Stomp Pad

Now this little item is truly one of the most underestimated pieces of snowboard equipment.  This guy decides between a broken leg off the lift, or a successful day of snowboarding.  They come in all different shapes and sizes, can add style to your board, and could, like I said, save your leg.

 When a boarder gets off the snow lift their front foot is the only foot in the bindings.  Unlike those wimpy skiers, snowboarders don’t have poles to push them along so they need to use their foot to help them get to the top of the mountain.  The stomp pad is designed to keep your foot from sliding all over the board and you losing control off the lift.  Countless times I’ve seen people fall in front of the lift and they’d need to stop it so the giggling moron could get out of the way.  But in all seriousness it really does come in handy if installed properly.

Usually a stomp pad is a piece of plastic with a really strong waterproof adhesive that sits in between your bindings, usually sitting next to your hind foot and adds a sort of traction for your foot and allows the boarder to steer before they actually step into their binding.  Some pros don’t use stomp pads but you know what? They’re called pros for a reason.

It’s personal preference as to where you apply your stomp pad but a good rule of thumb to use would be to place it about an inch and a half away from your hind binding to take into consideration the ridiculous size of your boots.  Other than that, there really is no stomp pad that is better than the other, they all work pretty well to prevent you from bustin’ yo…face on the lift.  So do it right or you’ll look like the people below.

Step In or Strap Up?

When it comes to boarding, there are two types of bindings you can take into consideration (well one but I’ll get to that a little later) the step in bindings or the strap in bindings.  Each have their individual strengths and weaknesses and I’m here to dispell the myths, legends, and all around mysteries revolving around both of these bindings.

                

Let me first talk about the step in bindings.  In an attempt to make snowboarding an easier experience for beginners, the step in bindings allowed two metal posts on each side of the snowboard boots.  These posts would snap into the snowboard binding on the board and would allow for more flexibility and freedom for your feet.  The boots are made stiffer to compensate for the lack of a high back and are nice because you can just kick your feet onto your snowboard and down the hill you go.  The problem arises when you’re jumping.  Once you hit your landing, most of the time your boot pops out of the binding and could result in a broken leg…which is probably why they stopped producing them.

                    

Now, lets look at the strap in bindings.  These bindings are a little more technical and supposed to be used with a softer boot.  The boots are strapped in with two buckle straps that go over the toe area and across the ankle area.  These bindings can be tightly ratcheted until a snug fit is successfully made, ensuring you’re not going flying around when you hit those big jumps.  These bindings usually come with a backplate that go up your heel and to your calf to give you more support and control while riding.  The only downfall that these bindings bring are the ridiculously long time they take to ratchet.  Do you sit down and do it, do you ratchet in while you’re on the move, or do you simply stand and do it?  I really don’t know which is the best way to do it but if you find a way, let me know.

            

Snowboarding Gloves

So you’re boarding down the double black diamonds and you’re cruising at a smooth 35mph when all of a sudden your board catches an edge and you begin to fall down the slope just as fast as you were cruising.  Your first reaction is to put down your hands to stop you but wait…what’s that…you’re not wearing gloves.  Oh.  Well if you’re the type of person who thinks gloves aren’t just as important that anything else a boarder wears then you deserve to have icy cold hands.

                          

But if you’re among the ones who wear those gloves here’s some hints to buying some sweet gloves to keep your hands toasty warm.  Freezing wet hands could make or break a snowboarding trip so lets break it down a little.  First mittens vs. gloves.  If you have naturally cold hands you’re going to want to pack your fingers like sardines but if you like the feeling of gloves and still want to wear those mitts, use the glove inner liner inside the mittens.

                                  

Speaking of inner lining, it’s an absolute  must for the snowboarder.  Sometimes made of fleece or something else soft and warm (wool) its imparitive to have a warm lining inside your gloves.

Want to keep your hands dry.  One word: waterproof.  Some gloves come with a waterproof lining, others have Gore-tex lining and have taped seams to give you that full bone dry feel to your hands.

                                 

One of the last things to consider in purchasing gloves would be the features on them.  Some gloves are made with large cuffs to fit over your jacket, others aren’t.  Try a few different pairs on and see which ones feel most comfortable with your jacket and grab those.  Also, some gloves have the elastic cuffs which help keep the gloves tight on your wrist, while others have a fleece patch for your snotty nose or you could just get the ones with the embedded ipod remote, you know just to be fancy.

