Upgrade Bushings

I while back, I crunched the bushings on my front truck, skating at Redcar. The deck was still usable, in fact it was difficult to notice much difference, but the truck no longer sat centrally aligned, so I wanted to replace the bushings...

Being a noob when it comes to skateboarding equipment, I just figured they'd have some spares in the shop. They didn't. Instead there was a choice of either soft, medium or hard upgrades. I'll have the ones in the middle please :) And neon pink too; shame, the others were green and yellow...

Well I've swapped them over - only the broken ones mind. That's probably a big faux pas, but I wanna see if they feel any different. Actually, the washer-style cups that sit above and below the bushings were significantly thicker than the standard ones, so maybe the whole set is better quality.

On a related point, I really need some kind of skate tool. I use and over-sized wrench from the shed whenever I want to tweak my trucks, and it's just lame. It only just fits. Any suggestions?

Avoriaz Arare Park: Pictures

I took a bunch of photos of the Arare park in Avoriaz: January 2009. The Arare park is the biggest park in Avoriaz, or at least, it has the biggest features. It's setup mainly for advanced shredders, but there are still a few features that may entice less experienced freestylers.

The park team at Avoriaz are unlikely to have it all finished early on in the season: first, a lot of snow is required for the bigger features (see some of the photos below), and second, when it's still cold in January this park is quite hard and icy, and not many people want to ride it that way. So if you're interested, look for them to them to start getting it dialled by February/March.

North Face Hedgehog Trainers/Hiking Shoe

Adam from Fitness Footwear sent me over some North Face Hedgehog trainers to try out. This was pretty good timing because I've been wanting to get a shoe of this kind for a while now...

North Face describe them as a lightweight speed hiking shoe. Nice. The upper is a fully breathable, waterproof Gore-Tex membrane; that sounds good. The bottom is some kind of lightweight, compression moulded compound... blah blah and some weird made-up tech terms... I took one look at them and thought "grips", just what I need.

You see, over the past few years I've been away for a weekend, or longer, walking somewhere in the hills; probably amounting to a handful of times. Each time I've been walking around in some skate shoes - not good. Slipping all over the place and normally ending up with a blister. When I return I always tell myself I should get some decent walking shoes...

These puppies are much more suited to the job. I've been wearing them for a while now and they're certainly comfortable - light too! I haven't put them through a long walk yet, but I'm confident.

They'll also double up nicely as an in-resort trainer, for similar reasons. Tip-toeing around in some skate sneaks with flat soles can be, tricky. It's almost always wet feet too. I've been wanting a better option for a while now, and I reckon the 'hogs should be a big improvement. I'll update on that next time I'm in resort...

The Avoriaz Stash: Review & Pictures

Back in Janury, 2009, I was in Morzine. We spent quite a bit of time shredding in Avoriaz, and I was particularly impressed with the Stash. In addition to making numerous runs through this natural park, I got the chance to meet with the head of the Avoriaz Park Team - Jean Noel - the connection being made as part of the review I was writing for the wsg. He gave me the low-down on the current design, future plans for the stash and some general info on all of their parks.

Over and above what I've wrote for the wsg, I wanted to post the majority of the photos I took, to try and give a good impression of what type of features are available. With it being spread out over a large area I didn't get everything, and specifically, I didn't get any good photos of the more advanced features. I did take a couple of runs through the more difficult sections, but didn't have the camera at the time...

So the Stash was originally built back in 2004/2005, and at that time it was for advanced riders only. Since then they've added additional runs, like "Main Street" or "BioTop". With 3 or 4 routes through, the Stash now caters for all levels of freestyle ability. The park team has designed it as a freestyle "run", the aim being to provide good lines that flow. I think they've achieved this. They shape it every night and there're easily 20 hits from the top to bottom: rails made from logs, boxes, pic-nic benches, rainbows, wall-rides, pow-slashes, hips, jumps through trees - it's awesome.

All the wood they use comes from California - they couldn't get it carved the way they wanted in France; all of the natural feature are smoothed off so they're safe for jibbing. Also from America is the grading system they use. The runs through The Stash are rated from 3 levels - as the parks are in the states. It's good for all shredders.

And they're not sitting back. Each summer when the snow's gone they look for new lines, places to put new jibs. Jean was explaining that they'll have the diggers out, moving dirt, building up take-offs and landings, he even showed me a one or two ideas that didn't quite work out the way they wanted them too. Constant effort. It's evolving. And there are potential plans to build a new, separate Stash, for kids, somewhere below the Chapelle Park.

I love The Stash. Seriously, it's really good. There's a lot to explore and its jibby-design complements the other parks they've got - especially the nearby Chapelle Park. You won't find any kicker lines in the stash, or metal rails, but that's ok because they're available in the park. What you will find is something pretty damn close to a natural, freestyle run. Lots of hits, lots of fun. It's got a new, 6 man chairlift servicing it too - so getting back to the top is quick...

