it'll take up your day or give you some procrastination material!

Snowbird

2011-04-30T16:39:00.000-07:00

I skied a nice snowy weekend at Snowbird with my uncle and cousin who visited from Alaska. And got some POV footy, enough to make a short edit.

Homecoming

2011-04-30T15:56:00.000-07:00

Last month I had the chance to make my way down to Seven Springs Pennsylvania, with an invite to attend Kristi Leskinen's Homecoming competition. But due to a number of ill-timed injuries most of the field was unable to attend. So myself and five other girls got to play around the mountain and get filmed with all the crazy shinanigans that Seven Springs has to offer. Below is the edit that was made of the weekend, it depicts the fun times that were had by all. yay

Off to a Great Start!!

2010-11-17T15:06:00.000-08:00

So far this season is off to a great start! I'm loving every moment of it!

There's a lot more to come!!

Kabe loves to swim!

2010-10-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

This is Kabe!

She loves to swim!

Beautiful!

Summer Hustlin

2010-09-06T13:02:00.000-07:00

All work this summer, equals more time to play this winter!

Spring!

2010-05-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't been updating my blog as much as I would like to the last part of the season my camera died, I kind of expected it to seeing as I found it in the snow while hiking around Brighton in the post season. It lasted me one good year and made it through a month of commercial fishing, some backcountry adventures and being thrown around quite a bit.

This past week I went up to Mt. Hood for a few fun days of skiing with everyone that was invited to the West Coast Sessions put on by Amplid. The turn out was awesome everybody threw down considering the weather was very stubborn and couldn't make up it's mind about staying sunny or dumping snow. But I've learned that that is to be expected when dealing with Timberline. All in all I had a great time! Thanks to Brandon Pastucka for putting on yet another great event.

I snagged this photo from the Surface Blog.

Now that I've been sitting at my mom's house for a bit I decided to work on my season edit. I managed to gather enough shots from the season to make a decent one. I wish I could have gotten more shots of better tricks but those will have to wait for another time. I'm pretty proud of it, mostly because I did all the editing with some help from friends who actually know how to edit. I think its my best yet. But there is still some room for improvement. Which is what is so great about this sport, you can always improve on something! Enjoy!

Erica Durtschi Skis in 2010 from Erica Durtschi on Vimeo.

I also have this up on the Saga Blog as well, go check out the new stuff that gets posted all day everyday there!

skiing update

2010-02-21T08:13:00.000-08:00

The weather here has been subpar and I keep thinking that it's april instead of February. But no matter we've had enough snow to play with, it'd just be very nice if we could get more. I've acquired a few good photos of me skiing.

It was a crappy day so I went to a golf course to see if anything looked fun and found these

It's like marioland

I had absolutley no speed, but this photo was fun to play with on a mellow day

Then I jumped off a bridge.

a very nice sunny day at Park City

and a picnic table

then we got the most majestic shot of this golden eagle. He flew right over us and I'm so glad we got this shot.

Now today is calling for 100% chance of snow in the Little Cottonwood Canyon, and I just got some Trekkers so I can now use my skins! Hooray.

Canyons Dec 20, Boxzilla

2009-12-21T08:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went up to the Canyons with Witt Foster and Saga Friends Brady Perron and Sam Webb to hit the 196″ Box named Boxzilla. It was a fun day the box was much easier for snowboarders to hit, I 50/50 it and actually made it to the end. Hennie VJ was there filming for us so he made an edit of the day which is down below for you to watch.

twinsies. This is Steph, she has good taste

Boxzilla...rraar!

Me taming Boxzilla

Canyons Dec 20th ... BOXZILLA ! from Hennie vJ on Vimeo.

December 6

2009-12-06T17:53:00.000-08:00

Today we got a little bit of new snow to play with here in Utah. Unfortunately it was 19 degrees out so we couldn’t play very long, my feet wouldn’t allow it. So instead of going to PC today I went to ski for free after three at Alta for a few good runs. Then after that I went snurfing in a park. All in all it I had a good time in my new vadar jacket and varsity pants!!

Skiing:

Snow Skate/ Snurfing:

Have a good season!

Art class

2009-11-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

I am taking a foundation drawing class for school this semester and I had to do a two point view/ Perspective study. We pretty much got to choose what we were drawing, so I chose the photo of Angeli Vanlaanen from an issue of Freeskier magazine that was lying around my house. I had to draw everything boxy and show the plane changes, I'm so happy with how it turned out! weee

Saga Blog

2009-11-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

So I am skiing with my older brother Tim on Saga this season. I'm very excited about it they have the best outerwear and it actually fits! yay. Anyway, I will be posting updates on the Saga Blog this season and I will try to keep this one up as well, but more people look at the Saga Blog than they look at my personal blog. So go check them out!

