Mack Dog Productions has announced they will stop making regular snowboard films in order to focus on new projects. Among those projects is documentary on Peter Lines. MDP's newest film, "Double Decade" will celebrate their 20th anniversary and an end of an era. This may also signal a big change in the snowboard film market.

Read more about at TWBiz

Jamie Anderson has a commercial on ABC. It's not for any of her sponsors though.

Burton launched their 08/09 website on friday. A lot of chatter has been going on about their team page.  On the women's side Anne Flore Marxer is no longer listed on the Global Team and Elena Hight is missing from the Burton Team.  The mens teams had an even bigger shakeup as Romain de Marchi, JP Solberg, DCP, Ross Powers, and Keir Dillon have all been dropped. Initially Mason Aguirre was also not on the Global Team page but that was apparently a mistake and he was later put on.

I've heard rumors that this would be the last year for the UnInc and with most of the team leaving Burton, this seems to be likely. Several of the men cut from the team are at the end of their careers and probably going on to the Burton retirement plan, but Anne Flore and Elena are both just heading into the heights of their careers. It will definitely be interesting to see where everyone ends up.

Burton and KushTV have released a series of webisodes following Victoria Jealouse, Anne Flore Marxer, and Natasza Zurek on a trip to Chile last year.  It's called "Because of Snowboarding". Here's the first episode...

http://kushtv.com/sports/becauseofsnowboarding/

I was reading this New York Times this morning when I noticed something was different in the Sports section. For a long time, their categories have had the major sports like baseball, basketball, football, etc. They dumped most other things under the "Other" category. So I was surprised to see that they now have an Action Sports category.



Or perhaps if you look at the url, they've just renamed the "Other" page. I don't want to get into an argument about what constitutes an action sports or not but I somehow don't think road biking, like the Tour de France, is really an action sport.

Check out the rather bizarre commercials Target has done for the Shaun White line.

Mr. Andrew Love, proprietor of Love Headwear, has sent me this report of The Stash opening.


After months of preparation, The Stash NZ finally opened at The Remarkables this Saturday with a 'Riders Preview' from 10-12 for the Burton team and other industry people to get a first look before the official opening at midday.

With a fairly lean snowfall so far this season, the Parklife team have done a great job pushing snow around to open the majority of the features throughout the run. As a reward (or maybe just for marketing purposes) Burton NZ have gifted each of the Remarkables terrain park crew a dice print ronin one-piece. I'm not sure whether that's a good or a bad thing.  To each their own.


Here's a quick rundown of some of features:


Where the Northstar Stash mascot is the Yeti, we have the Kea. Keas are a cheeky little bird commonly found in the NZ alpine environment, and well known for tearing rental cars to shreds in record time. The entrance to The Stash itself is overseen by two concrete Kea sculptures, and a third is hidden in the rocks down the run. The theme also carries through into some of the signage in the park such as the rock drop features.





Due to the lack of trees at New Zealand resorts, the 'Kiwi Stash' incorporates other aspects of the mountain into the design such as rocks and polished concrete slabs which combine with log jibs to create some fun features that flow together nicely.

The Burton tents were set up around the signature Stash Hut which features both concrete and wooden down ledges, and a ride-on roof once the snow level is topped up.

The Shaun White for Target Collection isn't supposed to be in stores until July 27, but I took a little detour to my local Target today and they had it out already. Thus far I haven't seen any images on  the web so I was curious to see what the line was made of. There were 4 or 5 t-shirts - a red one with a photograph of Shaun skating (I think doing a kickflip), a blue one with an abstract print, one or two that I don't remember, and one with a graphic that reminds me of some of Shaun's board graphics. There were also  striped polo shirts, a few plaid short sleeved button downs, and a pair of grey skinny jeans. 

This is all in the boys department but if you really wanted to..ahem..get into Shaun White's pants I think some women could. The biggest pair of jeans weren't that big but I think if you were maybe a 6 or an 8 they'd fit. Good news on the t-shirts is that it looked to me like an XL shirt would be about a women's large.

I should have snuck some photos with my phone. Oh well. I'll post up photos when they are released.

