Slidie Peeps

POWDERBEARDS

AND

SLUSH HOUNDS

Hey Slidie Peeps

Well its been an up and down couple of weeks for me up and down the hillies mostly but its coming up to the the end of the season, as on the 15^th of April most resorts will be closing down. Downer. But on the upside the glacier is open all year long.Thumbs up. More Thumbs up go to Mike Steinhauser from 0910 for getting and translating this interview with Lions Delajonx.Enjoy.

1.Introduce yourself

Hello, Lions is my nick name from Lionel and jonx is my neighborhood in Geneva Switzerland.

2.How did you get into snowskating and were you immediately hooked?

I started 10 years ago when there was the first prototypes and I was very interested , proof is that I still ride a snowskate.

3.How did you meet 0910?

6or 7 years I went wakeskating and I met mike and then the brand was born during the 2009/2010 season.

4.Is there a big snowskate scene where you are living?

Yes and no, I know many people who own a snowskate , but I ride most of the time with Mike Steinhauser and Chris Guyot.

5.Hows your snowskating? Is there any tricks or skills that need worked on ?

I ride as much as I can . There is room for improvment in my Ollie (as Alan Gerlach ), my flips, and airs.

6.What things need to be done to make the scene grow here in europe?

It would help if ski resort would make a snowskatepark in a place accessible by foot without fee and/or if more resort would allow us to take the lifts.

7.Who is your favourite rider and who is killing the slopes in europe apart from yourself?

Chris Guyot aka Kiki.

8.Are snowskaters a special breed?And do you need facial hair to be a proper slush hound?

Yes like every sport even if you go down the same slope. About my beard…Yes and no but it's winter and it keeps me warm

9.Whats your favourite resort or spot for snowskating?

The Crosets / Champery (www.superpark.ch).

10.What kind of tunes do you like to listen to on the slopes?

A bit of everything, DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist, Kid Koala, 2 Many DJs ...

11.If you could choose a setup(top deck trucks and sub)and a graphic of your choice what would that be?

Top deck from Canada (because that s where the best wood comes from), and the rest done by 0910 snowskate. For the graphic, I would trust the homegrown artists such as
Ben Té, Szabo Couture, Grotesk, etc. ...

12.Do you have a funny snowskate story to share with us?

In Japan, the first day of riding at the Lizuna Resort. Shin Biyajima told us that to take the chair, we needed to strap our front foot to the snowskate with anything we could find like a rope or a lace to be allowed the ride the chair. But it was even more challenging and fun to try to keep it from falling with the rope than without. We did d only one time and after our first run down they let us ride binding free up the chair.

Thanks to 0910, Pulp 68, the table tennis players of la Treuille, my family and those I have forgotten and to snowskate bavaria. 

Well from one beard to another Gergis Maximus  is a snowskater and photographer/filmmaker, I thought this interview might never happen but it was well worth the wait. Check it out for yourself.

1.)Introduce yourself
My Name is Greg Mahlik Aka Gergis Maximus born Feb 20th 1981 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin USA
2.)Where does the name Gergis Maximus come from?
Long story..a childhood friend (Ted Huener Rip!!!) gave it to me at a party one night right after I moved here in '99(Seattle)..he just looked over and said "Greg spelled backwards is gerg" "your a Gerg" then came Gergis, gergamon,gergy,gergalicous,

gergatron, gergis maximus, you get the point etc etc.. all of my other friends thought it was the funniest nickname ever so immediately took to it and it has been that way for probably over 12yrs..even my mother calls me gergis sometimes!! hahaaa

3.)How did you get into snowskating and were you immediately hooked?
Its all Victor Zurns fault I swear! hahahaha and I would say no I was super skeptical since I was just getting into snowboarding in the last year or so when we started riding together but once we started riding in the back country in deep powder and he was riding the same big lines as me I felt kinda stupid for having "training wheels" on!! So now slowly but surely, I am UN-strapping!! 

4.)How long have you been documenting snowskating? (taking photographs snowskate weddings and so on)
Ive been taking pictures of snowskating since i believe 2009? i dunno I'm horrible with timeline..i would have to ask spicolli or victor..i assume  you speak of wedding pics from Victor and his wife Lyz's wedding from the top of cowboy ridge at Stevens pass our home mountain? that was a radical day and my first time hiking along a super nasty nasty ridge line.

