The recent storm systems have brought multiple feet of snow to the West. With more snow in the forecast and everyone heading out to the mountains this holiday, it is important to be aware of the dangers of avalanches. Last year, 36 people in the U.S. died due to avalanches, which was the deadliest season on record. There has been six avalanche related deaths in the U.S. already this year. On Wednesday, December 24th, two snowmobilers were killed as a result of an avalanche. The following day a skier was caught and killed in an avalanche at Squaw Valley, CA. This goes to show that avalanches can occur anywhere and when you least expect it. The news does not always report incidents, but for a detailed report of avalanches in the U.S. go to http://www.avalanche.org/av-reports/index.html.


If you are planning to head out into the backcountry you should always take, at the very least, a beacon, shovel, probe, backpack, and partner. It is also important to gather as much information about the current snow conditions as possible. There are a lot of useful websites that give you up to date information about avalanche danger, snow conditions, and snow survival. One of the best sites to obtain this information is the Forest Service National Avalanche Center . There are also websites that give you information about snow stability relating to a certain area. For the Tahoe region, one the best sites is the Sierra Avalanche Center . For the Mammoth Lakes area, a useful site is the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center. Being aware of the current weather and snow stability, is vital to surviving and having fun in the backcountry. All avid snowboarders and skiers know that some of the best snow can be found out of bounds, but without avalanche awareness it is easy to lose lives.

Ian Mckesson

Facelift Concepts is dedicated to allowing individuals to express themselves in all forms. After all, we give our customers the ability to create their own custom graphics. Every day we work hand and hand with artists to come up with fresh, new ideas and concepts. That is why we are starting a monthly section in our blog called "Featured Artist of the Month." It is dedicated to exposing creative individuals that are active in the action sports community. Whether its an artist or photographer, for example, we feel it is important to showcase the capabilities of these individuals.

This months featured artist, Ian McKesson, comes to us from San Diego. Also known by his DJ name Ian Cognito, is an avid skateboarder that recently relocated to Southern California from San Francisco. The influences of graffiti, urban form, and music are exemplified in his passion for art. Some of Ian's inspiration evolves from jazz legends and rock n' roll greats. Just like his skateboarding style, one could say that Cognito possesses a rare combination of talent and originality. For more information about the artist you can contact him directly at ianmckesson@hotmail.com

Ian's Art Gallery

Here at Facelift Concepts we have seen just about everything when it comes to snow industry innovations. Every year entrepreneurs from around the world are thinking up ideas of how to capitalize on a booming industry. At every action sports expo or trade show you are bound to find something that is, or might be the next big breakthrough. From snowskates to goggle fans, we love seeing what inventors will come up with next. Some of these ideas make it, and some just seem to vanish over the years. So here is the next big invention from the folks at Zilver Design. It's called the Yibb. We have seen a lot of wacky ideas in this industry but this one might take the cake.

The event, presented by Snowbomb and Squaw Valley USA, will be held on Sunday, December 14th, 2008. It was originally scheduled for November 29th but has been pushed back due to snow conditions. The contest is a tribute to Coogan, a passionate and avid snowboarder who was constantly pushing our sport to new limits.

A year ago the snowboard community lost a rising star Charles "Coogan" Kelly, when he was shot and killed at a Halloween party in Reno, NV. He was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Coogan was a successful competitor on the rail jam and contest circuit in and around the Tahoe area, and he will greatly be missed.

In his memory, all contestant registration fees will be donated to the Coogan Kelly Foundation. The Coogan Kelly Foundation raises money for the Coogan Kelly Scholarship awarded each year to young aspiring snowboarders to help advance their careers. For more information regarding the Foundation or if you have questions about donations you can contact the Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation. For more information about the contest and registration fees you can go to www.snowbomb.com and www.squaw.com

We need more contests like this in our industry where money raised from contests is put back into the snowboard community. It is a great cause and proceeds help benefit the progression of our sport and the remembrance of one of our sports great athletes.

I would like to introduce the 2008 Team Facelift.  Great mix of some of the best riders.  Look for big things in the coming year, more info and videos of the Team Facelift riders showing off and showing up.  Click here TEAM FACELIFT to visit the Myspace team page and look for the completion of the Team Page on this site soon.  The team manager is Andy Garcia and if you are interested in becoming part of Team Facelift or looking to invite the riders to a contest contact Andy@faceliftconcepts.com

I love these ideas and the stories that go with them.  I tried to trade the Paperclip Guy Kyle for some Custom Facelifts but no deal.  Check out some other great success stories here . The ideas are only good one time, you can find a long list of copy cats that failed.

I haven't seen a storm come through like this in a long while. 

You can't help but be excited if you are anywhere west of the Mississippi.  It is shaping up to be a great week ahead.  It is probably a little rough if you are already up on the mountain but for the many of us that live down below,  we will be waiting for the roads to clear.  Be safe and check out the web-cam from Squaw Valley, CA, USA... http://www.squaw.com/winter/squawubercam.html 

a little tough to see, as of now and the village cam for Mammoth Mountain, CA, USA...

http://mammothmountain.com/cams/index.cfm?cam=village

better view from well below the lifts.

I was just doing a quick check of my email, before I call an end to another Labor Day weekend, when I open an email from "Team Facelift."  I guess these guys are well aware of the original Team Facelift and the idea for their name.  I will share with you the email in it's entirety:

this is the real team facelift that you just made that post on your shitty website about...we found out about you guys months ago doing a google search on us, where you came up on the 29th page, so you guys are really doing big things i must say. we acxtaully wanted to reach out to you guys to do some kind of collaboration/sponsorship but i guess that wont be happening anytime soon. we really dont give a fuck if you dont like us using "your name" but first of all, its our name, and second of all we will fuck all you guys up, so either way, we dont care. come to nyc with your snowboards and get your lunch eaten


-Facelift Gang

So, I guess to that I say, I better not go to NYC because I like my lunch and don't want a bunch of clowns trying to eat it.  Maybe we could have done some collaboration, in fact I guess I could have just picked a few random people off the street to collaborate with and ended up with a more talented group.  As far as a shitty website maybe they should check out their own first, www.teamfacelift.com.  You think they could have used some of that corporate MTV money to put into their own site.  Facelift Concepts is still here and will still be here, unlike those guys whose 15 minutes seemed to have lasted 14.  MTV is still trying http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2007/08/06/meet-team-facelift/  but people don't seem to be on board.  To post this article on www.digg.com as Meet Team Facelift, NYC's Greatest Rap Group, makes me wonder what the Beastie Boys, B.I.G., Public Enemy, Wu-tang, Jay-Z and Nas might think.

Who are these guys?  I know they are not riders for Team Facelift. It wasn't until last week that I even heard about these clowns. I guess my lack of hours logged on MTV has paid off and I missed the majority of their air-time. Never mind what these guys look like but what are they trying to do? Their web-site, much like the band, is hard to look at and doesn't have much to say, like the mission they have posted that seems to sum everything up. If I wanted to listen to funny looking white rappers, I would put on some Grand Buffet, at least they are talented and pretty damn funny. So don't buy into this MTV corporate PR. These guys are Milli Vanilli without the braids. Check out the real Team Facelift Riders this season at a mountain near you.