Sick

I stumbled across the following video on YouTube. It's really short, but I think this bs 180 looks so sick that I should share it... Smooth and stomped. I'd quite like those skills :)

What's The Park Like?

It's a question that I've asked myself many times. So what is the park like? Can I expect something good? Is it gonna be all rails or kickers too?...

If you don't know someone who's been to a resort before, finding out what state the park is likely to be in when you get there isn't always easy. Sure there are resort reviews out there, and these do help, but I've always felt there's a need for more comprehensive coverage of resort snowparks.

I've tried to provide some information myself; there are some pictures of one of the Avoriaz parks from last season, and also some of the Deux Alpes summer park. But a few holiday pictures aren't really up to the job!

This is where the SnowParkGuide comes in. It's a website dedicated to covering the European snowparks. What a mint idea.

The website has only just gotten going (press release), but it looks like there are enough people contributing to it to make it work out. Plus, if they can build a good community on there, the information will get better still.

Personally, I think the Shapers Blog is a pretty cool idea; they're the guys who are closest to the park setups, if they can update the blog regulary it will be great. Also, the index of parks with links to photos is spot on. I hope the whole thing really takes off!

The ABCs of Avalanche Safety: Review

This is the first book of its kind that I've bought and read. Most people would agree that when it comes to avalanche safety, a book alone is no substitute for regular practice with avalanche equipment, guidance from an expert or real life experience of travelling in the backcountry. I was looking for an introduction, some background knowledge, things to think about. The ABCs of Avalanche Safety covers exactly what the title suggests - it's a good place to start.

The book is pocket size, say 4" by 6", with around 130 pages. The content is split up into 4 chapters - Snow and Avalanche Basics, Practical Guidelines for Stability Evaluation, Safety Rules and Rescue and Case Histories - each filled with concise information.

Concise should not be confused with simple, however. The book is written with technical and scientific language, especially so with the descriptions of how the snow cover forms. Photos and diagrams are used in places to suppliment the text, and to good effect.

I think the size of the book itself is a plus. Being handy, with a small number of direct chapters, makes reading encouraging; it's easy to dip into any of the sections for a quick read. Its size also makes it portable; weighing you down isn't a concern, so it's easy to take away.

In contrast, I occassionally found the vocabulary a little slow to digest. At this stage, some of the snow science seemed quite heavy, given my lack or practical experience.

So what about the scope of information? This is where the book really scores. Starting with an explanation of avalanche terms, it then provides foundation knowledge about different types of snow and how avalanches form. There are guidelines for assessing the risk, how to avoid avalanches and how to perform a search. It's a good mix of theory and practical advice. Simply put, it's the ABCs of avalanche safety.

Written on the back cover: A respected authority since 1961. I can see why. This is a good book. What's more, at around £6 it's very accessible. At the time of writing, Amazon has it listed with the Search Inside feature - so go take a slightly closer look!

Helmet Cam, Round Two

Well I've ordered the Oregon ATC-2K helmet cam. I've got some reservations, but I'm confident it's gonna fulfill at least some of my needs. The whole package was pretty reasonable too.

I bought the camera itself from purely gadgets. It was £75 plus £5 delivery. It may not be the cheapest price around but I'm sure it's close.

I also ordered a couple of 2GB SD cards. The manual recommends a couple of SanDisk models; I opted for the SanDisk Ultra II SD 2GB, rather than the standard card, just in case it makes a difference, as was hinted at in that review I read. I'd like to say I knew more about this kind of thing, but I don't, so I figured I just spend a few extra quid to be on the safe side...

I picked up the SD cards from play.com, £11 each with free delivery, making a grand total of £102. That's not bad!

I'm sure I've read it somewhere, but I can't remember what the expected battery life is. I'm gonna get some lithium AAs from somewhere as they're supposed to be better in cold conditions, but it would be handy to know how long they're expected to last. The two, 2GB cards gives me around 2 hours of footage, so I hope to be able to cover that with one set of batteries...?

I'm pretty interested to see how it turns out! Here's an update on the list:

• Pants
• Backpack
• Transceiver (& probe)
• Helmet cam

---------- tips ----------

Buy some new boarding gear after you play free online blackjack with the card counting tips from GamblingCity.net!

Absinthe's Optimistic: DVD Review

I'm a fan of Absinthe films, especially the last two, so I was really looking forward to this season's Optimistic. It didn't disspapoint - I think Optimistic's a good snowboard movie with some exceptional parts... but for me, overall, it didn't grab in quite the same way as Futureproof and More.

So which bits didn't work? Mostly, I think it's the case that having really liked Futureproof and then thinking that they took More farther still, Optimistic had a tough benchmark to beat. I do feel that as the film gets going, it kinda settles in. My favourite bits are mostly at the beginning, so it seems to mellow out as the movie goes on. Don't get me wrong, the riding and filming is strong throughout, it just bobbed around my personal that's so good meter, whereas More kept leaping above it.

What about the excellent parts?
Gigi's section really appealed to me. The music's funky and the riding is varied. There are some heli follow-cam shots of Gigi and Danny Davis hitting this backcountry kicker that might be some of my favourite ever. The action smoothly follows the rider showing how big the jump is and you get an idea of what the kicker might look like from the rider's perspective on the run in, yet the rider and the kicker appear small in the vastness of the whole scene; awesome. There's also this sequence of Gigi riding down a side street with steps and rails, how can he make that sequence look so good? It just oozes style.

