Exclusive interview by the top French media news magazine Satellimag with HorizonSports about the launch on Watch it and the future of the HorizonSports nature sports & Lifestyle consumer VOD and 24/7 TV channel offer. Read the original article published on the 10th of April.
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What do you get when you combine crazy costumes, an untouchable legend, and some really, really tiny skis? The Pain McSchlonkey Classic of course. This annual event gathers some of the best professional skiers and Squaw Valley local amateurs into one intense, wacky, and legendary downhill race… all for charity. The highlight of the day is when the best of the best professional skiers and 30 Squaw- local amateurs dress up in the craziest costumes possible and line up at the top of Squaw Valley’s legendary KT- 22 ski run to face off in a race to the bottom in an epic race titled “The Hot Dog Downhill”. There’s a catch though: they’re all riding on ‘snowblades’. These novelty skis measure about three feet long and six inches across, and are definitely not meant to be raced on. Full of epic crashes and some ridiculous shortcuts, the race is an homage to the ‘Chinese Downhill” race of the 1984 ski movie set in Squaw Valley titled “Hot Dog”.
Charity Event
The race is not all fun and games though. All of the money made from ticket sales and registration goes to the Shane McConkey Foundation, the namesake and inspiration for the race. The foundation was started after the tragic death of professional skier Shane McConkey in 2009 in a ski-BASE jump accident in the Italian Dolomites. McConkey, arguably the most famous skier to ever come out of Squaw Valley, was not only known for his world-class skiing, but also for his on- mountain antics. Prone to throwing gigantic backflips fully nude, putting on a costume and adopting his alter ego known as “Saucer Boy”, and hitting all of the hardest lines on the mountain while on the phone with his mom, Shane McConkey’s legend is still palpable in Squaw Valley. Now the foundation raises money for charitable causes in and around Truckee, California.
Homage to Shane
Squaw Valley local Ethan Faye was lucky enough to compete in the race this year. After submitting the most awkward photo of himself he had and answering some questions about how rad he can get on the mountain, he suited up in his best leather outfit and hit the slopes. For Faye and many locals, the race was more than just a fundraiser but also an homage to a ski hero; “Shane McConkey has been and will always be the standard to which I aspire. Not only in my skiing, but how I live my life. Not taking myself too seriously, making fun of people that do, and living every day to fullest is what Shane has taught me. The PMS embodies without a doubt all three of those lessons, as demonstrated clearly for anyone watching.”
The legend of Shane lives on through the athletes he has inspired and the benefits the race does for the community. And of course, all of it is done in his trademark goofball style. Faye got into the spirit of the race with a little bit of firepower: “The first rule is that there are no rules, so lighting off fireworks at the top is totally fine, even if I did accidentally start the race.” False starts aside, Shane would be proud.
by Jane Sadler
At this year’s Iditarod, there was more than one winner celebrated at the finish line. The top prize was won by Alaska native Mitch Seavey and his canine team, who beat the record for the fastest run by clocking in at a lightning fast eight days, three hours, 40 minutes and 13 seconds. This one thousand mile record is made more impressive by the fact that Seavey set another record as the oldest musher to ever win the race, making him the fastest and oldest winner of the Iditarod.
Record by Ms. Rover- all original dogs crossed line together
Seavey wasn’t the only big winner on Sunday though. In a touching ceremony, Montana Musher Jessie Royer took home the award for Most Inspirational and the coveted Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award for her inspiring feat of finishing in fifth place and bringing all 16 of her original dogs over the finish line in Nome. Because of the brutality of the race, finishing with all dogs in healthy condition is somewhat uncommon; finishing in fifth place out of 75 teams and a fully healthy team is unprecedented. After the race Royer reflected: “There are 16 dogs, well I’m the 17th dog. We’re a team out there and you’re going to have highs and lows. You have to work through them and the dogs feed off the musher’s attitude… The good Lord blessed me with an awesome year and an awesome team of dogs.” This humble attitude really reflects what the sport of dog racing is all about. At the end of the day, the dogs and their musher share a special bond that can’t be replicated.
