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/

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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.

BINDINGS ARE DANGEROUS BEWARE.

Sorry but we havent found anyone for naked snowskating yet and Skully is nowhere to be found. Still waiting for a comment and a new member to join.

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

11.RALSTON 2009/10 Snowskate Video

12.CRUSIN A RALSTON Ralston Video

13.SNOWSKATING IS TOO MUCH FUN Awesome Video

14.FLORIDA SNOWSKATES Florida Powderskate Homepage

15.0910 SNOWSKAES/SLOPE MAGAZINE 0910 Homepage/ Webzine

16.THE AWAKENING HD Snowskate Video

17.STARFISH MAGAZINE Starfish Magazine

18. BOCKERL The Böckerl Thanks to Michl and the Dancing Queen for that one!

19.SPITZINGSEE http://www.alpenbahnen-spitzingsee.de/

20.FIEBERBRUNN http://www.bergbahnen-fieberbrunn.at/

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HERE COMES THE SUMMER, WHAT A BUMMER.

Hey Folks,

Hope you have been enjoying the blog with the added edition of Beanies hairy bits, Sabine will be writing a wee bit each time now to represent the females out there who are rocking the snowskates or anything else. As I was saying last time we have a lot of toilet reading to get through shit loads of snowboard mags and I've more or less flicked my way through the lot in the hope I might find one tiny artical or a tiny wee picture of that very rare creature the snowskate and to my amazement just like the ISPO - Bugger all. I do find it weird though, it's more or less the same thing as snowboarding and with a company as big as LIB TECH making skates you would think more mags would feature something about them. I know there are mags in the States STARFISH being one of them but I've never seen one in the flesh only online, which is really good btw.

Finally found a European snowskate company. from Switzerland called 0910 they also have a magazine called SLOPE which you can buy or read online.0910 also organised the first European snowskate competition this year which we unfortunately found out about too late.

It's the same with snowskates in shops, I've been to all the board shops in Munich and nothing. It's starting to piss me off a bit, if something goes wrong with my skate I'm screwed.(just have to steal Beanies skate.) she's more interested in her strappy beast. [Beanie: at the moment!!]

Anyway I look online and see guys in the U.S. With my top deck and different skis, heaps of different grips and cool looking leashes not to mention the amount of new brands popping up. I see guys with their mates who have other skates that I've never even seen before with a massive powder skis and I'm like „Oh balls look at that“. Then I see a group of guys all out snowskating together all wooping and yeahing and I'm like double Balls. Anyway I'm a tiny bit jealous. But it's cool. Talking of powderskates that is something I've definitely got to try before I die. Seen clips and pics of dudes carving the shit out of the fluffy stuff with those babies.

FLORIDA POWDERSKATE is a company I checked out a long time ago when obsessing online and I've recently had another look and holy smoke they have some bitchin looking skates, it's got to be done. I've come to the conclusion I was born in the wrong country I need to get my ass over to America its just as simple as that.

B.T.W would really appreciate some comments or some hellos or fit likes, and if anyone wants to send some pictures/artwork or videos I would be happy to stick them on here no problems.

Next Season I've decided to buy myself some goodies and depending on the finances a longer ski and some snowshoes would be really nice to do some serious hiking into the hills. Found a pair of snowshoes called MSR LIGHTNING ASCENT which are super lightweight but they have a pretty serious price tag at 299€ (so much for a relatively cheap activity) but I'm thinking they could be a really good investment. My first purchace though is going to have to be some ROCKER TRUCKS I've been talking about these for an age now so I think its high time I got hold of them, I've read good stuff about them saying that they let your ski bend and give you pop which I'm looking for. I just bought myself a new pair of boots from SALOMON which I've not tried out yet but I think are going to be just the ticket, really lightweight and warmth guaranteed until -40°C so I'm expecting cosy toes, hope the grips are going to be good. My last pair of boots were NORTHFACE which had really good grip but I had a problem with the first pair leaking and I had to send them back. No thanks to the bloody fool I bought them from not naming names you know who you are!. And for your information LaToya a very helpful young lady at COTSWOLDs in Aberdeen sent them to NORTHFACE for me no problem and they returned me a brand new pair. Some people talk a load of shite. „Oh these boots are water resistant not waterproof“..It says waterproof on the side of the boot you bloody idiot. I really hate it when people from stores dont help you out with your gear, stuff that you are relying on. What makes it worse is you know if you looked like you had money they would be kissing your ass and blowing sugar up it.

My favourite day out hiking is still our trip up Lochnagar but next season I want to better that if thats at all possible, hopefully my brother is going to be coming with us on that one. Might even be able to convince him to leave his strappy beast at home this time and get himself a double decker.(not sure about that one) (PASSPORT?) ha! Some of the hills I saw on our drive out to the Alps are just begging to be ridden though. Snowskate Heaven as I like to call it.Woop.

