A new Swedish helmet, complete with airbags and fashionable enough to be a scarf, is a radical departure from familiar, bulky biking helmets on the market today.

But research shows that innovations in cycling gear could be very trendy in the near future. The inflatable Hovding Helmet, which is worn around the neck and is specifically designed for the cycling commuter, is already selling in Europe and is coming soon to North America.

Invented by two Swedish students, Hovding is covered by a removable shell that can be changed to match an outfit, and new designs will be launching all the time. Hövding is a practical accessory that's easy to carry around, it's got a great-looking, yet subtle, design – plus, it might save your life.

Sensors around the rider's neck can sense a quick or unusual movement and will trigger the helmet to inflate. The sensors read body movements 200 times per second, and when it senses danger, the Hovding helmet inflates like a hood.

There are some draw backs, however, as consumers can not repack the “air bag” once it is deployed.

The company that manufactures Hovding was recently honored at the Tribeca Film Festival, in partnership with the GE Focus Forward Film Series, which highlights innovative ideas, such as the ergonomic, practical, and subtle Hovding.

There are plenty of stats that tell us that wearing a helmet while cycling is a good idea. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2011 there were 38,000 cicyclist injuries, and 91 percent of bicyclists killed in 2009 reportedly weren't wearing helmets.

The US Department of Transportation conducted a survey in 2011 which found that the biggest area of accidents on bikes was in traffic. So even though only 5 percnet of the people surveyed were commuters, they were at the greatest risk. The Hovding helmet was designed specifically for commuters, and in test after test, the inflatable helmet rated higher in safety than traditional helmets, when it came to head injuries.

Airbag technology has been revolutionary in other sports as well, such as skiing and snowboarding, where avalanche airbags have a 90 percent survival rate when deployed in avalanches. The inventors of the Hovding helmets are already getting requests from other helmet-wearing sports, such as skate boarders, equine riders and winter riders.

If you just look at the traffic safety data from airbags in cars you can see that this company is onto something big.

It's hard to argue against innovation especially around safety.

Listen to the entire interview with Anna Haupt, inventor and co-founder of the Hovding Helmet on RadioBDC:

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The famous Mount Washington “American Inferno” race started in 1933. It was a top-to-bottom race from the peak to the valley floor. Toni Matt won the race in 1939 when he “schussed,” or skied head-on, the head wall by accident. It was a foggy spring afternoon and Matt won the 8 mile race in a record time of 6 minutes 29.2 seconds, with an estimated top speed of over 85 miles per hour.

The 2013 race showed just how tough this competition can be, with freezing temps and high winds the competitors battled it out the entire way up and down the mountain, through Tuckerman Ravine.

Years later, Matt said that when he reached the floor of the headwall, at the transition from steep to relatively flat, he felt lucky to be "nineteen, stupid, and have strong legs."

Charlie Proctor and John Carleton were the first men to ski the steep head wall in 1931. “We skied it out of necessity, simple as that," said Proctor in an interview with me back in 1992. He said he “just wanted to get home.”

Proctor and Carleton's first tracks down the steep, icy face gave birth to a New England tradition and Matt’s record breaking run not only earned him a place in skiing history, but more importantly created international folk lore that exists to this day.

Friends of Tuckerman Ravine is an organization with a mission to “seek and preserve the historic recreational use of the Tuckerman Ravine and Mount Washington.” And it is in this light they still hold the Tuckerman Inferno pentathlon each year.

The race is open both to teams of five (one of whom must be of the opposite sex) and to solo TuckerMen and TuckerWomen competitors.

The Tuckerman Inferno pentathlon consists of an 8.3 mile run, a 6 mile kayak race down the Saco River, an 18 mile bike race north through Pinkham Notch, a 3 mile run/hike up the Tuckerman Trail to Mount Washington's Tuckerman Ravine and a 1 mile ski/hike giant slalom to the floor of the ravine.

This is an amazingly hard event, as hard as it was skiing the head wall on wooden skis and leather boots back in 1931.

For the full results of this year's race, check Facebook.

Listen to the interview on the race and on activities on the Saco River on Edging the Xtreme on RadioBDC:

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Avalanches are serious business. Even a moderate one can knock down trees, destroy houses, and virtually clean out anything in its path. The misconception is that they only happen in the back country. However, last year an avalanche in France wiped out a moving chairlift with 41 people on it.

Here in New England, New Hampshire’s Presidential Range are the most avalanche-prone mountains east of the Rockies. The website for Mount Washington states, “Since 1954 there have been 10 avalanche fatalities and many other avalanche accidents in the Presidential Range. Historical data indicate that avalanche accidents have increased in the past decade, mirroring the national trend in recreation related avalanche accidents in the United States.”

