Skiing & Snow Sports

Alex Kovalev - My Training Methods

In this DVD 2-disc set Alex Kovalev demonstrates his on-ice hockey training methods as well as the exercise program developed for him by his personal trainer Tommy Sheehan. This interactive set shows each exercise and technique from various angles and allows you to switch back and forth between on-ice and off-ice exercises.System Requirements:Running Time: 180 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: SPORTS/GAMES/HOCKEY UPC: 069458229487 Manufacturer No: 22948

Warren Miller's Power of Snow Collection (Storm/Cold Fusion/Ride/Fifty)

One needn't be an extreme snow-sports enthusiast to enjoy the beauty, wit, and endlessly inventive action-cinematography of Warren Miller's films. A pioneer in sports filmmaking, Miller began his career--as we find out in this excellent, four-title boxed set--shooting 8mm footage in 1947 Sun Valley, Idaho, keeping body and soul together with ketchup soup and wild rabbits. A half-century-plus later, Miller produces, narrates, and occasionally provides a cameo in his films; three of them, included here, are travelogues set in some of the wildest, most dazzling, and even exotic places on Earth.

The best of the lot, Cold Fusion, involves serious globe-hopping through four continents: Join a long, long hike through Kenya to ski what remains of a disappearing glacier, and later watch the surreal ballet of multiple "aerialists" launched high on the slopes at Colorado's Winter Park Big Air Expedition. Scale up--and snowboard down--an impossibly steep peak in Waddington, U.K., and then, believe it or not, ski Iran, a place "between dreams and awakening, of hot tea and cherry tobacco."

Ride provides its own thrills, traipsing after Whistler's avalanche hunters as they launch explosives clearing landslides before landslides clear skiers. Stick around for stops in New Zealand and France, plus helicopter skiing in the North Cascades, snowboarding the bouncy trail of the Breckenridge Bumps, and cross a war zone in Russia to reach (via creaky cable cars and choppers) the top of Europe.

Storm continues the fun in British Columbia's Blue River, Aspen's Roaring Fork Valley, Lake Tahoe, and Antarctica's South Georgia Island, the haunting first site of Ernest Shackleton's legendary, ill-fated voyage. Rounding out this DVD collection is the retrospective Fifty, an album of highlights (e.g., snowboarding in the Chugach Range, near the site of the Valdez crash) that takes a fun, then-and-now approach. --Tom Keogh

No other filmmakers are more passionate about documenting the human drama and thrills of winter action sports and adventure than those at Warren Miller Entertainment. For over 50 years their films have raised the bar by venturing to the planet's extremes to capture the greatest athletes of our times pushing the limits of human ability.

Warren Miller's THE POWER OF SNOW is their first-ever DVD collection and features the latest titles: Storm, Cold Fusion and Ride, with the classic 50th anniversary release Fifty included as a bonus DVD. Each disc features brilliant 5.1 surround sound, behind-the-scenes extras, and feature trailers.

From Greenland to the South Georgia Islands to Iran and Wisconsin - these films bring you spectacular skiing and snow boarding from the top of the world and home again. Add to all this action the hottest contemporary music and personal commentary and it's easy to see why they have created a worldwide following that spans generations.

Manchester United - Play Like Champions

Take your game to the next level and learn to play like a champion with Sir Alex Ferguson and the first team players of Manchester United! Along with the club's Academy players you can learn skills like the Flick Behind the Step Over and the Roller Coaster. With unprecedented access from the training ground to the heart of Old Trafford you can find out what makes Manchester United one of the most exciting teams in the world!Running Time: 112 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SPORTS/GAMES UPC: 794051201126

Warren Miller's Storm

Warren Miller's Storm is another dazzling travelogue of extreme snow-sports fanatics doing their thing in the most amazing places on Earth. Join Storm's crew on a helicopter skiing trip to beautiful Blue River, British Columbia, and later get inside the psychology of Aspen, Colorado, residents who live for snow and spend every day in the mountains. Take a retrospective detour to Sun Valley, where property was once cheap, Hemingway and Gary Cooper vacationed together, and Miller--now almost 80--began shooting his first 8mm ski movies in 1947. Cross the desert in Lake Tahoe to ascend white-topped hills ripe for snowboarding, and hang out with extreme bikers for whom cities, parks, campuses, and mountains are all part of the same stunt-worthy surface. The film's grandest segment finds skier-climbers replicating Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated trip to Antarctica's South Georgia Island, one of the most haunting and astonishing spots on the planet. --Tom Keogh

STORM transports viewers from Steamboat's world-famous champagne powder to the striking, colossal peaks of Alaska and from the legendary ski town of Aspen to the glorious Austrian Alps. Join the Antarctic expedition across turbulent seas to the Isle of South Georgia, a wind-whipped crag of ice and snow in the South Atlantic. Skill and passion abound as skiing legends and up-and-coming stars chase the storm, risking their lives in a powerful once-in-a-lifetime journey. The amazing soundtrack includes Dave Matthews Band, Ani DiFranco, Nickel Creek and other hugely and other hugely popular artists.