5.)Hows your snowskating Is there any tricks or skills that need worked on?
I think my skating skills are weak!! hahaa but increase every time I get to ride with new people!!...ive never been a big park rider..always been a powder hound!! So for me i just wanna be able to do what i already do on my snowboard but without the straps. so for me dropping nasty chutes, fingers, pillows "big bowls"  and ripping tight tree lines is what i plan on shredding with my snowskate.

6.)What things need to be done to make the scene grow?
lots of water and sunshine!! hahaa just kidding. The scene here in washington is pretty sick!! every mountain seems to have at least a couple snowskaters at it now and of course snoqualmie pass has a fairly large group of skaters there. the one thing i wanna see and im sure this goes in alot of places is that when your going out to shred call yer homies and shred with a crew, its funner and seems like everyone learns something or pushes themselves just a little harder and we all become a bigger friendlier "family". I know that when my skateboard pals go to the local skatepark they call there buddys and let peeps know..jus sayings..LETS JUST  SKATE, DROP THE HATE.(and of course nasty nasty lines too!!!)

7.)Mark Spicolli is killing the hill at the moment. Who is your favorite rider? Who do you like to go riding with?
Spicolli is prob my favorite dude to watch..hes been killing it the whole time I've known him whether on the streets skateboarding or on the mountain snowskating spico goes friggen HUGE!! My favorite rider..hmm..couldnt say..there are so many explosive riders out there..i really couldn't say. My favorite person to shred with is Victor of course, always willing to help out with any info I need such as ski intel backcountry knowledge all sorts of shit..Vic is the MAN!! RESPECT!!!

8.)Are snowskaters a special breed? And do you need facial hair to be a proper slush hound?
short answer is yes we are!! And  facial hair is needed to be a total dirtbag looking mofo like myself but im sure you can be a slush hound without the dirtball look hahaaa

9.)What's your favorite resort or spot for snowskating?
Easy one. STEVENS PASS WASHINGTON!!

10.)We love the video you made featuring Mad Rad „Pleasure Mountain“. What's in your headphones when you go riding at the moment?
Thanks man! that was a great day and thats all I want to show in my videos and pics is that we are all shredding hard and loving every wonderfully fun moment of it all!! and I usually dont ride with headphones but ive noticed that when i do ride i listen to alot more dubsteb for some reason..lol..funny since I grew up listening to punk rock.

11.)If you could choose a setup (top deck, trucks and sub) and a graphic of your choice what would that be?
so far ive mostly ridden a libtech skate but recently finally got to ride the pioneer powder blade and it was exceptional in deep powder!! I couldnt tell ya what I want really besides something thats going to be a real "all mountain" shredder and it would definitely have some of Jakes T's Rocker Trucks on it cause they are the best solid shitz!! I have alot to try out and learn and so very looking forward to it.

12.) Do you have a funny snowskate story to share with the world?
I wouldn't say its funny but I have to say last week when we had the go snowskate Stevenspass day the snow was so deep and so wet an heavy that I was having a really hard time shredding and keeping up with the crews so i had to put my snowboard on to keep up so i could get some footage of the day..i totally made fun of myself the whole time too joking about my bindings and such,anyways thats how I did all the follow cam from that day..soon i will be able to keep up with all the ripping riders out there!!! 

From  interviews to company talk:

In the last blog we talked to some of the major companies and asked them five quick questions. This time it's the turn of Adam from Florida Powderskates

. 

Floridapowderskates 

1.How long have you been snowskating? 

12 years 

2.Do you still snowboard? 

Yes, we have been developing some really awesome new snowboard shapes based on snowskate technology. 

3.How long has your company been on the go? 

We started making powderskates 8 years ago to ride sans bindings on our favorite mountain which is more powder than groomers. 

4.What does the future hold for snowskating/powskating? 

Better designs more deep powder performance and fun. 

5.What is santa bringing you this Christmas? 

Health, Waves and Deep Powder

 

Is this Heaven? No but it must be the closest thing to it.

And now to someone that rides one.. In one of my earlier blogs i joked that next years compitition prize would be a Heli Snowskate trip thinking that this was pretty much out of the question until I saw Benoit Nadeau doing exactlly that . Lets hear what this lucky Canadian has to say.

Benoit Nadeau

1.How long have you been snowskating?

1997

2.Do you still snowboard?

no stop in 2006

3.How long has the Canadian Association been on the go?

