Wild dashcam footage out of Anchorage, Alaska where a pickup truck was caught on video flying off an overpass along Seward Highway around 9 a.m. Monday, December 11th. The driver lost control on black ice, vaulted over the guardrail and went airborne before crash landing on the highway below.

Your Alaska Link reports another vehicle was hit before the pickup went flying. The driver in the other vehicle was not hurt. The pickup driver was taken to the hospital where they were treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Great reminder to slow down while driving in slippery winter conditions, especially on bridges and overpasses where the road surface is exposed to cold air on all sides causing them to accumulate snow and ice up faster than roadways on solid ground (more about that below)

Watch the video below to learn about about icy bridges and how best to navigate them safely:

Katie Tannenbaum, a skeleton slider from the U.S. Virgin Islands, struck a broom going between 50 and 60 mph during a World Cup run in Igls, Austria back in December 2020.  NBC Sports reports brooms are used to sweep snow off tracks, but race officials said this particular broom was blown into the track by the wind. Katie is okay but her sled is chunked:

“I’ll save you all the sweeping puns My helmet and mouth guard did their jobs wonderfully. My new white helmet has a tiny broom colored scratch for me to remember this day by (how could I forget?). And my jaw is a little tight. My sled, however, took on some serious damage. The carbon fiber pod that covers the underside of my sled has a big chunk missing and a crack running down the front-center. It’s pricey and will take a while to get a replacement, but it’s fixable.”

p.s. this isn’t the first time a skeleton slider has punched through a broom. In 2015, Canadian Jane Channell was struck in the left shoulder by a broom that slipped out of a track worker’s hands at a World Cup event.

“When Polaris lets you mod their all-new RZR Pro R and gives you access to off-road champion RJ Anderson, what do you do? Well if you’re us, you put in some calls and take over a city. In this case – Long Beach, California.”

Super rowdy edit from the dudes at HOONIGAN featuring the RZR Pro R driven by RJ Anderson. Looks like Long Beach, CA handed over the keys to the city and the crew went video game mode…smokey donuts, highway gaps and little homage to Bay Watch. This is a promo video done right: 

Here’s what RJ had to say about his favorite stunt from the clip:

Deep in the central Rocky Mountains of Colorado lies the small town of Salida, with a population of just under 6,000. Its location on the Arkansas River, surrounded by mountains, makes it an ideal home for lovers of the outdoors, with easy access to skiing, mountain biking, fishing and more. It’s also home, according to ABC7, to the largest Christmas tree in the United States.

Since 1989, volunteers and local businesses have worked every year to light up ‘Christmas Mountain’, a 750-foot-tall LED Christmas tree on the side of Tenderfoot Mountain. The day after Thanksgiving, residents light up 4,500 lightbulbs to create the design, and it stays lit through early January.

“There could be 70 [mile per hour] winds up there, and snow, and somebody has to go up there and do the repair. It’s it’s not a flat [surface]. We’re talking gullies and little ravines and it’s steep.” – Salida Chamber of Commerce’s executive director Lori Roberts

This year, the tree will remain lit every night until January 7.

Records regarding the largest Christmas tree in the country or the world don’t appear to be super complete, but Guinness World Records puts the tallest cut Christmas tree at around 221 feet (67.36 meters). That tree was Douglas fir, erected and decorated in the Northgate Shopping Center in Seattle, Washington, back in 1950.

In 2016, the world’s largest artificial Christmas tree was erected by the Arjuna Ranatunga Social Services in Colombo, Sri Lanka. That tree was about 236.5 feet (72.1 meters) tall and a little more than 55 feet (20.2 meters) wide.

I’m not sure what record Salida’s Christmas tree decoration would fall into. Maybe it’s among the largest Christmas light displays. It doesn’t really matter, though. This Colorado Christmas decoration is one of the coolest in my book.

Related: WHAM’s Holiday Classic “Last Christmas” Included Some Adult Hijinks After Filming

Image Credit: Salida Chamber of Commerce via Facebook

“Jerry of the Day” is an Instagram account renowned for its humorous and often lighthearted portrayal of skiing and snowboarding mishaps. The term “Jerry” is a colloquialism in the skiing community, typically used to describe someone who is unskilled or inexperienced on the slopes. This account curates a variety of content, from awkward falls to bizarre ski outfits, highlighting the lighter side of winter sports. It’s celebrated for its ability to bring laughter and a sense of camaraderie to the skiing and snowboarding community, as viewers from all skill levels can relate to the universal experience of making mistakes. The account’s popularity has grown significantly, making it a staple in the winter sports social media landscape.

Recently they posted footage of skiers and snowboarders stuck in deep snow with the title the battle of Jerryburg. Good Stuff.

Ken Stornes’ recently sent it off a fire tower to a snowbank over 30 feet below. His combination of precision, daring, and sheer audacity not only pushes the boundaries of what’s possible but also inspires a new generation of adrenaline seekers.

