The Best Snowboarding Mountains

The Best Snowboarding Mountains
From Nancy D. Brown of What a Trip

With the winter season ahead snowboarders are dusting off their boards, tightening their bindings and getting ready for another great season.

Flyboys, flygirls, freestylers, freeriders, carvers, call them what you like, they are all seeking one thing…the best place to snowboard. Whether you are looking for fresh snow, hard-packed powder or outrageous vertical drops, the following resorts each have something special to offer the snowboarder.

If you are a thrill seeker looking for a killer snowboarding trip, you have to check out some of the following places to board. These mountains are known for the best snow, best rides and best parties in and around the USA.

Check out our Top Ten List. Did your mountain make the cut?

photo credit Alpine Meadows

Alpine Meadows Lake Tahoe
Alpine Meadows, Tahoe City, California

photo credit www.snowboard-mag.com

Alpine Meadows has its own blog and is on Twitter. If you can’t wait for the snow to fall in Tahoe, the San Francisco Ski and Snowboard Festival, taking place November 1-2, 2008, is your best bet until the flakes start falling. Alpine Meadows has the famous Shreadows terrain park for the ultimate ride. The Shreadows has a jump, rail, a box line and its own lift just off the base lodge. Lift tickets range from $50 to $69 depending on half day passes or holiday dates. You can buy your tickets online here. Opening Day is scheduled for November 26, 2008.

Whistler Vancouver Canada
Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia, Canada
photo credit www.whistlerbyowner.com

While it rests outside of the United States boundaries, Whistler’s Blackcomb is often called the the best ski and snowboarding resort in North America. Not only will it be the venue for the 2010 Olympics, the new 28 person Peak-to-Peak gondola will transport riders from Whistler to Blackcomb without having to force them to the bottom base. If you’re going to go to Whistler consider taking a snow boarding tour and go freestyle. Whistler offers over 8000 acres of terrain and half pipes as well as tube park. A two day pass ranges from $125-$178 CAD and you can reserve your tickets online here. Opening Day is scheduled for November 27, 2008.

Kirkwood Lake Tahoe
Kirkwood, Lake Tahoe, California
photo credit www.familyskitrips.com

Sometimes considered the largest natural snowboard park in the United States, Kirkwood offers high altitude, open bowls, steep chutes, drops and lifts. It’s also a great place for spring skiing and working on the California tan. Kirkwood recently added two new lifts and revamped its terrain parks and halfpipe. You can purchase tickets online and avoid the lines when you get there. Opening day is schedule for late November. Check out their events calendar for more information.

Mammoth Mountain
Mammoth Mountain, Mammoth Lakes, CA

photo credit www.skidream.com

With the California sun shining almost 300 days a year, Mammoth Mountain offers a long ski and snowboarding season. Mammoth has two lodges you can board out of with a gondola ride that takes you to the top and back down to a great village with a few bars and a Starbucks. Tickets range in price, but are about $50-$70 and you get a discount if you buy mulitiple days at a time. Mammoth also has a snowboarding park and there is a blog where you can check out some pics. Weather permitting Opening Day is currently scheduled for November 13, 2008.

Mount Bachelor Oregon
Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort, Bend, Oregon

Located in central Oregon, 22 miles west of Bend, Mt. Bachelor has made a concentrated effort to attract snowboarders. It’s 400 foot Superpipe is among the best on the continent and they have just hired a new PipeCutter who will be cutting the pipe almost every night. The “Air Chamber” snowboarding run is a mile long and offers plenty of rails and booters for freestyle riders. Pricing for tickets can be found here. Opening Day is set tentatively for November 22, 2008.

Snow Bird Utah
Snowbird, Utah
photo credit www.snowboard-revolution.com

With 500 inches of annual snowfall, Snowbird offers the highest altitude of any Utah resort. The Tram whisks snowboarders up 11,000 feet in about eight minutes. A great place to strap in an attack the double black diamond runs. This season Snowbird has added a Superpipe. It’s called Zaugg and is a Pipe Monster. Zaugg is scheduled to be cut three times per week and is supposed to provide an experience like no other. Check out Snowbird’s website for ticket information. Opening Day is currently scheduled for November 22, 2008.