Here is a really, really long article about Killington in the Times Argus. You don't need to read the whole thing unless you are very interested in Killington. The really important nugget of information is that pending Act 250 approval, which is Vermont's Land Use and Development Law, Killington will be building "The Stash".

This will be only the fourth one in the world including Avoriaz in France, Northstar at Tahoe, and The Remarkables in New Zealand. The Stash is a "natural" terrain park usually located in a wooded area with all the features constructed from natural materials. It will be located off of the Skye Peak Express.

The journey from Los Angeles to Mammoth Mountain is long and often riddled with traffic, speed traps, and bad roads. On a good day it takes about five hours.  So I'm sure Horizon's new service from LAX to Mammoth Yosemite Airport will be a welcome edition. That is if you have the money. A one way ticket costs between $79 and $99 and adult lift ticket costs $79. 

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mammoth14-2008jul14,0,2392579.story

Personally, I'm not sure when you add in check-in time at the airport and baggage and transfer costs that it's worth it. I'm sure the views will be great though!

Nikita has just posted up a preview of their Fall 08 Streetwear Line on their blog. I love the funnel neck fleece dress in the 4th photo.

http://nikita.seshn.com/2008/07/11/fall-preview-what/

They've also put out this rather um, interesting video to go with it.

Jesse and "the Jacket" on The Bachelorette

So I forgot to update update last week when Jesse made the final 2 on The Bachelorette...and the finale just ended. I finally broke down and watched an episode rather than just reading the recaps online.

I'm totally shocked - our boy "pro snowboarder" Jesse Csincsak WON!!! Who could have imagined that she'd pick the guy who thought this jacket was a good idea?  Now they're engaged. Crazy! After she accepted, DeAnna said "I cannot believe I'm going to marry the guy with the pink shoelaces."

Now I'm watching The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose. They're saying the happy couple has a surprise announcement! Ok..so it's a slow night for tv for me. The Yankees are off tonight.

What's the big announcement? They set a wedding date - May 2009. That was totally not worth watching an extra hour for.

Not one to spread rumours, BUT if we are to believe this blog post on Popmag.com.au then we may or may not have seen the last of Future Snowboard Magazine. Here's hoping...thought they were doing a pretty good job. Their female focused Drift supplement was great.

 

Our man Jesse, the snowboarder from Colorado, has made the cut for the final 3 on the Bachelorette. I think it was in last week's episode (which I forgot to post an update for) that he took DeAnna home to Colorado to meet his family. He also taught her how to snowboard. 

Thank god for episode recaps! I want to know what happens but have no desire to actually watch this program.

Read more about the latest episode at The Chronicle Telegram.

Someone has just asked what they should do about teaching their boyfriend to snowboard. So I pose the question to you - teaching significant others a good idea or a bad idea? If you've taught/learned snowboarding from your SO, let us know how it went!

It's going to be in the upper 90's this weekend in the New York area. Yuck! I guess this means it really is summer. So what do you do in the summer months? If it's not on my list, then leave a comment! Personally I'm planning on doing some biking and gardening.

So our dearest Jesse is still on the Bachelorette! In the last western theme episode he not only rushed the aid of DeAnna, after she faked falling off the mechanical bull - he also made the mechanical bull his bitch. Ellen DeGeneres made a guest appearance and dubbed Jesse the most fun contestant.

Read more on the Vail Daily

IGN has the scoop on Shaun White's upcoming snowboarding video game. They say its more liked Amped than SSX - which I guess means you can do no-footed 1800s with 5 grabs.  The review says that every trick is one that Shaun has done in some capacity.

If you forgot to watch The Bachelorette this weekend or never planned to, like me, here is a summary of the episode courtesy of the Chronicle-Telegram. Apparently our man Jesse is doing quite well - he won a pushup contest!

Airline travel might get even more expensive this winter.  A few months ago most airlines adopted a new policy charging around $25 to check a second bag. That's each way so add $50 to your trip. Now American Airlines has announced they will charge $15 for the first checked bag - each way.  This means those already full overhead compartments are going to be even more stuffed  and boarding is going to be a nightmare.

What's worse is that there's no way that you can carry on a snowboard bag so basically we're screwed.  Airfares are already significantly higher so adding fees may put long distance snowboarding trips out of reach financially. So far no other airlines have followed suit, and if no one does then it's likely American will have to drop this initiative.