2 years i stared that to bring every skater from every province together. so we can start a national contest tour and leagal teaching and to keep contact so we can stay in touch ,canada is a big country..

4.What does the future hold for snowskating?

Lots, maybe it will change snowboarding forever.

5.Do you have problems at resorts in Canada with your snowskate?

yes lift straps at some places, east coast still most of the resorts don't let you ride.

6.Do you prefer to ride the pow on your florida powder skate or do like to jib about too?

i like every thing jib is like real skateboarding pow is like surfing. i'm just going with the snow condition..

7.How many Skates do you have? And what is santa bringing you this chrismas?

around 10 boards.. santa not sure yet

8.I notied in your pictures you have a wee boy now will he be skipping snowboarding and jumping staight to snowskating?

if he does follow the foot step of is dad for sure.. 

And from hairy rail bashing and heli pow slashing its back to the tiddlie peeps

Spitzingsee 

27/03/12 02/04/12 

First day for Beanie at Spitzingsee and like my last day there with Jazzer it was a sun lounger in the sky day. First run down the back of the hill in the shade was quite firm, scrapy and steep and Beanie took a wee tumble which dampened her spirt a little. After this we returned to the top of the hill and decided to try and find the infamous Burton board park and after I got some directions in German haha. Well we found it on the back of the hill. What can I say..ITS MASSIVE no chance Beanie nor I were going to fly of any of the HUGE gap kickers they had nor manage an ollie onto any of the rails so that was that. After this we appeared to be stuck on the back of the hill with no chance of returning to the main slopes. I took a run which Beanie was convinced was leading us to the middle of nowhere past a lift that was closed with no one insight( which worried me a bit ) through an awesome tree run and then finally to somewhere I recognized from my time with Jazzer (Phew) There were moments I imagined us both walking a very long way back up the hill. Anyway after a spot of lunch we got back to the main runs and back down to the car where I convinced Beanie it was a snowskate day and she should give the beginner slopes a try. I was right! After a sweet run and managing the T Bar lift

• 
  we hit this run again and then to my amazment Beanie said we should go to the top of the hill in the chair.
  
  
  
  
  
  Slush puppies on Top of the world
  
  
  
  
   After this the day just got better and better and Beanie grew in confidence on the bigger slopes she took a good few bails but as we say no falls no balls. I am so happy for her that she has plucked up the courage to overcome her fears of the big slopes and has earned herself the Howling Mad Slush Hound badge
  
  
  

Beanie Slush Hound

Our second day at Spitzingsee was just a couple of hours in the afternoon and again Beanie was having a great time slush hounding it up and I was dicking about trying to do shove-its and giving switch a go, also managed a one foot effort up the T bar

 

03/04/12
Steinplatte

  

Beanie left her srappy beast at home.(for once) And what an Ace day we had just bombing the main run and

I tried to hit as many features in the park as possiible and ate shit on a couple of runs but taimed the nasty snake box thingy that through me off last time I was there.

The rest of the day was super fun and Beanie is really coming on great. I've said it before but Steinplatte really is a brilliant resort and the park is perfect for snowskate action. 

In general I've had very few problems here in the Alps with my snowskate, I have no idea what the problem is with resorts not allowing snowskates its utter bullshit. This was Beanie's second resort snowskating and she managed to ride of the chair and made it down the slope better than many snowboarders. Snowskating as Beanie put it is not Black Magic. Riding a snowskate down the hill is not the most difficult thing in the world,yes it takes a bit more skill than being strapped in that's for sure but its the tricks that take a lot more skill its like skateboarding Vs rollerblading.

Snowskating is more Black Metal than Black Magic resorts need to realize that people that ride snowskates are just simply Awesome and Hard ass and leave us the fuck alone to tear shit up. Or everyone should have to do a riding test and get a license for the hill.
 Lets face it no matter what you do up the hills be it skiing snowboarding snowskating or smx its all pretty nuts. We are all responsible for our actions. Im not going to drop my snowskate off the chair are you insane i spent good money on that, its my baby would you drop a child of the chair? No. You wont let snowskaters up the hill but you'll let some little twat strapped to a rocket, Yeah? The main problem is that people need to respect others personal space on the hill if your an arms length away you might get a punch in the chops eh?