When it comes to avalanche training and information, most of it can be very technical and sometimes hard to understand, but in the last few years, there has been a trend to focus more of the information toward the growing number of recreational and advanced skiers that are venturing off into the backcountry.

Henry Schniewind has been on the forefront of this movement since the late 1980s, after he graduated from Montana State University with a degree in Snow Science.

Armed with a passion for skiing and his degree, Schniewind moved to Val D'Isere, France, where we carved out a niche for himself by creating awareness for vacationers from around the world on the dangers of avalanches.

What started out as an afternoon presentation at a popular bar in Val D'Isere has grown into a full fledged company that does presentations around the Alps and the United Kingdom. What makes Schniewind's avalanche program so different is his focus on providing useable information for the everyday skier that saves lives from the Alps to New England.

His company motto is “Ride Hard, Ride Safe." On his website, where his main theme is “Safety is Freedom," skiers and riders can find information on weather, conditions around the Alps, access his blog and watch videos all designed to keep skiers and snowboarders on vacation safe.

Schniewind is originally from Newton, Mass. and has a teenager's race at Green Mountain Valley School and at Blue Hills. Once an employee of the former Ski Market retail chain, Schniewind has been recognized as a world-wide leader in avalanche safety. He has given over 750 talks and courses in the last 20 years, including presenting at international snow science conferences. He has published many papers and articles, and is motivated by the fact that that nine out of 10 victims of avalanches trigger the avalanche themselves and their injuries could have been avoided.

In the Alps each winter there are an average of 100 deaths per year. And when you add up that figure to the deaths in North America and beyond, it's clear that avalanches present real danger. Henry’s Avalanche Talks (HAT) is an easy-to-understand voice amongst the technical and often complicated snow science information that tends to be distributed by avalanche sites and experts.

Schniewind has been a long-time friend and ski partner of mine for over 30 years and I featured him on my long-running television series Wild World of Winter.

Hear the entire RadioBDC interview with Henry Schniewind on Edging the Xtreme with Dan Egan:

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Garrett McNamara, who also goes by ‘GMAC,’ is an American professional big wave surfer, and extreme waterman, known for breaking the world record for largest wave ever surfed around the world. He has been a passionate surfer since his family moved from Pittsfield, Mass. to the beaches of Hawaii and he has never looked back. McNamara's professional career spans over two decades around the pacific and beyond.

Don’t let McNamara’s laid-back, surfer persona fool you: as an professional athlete in his mid-forties, an age at which most are thinking of stepping to the sideline, he's ramping it up a notch. His recent world record wave ride in Portugal was on a wave ranging from 90-100 feet in height, and for him it was just another day at work.

That day that was six-plus years in the making. McNamara was tipped off to the wave by an email sent from a small village on the coast of Portugal. A local that wanted to know if the wave, a geographic phenomenon off the coast of Portugal called the North Canyon, was worth riding.

Living with the constant quest of riding the “barrel” or “tube” of the wave, McNamara's adventures include surfing in Alaska on a wave caused by the falling ice of a glacier into the frozen arctic waters. McNamara admits it was "a little crazy, but worth the risk, because the falling ice creates perfect waves."

He credits his survival to planning and fitness along, with his ability to hold his breath. McNamara is currently taking classes so he can surpass his personal best of 4.5 minutes under water.

“You have to survive the beating the wave hands out,” said McNamara, “and sometimes the bottom is a bit rough, like a coral reef, so you really just take a series of breaths whenever you can.”

Over the past 10 years, McNamara has been on a mission to catch the biggest, best waves on the planet, and he has succeeded. He is arguably the most committed ocean explorer in the world. You can put him in any situation in the water and GMAC is not only ready to go, but go hard!

At 17 years old, McNamara entered and placed in the prestigious Hawaiian Triple Crown Series. Along with his brother Liam, McNamara began to attract the attention of major sponsors and signed deals with a number of prominent brands in Japan. The brothers spent the next 10 years on the competition circuit, traveling and becoming fluent in Japanese. It was the realization of a dream come true for both brothers.

McNamara continued to push the limits of pro surfing, and soon he started to get towed into waves on Personal Water Craft or Jet Skis, which enable surfers to chase down and catch giant waves that were thought to be impossible, beyond the reach of surfers paddling with their bare hands.

Predictably, McNamara couldn't leave well enough alone. He is still on a mission to explore the world’s oceans for the best and biggest waves Mother Nature has to offer.