As well as some pretty sick shredding (I really like the way he rides powder), MFM's part has a true laugh out loud section - a snow-spray assault on skiers. You might think it's a little harsh, you might think some of it's justified, either way you'll probably think it's hillarious. The film is worth watching just for this bit!

Trees. There's some excellent tree action in Optimistic. Trees and deep powder. The section shot in Canada towards the beginning of the movie shouldn't be missed. Visually it looks fantastic, the trees, deep snow, the sun. And then check out the riding, Marco Feichtner and Wolle, it's like the trees aren't there, except when they're jibbing off them!

Perhaps most impressive in the movie is Wolfgang. I reckon Wolle Nyvelt was on a mission last season. Seriously, he has so much footage in Optimistic, so much powder, so many good shots. It's like he owns the DVD. The guy is riding deep pow on a wooden stick with no bindings better than most people when they've got both feet hooked in, it's insane. His riding alongside Matt Beardmore is also top drawer. I can't always tell who is who, but it's all good. Wolle really kicks this film going, he's killing it!

Other parts that I liked
Annie Boulanger is representing female snowboarders and has some really nice backcountry riding, pushing it pretty hard. I found myself liking quite a lot of the urban scenes. Mikey LeBlanc provides a lot of charisma along with some gutsy street moves. Then there's Hans Ahlund putting down some really sweet jibs, making it all look varied. The section with Romain De Marchi and Danny Davis has a handful of hits from a backcountry kicker that deserve to be watched over - super smooth riding/filming and a sick tail grab in there.

If you're into extras you may find the DVD a little thin in this area... having said that, Flipside's The Making of More (part1) is included, and it's really good!

The Soundtrack
I really like the soundtrack to Optimistic, there's some nice tunes in there, the mix is good. I'm not going to try and classify it, I'll just say it's right up my street. The production of the movie's intro is especially noteworthy. Excellent song, it's pretty inspiring. Here's the track list in the order played, with uk iTunes hook-up:

• "Rusted Wheel", album "Carnavas", by Silversun Pickups
• "Wolf Like Me", album "Return to Cookie Mountain", by TV On The Radio
• "Season of the Witch", by Donovan Leitch
• "Calling For The Dissolution", album "Criminal Saints", by Scott Sullivan
• "Don't Sweat the Technique", by Eric B and Rakim
• "Frosty", Meka
• "Cadillac Dust", by Elliot Brood
• "John The Baptiste", album "File Under Forgotten", by The Ants
• "C'mon C'mon", album "Pawn Shoppe Heart", by Von Bondies
• "Ain't Cha", album "Hell Hath No Fury", by Clipse
• "Jamna Plagor", by Dungen
• "Spring and by Summer Fall", album "23", by Blonde Redhead
• "The Man Who Came To Stay", album "Killamangiro", by Babyshambles
• "I Love My Bitch", album "The Big Bang", by Busta Rhymes
• "Presentazione Orchestra", album "Stasera Shake! Volume 2", by Rafaella Carra
• "Fragments", Meka

Here's most of the soundtrack to sample:

Helmet Cam?

I'd quite like to try out a helmet cam next year in Fernie. I've seen some footage around the web that looks pretty good, and then there's some of the examples from snowboarding films.

My current video camera doesn't have video-in, however, which eliminates nearly all of the options on the market. As far as I can see, it certainly eliminates the chance of getting half-decent video quality.

At first I decided to just drop the idea, due to the camera's incompatibility. But since then I've seen a couple of self-contained helmet cams that might be worth considering.

I've found two options. actioncameras.co.uk has a decent summary, with the only suitable models being Oregon's ATC-2K and the Tony Hawk Wireless Helmet Camera.

Of course the quality on these devices isn't great, but you'd expect that given the size and the price. The self-containment does have several advantages, the main one in my eyes being that I don't need to carry the larger, more delicate camera all of the time...

I hate riding with my camera in my backpack. I don't mine riding with it while I'm using it, and of course, if I'm riding while one of my friends is using it then all the better :) A small helmet cam could be carried in a pocket, giving the option to get some video at any time, without having the backpack with you.

I've pretty much ruled out the Tony Hawk camera as the resolution is too low at 320x240. It's only 640x480 when attached to a pc, what's the point in that!?

That leaves the ATC-2K. There's a good review of the camera on Helmet Cam Central, which includes some links to sample footage: one being the raw footage and the other a YouTube sample.

There's another good review of the ATC-2K on Nollie, which looks at some of the usability issues, including the act of attaching it to a helmet!

So what am I thinking?

• The camera is cheap, as are additional SD cards for storage
• Self-containment is a big plus. Being solid state it's also pretty robust. These benefits to me are worth the trade off in quality
• I'm concerned about how well it attaches to the helmet
• I'm concerned about regular batteries working in cold conditions
• I'm concerned that the choice of memory card might effect the quality

So will it end up being a waste of money, or a really handy device to carry on the hill to use either in the hand or attached to my lid?

---------- tips ----------

Don't miss another trick with thanks to the free blackjack and baccarat tips available at the gambling city online guide on how to win baccarat and blackjack at GamblingCity.net!!

Deep Powder And Avalanche Safety

So it seems that it's snowing everywhere. Fernie had a half meter during a 24 hour period this week and I think some places in the Alps have had as much as a meter.

There's still a while to go before I get there, but it's a good sign all the same. The thought of all that powder is really exciting...

