Maximの February 2017 の目次

It’s no secret that I’m much more of a mermaid than a snow queen—but after my first time skiing a few years ago in Argentina, I was hooked! There are lots of places in the world to ski (and snowboard; I love them both) but Aspen is one of my favorite places because it’s so magical. They say it smells like Champagne in Aspen, but for me it’s exhilarating and clean and promises adventure. It’s the perfect blend of rustic and luxury. I’m fortunate to have a dear friend with a house there, so last time I was in Aspen over spring break he insisted we visit the places where the locals go. Here are some of my favorites, including the three most romantic. After all, with Valentine’s Day coming…

Some automotive collaborations stand above the rest. Ford and Shelby come to mind, or the long-standing romance between Ferrari and Pininfarina. But few have excelled like the tandem of Aston Martin and Italian coach-builder Zagato, beginning with the sublime early-1960s DB4 GT Zagato racecars, one of which sold at auction in 2015 for $14.3 million. Now the partners have outdone themselves with the 2017 Vanquish Zagato Volante. The open-top version of the Vanquish Zagato Coupe, the Volante features Aston Martin’s aluminum-alloy V-12 engine, which harnesses 592 bhp to launch the convertible from zero to 60 in a projected 3.7 seconds, topping out in the neighborhood of 200 mph. The car boasts carbon-ceramic brakes—which are necessary to maintain control while braking at those speeds. With a price tag of around $850,000…

 Hit the gas!” screams my instructor as I struggle to maintain control of the 510-horsepower AMG GT S that is careening toward a frozen, 16-foot-high embankment. Snow and ice fly through the open driver’s-side window as we slide sideways. I hit the accelerator—which, counterintuitively, is the only way to change direction and, hopefully, avoid a $150,000 collision. Lesson number one of ice driving: Turning the steering wheel doesn’t do a damn thing. Nestled deep in New Zealand’s Southern Alps, the Southern Hemisphere Proving Grounds is a privately owned vehicular testing facility that covers more than 1,200 acres and includes more than 18 miles of compacted snow and ice tracks. It is the only such facility below the equator and is the ideal location for automobile manufacturers to conduct secret winter…

“I’M ALL ABOUT WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AND MAKING WOMEN FEEL BEAUTIFUL AND STRONG.”  Jasmine Tookes has spent a good portion of the last year draped in $3 million worth of diamonds and emeralds, trailed by a security guard, and jetting from New York to Paris and back again. Christened a Victoria’s Secret Angel in 2015, last year she rocketed to the pinnacle of lingerie model-dom when she was chosen by the brand to don its jeweled “Fantasy Bra”—which is a very big deal, thank you very much. It’s like going from rookie to MVP in just two seasons, and Tookes is elated. The fact that she’s only the third black model to score that honor—after Tyra Banks and Selita Ebanks—is icing on the cake. When she heard she’d been chosen to…

Travis Rice is widely considered one of the best all-around snowboarders on the planet. He’s also the sport’s renaissance man. The Red Bull–sponsored athlete recently completed his latest film, The Fourth Phase, and took a few moments away from the slopes to talk with Maxim about what inspired the movie, filming in deep snow, and overcoming fear before making a deadly drop. What was the motivation behind your new film, and where does the name come from? “This process we follow, this cycle we ride” was a conceptual seed that one of my mentors, Bryan Iguchi, planted deep within my psyche many years ago. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it has helped to shape my life and the things I apply value to. This way of life…

 Though Aether cofounder Palmer West has been a religious skier for decades, he’s never loved the overly branded, neon wares found at most outdoor stores. “You’re sort of forced to dress like a teenager,” laments the 43-year-old Los Angeles resident. “We’ve been trained as men that if it’s not a color found in a Crayola box or doesn’t have stickers slopped all over it, then it’s not technical.” His business partner, Jonah Smith, an avid snowboarder, agrees: “Where do you go after you graduate Burton and Quiksilver?” It’s that kind of thinking that led the two independent film producers, responsible for movies including Requiem for a Dream and A Scanner Darkly, into the fashion business. Launched in 2009 with six utilitarian men’s jackets, Aether—named after the air ancient Greeks…