Enter New Boarder

Nikita just got a new rider to their snowboarding team and guess what?  She’s probably better than you at snowboarding.  Clair Bidez joins the ranks or Jordie Karlinksi, Maribeth Swetkoff, Vera Janssen, and Kaitlyn Farrington to rock streetwear and outerwear given by Nikita.

    

Among finishing on the podium at the Grand Prix, the Jeep King of the Mountain series and earning a spot in the Winter X Games this 21-year-old Colorado boarder was brought to light when she was crowned Junior World Champion in 2006.  Now I don’t know about you, but that’s a pretty decent line of achievements, what have you done lately (you should get off the couch and go snowboarding).  Oh yeah I forgot to mention she also took the best trick at the Abonimable Snow Jam in the summer of ‘07 when she nailed a frontside 900 and took 3rd in the event overall.

        

But that was all in the past, this season she left Idaho with a silver medal from the Grand Prix event and took second in the halfpipe event in the Jeep King of the Mountain.  She met with Nikita team this February in Lake Tahoe at the Nikita Snow photo shoot.  So keep your eye out for this girl because I have a feeling that she’ll be covering you in snow fairly soon…are you off your couch yet?

Snowboarding Goggles

Probably one of the most underestimated pieces of equipement to a snowboarder, yet one of the most necessary is the goggles that snowboarders wear while they’re shredding down the mountain.  There are millions of types of goggles to choose from but the great thing is, you can figure out what types of goggles would fit you just by learning what type of rider you are.  If you don’t know what type of rider you are, then chances are you shouldn’t be on the slopes.

                  

The most important aspect of grabbing up some sick goggles would be their visibility.  Normally, snowboarders would like to see as much of their environment as possible.  Picking goggles that work well with your peripheral vision would be beneficial.  Seeing as most of snowboarding is done with the utilization of your peripheral vision (being sideways and all) this is the most important aspect of your goggles.

Fogging is another large problem that people come across when boarding down the slopes.  To prevent this, a “double paned” style goggles would be the best purchase.  These goggles work much like the weather proof windows that most people have in their house.  These help to prevent fog and make cut wind as well.  Also, don’t wear glasses and goggles and go snowboarding because not only will your glasses fog, but your goggles will too, and nobody likes a snowboarder that can’t see…unless you’re this guy.

The third and probably most important aspect to look at when picking snowboarding goggles would be the color.  Either a yellow or orange color would be the best to chose from if your a regular snowboarder.  If you’re really into it, the darker shades work on exceptionally bright days and a clear lens works well for riding at night, but basic protection to your eyes will come from the yellow and orange so you know, your eyes don’t fry like eggs from the glare off the sun.  Hope this helped in your search for goggles and keep it real. 

Here’s a wicked cool video of a guy teaching you how to decrease the fog in your goggles.  Although I would never do it because I’m deathly afraid of band-aids for some reason, will someone else try this to let me know how it works?

Boarder Profile: Tara Dakides

Whoever said that snowboarding is primarily a men’s sport is wrong.  Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.  Before the she-shredders had taken the mountain, and films of their own Tara Dakides appeared and became one of the chosen ones to establish women in the world of snowboarding.  She first appeared in the High Voltage release in 1999 then moved on to Mack Dawg’s Amp and Stand and Deliver, upstaging her male counterparts along the way.

                    

Being the only girl to ever infiltrate Mack Dawg Productions shows that she can hang with the guys, the other fact being that she is the three-time SNOWBOARDER Magazine Women’s Rider of the Year and also made a name for herself on national TV by earning eight (yes eight) ESPN X Games medals.  As well as these Tara’s mishap on Letterman mad her “famous” as well.

       

Tara does it all, from jumping to jibbing and along the way she inspires new groups of girls to follow along in her wake (or snow).  She helped define the image of snowboarding and changing the image of women snowboarders.  She also placed ninetieth on the 2004 100 Sexiest Women list for FHM.  So all in all, Tara is one awesome chick.