SNURFING AND THE HISTORY / FUTURE OF SNOWSKATING

 http://www.mashf.com/2001_inductees.htm#Sherman

Snurfing was invented in 1965 by Sherman Poppen in Muskegon Michigan as a way of getting his daughters out of the house and into the snow, the invention had come from a water ski that he customized.It was then named by his wife the „snurfer“ as you could surf the snow. Poppen then licensed the concept to Bruswick Corporation to manufacture the „snurfer“ Later Jem Corporation licensed the product and made the boards into the 80s. From 1968 to 1979 there were several snurfing comps and snurfing started to evolve and in 1979 Jake Burton Carpenter had come up with a customised board with bindings which lead to BURTON SNOWBOARDS. Joshua Luther coined the phrase snowskate when he needed to get across town in a blizzard and Bi deck snowskating was invented by Steve Frink in Stevens Pass Washington he came up with the idea of putting skis on a skateboard in 1994 while burning his skateboard in some kind of ritual and in 2001 came up with the final design which he branded Bi-Deck Snowskates (Double Decker).(from wikipedia)

Snurfer Video with Awesome Music the CD is "Badema" by Malang Jobateh and Nate Silas Richarson, song is "Foreya". One of my fav videos of all time!

TERJE HAAKONSEN is the godfather of snowboarding and apparently discovered the advantages of binding free fun for himself as this excerpt from a recent interview shows:

Terje: Was there anybody snow skating? There is a hill in Oslo. When I go with the kids I snowskate. It really makes the small hills super fun again! Little things become super technical. I mean when I see pro snowboarder building jumps up to rails I think, man that reminds me of rollerblading. The reason I say that is because I have seen people ollie to rails on snowskates and also do fifteen foot kickflips. Since lift tickets are so expensive you can just grab your snowskate and go cruise in the neighborhood if it’s snowing. http://www.yobeat.com/2011/06/29/terje-haakonsen-speaks-to-hump-day/

And Terje isn't the only legend who is appreciating a little bit of double decker fun TRAVIS RICE in an interview Do you have any history with snowskating? Of course I’ve snowskated.  Snowskates are completely awesome.  In my opinion, Lib Tech is making the best snowskate out there right now, incorporating all the technology in their snowboards into the ski of their snowskates.  Magne Traction and all.Yes.

 Do you think snowskating will ever become as big as snowboarding? The progression that snowskating has made over the past 2 years is insane.  If that sort of progression continues over the next 2-3 years, snowskating will make it to the big time.  It’s getting super technical.  The advantage that snowskating has over snowboarding is the flip tricks.  It adds a whole new dimension to the sport that snowboarding can never touch, and it brings a new type of rider and riding style to the snow. http://projectsnowskate.com/page/3/

These comments from the old school and new school pros of snowboarding say to me that snowskating is well on its way to becoming the next big thing. I just hope it holds onto some of its cool. [Beanie: Me too!]

BEETROOT TO YOURSELF

Well the truth is we are all getting older and sooner or later your going to be a pile of bones in a box. Us over 30s are starting to feel a bit creeky but to hell with it lets rip it up till we drop down dead. Thought I would let you creeks know about the health benefits of Beetroot. Drinking beetroot juice increases stamina and could help people to exercise for 16% longer which I think we could all be doing with whatever our age.

 http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2jh3otbVg0k/TyTuyHZ241I/AAAAAAAAAUg/iiA4YV9a-00/s1600/Beetroot.jpg

BEETROOT JUICE

Grated beetroot 1 cup

Grated carrot 1 cup

Orange juice 3 table spoons

Sugar as needed.

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and grind the concoction to a smooth puree. Add desired water to maintain sufficient fluidity to the mixture. You can store the beetroot juice in the refrigerator for consumption afterwards. After that you should be a raging beast ready to destroy anything in your path...

 Sabine with Beetroota who is sadly no longer with us as she lost her head
Picture dedicated to Steve (so tempted to put that picture of you on here) makes me laugh everytime I see it.

BEANIES HAIRY BITS

... are staying in my pants till the next blog because I am too busy with real life writing right now.

NEXT BLOG: Naked snowskating, Bruised bum story and pic, and hopefully a comment or two?

PLUS: We get someone else on a snowskate And SKULLY SKUNKEYE rears his ugly head.

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

11.RALSTON 2009/10 Snowskate Video

12.CRUSIN A RALSTON Ralston Video

13.SNOWSKATING IS TOO MUCH FUN Awesome Video

14.FLORIDA SNOWSKATES Florida Powderskate Homepage

15.0910 SNOWSKAES/SLOPE MAGAZINE 0910 Homepage/ Webzine

16.THE AWAKENING HD Snowskate Video

17.STARFISH MAGAZINE Starfish Magazine

18. BOCKERL The Böckerl Thanks to Michl and the Dancing Queen for that one!

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