Read the USA Today Story or American Airlines' Announcement

Jesse on ABC's The Bachelorette

A new season of The Bachelorette has kicked off and this one has a "pro snowboarder". Hollywood finds a lot of "pro snowboarders" I've never heard/seen other than on TV. Remember Riley Giles?

Anyway, his name is Jesse Csincsak and you might recognize him from the snowboarding episode of MTV's Made. The Morning Journal has an article about him.

If you are a big Bachelorette fan then you might want to stop reading here. **SPOILER ALERT** On the first episode they eliminated half of the men. I didn't watch but from the website I can tell that Jesse made the cut! This was kind of surprising giving the outfit they show him wearing in stills from the first episode. Nice jacket Jesse.

After dropping Volcom from his sponsor list, Shaun White will soon be launching a clothing collection at Target. I love the GO: International collection at Target, where they bring you lines from top designers like Proenza Schouler. But we've had some discussion over in our message boards about a pro signature streetwear line for the ladies.

So who do you want to see designing clothes? Vote and let us know why! And if I don't have your pick then put it in comments.




On a side note Gretchen Bleiler will have some signature streetwear pieces in the Oakley line, but that's not a full collection nor produced for mass market consumption.

Bonfire has announced the date for it's 7th Annual Pipe to Pipe competition. It will take place on June 28 at Windells and includes a snowboard rail jam and skateboard street comp.

more info at http://bonfiresnowboarding.com

Can you believe it's May already?? I think for most of the Northern Hemisphere the season is over. This means its time to recount and count your riding days. So how many do ya got?

Squaw Valley is hosting The Good Life Festival: A Benefit for Maddison Page at 4pm on May 10th at the Olympic Village Lodge.  Maddison Page is 21 year old Squaw local who has cancer and 3 months to live.  The Festival will have music, entertainment and a raffle to raise money so that Maddison can live out her dreams in her last few months.

Maddison was chosen as a recipient of the Douglas F. Smith Memorial Grant. If you are interested in donating via paypal (it's charitable and tax-free) you can visit the CharitySmith website and learn more about the Douglas F. Smith Memorial Grant.

There is also a Maddison Page blog that keeps up with what's going with Maddison and the fund raising. I got teary reading it.

Windells just sent me an update on their camps this summer including a list of pro shreds attending.

For today's poll I want to know what you think about goggle tans. Are they hot? Are they dangerous or are they just plain stupid looking? You decide!

Back in August I did a blog post on a pair of Balenciaga shoes that were obviously inspired by snowboard bindings. Well if you were dying for them but didn't want to spend $3600, now you can buy the Steve Madden knock offs for $100. They aren't quite so binding-y though.

Balenciaga	Steve Madden

Check out this trailer for Fine Line by Rocky Mountain Sherpas. It's a 16mm avalanche education film that is coming out this fall.

http://rockymountainsherpas.com/ftp/FineLine_Teaser1.mov

As the trailer says it's "for young people by young people" and the cinematography in trailer looks amazing. Much of the footage wouldn't be out of place in a standard snowboard film.

The story about a 25 year old Japanese snowboarder who was found dead at Whistler is completely heartbreaking.  It took them 3 days to start a search for her because no one realized she was missing.  Perhaps if the search was started earlier this would have had a happier ending. So please - especially if you are riding alone, tell someone where you're going and when you expect to be back.  Everyone should do that, even if you are riding in a group.  And be prepared in case you ever do get stuck on the mountain. Reading our story on snow survival skills is good first step.

Stay safe out there!

Check out this video from the Snow Angel Invitation last weekend at Aspen Snowmass. For a full report on the event be sure to read our news item on the event.

