This is the sort of story that is very bloggabe. I wish stuff like this would pop into my inbox every day (excuse the commercial) … 

“Boy Vs. Beast”

I got this info from The Old Farmer’s Almanac. I’m hoping some of us get more than Turkey (or Tofurkey) for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Storms

November 24?25, 1971?Thanksgiving Snowstorm
Albany, N.Y., picked up 22.5 inches, the greatest November snowfall on record, with amounts up to 30 inches reported elsewhere.

November 25, 1983?The Great Thanksgiving Weekend Blizzard
This storm hit Denver, Colo., and produced 21.5 inches of snow in 37 hours, closing Stapleton Airport for 24 hours.

November 26, 1987?Thanksgiving Day Storm
Snowfall totals ranged up to 20 inches at Flagstaff Lake, Maine, and 18 inches at Errol, New Hampshire. A second storm produced nine inches at Kanosh, Utah, and 13 inches at Divide, Colo.

November 23, 1989?Thanksgiving Day Storm
This big storm produced up to 14 inches over Cape Cod, Mass. Snow totals of 4.7 inches at New York City and 6 inches at Newark, N.J., were records for Thanksgiving Day.

Mammoth is looking promising(ish) ….

As we set out to plan our winter, the news came through that the value of the Loonie has depreciated seventeen-percent since Sept. 30. It’s forecast to fall to 1.30 against the U.S Dollar. This means good news for us Yankees wanting to tap that Canadian pow stash (sorry?bad news for our Canadian friends). But really, you can’t afford not to go.

After way too much thought, my Canadian top tens go something like this:

1. Baldface Lodge-Powder turns that stayed with me through the entire summer. Best consecutive days of neck deep snowboarding of my life.

2. Chatter Creek Lodge-This was my first catboarding experience, I went the year it opened in 1999. It has the coolest staff of shredders and the best pillow lines I’ve ever ridden.

3. Whitewater-Is it wrong to love a place for both the food in the lodge and the epic backcountry?

4. Whistler/Blackcomb?Number one in everything. The best traditional full-on vacation choice.

5. Revelstoke-Steep, uncrowded and with even more new terrain coming this winter.

6. Fernie- Best steep tree runs of my life.

7. Kicking Horse-Uncrowded and steep cool terrain.

8. Ice Creek Lodge-An earn your turns style backcountry lodge?bring your splitboard.

9. Lake Louise?Glacier carved backdrops and wide open bowls.

10. Retallack- Catboarding in the Selkirks. I haven’t been, but with the way photographer Mark Gallup talks about it …

This is the kind of epic snow you’ll find at Baldface (and in Canade in general).

Anyone who’s ever lived in a resort town knows that unrestricted season passes are also the most expensive and usually out of reach for the average shred. But, I’ve read the fine print and looked for the loopholes,  it looks like the new Epic Pass actually gives you “unrestricted and unlimited access” to Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly, and Arapahoe Basin. That means no holiday black out dates, no limited days at the bigger resorts, no bullshit … and probably the longest season in North America. You’ve got everything: powder days in Vail’s back bowls, the Peak 8 parks at Breck, shred those misty tree runs at the Beav, night park riding at Keystone, early and late season at A-Basin. The addition of Heavenly is like a little bonus?even your shred vacation to escape Colorado for the sunshine state includes free riding.

It’s on sale for $579 until November 15, 2008. You can start your new life in Colorado by following this link: http://www.snow.com/epicpass/epic-pass-details.aspx

How good of a deal is this? Read it and weep: Jackson Hole ($1,970), Squaw ($1,889), and Stowe ($1,766). Ouch.

We rounded up a crew and headed up to the premiere of Oakley’s new film Uniquely last night. The Oakley Tomb was going off, all the girls were there including Marie-France, Gretchen Bleiler, Anne-Flore, Chanelle, and Elena. The movie was really entertaining?noticeably good filming and editing by John Roderick. I don’t want to pick favorites, but the powder shots from Japan did it for me?they scored some epic conditions. It left me jonesing for winter even more. Gretchen’s pipe session stood out, too. Damn she’s consistent, controlled, and holding those grabs.

The skateboarding almost stole the show from the snowboarders, Lauren Perkins and Lyn-z Adams Hawkins shredded some sweet concrete parks. The place went through the roof over Lyn-z’s footage on the mega-ramp. Seriously.

Guess what? You can download the movie for free at oakleywomen.com/uniquelymovie

I didn’t get too paparazzi last night, but here’s a few:

Everyone wore black and white.

The Oakley theater.

Liesl Holtz orchestrated the whole night, in fact, she produced the movie.

Ingemar Backman (!), Jake Price, and Lisa.

Ming & Ping got weird on stage.

I know it’s over a year out (February, 2010), but the Olympics are a beast that require advanced planning, so I wanted to give you a heads up that tickets are on sale right now. Americans can buy theirs through www.cosport.com Make sure you read the fine print. What you’re doing with the CoSport is actually applying for the tickets, you find out in December if you even get them.

Here’s a list of vendors for every other nation on earth.

The TransWorld MySpace page just got a major facelift thanks to our design intern, Jackie Varela. Check it out here myspace.com/twsnow and add us as a friend … because we are.

We use the site a ton to post bulletins about exciting goings on like the upcoming premiere of MDP Down With People and to announce events that you just might want to attend (or volunteer at).

It’s one of the great battles of our time?the race between Loveland and A-Basin to be the first resort to open. This year it was a dead tie with both resorts opening yesterday. Unfortunately we were chained to our desks, but I found this sweet clip of Jeff Meyer and a local legend Nate Doggg. Colorado keeps it real doesn’t it?

Check this clip:

http://videocenter.denverpost.com/services/link/bcpid934052406/bctid1858922843

Do you think Nate Doggg was like, “That’s N-a-t-e D-o-g-g-g-g to the reporter?” Classic.

Some people are addicted to the Weather Channel, I’m addicted to webcams. I checked this one in Montana last night. I can’t wait to see the rest of them tomorrow when the sun is out. I hear it’s snowing all over the place. I think I live vicariously through these things.

The San Diego weather guy just mentioned that it snowed 2 to 4 feet in Montana! It was a mellow 80-something here today. Ugh.

The best thing about being a writer has to be the lack of baggage when it comes to getting out on the hill. No 50-pound packs, no tripods, no battery packs or flashes …

I just bring a Canon Elph, some Field Notes, and an ultra fine point sharpie (it doesn’t freeze up or leak). Draplin peddles these notebooks on fieldnotesbrand.com. I’m stocking up this week, winter’s coming.

Revelstoke, B.C., Canada.