  STUFF TO CHECK OUT

1.0910 SNOWSKATES 0910 Homepage/ Webzine
2.GERGIS MAXIMUS PHOTOGRAPHY Snowskate Party Mountain check out his entire youtube channel! Snowskate Video 

3.FLORIDAPOWDERSKATES http://www.fpskate.com/HOME.html

4.CANADIAN SNOWSKATE Open 2012 Youtube Video

5. SPITZINGSEE http://www.alpenbahnen-spitzingsee.de/english/news/

6. STEINPLATTE Steinplatte homepage

7.LEISE BRETTER 03 http://www.facebook.com/leise

8.FREE FOOTED FUTURE Youtube Video

world lines

SNOWSKATE AND BOCKWURST

Photo by Kurt Zapata

Hi Folks

I want to give a MASSIVE SHOUT OUT to all the people I've spoken to in the snowskate community in the last couple of weeks and all the new views from all over the world.

First off, Kendra Wilson for being so helpful. Btw 4inch Rockers for anyone with a Lib Tech. whooho. Gergis Maximus for joining the Blog and being a Super Cool Dude if anyone has not checked out the link yet then get on with it. Ken Smuck for adding me on Snowskate Ontario. Larry Rollag for having a nice chat and Jimmy Churri for the invitation to the Leise Bretter 03 in Austria. Can't wait. Thanks alot mate.

I also want to thank the companies that were up for answering a few questions: Zak, the boss at PAROLE BOARDS Jim and Melissa from PREDOG who shared the LOVE and being totally Cool, Kurt from MINUS SEVEN for cracking me up, Mike at 0910 Brian from ANONYMOUS SNOWSKATER, FUSE SNOWSKATES Craig from PIONEER and last but definitely not least Danny from RALSTON.

Danny at Ralston.(photo by ralston)

1. How long have you been snowskating?
   RALSTON: 2003. bought my first skate from pat bonser. gnu skate.
   MINUS SEVEN:My brother-in-law gave me a snosk8 that he had made in November, 2000.
   PAROLE BOARDS: On and off for about ten years in the last 5 years I've really been all in.
   PREDOG: since 2006ish
   0910: the 0910 team has been snowskating for about 10 years now.
   FUSE: 10+ yr
   ANONYMOUS SNOWSKATER: 9 years
   PIONEER: this is my ninth year,
   
   Kurt from Minus 7 (photo by minus 7)
2. Do you still snowboard?
   RALSTON: have not strapped in since 2005.
   MINUS SEVEN: Hell no! that didn't take long
   PAROLE BOARDS: Not at all my snowboard is covered in dust. Haha
   PREDOG: no, not really will ski before I snowboard or telemark
   0910: Honestly...no. dont strap anymore. Once you know about freedom it is hard to go back to chains...
   FUSE: yes, need to beat all the powder hounds at my home mt
   ANONYMOUS SNOWSKATER: nope. haven't strapped in since Utah, March of 2007
   

   PIONEER: hell no!
   
    Parole logo (photo by parole boards)
3. How long has your company been on the go?
   RALSTON: started prototyping shortly after buying the gnu in 03. ralston has been official since 2005.
   MINUS SEVEN: I got our business license on 07/07/2007
   PAROLE BOARDS: It's been a brain child of myn for about 5 years. It has only been legally a company for a year. We've been around, just quite on the east coast. Next year expect to see alot of new exciting stuff.
   PREDOG: officially, formed an LLC May of 2011 unofficially, since 2006ish, when I first stepped on a snowskate ever since then have been making my skates drilling, shaping, frankenskating...
   0910: The first snowskate was sold in 2009 but we started working of prototypes since 2007.
   FUSE: since '04
   ANONYMOUS SNOWSKATER: we've been around since 2003, printing shirts and hoodies and we started making leashes 4 years ago based on the fact that I couldn't find a leash that I liked, so I started making leashes.
   PIONEER: five years and growing,
   