The Stash

No I’m not talking about where you keep your drugs, I’m talking about the whole newest collaboration between Burton Snowboards and The Remarkables Resort in the South Island of New Zealand.  The Stash is a completely different take on snowboarding runs and adds a new and exciting dimension to snowboarding. 

                          

The run itself offers an ultimately natural environment with an organic terrain park that follows the natural lines of the mountain.  Upon boarding down the mountain, the riders will come acrosss rock-wall rides, log jibs, cliff drops, a stone hut and a few unknown “obstacles” that are stowed away as well. 

 

Going with the all natural theme, this one-of-a-kind mountain run uses no metal or plastic to create obstacles, just stone, wood, trees, dirt, and rocks which will most likely make it all that more painful should your board catch an edge and your face slams into the side of a stone.  Everything to the signs that direct riders are hand-carved either out of stone of wood and designed to be biodegradeable and wither.

This terrain park does sound interesting, I do appreciate how the run is all natural.  It definitely will make for a different run everytime you carve down the mountain which is a relief.  The Stash is aimed at intermediate and advanced riders so if you’re a beginner, you’re out of luck…don’t worry, I’ll tell you how it goes.

MDP’s New Website

Mack Dawg Productions has launched its new website which contains video content including a documentary style series called It’s My Life which depicts what the Mad Dawg Production riders are all about and more importantly, how they got to where they are today.   

              

How To videos are also there on the site to give tips on how to shred down the mountain just like the pros do.  With the interconnectivity of the Internet, I’m stoked I can learn just by sitting and watching (sarcasm intended).  But they have other cool videos on the site too like a Behind the Scenes segment that shows you to how actually make a snowboard which is pretty awesome.

 The site was designed by METAJIVE and really is one of the most comprehensive and interactive snowboarding websites I’ve come across and is continually being fed new content, downloads, videos, and photos.  So definitely check it out if you’re into something like this.

                     

Sidenote: For those of you who DON’T know about Mack Dawg Productions here’s a little inside info.  They released their first film, Sick Boys, in 1988 and their first snowboarding film, New Kids on the Twock, in 1990 and they stand to push snowboarding films to new standards so watch their films, you might learn something and be totally stoked.

Two Man Snowboard

There’s a ton of fun and interesting that come in twos: doublemint gum, those weird animals with two heads, and those awesome two for one sales.  But for the life of me I can’t figure out the two man snowboard.

                                                          

Built by Butch Brady who teamed up with Eric Sweet, these two made some two-man turns through the Teewinot run at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, boarding their way into the Guiness Book of World Records.

This 9 foot, 7 inch snowboard dubbed the “XJ-13″ rides like a canoe down the mountain according to Sweet, but once him and Brady caught the hang of it, they realized they needed to split duties, one steer, the other balance.  How cute, it’s like they’re “married”.

In order to make the Guiness Book of World Records, they needed to submit a video of the two boarding for at least five consecutive runs and as they await their confirmation of the record, ideas about actually marketeting this thing to the public to include three people on the board, two trainers on the outside and one on the new kid on the inside.  Now I pose this question to everyone out here…would you be interested in trying this?  Do you think it’s safe and more importantly, do you think it would be fun?  Discuss amongst yourselves and have fun.  Oh and enjoy the video of these two guys rocking the board.

 

Super Duper Pipe

Sounds corny, sounds lame, but let me tell you this pipe is nothing like what it sounds, and trust me, if you’re just beginning, you should steer clear of this monster.  The pipe lives at Mammoth Mountain in California (they get snow?) and Mammoth Mountain became the only place where world riders can find all three sizes of half pipe: Mini, Super, and Super-Duper.

This newly carved pipe of awesesome measure 550 feet long and 58 feet wide vert to vert (top to top) and with the fourth snowiest day recorded in January bringing lots of powder to the pipe and opportunity to carve down it’s super duper goodness.

The mountain itself is carrying an 8-10 foot base and has ideal conditions for all three of it’s world-renowned parks.  The Wonderland Park is the idea spot to hit up short rail slides, banked turns, rollers and jumps.  South park is with its quadruple line of 30 footers and jumps and Legendary Main Park has jumps from 40-75+ feet.  All I can say is pure awesomeness, and now with the addition of the Super-Duper pipe, the park is sure to draw in more people for a rocking good time.