Mt Hood Oregon
Mt. Hood, Mount Hood, Oregon
photo credit upload.wikimedia.org

Mount Hood Meadows is one of the few places offering year-round boarding. It’s also home to Meadows, the 500 foot long, eighteen-foot high, super pipe that received Transworld Boarding Top 10 pipe rating. Located just seventy miles from Portland, it’s easy to fly and drive to. There are six parks at Mt. Hood: Park Place, Rose City Park, The Zoo, Shipyard, Superpipe and Forest Park. There is also a blog for you to get even more information from. Tickets range from $50-$70. Opening Day is scheduled for November 21, 2008.

Stowe Mountain Vermont
Stowe Mountain Resort, Stowe, Vermont
photo credit www.concierge.com

If you can conquer boarding in the East, you can board anywhere. Those of you who have cut your teeth, or should I say carved your board, on the hard pack, sometimes icy slopes of New England’s Mt. Mansfield know what I mean. Stowe is less than an hour from Burlington so weekends tend to be busy and lift lines can be long. Stowe even has its own website for freestylers to get pictures and event information .Ticket information can be found on their website. Opening Day is scheduled for November 22, 2008.

Sugarloaf Maine
Sugarloaf, Maine
photo credit www.ccids.maine.edu

At 4,000 feet elevation, Sugarloaf is sometimes considered the best riders’ mountain in New England. If you like spring boarding, check out mid-April’s Reggae Weekend, one of the East’s largest snowboard parties. Sugarloaf’s newest park is called The YARD. It features three sets of jumps, new rails, a hip and more. Buying your tickets ahead of time will save you money and time at the mountain. You can go to their website for more ticket info. Opening Day is scheduled for November 21, 2008.

Park City Utah
Park City Mountain Resort, Park City, Utah
photo credit images.beijing-2008.org

Often found on the top ten family resorts list in North America, Park City averages 360 inches of snow each year and is snowboard friendly. The Eagle superpipe, with its 22 foot walls, hosts the World Superpipe Championships. Boarders have four parks to ride, including King’s Crown Superpark, Jonesy’s, the lighted PayDay Park and Pick ‘N Shovel Park. Park City is conveniently located about 45 miles from Salt Lake, so flying and driving is easy. Coming in to Park City you see the Olympic Park that was built for the 2002 Winter Olympics. There is a very cool Old Town to Park City and it’s a bit bigger than a town like Mammoth. Park City offers Fast Track tickets that get you in to express lanes. Check out their website for more ticket info. Opening Day is scheduled for November 22, 2008.

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San Francisco Ski and Snowboard Festival

The inaugural San Francisco Ski and Snowboard Festival will be held on November 1-2, 2008 at the Fort Mason Center’s Festival Pavilion, celebrating mountain culture and the winter sports lifestyle. Join us for two days of wine tasting, beer tasting, interactive booths featuring your favorite brands and resorts and a huge pre-season winter gear and clothing sale. MORE INFO HERE...

Day One: Wine Expo
Spend the day sipping your favorite wines, trying new labels all while gearing up for the 2008/09 winter season

Day Two: Brew Expo
Regardless if you prefer a pilsner, stout or an amber ale, the Boards & Brew component of the festival has you covered

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Top 10 Freestyler Snowboard Tricks

A few nice snowboard tricks to achieve during this season, here is my favorite list.

Melon
A simple grab every beginner wishes to make and they can do it easily. It consists on putting the front hand behind the front leg, grabbing the heel side between the bindings and to take it to the next level, bone the front leg and rotate the wrist inwards.

Method
Once you master the melon and have confidence in air then put your front hand on the heel edge of your deck while bending knees and extending the back leg to lead the base facing the direction of the jump. When you do it right your body should make a nice arch and keep the position as long as possible for the photographers.