Avalanche Video: This Is Hard To Watch...

Mal sent me a link to this avalanche video on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/6581009. I've embedded it below, but it's worth reading the description that goes with the video. Basically, a skier in Alaska drops in, gets caught in an avalanche, is buried and then rescued. An exceptional job by the guides. The thing is, the footage is all from a Helmet cam - it's pretty scary stuff.

The guy is using an AvaLung, which seems to have helped him out some. I haven't had first hand experience with them, so nobody has told me how they should be used in practice, but it seems he didn't have it fully in his mouth (see the accompanying video description).

This video really makes you think about being careful when you're off-piste/backcountry.

Anyhow, if you feel like watching it, here it is, it's both scary and incredible...

Avalanche Skier POV Helmet Cam Burial & Rescue in Haines, Alaska from Chappy on Vimeo.

The Best Snowboard Parks...

...In North America?

On my way back from America I picked up a copy of Transworld Snowboarding at the Airport. Sure it's a snowboard mag and therefore interesting, but I was attracted by their poll of the best parks, pipes and resorts in North America.

So it turns out that from the 1700+ readers that voted, the best park in North America is Buttermilk, CO. Interesting. I'm not disputing it (how could I?), I'd just naively assumed that Whistler and Mammoth took the top spots. Maybe that's the impression we have from over here?

I've only been to one North-American resort, and whilst I probably wouldn't swap those two weeks in Fernie for any others I've had on snow, I didn't get the chance to sample a park from across the pond. Something I'd like to do.

Here's the top 10 from the Transworld poll:

1. Buttermilk, CO
2. Keystone, CO
3. Mammoth Mountain, CA
4. Snowmass, CO
5. June Mountain, CA
6. Bear Mountain, CA
7. Whistler/Blackcomb, B.C.
8. Northstar-at-Tahoe, CA
9. Sierra-at-Tahoe, CA
10. Park City, UT

Anyone been to any of these parks? Got a different idea of which is the best? (Incidently, Buttermilk was also voted as having the best pipe, and Snowmass is considered the best overall resort).

And what about Europe? It's not like I've been to a good selection of the best parks, but recently I've been really impressed with the freestyle options that Avoriaz, France provides. They've got a bunch of parks for different abilities and the Stash is pretty sick...

NONSTOP Competition: 11-Week Instructor Course, Fernie

You may have heard of NonStop Snowboard; a company that specialises in providing instructor courses and improvement courses in Canada. Well, right now they're running a competition "offering one lucky person the chance to win a place on our 11-week instructor training course in Fernie.".

Having shredded in Fernie myself (read/watch Fernie trip), and talked with some of the people from NonStop, I'd say this is a pretty amazing opportunity...

Here are some pictures from the NonStop crew, and details of the full competition:

NONSTOP COMPETITION:
We are offering one lucky person the chance to win a place on our 11-week instructor training course in Fernie, including return flights with Air Canada, worth over £7500!!

Win this prize and you'll be taught by some of Canada's most respected instructors so you can achieve internationally recognised Level 1 & 2 Canadian instructor qualifications.

You'll be staying in the NONSTOP Lodge, in the centre of downtown Fernie, which has fantastic facilities including ensuite twin bedrooms, swimming pool, hot tub, movie room and ski/board tuning room.

The prize includes practically all you need to spend a season in the Canadian mountains - flights with Air Canada, a season lift pass, weekly professional instruction, half-board accommodation, plus numerous extra activities like cat-skiing, snowmobiling, weekend trips to other resorts and an avalanche and first aid course.

HOW TO WIN???
For your chance to win this amazing prize you need to visit Metrosnow.co.uk and answer the simple question: "Name three resorts NONSTOP operate their courses in."

This prize is for the Fernie 11-week course in 2011 (Jan - Apr) sharing a twin room. The competition is open until 6th April 2010. All entrants must be 18 or over.

Level Camo Pro: Snowboard Gloves Review

This is a quick review of my last set of snowboard gloves, made by Level. Unfortunately I'm not totally sure what model they are. I won them in a competition (Onboard Snowboard Magazine) - so didn't get any of the packaging. The inside label reads "Camo Pro", so maybe that's it. But after checking out their site, I couldn't find them; perhaps they don't do them anymore...

The main reason for writing about these gloves is that all of my previous gloves have been poor. The majority of my first snowboarding trips were filled with cold-hand-days. Never fun on a chairlift. Seriously, I couldn't seem to find a decent set. I'd had some entry level gloves by Burton, some expensive gloves from Rome and some Grenade mitts. None of them were up to the job.

I did buy some mittens from Drop: full Gore-Tex with heavy insulation. They've always been bone-dry, and super warm. But that's the problem, they're often too warm. Then, by chance I randomly received some gloves for free, and they turned out to be awesome!

