A Couple Of Brits
Posted by on Saturday, February 06, 2010
I don't like to simply pimp other people's videos, but in some cases I like to make exceptions :) First up is young Jamie Nicholls, a UK shredder who grew up riding at Halifax, now making his way around the international stage. I like to see Jamie progressing. I remember the first time I saw him snowboarding, at Castleford, before I knew who he was. I said something like "man, that kid is killing it. He's class. He's gotta be something like 12 years old?"
I nice guy too. Anyhow, I'm sure most readers from the UK are well aware of Jamie... here's a couple of runs from the recent Burton European Open.
Next up is Jenny Jones, who has recently won X-Games Gold. I think it's great that Jenny does so well with snowboarding; I also like the fact that although women's snowboarding is often viewed as being over-shadowed by mens, Britain's most successful shredder is a girl :) That's got nothing to do with a lack of respect for the male snowboarders we've got, but more that I think it provides us with a well-balanced view of professional snowboarders.
Here's her winning run from the X-Games (you can read about it here):
If you're in the video mood, check out a couple of links: Shaun White in X-Games pipe and Eero Ettala winning slopestyle.
Labels: video
A Collection Of Photos...
Posted by on Friday, February 05, 2010
...I've been meaning to do this for ages. Each time I go away there are normally a few photos that I really like. I just wanted to drop them into a web album that I can update as I go; a collection of my favourite snowboarding pictures.
Labels: photo collections
WSG Reviews Live!
Posted by on Wednesday, February 03, 2010
I've gotta say I'm pretty excited :) I received an email from Steve Dowle last night, letting me know that the Portes Du Soleil reviews I wrote for the worldsnowboardguide last season are live. It took a good deal of effort, but I think the end result is pretty good. I think it was a large task for Steve to get it all sorted out online, too.
Here's a link to the Portes Du Soleil overview.
Within the Portes Du Soleil area, there are 12 individual reviews, including resorts like Avoriaz, Chatel, Les Crosets, Les Gets, Morzine and Torgon.
I'm happy with how the pictures turned out. I didn't get any great action shots or anything like that, but I tried to get images that show what things are like: towns, terrain, parks etc. And I think, perhaps, the pictures round off the words quite nicely. I haven't read too many of the individual reviews yet; probably because I've already spotted a couple of grammatical errors :)
Here's the post I wrote about the experience of writing all those reviews...
If anyone does read some of it, let me know what you think. I'd certainly take feedback, especially as it might be something I do again in the future.
Labels: wsg
Finally Got Something Sorted
Posted by on Monday, February 01, 2010
Well, we've finally booked something for this season: two weeks in Morzine, starting on Saturday 27th February. That's just under 4 weeks away, exciting!
This trip has a few 1st's:
- It's the first time we've left it this late to book...
- It's the first time we've opted for a catered chalet...
- It's the first time we've organised something with Ciara's brother...
- It's the first time we've booked something overlapping with the French school holidays (I think)...
All in all, it should be really interesting. I'm keen to find out what it's like staying in catered accommodation. I'm also keen to see if it's much busier at the end of February; we normally aim for January or March.
The last couple of weeks have been a little bit of a black hole, with much to organise, and not all of it snowboard-related. I still haven't streamed my footage from last season; I normally make it a rule to do so before any snowboarding the following season. In which case, that gives me less than 4 weeks to stream and edit. Hopefully I'll get it done...
Labels: morzine trip 2010
It's Been A While
Posted by on Sunday, January 24, 2010
I was just thinking about this today: it's been a good while since I was on a snowboard. In fact, it's probably the longest absence since I first strapped in. Even the first year-period between my first and second snowboarding holidays was broken by one or two trips to the snowdome, and maybe even the dry slope.
Looking back over the last 12 months, I haven't been on my snowboard since Morzine. Wow. Hopefully I won't have regressed too much :)
I did skate more over the last 12 months, which was something I set out intentionally to do, and had a lot of fun doing. I wanted to see if more than a few sessions would enable to me to learn some new tricks; and it did. Nothing major, but progression was made.
And in the past, I've seen the same small-steps with my snowboarding. Since I started keeping a record, I had 9 and 4 UK-snowboarding sessions in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Although I didn't make double figures in either of those years, a few trips to the Halifax kicker is, and has been, enough to learn a few new tricks and get more comfortable with the things you can already do.