Billabong has just sent us an update on  the final event in their Flaunt It series - an all girl snowboard contest. Here's their recap:

 

The day was rounded out with a fashion party in the evening. All the girls and their friends were invited to a private suite, where hair stylists and make up artists pampered the girls, and pizza and drinks were enjoyed by everyone while checking out the Billabong Summer ’08 fashion line. ‘This whole day was a culmination of a great event tour for us. To see the girls this stoked on the riding, the fashion and party is why we created something like this to begin with’ said Catherine Desrochers, JRS Marketing Coordinator for Billabong Canada

It's springtime and the season seems to be winding down...at least for some of us! In other parts of the country/world there is enough snowbase that it seems like they can stay open indefinitely. Last week I was in California and Northstar, Heavenly and Mammoth certainly don't seem to be anywhere near closing. However here on the east coast warm temps and rain have signaled the beginning of the end. I expect most New England resorts to be closing in the next couple of weeks.

So how about you?

A chondola, apparently. They are planning to build one at Sunday River this summer. It will be a 6 person chair lift that will have 4 person gondola cars at regular intervals.

They've got a video in case you're curious about how a chondola works.

http://www.sundayriver.com/TheMountain/chondola.html

United, US Airways and Delta are implementing policies that will require travelers to pay an extra fee to check more than one bag. Can you fit a week's worth of shred gear in a 50lb bag? If the Euros can do it I guess we can too. I'm crossing my fingers that my airline of choice, Continental, doesn't follow suit. Packing light is not my strong suit.

Transworld Business has the full scoop on these changes.

Okemo has a press release on their website stating that they had a security breach in in February and that hackers might have accessed credit card info back to March 2006. So if you've been to Okemo since March 2006 you might want to keep an eye on your credit card statements.

There was a major fire at the factory of Keil-Nindl in Salzburg, Austria. From what I understand from the German article, this is one of the factories that produces Burton's snowboards so it's sure to effect inventory next season.

Here is the article in german: http://salzburg.orf.at/stories/265156/

Click here to read it translated by google.

Salomon Sick Stick

In our first Friday poll back in January I asked you all to vote on what you wanted me to learn about at SIA. Well I know it's been over a month, but I've finally got the scoop for you on Salomon's bamboo technology.

Salomon started a new program called the G.I.F.T. Project: Green Initiative For Tomorrow. Salomon says the purpose of this project is "to minimize our impact on the environment and maximize our impact on your riding." They've spent three years looking out how they could improve riding performance while decreasing the ecological impact of manufacturing.

Salomon The Answer

Most snowboards are constructed using layers of resin and fiberglass, but Salomon is, instead, using bamboo veneers to sandwich the core. Using less resin and fiberglass is lighter, less wasteful and better for the environment. In addition they've replaced the ABS sidewalls with bamboo rods that are durable and waterproof.

Bamboo has become a very hip material to use in the snowboard industry these days, but Salomon chose bamboo because it best met the goals of the G.I.F.T. program. Salomon's Communications Manager, Rian Rhoe, told me that Salomon would have "made boards out of recycled sports bras if they performed well and lowered our eco footprint!"

By using bamboo Salomon has been able to reduced their use of petroleum based materials by 20%, reduced use of non-renewable materials by 25%, and decrease board weight by 10%. The bamboo is a locally sourced materials, so Salomon also reduces the carbon footprint of these boards by not having to ship materials into the factories. Bamboo is also one of most environmentally friendly materials available since it is fast growing and absorbs CO2 while growing.

Salomon has 2 boards coming out for Winter 2009 that take advantage of bamboo technology. The first is the Sick Stick - a powder board with a double pointy nose that won the Volvo SportsDesign Award for Eco Design in the boardsports category at ISPO. Anne Boulanger has been using this board for her backcountry assaults, so I'd expect you'll see it in her video parts next season. The second board is The Answer- a directional twin all mountain board.

I got a chance to demo the Sick Stick 156 on a powder day at Snowbasin. This board was perfect for those conditions. It's floaty and fast in the powder but bamboo makes it really fun and poppy too. Salomon just needs to make on a few centimeters shorter so I can ride it in the trees. Pretty please?

There are two articles in the New York Times about all the snow New England has received this year.  In fact, it seems like it's been a pretty stellar year for snow all over the US.

Anyway, not all the snow is good as many roofs can't handle the weight.

NY Times: New England's Snow Become Too Much for Roofs

Of course the better news for us is that this is one of the 10 snowiest winters in Vermont in the past 130 years. The New York Times also reports on this (near?) recordbreaking season.

