Warren Miller Entertainment 60th Anniversary World Tour

Warren Miller Entertainment (WME), celebrated it’s 60th anniversary Film Tour this fall and early winter, concluding to positive reviews, near-record numbers and the most ski community participation the company’s history.

Warren Miller’s Dynasty saw a U.S. attendance of approximately 300,000 and a total audience of over 500,000 including international distribution during the ten-week run. Beginning October 16, the US Tour spanned over 81 cities and 190 shows, with an additional 140 cities and 280 shows independently promoted, many in support of local ski programs. Professional skiers featured within the film attended over 70 screenings.

WME’s success as the winter action sports leader over the years comes hand-in-hand with long running industry partnerships and support, including more than 45 retail outlets, 35 resorts, dozens of ski clubs, and several equipment manufactures on this year’s tour. The goal of WME is to excite skiers’ passion, generate interest in the sport, champion the industry and offer partners a chance to speak directly to their public.

The Tour launched with a multimedia “60 Days of Warren Miller” promotion. Partners SKI and Skiing Magazines brought together over 60 industry partners to celebrate the 60-year legacy of our film. The 60 Days of Warren Miller promotion was hosted on warrenmiller.com, skiingmag.com, and skimag.com, and included daily prizes from the likes of Vail, K2, Helly Hansen, and a grand prize of a five-day, five-night trip to Snowbird, UT. Approximately 80,000 users participated in the contest.

Addition promotional partnerships include WME’s longstanding relationship with resorts, specialty retail outlets, and ski clubs that create opportunities for both skiers and businesses while attending the film. “Sharing our love of the mountains, and the passion for the sport of skiing & snowboarding with our audience with what this is all about.” said Max Bervy, Managing Director of WME. “It’s how we help grow this industry and fuel the interest of skiing and riding in the ski community.”

Along with the many sponsors and partners, WME works with a number of cause-related programs both in and outside the ski community. Most notably, Warren Miller’s Dynasty teamed with Disabled Sports, USA, across the entire National Tour, also premiering at Craig Hospital in Denver with former patients and now Winter X Games mono-skier athletes Sam Ferguson and Felix Snow. Dynasty was given to the U.S. military in Iraq, where more than 17,000 soldiers saw the film this fall. Copies were also donated in support of the Vertical Express for MS and many individual fundraisers.

Gearing up for film #61, crews have all ready been to Antarctica, New Zealand, Europe and North America, and are currently working in British Columbia.

To find out more about Warren Miller Entertainment or sponsorship opportunities for the Warren Miller Film Tour, please contact Johnny Alamo at 303-253-6413 or Johnny.Alamo@BonnierCorp.com for more information.

Skiing Magazine and Warren Miller Entertainment travel to Antarctica to Pioneer New Terrain

“The voice of our Scottish expedition leader roused us through our in-room loudspeakers, calling us to the decks. A 30-knot wind blew straight over the bow, slowing our progress but calming the ship’s movements. And then the peaks of a brand new continent, Antarctica – legend made real in an instant.”

From November 1 through November 18, Skiing Magazine's Senior Editor Sam Bass, a camera crew and athletes from Warren Miller Entertainment, lived aboard a ship off the coast of Antarctica. Traversing Drake Passage, 80 skiers challenged themselves to explore the most unapproachable terrain imaginable.

Explorer and entrepreneur Doug Stoup, owner and operator of Ice Axe Expeditions, had a vision to pack the 300-foot Clipper Adventurer with the most influential skiers in the industry. Goal: to open this terrain to any skier with a sense of adventure. Editors like Sam, cinematography legend Tom Day of Warren Miller Entertainment, and ski-mountaineering pioneers including Andrew Mclean crossed miles of ocean to ski the most unexpected thing of all – spring-like conditions, perfect corn, bluebird skies.

“It’s the first trip of its kind.” said Bass. “A group of about 80 skiers with various levels of backcountry experience took a small cruise ship designed for penguin and iceberg tourists to the Antarctic Peninsula, with an itinerary based around skiing. It was unreal.”

Beginning and ending in Ushuaia, Argentina, the adventurers set sail down the Beagle Channel, through the rugged Drake Passage, arriving at Deception Island. Then onto ski and trekking objectives via Zodiac boats at Neko Harbour, Anvers and Wienke Islands, Port Lockroy, Paradise Bay, Mt. Demaria and Crystal Sound, to name a few stops.

Sam’s inspired journey illustrates the adventure-minded, go-anywhere spirit of Skiing Magazine and was followed by thousands online, including a group of 6th graders who had a chance to interview the editor. “There were so many stories,” Bass reminisced, “Cinematographers were hard at work documenting two kinds of life – the kind that lives aboard the ship and the kind following the ship’s stern. The latter includes several species of petrel and albatross.”

To read more from Sam’s expedition to Antarctica go to skiingmag.com/Antarctica

Opportunities for sponsorship and advertising are available for the Warren Miller Film Tour. Please contact Johnny Alamo at 303-253-6413 or Johnny.Alamo@BonnierCorp.com for more information.

NASTAR Sets Record for Participation, Adds Open Events

With record overall participation last year, NASTAR (NAtional STAndard Race) is adding another opportunity to compete and qualify for Nationals this winter. A second mid-season Open event will be added to the 2009-10 schedule, the Mid-West Open.

Developed by SKI Magazine in 1968, NASTAR is the largest recreational ski and snowboard race program in the world. NASTAR provides a fun, competitive and easily accessible racing program that, through the development of a handicap system, allows racers of all ages and abilities a means to compare their race results to other competitors across the country regardless of when and where they race. NASTAR is a key feeder program for the U.S. Ski Team.

Last year set records for participation with 113,000 racers taking part at 121 resorts across the country, accounting for 220,000 racer days and 550,000 race starts. The top resorts saw up to 10,000 race starts, and the mid-west saw a 34% increase in participation alone. Skiers came from all 50 states.

The Nature Valley NASTAR Opens provide the opportunity to see who is the fastest in the region, as well as book a ticket to Nationals. The events are two-day competitions that are open to the public. Racers can participate in the new Mid-West Open, January 9–10, at Crystal Mountain, MI, or the Eastern Open, February 6–7, at Windham Mountain, NY. Overall winners of the NASTAR Opens will receive free entry to the Nature Valley NASTAR National Championships in Winter Park, Colo., March 25–28, 2010.

The annual Nature Valley NASTAR National Championships draws up to 1,500 racers each year in all age categories, with approximately 5,000 total individuals attending from all over the country. The four-day event features the races, free outdoor concerts, meet-and-greets with the NASTAR Pacesetters and VIP events.

“With U.S Ski Team icon Daron Rahlves as the zero pacesetter, skiers get excited about seeing how they match up,” said NASTAR Director Bill Madsen. “And especially in this Olympic year, adding recent U.S. team successes, the nation’s focus on ski and snowboard racing is sure to increase. We’re looking forward to great regional and national events to help the general public be a part of it, and crown their champions.”

For more information on how to register for NASTAR or the Open and National events, please visit http://www.nastar.com/.

Opportunities for sponsorship and advertising are available for the annual program throughout the resorts, as well as for the new Open events and National Championships. Please contact Johnny Alamo at 303-253-6413 or Johnny.Alamo@BonnierCorp.com for more information.