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.
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.
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...
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):
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:
Worlds apart.
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...
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.
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!
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!
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 :)
