Burton Snowboards are one of the most well known and respected names in the snowboarding industry. Their long history of providing high quality boards for smooth rides down the trails continues today with two of their more popular boards: the Burton Bullet and the Burton Baron. Introducing the Burton Bullet The Burton Bullet is a wide [...]
Snowboard and Ski Gear

Thrillseekers – Speed

If you’ve been skiing already, chances are good that you’ve already found your reasons for enjoying it. Some of you are thrillseekers, enjoying the sensation of air passing by your face at incredible speeds and the sheer focus that adventure inspires. Others enjoy simply getting into the great outdoors, the feel of fresh air in their lungs at the top of a ski hill. The point is, many of us have different personalities, and the way we ski reflects that.

What kind of skiing personality do you have? Do you enjoy the sounds of nature, or are you more of a “tuned-in” type of person that has to be connected to your iPod at all times? Here are some reasons you might choose one or the other.

Wiring Up

Reasons to do it: If you’re addicted to your iPod, you might feel a little trepidacious about bring the wire with you on a skiing trip. But there’s nothing to feel guilty about – you’re not necessarily depriving yourself of any specific experience. In fact, if you’re wiring yourself up, there’s a good chance you like to make your own experiences, setting the soundtrack to your life. It can help the downtime pass by and can really heighten the overall skiing experience.

Reasons not to do it: Many people say “why wire up when you have plenty of sounds to thrill you?” To them, an iPod doesn’t enhance the experience, but dumbs it down into a sort of MTV-like existence in which you’re not fully outdoors because your ears are still hooked to the tube. Again, this might be a personality issue for many, or simply a difference in tastes.

Going “Naked”

Reasons to do it: No, not because the cold air feels good on your skin – not that kind of naked. Instead, going “naked” would mean simply abandoning the wire and enjoying the sights and sounds of skiing – and there are plenty of those to enjoy. Wiring up means you can’t hear the swoosh of your skis cutting through the snow beneath you, and some people really think those sounds should be savored.

Reasons not to do it: Sure, that’s fun for many, especially if they’re not big listeners of music. But if you’ve usually got a beat in your head, it’s simply not as fun to be outside by yourself or with friends without a little something extra to get your heart pumping.

Ask yourself what kind of person you are – but the truth is, you probably don’t need to take my advice. If you’re already a “wired up” kind of person, the chances are good that you’ve already put together your own ski hill play list.

Photo Credits: Uqbar is back

Originally posted 2009-05-12 05:17:00.

Ski Snowboarder

Any winter sports enthusiast is familiar with the cold, wet feeling of snow that’s crept in between the cracks of your clothes and seeped into your wrists, ankles, and neck. It’s not necessarily the memories you keep with you while on a sledding or skiing trip, but, then again, it doesn’t exactly help things during the fact, either.

Still other enthusiasts are even more familiar with the moisture that necessarily rubs off on boots, shoes, and ski boots: coming indoors from a nice lengthy winter activity is like unloading soaked armor. It’s impossible not to make a mess. The DryGuy line of drying products for your winter accessories is the antidote, and not only that, the preventive medicine, to the pain of soaked, freezing clothes.

DryGuy is essentially a portable drying machine that dries off boots and other accessories one pair a time. There are a number of DryGuy products, including a footwear dryer that is designed to pre-heat gloves, shoes, and boots to give you comfortable entry into the cold world outdoors. If you’ve ever lacked the motivation to go outside during a freezing cold day to shovel snow, you don’t have to be a winter sports enthusiast to appreciate the benefits of DryGuy products.

You might wonder why you’d by a DryGuy when you have a drying machine already, and that’s a valid question. Much of the problem with DryGuy products is that most of the work they do is already done by your drying machine. The only thing that’s overlooked by the drying machine – simply because of logistics – is the ability to dry off shoes and boots, including ski boots. It simply can’t be done with a conventional dryer – make sure to take our word for it. You’ll want to use a DryGuy exclusively for your shoes and boots.

Some DryGuy products also come with an air blaster that dries out the insides of boots that can’t be opened inside out to be dried well in the drying machine. This clears out the moisture quickly so that you can even take a quick “drying” break during an all-day long ski session.

In addition to greater versatility over dryers, DryGuy usually offers portable devices that can be taken with you on vacations: if you’re accustomed to the Florida or California sun before heading out to the Rockies, for example, you might want to prepare for your trip with a DryGuy. You might not appreciate the logistics now, but when the insides of your boots are wet, you’ll remember what you should have done.

