Sara Smith asked:


The Thrill of Snowboarding

Snowboarding, the art of gliding across snowy slopes on a single elongated board, has become highly popular among lovers of winter sports. Even those who don’t like the cold, but love the thrill of physical activity, have found joy in snowboarding. No matter where in the world you live, there is a dreamy snowboarding location nearby. Before you plan your next vacation, you may want to consider the condition of the slopes.

Snowboarding Resorts

The nation is peppered with resorts that offer snowboarding lessons, to suit any vacation plan. You’ll find snowboarding resorts in states across the US, if you know where to look. In Canada, Lake Louise and Whistler are two highly popular spots for snowboarding and snowboarding lessons. California’s Squaw Valley is a great, dreamy snowboarding vacation resort for those wishing to learn the craft of snowboarding. Sun Valley in Idaho, and Moonlight Basin in Montana are popular Rocky Mountain snowboarding vacation destinations.

In Nevada, Heavenly is the best resort for snowboarding, and Jackson Hole is where you want to go if Wyoming is the state of your choice. If the resort you choose features snowboarding, there will be a bevy of other winter sports to enjoy as well. Amid lush mountain scenery and crisp white snow, you may discover that snowboarding is the answer to your dream vacation.

Utah is filled with great resorts; where you can do all the snowboarding you please and even receive lessons. Deer Valley, The Canyons, Snowbird, and Park City are all well-known and beautiful resorts that you might want to check out if you’re visiting Utah. For snowboarding, you can hardly do better than the beautiful peaks of Utah.

Unless, of course, you go to Colorado. The US capital of winter resorts, Colorado is known for their famous resorts…and their beautiful snow. No matter what winter activity you wish to engage in, this is one of the best places to go. Aspen is probably the most well-known of Colorado snowboarding and skiing hotspots. Other Colorado vacation locales include Snowmass, Copper Mountain, Crested Butte, Keystone, Breckenridge, Telluride, Steamboat Springs, Vail, Winter Park, and Beaver Creek.

A Dreamy Snowboarding Vacation

To have the perfect snowboarding vacation, location is important. But the willingness to try something new is also a must when it comes to snowboarding. Snowboarding is a sport that can be very thrilling and exciting, but also dangerous – so be sure to have all the right gear and take all the proper precautions. Inexperienced snowboarders should receive instruction from experts for safety’s sake. With proper instruction, snowboarding can be one of the greatest life experiences. A snowboarding vacation is not just a trip to a snowy land, but a true adventure.

Consider where you will go, and be sure to take all the equipment and gear you need for your dreamy snowboarding vacation. Proper planning is a must, so try to leave snowboarding lessons pre-arranged if they are needed. Once you get to your snowboarding vacation destination, you don’t want to waste any time. You want to get out there and hit the slopes right away, and get boarding out in the snow. So get everything ready beforehand, to get your dreamy snowboarding vacation off and running right away.

If you’re planning a snowboarding vacation, then you’re in for a lot of fun and excitement. Remember to stay safe, your dreamy snowboarding vacation will be a dream come true.

Lou G asked:


Nowadays it’s really hard to lump snowboarders into a group of “athletes” that spend their days training hard and staying in shape for competition.  There are probably hundreds of different kinds of snowboarders from the kids who can’t ride with out being intoxicated to the kids who go snowboarding and then straight to the gym to hit the heavy iron.  This article is for those of you who want to stay in some sort of shape for snowboarding this summer, and I’m happy to report that it really IS a thirty minute workout at most!



Lose the Iron

You can absolutely forget about lifting any weights.  I know a guy who was a bodybuilder and once he was hired to a local landscaping crew.  You figure that with all that strength he would have no problem digging and lifting all day.  By the end of his first day he couldn’t really do much work.  He could barely even pick up his shovel.  Why, with countless hours a day at the gym did this happen? Lifting weights might build muscle, but it is a completely useless kind of muscle… slow twitch. Slow twitch muscles are built due to continuous expansion and contraction of the muscle throughout the day… i.e. slow, controlled, repetitive motions.  Slow repetitive movements have no place in landscaping and absolutely no place in snowboarding.

You are a snowboarder… you aren’t looking to be moving nice and slow and controlled.  You want to build up the fast twitch muscles.  Fast twitch muscles contract quickly and explosively.  They are there when you make a quick switch from your snowboards heel edge to your toe edge.  They are helping out when you get to the lip and do that explosive pop into the sky!  They are especially there when you mess up and have to rely on quick reflexes to either fix your situation or brace for impact.

Snowboard Workout Routine

Absolutely no gym membership required folks! Besides, chances are you guys are at this snowboarding site because you snowboard, which also means you are probably broke like me and can’t afford a gym membership anyway.  So on to the workout.  It takes like I said less than thirty minutes and you can do it pretty much anywhere.  Do it every day cause it’s really not that hard.  You won’t need rest,

Pushups

I try and go for around about 100 a day.  You don’t have to do it all at once but shoot for finishing it up in three sets… so if you do three sets of 30 pushups a day then you should be in pretty good shape! 

Pushups serve two purposes in snowboarding.  One is to keep your upper body and wrists loose and limber.  The other is to brace you for impact.  I don’t know about you guys but when I fall snowboarding its usually towards my stomach and it’s nice to have a little bit of muscle built up to catch yourself.  Plus doing lots of pushups makes you look so Hott (with two ‘t’s).

