Also thanks to all that have donated to help pay for the life flight and my hospital stay. I have received quite a few messages about how to donate, so for those that are interested a huge thanks in advance, and one way is PayPal.
kcdeane@gmail.com to go through PayPal, or you can send checks etc to
Moment Skis
C/0 KC Deane
1060 Marietta Way
Sparks, NV 89431

Thanks for all the good vibes and support.

So as some of you know, and maybe some of you dont, I recently broke my neck while filming here in Tahoe. We had just received 12-14 inches of new spring pow the day before so myself, and Sean Collin went out to get some turns. After riding the morning we went to get a jump ready to film the following day since my usual partner in crime Scotty Nikkel wasnt able to join us. I had been looking at this spot for a while and had always wanted to build it. The jump is a large natural step up that is about 100 feet. Sean and I spent hours digging a massive lip that came out awesome.
The following morning myself, Sean, and Scotty jumped on the sleds and headed out about 10am. We showed up and finished prepping the lip and the inrun. The landing had been baked the previous day, but since we planned on it being spring snow we didnt worry that much about it. Sean and I ro-sham-boed for first hit, Sean lost, and it was up to him to tackle dialing in the speed. After a few checks Sean hit it coming up about 10 feet short and hitting into the face of the landing, quickly bouncing back up. After talking about if we should cut the lip down or not, I went up and speed checked the jump. I was stood up top for a while waiting for the wind to settle, finally I decided it shouldnt be bad, and dropped in. As I popped off the lip I reached about halfway when I saw I was going further up from Seans landing, but I was still going to come up short. I landed on my feet but the impact was so great that I backslapped. The back slap gave me a nasty case of whiplash, strangely enough I never lost consciousness. Maybe its because I just got a new Carbon Bern in the mail and wasnt wearing a hard hat, but I was pretty stoked I didnt go into the blackzone. I tried to sit up and instantly felt there was something wrong in my neck and laid down immediately. Sean and Scotty came down and after stabilizing my head and shoulders, helped me up to the top of the landing. I never lost feeling anywhere in my body but I could just feel that something wasnt right. So scotty made a few calls to see if we could get a C collar or something to get me out the 15 mile sled ride out. Everyone he called said , “get heli, its not worth it”. Sean and Scotty finally said that they wouldnt ride me out and I cant thank them enough for making that descision.
Around 1pm Scotty made the call for the heli to come pick me up. Some snowmobilers had pulled up and luckily had a GPS so they could get our exact location. An hour later, yes, an HOUR later the heli finally showed up, they had been lost for 45 minutes. I guess they couldnt figure out how to use a GPS. Anyhow, I got care flighted to Tahoe-Forest hospital in Truckee where a CAT scan revealed I had cracked my C2 vertebrae from top to bottom on both sides.
Next I got an ambulance ride down to Renown Hospital in Reno, NV where I got an MRI to find out the full extent of the damage. At his point it was about 5:30 pm and I was still duct taped down to a back board. Not the best feeling. The Neurosurgeon came in and told me that I would make a 100% recovery. I cant even describe how stoked I was. He also told me that I wouldnt need surgery. I felt like the luckiest person on earth. Then he told me that only 3% of people that break or fracture their C2, live or can walk again. Even now writing this I cant begin to describe how lucky I feel. After spending the night in the neuro unit I was released.
It hasnt been easy since Ive been out, but Im am just, fucking estatic that Im walking, that Ill be able to ski next year. Its funny because my back has been really hurting, but everytime it really starts to bother me it just reminds me that I can feel the pain, and it just gets me stoked. Never thought my lower back killing me, would get me excited, but knowing that I have that feeling and Ill be back in 3 months is awesome. Still not sure how Im going to pay my medical bills which to date are about 15,000 dollars but its hard to put a price on being able to live and walk.
Thanks to all my friends and especially my Dad for taking care of me. Driving me around, going shopping for me etc. I cant say thanks enough for the support. Ill be back, and when I am, you better bet im going to tear shit up!

It was my first time shooting with Coble and I was a bit nervous. I really wanted to make sure that I didnt screw up and nailed my lines. The day turned out awesome and shooting with Coble was awesome. Turns we just got a shot from that day up already on ESPN. The day could not have been better, skiing two feet of snow at Stevens Pass, shooting with one of the best, and getting a shot on ESPN. Check out the shot.

Blasting some pillows at Stevens Pass

Loading up at Gunders

The next day we got up and headed to meet Ashley Tait of Revelstoke Mtn Resort, and get up on the mountain. We knew that it hadnt snowed for the past three weeks so it would be tough to find decent snow, if any snow worth shooting. Revelstoke however didnt disappoint, and with Gunderson behind the lense, and Adam U, Zach Giffin and myself we knew we had a pretty good chance Not 10 min off the top chair and we were in some of the deepest snow of the trip. Once we found out that the snow didnt suck, actually it was pretty damn far from being bad we headed out to a zone that Gunder and crew had shot earlier in the year to find untouched cliffs and pillows with awesome snow.



