snowboardsecrets.com
     
----------------------- -------------------------- Your Ad Here! ------------------------ -----------------------------
Transpack Boot Bag  Flexmeter Wrist Guards Aerofreestyle Mat Snowboard Events Calendar SnowboardProfiles.com
Azzpadz Rides Of Passage Book Ross Powers Foundation SnowCleavage.com Product Naming
SnowboardRegistry.com Plattekill Mountain Snowboard Wrist Guards Phrakis Boot Rest


Articles
Azzpadz
Blogs
Board Shops
Books
Camps
Checklist
Contact
Deals
Deaths
Events
Events Covered
Fashion
Film
Flexmeter
Getting In Shape
Goals
Guest Book
Holiday
Letters
Links
Link To Us
Media Room
Mistakes
Mountain Resorts
Movies / DVDs
New Boards
Newest
News
Newsletter
Packs
Parks
Poker
PROfiles
Pro Forum
Pro Scoop
Puzzles!
Q & A Index
SB Registry
Search
Secrets
Shopping
SnowCleavage.com
Summer Sports
Testimonials
StyleSampler.com
Tricks
Trips
TRSS
Tuning
Unpacking
U S Open
Your Business

go back to Szine Newsletter Index

The Snowboard Szine Vol. 1, Issue 9

3/31/04

===================================

In This Issue

 ===================================

1. Snowboard Diary from Lauren - Spring Wrap-up, Bad Snowboard Joke

2. Lauren’s Report from The U.S. Open of Snowboarding

2a. Don’t Make these Mistakes when you go to the US Open!

3. Snowboard Gear on Sale

4. Lauren on Bloomberg News and E!

============================================

1. Snowboard Diary from Lauren - Spring Wrap-up, Bad Snowboard Joke

Sorry I haven’t written in a while. And this is a LONG Szine to catch up. I am devoting myself to riding as much as possible ‘til the end of this snowboard season. Went to the US Open last week and had a blast. Read my article below (See #2a. below) if you don’t want to make the first timer mistakes I did when you go next year!

Spring riding is so great. Yesterday I rode Windham Mountain (NY) in the Catskill Mountains with my friends Tracey Romano who is a snowboard instructor there and Artie, a skier. We had the hill to ourselves. NO one was there. The snow was soft and forgiving - but lumpy mashed po's. The air temp was in the 50’s, not a cloud in the blue sky. And this time of year the days are long so that you can drive back home while it’s still light, and watch the sunset. Face it, snowboarding is more enjoyable when you don’t have to worry about frostbite as we did most of this winter.

My winter gloves made my hands sweaty yesterday, so I bought myself some Seirus glove liners that can be worn alone or under gloves for extra warmth when it’s cold. They are water repellent, and when I took them off to rest on the sun deck for a bit, they dried out in a flash. AND they were on sale. This is the time of year to pick up equipment and accessories on sale so you’ll be ready to go next season. By the way Gear Direct, one of the largest, most knowledgeable and best priced online dealers of sporting goods is having an end of the season sale. And if you click here -http://www.geardirect.com/store.cfm.cfm?store_id=2&dpid=102 to get to their site, they send me a little $omething for the referral. Thanks!

More details on Gear Direct below. (See #3 below.)

Anyway at Windham, that bumpy slushy snow gives your thigh muscles a workout fer sure. We rode all day, and were beat by the end. We did a couple of runs with Gordon Cook who is an instructor at Windham, an “older” (than me!) guy who has been riding for 9 years and whose daughter Anne Cook David was a pro snowboard racer. He is an enthusiastic teacher and gave us some great exercises to practice on the hill - to help me get to that elusive “dynamic carve” that looks so beautiful and effortless when it is done well.

One exercise we did was riding with knees bent as low as possible, waaay down, not bringing my body up tall at the turns. With the front hand pointing down to the snow over the nose of the board and back hand over the tail up high. My friend said I looked good doing this. Maybe next season I’ll finally get that beautiful carve nailed down. Ralph Assion, Assistant Director of the Snowsports School at Windham is glad to see that snowboarding now comprises 30% of all lessons at Windham. And they have gone from 0 snowboard instructors 10 years ago, to 75 qualified instructors there now.

Our snowboard buddy Gordon at Windham told us this joke.

Q. “What do snowboarders use for birth control?”...

A. ...“Their personalities.” ...chuckle.

Apparently it’s been around a long time, but was new to me.