Sit-ups/Crunches

It’s all in the core.  Again shoot for around 100 per day.  If you been snowboarding a lot before you found this guide, then doing three sets of 30 sit-ups will seem like ***** work.

One thing I want to say about sit-ups is that this is really about your spins and general movements.  Everything you do in snowboarding will be initiated from your core, so strengthening it up may produce a drastic difference in your riding.

If basic sit-ups are lame to you then put a twist in them at the end.  Now you are really working the muscles that are going to literally spin you in circles next season!



Standing 360s

Way better than squat jumps although those work too.  I would say 4 sets of 10 alternating frontside and backside.  You want to stand similar to your stance on your snowboard and concentrate on exploding high and fast.  The 360 should be done in the image of what you want them to look like on the snowboard slope.  In other words they should be really nice, floaty jumps with the full 360 degrees of rotation completed.

The benefits of this exercise should be pretty obvious.  It trains your quads for jumping nice and high and your core for quick, controlled rotations.  Not only that, it might help you out if you are having trouble getting yourself oriented during your spins (Where is the board? For that matter where is the landing?  Well hopefully after this exercise you’ll be able to figure it out better).

Think Snowboarding!

Snowboarding is so much more mental though than it is physical.  That is why these exercises are for the most part quick and painless.  Sure they will get you up to speed physically, but the mental aspects of the sport of snowboarding may still hold you back.

Since it is summer, now is the time to start putting last seasons’ hit videos on repeat in your DVD player.  Absorb every aspect of the tricks you see pro snowboarders do.  From how they prepare, to their drop, the set up, the pop, the rotation… it all matters.  Once you can practically replay these tricks in your head just replace that pro snowboarder with an image of you.  Really take the time to imagine how you would look making those same movements and trying that same trick.

If you see a nice, high ledge don’t be embarrassed to pretend you have a snowboard strapped to you and try a 270 or two.  Get on a trampoline and imagine you are staring at the transition to a jump, and then hit it!  The more you repeat and attempt these motions the more familiar they will become

The 08/09 season is just around the corner so get to work guys! See you on the slopes.

Roger Munns asked:


Increasing numbers of snowboarders are emerging as a large percentage of the snow tourism industry, but are they a welcome addition? Some U.S. resorts still ban snowboarding, while others are opening the door.

While some resorts do not ban snowboarding, either allowing snowboarding on all property or allotting certain areas for the activity, there are three resorts in the United States that still have complete bans on snowboarding. The issues at the heart of the conflict stem from several reasons, one of them a longstanding rivalry between skiers and snowboarders, a rivalry that can sometimes get a tad nasty.

The big news for snowboarders is that Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico has recently announced that they are lifting their ban on snowboarding. This comes as a result of increased pressure by the public, including a campaign by Burton Snowboards.

The company offered a prize of $5,000 to individuals or groups who film their illegal snowboarding, or poaching, at locations where it is not allowed. A representative of the company cautions against the manifesto of this publicity stunt being taken to the level of a civil rights matter, but there is a serious side to the issue. Snowboarders feel that they are discriminated against by the ban.

Taos defends their decision on their Facts and Answers page of their website. Complaints by individuals about the change centered around the impact on the snow levels, protesting that the snowboarders scrape snow off the trails, misbehave on lifts, and are an unwelcome presence in the community. Many others still welcome the change, saying it’s about time. Taos asserts that “Opening to snowboarding allows us to refocus on being a family oriented mountain.”

While Taos has changed their tune, three other resorts still ban the practice of snowboarding. Mad River Glen, Deer Valley in Utah, and Alta Ski Area stay focused on skiers. The central complaint revealed by these resorts is the conflict of interest among their clientele. Skiers claim the snowboarders ruin the mountain, and the experience of skiing.

Mad River Glen, located in Fayston, Vermont, still vehemently upholds their ban on snowboarding, posting a press release that declares, “Despite the fact that snowboarders account for 25% to 30% of all lift tickets sold in the United States, don’t expect Mad River Glen to lift its ban on snowboards any time soon.” Mad River Glen is privately owned by shareholders and operates as a not-for-profit entity. More than 75% of their shareholders voted to eliminate snowboarding after “legendary” events occurred at Mad River when the activity was allowed. For those who hope that Mad River Glen will eventually buckle to economic pressures, “Don’t hold your breath!”

Deer Valley’s Website, when searched using the site’s own engine, brings up links to a press release, and at the bottom of the page simply states, “No snowboards, please.” The press release reveals, however, that Deer Valley will be one of the sites to host events of the 2011 World Freestyle Ski Championships. These include a variety of alpine, freestyle and snowboarding events. It is unclear whether any of the snowboarding events will be hosted at the Deer Valley site.

Alta Ski Area, also in Utah, does not allow snowboarding. Some speculate that since the resort introduce a combined pass with Snowbird, a neighboring resort that is open to snowboarders, in 2001, Alta may eventually change their policy. At present the resort is standing firm, however, “preserving and protecting the skiing experience.”

Another reason to drop the ban is the number of younger individuals who prefer snowboarding. Younger families and older snow bunnies with snowboarding family members want to share the slopes, and this has a heavy economic impact on ski resorts. Those that turn away snowboarders also turn away entire families or groups. Time will tell what the result will be for these three remaining resorts. They may not totally rule out a change of perspective.