There are lots of blogs out there dedicated to snow rats, but
here is one that struck my fancy. The writer is actually by his own admission
posting from London, hardly the snowboarding capitol of the world, but he’s got some solid posts and seems to keep
abreast of the snowboarding scene. Check it out. It’s worth a few clicks.
Tahoe Getting Buried
If you haven’t been reading the weather forecasts, or don’t care much about what goes on in
California, then you might not know that IT IS
DUMPING in Tahoe right now. The most snow they have had since 1916, folks! This is good news, amazing news for a
water-starved Cali, and for board rats everywhere. The latest blast left up to 6 1/2 feet of snow in the Sierra
and 2 1/2 feet in the Reno area. It’s crazy. Raods are closing, people are trapped in cars, dogs and cats sleeping
together.
The day after this thing relents will be the day to call in sick.
Off Yonder
Here’s a great little blog written by Cameron L.
Martindell. He’s got sections on his travels in Japan, China and Australia, as well as a fairly solid
photography section. Here, someone demos an
airboard, an odd snow device I’ve neer seen before, but seems
to be a kind of sled-like contraption. It’s a little haphazardly organized, but there are some gems here if you click
around.
Backcountry With NOLS
Here’s a solid piece that talks about the
National Outdoor Leaership School (NOLS) experience from a guy who took the backcountry skiing course in Wyoming. The
tetons to be exact. It’s basic, but a nice narrative of what one goes through in a NOLS course. The whole NOLS
experience sounds amazingly educational, but intensely rigorous. Good way to work off that holiday flab.
Motorola Jacket: Hook Yourself Up
OK, I just saw one of the sweetest things I’ve seen in a while for the whole
snowboarder/skier/X-games crowd. Our friends at Engadget, who are posting video
FROM THE FLOOR of CES, demo’d a jacket by Motorola and
Burton with, get this, speakers in the hood, a padded ipod holder in the pocket, and a Bluetooth-enabled control
module on the jacket sleeve that links a cell phone and the ipod to the whole system. Man. Now all they need is a
special pocket where you can put your weed and a backpack-bong (don’t even think about it…I’ve got my patent attorney
on this right now).
Anyway, I’m looking for photos and will post more when I find some, but the thing isn’t even available yet…it will
apparently be out in the 2nd half of this year. But, folks, you CAN see the CES video about the jacket right
here.