Here are a few photos that I put up on a post a while back of October skiing!

Hope you had a Happy Halloween, Brady and I sure did!

Back on snow

2009-10-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday I went up into Guardsman's with a crew of friends and we played around in the minimal amount of snow that is up there! It was great we made due with what was there and had a great time. Plus I got to put my skis on which I haven't done since I broke my collar bone, and also the fact that it was summer it definitely got me more excited for the coming season! Like always...here are some photos: I'm in the purple and red!

new season

2009-09-29T09:44:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Facebook, about 20 people have posted the NOAA weather report for the Salt Lake City area next week, and apparently we're supposed to get a boat load of snow, I for one am quite excited for this but would like to take this moment to show what I did for this past weekend.

one thing we did was a lot of hiking, this hike down here is the mormon trail, its the trail that the founders of the Mormon religion used to hike into the salt lake valley and set up camp for a while. It's a gorgeous hike especially now that all the tree

s are turning colors.

The dizzy shot.

This is the group shot.

The majestic shot.

We even got a sunset shot. (on a different hike)

Played some soccer, with no shoes

and had a birthday bbq/bonfire

and it was good, now bring the snow and let it stay!!

The Weiner Mobile!

2009-09-26T22:14:00.000-07:00

So last February my good friend Kim Pickel and I drove from Salt Lake City to Boise to visit my dad who was visiting on a business trip. I drove up to meet him because Boise is closer to me than were my dad lives, which is East of the Mississippi, so we made the trip. On the return drive back though we passed the Oscar Meyer: Weiner Mobile! I never made a post about it and just found the photos on my computer, and your not gonna make a post about passing the Oscar Meyer: Weiner Mobile! ha-enjoy!

Rearview shot, doesn't really make it look like it's closer than it actually is.

we couldn't get a good shot of the driver

K-Bye!

08/09 skiing video tape-mix

2009-09-20T07:46:00.000-07:00

I managed to get a few good shots together from this past season and threw them together! I hope you like it, some might have already seen it since it's also up on newschoolers.com, enjoy!

Untitled from Erica Durtschi on Vimeo.

Bomb the Bass Feat Fujiya & Miyagi : Butterfingers

2009-09-08T22:18:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure why but I really enjoyed watching this:
Bomb the Bass Feat Fujiya & Miyagi : Butterfingers
Uploaded by ecureuilvolant. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

Hike

2009-08-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

I went for a hike up to Twin Lakes a few days ago to search for my boyfriend's ski he lost this winter, we thought it would be easy looking for a purple, yellow and white ski, but we ended the day unsuccessful. We might not have found the ski but it was still a good time! We ended up throwing rocks off the cliffs, its very exciting seeing them break into pieces and tumble in different directions, even more so when your standing bellow them (but not in their pathway) watching them come at you, it's crazy! My friend Paul Braunstein took this photo, it turned out pretty nice!

Summertime fishin

2009-08-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

I just got back to Utah after a crazy past two months. I went commercial (set net) fishing in Egegik, AK it was basically a month in the middle of nowhere with lots and lots of fish. We didn't get to rest very much, fishing two tides a day makes for 12-18 hour days and you learn to enjoy sleeping in and afternoon naps. Then when i was finished with fishing i went to Mt. Hood for a few great days on the snow. The last day wasn't as enjoyable as the rest seeing as how I broke my collarbone on the big jump. It sucks but it's improving, however I'm sick of wearing a sling. So I'm keeping this short since typing with one hand is slow and annoying! So enjoy the photos!! until next time... have a nice day!

Hood

2009-06-03T00:47:00.000-07:00

Before I head up to my summer job of commercial fishing in Alaska, I got a few days of skiing in at Mt Hood with the surface team. I've only had two days to ski so far day one was just hot lapping through the public park, which is very well put together my favorite feature they had up was a fairly poppy jump with a tree in the middle of the knuckle that you could do taps, tree grabs, and just about anything you want. Then for day two we hiked out to a step up but due to the intense heat and lack of snow the in-run had a giant patch of dirt. So we all agreed that a step down would be easier and faster to build plus we didn't need a lot of speed which is nice because it worked out. The landing had an annoying compression but we worked through it.