NY Times: The Year It Snowed in Vermont, and Snowed, and ....

Of course all this leads me to wonder why none of this happened during the years that I had a season pass at Killington. I'm going to Okemo this weekend, and do you know what's in the forecast?  RAIN!!! Boo!

I've missed the past couple of Friday polls but today we're back!

If you've always thought that you could do a better job with board graphics than the board companies, here's your chance. Salomon has extended their Artwork Contest until March 8th. Check out http://www.artworkcontest.com/ for the details.

In a recent study scientists have discovered that some snowflakes contain bacteria. Don't worry too much about those faceshots though...it seems this bacteria only affects plants.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/02/28/snow.bugs.ap/index.html

The Seattle Times has an article on the Mount Baker road gap jump that Shaun Palmer made famous by hitting it shirtless in Totally Board. Its still a test of boarder's (or skier's) mettle...even at place with gnarly terrrain like Baker.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/outdoors/2004246214_nwwroadgap280.html

I have friends who would totally hit that...but I'm about as likely to hit that as I am Chad's Gap.

If you don't quite have the freestyle skills to win the Roxy Chicken Jam you can still take home some cash. Roxy has announced that they will be giving out $5000 in prize money during their mascot contest.  You can score $1000 for having the best mascot costume which will be judged on originality and overall appeal. The other $4000 will be awarded to the winner of the Mascot Superpipe Competition sponsored by Monster Energy Drinks.

Yes, that means you have to wear a mascot costume and go ride a superpipe, right after the women's finals are over.  The official Roxy Superpipe judges will be judging this competition too, but don't worry..they'll be taking into consideration the impaired vision caused by bulky costumes.

This should be interesting.

If you are interesting in competing, you must have a costume and can register from 8am to 10am on Saturday March 29 at Mammoth Mountain. We definitely want to see photos!

Roxy has also just announced there will be a free concert by the Silversun Pickups and British band Alberta Cross in Mammoth Village on Saturday as well.

Getting on to and off of chair lifts can be the bane of many snowboarders. But don't feel bad.

Even snowboarding legend Terje Haakonsen has lift troubles

Once again Burton has joined up with Playboy to use some graphics on their snowboards. But instead of the logo, this time they are using some archive photos from the magazine on the 2009 Burton Love.

Echo Mountain has opened up a new section called The Asylum. It's an all natural, resort maintained park in the woods and the first and only one in Colorado. The Asylum has tree and log features among the trees.

This seems pretty nifty - kind of like the Stash. If I'm ever in Colorado I want to check it out.

Get more info at: http://www.echomt.com

If you've been waiting to pick up some gear, now might be the right time as lots of big sales are getting underway. You can pick up this season stuff for 20, 30 or even 40% off. I consider any hardgoods at 40% off or softgoods at 50% off to be amazing deals.

So here's what I've found so far:
Colorado Boarder - 35% off site wide
Sierra Snowboard - 20-50% off
Porters Tahoe- 30-30% off


I'll update this list as I find more. If you've got any leads, leave me a comment.

We've had lots of talk on the forum lately about helmets. So it's got me wondering just how many of you wear helmets these days.

I've heard rumors of a Burton/Carhartt collaboration before but this is the first time I've seen photos. I am a skeptical as I don't think either Burton or Carhartt would change their logos this way. It tends to be fundamental principle of branding that you don't mess with your logo.  Burton also tends to put their care tags on the lower side seams of their jackets not on the back of the collars.  So I am definitely taking this rumor with a grain of salt.


Get the scoop on Jeff Staple's blog

I bet you think I've forgotten to show you all the photos I took of the 08/09 gear at SIA. Well I haven't! I just didn't post it here - it's in our feature articles section.

http://www.powderroom.net/features/2720/sia-2008-sneak-peek

enjoy!

the hot tub in the Hugh Hefner Suite

Last week I was invited to attend an exclusive party to introduce DC Snowboards to the media during SIA. I hopped in a cab and arrived at the Palms. Then I headed up to the Hugh Hefner Suite. You might have seen it on Girls Next Door. Anyway I got my self a drink and started exploring.

