Monthly Archives: April 2010

Well for almost everyone the off season is upon us. Theres still seems to be one resort in most regions still turning lifts but hey flowers are blooming birds are singing and its time to think about your off season escapades even if you arent 100% ready for  them. The standard fallback for many a snowboarder has been the skateboard but lets face it skateboardings hard and its a bit embarrassing to say you have a skate style on snow  when you cant even catch a kickflip. So this year why not join all the Pros that you like to emulate on the hill down at the beach. Thats right time to take up surfing. Maybe you think surfings not for you after all its a long way to the beach but I think thats just a defeatist attitude. If you spend your winters being a snow bum why cant you summer in SoCal and become a beach bum? However in the name of fairness Ill help you break down the pros and cons of surfing as compared to snowboarding and from there we can make a decision …..

GEAR… A good Surf Board is expensive but really no more than a new snowboard so thats a tie there. Of course for snow you then need underlayers, outer wear, gloves , boots, bindings etc. For surfing you need a leash and some shorts. Ok Ill say a suit to just to help snowboardings cause a little bit but in reality its too little help to matter. Score this one for SURFING.

WEATHER… Does this one even need explaining… SURFING hands down

DANGER… Well this one is a tough choice at first glance. Avalanches are gnarly and can kill you BUT with proper training and know how they can be avoided a vast majority of the time. In surfing theres the danger of big waves smashing you into the reef or rocks EVERYTIME  you take a wave. Plus there is no amount of training you can do to prevent this or this.  SNOWBOARDING wins this one hands down.

FALLING… Its a normal occurrence in both sports thus it needs to looked at. In snowboarding falling results in clothes full of snow, possibly getting stuck, and in severe cases (ahem East coast) some sort of head trauma from the icy conditions.  Notice I said severe cases for snowboarding because most of the time it sucks but you get back up. Surfing is a bit different. When you fall youre tossed underwater by the wave and churned around as if you were in a washing machine. If you are lucky it ends there and you pop up. However many times youre not so lucky and you continue to be tossed around underwater in the sand by more waves  and well you just hope theres no rocks or reef areas around to turn a bad situation worse. This is not a worse case scenario its a common occurrence. To make matters worse you then get a load of sand in your shorts and snowass from snowboarding cant hold a candle to sand in your shorts. You know those polished rocks you can buy at tourist shops? You know how those get polished right.. in a rotating mixture of wet sand which is just  just like you when your getting tossed around by waves. Who the hell wants polished nuts? I mean try to explain that one to your next weekend  late night hook up. SNOWBOARDING wins again.

NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON THE BODY… Both sports will give you your fair share of injuries and those can really add up overtime to cause some issues. However one sport has a negative effect that vastly overrides anything the other sport can toss at you. Thats right Im talking about Surfing and skin cancer. Now I know that youre higher up and have a greater amount of UV when boarding but  ninja masks are cool right now and besides its only your face its easy to apply a small amount of sunscreen to help out.  Surfing on the other hand… well let me just ask you this, ever seen a pale surfer? Of course not and skin cancer is no joke.  Looks like thats another win for SNOWBOARDING

So coming down to the end and tallying up the score it looks like were actually 3-2 for snowboarding over surfing. Thats surprising I mean with all the summer options for snowboarding  why in the world would  these pro guys worry about taking up surfing.  I mean is there any other reason that could possibly outweigh the above scientifically generated evidence to make you want to go surfing over summer shredding? Hmmm oh wait now that I think about it … there could possibly be some reasons Ive forgotten to think about.  Wait I think its coming to me now… oh yes of course… now I know …. see you at the beach!!

Was at the ol’ Wal-Mart this afternoon and saw this discount Dvd of some Disney movie with a young Kurt Russell and a monkey ( who more than likely out acted Kurt ) and thought that Kurt looked like Justin Hebbel. Remember him? Mr. starting the tight pant scene. Mr shut down that Matix stair feature with Curtis Woodman  at Northstar in the first People Movie. Mr “jumps are fun but rails come first for me”.  Man he was the shit,  one of my favorites. Did you know the H in the Ride DH stands for Hebbel ( the D is Demolski ) my boy was on the brink of being the next big thing.  Then suddenly one season no video part. Well thats not entirely true he had a brief 45 second part in Burning Bridges  and there was a brief note in Burning Bridges stating he had a terrible case of mono that really sapped him but that he was feeling better. Then next season a good part in the first People movie and I assumed he was “back”. The following season however another 45 second part in Were People Too then  nothing……ever again that was it gone, poof, nothing, nada, Im talking missing pic on the milk carton, off the face of the earth. I saw him at Brighton and talked to him a bit and told him  how amazing I thought his part was in Love/Hate was and could really tell he was tired mentally. Sucks to see the Industry chew em up and spit them  into the trash like that. Its good to every once in awhile go back through your old dvds (and vhs too) and see the guys who have the 30-45 second parts. The guys that kinda came and went but never really made it  in the long run. Hopefully they all had a good ride while it lasted and maybe ( hopefully) they are still getting some turns out there but now on their own terms.  So heres to you Hebs, thanks for all your inspiration and maybe one day I can help you out when we are looking for a house.