Listen to the complete Garrett McNamara interview on Edging the Xtreme on Radio BDC with Dan Egan. GMAC talks about surviving the white water of his world record ride and compares it to riding on a moving avalanche of snow.

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“The past is history and the future is a mystery” says Mr. Fitness, Tony Horton. “Feel good now, work out now and make it a habit.”

More from RadioBDC: Listen to Part 1 of Dan Egan's interview with Tony Horton

Horton, the founder of fitness regimen P90X, takes no excuses for delaying fitness and preaches both nutrition and activity. One of his main themes is “clean up the diet and get off the sugar, the fats, salts and chemicals, processed foods that come from boxes and bags.” If you go to www.beachbody.com and check out his orginal program, titled Power 90,you can see Horton's recipe for weight loss and nutrition.

His new program, 10 Minute Trainer,sounds too good to be true, but as he explains in the second part of the Radio BDC interview, it's just to get people started in forming good habits – so 10 minutes turns into 20 minutes, and it grows from there.

After the success of his first two books, Bring It and Crush It, he is launching his third, out this summer. There seems no end in sight for his fitness empire expansion, which includes a video game, food line, clothing line and sunglasses.

Tony Horton is a motivator and he has built his success on making getting fit both fun and effective. His approach is sometimes corny, and often over-the-top, but the bottom line is: his programs work.

So if you're looking to break free of the winter and looking towards a spring and summer of fun in the sun and feeling better about yourself, start any one of his programs and stick with it.

Just check out his web page www.tonyhortonsworld.com. You’ll be glad you did.

Listen to the part two of the Tony Horton interview on Edging the Xtreme only on RadioBDC:

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Tony Horton has risen to heights rarely found by fitness trainers. This kid from Rhode Island, who describes himself as a “high school weakling,” has created a fitness empire that has produced the top fitness program of all time.

In almost any circle, if you mention Tony Horton, P90X, or the" fitness guy on TV," people will know the program, or, more than likely, have done it themselves.

More: Listen to Part Two of Dan Egan's interview with Tony Horton

The P90X regimen appeals to people for many reasons. Tony explains, “Its fun, fast-moving, and you don’t need fancy equipment or a gym. But more importantly, it works.”

The results do speak for themselves. After doing the P90X program, I have to admit that as hard as it was, the hour work outs went by quickly. The mix of Horton’s simple slapstick humor and encouragement keeps your mind off of the task at hand, and before you know it, you have done some crazy move on one leg with your arms touching the ground and reaching for the sky.

Add to that the Beach Body website, where there are resources like coaches, an online directory of exercises, fitness products and a community of friends that are helping you stay true to eating right, working out and having fun. And this mass access to fitness has taken away the mystery of staying fit and looking good.

Tony says he works out 22 days a month and that most people can achieve 18-22 days a month and should not be discouraged by the amount of time of each work out. He preaches routine and has a gospel of remaining young and beating back the hands of time through a mix of yoga, nutrition, balance and core strength.

His products range from the “10 minute work out” to the new P90X2.

The fact that amazes me is I have known Horton from his humble beginnings when he first started coming to my ski camps out west and in South America. And to watch him build his fitness following has been inspiring. I have witnessed people driving over nine hours just to shake his hand and thank him for changing and transforming their lives. His programs have not only been inspirational, but his commitment to helping people change their paradigm about themselves and the world around them is the underlining power of his success.

We caught up with Tony Horton just as he returned from a heli skiing trip in Canada for a special Edging the Xreme Radio BDC two-part series on fitness.

Listen to part one of our interview, as Tony talks about his early days, his books and more, and check out Tony's site.

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Chris Davenport, a New England native who ski raced his early years in the Mount Washington Valley, has gone on to be one of the most regonized skiers and mountaineers in recent times. His ambition and passion has led him to ski from the South Pole to the biggest peaks in Europe and beyond.

His exploits include skiing all 54 mountain peaks over 14,000 feet elevation in Colorado within one year, and skiing the biggest peaks in Europe including the Eger, Mount Blanc, the Matterhorn and the Monte Rosa.

He has skied in countless Warren Miller films, including a segment on Mount Washington, and is a two-time Big Mountain World Freeride Champion. Davenport's business exploits are equally as impressive, as he has his own clothing line with Spider Clothing Company, his own ski line with the Kastle Ski Company and he is a sponsored Red Bull athlete.

As an X Games bronze medalist and television announcer, Davenport spoke to Edging the Xtreme, sharing his insights on the future of the X Games in light of the recent death of an athlete this past winter. Davenport also spoke of pursuing his career as a professional mountaineer, knowing the full reality of lost friends and the pressure of having a family waiting for him back home.