And a little scary. Well, not scary, but thought provoking. I was reading an article from last month's WhiteLines around the same time that these snow reports hit me; the article was about being burried alive...

It was describing an avalanche safety course in which the participants underwent a practice burriel. Even the controlled environment came across as pretty damn hairy. It sure made me re-think about the dangers of riding off-piste.

But it's not like I've never given it any thought before. I'm trying to hook myself up with a transceiver, and I've done a small amount of homework with the book The ABCs of Avalanche Safety. It's more that I feel I should practice. Practice with the transceiver, practice a search pattern, practice looking at the snow. Just practice something.

I was talking to Ciara about the article and we both agreed that the whole situation would be so freaky. But that's the point. We're all hoping to ride as much powder as possible in Fernie, and in the unfortunate event that we're in the vacinity of an avalanche, I don't want to be stood around trying procedures for the first time...

Airline Charges For Snowboard Gear

I've been stung at least once with charges for transporting my snowboarding gear on a flight; actually it was a two-leg flight with KLM, and I'm pretty sure I ended up paying the charge for both legs, in both directions.

Anyway, a friend pointed me at this table that airport parking company APH have, which summarises the charges with different airlines for taking your snowboard. It might be useful...

New Threads For Fernie

Well it looks like the snow is starting to fall in Fernie, which is awesome. I know you're never guaranteed good snow anywhere in the world, but that's not stopping me from hoping for one or two epic powder days.

Anyhow, I mentioned a while back that I'd hooked up some new pants for next year, so here's a pic. These suckers are pretty baggy. In fact, it's the first time I almost didn't buy the XL's :)

That's the first item I can tick off the shopping list:

• Pants
• Backpack
• Transceiver (& probe)
• Helmet cam

Behind The Scenes Of "In Short"

A while ago I mentioned that there were three films I was looking forward to seeing this season. It soon became four films when I read about In Short in WhiteLines (a couple of issues ago?).

In Short is a film by Blank Paper Studio/David Benedek. The previous productions, 91 Words For Snow and The Gap Session, have both been really good, so naturally I'm looking forward to seeing In Short. But the thing that makes it really interesting is that part of the film was shot in Halifax, on the dryslope. Awesome!

I haven't seen the film yet, but I have heard one or two things about the Halifax section. To be honest, I'd like to keep it a surprise until I get hold of the DVD, so I haven't bothered checking on YouTube for any clips. For that reason I won't mention anything here... all I'll say is that I heard it was done really well.

There is however a pretty sweet behind-the-scenes look at the film on the WhiteLines site. I don't think it gives anything away about the final product, so I've embedded it here:

Actually, there are quite a few nice videos there. If you haven't read it in the magazine already, the interview with David Benedek is cool. It's probably interesting even if you have read the interview...

In an effort to avoid a new tie or some socks (actually I do need new socks) I've let family members know about my hunger for this DVD. Maybe that was stupid because now I'm waiting for Christmas? I'm not complaining though, just waiting patiently... :)

Transceiver & Probe

A transceiver is one of the items on my shopping list for this season. Based on the riding that we did last season and the riding I hope we'll be doing in Fernie, and the future for that matter, I'm gonna need one.

The question is should I buy one now or just rent one as and when I need to?

Renting is the cheaper option, for the short term at least, but there are clear advantages to owning your own. First, you're in control, so you know things like whether or not the batteries are charged and what condition it's in. Naturally you'd expect this if you hire a transceiver, but it's a bonus non the less.

Secondly, you don't need to go to a shop on the morning you decide to head off-piste. If it's just dumped 40cm the last thing you want to be doing is adding time to your arrival at the top of the hill!

But perhaps most importantly is the fact that you'll be using the same transceiver each time you go out. This means that you can get familiar with how it works so that in the unfortunate event of needing to use it for real, you won't be fumbling with how to control it.

So despite the cost I am leaning towards getting one for myself...

• Which brands should I look at?
• Should I go for a pure analogue transceiver or a digital model?
• Is it worth looking on eBay?
• Should I get a probe too?

Simon passed me a link, which is a transceiver test that Facewest.co.uk did early this year. It's a perfect review for someone like me who doesn't really know much about what's on offer. They sell avalanche safety gear on their site too.

About a probe... if I'm going to get a transceiver I may aswell get a probe too. From what I've seen, read and heard, they make finding a burried person much easier and quicker. You can use them for testing snow depth and stuff like that also.

Upside Down

Here's a shot Martin got of a mini barrel roll at Halifax, recently. I kinda want to try doing them off the proper kicker, but I'm worried that I'll get the speed of the roll all wrong and go too far. Maybe I should wait for some fluffy Fernie pow? :)

RCR Closing Park Jumps?

Simon emailed this link to me today:

http://www.skircr.com/mediaCentre/pr_detail.asp?id=479

It seems that Resorts Of The Canadian Rockies (RCR) are planning to remove park jumps from some of their resorts, with Fernie being one such resort.

It isn't totally clear from the press release which kickers will be removed. The huge jumps only? All jumps? Who knows? I suppose it did say all man-made snow jumps. Either way it's a serious blow. So many snowboarders enjoy riding the kickers that parks provide. It just seems unfair to take that away.

Here's another link, this one to a discussion on the issue:

RCR Focuses on Terrain Park Safety by Removing Jumps

Is it right to announce this decision given that lots of people have already committed to these resorts? Some guys have set themselves up for a whole season only to find out in November that all the park jumps are being removed! Had we known this before there's a good chance it we would have ended up elsewhere...