Ah look its that time of year again when the temps start rising and spring riding abounds. Now nothing says spring riding like park laps, after all who wants to drop cliffs and sink 2 feet deep into some mashed potato snow that you cant even carve out of. Now like any other natural habitat the park has many a varied critter (yes I said critter remember the Alabama thing) and you would be wise to know what type of animals youre sharing your personal space with. The following is a list of a few common breeds of Park Rat. Feel free to add your own if I miss a variant common in your neck of the woods….

HAULING ASS GUY … This guys name says it all. Hes coming through the park at blinding speeds and may well pass you in mid air when he hits a jump the same time as you even though he was nowhere to be seen when you dropped.  He hasnt got time for you speed checking pussies, in fact the only time he checks his speed is when he checks to make sure hes going faster than everyone else on the hill.  At the end of the day in the bar hauling ass guy doesnt brag about what tricks he landed he brags about how many runs he made.

ON YOUR ASS GUY … Dont confuse on your ass guy with hauling ass guy. On your ass guy doesnt set a blistering pace through the park but that doesnt stop him from being just as much of a nuisance.  Hitting a double kink? So is on your ass guy! In fact hes hitting the same one as you, and then the flat bar, and the table top, and finally the wall hit at the bottom. Each hit a mere second behind yours.   Siamese twins have more privacy than a victim of on your ass guy.

MORE BALLS THAN BRAINS GUY … Hey everyone has to learn at some point and thats cool thats why there is a beginners park but thats not for more balls than brains guy. Nope this guy has decided hes learning cab 450 boardslides pretzel out  today and hes come on out to the big park to make his first attempt at one on the triple kink rail. R.I.P. more balls than brains guy.

ONE TRICK PONY … Ill admit this guy has skill but unfortunately for him its VERY limited. In fact its usually limited to one sick trick.  One trick Pony has sold his soul to overcome his complete inability to carve, ollie, 50/50, boardslide, butter or any other type of basic snowboard maneuver just so he can switch backlip EVERYTHING.  Oh dont be around him at the bottom of the hill cause this mother fucker cant stop his board at the lift line for a million bucks. However you know that sick double kink rail in the middle of the park? Well hes got a youtube park edit of himself Switch Backlipping that and everything else on the run. How? No one knows but hes got them on lock.  Giddy up!

JUST MOVED TO THE REAL MOUNTAINS KID … This poor little guy is just a product of his environment. He can straight slay it in the park but getting there is another matter. Hey who can blame him though. He grew up in either SoCal, The Mid West , or Back East  and never really had to learn how to ride any type of terrain that didnt have handrails and boxes on it. You can see just moved kid doing the falling leaf or in a worse case scenario butt sliding into the park to get his laps in.  He moved to B.C., SLC, or Summit County to be discovered and shits himself daily at the size of the “real mountains”. Just moved kid has skills and also has a happy ending because he usually learns to ride in his new environment and even loves the real mountain terrain more than the park and starts down a whole new path of freeriding awesomeness.

HIGH BEAMER … Oh yeah the high beamer, this kid is pretty sure hes the next big thing. Do you smell something stinking? … cause hes the shit at least in his own mind. High beamer likes to land every trick and look around to see who noticed him do it. In fact high beamer is so stoked to give you a show he waits at the top of the park until there are  others coming in before he even starts his run.  Tickets please the show is about to start. High beamer is the only guy on the mountain that is stoked when he sees on your ass guy.  Hey high beamer let me give you a bit of advice. I buy snowboarding dvds, watch online park edits, and see some of the top pros in my park on a daily basis, NOTHING you do will be new to me.  Im stoked youre good but Im not giving you a BJ on the Gondola get over yourself.

THE CROW/STAGE FRIGHT GUY … The crow is the polar opposite of high beamer. The crow gets his name because there he sits at the top of the park perched like a crow on a power line. He doesnt want anyone to see his line even though he may be a skilled rider. He just gets nervous when he knows others are watching. So there he is every time you come through the park in the same place waiting for that mythical minute where the park will be completely empty. Oh and by the way crow, stop looking up the hill as if youre waiting for  a friend to catch up to you were on to you buddy.