So what does this mean for 2010? Well I'm getting married this October, which will take up a fair amount of time and resource. Plus, I've decided to try a cycling event with some friends in August: the coast-to-coast. Being competitive, I'm planning on training for this. And again, I'd like to skate more...
With those things in mind, I can't see myself traveling down to Halifax that often - but I suppose nothing is set in stone. To be honest, I prefer doing stuff when I can dedicate a decent amount of time. I'm not particularly fussed about making a solitary visit to Castleford or Halifax during the off-season; if it was a choice between one or none, I'd be happy to take none, and do more of whatever other project I was giving time to.
And that's probably the reason I didn't go at all last year. One trip might be fun, but I much prefer a series of visits where I can set some goals and get the feeling of progression.
And that's what I'd like to do again. I'd like to set up a handful of sessions at Halifax. Work the kicker; progress. It's flexible with regards to how you spend your time on the slope, which makes it a great spot to get some photos and video, and generally a great day out. The only problem is the time and money.
So if it doesn't pan out this year, I'd like to aim for double figures in 2011...
How about you guys? What do you do when you can't snowboard in resort?
Labels: uk riding
How Much Do The Design Features Of Our Snowboarding Gear Matter?
Posted by on Friday, January 15, 2010
A lot of people, and I'm definitely one of them, spend a good amount of time contemplating the different design options available when buying new snowboarding gear. It could be a new board, some boots, an avalanche beacon or maybe just some wax. There are a lot of products out there!
But how much difference do all those features really make?
Certainly, there are big differences between some designs, and these differences have a definite effect on your snowboarding. I view these as enabling designs, or prohibitive designs, depending on which way you look at it. Here are some personal examples:
- My first snowboard: a 157 Burton Clash. A bit of a beginners board, after my first week I felt I'd out-grown it. Tanking it down fresh groomers the board felt unstable at speed. The season after, I traded it for the Rome Anthem. It was a world of difference for stability, base speed and edge hold.
- Stiff boots: the Salomon Malamute. I used to own these Salomons, which were designed as an aggressive, freeride boot. My first few jib sessions on an indoor slope left me with sore ankles. Swapping them for the 32 Lashed boots gave me a snug, controlled fit that also allowed for freestyle-flex. Much lighter too.
- A short, twin tipped snowboard in deep pow. I'm sure there are many out there who shred powder with their short, freestyle boards and have no problems. When the snow was waist deep, I struggled, whilst watching friends float on the top...
Yes, sometimes the difference between kit is as clear as night and day, and therefore it's important to choose the right stuff.
But what about the smaller differences, or the latest design ideas? These tend to be the choices that we, or myself at least, spend the most time debating. How much do these matter? Should we pay attention, or just pick the one we like the look of and get on with the snowboarding?
Again, some personal examples.
- Bindings. I spent a while trying to choose between 4 bindings, arguably all pretty similar. Burton Missions, Ride Deltas, Union Contacts and Union Forces. Some would say that the Deltas and Contacts are a good deal softer; but how much? There were differences between my old Burton Missions and my Drake MLBs, but not the kind of enabling differences like those above. I could do the same stuff in both.
- Reverse Camber. To be honest, I might be naive in saying that this doesn't make much of a difference, given that the banana'ness of my T.Rice is slight. That said, I didn't feel much difference riding that reverse camber board.
- Weight. Some products make a big deal of how light they are. Sure, if you pick the heaviest option for every bit of kit, you're gonna feel it. But for a single set of boots or bindings? Will 100 or 200g make a difference?
It's fun and interesting checking out new equipment, new models, new ranges; but for gear that's in a similar category, like choosing between two, twin-tipped freestyle boards, maybe we shouldn't worry too much about making the wrong decision? Once you get the board, for example, you'll adapt to its design features and if something felt a little weird to begin with, you'll probably grow to like it.
Pick the one that fits well, that's comfortable, that you like the look of, or the one that comes in under budget. Get it and ride with it. Don't sweat over the minutia of the technology or the latest and greatest design features.
Is that fair, or asking for trouble? I'll still get interested by the new stuff, but once I've picked, I'm not too worried.