I don't know enough about the statistics of injuries on the hill, but the issue of safety doesn't feel as black-and-white as this; it's grey.

I guess it's a case of wait and see how the change pans out. An industry leading initiative? Somehow I can't imagine a resort like Whistler scrapping all of its kickers. But then again I would have said the same about Lake Louise... or any resort for that matter.

Luckily I've got a couple of shovels :)

Photos From 'Cas - 9th November

Here are some of the shots we (Martin Cornally) took of the local riders at 'Cas last Friday.

The Forum Studio on iTunes

This sounds pretty cool and $1.99 is a good price; it will be even better when they take it beyond the US store. Check out the press release...

FORUM SNOWBOARDS RELEASES FORUM STUDIO ON THE iTUNES STORE

Forum Snowboards is pleased to announce the creation of the Forum Studio within the iTunes store.

Located within the TV Show section of the store, The Forum Studio represents the snowboarding video projects of the Forum team, in conjunction with members of Special Blend Outerwear and Foursquare Outerwear. This influential grouping produces a collection of acknowledged snowboarding films, featuring progressive action, impressive editing, and memorable soundtracks.

Currently, three titles are available for a download price of $1.99 each: That, NORTH SOUTH EAST WEST, and FYI.

"The Forum Studio is the first of its kind for a snowboard brand and this type of distribution capability and exposure is a gigantic move for us. We feel it is the perfect representation for the quality and dedication we put into our video projects," states Evan Rose, Forum Snowboards Marketing Director.

The Forum Studio is available in the United States iTunes store, with plans to expand to other regions in the near future.

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewRoom?fcId=267997847&id=37

About That:
That is the Forum team video release that originally appeared within the iTunes store in 2006, making Forum Snowboards the first independent content provider to have a project approved for purchase in the store. In an era marketed by an oversaturated video market, That video challenged the boundaries of what was considered normal, to show the way for generations to come.

About NORTH SOUTH EAST WEST:
Follow along as Forum and Foursquare riders explore snowboarding in four geographically distinct locations. Set to an exclusive soundtrack by Dim Mak records this is NORTH SOUTH EAST WEST, not a storm of hype, just the straightforward enjoyment of riding with your friends. It's the purity of travel, exploration, and doing the things you love.

About FYI:
FYI is a snowboarding mash-up of sorts, featuring the riding of the Forum team as seen in Special Blend's First Chair Last Call and Foursquare's NORTH SOUTH EAST WEST. Featuring Eddie Wall, Joni Malmi, Jake Blauvelt, Stevie Bell, Travis Kennedy, Pat Moore, Nic Sauve, and Jake Welch, FYI is sure to set the stoke for the snowboarding season.

WSG Weekend Roadtrip

This weekend I set out on a mission to take photos and gather information to write a couple of reviews for the wsg's online UK-slope section. Actually, there were three of us: myself, Martin, who was performing the role of photographer and Ciara, who was there to help out, hang out and ride.

If you don't know what the wsg is you can check out their website or read the review. Recent events have landed me with the opportunity to write some reviews of UK slopes for their online guide - starting with Castleford and Halifax. Sweet! I was set to visit Cas' on Friday night and then Halifax on Saturday morning...

But the weekend's story kinda started on Thursday night/Friday morning. Copious amounts of alcohol and a 3am finish led to the development of a ugly hangover. Getting into work on Friday morning for 9am was difficult to say the least. I was feeling really bad, which was not a good sign for finising work, getting everything packed and getting to 'cas that evening.

I booked an impromptu half-day at work so that I could come home and sleep it off. Ciara was in the same boat. The plan seemed to work well as we both got everything sorted and in the car in time to arrive at 'cas for 7:30, which is when we met Martin. To support the depth of the hangover - I went through 3 fast-food meals on Friday, two from McDonald's and one KFC. Urgh!

That was the first leg of the roadtrip: Gateshead to Castleford. With not much time we just grabbed loads of stuff and packed it in... The car was pretty rammed; or at least messy!

The time at 'cas unfolded nicely. We rode some, took some photos of the slope and facilities, took some photos of the riders and I talked to some of the people who worked there. Then we rode some more. I was feeling fine by that time, in fact the only bad thing was that I was sucking on the slope. Not to worry though, it was still good, and I was surprised at how much we enjoyed shooting some of the local riders.

Ciara was still too ill to ride - probably because she didn't hit the fast food thrice!

I'll be posting some shots of the riders soon...

Martin lives in Huddersfield so we stopped there on Friday night. Second leg, Castleford to Huddersfield. A couple of beers, an inspection of the new shred stick he picked up for Fernie and a showing of Absinthe's Optimistic and I was looking at another 3am finish.

Let's just revisit that new board for a second though. Mart found what's got to be one of the best steals on eBay: a brand new Burton Fish for £80! Insane. I want one.

Saturday morning was rainy, which was good as everytime I've been to Halifax this year it's been bone dry, hot and therefore slow. However, it was also windy up at the top which kinda sucked as it slowed things down and blew you around loads. The third leg: Huddersfield to Halifax.

The Halifax visit panned out nicely too. Got a chance to talk to the guys that worked there, and local rider/shop owner Wayne Taylor was there too (A.K.A. Snowskate).