I rode the pipe at Windham, which looks like it hasn’t had any grooming attention in a while. But it was soft and fun, and I got right up near the top of the wall. WooHoo! I don’t do any tricks in the pipe, just riding it clean without falling is enough for me now. I’m still looking to get that little bit of air at the top which will make that turn so much easier. I will need to spend a good long session or 2 in the pipe to get that. Maybe I’m a wuss because that air is taking me so long to get. But hey, don’t forget, I’m way over 30 and I don’t want to hurt myself riding! It’s so darn inconvenient to be injured!

Last month I had a great day at Ski Sundown in CT. What a pleasant little mountain, with nice people and a pretty renovated lodge. My friend Jean Sapula is an instructor there and so we had a nice pack to ride with. I rode a little rail there. I was successful when I focused my attention and vision like a laser beam on the far end of the rail for my 50-50. As soon as your concentration starts to go, forget it, it’s all over. Stop your rail session. You’ll fall off. Of course it’s important to know how to abort the rail riding mission successfully when you’re halfway down it and not aimed down the middle anymore. Yes, falling or jumping off well is an important skill for jibbing, and I’m gaining that skill too.

============================================

2. Report from The U.S. Open (of Snowboarding) in Vermont

US Open results are posted here - http://www.snowboardsecrets.com/Articles/usopen.htm

Watch the US Open on tv April 11 at 1:30 EST on NBC!

I attended my first (certainly not my last!) US Open (Snowboarding) Competition last week. I can hardly describe how exciting it was to be there! I’m not even much of a sports fan, but I love to watch good snowboarding, and there was plenty of that!

On Saturday found a great spot to watch the halfpipe practice and competition, and I stood there in one spot spellbound for over 4 hours. I had no concept of time or cold temperature, and I think I had a smile on my face for most of that time! During the events, the action is non-stop, with railriders launching about every 15 seconds. Perfect for people with MTV attention spans. The pipe riders also come down one after another, sometimes dropping before the last rider has finished. I don’t know if this is good contest etiquette, but I know it’s what happens in real life at the local halfpipe.

Some things that surprised me about the Open are that the contestants have to hike back up after riding the rails, and even after riding the 300 ft long pipe. In a jam format as they had at the Open, the more rides down a contestant makes, the more it can help his/her total score. That means a lot of hiking! And when the pipe is a Superpipe - well, it looks exhausting! During the finals, the riders are driven back up on snowmobiles.

While the riders are hiking up the pipe they are so close you can almost have private face time with them. They are walking within a few feet of the onlooking crowd that lines the pipe. They seem to appreciate the energy of a cheer and shout out of their name while hiking back up. Japanese rider Junko Asazuma and I rode the lift up together during her practice session, and I soon saw her become a crowd favorite as she soared high and graceful in the pipe in practice and competition. You feel a part of this event because the riders are all around you.

“Poaching runs” in the pipe during the Finals is a time-honored and surprising tradition. Riders who have competed in the semi-finals but not made it to the finals often just jump in and take a fun run down the pipe during the middle of the contest. The Teters seem to be famous for this, and Terje, Heikki, and DCP did it this year too. There’s also some bib number swapping going on. The announcers try to keep track of who is riding, but at times it’s impossible. “Pipe Maintenance” is scheduled between events. I figured some Zamboni-like piece of equipment would appear, but no. Maintenance is done by having riders slide down the pipe on their back edges, just like you did in your first snowboard lesson. The poaching, swapping, and low-key maintenance all contribute to the grassroots anti-establishment feel of the Event.

I’ve written a more complete article about the Open and posted it here http://www.snowboardsecrets.com/Articles/report.htm if you “gotta have more!”

If you want to read the technical detes of the competitions at the Open, TW Snowboarding has some excellent stories listed on this page, for now; http://www.transworldsnowboarding.com/snow/

There is complete coverage of the Open there in three entertaining stories by Jennifer Sherowski. She even took the pictures that are with the articles. And the little detail that no one mentioned is that Jennifer also competed in the Women’s Halfpipe Semi-Finals that she was covering. This is one awesomely busy and productive all around snowboard professional! Props to you, Jennifer!

 ============================================

2a. Don’t Make these Mistakes when you go to the US Open!

First Time Mistakes at the US Open

This was my first time. It will be easier the next time I go. There’s just stuff you have to learn as you go along, that makes the experience more enjoyable. I wish I had a guide or something to read before I went. I made some mistakes. Like carrying all my gear from the parking lot, onto and off the truck parking lot shuttle, through Stratton’s village to the ticket office, and then finding out I was in completely the wrong place.