So what's your take? Is a board a board, or is it important to get the highest grade sintered base? Are there too many examples of yourself or friends buying gear that turned out to be bad, making you careful what you select? Or do you just get on with it until your gear's worn out?...
Labels: equipment
The Big 3 - 0
Posted by on Wednesday, January 13, 2010
That's right, it's my birthday today and I'm now 30 years old. It sounds weird, but doesn't feel any different.
I suppose it doesn't carry much snowboarding-relevance; I can't see my attitude, desire or approach to snowboarding change any time soon. I suppose I've had less available time/resource over the last few seasons to go snowboarding, but there's a good chance that will change in the future. I hope so anyway.
I do however recall saying something like "I'd like to land a 7 before I'm 30". I regret to inform you all, that has not happened. I won't view that as a failure though - I could just set the goal of putting down a 9 before I'm 40 :) Haha!
Snow In The North East
Posted by on Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Well, over the last few days the snow has started to wash away. The temperature has been up a little, so it didn't all re-freeze to create one, big ice-rink.
I did take some pictures whilst out and about. Durham, in particular, was spectacular at the weekend. We drove down there on Saturday morning to hook Ciara up with a new passport; while she was in the passport office I took a walk along the river, which looked awesome...
They say the snow may be coming back again. In fact I think there were a few airports further down the country closed today. We're not really used to these conditions here and I think the majority would be happy they didn't see any more snow this year. Whilst it can be annoying for getting around and it serves no practical purpose to me locally, I still welcome it!
One Of The Reasons The Robot Food Films Were So Good...
Posted by on Sunday, January 10, 2010
...They had people like Pierre Wikberg working on them. Check out this clip showing some of the photos he shot while filming Lame:
Photos from 2003. from pierretube on Vimeo.
Union Contact Bindings: Preview
Posted by on Friday, January 08, 2010
So I've bought some new bindings. After considering the Burton Mission, the Ride Delta, the Union Contact and the Union Force - I opted for the Union Contact.
I first narrowed it down to one of the offerings from Union. They caught my eye, I liked what I saw, I liked the fact that Gigi operates with their bindings and I wanted to try something new.
My first thoughts were to get a freestyle oriented binding. Yeah I ride all over the mountain, but I jib around quite a bit, I've got a short board, fairly soft boots, so I wanted something freestyle-esque from my bindings.
But they were out of stock. Given my initial criteria, I was a little worried that the Force bindings might be a little too stiff for what I was after. Queue a healthy dose of procrastination, and I came to the conclusion that I would buy the Force bindings. If they were a little stiff, that's no big problem. I'd soon get used to them, and if/when I get around to buying a powder stick, I could set them up on that and get some softer bindings too...
And then... the Contact bindings were available again. So I was back to making a decision. I spoke to a guy in some shop and he was thinking the Contact bindings might be too soft, not responsive enough. Maybe they are too soft? I thought. Blah blah, I'm sure this part of the story is getting a little tired.
Conclusion: I bought the Union Contact bindings. I'll find out soon enough what they're like to ride.
So why did I call this a preview? Well, apart from some pics of the new bindings, which you can see on the Internet anyway, I wanted to mention something about the weight.
The Contact binding is supposed to be a "little brother" to one of their higher end bindings: the Force MC, which is dubbed as the lightest weight binding on the planet. Being considerably cheaper than the Force MC, the Contacts aren't quite as light weight, but light non the less...
How light?
Well, I put a small sample of bindings to the test: the new Union Contact, my old Drake MLBs and Ciara's current bindings, the Burton Lexa. All three bindings are Medium in size, although the Lexas are of course, a female specific binding.
Here are the results:
- Union Contact: 800g
- Burton Lexa: 860g
- Drake MLB: 920g
So they're lighter than my old bindings, and lighter than the smaller, female bindings :) Nice. Will I notice much of a difference? Maybe. They do feel a little lighter in the hand, but not by much.
As for the reverse-camber-specific design of the Contacts, it's hard to tell just by looking at them. I haven't strapped them onto my board yet. Also, there's the toe strap that can be worn either as a conventional strap or a cap-strap. I'll comment on these things later...
Here's the proof :)
Labels: 2010 shopping list, bindings, preview
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