    Predog (photo by predog)
4. What does the future hold for snowskating?
   RALSTON: not sure? i believe it will keep growing but i think it will peak out before it becomes too mainstream. it is a lot harder than snowboarding so a lot of people will not get involved due to the skill required. i am sure it will get pretty popular but it will never boom like snowboarding did.
   MINUS SEVEN:This gonna take a while... Parity. Snowskating will be as popular as any other winter action sport, with the attendant media hype The trick is self-efficacy. It either happens to us or by us.
   PAROLE BOARDS: I hope the future holds unified resort acceptance. And the chance for new company's to prosper. The level of riding is getting better every year. I would say the future of snowskateing is bright.
   PREDOG: Go big or go home.. It will be huge I think resorts will start allowing and it will exponentially grow in popularity. competitions
   0910: There will be more snowskaters worldwide and more media exposure for sure.The level of riding will keep progressing. More contests, more videos, more insane tricks and above all ...the same fun!!!
   FUSE: freeride skate line!
   ANONYMOUS SNOWSKATER: the future is wide open. Once you see what some one with some skill can do on a snowskate it's hard to deny that we are a viable mountain riding option. But we are going through our growth period just like snowboarding did back in the day. I know some people want to see us a big media contest sport like the X games, but I believe the core riders that have helped snowsk8ing grow are going to keep it core, you know ride for the sake of riding. But it all depends on the progression too, over the last few years we have some riders that have been pushing the binding free envelope!
   

   PIONEER: progression of the sport with better skate designs and hopefully a job,
   
    Mike from 0910 (photo by 0910)
5. What is santa bringing you this Christmas?
   RALSTON: hopefully santa stops by early grabs boards for all the good little boys and girls.
   MINUS SEVEN: Snow please
   PAROLE BOARDS: Hopefully lots of snow and more people to snowskate with!
   PREDOG: Hopefully predog completes from belt to snow! for all the good boys and girls I am kind of hoping that predog will be santa this year! I already have the ad designed for Starfish Magazine! Going to be sick
   0910: We are currently working on a new collection. It might take a while to have it dialed but the wait will be worth it for sure. It is going to be something really different from what is in the market now. Hopefully a new team trip and a visit to Tahoe.
   FUSE:( no answer ,they have been bad boys.)
   ANONYMOUS SNOWSKATER: If I'm good, I will be getting a new Ralston. But my quiver still needs a Pioneer 49er too and a Boyd Hill.
   PIONEER:happiness! 
   
   
     Fuse (photo by Fuse)
   
   
   
    Brian from Anonymous Snowskater (photo: Gergis Maximus)

pioneer(photo by pioneer)

God I´m Soooo Jealous... Last week the Biggest snowskate event of the year The Ralston Cup saw another year and Holy smoke the guys and girls are kicking ass. One guy inpaticular Mark Spicolli landing what has been coined the tree60  tree60 video and later landing an awesome christ air Christ Air Video( did he read an older post of mine about Nick Visconti???? well I was right, I quiet often am)HaHa. is there no end to this boys talent? Lets Hope Not. Watch out snowboarding your heading the same way as the dinosaurs . Ha. As well as The Ralston Cup there was another comp layed on by Minus Seven snowskates

which I'm sure was equally as awesome. Well done to Kendra (project snowskate) and to Mathilda(Predog) on placing in the top three at both of these events.

 Photo by Predog

As I was saying I have been invited to Leise Bretter 03: Snowskate Rodeo which is in Austria in April and I'm fully excited about meeting some snowskaters more or less for the first time. This is an annual get together of snowskaters which started back in the day and has been revived recently the orginal organisers have fallen by the way side and were all from a long board background the event. For an annual fee of 10.80 € you can join the Leise Bretter club which is also in aid of charity a donation will go to help women in 3^rd world countries with microcredits.....so this is all a worthy cause.

21/03/2012

Steinplatte

Another day at the Stone plate and this time it was slushy fun. After a couple of runs and a big lose my hat tumble on a red run I was a bit down hearted but my mood changed when Beanie and I decided to hit the fun park. My bailing was far from over thou as a nasty snake box thingy that was uneven in the snow was just not letting me pop off the end and spat me off three times(bitch) had to give that one a miss and then turned my attention to this

which proved to be more successful and boosted me up. After that it was sesh on and had three or four really fun runs sliding over boxes and popping off little kickers and Beanie even got in on the action(yeah). All in all another great day out inthe sun was held by all. Only got one grumble thou and hear it is. This excuse my french F#“/$R of a lifty who has already pissed me off a little last time I was here said skiers snowboarders and ( me ) foot passengers (this really pissed me off) shouldnt be coming up the chair together and to Get Off Immediatly! What a Prick! Next time he will be a passenger on the end of my foot. The last time he had a problem it was at the bottom of the same chair lift and he told me that I should be sitting on the right hand side of the chair and thats exactlly where I was sitting this time. Anyone who wants to name and shame idiot lift operators can do so here I would like to start a SHIT LIST. Its time for change right now! im bloody sick of being looked at as second rate. We have as much right to be up the hills as anyone else. Anyway apart from that the whole day turned out to be pretty awsome the sun the slush and as always some great food and for a change Beanie got out of her stabilizers and got out for a bit of strapless fun,Hoorah.