Here are some photos from day two check it:

I'd like to thank Jason Eichhorst for letting me use these photos their great!

you should go and look at his other photos and stuff here:

www.fromoverhere.com

I didn't ski today because high winds and terrible weather closed the mountain so I went and played in Portland, hopping around thrift stores having a grand 'ol time!

Mt Hood

2009-06-01T00:27:00.000-07:00

I skied with Surface today at Mt Hood and it was such a fun day, I didn't get any photos but you can see some that were put up on the Surface blog. It was bundles of fun and if you get a chance to go I suggest you take the opportunity to head on out to Oregon for the summer snow. it's worth it. Surface blog Click me

Time to get artistic

2009-05-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

Last year I took a drawing class and over the past year I have tried my best to keep up with it. It's very time consuming but I really enjoy it! Check it out:

<(Mac Dre)

<(Brady Perron)

<(My brother Tim)

<(a robot puppet)

Summertime

2009-05-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

well it's summer now and I'm about to go to Alaska for some fishing hopefully I'll make some money and be able to come back to Utah next year for some skiing and schooling. I figure I should do something for my future next year. I'm also working on my season edit, I'll probably use it as a promo as well but its not done, I've been doing some hiking at Brighton and got a few shots to add and I'm heading up to Oregon to ski with my brother at Hood so maybe I'll get some more good stuff. If anybody knows someone with any shots of me skiing make them send it to me please!! haha but seriously I really wish I had gotten more shots this year of my better skiing, but whatever maybe next season. Thanks!

This is just a sample stay tuned...haha

Photos

2009-04-05T16:39:00.000-07:00

I don't have much to say a lot has happened this past week and I just wanted to post some photos I don't even know if anybody sees these but they are pretty cool! There a few dog photos, I like dogs.

Queen's Cup

2009-03-30T14:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the Queen's Cup. It was a lot of fun this year, I didn't ski as well as I wanted, I did better during practice than in the competition. I felt like I got 8th but in fact I actually placed 4th so i guess it wasn't that bad! On a better note this year pretty much all of the girls were stepping it up and throwing cooler tricks than I've seen at most competitions! It was cool to see, the ladies are killing it! (I'm in the red sweatshirt down by the sign!)

Snowboarding isn't that bad :)

2009-03-03T14:59:00.000-08:00

This past week has been a pretty good one, my feet are still slowly getting better I finally went to Surefoot and they made me some excellent footbeds, my boots are actually comfortable now and I'll be back to playing on my skis in no time! no more of this lapping through the park watching. Because I couldn't participate on my skis I decided to give snowboarding a try. So my friend Lauryn and I switched, she skied and I snowboarded. My first two runs were not so great, they were very slow and I fell a lot! But after I got the hang of it I learned how to turn, (toe side is the worst!) and I hit a dance floor box! Its pretty pathetic but I'm very proud of it!!!!

Also I joined the Rime Knits family! Check it out:

http://rimeknits.com/RK_family_EDurtschi.html

Lauryn and I attempting our first run, Willem got in the photo as well.

First time on a snowboard since I was 12 years old.

I fell a bunch of times!

Lauryn on my skis

The switch up

These are my new footbeds, they are glorious!!

We went to El Chubasco's for some delicious food after skiing. If you go there get the Horchata...it's too good!!

2009-02-10T14:37:00.000-08:00

Tape Mix Vol. II: The Instrumentals from Chris Vogt on Vimeo.

Watch this is really good!!

Aspen Open

2009-02-09T11:22:00.000-08:00

I drove down to Aspen with some buddies to compete in the Aspen open. The weather was beautiful and conditions were great. I would like to say that the course could have been a lot better, it was the same course as the x-games slopestyle course. The features were way to close together there wasn't enough time to breathe in between features, you basically land your trick and go directly into the next one. because the weather was so nice that means it was very warm which equals slow speeds going into the features. I learned that the hard way by casing the first jump in the course by about a foot and a half, there wasn't anything I could have done to prevent this I waxed my skis, I was tucking into the jump, I popped and still didn't make it. I managed to collapse my left foot arch and bruise both of my heels. Its the worst pain I've been through this year, its basically the equivalent of taking a sledge hammer and slamming it into your feet without holding back. Imagine that, it sucks! So I was the person limping around the lodge for the entire week. I didn't get to compete in the competition instead I stood at the bottom watching and imagining my run in my head. There is a large purple bruise on the sole of my foot and I walk funny because my balance is off due to the fact that I can't walk on my heels only my toes. Bummer! I'll post a photo later

action shots

2009-01-12T20:10:00.000-08:00

I had a good time at Park City this past week, everything they have set up is so much fun I got a few good shots from Dylan Ferguson he did a good job! Now that the holiday crowds are gone you can actually ski it's great!
Matt and Creighton got creative with the ridiculously sized box

I promise I was going to grab, it's right there

This rail is so hard to stay on, my hands look goofy!

