Well, its taken me a little while to get this all typed out. Ive been slugging wood around doing temp labor at construction sites all week, and whod a thunk it, my fingers didnt want to dance across my keyboard at night. But, Ive finally sacked up and am going to put something down, ‘fo real! I guess the rumors are true about only being able to remember things by placing yourself in the same state-of-mind, because after a couple of beverages, most of the weekends events have somewhat foggily returned to my memory.

This past weekend, as most of you are aware, Aspen hosted what is known in this little industry of ours as. The Meeting.â This auspicious title is well earned, as the number of films and events held over a three day period is impressive, to say the least. The events staff at Aspen/Snowmass really did a number on this years event, as they packed pro skiers and snowboarders, industry leaders, and fans into a rotating schedule of this years ski/snowboard porn offerings, state-of-the-industry meetings, and enough afterparties to make this ski bum green at-the-gills.

Youve probably heard or read all the reviews on every movie that has hosted a premier this fall. So, Im not going to get into details; TGR, Tha Bigger Picture, Mack Dawg, Absinthe, and Rage all showed their movies to enthusiastic crowds amidst mumblings of both awe and appreciation. What was more interesting was the high-fiving between the movie producers and athletes, as the overall stoke level was high between jibbers and big-mountain rippers, skiers and snowboarders alike. Everyone was just happy to be together celebrating the onset of our favorite season and the promise of even bigger things to come. There are few opportunities for both sides of this snowsports industry to come together without competition as the main focus, and it was rewarding to witness the comeraderie evolve. Skiers watching snowboard films, snowboarders checking the skiing steeze; it was all stoke, all the time.

The industry forums held true to their form, as Aspen Ski Co representatives put together a lineup of meetings based on requests from last years event. Between forums about sponsorship, music licensing in action sports, and a competitions, issues were raised, athletes had a say, and people were listening. Well, at least hearing what was being said, if not taking it to heart. The parties being as great as they were, the only forum I managed to attend was the competition forum, but it was well worth it. With Chris Stiepock (from ESPN), Zach Crist and Calum Clark (representing USSA) as guest speakers, attendees took part in an eye-opening discussion on the direction of freeskiing as a competitive format. Long story short, Mr. Stiepock described in detail the reason why we dont see skiing on television: ratings drive programming, and skiing doesnt bring in the ratings. And, skier halfpipe wont be in the 2010 Olympics for reasons beyond the ghetto-fab image so closely associated with the discipline. But this is a discussion worth opening up somewhere else. Lets just say, the collective ego of our industry was dealt a heavy blow, and its going to take some real thinking to figure out direction to success.

To top the weekend off, performances by the Cunninlynguists and Rhyme Kryme rocked the venue at Belly Up with some hip-hop stylings. The newly formed flakes drifting down from the crisp fall night on Saturday only lent to the enthusiasm. But, it was probably the Red Bull/vodka specials all weekend that helped to keep the intensity flowing throughout the entire event. By Sunday morning, hearts were barely sputtering from all the caffeine, and Ibuprofen was the vitamin of choice as everyone crawled into their cars and taxis to leave Aspen behind, if but only for a short while. The next time a gathering of this size will blow through this town will be in January, when X-Games reign supreme, and the town shuts down to open its arms to the plethora of extreme athletes flooding the tiny mountain village.

Special thanks go to Aspen/Snowmass for hosting such a rowdy group all weekend. For more info on The Meeting, or to plan your trip to next years event, visit www.AspenSnowmass.com.