It used to be that showboarders – AKA knuckledraggers, slackers, ski punks –
were the bain of ski areas everywhere. Where I go a lot in Mammoth Mountain, California, they used to be thought of as
scum and wastrels. Not by me, of course, since I started to take to boarding myself, but by the old folks who had grown
accustomed, the way people do, to owning the hill. Well, interesting how thing have changed. Seems now that the
demo has shifted so much that
areas are now bending over backwards to attract showboarders.Of course, if you’ve done any skiing/snowboarding at all
in the last five years, this is absolutely no surprise. Some 6.3 million Americans went snowboarding in 2003, a HUGE
increase from a decade earlier, when only 2.1 million said they had done it, according to an annual survey
conducted by the National Sporting Goods Association. The NSSA also says 60 percent of people under 20 who take
up snow sports are snowboarders, and resorts WANT them like junky wants a fix.
Kid Falls From Lift in Video
It’s every skier’s nightmare…or at least you sometimes think it will happen to you when you’re on a
chairlift and you’ve got a backpack on. Check out
this video that shows a
12-year-old kid who got his pack caught on the chairlift and then dangled 30 feet in the air like some peice of fish
bait. He wiggles himself free and then falls the whole way down, landing in the (lucky for him) soft powder. The
video is worth watching. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll laugh again.
How to Waste an Hour
Get that Excel spreadsheet open on your screen so you can maximize it when the boss comes around. Here’s is a
guaranteed time waster. You use your mouse to change
the pose of the skier and then hit the space bar to set him off down the hill. It takes some practice (LOTS of
practice), but you’ll get the hang of it.
Ski Resorts Review
MSNBC runs a ski resort review with a
focus on the places with the best early season snow. Of course, none of the five are anywhere near New York City
<sniff>, but I was happy to see two of my favorite hills get the nod: Blackcomb and Vail.
Here’s the list:
1. Alta/Snowbird, Utah
2. Grand Targhee/Jackson Hole, Wyoming
3. Steamboat, Colorado
4. Whistler/Blackcomb, BC, Canada
5. Vail/Beaver Creek, Colorado
Ortovox X1 Avalance Beacon
Thinking of going backcountry this year? Then pack along the
Ortovox X1. With 80 meters of search range and a nifty system
that automatically turns on when you click in and switches to search mode when you click out, the X1 is a must for any
trip out-of-bounds. Ortovox’s standard five-year warranty and the fact that it might save your life makes the sub-$300
price tag seem reasonable.