Tallest box I have ever seen but there is a tranny if you fall off early

I like this one

Kings Crown is now open and it's giant I have yet to hit the features they made for it but I will soon!

Pebble Mine

2008-12-27T22:03:00.000-08:00

I've worked on a commercial fishing boat and have awsome friends who fish down in the Bristol Bay area this mine shouldn't happen! Fishing is such a big deal in Alaska and is a way of life that is more important than copper or gold. Fish are a renewable resource but the habitat they need to survive in is not, once we screw up the watershed for the fish we won't be able to put it back to how it was. apparently this is just a teaser for a movie but in it's shortness it shows the way of life in Alaska that doesn't need to be disturbed by a giant mine whether or not it breaks world records or how much money it makes. Most Alaskans don't care about that stuff anyhow, the man at 2:48 has the greatest quote I've ever heard! Stop Pebble Mine!

Jolly Day

2008-12-25T18:42:00.000-08:00

Well today was that merry day when we get to wake up at the crack of dawn and open presents! As for me I was dumb enough to not get time off of work so I got to sit in a ski shop all day and basically get paid to watch Spiderman 3 (which is the only way I would want to watch that flick) I opened my presents at 4pm which was something new, that's my tree up above pretty cute! My mother sent me a box of presents and the turn out was very good this year!
Since I was dumb enough to get caught working every day this week I missed out on the family festivities and had to make due with the video ichat in staying up to date on all the fun I was missing. You'll notice that the photo up there is me watching the family poker tournament, apparently it was a $10 buy in and I'm way to cheap for that kind of a pot so I would have missed it anyhow! Kind of a bummer but we make the best of it! Welp happy holidays!

Forget Norway!

2008-12-22T22:21:00.000-08:00

Tagged

2008-12-22T21:53:00.000-08:00

This is one of those photos that makes me happy whenever I see it. Mainly because of the perfect placement on the helmet with the accent of snow all around and the fact that the sticker stayed on the statue which sits in the middle of a round-a-bout in Bend for a week and a half, before I assume a park gardner took it down. Yes I documented my tagging of the statue because it's just that cool!

2008-12-19T15:48:00.000-08:00

Show some love to the Electro Gypsy! haha

Park City

2008-12-10T16:06:00.000-08:00

So I'v been out and about skiing a lot, Park City has been open for a few days and their little 14 hit mini-jib park has been quite a lot of fun! Here are a few photos to show you so you can belive it! haha

Still praying for more snow!!!!

Crazy People

2008-11-07T11:35:00.000-08:00

My Brother Tim found this video on youtube and I thought it was entertaining enough to share on this blog here. It shows how ridiculous people act towards kids who just want to have some fun and skate around town. This particular woman should work on thinking before screaming, it would save her ample amounts of energy and her voice box won't need replacing. But then we wouldn't have this entertaining clip, turn up the volume to feel as though your actually there, or not if you are startled easily!

Start It Out Right

2008-10-28T22:18:00.000-07:00

I started this blog when I was in school and decided to start it over again. After deleting all of my previous posts which really non of them were very interesting I decided to document my year of not attending classes and instead focusing all my energy toward playing in the snow! I found this Calvin and Hobbes cartoon (click on it to make it bigger) which is the greatest cartoon ever published. Bill Waterson is a genius and portrays the imagination and life of a third grader perfectly, I feel as though I can truly relate with Calvin (even though girls have cooties! Oh Jeezus!) This particular comic strip basically describes my thought process when I was in school and it shows beautifully why my decision this year was to take a break from my academic studies and commence my lifestyle on two planks in the mountains!

I am very excited to not spend my weekend writting a ten page essay explaining in MLA format the political and economical tourmoil that America has fallen into, complete with correct citations and perfect grammatical/punctuation usage. Instead I'll have more time with mother nature and the magical gift she bestows upon us every winter! You could call me stupid to obsess over a pastime that causes pain and injury, but at the same time I feel a sense of accomplishment and elated happiness whenever my day of skiing is over regardless of how nice or shitty the conditions were. I'll take a foggy, rainy, miserable day at the mountain over class or even a minimum wage job any day of the week. I can't wait to go skiing!