We worked that zone until we had to head out and catch the last lift ride on the Ripper chair. Sitting in the parking lot we were all feeling pretty good after getting at least 10 good shots from the day.

The second day came early since I had only 10 hours of sleep in the last 3 days. Zach and I followed Grant and Adam over Rogers Pass wishing we were still asleep.

Pulling up to the lodge at GCH and I couldnt believe that I was about to go heli-skiing. For Grant and the rest of the crew , going up in a bird was pretty normal, for me, it was a dream finally about to come true.


We went and checked into the lodge and grabbed some of the 5 star breakfast that was ready for everyone before getting our heli and avalanche briefing. All the while we were getting ready I still couldnt believe that it was actually going to happen. I had waited so long to go heli-skiing that it just seemed surreal. Even after finishing our briefing it still didnt sink in.

So we were sitting on the heli pad waiting for our ride to come in, and out of the valley come this heli and sets right down on top of us. If I had a stoke meter at that point it would have exploded, all the hard work, all the long days, everything, had finally paid off.
Being in the helicopter alone was awesome, hell I didnt even want to get out! We had an awesome guide that despite that avalanche danger got us into the best zones he could while keeping us safe. We skied some awesome snow and once again got some banger shots for our slideshow.



End of the day I was just in awe. I finally got to get up and do some heli skiing and what an awesome crew to do it with. Other than Grant, could have done without him creating one more addiction in life. All because of Grant, I am know addicted to heli-skiing. Grant says, “ its pretty much like doing crack, one time and your addicted” and after spending the day with Great Canadian I now know what he had been talking about.
That night we packed up and headed to Nelson, BC. Nelson has quite the eclectic group of people that make up the town and create a place like no other.

It also has a gem in the form of Whitewater Mtn resort. Once again we heard the snow was horrible but decided that we would get our touring gear out and go for a hike the following day.

We started day three by skinning out the ridge line to find some decent snow. As we kept moving higher we found ourselves in a zone filled with snowghosts. Zach and I were pretty set on jibbing some sort of snowghost pillow thing. Finally we found a small pillow behind a tree with a pillow on top of it that was good to go. We did a little digging and had ourselves a pillow gap up-to 15 feet up into a tree-thing…One hit one shot with Gunderson. I aired perfectly to the top of the tree and we got a banger shot.

Next up was a stump that Adam packed out while we did our tree jib. He decided not to hit it and told me it was all mine. After looking at the landing to tight trees I quickly found why he was passing. But I was ready to send it regardless so we put some good’ol wu-tang on the lip. I told Gunderson that I wanted to send a backy, he was like,” uh well, I would prefer if you did something easier so that you can still shoot the rest of day haha.” Even more incentive to send a big laid out backflip. So I dropped and stomped a big freedom flip,and made it through the tight tree gauntlet. Pumped!


We continued our way up the ridgeline above Whitewater resort. I hit one more drop and nearly killed Gunderson, I dropped a good 80 feet and landed on his ski tips.

After making the hike back to the top Adam and Zach had already set up a awesome cliff looking out over an amazing sunset that was starting to take over the sky. Everyone got a shot on the cliff.

We packed and headed down to the parking lot in the dark. Its always satisfying skiing back in the pitch black knowing that you got some banger shots and that it was a great day.
The last day I had a little truck issue that needed to be attended too. My brake pads on my truck had finally worn through down to the metal . So at 8 am I got to work tearing apart my brakes in the Wal Mart parking lot. I figured no big deal, quick 40 min and I’ll be back on the road. 2 hours later Gunderson and Adam show up to find me cross threading the main bolt into my brake caliper.


Gunderson worked some magic and saved me about 200 dollars, NOT canadian. He finally got my brakes together and about 1pm we headed to the mountain. I was pretty frustrated on screwing up the day in my mind at least, Adam, Zach , and Gunder werent too worried about it. So we headed out this zone that Zach kept talking about. You can see it from the lift and the snow just looked horrible. So we all decided to head out on Zach’s advice and found untracked, awesome spine lines that were just pristine. Once again I was shaking my head at the snow we were skiing.


We skied that zone until the sun was about to set. Adam and I stomped out the take-off for a cliff and got ready for the sunset. 20 minutes later the sun dropped and set the sky of fire. Adam first hit it and stomped it, I didnt know what do to and Zach dropped in and stomped a huge backy. So much for deciding what to do, I dropped seconds later and stomped a flat 3 japan. What an awesome way to end the contest.
The following day we took a ski day and left the camera’s in the hotel. After skiing all day we headed to the Cold Smoke foto dinner. Kootenay Mtn magazine put together a great dinner and then showed all the slide shows. When the results came in we ended up taking second place. Pretty good way to end an amazing trip.
I cant thank Grant Gunderson for inviting me on that trip. It was a trip of a life time and being able to ski with guys like Adam U and Zach Giffin is great because it pushes me, and every time I go out I seem to learn something new. Also a huge thanks to evo gear, Moment skis, Spacecraft, POW, and everyone else thats helped me be able to go on amazing trips like this.