Warren Miller's Cold Fusion

Cold Fusion is simply one of Warren Miller's most staggering documentaries. Released in 2001, this two-hour-plus film pours on (and on) a mix of remarkable action footage, breathtaking terrain, and unexpected exotica. Miller joins world-class athletes on four continents for extreme sporting that, at times, borders on the unimaginable. Join a pair of diehard skiers who hike through Kenya to ride what remains of an ancient glacier. Or gape at the Big Air Expedition in Winter Park, Colorado, where multiple "aerialists" (skiers who gain high altitudes in order to turn, twist, and spin upon descent) provide a cinematic phantasmagoria. (One of the film's two record-breaking events takes place here.) Superb chapters are also set in Verbier, Switzerland and Waddington, U.K., but it's hard to beat the incredible snowboarding feats captured in gorgeous Girdwood, Alaska, or a ski adventure in, of all places, Iran. --Tom Keogh

As his 52nd annual release, Warren Miller once again brings out the hard-core rider in each of us. His films throw us into an infinite journey of intense snowbound aerobatics, goofy lift moments, and historic segments all through acres of snow, and gliding to a sweet musical score like no other. Cold Fusion offers the best of all worlds. One of Miller's best films, Cold Fusion will spoil even the most extreme rider. Capturing some of his most profound moments from earlier movies, Cold Fusion is as awe-inspiring as his two-year-old classic, Fifty, which also documented some of ski history's most impressive, and most hilarious moments. If Cold Fusion does not entice that yearly craving for snow, the classic sound of Warren's old, yet soothing voice surely will. Ride on, and wear a helmet.

The Shaun White Album

Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Tony Hawk, Shaun White. Every decade produces great athletes. Every decade produces a super-natural. This decade, his name is Shaun White. Hes been showcased more by the age of 15 than most people in a lifetime. Milestone he has just started his career. Shaun has taken the snowboard world by storm. From placing 1st at the Sims World Championship in Vail, Colorado to the new car he won in the Toyota Big Air in Japan (he didnt even have a drivers license yet), to winning the most prestigious Artic Challenge in Norway Shaun is starting to become a household name all over the world. Now at the age of 17 and after 12 podium parking spots last season, Shaun has grown into the big boy style and has the veterans a little concerned with the Flying Tomato. He is highly respected by his peers, extremely talented and has a long, prosperous career ahead. Shaun is a professional snowboarder. He skates vert for fun. So fun that he was kidnapped and forced to skate with the pros on the Tony Hawk Gigantic Skatepark Tour for the last 3 years. In 2003, he was duct taped to a chair and forced to read his new contract (written by Tony Hawk and friends) and inducted into the world of professional skateboarding. Stay tuned its only just begun! ATHLETES: Shaun White, Travis Rice, Danny Kass, Tony Hawk, Bucky Lasek, Bob Burnquist, - maybe Eddie Wall, Ryan Sheckler QUOTES: Shaun White is no doubt leading the wave of cross over athletes. His natural talent and determination speaks for itself. I think we have only seen a glimpse of whats to come. Richard Woolcott Volcom

Deerskins into Buckskins

America's best selling tanning guide, now on video!
• Crucial if you don't have access to hands-on instruction
• Helps you see how to do each step of the wet-scrape process
• Up-to-date with the latest info and most efficient methods
• More than two hours of detailed, expert, step-by-step instruction

Two years in the making, this video is easily the most detailed, comprehensive and easy to follow guide to brain tanning. Novices get to see what each step looks like: what it looks like when the grain is coming off properly, how much effort goes into softening, what different odd textures on the skin mean, what good, pumping smoke looks like and on and on. This kind of stuff is incredibly helpful in learning this tactile art.

Experienced tanners will appreciate learning the tweaks and improvements that Matt has learned in the six years since he wrote Deerskins into Buckskins (and received ideas and feedback from thousands of tanners); including the 15 minute step that makes a whole series of improvements in the process (easier, more thorough brain penetration, easier to soften hides, and hides that turn out incredibly, incredibly, soft in the end). We guarantee that you'll learn a lot from this video!