The combination of high wind and a large ski-lesson meant I didn't use the main kicker, but I did have some fun playing on the smaller jump to the side. The highlight was stomping a clean barrel-roll. Nothing big, not too stylish, but clean, I rode it straight out. Really pleased. I also worked on some backside 3s because I can't really do them.

Photos, talking to the Halifax crew, it was fun. It was also dirty, and my pants are taking a beating too!

Due to the late finish the night before, Saturday morning was pretty rushed too. No time to sort out the mess in the car and no time for a full shower. Getting changed in the rainy, cold carpark after riding the wet mossy snowflex - I was starting to feel somewhat urgh.

We stayed around for a pint and something to eat at the pub. That's pretty much where the snowboarding side of things stops, but the driving didn't. I'll keep the rest brief.

After saying bye to Mart we were off to Newark to visit some of Ciara's Family. A tired and dirty fourth leg: Halifax to Newark. We were running late and a mistake with an uncharged mobile phone meant we arrived in the middle of things, so no time to wash up. A few drinks that evening sent me straight to sleep...

Sunday morning was an opportunity to freshen up. After leaving the family we were then on leg five, Newark to Liverpool. Ciara needed to be there for a work thing. We saw this on the way over, much cooler than my ride.

We checked Ciara in and we had enough time for quick look around Liverpool center. Starbucks was well received. The hotel was pretty sweet, but I wasn't staying there.

Before long I was back in the car for the final leg: Liverpool to Gateshead. A bunch of CDs and more fast food to keep me going. The car was still a mess; wet snowboarding gear, some of it dirty. But it didn't matter anymore. When I can do it all again?

Just short of 10 hours driving...

View Larger Map

Hungerpain's Otium: DVD Review

I bagged a free copy of Hungerpain's Otium with the November issue of WhiteLines and this sucker won't be featuring on eBay! It's sitting nicely in my collection.

Bottom line: I really enjoyed watching it. There are some nice effects in there with the editting and the production of the DVD, and some good riding too.

In fact, it's the riding level that's most interesting to me when it comes to watching British snowboard films. For sure some of the tricks stand out as being below the level that's seen consistently in the International films. But likewise, some of the tricks stand out as being worthy of an International snowboard film. More than once I was like: "that was massive" or "his style's really sick". It's this range that makes our films seem feel current, fresh.

To me, the British riders have much more scope for progression, and that's not meant as a criticism. Each year the riding gets better, and seeing people develop is great. Some of the moves that Chris Chatt is putting down on rails are excellent. James Thorne has some sick riding (again); effortless-style. I thought Nelson Pratt was going really big off the kickers with nice, compact style to boot; tight airs.

My favourite section was from Roland Morley-Brown. I was impressed by his smooth operation, but more than that - the variety of his shots. Park hits, some back country hits, urban ledges, rails, deep powder landings. Good stuff.

But Tom West closes it out with maybe the best move in the film: a sick frontside 10 melon... huge, smooth, tight grab and stomped. Two angles on it and the sound is great. He's killing it in the park. Awesome finish to the DVD.

A lot of effort went into the production side of things and it shows. According the interview in WhiteLines, Pete Ellis spent two months working on the invisible boards part. Dedication. The soundtrack is pretty cool too with some original remixing and creative use of sound. I didn't love every song, but hey...

When you consider that the Hungerpain crew probably has nothing close to the budget of international film crews; and given that the season produced pretty poor snow conditions, I think they've created a really good film.

Here's the soundtrack for Otium:

• Introduction: The Roots - Don't Say Nuthin' (Instrumental)
• Opening Montage: Directed, Edited and Composed by Phil Barber and Pete Ellis
• Plumley: Ratatat - Seventeen Years (Remixed by Pete Ellis)
• Wear and Evans: DJ Yoda - Playin' Around (feat. Jungle Brothers)
• Thorne, Purucker and Van Gassal: Contains samples of Incubus - Hidden Track after Calgone; Aphex Twin - Windowlicker (Remixed by Pete Ellis)
• Jackson and Newton: Ellen Allien and Apparat - Do Not Break (Remixed by Pete Ellis)
• Pratt: Skibadee - Tika Toc
• Friends Montage: Ed Enayat and Rich Simpson - Back in Black Remix
• Harington: Reachout - Stimulation of Chaos (Instrumental)
• Campbell and Revill: Akala - Stand Up
• Invisible Boards: Coldcut - More Beats and Pieces (Remixed by Pete Ellis)
• Chatt and Morley-Brown: Aphex Twin - Actium (Remixed by Pete Ellis); Motley Crue - Kickstart My Heart
• West: Nikkfurie De La Caution - The a la menthe
• Credits: MCD; The Deckwrecka - Priceless

International Snowboarder Magazine

International Snowboarder Magazine (ISM) is a new online, free snowboard magazine. I've experienced one or two online flash style pages before and I didn't think the interaction was that good. They felt a little clumsy and loading pages was sometimes slow.

But ISM seem to have it dialed. The navigation is good, no problems waiting for stuff to load and the full screen view really sets it off. The first issue, covering October and November, is pretty sweet.

Of course an online magazine has the advantage of being able to provide different media formats, namely audio and video. There's a piece in there about The Stash at Northstar; the video that comes with it is excellent!

I was sent a press release from ISM around two weeks ago. I wanted to have a quick read of the magazine before I posted about it, but then I didn't get around to it and it slipped further down my inbox...

