The ART of snowboarding.

When talking about art no one really connects it to snowboarding, however there has been a recent wave of artist coming out 

to collaborate with snowboarders. Sure there are artist that are paid to design the graphics on the board, but a new art gallery can be found on the slopes of Mammoth Mountain. I'm talking about the JLA Art Park. This was a new feature added to the mountain last season in tribute to Jeff Lin. Anderson (JLA), a pro snowboarder from Mammoth Lakes, CA who died back in 2003 at the young age of 23. The unique thing about this set of rail and jumps is the art work on the sides of the rails, its creative and eye catching and encourages on looks, as well as riders, to come check out this new park. This creative idea to connect two different hobbies together was thought up by JLA himself. The first art rail was designed by Jeff and brought to life for the US open. Not only is he a passionate snowboarder but was an artist as well. When talking about snowboarding and being a snowboarder I never thought of myself as an artist or the sport having art involved. After this new terrain park came out I realized that snowboarding is art, and everyone has their own creative spark to add to the sport and this gallery on the mountain is the best way to represent JLA and his contribution to the world of snowboarding. I love that this was made possible even after he left us. I believe that this is truly what he would have envisioned when he designed his first rail.

I had Jeff's mother as my eight grade teacher and I remember how excited she was that his dream was coming true, she worked very hard on this project as well as the Volcom Brother Skate Park, a skate park in memory or her son. She made shirts and stickers and gave it to everyone in the class. At the opening of the skate park she even got some of the guys from Jack*** (the movie) to show up. This park is more than just another terrain park at another mountain; this park has passion and motivation behind it and inspires many riders to follow in Jeff's footsteps. Many snowboarders live by this inspirational quote "I'm not new to this, I'm true to this" by JLA. My Friend/ Pro-snowboarder Tyler Flanagan even go this quote tattooed on his arm, as see in the picture. 

 

Riding under the influence CDT

In my previous post I most focused on my experiences with riding while drinking, but what about the large stereotypes of snowboarders as stoners? A big reason why people link the two together is because of the 1998 winter Olympics where a young Canadian snowboard, Ross Rebagliati was tested positive for marijuana after winning the gold medal. The judges threaten to take is medal away but finally decided that it wouldn't be necessary after his claims of only testing positive because of his friends smoking around him. Other professional athletes have been know for smoking marijuana, one example being Michael Phelps, a gold medal Olympic swimmer who was caught smoking weed a couple for years back, Rebagliati incident has stuck around and made a stereotype of snowboards as stoners. In general snowboards are typically seen as more relaxed easy going people, at least from my perspective, so is that why people label them as stoners? I have grown up in a snowboarding world, so it is often hard for me to see what others may be able to see without my bias opinion.

The way I look at it, yes some snowboarders do smoke weed but there are also other who participate in the sport that do not. I believe that statement is true for almost any sport out there skateboarding, surfing, swimming, soccer, volleyball, and baseball. The list could go on for days, but why is it that sports like snowboarding, surfing, and skateboarding are typically more labeled as marijuana smokers than others. Is it the sport itself? Is it the people who participate in the sport? Swimmers are not generally labeled as marijuana smokers because of Michael Phelps’ incident of photos being leaked to the media of him smoking marijuana. In my personally opinion I do see these sports as more laid back, freestyle types of exercise. I can see how these laid back types of sport attract that type of people. So when saying is it the sport in general or the people involved in the sport that gives them that stoner stereotype its clear to me that they go hand in hand. I think it’s a mistake to label skateboards, surfers, and snowboarders as marijuana smokers; although some may smoke marijuana the sport as a whole is not full of stoners despite the mislabeling of perhaps older generations, or others who strongly disagree with the use of cannabis 

Riding under the influences

After reading a recent article off of snowsphere.com about the issues and concerns of riding after smoking marijuana or after having a couple of beers it made me think about some of my own experiences with this issues. One time in particular stands out to me. My friends and I decided to go riding together one day. Me and two girls started off together then later met up with one of our guy friends. For the second or third run we decided to take the gondola- an enclosed chairlift- from the bottom all the way to the top, however once at the top our guy friend wanted to go around again one more time and ride the gondola all the way back down and then back up again. He had been drink the entire gondola ride, vodka and red bull to be exact.

Unaware of how much he had actually drinking we decided to ride the gondola around one more time. Once off at the top he realized that he was definitely drunker than we thought. When we saw him struggling to put his skis on we knew we were in for some trouble. I knew I should have insisted that he take the gondola back to the bottom; however, he convinced us that he was okay to ski down to the bottom.

However he quickly proved us wrong, he crashed three times one time taking out a gate that was placed there for merging trails and for people to slow down. He was out of control and almost hit several people. Unfortunately for us at the time, he just got a new pair of skis and decided to see how fast he could go bombing down the hill. He raced down to the bottom of the run loosing us along the way. Unable to find him for hours we decided to go home; later finding out that he made it down the hill safely but tripped down a long flight of stairs in the ski lodge had got driven home by security.

 Unfortunately he was an employee for the mountain, and lost his job. After this experience he has made me double think the dangers of riding and drinking, before this incident I hadn't given the issue much thought. I always saw people drink on the mountain, but just classified it as them just have a beer or two to help loosen them up and relax on their vacations. After this experience I have been largely against drinking while riding, it’s hard enough to ski and snowboard as it is, but with a drug like alcohol that throws off your balance it’s even more dangerous. Staying in control of your board and yourself on the mountain is one of the main safety concerns that many ski areas focus on, which I talk about in my post Safety on the Hill. This post is nothing but a mere story of my experience with drinking, posted in hopes that others will learn and refrain from drinking while snowboarding. Taking this subject lightly would only provide others with the chance to drink while snowboarding. A GREAT MISTAKE! 

