Bench Pressing and Buttering
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
My favourite Snow Parks in Europe...
It’s a common sight to see nowadays in resorts. Huge
expansive mounds of snow, strange kinked rails, and boxes plastered in
sponsors, pyramid shaped jumps and even half buried cars can make an
appearance. Of course, covered in sponsorship stickers.
It seems that these snow parks are the place to be. What
with all the snowboarders sat in groups, contemplating the next hit, or simply
sitting there to look cool.
To keep their clientele of teenagers with long hair,
baggy pants and mono-syllabic conversation happy, resorts are investing a lot
more money in snow parks. But with the huge running costs, (daily grooming,
pipe carving, park patrol) this is making the lift companies invite a huge
array of sponsors to advertise in the parks, or even sponsor the build of them,
meaning reduced running costs for the mountain companies. Companies such as:
DC, Oakley, Vans and Swatch sponsor and advertise on any surface possible. With
that, bigger jumps are built, it is better maintained, and it attracts a list
of top names and pros to ride them.
Summer parks are also a popular side project. Only
yesterday did Les Deux Alpes open their summer park due to the insane snow from
the winter. This year, popular skate brand Zoo York have taken over the reins,
and designed a park on the glacier, boasting 2 pipes to Olympic specification
(one standard, one super-pipe) a slope style course, big air section and a
‘shred zone’ with a massive selection of jibs and kickers.
Companies are always trying to build bigger and better,
but with technology making huge leaps in the ski industry, new quirky additions
are being made. Take the DC Area 43 in Meribel-Motteret.
Area 43 parks are already established in Chamonix and
Kitzbuhel, and with the huge amount of visitors to Meribel each year, it makes
sense for one of Snow Park building most popular names to try their luck.
Located under the Plattieres 2 lift, the park was 650 feet of rails and jumps.
Even a skateboard min ramp was installed. The techno-geeks were served as well,
with DC installing the ‘Live park system’, a system which allowed riders to
check out their action shots online. Cameras were placed in sections and those
with electronic tags were captured, and allowed them to go online and edit
their runs. Good news is that according to their website, DC looks like they
will be back next year. Watch this space.
With the prestigious honour of ‘European Snowpark of the
Year’ the Vans Penken Park in Mayrhofen has a pretty big reputation to live up
to. The home of the Vans Wängl Tängl event and
most famously, the ‘Snowbombing’ festival, Mayrhofen boasts glacier and one of the
best constructed parks in existence. 11 kickers, 2 hips, 34 jibs and a halfpipe
make up the park and is serviced by its own 4 seater chairlift. The park is
renowned for its ‘pro sessions’, with riders like Aimee Fuller, Antoine Tuchant
and freeskiers Sebi Geiger and the Hunzikers brothers joining sponsored rides
by the Nike 6.0 team and Vans on the hill. With planning underway for next
season and an estimated Christmas opening, snowboarders can look forward to
riding one of the best parks in Europe, if not, the World.
With clientele ranging from the Royal family to the
Beckhams, Verbier has a reputation as a home for the stupidly rich and famous.
With the freestyle scene taking off in other countries, Swiss watch makers,
Swatch (get it) have put their name all over the Swatch Snow park in Verbier.
Having had mediocre, badly maintained parks for a few seasons, the Swatch team
have created a 740 foot masterpiece under the La Chaux Express lift, with
breathtaking views and breathtaking jumps. The 3 grades of difficulty apply,
which are clearly marked and well groomed everyday and twice a day in busy
season. The park is open from first lift to last, and is nosebleedingly high.
To resorts that have them, good parks are worth their
weight in gold. With the European X-Games now taking place in Tignes, and huge
musical acts coming to Snowbombing and Ischgl, the international freestyle and
music scene is making ground in Europe. As well as the increased sponsorships,
it seems Europe is the next up and coming place for snowboarding development.
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Monday, 2 July 2012
Exciting New Snowboard Toys.
New Snowboard Gear for 2012/2013.
It only seemed like yesterday when we getting all hyped
up for the latest kit. New graphics, new designs and the latest most innovative
designs were centre stage of the ISPO tradeshow. The latest gear was on show
for all to see, with exciting new products and a range of the newest bright
ideas.
Below are my highlights from the show, which included
huge names, such as: Bataleon, Burton, Westbeach, Electric, YES, Salomon and
Analog, to name but a few.
Bataleon have been a
staple sight on mountains for a good 7 years now, with the overwhelming success
of the Goliath and Evil Twin and the triple base technology. If you didn’t
know, triple base technology or TBT, incorporates lifted side base sections on
the board around the nose and the tail. This raises the contact points of the
edges at lower speeds and minimises the chance of you catching an edge. It also
increases float in powder, and improves edge response in turning.
There is no real
change to last year’s board shape, which includes a blunting of the nose and
tail for stability. The graphics have been fine tuned and look super slick,
with the Goliath being a personal highlight.
Prices look to be around the £400 mark for the deck, keep
a look out at the Ski and Snowboard shows though for a better deal.
Not a year goes by
without some new innovation. We’ve had webbed bindings by Ride, Flow introduced
a step in a few years back, and boards started introducing rockered bases.
Goggles are the same. We had GPS goggles last year, and Dragon introduced the
lens less APX goggles. This year, ANON optics has got in on the act and
introduces magnetic lenses. The idea is that the lenses can be replaced much
easier, without getting fingerprints all over the lenses and without cracking
them when you get frustrated after 15 minutes. The new Magna-Tech M1 goggles
have lenses that can be replaces in literally seconds and according to Anon,
the retention power of the lenses is 20lbs and has withstand impacts of up to 75Gs.
Here’s one for the
jibbers. The new Bootlegger binding by Burton is a super flexy binding,
designed for grabbing, buttering and generally showing off. The new high back
is made with a plastic that is made to withstand cold temperatures; meaning is
stays flexy all the time.
However, the feature which stands out most is the new
Smackdown toe strap, a gigantic ratchet that resembles a ski boot, which is
designed to adjust to your boot size, ride style and save you time when
flipping in and out.
Prices are yet to be disclosed, but if you are after
buttery soft bindings for the park, these are for you. I would not recommend
these if you like all mountain and piste riding, but I can see the toe strap
becoming quite a staple figure in most designs in the next few years.
The board that got me most excited though is the new YES
trouble range, with Tupac and Biggie design.
A board beyond categorization, the Trouble and it’s
Tragna Maction handles the slopes with real ease. It is grippy, stable and
pre-loaded with Camrock Pop – the anti-cambered technology avoided by Bataleon.
It features park and all mountain twin camrock, medium flex and a triax glass
top.
But seriously, who cares when you can choose between
Tupac and Biggie? Either 154 or 158, these boards will sell like hot cakes.
And I am first in the queue.
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