The Hugh Hefner Suite is pretty ridiculous. It's got an indoor waterfall and water feature. There are flat panel tvs everywhere. There's even a round rotating bed. The craziest part was the hugh hot tub on the balcony which extends over the edge of the casino, so that it's suspended over nothing. Not exactly the best place for someone who's afraid of heights, I'd guess.

Kimmy Fasani shows off her BFF

DC put it's stamp on the room with DC diecuts on the balcony, DC Mountain Lab 1.5 playing on the tvs, shoes floating in the water feature, mannequins modeling outerwear, and...oh yeah..the snowboards.

Ken Block got up and talked about starting up the snowboard program. All of the DC Snowboard team was on hand.

Kimmy Fasani showed me the women's board she's riding. It's called the BFF and she said it's super fun and poppy. I'm looking forward to trying one out. All of the other boards looked pretty cool as well and the riders seemed stoked on them.

Everyone got to check out the boards and chat with the riders. They had a buffet out so I grabbed some food then headed back to my hotel for a much needed nap.

Marie France Roy accepts another award with the help of the Rome crew

The Transworld Riders' Poll Awards went down at the Join in the Hard Rock at SIA this year. Yours truly was lucky enough to snag an invite so that I could bring you all the dirt.

The venue was pretty cool with giant projection screens showing all the action. Free drinks and food got everyone in the mood during the cocktail hour. It took awhile to get all the presenters backstage but eventually it got rolling.

The first award was Rookie of the Year. Hana Beaman was one of presenters and having never seen her before I have to say she is an Amazon among the women. She also looked fabulous in her high waisted pants and satin top. The winners were Spencer O'Brien and Austin Smith.

The Rider of the Year awards went to Wolle Nyvelt and Marie France Roy. In her acceptance speech MFR, gave a shout out to the Rome crew prompting them to storm the stage in their Hells Angel gear. Marie France went on to win the Women's Video Part of the Year and Readers Choice Award and so the Rome crew got to storm the stage twice more. I've heard from many people that MFR not only had the best girl's part of the year, but the best part of any rider in Rome's video Any Means. At the end they tried to carry her off the stage on their shoulders, but maybe someone got wise that they shouldn't risk dropping their hottest asset.

Austin Smith and AustinScarlett - long lost brothers??

As for the guys Austin Smith also picked up the Men's Video Part of the Year and Kevin Pearce took home the Readers' Choice for Men.

Standout Performance of the Year went to Terje Haakonsen for breaking the world record for amplitude.

On a side note does anyone else think that Austin Smith looks a lot like Project Runway Season 1 Finalist Austin Scarlett?

After the awards Kid Millionaire Steve Aoki got the party started. Plus all the nominees took home customized New Era hats.

It was pretty rad to see all the pros at the show this year. Normally SIA overlaps with X-Games qualifiers but this year X-Games was done before the show.

I am back from Vegas!! It was insane. I have so much crazy things to tell you about and tons of photos.

Transworld Riders Awards Pics! S-Rocker for Girls! Party at the Playboy Suite! Banana-traction for ladies! Hot Outerwear! Colloborations! ETC! ETC!

However, I need some recovery time so you're going to have to wait. Sorry!

You can catch a live feed of Winter X-Games, including qualifiers, for free on EXPN. The women's superpipe finals are tonight!

http://expn.go.com/expn/winterx/2008/live/index

The New York Times has an article about lost ski areas.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/travel/escapes/25ski.html

There are hundreds of closed resorts in the Northeastern United States, and many are the local's secret spots powder stashes. It's fun to point Google Maps at these places and try to spot the trails.

In last week's poll 75% of you said that your primary board is a women's specific snowboard. Next week I will be heading off to SIA, the snow sports trade show, to see all of next year's gear. Rumors of new gear are already slipping out, so I want to know what you want to hear more about. Then I will get the dirt and report back next week.




Are all of these rumors 100% accurate? No! That's why they're rumors - so no guarantees.

Shaun White has just inked a deal to release a limited edition collection of streetwear for young men and boys at Target in July. The line will be called Shaun White for Target. Shaun's been a member of Target's action sports team for nearly 6 years, so this is not that big of a shock. With X-Games wins in skate and snowboarding and an Olympic gold medal, he's one of the biggest stars of action sports.