Of course, DryGuys are also quite limited because of their portability, meaning they can only service a few boots at a time. Keep this in mind as a necessary evil for the convenience of traveling with your own drying machine. If you’re a frequent visitor of the great (and snowy) outdoors, the DryGuy is a great “have” to have.

Originally posted 2008-11-18 04:55:04.

Ski Snowboarder

The message forum at epicski.com is the cyber-home of some of the most dedicated skiers, ski instructors and ski boot fitters. Given the forum’s reputation as a primary source of ski-related information, some of the boot fitters have put together an informative glossary of some of the most common terms in ski boot terminology. Next time you buy ski boots, you might want to print this page and bring it along.

The Bootboard refers to the platform located inside the boot shell. Your boot liner rests on this platform. If you want to sound sexy, use the Italian term, zeppa.

The Campbell Balancer is used to determine a skier’s best fore/aft alignment.

A Durometer is used to measure the hardness of the ski boot’s outer shell.

Cant refers to the angle of the boot when observed by standing in front of the skier.

Last refers to the internal shape of your ski boot.

Lifters are pieces of plastic that are inserted at the heel to add height.

The Shell of the ski boot refers to exterior plastic component.

A Tekscan is used to determine the pressure exerted under the boot. This helps the boot fitter determine the skier’s appropriate cant alignment.

For more Skiing tips, visit http://Skiing.lifetips.com

LifeTips Skiing Tip of the Day

When you rent snowboarding gear, you don’t have to think about keeping it in good condition. You simply take it off and hand it back over the counter. Once you purchase your own gear, everything changes. If you don’t properly perform snowboard maintenance, it won’t last very long and your performance will be affected negatively.  [...]
Snowboard and Ski Gear

Helping people enjoy the sport I love

When your coaching helps someone enjoy skiing more, conquer their fears or achieve things on the snow they didn’t think they could do it is a pretty good thing. 

Access to some of the best ski teachers in the country
You can learn from great skiers at your mountain, in your region and even the PSIA national team.

Great teachers for your friends and family  
My boyfriend doesn’t ski ( I love him anyway). I found him a great skier, with a good eye for movement analysis who knows how to coach him. My boyfriend said that he learned more in 30 minutes with his coach than a whole day of following me around, I’m going to let that go.

Developing skills I need to rip
When I started as a ski instructor I was a upper body rotating, foot picking up, z-turner and now I love to play in the trees, steeps, bumps, powder, crud and more. 

“Networking”
The Divas love to network in the bar apre ski or on the chairlift. We will be out in force at ProJam in December. 

Amazing friends
At my first recruiting event our director said that some of his best friends are people he met through skiing. Some of my best friends (note: not skiing friends, best friends) are people I’ve met through ski teaching. I’m very lucky to have them.

Time with Mom
This only applies if you have a mom who is a ski instructor and a lot of fun.

Great deals on ski gear
Need I say more 

Great deals on skiing
Seriously, what else is there to say 

Great deals on training 
At our mountain there is free training almost every day by some great teachers and skiers including the ones that post here. You can also go to reasonably priced regional and national events if you are looking for more.

Diva Ski Tips

In all my training clinics I hear at in our teaching system the movements in beginning and advance sking are more of less the same.  So what separates wedge, wedge chrisite, basic parallel and dynamic parallel skiers?  How can the same movements create vastly different outcomes?

Picture a hot skier. “The edges are released and re-engaged in one smooth movement,” according to the Visual Cues to Effective Skiing cards. There’s no bracing, dead spot, quirky stuff or corrective movements.

Now picture a wedge turner. Do they change edges? No. Why not? You can’t change edges without flattening or releasing the edge.

Once the ski is flat you can steer it to a match. The earlier you flatten the ski earlier you match until the skis become flat at the transition between turns. Then you’re skiing parallel all the time. The timing makes all the different between a wedge christe and parallel turn.

Duration – Length of time you do something
Intensity – Power or force of the movements
Rate – Speed of the movement itself
Timing – When you make the movement

As a side note, this is how the Diva taught me to do wedge chrisite demos. I just wait a little bit to move across my skis to flatten them and a little wedge opens up naturally.

Add some intensity and that parallel turn just became a dynamic parallel turn.

So here comes the hard part, what activities do you do to help your wedge or wedge christy skiers release/flatten their skis?

Diva Ski Tips

In the 1800s, women used to ski in their dresses. Fast forward to the 1940s till the 1980s, one-piece ski suits with stretch pant legs were the norm. According to ski film maker Warren Miller, a revival of the stretch pants craze would be a surefire way to revive skiing. Unfortunately, while stretch pants might revive the sport for middle-aged men in the midst of a midlife crisis, these foxy but dysfunctional garments will do precious little to improve a female skier’s comfort on the slopes.