The ski season in Tahoe started out a little slow though November, just riding a man mad ice patch at Boreal day after day while the PNW got pounded.  I ended up getting a concussion mid November and figured I would take some time off until after Thanksgiving.

I flew to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving with the girlfriend’s parents a few days before Turkey day.  While I was down experiencing the city of lights and running into Carrot top, one of my sponsor’s called me and said they need a banger photo of next years gear.  I said I was at Thanksgiving and would be back the day after so , yeah no worries.  Then they let me know they needed the shot in 3 days!  I was like ,”Whoa! no way, we don’t even have snow in Tahoe, the next closest place would be Whistler and thats a full days drive.”  Next I didn’t have a photographer, even more important I didn’t even have a plan, its right in the middle of the holiday.  First I talked to them and got an extension on the due date of the shot and bought myself some time.  I new that I need at least 5 days if this was going to happen. The next problem was finding the photographer, through many phone calls, emails, and help from a friend we found one that was into shooting and available.  I talked to Grant Gunderson and formed a plan. Head to the snow, Whistler.
So I hopped on my flight out of Vegas bound for Reno.  I packed my bags, sled and the rest of my gear and headed out the next morning bound for Whistler.  I pulled into Seattle and headed over to EVO gear to stop in and take a break from driving.  I hung out there and decided to stay the night in Seattle before meeting up with Grant the next morning.
The following day I met Grant at his place and Bellingham.  We got everything loaded and headed for the boarder.  We arrived at the border only to find ourselves tied up in traffic for over an hour.  And when I finally got up I got interrogated by what appeared to be some of the Supertrooper crew.  After getting everything thrown at me but the rubber glove they let me pass on into Canada.  Grant and I headed on to Whistler and met up with Jeff Thomas.  And much thanks go to Jeffy for letting us crash at his place for our stay in Whistler.
After unpacking our bags at Jeffy’s we went to grab some food.  After hours of shenanigans at the Longhorn we finally made it back at the wee hours of the morning.
We woke up to find it pouring down rain out and the clouds covering Whistler/Blackcomb.  I was a bit apprehensive because after 2 days of traveling I now had only 3 days left to get the shots I was supposed to get.
The next task was figuring out where there was snow that hadn’t been rained on.  We decided to break out the sleds and headed out to a zone just south of Whistler.  Riding through rain and long stretches of rock and dirt, the day seemed doomed.  However once we got almost to the zone the clouds lifted and we found sun and some fresh snow.

The start of the sled zone. so many lines!!

Things were turning out better than we had expected and the decision was made to call it a day and head to Blackcomb the following day to get up to some higher zones.
We woke the next day to bluebird skies and cold temperatures.  Grant, Jeffy and I met Henituk at the Blackcomb gondola and headed to the top of the mountain for a day of hiking in the BC.  The first zone we get to is a mini golf zone that has a cool variety of lines to choose from.  After blowing a one turn with Grant we catch up just in time to see Heny and his buddy Nate ski there lines.  Grant see’s a line to the right of where they were with a small 15 foot mandatory air into a hanging snow field that is on top of huge cliff with and exit out the side.  Grant and Jeffy both agree someone needs to hit that line.  Im thinking in my head, “oh yeah, someone should, being my first run of the year I probably should take it easy.”  So whos going to ski it?  “I’ll do it,” I blurt out. *Sigh* well better stomp it, so I head up and after a bit of a hike I get on top of my line and what seemed to be a 35 degree line looking at it was more like a 50 degree line with pepper in the first landing zone.  So its the first run of the season, a new pair of Nighttrain’s Ive never been on and this is what I’m skiing?!  Im not going to lie, I was real nervous, one wrong move and I was going to tomahawk off like a hundred foot cliff.  So I yell to Jeffy and Grant, I get the ok and drop in.  Once I dropped in instinct took over andIt was like a car wreck, fast and the next I knew it was over and I stomped my line.

My line on the right. First run of the season.

The next zone we found a cliff and drop that we built a jump over.  Heny first hit it with a smooth cork 7.  I dropped next with just a leading tail 3.  Heny’s buddy Nate rolled in switch and threw down a HUGE cab 1 double shifty and took it to the last possible bit of transition to stomp.  He did manage to bloody his face but he stomped er nonetheless.

Nate bloodied

The Hike out. Grant and Jeffy

After a long day of hiking the back bowls of Blackcomb Grant unloaded the photos.  And needless to say Grant didnt disappoint.  He got multiple banger shots! Mission accopmlished.  To check out more shots from the day of myself and Henituk check out powdermag.com

http://www.powdermag.com/media/photo/GRANT-GUNDERSON-PHOTO-GALLERY/

We went out the next day to find the snow wind buffed and variable at best.  Needless to say we had another great day skiing and riding Whistler/Blackcomb.

Whistler Sunset

A huge thanks to everyone at EVO gear and Moment, Jeff Thomas, Grant Gunderson and Jason Tross.

Check out the blog up date on poor boyz from two days of filming!