Josh Landan and Tara Dakides talk about the film after the screening

Sunday night Against the Grain, a documentary about Tara Dakides' life, had it's world premiere at the X-Dance film festival in Salt Lake City. Josh Landan, an award winning filmmaker, takes us back to Tara's early years as an accomplished gymnast, through her troubled adolescence, and into her years of snowboarding dominance.

Todd Richards, Pat Bridges, Chanelle Sladics, and Sal Masakela are just a few of the people interviewed during the film. The film is narrated by Pink.

Against the Grain revealed some of Tara's history that will shock most people, especially ones that think they already know about her life. We don't want to give it away but Tara's overcome much more than just a broken home to get wehere she is.

Tara says in the film, "Punk rock and skateboarding was my release and outlet."

In the question and answer session after the film, Tara admitted that she has never told anyone much of what's in the film. I spoke to Tara after the show and she told me how nervous she was about people seeing the film.

Against the Grain will be coming out next fall, but is playing in several more film festivals before it's official release.

The benefits (or not) of riding a women's specific snowboard has been a hot topic on our forums lately. So I've been wondering - what kind of you board do you ride? I'm sure some people have a mixed quiver but what is your main board?

Volcom has expanded their empire with the aquisition of Electric Visual - makes of Electric goggles and sunglasses.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080116/volcom_inc_acquisition.html

Do you think gravity is the enemy when doing tricks? Well then stay out of the air!

Check out this video of 29 flatland tricks and learn to step it up on the snow.

I just need to slow it down so I can see exactly what they're doing!

The New York Times has an article in their business section called "On a Board, Shredding and Stomping, But Mostly Falling". It's about a 58 year old man learning to snowboard at Whiteface. I applaud him for learning, but most of the snowboard lingo and actions he's describing I've never heard of.

An example:
“Shredding it” meant riding your board on its edges. “Dropping in” meant pointing the nose of your board downhill. When you failed to execute a forward-leaning toe turn, you were supposed to “Superman” — dive forward with your arms extended to break your fall. When you failed to execute a backward-leaning heel turn, you were supposed to “staple yourself to the hill” — fall backward onto (what else?) your butt.

The only term that is remotely correct is Superman, even though it's actually more of a result than a preventative action. I've never heard anyone say staple yourself to the hill, and dropping in and shredding it are totally incorrect.

But I do have to give him props for "stomping a box" on his third day. ;)

As a resident of New Jersey I've got a lot of experience riding New York mountains. The one in the Catskills can be extremely busy, even on non-holidays. So it's nice to hear about some of the less popular options, including Whiteface which hosted ski racing during the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/travel/escapes/11ski.html

Although, I guess they won't be so overlooked now.

Some board thieves were caught at Breckenridge when someone spotted their snowboard amid a pile of gear in the back of a truck. They surrounded the truck until the cops came. The thieves used ladders to steal boards and skis from condo balconies.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_7932778

I, like many of you I'm sure, have left boards and gear on a upper floor balcony figuring it was safe. Well apparently not! Guess I won't be doing that anymore.

Burton Kidrobot Custom Plus

Burton and Kidrobot are teaming up to release some very limited edition gear. The collection includes a snowboard, 2 jackets and 2 pants for men, and 2 jackets and 1 pants for women. 

The outerwear comes in 2 prints.  One print, called "Toypile", consists of a collage of well-known Kidrobot characters including the Dunny, Smorkin' Labbit and Icebot. The other print  is "Robot Head jacquard" and has repeating Kidrobot head graphic and comes in purple for men and cyan for women.  The snowboard is a Burton Custom Plus with Toypile on the base and Robot Head Jacquard on the topsheet.

This limited line is available only in Burton Flagship stores, the Kidrobot Flagship in NYC and kidrobot.com.

In the past week, much of the western part of the US has gotten pounded with snow. Some parts of Tahoe were expecting 10 feet! Even the northeast has had some large snowfalls. All this leads me to wonder - how much snow is too much snow? I think what instantly pops into most people's heads is "There's no such thing as too much powder!", but I'm not so sure.