 On the left Germknödel(Glenshee) and on the right Kaiserschmarrn(The Alps)

PASSPORT?

STUFF TO CHECK OUT

1.LIB TECH SNOWSKATES Lib Tech Snowskate

2.RALSTON SNOWSKATES/RALSTON CUP ralstonsnowskates
3. PREDOG http://www.predog.com/
4. MINUS 7 http://minus-7.com/
5. PAROLE http://www.facebook.com/paroleboards
6. ANONYMOUS SNOWSKATER Brian's facebook
7. FUSE http://fusesnow.com/web/index.php
8.0910 SNOWSKATES 0910 Homepage/ Webzine

9. LEISE BRETTER 03 http://www.facebook.com/leisebretter03

10.STEINPLATTE Steinplatte homepage

11.GERGIS MAXIMUS PHOTOGRAPHY Snowskate Party Mountain check out his entire youtube channel! Snowskate Video 
12. KENDRA'S PROJECT SNOWSKATE http://projectsnowskate.com/

.

We need lithium!

12/2/2012

Oh well it didn't take me long to eat my words. I do prefer to go hiking up hills to find untouched spots but it's not for everyone. Friends and family are always going to want to go to resorts so if you get the chance to go to places you haven't been before then who am I to say no?

First time in the Alps. Wow what can I say it really is breathtaking. Even the drive there blew my mind. I love the hills of Scotland but this really was amazing. Sabine and I set off with her dad Karl at around 9.30am from Munich and arrived at Steinplatte in Austria at 11.15am, had a quick munch to eat and by 12 we're heading up in the gondala. I have to say I was pretty nervous about my first day out as I thought I was going to be holding everyone up.

Sabine was on her snowboard, Karl on skis and me on the snowskate - how more openminded can we be? After the first couple of runs the nerves wore off and I was away. The snow was quite hard packed on the piste but it was awesome to ride, I couldn't believe how wide the piste was and with trees, which im not used to, so much fun. Steinplatte is a really friendly, family resort and I had no problems with the snowskate. One liftie did stop me but when I showed him my leash everything was cool. The whole day was pretty magical for me and it was hard to take it all in. It was like I was watching it all on t.v and wasn't really there. After a few runs we went to the top of the Mountain the views were undescribable. I had my camera with me but I just wanted to soak it up and didn't take a single picture the whole day. At one point I thought my eyes had gone funny and my eyesight was knackered. I could see glitter moving very slowly in the air. Karl had warned me of the importance of wearing goggles a couple of runs earlier, which I had ignored. Luckily for me Sabine and her Dad could see it too. It was so cold the air was freezing, it was bizzare. Anyway my shades went on after that just incase. As at Cairngorms, like most resorts I've been to, the snowskate was causing loads of interest from people curious to know what it was. One guy came rushing over to ask me about it. We had language problems so I had to fetch Sabine to explain. He was a non believer, but after I blasted down the slope a bit I looked back to see him give me the big thumbs up. Steinplatte is an brilliant resort and has something for everyone and their funpark which you can see from the chairlift is not completely intimidating but still pretty big with rails, kickers and tabletops dotted around the place. After doing about 50km of riding we were all done. I cant wait to get back there to cruz about.When we got back to the car we were dusting snow off our gear and I noticed Sabine's toe strap had snapped off (it must be a sign!). Seriously thinking about a bigger ski for my board,as I went through the powder run and took a wee tumble. I'm sure there are better places to go snowskating in the world but that was by far the best yet for me.(Steve man get your Bloody PASSPORT!!!)

Two guys who forgot to take their gloves(Karl and Myself) lucky Karl had spares (-17°C)

Happy Birthday, merry old Schenker!

Very tempting to ride over the roof. Photo by Karl

Spot the odd one out!

If you're looking for a serious munch after sliding about, check out Cafe Schmid in Waidring for the biggest portions of food I've ever seen. They have slices of cake that can only be compared to the Alps themselves.