Importance of Musher (trains and leads dogs)
The sport of dog racing is unique in this sense, the success of the team is very dependent on the relationship between the dogs and the musher. This bond is created over a long period of time before the race, when the musher lives with, cares for, and trains the team every day for months and even years. Dog musher and trainer Meg Dowley says this about the special bond shared between musher and dog: “After all the hardship, the bond between mushers and their animals has been a pretty special thing. It’s like having 22 kids that I take care of. I take care of their feeding, injuries, and training, and I can’t help but take an enormous amount of pride in these guys!” This bond is really what is at the heart of the sport, and this year’s dramatic results only prove further that at the end of the day, the relationship between a dog and their human is the real prize.
by Jane Sadler
HORIZONSPORTS, the subscription based nature sports, recreation & sustainable lifestyle TV and video platform which caters to the fragmented, underserved and growing active lifestyle demographic (people who hike, run, cycle, love mountains, want to be healthy and fit….) is launching a Video on demand (VOD) offer on 22 March, on “WATCH IT!” (mobile and internet app).
Through “WATCH IT!”, HORIZONSPORTS will be available in France, Germany and soon in half a dozen countries and on several continents, reaching millions of mobile TV consumers. This will enlarge the potential reach of HORIZONSPORTS and strengthen the content offering of “WATCH IT!”.
Laurence F. Hopper, the CEO of HORIZONSPORTS said “most media is consumed on mobile devices and that is why our deal with WATCH IT! is fantastic.” Philippe Deleplace, COO of HORIZONSPORTS added, “we have been working hard to put together the most amazing Nature sports and lifestyle offering ever seen and it is great to be able to have our VOD offering available on WATCH IT!”.
HORIZONSPORTS will be delivering over 70 hours of top quality premium nature sports and lifestyle content to inspire and entertain activity minded enthusiasts around the world through ALCHIMIE’s unique subscription based digital distribution.
Nicolas d’Hueppe, CEO of ALCHIMIE said “Our platform is dedicated to all enthusiasts and that is why we are delighted to be able to offer HORIZONSPORTS since it fits perfectly with the objectives we seek for “WATCH IT!”. I have no doubt that “WATCH IT!” will benefit from HORIZONSPORTS premium content and HORIZONSPORTS will be able to reach a lot more enthusiasts”.
About HorizonSports
HorizonSports is a multilingual subscription based nature sports & sustainable lifestyle TV and video platform which caters to the growing number of people who hike, run, cycle, love mountains, want to be healthy and fit and helps improve their lives. Horizons Sports is targeting the growing 100 million European outdoor sports and recreation enthusiasts (with a forward-looking gender and age balance) before going worldwide.
The Horizons Sports multi-platform subscription distribution strategy involves monetizing the video content through VOD and linear TV on cable, satellite, IPTV, OTT, mobile, VOD and Social Networks
Horizons Sports has a fresh and relevant video content offering. The programming mix is 45% sports, including trail running, kayaking, road and mountain biking, triathlon, snowboarding, skiing, climbing and more. The remaining 55% of the programming is dedicated to active lifestyle and recreation, including mountaineering, camping, hiking, outdoor technology, regional cuisine, outdoor fitness, survival, travel & adventure, nutrition and more.
About “WATCH IT!” and Alchimie – Dynamic Digital Distribution
“WATCH IT!” is a new concept of OTT (over the top) video platform recently developed by Alchimie – Dynamic Digital Distribution. “WATCH IT!” proposes a multi-thematic offer (64 themes!) organised around a strong idea: “TV of all passions”. For only 9,99 € per month, “WATCH IT!” gives access to an incredible video library updated and constantly enriched – approximately 35 hours of “fresh” content each week. In total “WATCH IT!” offers more than 2000 hours of programs on a wide range of interests: music, sports, culture, art of living, etc. and also some marvels like MOODs TV.
Alchimie believes to have found the right formula with “WATCH IT!” as after only a few months, “WATCH IT!” has already attracted several thousand of subscribers. And above all, more than 100 right owners who have trusted Alchimie for the distribution and monetization of their creations and thus benefit from an economic model enabling them to be adequately remunerated.