Davenport attended Holderness Prep School in New Hampshire, to which he credits his focus for peak performance and setting and reaching personal goals.

Every summer, Davenport runs a ski camp in Portillo Chile in mid-August. So if you are looking to escape the hot summer sun, you can book a trip with him and his film star friends to one of the most beautiful ski resorts in the world.

Listen to the entire Chris Davenport Interview with Dan Egan on Radio BDC.

The Swatch World Freeride Tour (WFT) rolled into Kirkwood California recently and competitors found hard, fast and firm snow covering the rocks, cliffs and gullies that made up the event venue.

The conditions were so questionable the WFT organizers allowed the competitors up on the ridge for a pre-event terrain inspection. Usually the visual inspection happens from down below only.

With the challenging terrain covered in old snow that ranged from blue ice to spring snow, it no wonder the East coast born-and-bread competitors found their way to the podium on this only stop for the tour in the United States.

Winning the men’s ski division was Lars Chickering-Ayers of Mad River Glen, Vermont, who is skiing on the tour with his brother Silas. Jaclyn Paaso, who attended Gould Academy in Maine and now lives in Squaw Valley Calif., won the women’s ski division. In third place was Ashley Maxfield of Jay Peak, Vermont.

Maxfield knows first hand about the dangers of skiing on the World Freeride Tour. She was friends with Vermont native Ryan Hawks, who died during a competition back in 2011 at Kirkwood – in the same zone as this year's competition is being held. Maxfield said, “I thought of him the entire time I was there, he was such a strong spirit and good friend.”

Hawks’ memory lives on via the Flying Ryan Foundation, which supports and educates young athletes through the mantra, “Expose, Inspire, Teach.” The foundation was represented at the Swatch World Freeride Tour by Hawks’ father Peter, who spoke to competitors and encouraged them to live life to its fullest and “rather than conquering the mountain, try and cooperate with it.” Find out more at flyingryanhawks.org

Maxfield, who is currently ranked fourth on the tour, is heading to Europe for the final two competitions of the season. She seems to be have solid confidence in herself and a sense of her Vermont roots. As a girls' high school soccer coach, she is committed to sharing her knowledge with others.

The WFT selects the top women in the world to compete and only 12 women are selected, three of which are from North America.

Maxfield talked about her life on the road as a pro skier, her memories of Ryan Hawks and traveling on the Swatch World Freeride Tour in an interview on Radio BDC and Edging the Xtreme with Dan Egan.

Listen to the entire interview here.

When it comes to winter action sports in New England, there is only one video company that brings it to life on a regional, national and worldwide level: Meat Head Films.

Started 12 years ago by a college student at the University of Vermont, this home-grown, East Coast gang has carved out a niche all their own and they are dedicated to highlighting the talent and terrain of the east coast.

Meat Head Films' newest release won a Powder Award for Best Powder Segment of the Year for their segment on Jay Peak, a massive accomplishment considering last year was not the snowiest and here in the East, we're not generally known for our deep powder turns.

The annual Powder Awards, sponsored by Powder Magazine and handed out in Park City, Utah the first night of the Sundance Film Festival, typically honors films made in the West and exotic locations around the world.

Meat Head Films has been nominated in recent years for the “Best Jib” category, but to be nominated (and win) the “Best Powder Segment” is a real landmark moment.

Chris James, co-owner and senior photographer at Meat Head, knows well the struggles of being a dedicated East Coast action sports video company and Edging the Xtreme caught up with him recently to talk about his many projects, including Ski the East, Meat Heads newest release, “No Matter What,” and the Ski the East Freeride Tour, which had its first event of the season at Mad River Glenn last weekend.

The Ski the East Freeride Tour filled a void in the East Coast for competitors who did not want to race or compete in moguls or half pipe events.

All the events on the tour were pre-existing and started by the host resorts to highlight their terrain and the spirit of the resorts. Competitors of all ages compete and the demand was so large at the junior level that the juniors had to pre-qualify through a separate series of events.

Last weekend, the first stop of the tour was held at Mad River Glen and with the resort's slogan, “Ski it if you can” as famous as the mountain itself, this event is a real test. The southern Vermont event is held at Magic Mountain , the resort I first ski bummed at back in 1983. Then the tour moves to Sugarbush and on the famed Castle Rock lift line, where you can find my brother John hiding out from his office job. His son, Johnny, is a regular competitor on the tour and finished 20th last weekend at Mad River.

The finals is a two day event at Jay Peak on the rugged terrain under the Tram at the summit.