Not long after GoPro released its first product in 2004—a wrist-mounted, waterproof, 35mm still camera called the Hero—company founder and CEO Nick Woodman made a pilgrimage to the headquarters of home-shopping channel QVC in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The network was holding tryouts for new inventors eager to hawk their merchandise on-air, and after waiting in line with hundreds of other hopefuls, Woodman and his as-yet untested creation were selected to appear. “I was researching online and I saw an ad for QVC’s ‘Inventor Search’ competition, and it linked to an audition form and dates,” he says. “The only remaining date was at QVC’s headquarters in Pennsylvania in a few days. I figured I had a pretty good shot at getting on the show, so I bought a plane…

A fresh snowfall has a way of instilling a sense of peace and tranquility into the natural landscape. That is, until you hop on the Summit X 850 E-TEC, the latest snowmobile from Ski-Doo. Designed specifically for steep slopes, its Rotax engine pumps out 165 horsepower with 30 percent quicker throttle response than previous models. Even the seat of the Summit X 850 E-TEC has been made with mountain riding in mind. Comfortable enough for long trail rides, the mountain seat is purposefully compact, enabling gymnastic powder riding and maximum mobility for ascending the tallest peaks. Brembo brakes and HPG Plus shocks mean this machine can tackle the most impossible terrain.…

Buy this extraordinary book! —Maxim Edward O. Thorp’s life story reads like fiction (or fantasy)—from his time in Las Vegas, where he perfected how to beat the casino, to his tenure leading a financial institution, where he helped develop many of the most advanced investment products on Wall Street. Thorp’s gift is discovering rigged systems and turning them on their head, acting like a modern-day David versus Goliath. He has rubbed shoulders with Warren Buffett and foresaw the implosion of Bernie Madoff ’s Ponzi scheme. In his new book, A Man for All Markets, Thorp walks readers through his incredible journey, and teaches how to apply his techniques to daily life. Professor Thorp sat down with Maxim to discuss his book, his legacy, and where a man who has done…

Dodge Challenger If there were a Mount Rushmore of American muscle cars, the Dodge Challenger would no doubt be carved in it. Now, with styling cues taken from the legendary 1971 model, the 2017 Challenger has taken this uniquely American category to an entirely new level. There are 10 new models to choose from, including the T/A 392, with a 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 producing 485 horsepower, and the SRT Hellcat, with a supercharged, 707-horsepower Hemi that makes it the quickest and most powerful production muscle car ever. The basic Challenger SXT starts at just over $27,000, but the real game changer—the Hellcat—runs for around $64,000. That’s still a bargain, though, considering your only competition on the road will be Italian supercars that cost four times as much. Stick-averse drivers can…

Cognac is gunning for its turn in the spotlight, but first it has a reigning champion to unseat. Whiskey has dominated the luxury spirits world for a decade with long-aged products and experimental offerings. But the iconic producers of French brandy are starting to replicate whiskey’s success by changing their way of doing business. In the world of aged spirits, cognac remains somewhat of a mystery. While whiskey makers regularly print age statements and explain cask finishes, most bottles of cognac, which is a specific type of brandy, are packaged with little more than a couple of letters from the cryptic “VS, VSOP, XO” grading system. Cognac ages many of its products for decades, but XO only covers brandies that have aged a minimum of 10 years. Part of learning…

 Lindsey Vonn, America’s brightest female skiing star, has basked in her share of Olympic and World Cup glory. Integral to her rise as a worldclass skier was her family’s decision to move to Colorado when she was a child in order to nurture her talents. As she recovered from a training accident last fall, the Olympic gold medalist spoke to Maxim about her favorite things to do in her home state. You moved to Colorado with your family when you were young. What was the motivation for the move, and why Colorado? Mostly the motivation was bigger and better mountains. I grew up on a very small hill called Buck Hill in Minnesota. Buck Hill was great for learning my technique, because it was so repetitive going up and down…

In the past few years, as Uber-style aviation services have proliferated, the concept of the “private jet” has lost some of its meaning. At the same time, technology has improved, resulting in business jets that are both faster and more efficient than their predecessors. Designers, meanwhile, have created eye-popping interiors for their deepest-pocketed clients: The most impressively equipped executive jets now rival multimillion-dollar penthouses and megayachts when it comes to luxurious appointments. But these days you don’t necessarily have to own a jet to experience flying in ultimate style. In fact, with very few exceptions, owning makes less sense than ever: Some of the richest and most successful private fliers instead rely on top-tier charter services that essentially place an entire fleet of aircraft at their disposal. True luxury is…