Alchimie – Dynamic Digital Distribution:
For 12 years, Alchimie has changed the world of multimedia entertainment with its expertise in content distribution and monetization, such as games, music and video streaming. Alchimie aims to help creators and producers earn a fair remuneration through the distribution of their creations on all digital channels, by subscription. Whether TV programs, video or games, these productions have direct access to the most important distribution platforms (Google, Amazon, Apple, Samsung, Telecom Operators, etc.) as well as all the tools and the marketing know-how of Alchimie which allow content to gain high visibility and be transformed into golden subscriptions.
Alchimie is thus more than 150 experts mainly based in France, Germany and Australia who collaborate with more than 100 right owners and manage around €70 million transactions every year. The company operates in more than 10 countries covering the main geographical areas. It’s different platforms attract up to 20 million unique visitors each month.
This year — like the 44 years before it — 75 teams will line up at a starting line in Anchorage Alaska and will embark on one of the longest, most dangerous, and most unique races in the world. The 45th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race starts this Tuesday, March 4th.
The Iditarod is the most prestigious sled dog race in the world, annually hosting the top dogs and sledders– called ‘mushers’ to those in the know. These teams will charge across 1000 miles of frozen territory over the course of nine to fifteen days, braving the sub-zero temperatures, blizzard conditions, and gale- force winds of Alaska’s tundras, mountains, and forests. The route of the course follows trails used by Native Alaskan Eskimo Inupiaq and Athabaskan peoples over three centuries before the arrival of Russian and European pelt traders. The trail was then used by sled dog teams in the 20th century to deliver mail, supplies, and medicine to the furthest tip of Alaska. The most famous of these trips being the 1925 ‘Great Race of Mercy’, where 20 teams of mushers worked in relay fashion to deliver 20 pounds of antitoxin to the diptheria epidemic of Nome. They covered the 674 miles in just five and a half days.
Nowadays, the Iditarod follows part of that path to honor and emulate the bravery of early Alaskan settlers. Teams are made up of one musher and between 12 and 16 dogs, who pull the sled in alternating shifts through the 26 checkpoints along the way. The race has become a huge event to Alaskans, and the winners can expect to become local heroes. The race got more national attention in 1985 when Libby Riddles became the first woman to win the race in a long-shot victory.
In 2017, the teams will meet once again at the starting line to compete in a historic race to the finish. No one can know what will happen in the 350 miles between, but here at Horizons Sports well be watching. If you want to watch too, there is live coverage and GPS tracking available at their website at http://iditarod.com/ . May the best musher win!
by Jane Sadler
New Zealander beats own record with four minute and 24 second plunge in blue hole in Bahamas
A freediver has set a new world record – plunging 122m into a blue hole in theBahamas on one breath.
New Zealander William Trubridge set his 16th world mark, beating his own record of 121 metres.
The latest dive saw him hold his breath for four minutes and 24 seconds.
In a video posted by Trubridge’s diving company Vertical Blue, Trubridge said the dive was “pretty difficult”.
“I had a beautiful descent, everything went well with the descent,” he said.
At the bottom of the descent, Trubridge ran into difficulties attaching a tag to his leg, and said his ascent to the surface was “terrible”.
“At that point I was completely out of the headspace that I need to be in for a deep dive,” he said.
“With my focus off, I was not in the right head space, not in the place I like to be, to complete my dive with ease or confidence, in fact as I neared the surface I thought I might have a big black out at the top.”
When Trubridge did surface, taking deep gulps of air, dozens of observers floating around his dive site fell silent- before breaking into rapturous applause.
The dive was particularly special for Trubridge as his parents, David and Linda, and brother Sam had travelled to the Bahamas to witness his attempt. It was the first time Trubridge’s father had seen his son attempt a world record.
“We lived on the ocean on a yacht for ten years,read more
Some forms of exercise may be much more effective than others at bulking up the brain, according to a remarkable new study in rats. For the first time, scientists compared head-to-head the neurological impacts of different types of exercise: running, weight training and high-intensity interval training. The surprising results suggest that going hard may not be the best option for long-term brain health.
As I have often written, exercise changes the structure and function of the brain. Studies in animals and people have shown that physical activity generally increases brain volume and can reduce the number and size of age-related holes in the brain’s white and gray matter.