Check out meatheadfilms.com for news and DVDs, and skitheeast.net for complete results and to follow the tour.

Listen to the entire Chris James interview here on Edging the Xtreme and RadioBDC.

Three-time Olympian Kelly Clark is widely considered one the greatest female snowboarders ever. She has won every major event in the history of the sport, including the Olympics, the U.S. Open, and Winter X Games, among others. She just got back from winning the Olympic Test event in Sochi Russia and she shared some experiences and some insight to the culture of snowboarding and what it takes to stay on top for over a decade.

Regarded as the best female boarder in halfpipe history, Clark won her third consecutive Gold medal at the Winter X Games last month. She was the first woman ever to do so! Last week, she won the World Cup in Sochi, Russia and she is gearing up for the US Open next week in Vail, CO.

She attended Mount Snow Academy and joined the US Snowboard team as a teenager. Since then, Clark has claimed an astounding 23 podium wins, including a Vans Triple Crown win, a Junior World Championship title, and an overall Grand Prix title. Only a year after graduating high school, she competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, winning a Gold medal in Women’s Halfpipe. She later participated in both the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics, landing a bronze medal in Vancouver in 2010.

Aside from her competitive efforts in snowboarding, Clark founded The Kelly Clark Foundation in 2010 to foster youth snowboarding. Since its establishment, the Foundation has awarded $42,000 worth of scholarships to young athletes with financial need.

The Foundation also provides a Snowboard Passport Program, which partners The Kelly Clark Foundation with nonprofit charities to fund daytrips for inner city disadvantaged youth to "get them out on the hill."

The Foundation realizes that the key to success starts with the opportunity to follow your dreams and they aim to give every child the opportunity to make his or her dream a reality.

Listen to the entire interview with Kelly Clark at the link below.

Ted Ligety is the fifth man in history to win three or more gold medals at one world championships and the first to do it in 45 years, since Jean-Claude Killy (FRA) won four in 1968. And he is the first non-European man to achieve this feat.

Here is the video:

Plus, Ligety is the first skier in world championships history, in either gender, to win the Super G, the giant slalom and the (super) combined at one world championships. As if that wasn’t enough, Ligety's SG and SC wins at Schladming 2013 have come in disciplines in which he has never won on the World Cup tour.

All 15 of his World Cup wins have come in giant slalom.

Well it doesn’t stop there: Ted is the first USA skier, in either gender, to win the giant slalom gold medal twice at the world championship.

Ligety is the first American skier, in either gender, to win three gold medals at one world championships and his fourth career individual world championship gold ties Bode Miller's USA record and joins the ranks of the USA record held by Miller, Vonn and Julia Mancuso with five World Championships medals.

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With the World Championships in full swing, Ted Ligety is on the verge of making history, and two-time Olympian and World Champion Bronze medal winner Doug Lewis has the the story - listen to his interview below and watch Ted's impeccable run.

Lindsey Vonn had her knee surgery last Sunday in Vail, and with the Olympics now just under a year away, she has vowed to be back. Doctors report that the surgery was successful and anticipate that Vonn will make a "full recovery."

Julia Mancuso is attempting to win her sixth World Championship medal this week in the giant slalom.

Hannah Carney won both the individual moguls and the duel moguls events at Deer Vally in Utah last week.

With President’s week upon us, there are many great events. The legendary Wayne Wong will be at Nashoba Valley this coming weekend. Don’t miss your chance to see and ski with a living legend.

On Main Street in Bethel, Maine a jumping competition called Rail Jam will be held in the middle of the street, to showcase tricks from the area's best skiers and boarders. The annual Rail Wars event will be held on Feb. 23.

And if you want to ski with me, come to Killington Feb. 17 and 18 for one of my advance Skiclinics. Go to Skiclinics.com for more information.

Listen to my full report at the link below.

Doug Lewis competed in two Olympics and won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Bormio Italy back in 1985.

Today, he is a television sports analyst for Universal Sports Network.

There are few people on the planet as passionate for ski racing as Doug Lewis, and he was nice enough to give Edging the Xtreme an up-close-and-personal interview about Ted Ligety’s gold medals in both the Super Combined and the Super Giant Slalom at the World Championships this week in Austria.

Also, here's a bonus with some insight to the Lindsey Vonn crash and her surgery this week in Vail Colorado.

The World Ski Championships have started in Austria and after just one day, I have good news and bad news.

The good news first: Julia Mancoso, who won silver in the 2011 World Championships in Garmish Gemany, captured the bronze medal in Austria. Julia always steps it up for big events, and this is her fifth career World Championships Medal.