It's definitely worth checking out. Great articles, pictures and video, and it's free! Here's the late-on-my-behalf press release:

The Worlds first online flash snowboarding magazine was launched yesterday. International Snowboard Magazine or ISM for short uses technologies that allow a full page flipping magazine experience on the web.

The magazine is totally free to read and has all the qualities of a normal magazine but with the added bonus of embedded audio and video. The video is embedded right onto the page and streams whilst you read the magazine, so there is no waiting around for it to download!

The magazine also features a full screen option (located in the top left navigation bar) this allows readers on smaller screens to enjoy all the benefits that the magazine offers. You can zoom, print pages off and jump backwards and forwards as much as you like.

This first issue features some amazing photography from Cole Barash, an interview with Nicholas Muller, a product heavy bindings review, backside handplant technique and literally loads more!

To read the magazine just visit the website and click on the link, it is as simple as that, no software to download, forms to fill in or expensive subscription. Just click the link and you're in!

www.isboardmag.com

ISM will be published bi monthly throughout the year taking a global look at the sport. It is published by Next Element Publishing Ltd.

Missing Sno!Storm Again

There's a Sno!Storm freestyle session on at Cas' this Friday and I'm going to miss it. I missed the last one too. Gutted.

The parks are so good on these freestyle nights it's a shame to miss one, especially when they don't come around that often. I think it's been something like one every two/three months. I just don't think I can make it this Friday.

Hopefully I'll be riding the weekend after though, which softens the blow a little. That, and the new issue of WhiteLines with a fresh DVD to watch. Bonus.

Westbeach Snowflex Freestyle Championship, Final

I haven't been following the Westbeach Snowflex Freestyle Championships, but recently, I ended up at Kat Miller's blog because she'd been at the final in Noeux Les Mines, France.

You can read the post here, and the Legion site has more photos... it's pretty sick.

Pembrey Dry Slope Shred

jimbojnr78, YouTube, pointed me towards one of his videos and I thought I'd post it here because I love watching stuff like this. The kickers look nice, but I'm more impressed with the riders... shredding on dendex deserves respect! Good style too.

Check it out.

Dakine Pro II/Heli Pro BackPack

One of the things I'd like to get hold of for next season is a new backcountry pack. I like the pack that I've got at the moment, but it's a little on the small side for what I want.

I've got my eye on one of the Dakine Pro packs - but I don't know which one: the Pro II or the Heli Pro 20L.

Both packs are a fair bit bigger than the heli pack, which is the key change. They've also both got a pocket that will take the shovel head, and it's at the front of the pack, which should make getting things out of the main compartment easier. The little (camera?) pocket on the waist strap is handy, and again, it's on both packs.

To be honest they're pretty similar - the main difference is simply the overall size. I kinda want the slightly bigger one, but the goggle pocket, which is on the heli pro and not the pro II, is pretty cool...

Worlds Apart

The company that I work for has an office in Newcastle, it's real close to where I live, in North East England.

Snowboarding in England is pretty difficult at times. Without any real mountains to speak of, unless we travel abroad we're limited to artificial slopes. And being in the North East doesn't help...

It's a good distance from our south coast so hopping across to France in the car is less viable and it's hard to benefit from travel options such as the Snow Train.

What's more, there are no indoor slopes or snowflex slopes nearby. Here's the route from Newcastle to Halifax (google reckons 122 miles - about 2 hours 10 mins):

View Larger Map

I'm not complaining though. Dependence on plastic slopes and fridges is one of the things that contributes to our strong scene. It's all part of enjoying snowboarding from within the UK.

But check this. Our company also has an office in San Jose, CA, USA.

Imagine if I worked there? The snowboarding options are very different. Lots of resorts all accessible over the weekend. Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Heavenly... Here's the route from San Jose to Lake Tahoe, google's estimate is 227 miles - about 3 hours 47 mins:

View Larger Map

Worlds apart.

Winning Photo

Thanks to everyone who submitted a photo. The winning pic was sent in by Simon Parfitt: some friends chillin' in Chamonix. I hope you enjoy the tickets and the show...

Win A Pair Of Tickets To The Metro Ski & Snowboard Show

This time last year I visited the Metro Ski & Snowboard Show in London (report). It was a good day. I can't make it this year, but I do have a pair of weekday tickets to give away, courtesy of the event folk.

Competition.
I haven't had much time to organise this mini-competition as I've been away - so I'm keeping it real simple. If you're interested in the tickets, all you have to do is send me your favourite snowboard-related photo. It can be anything you like: an action shot, something scenic, friends in the bar, etc. The only restriction is that it needs to be a photo that you or a friend took - I'm not interested in a picture of Shaun White or anything like that.

The competition will run from Friday through to Sunday. Again, I'm sorry for the short notice, but all you need to do is send an email, including your photo, your name, the address to have the tickets sent too and something useful in the subject like Metro Show. I'll announce the winner on Monday and post the photo. Check out the event website for all the details you need and the press release is below. Good luck...

24th-28th October 2007 Olympia, London
To find out which rider is pulling all the tricks this year or where to book your next holiday, you need venture no further than this year's show. With eight new features, and the return of some of last year's highlights such as the Trespass Quarter Pipe, The Ski and Snowboard - on the slopes with lastminute.com is the place to get you geared up for the winter season.