A few days ago, Ken posted a video of him setting a New World Record Norwegian “Death Dive” (132 Feet). This moment will be talked about for years

Not sure if it was a case of mistaken identity or if the California black bear takes offense to gratuitous lawn decoration, either way this oversized inflatable Rudolph didn’t stand a chance.  The brutal attack went down far away from the North Pole a couple years back in Monrovia outside of LA. No word on Rudolph’s condition or whether Santa is seeking a replacement for game day.

When DC Shoes founder turned pro rally driver Ken Block tragically passed away last January in a snowmobiling accident, many of us assumed it was the end of his wildly popular Gymkhana series. What we didn’t know is Ken had been working on an all electric version down in Mexico City that would be titled Electrikhana. Got a bit emotional watching Ken do his thing one last time. Ken’s mark on the world of action sports is indelible and we miss him. RIP Ken.

RELATED: Actions Sports Legends Pay Tribute To Ken Block

Can you imagine heli-skiing with 200 of your closest buddies in a single aircraft? Might sound a bit far fetched but at the height of the Cold War the Soviet Union had reasons to build gargantuan whirlybirds out of concerns for national security and out of that came the The Mil V-12, given the project number Izdeliye 65, aka the largest helicopter ever built. They only ended up building two of these monster dual rotor helicopters but if they had gone into mass production, the heli-skiing scene of today might have looked a bit different.  Crazy to think about.

The Soviets built some of the largest and most technically advanced helicopters in the world. By 1957, the Mil Mi-6 had already emerged as the largest helicopter ever built, far out-sizing helicopters built in the west. But for the Soviet Union, the need to build a helicopter far larger than even the Mi-6, soon became a matter of national security.

By 1960, American U-2 spy planes conducting high altitude reconnaissance flights over the Soviet Union were beginning to uncover the location of the country’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) sites. These first generation R-7 Semyorka ICBMs were being deployed throughout the Soviet Union as fast as possible, but their enormous size and weight meant they could only be delivered to launch sites using trains.  The need to build rail lines to launch sites made the ICBM sites easy to spot in U.S. reconnaissance photos.

Keeping the missile sites hidden was a matter of national security. The Soviets devised a bold plan to airlift ICBMs into the vast and remote Soviet wilderness, thereby eliminating the need for rail lines or even roads. This would make it virtually impossible for spy planes to track down missile sites hidden in over twelve million square kilometres of forests. But to make the plan work, the Soviets would need to build a helicopter with at least twice the lifting power of the Mi-6.

Design studies for the new enormous helicopter began in 1959, with the Soviet Council of Ministers formally approving development in 1962.  But development of such an ambitious helicopter would progress slowly, as various configurations (single rotor, tandem and transverse) were studied. Construction of testing-rigs, transmission systems and mock-ups began in 1963, and construction of the first prototype started in 1965. The new prototype would be designated as the Mil V-12 (with plans to designate the production version as Mil Mi-12). The first test flight in 1967 ended in failure as the V-12 crashed back to earth sustaining minor damage due to oscillations caused by control problems. A second test flight a year later proved the helicopter’s airworthiness. 

The V-12 would go on to break numerous world records for lifting capacity, but it’s fate had already been sealed by a rapidly changing strategic situation. The introduction of spy satellites, and the development of new lighter and mobile ICBMs made hiding nuclear missiles strategically irrelevant.

In 1970, the Soviet Air Force refused to accept the V-12 into state acceptance trials, due to a lack of need. Although a second V-12 prototype would be constructed in 1972, there were simply too few scenarios that would require such a large and complex helicopter. In 1974 development of the V-12 was cancelled and the Mil Design Bureau shifted efforts to designing the Mil Mi-26, the largest helicopter to enter service.

RELATED: Extremely Skilled Helicopter Pilot Rescues Injured Skier With Rotors Inches From Slope

“The blower gets between 20-25 minutes, and the truck gets anywhere from 45-85 minutes.”

Shoveling the walkway after a snowstorm is a perennial pain in the ass but if you got a rig like this, what was once a tedious winter chore transforms into a delightful playful experience.

Unfortunately this little remote controlled F350 snowblower isn’t available for sale out of the box and requires ordering/3D printing parts and a ton of assembly including adding your own servo motors. If you’re so inclined and have some time on your hands building one and using it on a snow day looks like an absolute blast. MORE INFO BELOW:

“This is a 3D printed model snowblower from plans by Spyker workshops, who designs and sells amazing kits for personal snow removal. The blower was printed and built by me, assembly took a little over 2 months, including finding a solid way to mount it. There is about 5 inches of powder in the first video, this second part has between 3-4 inches and the snowblower works flawlessly. Currently mounted to custom Tamiya highlift F350 with over 20 lights and a Bluetooth-enabled speed controller. Two servos control the lifting and lowering of the blower, and one controls chute direction; all connected to my 6ch radio. The blower motor is currently a brushed 550 and has a separate receiver/esc on a dial switch to control auger speed.” – @RattlesnakeRCandHobbies

More info on the snowblower parts HERE.

RELATED: Alaskan Man Builds “Cabin On Wheels”