Anyway, YOU don’t have to make the same mistakes I did when you go to the Open. I will be writing a handy practical guide to save you the trouble. I will be selling it as an E-Report from my site, for instant download, once I figure out how. It will be packed with info like best place to watch the events, what to wear when, how to find the parties, where to stay cheap, how to avoid the monster traffic jam after the Open...useful stuff like that. It will sell for $9.

If you want to be notified when my report becomes available, send me an email Just press "reply", or mail to Lauren@SnowboardSecrets.com and put “US OPEN” in the subject line. Send your phone number, in case you've changed email addresses by then. I’ll let you know when I finish it this summer or fall and you can decide if you want to buy it at that time.

==========================================

3. Snowboard Gear on Sale - Burton’s Select Few Online Retailers

Want to buy your new snowboard (and other sports!) gear easily online at the right price?

Right now Colorado Snowboards, powered by GearDirect has some great closeout prices on boards, board bags, boots, bindings, jackets, and gogs. http://www.geardirect.com/store.cfm.cfm?store_id=2&dpid=102

They are one of the very few retailers that are allowed to sell Burton products new online.

There’s also a great selection now of hydration packs from Camelbak, Kelty and MountainSmith. Keep the fluids flowing and do not bonk. Check out these hot deals sure to keep you cool and refreshed.  

If you bike or golf, ColoradoSnowboards/GearDirect also has a huge selection of equipment for you at great prices. http://www.geardirect.com/store.cfm.cfm?store_id=2&dpid=102

Money Magazine awarded ColoradoSnowboards/GearDirect its designation for Best Buys for Ski and Snowboard gear in September’s issue. ColoradoSnowboards/GearDirect is one of the original online sporting goods stores and is famous for its Nation's Lowest Price Guarantee. If you find a lower price on any item they carry in same size, color, model, and year they will beat that price.

ColoradoSnowboards/GearDirects staff are passionate outdoor enthusiasts who use the gear they sell. They live to play outdoors They are committed to providing you with the widest selection of name brand gear, clothing and accessories at the nation’s lowest prices guaranteed, combined with world class customer service whether it’s for snowboarding, cycling, golf, camping, or hiking. Visit at http://www.geardirect.com/store.cfm.cfm?store_id=2&dpid=102

==========================================

4. Lauren on Bloomberg News and E!

Bloomberg News TV wanted to hear from people whose summer plans might change due to the weakness of the dollar. I responded saying that if the dollar gets too low, I may change my plans to go to snowboard camp in Europe. Anyway, they seemed to like that response, and a news team drove up to film me on my snowboard at my local hill. The piece is supposed to air on Bloomberg News TV and simultaneously on E! some morning soon. If I get enough of a heads-up, I’ll drop you a line so you can see me make a fool of myself in front of millions worldwide!

By the way, at the Open, I met Sylvia Mittermuller, who was invited to compete from Germany. She spends her summer at Gap Camp in Germany, and says it’s great. So I’m thinking of trying it out. Write me if you know anyone that’s been to Gap Camp. Thanks!

===========================================

“I just wouldn’t ride without my AZZPADZ”

Lauren Teton

Gear up for protection next season! Buy your Azzpadz here and now!

FREE BOARDREST to the NEXT 10 PEOPLE who ORDER AZZPADZ and mention that they heard about them at SnowboardSecrets.com

AZZPADZ hard plastic tailbone and butt protector http://www.azzpadz.com/ Call toll free -866 299 -7239 -if you want to order.

(They're in Ontario, Canada, on Eastern Standard Time.)

The owners Neil and Jason are friendly snowboarder guys who want to make sure you order the right size.

Tell them you heard about AZZPADZ here from Lauren at SnowboardSecrets.com. Thanks!

========================================================================
 

Thanks for reading The Snowboard Szine!

Lauren
Editor

 

"Let's Ride!"

 

 

 

 

 

Home  | About | Contact  

Send e-mail to Lauren@SnowboardSecrets.com

Bookmark this site and check back. New Stuff added often!

only search SnowboardSecrets

Copyright © 2003 - 2009 SnowboardSecrets.com. All Rights Reserved
This web site shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of 
New York State, USA, without regard to its choice of law rules.

This site built and maintained by Sean Mulligan