DVD Special Features

Warren Miller's Ride

This dazzling Ride begins with a bang: A terrific piece about Whistler's avalanche hunters, i.e., a team of explosives experts who begin their days blowing away potentially lethal slides before skiers hits steep slopes. Typical of Miller's films, Ride globetrots through some of the most exciting and exotic places on Earth to capture Hollywood-caliber (and often better) footage of extreme snow-sporting. Among these hot spots, so to speak, are New Zealand (where a high mountain considered holy by the Maori offers some interesting downhill challenges), the North Cascades (particularly a couple of breathtaking sites accessible only by helicopter), France (where a resort harvests ski-able snow from ice-fishing), and Breckenridge, Colorado (where snowboarders bounce along the famous Breckenridge Bumps). A highlight is a ski trip in Russia, where three Americans catch a bus through a war zone to reach, as one fellow puts it, "the top of Europe." --Tom Keogh

Ride is awesome adventure snowboarding as you have never seen it! It's breathtaking adventure in spectacular locations, from the radical drops of Whistler Mountain, British Columbia, to the vertical exhilaration of skiing Russia. Share the thrills of helicopter drops into fresh powder, unimaginable inclines and heart-stopping speeds with 2002 Olympians and world-famous snowriders!

There's Something About McConkey

Extreme skier Shane McConkey is the protagonist of this affably oddball documentary that features some suitably spectacular footage of McConkey casually doing what most skiers can only fantasize about. There are interviews with McConkey, who comes off as the laidback dude one might expect, as well as interviews with his mother and a few friends (one of whom tells a funny story proving that "there's something wrong with McConkey"). And a few comic interludes, including McConkey's attempt to star in a music video, pop up. But the real point to this production is the skiing footage, which is uniformly spectacular. McConkey and others (including Olympic champion Jonny Moseley) go rocketing down absurdly steep mountainsides in footage shot from helicopters, and of course they make it all seem so effortless that you can almost forget how insanely dangerous it is. And speaking of bodily peril, McConkey is also seen flying off ski jumping ramps backwards and gleefully sailing through space. As someone quips, "his radness can't be quantified." Keeping with the athlete-as-outlaw theme, there are also segments on BASE jumping, in which McConkey and others are seen parachuting from bridges, tall buildings, and mountainsides. Some of the film's humor is strained, but this is for the most part an entertaining look at a character who just can't get enough downhill excitement. --Robert J. McNamara

Ten years ago, young renegade ski racer Shane McConkey quit his collegiate team to pursue a career in the small, unglamorous world of freeskiing. Through the '90s, McConkey battled the odds and the establishment as he put "fun" back in skiing. With an unprecedented manner of attacking mountains and a committed effort to appear ridiculous, McConkey opened the doors to a new way of thinking and skiing. As attention to his feats and antics blossomed, so did the sport around him. We've teamed up the raddest skiers of today with the past decade's most influential skier and biggest idiot. So sit back for a wacky, whirlwind tour through a man, a mind and a sport. You may never look at skiing the same way again. 60 minutes.

Gravity Games - Winter One (Skiing, Snowboarding, Chills & Spills)

From Mammoth Mountain in California comes a mountain of material from the inaugural Gravity Games, the hippest competition ever to hurtle downhill. This DVD, with a running time of more than 200 minutes, features elaborate coverage of events including Big Air, Superpipe, Boardercross, and Freestyle Snowboarding. Shot by a number of video and film cameras, the action footage is often stunning, and some high mountain panoramas that frame the competition scenes are gorgeous enough to look at home in a National Geographic nature documentary. Billed as a "winter lifestyle music and adrenaline sports festival," the two-week event attracted the most talented practitioners of what the narration calls "adrenaline sports." The creative presentation of the action suits the frenetic pace of the downhill events, and a soundtrack of rock and rap accompanies shots of snowboarders performing tricks high in the air.

Very brief profiles of the exuberant young athletes provide perspective on what sort of person would go rocketing down cliffs on a snowboard. "The feeling of fear turns me on," says one female high mountain snowboarder. "I don't feel any more happy than when I'm laying it on the line." This is a visually arresting and highly entertaining look at snowy sports that seem designed for a video extravaganza. In addition to the coverage of competition, a selection on the DVD aptly titled "Chills/Spills" contains about an hour of rock accompanying reckless stuff on skis and snowmobiles you don't even want to think about doing at home. --Robert J. McNamara