Thanks to all of you who are passionate about extreme sports and who have expressed interest in our Amplitude Sports Project. We had hoped to get this website fully up and running earlier, but we chose to hold off on sitting in front of a computer adding content and instead we hit the road in early 2007, living hard and making friends along the way. Our gear production team was too busy "field testing" to start selling, but hey, you can't really blame them.
The First Year of Amplitude Sports
This site was launched at the end of November, 2006, just as the first significant accumulation of powder was forming in Colorado. That was a bit of a distraction to our dedicated Amplitude Sports team members.
Shortly thereafter we were in Aspen for Winter X 2007 and took advantage of some spectacular conditions to get into the backcountry and onto some extreme 40-45 degree 2,500 ft. vertical descent terrain. The scene in town every night was just as extreme, especially one night at the Sky Hotel, 39 Degrees (and then into the pool with half the bar). Thanks to the guys at the popcorn stand for some much needed midnight chow! As for the games, the amplitude at all of the venues was just sick. We managed to catch up with lots of old friends and felt right at home again in the world-class atmosphere both on and off the mountain.
We spent the spring on the north shore of Lake Tahoe skiing and boarding 'till we shred the last of our mid-season upgrade gear and called it a season (on the snow).
Over the summer we scouted sites in Alaska and eastern British Columbia (along the spire of the Kootenay Rockies), in association with Dirtbag Productions, Ltd. of Vancouver and the crew from the DST Worldwide Communications Group, in search of first-descent terrain and extreme couloirs for winter 2007-2008. (You can see below why we weren't working on the website.)
Base Camp Ketchikan, AK
Awesome 2300 ft. Vertical Descent Tracy Couloir with Glacial Plunge
(*For Winter 2008 Amplitude Sports First Descent Series Onto Ice)
Amplitude Bowl and Amplitude Glacier, Kootenay, BC, Canada
(Okay, so that's what we named it. 3500 ft. vertical descent and 3 mile gnarly run. Great hike to the top and massive amplitude potential for our return in 2008.)
We fly fished for Pink and Chum Salmon on the White River outside Ketchikan, traded stories with a group of Iditarod dog sled mushers in Juneau and met the coolest bunch of dogs on the planet as they trained for this winter's race. It does not get much more extreme than the Iditarod.
White River Salmon
Iditarod Training #1
Iditarod Training #2
We even made that classic road trip from Whistler to Kamloops in a VW van (just like the Hairfarmers' song says) and then over to Mt. Robson where we were asked to consult on a backcountry access project now in development. (Okay, so we actually work too. Gotta put those college and graduate degrees to use and make some money somewhere to fund this adventure, the new gear...and our next film). The folks developing the Mt. Robson access have some great ideas and we were happy to assist. Special thanks to James L. for the speedy helicopter drop offs.
But now we're back, between seasons, so it's about time to work on the website, put up some content and get the gear away from the field test guys and into your hands (brand new of course).
So thanks to everyone we met this year for your support and interest in Amplitude Sports. We're sponsoring a belated launch party in late January in Aspen where we'll be back for Winter X 2008. It has been a wild ride and we can't wait to do it again. Look for our logo out there and come over and meet the team if you see us in your town or up on the slopes. "If there's snow where you are, we're there!"
Amplitude Sports
Official Amplitude Sports Time