Action Stations
Back to showcase the talents of some of the world's finest riders, the Trespass Quarter Pipe is home to the hottest action this side of the Alps. Just next door, a new addition for this year is the much-anticipated Burton Rail Jam brought to you by Land Rover; boarding masters from across the globe will be grinding the rail for your viewing pleasure. You can also pick up some hot tips from the pros in the Snowboard and Freeski Theatre.

Pictures from the Piste
If all the action gets too much, take a time out and experience the finer side of snow sports with our breathtaking video and image gallery. With all imagery submitted by the public, the mix is vast, from sunsets on the slopes to big air and deep powder fields. In fact, why not submit your own gems on www.metrosnow.co.uk from 14th September. Get a sneak preview of the latest in board design at our 'Board Art Gallery', which shows how decks can be customised through a mixture of graffiti and illustration.

Home to the big brands
The ski show offers a great opportunity for ski and board fans to equip themselves ahead of the winter season, with the chance to shop around, under one roof. With an enormous Brand Arena, you can top up your wardrobe from the cutting edge design of Oakley, established favourites such as Salomon and hot newcomers like Zimtstern and E+O. Catch the visually explosive fashion show to see the creme de la creme of winter styles.

Best ski holiday yet
Within the popular World Resorts Village, you'll have the chance to shop around for your next ski or board adventure. With representatives from countries across the globe, at hand to advise on the hottest new destinations and latest deals, cherry-picking your dream holiday is made easy.

Entertainment
If being out on the slopes all day gives you a touch of frostbite, then head to one of our four entertainment areas to warm yourself up. For those who love their music as much as their ski holidays, the Gigloo is a must! For the first time ever, we will be hosting a series of exclusive live gigs from a unique 'igloo' venue, in conjunction with XFM.

Apres Ski
After an action packed day on the slopes, a well-deserved beer is a must. New to this year's show is the stunning roof terrace bar, offering a unique opportunity to sit back and soak up an Alpine atmosphere, with a great view of the Quarter Pipe competition below.

Early Season Camps

Continuing the previous train of thought on tuition, the broader guys have a post about the revolution camps being held at the end of this month in Diablerets, Switzerland.

It sounds pretty good. The two, week long camps are being run by smk. I don't have any experience with these camps, but looking at some of the coaches I'd say the direction is going to be pretty good. Not only that, Diablerets is home to the Demonium Masta Camps, and it seems that they are collaborating with the whole thing.

I have really good memories of the week that I spent in Diableretes a few years ago - it was a pretty surreal experience, one that I'll never forget.

I'd love to go back: the people are nice, Diablerets is a sweet place and the park is sick. I know it's kinda redundant to say it, as almost everyone has to, but working for a living can really get in the way sometimes. There just aren't enough holidays in the year - not to snowboard as freely as I would like to.

Of course if you don't fancy joining a camp, you always have the option of simply sorting out some accommodation and spending a week, or a long weekend, hitting up the park. It's not far from Geneva so it's pretty easy to get to - the train is direct all the way. What a great way to start the season!

Work That Technique

Over the last couple of seasons, each time I've been away there's been a couple of things on my list of things I wanted to do. One was to get a guide and hike around off-piste; the other was to get a lesson to improve my riding technique.

These activities are never cheap and there always seems to be something else to spend your cash on - like beer or, all that sick new gear in the resort shops.

Last season though we were pretty much spoon-fed a guided tour - and it turned out to be one of the best days of the trip. It's definitely something I'll do again, but I don't want to neglect some tuition.

And then there's cat-boarding. Cat-boarding is probably top of my list for extras in Fernie. With that in mind, and knowing that the cash can only go so far, I'm thinking that Fernie might be a good opporunity to get a lesson and work on some freeriding technique, in preference to a guide. For sure it won't be the same as a guided day, but if you're being taught how to ride off-piste - they've got to take you off-piste, maybe even to some sweet spots :)

I guess I'll wait and see how things pan out... what the conditions are like, how good the cat-boarding is and whether I get lured into buying some new gear that I don't really need!

Fernie And Stuff

I've been reading a few magazine articles about riding in canada: secret powder stashes and the like, and it's all really promising. The more photos of the terrain that I look at, the more excited I get. It looks awesome.

There's one snippet that I've heard/read that I hadn't really thought about that much - the temperature. I'd heard that it's cold, especially in January, but I didn't think about how this might effect your riding each day.

Normally I'm up for first lift - but a couple of sources seem to be suggesting that you're better off waiting a little until it warms up... I guess we'll just have to wait and see, but that doesn't sound like something I'd like to do... but maybe I'm being a bit naive :)

Anyhow, Fernie's official site is starting to show some nice activity on their webcams. I'll be keepting an eye on that.

There's also a pretty cool unofficial Fernie report out there: Craig's Unofficial Fernie Alpine Resort Page. Simon showed this to me a while ago, and there's some great info on there. The archives go way back, so you can check out when there were massive dumps in the past. But one of the things I like best about it is that there are plenty of photos of the mountain without snow.

I reckon that knowing the mountain when there's no snow cover has got to give you a different perspective when it comes to riding it in the winter...

Apart from that, I've hooked myself up with a pretty sweet pair of Analog pants. Nice! Hopefully I'll get around to posting a picture or two :)

Snowboarding In Japan

This might seem a little random, especially as I'm set to ride in Canada this season, but I've been checking up on riding in Japan.

I don't think I'm just following a trend when I say that I'd really like to ride in Japan... the reason's pretty simple, there should be loads of powder! Hopefully it'll be something that I do the season after this one.