And Ted Ligety won gold in the Super G.

The bad news: Lindsey Vonn blew her knee out and had to be airlifted off the mountain. This is a devastating blow to the best Women Skier in in US Ski Team history, especially with the Olympics just a year away.

The US Disabled Ski team is also off to the World Championships in Spain and Tyler Walker is ranked number one in the world,

You can read and listen to the entire Tyler Walker interview here.

This is the spot from RadioBDC on this week's news:

Tyler Walker had his legs amputated when he was four years old. He was born with lumbar sacral agenesis, a birth defect that meant he was born without most of his spine.

“My parents had my legs amputated, which was a good decision, because my legs were just flopping around underneath me," Walker said in an interview from his home in Aspen, where he now lives and trains with the US Disabled Ski Team. "Since I can get out and walk around on my hands so easily, I’m glad they did.”

Originally from Franconia, NH Walker is a two-time Paralympian and a multi-time X-Games Gold Medalist. He has a lot to be proud of; this year at the International Paralympic Skiing NorAm Cup, he won five out of six events.

The first time I met Tyler was back in the late 1990’s when I was hiking over to ski the backside of Cannon Mountain. There he was, with a friend who was pushing and pulling him in his mono ski up and over the top of the mountain to ski some new snow on the backside of Cannon. I’ve been a fan ever since.

Chris Devlin-Young, whom Walker met at the Disabled Ski Programs at both Loon and Waterville Valley ski areas, is known as a fearless athlete who recently skied the famed Corbet's Coulior in Jackson Hole.

Devlin-Young, who is also from New Hampshire, a World Champion and four-time Paralympian, has become a coach, mentor and friend to Walker. Together they are aiming for the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.

“I like to ski the most challenging part of any mountain," said the 26-year-old Walker. A 10-year veteran of the US Disabled Ski Team, he's is heading over to Spain to the World Championships next week.

Listen to my entire interview with Tyler, and follow his progress at the “Worlds” and on the road to the Paralympics in Sochi Russia in 2014, here at Edging the Xtreme on Radio BDC.

My perfect Super Bowl halftime show is a good ski or snowboard flick. So flip off the commercials and switch over to deep powder, big cliff drops and cool locations. And if your looking for some new films, consider this a recommendation for a few films touring New England.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival is touring and comes to Somerville later in February. This week it's in Maine and then in Portsmouth, NH on Feb. 13. Check out the trailer.

As always, there is a great mix of films in this three-hour presentation. Skiing has not typically been included, but this year there is an amazing ski film, "Unicorn Sashimi," (from Japan) that is partially shot at night in deep, deep powder. The slow motion is amazing.

My favorite films were "Crossing the Ice" and "Real Rock 7," which feature free climber Alex Honnold, Moon Walk and Gimp Monkeys.

Also, Greg Stump is back with his long awaited release of "Legend of to Aahh’s."

Don’t miss this film! It has a limited New England run, but this week it's in Plymouth NH at the Flying Monkey Theater on Feb. 8.

Twenty five years after unleashing the award winning ski film “Blizzard Of Aahhh’s” upon the world, Greg Stump (who has a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Ski History Association, is in the Maine State Ski Hall of Fame, and was named one of the 25 most influential people in skiing by Skiing magazine) returns to the ski film genre with “Legend Of Aahhh’s.”

After 15 years working the Hollywood scene directing commercials, including Disney’s 2001 Tony Hawk Super Bowl spot, as well as music videos for Willie Nelson, Lukas Nelson and Promise Of The Real, Seal, Art Of Noise, Dinosaur Jr., and The Beach Boys, Greg Stump is back to skiing.

According to the trailer, "through a semi-autobiographical approach, Greg explores the history of the ski film and how these films influenced big mountain skiing… and pop culture with the birth of the extreme sports movement," following the release of “Blizzard Of Aahhh’s” in 1988 and Glen Plake and Scot Schmidt’s pivotal appearance on NBC’s Today Show, where the word and concept of “extreme” exploded into the consciousness of mainstream America.

"Legend of Aahhh's" features interviews with Warren Miller, Dick Barrymore, Otto Lang, John Jay, Klaus Obermeyer, and the skiing of Scot Schmidt, Glen Plake, Mike Hattrup, Lynne Wieland, and many more. It also has an an amazing soundtrack.

So, while the world is looking at television ads during half time, I’ll be popping in my favorite ski films this weekend and planning my next trip to the theater to see new ones.

Dominance in sports is an amazing accomplishment, and Shawn White winning his sixth gold medal in the Men’s Super Pipe is monumental.