Ok thought I would have a bit of a bitch now. I was looking through the new White Lines snowboarding magazine 100^th issue,(which has Angus Malloch inside. Big up the Glenshee Massive; Whitelines: Talentspotting) remember seeing him mucking about on a snowskate when he was an even younger lad than he is now. Anyways back to the bitchin, there is an advert for Santa Cruz inside. A brand which I love ,great Skate label and they build awesome bikes but please don't write „Skate the Snow“ unless you are. I know it's refering to the Rob Roskopp graphic on the board, which was one of the first pro skateboards I ever saw, but then why not put the graphic on the bottom of a Double Decker? Because I know they have it on a flat snowskate. Then get someone to fly off the roof. Skate the snow my arse.

And in the same issue Nick Visconti doing a christ air on a snowboard , yeah that is really awesome but I'm sure he would have been been far better of trying this on a snowskate. If you don't need your bindings anymore, Dude, then get rid. (Nick's Christ Air)

Since being at the ISPO and coming home with enough toilet reading material to last us until next year's one, I've noticed that more and more snowboarders are doing tricks now with one foot out or both and making it all skateboard style like American rider Scott Stevens. In an interview in Pleasure magazine he said his snowboarding style is the opposite of what he calls „triple corks“ or as Sabine calls it „glorified gymnastics“. Scott Stevens is also an avid skateboarder and adopting a skateboard attitude towards his snowboarding helped him to be creative again and having fun with the board. He said his tricks are not the biggest or the most dangerous ones but that's not what it's about for him. It's about putting his individual stamp on snowboarding and having fun with it skateboard-style. If you ask me I would say this Dude should seriously consider asking Santa for a Bi level (double decker) snowskate for xmas.

Beanie's hairy bits:

While at the ISPO I went to the „Women in Boardsports Lunch“. It is an annual business lunch just for girls and women working in the boardsports industry. Everyone was there, the founder and owner of Nikita, Heida Birgisdottir, proskater Steffi Weiss and the whole team of Cooler magazine, I will quit the namedropping here. Anyway, there was a 20min panel discussion among girls from Bonfire, Volcom, Salomon, Nikita and Factory Media. Some of the discussion points considered the difficulties of being a mum and working at the same time, others how to make it in the world of boardsports but what is of interest here for me is the fact that, as Amy Aigner from Bonfire pointed out, more and more girls are stopping snowboarding. Due to various reasons such as snowboarding being a very expensive sport if you have to take your whole family out. Buying the equipment, lift pass and the journey to any ski resort can become pretty expensive and therefore lots of women stop snowboarding all together. If anything they would pay for their kids to enjoy the white stuff instead of themselves going up. Amy said that it has to be stressed that a snowboarding day out is a family affair and can create some of the best family memories. However, let's face it, the money is a real big issue here.

Consider the advantages of a snowskate day out: everyone involved needs a board and a pair of waterproof boots and off you go! Packed lunch in the bag, everyone can hike up the hills in the local park together and a great day out is guaranteed! And if you ever want to go to a resort it is no biggie either (just read Scott's write up on the Steinplatte) if your skills are half-way ok.

Snowskating like skateboarding is a relatively cheap activity. Once you invested in a decent deck you can also do it anywhere! It does not have to be as expensive as snowboarding is. After all, great memories are created by having a great time together.

I am fortunate enough to be able to do both. I just bought a brand new set up by Flow and I love riding my strappy beast. But recently I realized that hiking up the hills with my snowskate in hand and creating fresh lines while riding down has been probably the most fun I had on a board for a very long time. I just want people to see snowskating as a real alternative to snowboarding and more people should give it a go.

STUFF TO CHECK OUT

1.LIB TECH SNOWSKATES Lib Tech Snowskate

2.RALSTON SNOWSKATES/RALSTON CUP ralstonsnowskates; Ralston Cup on Youtube

3.CHAIRLIFT SKEPTICS YOUTUBE Awesome CS Video

4.SHUT UP AND SNOWSKATE YOUTUBE Youtube video

5.MARTY SPECTRUM SPORTS Spectrum Sports

6.BLUE TOMATO Blue Tomato

7.STEINPLATTE Steinplatte homepage

8.JOE BENDER Boosie & Joe

9.SMX SHIZOFANATIC Great SMX Video!

10.GERGIS MAXIMUS PHOTOGRAPHY Snowskate Party Mountain check out his entire youtube channel! Snowskate Video