So what's so good about them? Here's the list:

• They're under-gloves, my preferred design, fitting easily under your jacket cuff.
• They've got that handy wrist-strap, combined with being easy to whip on and off, so accessing stuff with your bare hands is quick.
• They're not too bulky, so zips and other not-so-small items can be worked.
• They've been durable. Admittedly I've torn mine - but that was not on the hill...
• Most importantly, they've kept my hands warm and dry. Only on the coldest days have I opted for my mitts.

In a nutshell, they've been great. Tech-wise, the wrist strap is that membra-therm stuff (is it like neoprene?). Don't know much about it, but as under-gloves, which do make you more vulnerable to snow (up the sleeve), they've kept my wrists dry. They've also got some vent holes on the top of the hand - which may have contributed to the good performance...

Job done. I did look on the Level site to see if I could find them; I couldn't. There are loads of gloves on there though, and quite a few of them look good. Worth checking out.

I've actually just replaced mine with some Dakine gloves: the Cobra model. They're another fairly-light under-glove (I've still got the Drop mitts) and I've heard good stuff about them. Hopefully they'll be as good as my old ones...

Colorado: Quick Vail Skate

Well I'm just about done here. We've got a little bit of work to do tonight, and then I'm flying back tomorrow morning...

This morning I woke in Vail. After a breakfast burrito to keep us going, we had a few hours to look around vail. As a resort it's pretty impressive; expensive. Everything's right on hand at the base of the hill. Plenty of shops, bars, restaurants and the like...

I got talking to a couple of guys working in the Quiksilver store and they told me there was a decent skate park in the village (Lionshead). It turned out that the park is on the top of the car park structure. It seemed strange, but we checked it out on the way out of town.

And it's a good park. With a good view too; right in the mountains. Sun blazing. Beat that. So I skated for 45 mins or so. The mini ramp was awesome. Fast, and it's been a while, so it took a little time to get things going. At 8000ft+ it takes more breath too. That was fun. Here's a few pictures:

What a place for a skate park...

Colorado Here I Am: Mini Tour

After a week of work here in the USA, my friend Suzanne, who lives in Denver, took me on a quick tour through the mountains in Colorado, stopping to look at a bunch of the resorts. Sure, the lifts aren't open yet so there's been no shredding, but still, this place is beautiful, and just checking it out has been great. Here's how the day went...

We set out toward Loveland Pass, opting to go over the top rather than through the tunnel. Hills and mountains everywhere. Exciting stuff, especially as there's already some snow on some of the peaks.

Getting some of that Colorado snow in the hand...

At the summit of Loveland Pass, loving it, with the sun in my eyes. When can I come here to snowboard?

So the first real destination was Breckenridge, but my guide told me that we would pass A-Basin and Keystone on the way. These resorts are so close together; that's pretty cool.

Here's Arapahoe Basin from the road. It's not easy to see in this picture, but there's a lift there accessing some pretty steep terrain...

And Keystone in the distance.

We stopped quickly at the base of A-Basin, but everything was closed. Keystone on the otherhand had more going on, so I snagged a piste map. Nice.

And next up was Breck; we were ready to eat. Since being here in America I've been trying a bunch of different beers. There's a lot of choice, some of them being real good. Back in Rochester I'd tried a Fat Tire, an amber ale brewed in Colorado. Suzanne recommended we visit the Breckenridge Brewery - so I was set to sample some of the local produce.

The Fat Tire is good, but Breck's Avalanche Amber Ale is the best I've tasted yet (also good has been Buffalo Gold). Add some American-sized portions and we had a good lunch.

I had a good walk around the place. It's kinda strange, almost toy-like in places, very different to the resorts that I've been to, but then again, this is the first time that I've been to any American resort. The terrain's supposed to be good though, and I could definitely see myself coming back here.

Busker plus backdrop:

I think this must be a halfpipe without the snow...

After Breckenridge we were heading to Vail, which is where we're staying for the night. I'm leaving on Sunday, so I'll wake up tomorrow in the mountains before heading back to Denver.

On the way I got a glimpse of Copper Mountain from the road.

And before settl'ing in Vail, we pushed through to take a quick look at Beaver Creek. This place looked expensive! There's like a golf course right there in the resort...

And then we were in Vail. The directive being to check-in, relax, hit the hot-tub and celebrate the work that we've done this week, which has gone pretty well.

Get some beers on chill:

Finish in the tub...

I've not yet had a chance to walk around Vail - I'll do that tomorrow morning. Sipping on a beer in the hot-tub rounded the week off nicely. I'd love to come back here in the winter-time with Ciara to snowboard. Lots of resorts. Loads of back-country terrain to explore. You'd need a lot of time... This place is pretty amazing...

Thanks for a great day Suzanne!