Fresh Lines: BIG

THE BIG BLOG

Check out the competition at the end of the blog.

01/03/2012

Hello again Folks,

Just back from a half day snowskating with a friend Jasmin (snowboarder) at Spitzingsee which is around an hour or so from Munich. It was a complete contrast from my last time out at Steinplatte as it was baking hot when we got there. After the first couple of runs we were both a bit on the sweaty side.

Jazz and Myself chilling on the sun lounger in the sky.

Sitting on the chair up was like sitting in the garden on a summers day. It was not a day for sitting or falling about in the snow though, as I found out after a wee tumble (Rather wet). Although the snow was wet it made for some wicked snowskating and Jasmin and I blasted about through the slushy moguls and down some of the most enjoyable runs I've done.

(Anyone without a Passport should be sending it off in the post this week) Wow so much fun. Burton have a funpark at Spitzingsee the third biggest in Germany. Sounds amazing right? Well Jasmin and I somehow missed the whole thing maybe it was sun stroke ?or it could have just been the amount of fun we were having ripping about elsewhere. Who cares it was an Ace day. Cheers Jazzer. Spitzingsee is a really good resort and I had no problems with the snowskate and as usual more interested people curious to know more. Cant wait to see more skaters up the hills.

Unfortunatly Beanie is really busy right now writing and was unable to join us but did manage to get out for a little snowskate practise when she picked me up. Spitzingsee is also open at night for boarding/skiing from 18.30 to 21.30. Under floodlights. What more could you want? My new SALOMON(Toundra) boots got there first outing and they were the buisness. Super lightweight like wearing slippers with awesome grip and far better than the NORTHFACE boots I had before which were not at all bad. Like most things connected with snowskating its a bit about personal preference which gear you have, trial and error. Reading online about other peoples ideas and preferences is always good to help make up your mind. These are things you want to think about and things you definitley need:

1.) SNOWSKATE what kind of riding do you want to do?

ALL MOUNTAIN PISTE.then you sould go for a 39inch ski.

POWDER anything bigger

PARK you might want something smaller but 39inch is a good all rounder.

Libtech,Ralston,0910,Pioneer ,all make Double Deckers.

2.) LEASH

this is an ESSENTIAL piece of kit not only for resort riding but also for back country riding you dont want to lose your skate nor do you want to cut someones head off. Its cool in Highlander but not in real life. Working as a lifty I've seen plenty of runaway snowboards with idiots running after them laughing Its NOT funny. But well this was. Beanie learning the hard way in the early days, lucky we were at the golf course. Cutting a golfers head of would be pretty funny though, even in real life

Predog,Ungi bungi,or you can also use a dog leash which im using at the moment.

3.) TRUCKS

All boards come with their own trucks but as far as I can see there is only a couple of brands worth looking at for an upgrade.

Rocker, and Predog

4.) GRIP

Grip is another thing that boards come with but at some point will wear out but again you might just want to upgrade.

www.the snowskate shop.com

5.) BOOTS/SHOES

If you want to ride the whole mountain or go hiking and have dry feet then use a good mid length boot and if you want to ride the park and pop about then either waterproof your skate shoes or buy some specific snowskate shoes. Beanie did a few years ago from Vans but they were about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike (they did look cool). Whatever boot/shoe you buy something with a flat sole and good grip would be best. Once you have all that sorted either winter gear, hats and gloves or leather jacket and jeans depending on how PUNK ROCK you are.

04.03.12

Well Im a lucky F....R thats for sure. Three days after being out with Jasmin at Spitzingsee Im getting to go out again and back to Austria with Beanie and her Dad Karl. After leaving me in Spitzingsee Jasmin drove to Fieberbrunn and thats where we planned to meet up.

The very first thing I spot from the window of the gondala to my amazment Two snowskaters ripping down the slope, think I almost pissed my pants with excitement of the prospect of going riding with them but unfortunatlly I didnt see them again and wasnt quick enough to film them either.(pity)At the top of the hill we met up with Jasmin and Ursula.

True Original and Jazzer

Ursula is a snowboard instructor at Fieberbrunn and has been instructing for several years and is also a pro not to mention a true Original and lots of fun to be around. Check out her run at this year's Freeride World Tour Stop in Verbier:

After another gondala ride we all took a nice ride to the new gondala which is really pretty impressive the views are sensational.

This picture doesnt do it justice.

The Motley Crue, Big pin and the Forbidden snowskate slope. HaHaHaHaHa Whatever.

The heated seats however were really not needed as it was another scorching no jacket day for me. After another ride we took a chair lift which I wouldnt have been allowed on if it hadnt been for Ursulas good charm, so I felt privileged to be going up but also a bit pissed off. ( will go into this in full later) Anyway we arrived at the top of the forbidden 6060ft high run and needless to say the views were again amazing as always.

Again picture not doing the view justice.

I took a bit of o shittie bail about a quarter of the way down and shaved my arm with my edge but hey,(no falls no balls). The rest of the run was good and we rode that one again and felt pretty good about it. The rest of the day was quite challenging for everyone as the pistes were mogul fields and we all had a fall or two I think apart from Ursula she spent most of her day waiting for us as you would expect.Ursula also took a shot of the snowskate she said she had tried a smaller skate before and found them a bit tricky but seemed to have no problems with the LIB TECH

NO problems

Some of the runs were great though and its always good to be put through your paces with some trickier runs. After a long afternoon Beanie and Karl set off back to Munich and Jasmin and I hardcored it right till the very end and I managed to get one single run down the easy fun park and nailed the jumps and hit a couple of small rails Awesome,found myself saying YES outloud as I popped off the end of the last rail, felt about 12years old. One more really fun run down with Jazzer ended a very varied day and like most resorts this one maybe more than others has something for every level of rider they have a huge kicker and saw the locals 720ing like it was a piece of cake.

This is a BIG piece of cake from Cafe Schmid in Waidring soo good.

PROJECT SNOWSKATE

Project Snowskate is a blog written by Kendra Wilson its very informative as well as being up to date with whats going on in the States and the rest of the world. Kendra raised an issue last month and until now I didnt want to bring it up but here we go. Since Ive been in the Alps Ive not had much problems getting up the lifts but there has been a couple of liftys at Steinplatte but that was more about making sure i had a leash which is understandable but now comes the infamous Fieberbrunn no snowskaters allowed on this run bullshit and I get a flash back to the 80s and the whole skateboarding is not a crime thing and that really pisses me off big time. SNOWSKATING IS NOT A CRIME.Fieberbrunn actually hire out snowskates which puzzles me further???? check out project snowskate for more on the debate Or leave a comment on here if you have had similar problems.

Cant believe I got permission to put this one up. Brilliant What a dirty wee boy. Anyone else with rude snowmen/women/ladyboy pics are more than welcome to send them here for display. The winner will recieve a FRESH LINES (here comes the summer what a bummer) T-shirt. But by the looks of things Steve might have already won that one(btw Steve you will have to pick that up here yourself if you win ha.) second place will get one too. (ALL FRESH LINES competitions will run from start of DEC to end of APRIL.) All pics must be sent by the end of APRIL. Next years competition prize will be an all expenses Heli skate trip to a destination of your choice or something less expensive.

Beanie Bares Big Bruised Bum

As Beanie said last time she has just bought herself a new FLOW set up which she loves btw.

While at the FLOW warehouse buying her new board and bindings which she bought as a result of her binding breaking at Stienplatte(sign one) Beanie decided rather than walking down the stairs she would go down on her arse and suffered for it.Ouch.(sign two)watch out bad things come in threes ooooh.