WEIRDO GUY … Not really new to the scene Weirdo Guy has been under the radar  for years but has flourished and become somewhat common over the past few seasons.  Everyone knows Weirdo Guy, hes reppin sashes, velour pants, dream catchers, and probably even playing a damn tambourine on the hill. Some sort of odd Hippy/Hipster/Dirtbag/Artist hybrid Weirdo guy is one guy you actually might like to see in the park. Weirdo usually has very original lines and some odd trick combos. If you can stand the smell it might be worth following Weirdo guy for a couple laps.

ONE UPPER/UNORIGINAL GUY … The one upper is a pretty infuriating guy in the park. Youve been busting your ass all season to get those Cab  Nosepress to backtails on lock and when you finally nail it one upper cruises right behind you and adds a 270 out.  One upper has a good bit of high beamer guy in him but with little to no originality. Thus hes also called unoriginal guy because he never seems to be able to do anything on his own only bite other peoples tricks.  Does his run look familiar? It should because its  Horgmos entire Northstar park run only sketchy. One upper guy usually slinks away to grab a beer when his natural enemy Weirdo Guy hits the park.

So there you have it a brief list of  what you can expect to see for the next few weeks as the spring park laps take up the majority of your riding time.  Have fun out there and please beware of hauling ass guy you pussy.

Earlier in the season Shayboarder was visiting in Salt Lake and we took some runs at Brighton and there was an incident that stuck in my head as pretty funny. We were getting off the Snake Creek lift and Shay goes by a younger kid who obviously is not having a fun time. She smiles and says “snowboardings fun” and that kid gave her a look that said “not for me it isnt”. Haha poor kid .. but dont we all have those days?  I mean not the “skier dad taking you down the mogul run your third day on a snowboard” kind of days but just those days in general where you wonder why you even bothered.  Snowboarding is something we all started doing because we thought it looked fun. Its something we continued doing because is was fun. Im pretty sure most snowboarders never went into the sport thinking of it as a career decision. Of course for some it does become a job whether as a pro, a tester, a local rep, or team manager but for the vast majority of us its just something fun to do.  So if its just supposed to be fun why do we let it become so unfun at times?

Many things can influence our time on the hill. Many of us like to get up there and take some turns and forget about whatever worries in life plague us when were at home. Some times those worries can be so great though that they still interfere with our attempts to get away. Ive had it happen to me and Im sure youve had it happen to you. Theres no easy way to get around that one and sometimes its just best do deal with the real life drama than trying to get away from it via snowboarding or whatever. Thats a choice Ill leave up to you and your own thought process. What I mainly want to talk about in this post is the outside pressure that can sometimes negatively influence your day on the hill even though it shouldnt.

Thats right Im talking about the big I, the Industry, or at least its influence it has on you.  Snowboarding right now is in a pretty sticky place. Skateboarding was in much the same place in the early 90s and you see where that got skating ( it almost killed it).  Theres definitely a fashion show, a trick “to do” list, as well as a “cool gear” list out there . We have pros and ams that are getting paid because they look the part but when push comes to shove they are fairly one dimensional in their riding abilities.  Im not naming names but Im sure when you read the previous sentence there were names that popped into your head.  Sometimes we as people want so much to be accepted into the “cool” clique that we compromise what we do and whats fun for us. This is why there has been such a resurgence in the “snowboarding is fun”  companies over the last two or three seasons people are getting over the bullshit. In the end what we view as fun should be what gets us stoked to ride and puts a smile on our face.  Hey if you want to learn double corks  than you go out there and  have a blast but Im going to be over here doing big BS 180′s or some  straight air methods or a stalefish. It makes me happy and thats what Im most concerned about.  Unless you are trying to come up in the ranks and become a professional snowboarder theres not trick out there that you should think you HAVE  to learn. If your crew thinks otherwise well then TBH youre running with the wrong crew. Now let me clarify Im not talking about how your crew pushes you to progress Im speaking specifically about pressures to do things  that you either dont want to do or dont find to be fun.  The best group of  friends you can have are the ones that are stoked when you have fun no matter how you are doing it.  Im easily the oldest guy in my small group of riders and theres a lot of things that my friends do that I know Ill never even attempt but that doesnt mean they look at me as a lesser rider than them.  Well first I just get the old man props for rolling with the twenty something crowd and keeping up but  more than that they know Im out there to have fun and I do whats fun for me regardless of it will look awesome in some half ass you tube park edit. Todays hip fashions and hot tricks are tomorrows ” I cant believe I was into that” so dont get so caught up in the “have to’s” and worry more about the “like to’s”  and youll find fun comes much more easily. Look at the end of the day the only person that can make your day a success is you so my advice is to do what makes you happy and screw everyone else. Afterall thats why we all started this right?