Anyhow, I came across this site, which seems to have some useful information. If anyone knows any other good sites let me know in the comments, cheers. Oh, and if anyone is actually riding there this season let me know too :)

Here We Go

Well the season's definitely just around the corner now; the tell tale signs are all there. To begin with, I've started donning a snowboard jacket for the journey to work, so winter is on the way. Secondly, I've picked up a copy of the Burton catalog, which has lots of shiny new things to look at. And finally, the first issue of WhiteLines arrived the other day, which happens to include a feature on the Halifax slope - excellent!

This has made me think a little about what I've been doing in between last season and this coming season... Back at the beginning of April I set myself a mini-goal, to ride between 2 and 4 times each month. Since then, just about 6 months have past, and according to my summer shred counter I've only ridden 7 times.

Once per month isn't great, but it's not aweful either. In the least, I've definitely scored on the snowflex front.

But I'm considering off-season to be the time between my last trip from the season gone and my first trip of the season to come - so there's still time yet. Maybe I'll bump that average up a little :)

That won't happen for a couple of weeks at least though, as this weekend I'm flying to Mexico. For that reason, I'm leaving that new copy of WhiteLine un-opened so I can read it on the plane, most likely from cover to cover. I've also added a copy of Document Snowboard and to my own surprise, a copy of Ski & Snowboard.

It's the first time that I've bought a ski/snowboard magazine, and being honest, had something like Onboard been on the shelves I'd have picked that instead. But Mexico's a long flight and I felt like 3 mags was a good number; and I've got to admit I was tempted by the cover stories of Thigh-deep in Japan and Canada's secret stashes, which should be the same for skier and snowboarder alike...

One final mention about the new season - the European snowbroader guys are back with their blog for this winter. If you're one of their regular readers from last year you'll probably already know this, but if not, you should check it out. Constantly updated with fresh snowboarding news - sweet!

UPS Import Woes

A short while ago I bought some snowboarding pants (and a t-shirt) from DogFunk, an online store in America. I like DogFunk: they have a great selection, often have great sales and the staff are real friendly. Even though the delivery charge was fairly high and knowing that some kind of import tax would have to be paid, the gear was still a good deal: total charge £88.33

Shortly after the order I received an email from UPS telling me that I hadn't paid the import charges and that I sould contact them straight away... OK, no problem. But it was when I spoke to them that the deal went kinda crappy. I was set to pay duty tax, V.A.T and some admin fee because I wasn't a UPS account holder!

It's probaby the case that I'm totally naive about all of this - but I wasn't expecting to pay V.A.T. Worst of all though was the dibursement fee. A charge I incurred because UPS were handling the import procedures and I didn't have an account with them. That's nice. Sure there are costs that need to be covered but I wasn't made aware of that before I ordered and chose UPS... maybe I should have trawled their site first and looked for small print?

The total import charge was £36.49 - around 40% of the cost. But actualy when you take the delivery charge away, the goods only cost about £54, so the cost of importing them is looking pretty high!

I actually thought I was gonna escape the payment; it was back in July when I spoke to them and they said that I would receive an invoice in the post. Getting on to two months later and it hadn't arrived so I was kinda smiling... but what's that saying they have about the certainty of taxes? Last week the letter below arrived - damn it :)

So the total cost of buying in the snowboarding pants and a t-shirt was £124.82. That's not bad, but it's not the bargain that I was originally aiming for. The funny part about all of this though is that I don't even like that pants - so I'm gonna sell them on eBay. At least they've still got the tags on...

Halifax Session 5

Saturday was an excellent day: the session at Halifax was great. But it didn't start out that way. To be honest, in the beginning it was somewhat of a test!

You see, the main lift was off; not working. This meant using the smaller lift which is way more inconvenient. You gotta unstrap a lot more and it's simply not as good. Also, with the sun and the wind, the slope was really dry, so really slow. Add to that the look of the place, which is a little shabby, and we were thinking why have we driven two hours for this?

But that changed. The run-in to the main kicker always seems to be better than that of the smaller kicker, so once we started hitting that, things improved. Martin produced his new camera too; it was met by oohs and ahhs and juiced things up a little.

It wasn't a particularly long session but it was good. I haven't ridden for a while and I wanted to spend some more time working on backside 1s. I still don't think I'm hitting the jump with enough speed, but it's coming. Towards the end I was definitely more comfortable with more speed, which was a nice improvement.

Of course it's one of those things where hitting it with more speed actually makes things easier: you've got more time in the air to do stuff and you land farther down the landing where it's steeper. Try just telling yourself that though! It might work for other people but not with me... I think I need to build up to it.

I also wanna start getting more comfortable with backside 3s (and maybe even 5s) - but on Saturday I was happy enough progressing with the 180s. Just keep hitting it over and over, trying to make it feel natural. I experimented with a couple of different grabs and also attempted to bone the front leg out. Some of it was successful, some of it wasn't. But I was learning for sure.

We capped things off sitting at the bottom of slope, just chilling out. Two good friends and the mossy snowflex hill to ourselves - it turned out pretty well!

I was well impressed with Martin's new camera - the pictures are awesome. He's uploaded them to Picasa but I don't think I can embed his album, so I've duplicated it in my area. Maybe I'm missing something? Anyway, I've embedded it below, but here's a link to the original set too. I've also included a few choice shots...