Exercise also, and perhaps most resonantly, augments adult neurogenesis, which is the creation of new brain cells in an already mature brain. In studies with animals, exercise, in the form of running wheels or treadmills, has been found to double or even triple the number of new neurons that appear afterward in the animals’ hippocampus, a key area of the brain for learning and memory, compared to the brains of animals that remain sedentary. Scientists believe that exercise has similar impacts on the human hippocampus.
These past studies of exercise and neurogenesis understandably have focused on distance running. Lab rodents know how to run. But whether other forms of exercise likewise prompt increases in neurogenesis has been unknown and is an issue of increasing interest, given the growing popularity of workouts such as weight training and high-intensity intervals.
So for the new study, which was published this month in the Journal of Physiology, researchers at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland and other institutions gathered a large group of adult male rats. The researchers injected the rats with a substance that marks new brain cells and then set groups of them to an array of different workouts, with one group remaining sedentary to serve as controls.
Some of the animals were given running wheels in their cages, allowing them to run at will. Most jogged moderately every day for several miles, although individual mileage varied. Read more….Read more….
Alicament is food that has active medicinal properties that help the body protect itself from disease.
The benefits of a varied diet based mainly on vegetables or other plant based food are immense because they are an Alicament. Those who eat fruits and vegetables daily get sick less often, dont suffer from obesity and seem to have less cancer. Many studies confirm that the beneficial effect of a plant based diet depends largely on phytochemical compounds in plants that perform an antibacterial, antifungal and provide insecticide protection to the plant or tree.
Chemical compounds that occur naturally in plants are phyto means “plant” chemicals. Some are responsible for color and other organoleptic properties, such as the deep purple of blueberries and the smell of garlic.
Plants create special compounds to defend themselves against infection and damage caused by microorganisms, insects or other external aggressors. The plant production and activation of phytochemical compounds is linked to the stress suffered by the plant. Evidence suggests that if plants or trees are cultivated in a natural way, ie without any use of chemicals or pesticides, rendering the plant more exposed to external attack, the plant reacts to the added stress by becoming more capable of producing higher quantities of compounds that are good for the plant and for humans when eaten. The phytochemical compounds are good for humans since they directly or indirectly help cell proliferation which is important for keeping us healthy. Two of these very important compounds are angiogenesis and apoptosis. The first helps the development of blood vessels through which the food for our cells passes through; Apoptosis is a form of necrosis. Necrosis is a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of cells in living tissue. Necrosis is caused by factors external to the cell or tissue, such as infection, toxins, or trauma which result in the unregulated digestion of cell components.
You understand, then, how it is important to look into these areas of research, and for us as consumers to know more and more about the properties of certain foods in order to guide our choices for our health. Some foods are particularly rich in these phytochemicals so when they are in season, try to make sure they are on the table! Having said that: good health to all! Some great Alicaments : CABBAGE, GARLIC, ONIONS, CHIVES, SCALLIONS
We all know that exercising is good for the body and the mind, but is there a limit to how beneficial too much exercise may be?Exercise and good health go hand in hand. Exercise and physical activity have been linked to protection against heart attack, stroke, diabetes, some types of cancer, dementia, and more. A little bit of exercise is better than none, and more than a little is even better.
If I push myself more and more, run further and further are the results for the body’s health better and better or do the benefits taper off at a certain point? For example, walking an hour a day is great for you but is walking three hours a day even better for you or does it make no difference? What about running? Does running 100 kilometers a week do more for your heart and body than running 50 kilometers a week?
Over the years, hundreds of studies have shown that exercise and physical activity are associated with lower rates of heart disease and longer life. We think this is due to exercise itself. But none of these studies has ever been able to exclude the possibility that people who choose to exercise are genetically and physiologically hardier. That might be especially true for endurance and elite athletes.
In the JACC article, we explored four recent studies that suggest exercising a lot may not be as good for the heart or long-term health as exercising more moderately. In these studies, people who exercised strenuously appeared to lose most of the cardiovascular benefits that exercise provided to more moderate exercisers.
It’s important to keep in mind that the number of people at the upper end of the exercise spectrum in these studies was very small. So the results should be used to generate new hypotheses, not to make recommendations about exercise. Unfortunately, the media attention these studies generated has sown some confusion among the public about the benefits — and hazards — of exercise for preventing heart disease.read more….