The huge storm in Tahoe led to major travel problems. Interstate 80 was shut down for much of the weekend, and accidents on the mountain roads led to major backups. One of my friends reported that the trip from the mountain to her cabin than normally takes 30 minutes, took over 3 hours after someone ahead of her spun off the road.

There's also the hassel of digging out your vehicles, shoveling driveways, etc. Another friend told me about a trip they took to Utah a few years back when it dumped the whole time. And so they spent hours every morning digging out their cars and helping others dig out too. By the time they were ready to go, they were exhausted.

Ok, so maybe the solution to both of these issues to just stay in a slopeside condo. But that's often way too expensive. Even then, sometimes lifts can get shut down when there's too much snow.

Logistics aside, what about riding? Riding in waist deep powder is certainly a superlative experience, but what about getting stuck in it? How many times have you taken a wrong turn and ended up having to hike out of a gully or some such thing? While it doesn't happen to me that often, I can definitely remember a few times and by the time I got out of it I was beat. 

There's also the avalanche risk to consider. There seems to be an unusual amount of avalanches happening this season.  Some of them were inbounds, too, which is scary.

I think I've come to the conclusion that, for me at least, two to three feet of powder is optimal. It's enough that you can slash all you want without hitting hardpack, but not so much that it makes getting to the mountain safely a hassle. Getting out of or hiking through knee deep snow isn't exactly easy, but it's also not nearly as backbreaking as very deep snow.

I'm just a girl from New Jersey, so knee deep snow is pretty epic for me anyway.

So what do you think? What's the perfect amount of powder for you?

I don't know about you, but when the winter months come around my hands dry up.  Snowboarding is especially hard on them, and nothing drives me crazier than hang nails. I end up pulling them off and getting bloody fingers in process and I'm not even a nail biter!

So in my drugstore shopping addiction I came across Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream. I already love their lip balms, so I figured I'd give it a try.

This stuff is awesome. It comes in a small tin so you can keep it in your handbag and put some on at least once a day. I haven't had a bloody finger since! It's supposed to make your nails stronger too (another winter problem) and it's smells lovely. Plus it's made from natural stuff and only costs $6.

PS If you do have hangnails, a nail clipper works great to snip them off.

A 28 year old snowboarder died at Mt Hood Meadows yesterday. It's reported that he suffocated after falling headfirst into a snow well around a lift tower.

http://www.komotv.com/news/local/12871547.html

That's scary. Be safe out there!

Taos Ski Resort announced today that starting on March 19, 2008 they will allow snowboarders. If you check out the announcement on their new website ridetaos.com you'll see mixed reaction. However it for the large point positive.  THey cite expansion and the need to create a family resort as their reasons for allowing snowboarders. I don't know why they are waiting 3 months to start thoguh.

So the real question is this the result of pressure from Burton's Poacher Contest? I have to say no, it's just convenient timing. I did a little e-sleuthing and found that the ridetaos.org domain had been registered on August 22, 2007. So that means this has been in the works for months. As for the timing, I could see Taos wanting to secure their season passholders before making any annoucements.

Also, thinking that this might be a prank I did check Taos' official website, skitaos.org, and the same announcement is on the front page so this is legit.

So now its 1 down, 3 to go. Who will be the next to fall?

The eesa RV is up for sale on ebay. Right now it's going for $511.

It's gone cross country twice and I can only imagine the crazy things that have gone on within those hallowed aluminum walls.

photo: krislovett.com

Kris Lovett decided to recycle skate decks into women's shoes for her (his?) senior project at University of Arts.  The results are kinda awesome.

http://www.krislovett.com/reply.html
 

Did you know there are still 4 resorts in the US that don't allow snowboarders? They are:

Mad River Glen - Vermont
Taos - New Mexico
Alta - Utah
Deer Valley - Utah

Well Burton wants to end this discrimination and is offering up a $5000 cash prize for the best video showing snowboarders poaching each of those resorts in their Poach for Freedom contest. There are a bunch of rules and they are definitely encouraging creativity. Be sure to check out the 10 Commandments.

Last season Burton crews poached each of these places and made their own videos. You will definitely want to watch these on the website.  The reactions of the skiers are priceless.

http://www.burton.com/poachers/

A new reality series is debuting on Canadian cable