A somewhat snarky writer from Skiing Magazine describes this by saying that anyone who wears stretch pants fails to understand the concept of a shower curtain. Simply put. If your ski pants are tucked inside your boots, how in heaven’s name are they going to keep snow and water outside of your boots? However, if you still like the sexy fit of a nice pair of stretch ski pants, you might be in luck. Some manufacturers have designed a new type of stretch pant that fits over the boot, thereby providing the female skier with both style and comfort.

Aside from style, fit is another factor that should be considered when choosing women’s ski wear. Any woman who has ever been an employee at a ski resort will advise you against wearing men’s ski pants. These pants almost never fit the female form. Also, while snowboarders might enjoy pants that fall down below the hip, these are hardly functional. The question then becomes, what constitutes a functional pair of ski pants. Basically, your ski pants should be waterproof and contain an inner liner. Make sure that they have plenty of pockets. While one piece suits may provide comfort and warmth, consider your bathroom experience. Some of the restrooms at ski areas can be rather cold.

Ski jackets also involve striking a balance between style and functionality. Companies such as Columbia, Helly Hansen and Mountain Hardware tend to design jackets that are warm and functional, albeit androgynous. If you’re looking for a bit more style, consider jackets designed by Obermeyer and Head. However, some of these might not be suitable for extreme cold conditions. When reading a ski jacket description, you might find yourself baffled by the lingo. Here are some common terms and their meanings:

Breathability: These jackets have been treated with a process that allows body moisture to pass through the materials to the outside of the jacket.

Hydrophilic fabric: The material of these jackets is composed of molecular chains that attract vapor and pass it through to the outside of the garment.

Microporous fabric: These fabrics contain microscopic pores big enough to let perspiration vapor through.

DWR: These jackets have a Durable Water Repellent finish that is applied to the outer fabric of jackets, which allows water droplets to roll off the surface.

Ripstop fabric: These jackets can be identified by the faint criss-cross lines in the fabric. They prevent tears from spreading across the jacket panel.

For more Skiing tips, visit http://Skiing.lifetips.com

LifeTips Skiing Tip of the Day

What are the risks of skiing?

When actress Natasha Richardson recently died due to injuries resulting from a skiing accident, it brought more attention to the dangers of skiing. But if you’ve been watching the news for a while, you’re already aware: skiing took the life of Sonny Bono, for example. So if skiing is such a dangerous sport, why do so many people continue to engage in it? To answer that question, we’ll need to go to the heart of the matter.

First, understand that risks are part of life. If you never go skiing, there’s about a 100% chance you won’t die in a skiing accident. But the same logic could be applied to driving cars, flying in planes, or even taking showers in your bathroom – a room in the house where many people die each year. Risk is a part of life; human beings aren’t immortal and physical activity will put us in potentially risky situations.

According to the FAQ at the web site Ski-Injury.com, approximately 2-4 skiers out of 1,000 will require medical attention of some sort – though it does note that some types of skiing have more risks of injuries than others (consult their chart for more information on these types of skiing and the injury rates they see).

Second, understanding risks is not a license to be reckless. It’s important to note that it’s impossible to go through life without some risks, but it’s also important to talk about minimizing risk. Understanding that an activity is risky is not an excuse to be cavalier about that activity. Instead, you should be working harder to minimize risks when you take on riskier activities, as this will give you a better shot at staying healthy and, in some cases, alive.

As for the risks involved with skiing, they are varied. There are small injuries that are possible, not to mention more serious ones like concussions and knee problems, to the mortal injuries – injuries that cause death. One frequent theme amongst ski injuries are knee injuries, but that doesn’t mean that’s the only body part you’ll want to protect.

A good attitude to take is that life does require a healthy amount of risks sometimes, but if you’re not preparing yourself for those risks, you’re exposing yourself to unnecessary danger. If you’re prepared and take things slowly, you should have very few problems with skiing.

Photo Credits: bgraun

Originally posted 2009-12-08 03:27:00.

Ski Snowboarder

While skiers used to rule the slopes, more and more people are now sliding over the slopes on snowboards. In some areas, snowboarders seem to be taking over the slopes completely. Some skiers are now dabbling in snowboarding, but many boarders are new to the slopes. Before taking up snowboarding, they never really enjoyed the [...]
Snowboard and Ski Gear