Essentials for your first time snowboarding!

When heading out on the snow for the first time there are a few things that you need to bring. First wear long socks, this will help keep your snowboard boots, or ski boots from rubbing and helping your boots fit more snug. Second thing would be to wear long underwear or sweats, or something comfortable to wear under your snow pants. This will give you more freedom in your movements and help keep you warm, a long shirt or sweatshirt is usually needed as well but it truly depends on the weather for that specific day. Once you have your layer underneath you can focus on the outer layer. Snow pants and a jacket are need almost every time you go up to snowboard, a good strong outer layer is usually ideal so no matter the weather you can stay warm. Water proof pants are essential especially when snowboarding for your first time, because people tend to fall a lot their first time. A good jacket is also very important; I usually look for jackets with lots of pockets because I tend to bring a lot of stuff with me up on the mountain., such as cell phone, ipod, a snack, and my pass. In addition I look for jackets that are a little longer so if I go riding on a powder day I stand a better chance of keeping the snow from out of my pants if I fall, which happens more with shorter jackets. Most jackets these days have a powder guard on them that helps with this as well. A powder guard it a piece of fabric that is on the inside of the jacket at the bottom that goes around the top of your pants you usually button it up on the days that you feel you will need it to keep the snow out, or just let it hang on the inside of your jacket on the days you don't.

Teaching my friends from sf how to snowboard!

Next comes the gloves, most common types of gloves are regular water proof gloves that separate each finger, however I really like mittens because they keep your fingers together, thus keeping them warmer. Moving up the body we come to the head, two main things would be goggles and a hat or helmet. For other colder days you may need a scarf of a turtle neck to help block the wind if the weather is especially brutal that day. Last but not least comes the snowboarding boots and snowboard. Snowboard boot can be kind of tricky sometimes when finding the right pair, I suggest renting a pair for your first time so the employees at the rental shop can help you pick on the right side and make sure they fit you correctly and don't irritate your ankles and cause too much rubbing. Once you have the boots on its time to go for the snowboard, once again I suggest renting it for your first time so you can get help setting it up to your specific needs. If renting it for your first time, they will help you figure out if you are regular (left foot forward) or goofy (right foot forward).

TIPS: It’s hard going out snowboarding for the first time, I suggest getting a first time beginners lesson, and although they may be a little expensive they are worth every penny. The instructors are great with first timers and help people learn the proper techniques. This is important because proper form in snowboarding is an easy way to avoid getting hurt. Such example of bending your knees, turning while keeping your back straight, little tips like these from the instructors will help develop your skills quicker. Another main idea to keep in mind after your first day of snowboarding is that everyone falls numerous times their first day, I know I did. I even quit snowboarding for awhile because I got so discouraged with falling all the time. After getting past that and working on my balance I have falling in LOVE with this sport and encourage others to take the plunge and go out and ride!

You gotta risk it to get the biscuit!

http://unofficialnetworks.com/msnbcs-rock-center-brian-williams-speaks-dr-robb-gaffney-sherry-mcconkey-risk-fatalities-sport-skiing-78051/

When talking about profession athletes, it’s like talking about superman. I always tend to look at them as if they are invincible and can do anything. Most the time that is because they are willing to anything, profession athlete break barriers and set the way for others to follow. Without these dare devils most sports would be considered safe; however, that is not the case. People are always pushing themselves to the limits and seeing how far they can take it, going to the extreme. The risk factor involved with extreme skiing and snowboarding is like a drug to most out there, they can’t seem to get enough of it, and once they have concurred one extreme it’s on to the next extreme out there. In this video several people question whether is the sponsors that are pushing these extreme athletes to their limits; however, the wife of Shane McConkey talks about her husband’s experience with extreme skiing and explains otherwise. In the video she elaborates on the dangers of her husband’s career and how they often talked about these risks involved, yet he still dared to continue on with this dangerous lifestyle that in the end took his life. Although people are blaming the sponsors she states that it was often her husband that came up with these dangerous ideas, and his sponsor, Red bull, followed along with it always keeping his safety in mind. 
The question still remains though, are people pushing themselves to these extremes just to get famous, or to get a million view of their YouTube video? Well the answer is probably yes. Although they may still do these extreme sports, the media aspect of it is still a big reason why people are doing such extremes. People are often trying to get more money, by doing these dangerous stunts they believe that they will get paid more, and if they don't do it some other professional skier or snowboarder will. In the world of extreme sports it’s a completion between all the athletes to beat the last guy and doing something more eye popping than anyone else would dare do. 

Snowboarding Vs. Skiing CTD

With this said many older skiers were not happy when mountains began to spend more time on the parks and jibs (rails) then improving the runs. However, soon after an increase interest in expanding the parks a new generation of skiers emerged that grew to love the jumps and other features in the parks. Many skiers are now seen to older crowds as annoying as all the snowboarding “park-rats.” A “park-rat” is a rider on the mountain, whether their skiing or snowboarding it doesn’t matter, that spends their entire day riding through the park hitting the different features, such as jumps of or rails, instead of going down the runs with no features on them. Today many mountains spend millions of dollars perfecting their terrain parks through snowmaking, park crew, and landscaping. For example North Star, a ski resort in Tahoe has spent a large sum of money this season to prepare their new half pipe for Olympian Shaun White.

When talking about skiing vs. snowboarding, it is hard to say what the right choice between the two is; they are both considered expensive sports. It’s still a contributing factor when trying to decide in the beginning, but not nearly as much as it use to be. In addition, both are energizing sports, that require lots of energy and a hearty breakfast, whether taking laps through the parks, or taking run on the backside of the mountain, they both are a great activity to stay in shape. Each person is different and it really comes down your level of adventurism, and comfort levels on the mountain.