Sliver went to Japanese Ayumu Hirano, who at just 14 years old, came within just seven points of beating White, who is almost twice his age.

Hirano, when asked why he's so good at a press conference, answered simply, “I don’t know.” For ESPN, it was a perfect ending to another X Games full of non-stop action, high-flying stunts, acrobatics, and crashes.

And ESPN knows why the X Games are so good; it's because people are watching.

In 2012 total attendance in Aspen reached 108,000 and this year, the number is expected to be higher. On Saturday night alone ESPN was reporting 47,000-plus sports enthusiasts in the stands. This year the event hosted over 200 athletes competing in 16 disciplines.

Between ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, action sports have a huge platform and with a record number of people watching, advertisers are happy, fans are thrilled and the X Games will roll on.

For the athletes competing on the biggest stage in action sports, there is very little room for error. They're gambling it all, and, let's face it: these events are dangerous.

In the Men’s Ski SuperPipe, the announcer said noted that every athlete competing in the event has had a major surgery in the last 14 months. In the Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe, two of the television announcers were athletes with injuries: Kevin Pierce has a permanent brain injury and, the other, Gretchen Bleiler, is suffering from a fractured eye socket from a crash during training on a trampoline.

In Snowmobile X, two brothers were injured in different races but on the same jump. Celeb Moore has brain complications and his brother Colten separated his pelvis.

Also, in Snowmobiling, an Australian competitor attempted a backflip Sunday night in the best trick competition and his sled took off into the viewing area. A Colorado man was injured, but not before throwing his 11-year-old son out of the way of the unmanned sled. That's just the tip of the iceberg for injuries, further down on the list are spines, knees and concussions.

However, with a world-wide television audience the X Games have changed the culture of sports forever. There are X Game events this year in Spain, France, Brazil, Germany along with the two in this country (taking place in Aspen and LA).They have transformed sports, changed the direction of the Olympics and produced some of best know athletes in the world today.

Shawn White’s sixth gold medal will make him one of the most sought-after athletes leading up to and during the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia next year. Meanwhile, coming up behind him is an entirely new generation of skiers, snowboarders, snowmobilers and others, led by young talented athletes like Ayumu Hirano, who have better training, coaching and who are willing to risk it all for the fame and fortune of the likes of Shawn White and others.

The Men’s Ski Superpipe has always been my favorite X Games event. Think of it ... the pipe is rock-hard ice with walls 17-plus feet high. The athletes are flying above the walls while flipping, twisting and grabbing their skis. If you have never been in a superpipe, visit Loon or Okemo and take a look. It's very wild just to ski down the middle of it and look up the walls ... nevermind ski up to the lip, or jump up and out of the pipe.

David Wise won the contest on Friday night - and he did it with style - leaving no doubt of why he became the first double gold medalist in this event since Tanner Hall in 2008. It's hard to win one of these contest due to the nature of the judging, and the fact that every year competitors are constantly setting new heights and new tricks. Check out his superpipe performance from last year.

The 21-year-old Wise is a new dad from Lake Tahoe, California. You can see him in the new Warren Miller film "Flow State" or any number of other videos.

His winning run included a back-to back double cork 1260 trick that has never been done before. It was an amazing run. What struck me were the grabs, the height and how smooth he was floating in the air.

Turin Yates-Wallace, at just 17 years old, won the silver while Bethel, Maine native Simon Dumont - a true superpipe warrior - won the bronze. The 26-year-old Dumont had a broken wrist and skied without poles in the competition. (Dumont is pictured to the right competing without poles at the US Grand Prix on Jan. 11, 2013.) It could be argued that poles don’t help much in the superpipe. But if that was true, why do the other competitors use them? The answer is simple: Balance.

He broke his wrist while competing in the Dew Tour earlier in the year, but that didn’t slow him down. He is known for going big in the pipe, and this year was no different. Dumont is also no stranger to injuries. In 2006, he broke his pelvis in three places and ruptured his spleen when he overshot a jump in Utah. Another injury includes a knee injury that caused him to pull out of the X Games in France last winter. If you are looking to see this Simon in person, don’t miss the Dumont Cup held at Sunday River in late March.

The 5th annual Dumont Cup returns this spring as the biggest free ski event in the East, and the biggest pro-am competition in the world. With $20,000 in cash up for grabs, you'll see top X Games pros throwing down against an amateur field that always gives them a run for their money.

So it's bronze for Dumont to add to his medal count. Since 2002 he was won two gold, two silvers and now four bronze medals in Winter X Ski Superpipe, plus a gold in Big Air back in 2009. We have not seen the last of Simon, he has been named to the 2014 US Olympic Ski Team and will compete in Sochi, Russia next year in the superpipe. He is a true ski professional, one I like to watch and one who has not let injury or fame slow him down from his passion for the sport.