The Rodeo 540
Travis Rice reviewed this trick, but the explanation can vary a little from different Freestyler such as in the amateur video (see the link below).

Basically you should get high enough from the ramp and flip your crunched body, head backward looking in the direction you wish to take and spinning your legs and board in the mean time to finally reach the ground with a 540 rotation. I personally love this trick as it drives a real boost of adrenaline and having the head leading the whole body while down is a great feeling.

720
Two Full Spins which are easier to maneuver in half Pipes (according to me). The tip is to point your chest starting with the Head, arms then the whole body, the board will turn once and do the same the second time before you hit the snow. See the link at the bottom for the video.

McTwist
This trick combine a backside 540 with a front flip while grabbing Mute. It's not as hard as it seems but you need to be comfortable with front flips landing the 540. The link for the video is at the bottom of the article.

Stalefish
Once you are in the air, grab your deck with your rear hand onto the heel edge of the snowboard behind your back binding, make sure to bone your deck to add a little touch to your style and also take care of your front arm.

Slob Air
The next level grab trick as you better go for a long trip to get a good feeling while bending on your deck, grabbing mute and extending the rear leg.

Buttering
Doing butters is also known as tail or nose press. It consists on putting the whole weight on the nose or the tail of the board and make it bend considerably such as a wheeling in bicycle.

BS Truck Driver
This trick is a good one which involves grabbing with the two hands while turning in the air smoothly backside. The grabs are respectively Mute and StaleFish.

Flying squirrel
If you are not scared of going a bit high in the air, this trick is a nice one to try which copies the squirrel flying down the trees. Be prepared to turn your deck on the front side but in the back of your body with both hands grabbing the heel edge. Before you land make sure you get back to the right position.

If you head to a Snowboard resort, print these lines and try one every day until you master each one. At the end of your trip, get some friends to shoot you and send me the photos.

You do not need a high end board to complete these tricks but I can recommend a good one which a lot riders use which is the Burton Custom X.

Etienne - Snowboard Freestyler
For a nice video, watch the 720 BS Truck Driver
Freestyler tricks Videos
Burton Custom X

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

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Snowboarding Trick : Frontside 180’s

Snowboarding Trick : Frontside 180’s 

with Andy Monsberger


How To Snowboarding  Frontside 180, The frontside 180 is usually the first rotational move you learn. It is probably the easiest because very little rotation is needed, and you remain facing forwards at all times.

Snowboarding Trick - Frontside 180’s  Tip:

Use your leading arm to ‘point’ the way through the rotation.


Snowboarding Trick : Frontside 180’s

• Approach the kicker straight, flat on your base, with a little pressure on the heel edge.
• As you take off, start to slowly turn your shoulders frontside, to face forwards.
• At the same time, suck your knees up into your body, and grab frontside, boning out your front leg for style. Hold that pose as you slowly drift around.
• As you reach the peak of your jump, your body should be at 90° and you will already have spotted the landing.
• If you need to stall the rotation, tweak it a little harder.
• Keeping your eye on the landing zone, slowly turn your shoulders to complete the rotation, extend your legs, and land fakie.

Snowboarding Trick : and How To Snowboarding
Snowboarding Trick : Straight Jump
How to Shifty's	How to : Frontside 180's, - Backside 180's
How to Backflip	How to Boardslides
How to : Backslide 360's - Frontside 360's

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The Personal messenger With GPS Feature for Extreme Sport Lover

If you are on the outside of your home, or you are on the place that is so far away from your family, or you are on the climbing spot, snowboarding & ski spot, you need such kind of device that will help you to still keep in touch with your family and others. Finding the device is so easy the. All that you need to do just click a site that will serve you to find the spot satellite messenger.


You can still communicate with other people then. You can click for the Outdoor-Gear-Online.com. Thia is such kind of personal locator and when you need help you just need to use the device ad you will be helped anytime and wherever you are.

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