Recon Instruments is a Vancouver (BC) based technology company that has released a micro optics display for ski/snowboard goggles.

So what the heck is that?

It took me some time to figure it out as the press release is pretty “nerdy”, but shortly said their two versions of their GPS-enabled goggles provide skiers and riders with a variety of data including speed, jump analytics, vertical, altitude, location, distance, chrono/tracker, run-counter, and temperature. This means that you can record lots of different data during your day on the slopes, and you can share all this data in the Internet. You can re-live and learn from your trips and runs, add images and video to create a highlight reel to share with other community members or with friends and family via Facebook and Twitter. Pretty cool I would say. Kids must really like this.

There’s even more. The Android-based MOD Live ships with four new, industry first applications:

• Buddy Tracking
• Smartphone Connectivity
• a Navigation app pre-loaded with the largest database of trail maps in the world
• Music Playlist Mode
• Camera Connectivity for use in the future with select wireless point-of-view action cameras.

“The transition to modular based optics allows us to expand our reach exponentially,” said Darcy Hughes, Chief Marketing Officer, Recon Instruments. “The snap-fit design, Bluetooth interaction, combined with the ever-evolving Android platform, is a game changer for the action sports industry in terms of connectivity, real-time information direct to eye, and community sharing.”

Other new features this season include a fasten-anywhere Bluetooth remote control, 33% larger widescreen optics, and an adjustable optics arm for a truly custom fit. Recon Ready goggles are already available from Uvex, Briko, Alpina, and Zeal Optics, with several more leading goggle brands scheduled to come onboard this winter and spring.

MOD and MOD Live are available now for $299 and $399.

This is a pretty good Christmas present idea. Products should be available in Amazon soon.

Riders: Alex Tank, Benny Wetscher, Christian Haller, Christophe Schmidt, Colin Frei, Daniel Rajcsanyi, David Bertschinger Karg, Ethan Morgan, Fips Strauss, Fredrik Evensen, Kevin Bäckström, Ludwig Lejkner, Peter König, Simon Gruber, Tobi Strauss, Tom Klocker, Wojtek Pawlusiak & Special Guests.

Definitely one to look forward to.

The following is shown in it’s entirety:

Letter to the Editor,

As the Olympic slopestyle/snowboarding discussion is peaking, it’s time to cast some light on this defining topic for the future of competitive snowboarding. This upcoming weekend, the FIS introduces slopestyle to their program, on the same weekend as the best slopestyle riders are competing in the Dew Tour. And the IOC is about to decide if they will include slopestyle in the next Olympic program or not. Some remarkable events have taken place in the last year. Let us recap:

After the extraordinary TV rating success of the Vancouver halfpipe contest, top cats from the IOC and NBC saw the potential in expanding the snowboarding program at the next Olympics. Seeing the golden boy Shaun White go double at the next winter Olympics (Sochi 2014) would be a ratings wet dream. In the fall of 2009, USA, Canada and New Zealand had prepared a proposition for the FIS’s annual congress in Turkey, June 2010. The idea was to prepare slopestyle for the 2018 Olympics by introducing it at the FIS Snowboarding World Championships, as the IOC requires two successful World Championships before considering new sports for future games.

By then, the FIS delegates were euphoric at the hysteria that followed the snowboarding events in Vancouver. They decided to speed up the process, bypassing the existing requirements by submitting an application to the IOC immediately – before slopestyle had been tried out at a single FIS World Championships. It is reasonable to imagine they felt confident that the IOC would react positively to this application.

The only problem was that IOC had a lot on their plate at their next meeting, in Acapulco in October [2010]. The most disturbing topic was women ski jumping; a nightmare for the Olympic movement. Women ski jumpers have been fighting for years to enter the Olympics, but have faced serious opposition both within FIS and the IOC. Many believe women ski jumping (including members of the sports media) does not have enough participants, is low on quality and does not have the necessary international reach as a sport to be a credible Olympic event. Women ski jumpers had sued the IOC before the Vancouver Olympics for discrimination, but were ruled against by the Canadian legal system.

