Following a second successful season, Bozeman's Cold Smoke Awards is amping up for the 2006 winter season and the ski films it will bring. The event is a grassroots film festival designed to support non-commercial filmmakers. Their updated website, www.coldsmokeawards.com, is complete with a new video teaser, listings of the 2005 winners and sponsors, and a slide show from last year's event.

2005 flicks hailed from throughout the US and Canada and were judged as best powder, line, jib, crash, hairball and humor. Sponsored locally and nationally, Cold Smoke hosted 100 people over the course of the week, as well as a seventies ski theme party to top off the grassroots "Academy Awards" of skiing.

"We're striving to preserve and kindle the spirit of skiing culture," says co-founder Jonas Grenz. By donating proceeds to Gallatin Avalanche Center and ski program in Big Sky for at-risk youth, they're doing just that. As skiers in Bozeman trust Doug Chabot with the local avalanche report, we believe him when he says "Cold Smoke is gonna go big, there's no question."