Aspen is a great place any time of year, but for the last 11 years in late January Aspen comes alive via the power of the X Games! ESPN moved the X Games to Aspen in 2002, and the resort has the contract through 2014. The action kicks off this Thursday, January 24th, and the action is on ESPN from noon to 11pm.

The biggest events are the ski and snowboard half pipe for sure. And this year marks the return of Tanner Hall ... it’s been three years since he competed. Maine’s Simon Dumont (some You Tube footage below) is his arch rival, and together these two guys set the standard of half-pipe skiing in the world. It will be interesting to see if they can maintain their dominance, because today it’s all about the new comers. So look for the Canadian or the French to step it up.

Gone from the competition this year is Skier X and Board X. With very little explanation, the organizers pulled the plug on these two very popular events. Both of these events are now in the Olympics and have grown in popularity around the world from the youth level to the international FIS World Cup. Maybe this is ESPN saying we don’t want mainstream, or maybe it was too much to organize. Whatever the case, you’ll have to watch the Visa Grand Prix or the Revolution Tour to get your fix, both are televised and more information can be found at www.usfreeskiing.com/freeskiing.

The one man who has become the face of the X Games is Shawn White (check out his perfect 100 score from last year's X Games). And yes ... he is back. The only athlete to compete in both summer and winter X Games, White is an icon and a real life action hero. At the Winter Olympics in 2010 in Vancouver, he was the highest endorsed individual athlete there. He continues to perform at an extremely high level and I would not count him out again this year. However, there are plenty of big names to follow including Olympian Louie Vito and New Hampshire’s own Olympian Scotty Lago.

The women’s snowboard field is filled with the biggest names ... and the three American’s Gretchen Bleiler, Kelly Clark and Hannah Teter (video below of her 2011 silver medal run) could be the best of all time. These three have been on top of their game for a long time and it wouldn’t surprise me to see a USA sweep of this event.

For you “sled heads” out there, will be plenty of action. Back by popular demand is SnoCross. This event is a blast with side by side racing, big air and lots of crashes. There is also SnoCross Adaptive racing, which will prove to create a whole bunch of new hero’s and X Game legend’s. Also included in Snowmobile is best trick, freestyle, and speed and style. So put in your ear plugs and look for some wild action.

For the entire schedule of events log onto www.xgames.espn.go.com. The X Games are viewed in over 200 countries and this year Aspen is embracing for over 110,000 fans over the four day event. I’ll be watching for sure, hope you will be too.

Ski season is here, but have you skied local Boston Ski Areas lately? Local Boston ski areas have great skiing and have a lot to offer skiers of all abilities. So take the Dan Egan challenge and visit two or more of the following resorts and discover why I?m a fan of them all.

I learned to ski at Blue Hills. Blue Hills is the closest ski area to any major city in the United States. On a clear evening standing on top of ?Big Blue? is a great site of the Boston skyline and the surrounding area. The skiing is challenging, the main run is steep, and if you want to meet expert skiers who ski up north and out west but still love to ski Blue Hills, stop in and say to the Ski Patrol.

Nashoba Valley is not only close to Boston, but offers everything a northern New England Ski Area has to offer. The ski area spreads out and you?ll be surprised at the number of lifts and trails. If you like terrain parks, their rails and jumps are second to none. The Nashoba Valley tubing park is so popular and fun that when Shaq played for the Celtics, this is where he brought his family to hang out.

Wachusett Mountain dominates the landscape just off of route 2 and if you buzz out there for an evening out, you better bring your ski legs. The terrain park rocks so bring the family and enjoy big mountain skiing close to home. On the corporate side, Wachusett Mountain offers corporate suites that mini condo over looking the slopes.

Ski Ward off of 495 is your ticket west and north of the city. My friends who ski here love it because it?s small, close and a blast for young skiers and snowboarders. One of the lesser-known local ski areas, Ward offers an oasis for families when you want to get away and be back home in a flash. With four lifts and 8 tubing lanes, Ski Ward will be a blast.

Ski Bradford is also a blast. This hill has produced some of the best skiers in New England. People have history with this place. I raced there in the State Championship in 1982 and got edged out of second place by the owner?s son, and when you come away from Ski Bradford, you?ll be making plans to return with friends and family and to start your own memories and history.

So get after it this winter and ski one or more of these local ski areas. You?ll have an adventure close to home and may even rediscover a few simple things about why you love to ski and snowboard.