Allowing snowboard slopestyle (as well as twintip ski halfpipe and slopestyle) before solving the women ski jumping issue probably made the choice impossible for IOC. Rather than accepting some applications from some sports and denying others, they made one statement for all: We will wait and see the quality of the sports at the upcoming world championships. FIS has several world championships coming up this season, among them the Nordic Ski World Championships in Oslo, the Snowboard World Championships in La Molina, Spain and the Freestyle World Championships in Deer Valley and Park City [ in Utah].

The only problem about this from a snowboarding perspective is that neither Molina nor Deer Valley/Park City had planned for a slopestyle! Even worse, Deer Valley actively bans snowboarding on a general basis and they do not have a terrain park. In Norway, where the snowboard federation is independent of FIS, and are part owners of the TTR/WSF World Snowboarding Championships in 2012, this whole situation culminated in a public debate. IOC executive board member Gerhard Heiberg admitted that IOC wanted to check out more than just FIS events when deciding upon the quality of slopestyle. As FIS did not have slopestyle on their Olympic program, this opened up for a new scenario in the debate: if the IOC could look at non-FIS events, could they also approve these events as qualifiers for the Olympics?

Everyone working with top level snowboarding contest knows how much the date conflicts in Olympic qualifying years is hurting the sport. This has been bad before, but in 2013, when riders are qualifying for both halfpipe and slopestyle, it has the potential to be a nightmare. And this is the fundamental problem of competitive snowboarding: it will never reap its full potential before the Olympic issue is solved. Snowboarding is not a four year cycle event. It is a daily operation where progress is happening in all corners of the world – summer, winter, spring and fall. At the moment, the Olympic halfpipe finals is only good for the podium winners, the IOC and the broadcasters. It does not help the sport as a whole.

The potential for date conflict is the most apparent problem. This was cruelly exposed when FIS all of a sudden decided to include slopestyle on the program at the La Molina Snowboarding World Championships – a mere two months before the event! This was obviously a move to impress the IOC before the slopestyle decision was made, but it was not a good move for the sport: the slopestyle contest in Molina happens on exactly the same dates as the Dew Tour stop in Killington. All Dew Tour riders, being the best slopestyle riders in the world, have been already committed to these events, meaning the FIS World Champion in slopestyle (and in halfpipe for that matter) will be crowned without the best riders attending.

Competitive snowboarding has fantastic potential. Right now, judging formats, slope design, prize money, TV production/distribution and rider services are progressing fast in TTR, X Games and Dew Tour events. These are the best events in the world. But they are outside the Olympic family. As the organizers [sic] of the biggest winter sports event in the world, we believe that the IOC holds a corporate responsibility for ensuring a workable solution for the sport. This will not only realise the potential of the sport, but also fast-track the quality of snowboarding contests at the Olympics. All of us, including event organizers, FIS, IOC and federations, should find a solution for the better good of the sport. Otherwise, the riders will be the main losers. They will be forced into making impossible choices between conflicting events in 2013 – on any given weekend throughout the season.

We believe a good solution could be a common Olympic ranking, not sanctioned by FIS or TTR, but a joint ranking list based on results from the best events in the world. By embracing this, the IOC would take a credible position for the youth of the world and take charge in the ongoing action sports revolution. We are willing to talk to find a good solution for the sport. But we are also willing to keep fighting for snowboarding like we have done for over a decade. The Olympic system for snowboarding is wrong; preserving the status quo is not an option.

-Terje Haakonsen and Henning Andersen

Please go toSlammer mag website and sign this petition. For those of you who do not read Finnish it is about trying to get a nice little snowy playground here in the city. There is nothing for us snowboarders and skiers, and we are asking the City of Helsinki to support this cause. The more names we have, the more leverage we get. So, if you want to help us out making this happen, please go to address above and sign it, thank you very much.

So, click this link to view the petition Helsinki snowy playground petition.

For those who do not speak Finnish, here are the language essentials in five seconds.

Nimi = name
Ikä = age
Paikkakunta = place of recidence

Lähetä = submit

Thanks heaps for everyone!

Photo by prostophoto

Red Bull created Shaun White a private giant pipe in the backwoods of Silverton mountain in Colorado. Shaun’s goal is to invent totally new tricks and push the sport further.

“I’ve had all these tricks in my mind I’ve wanted to try. I just needed a place to figure them out“, says Shaun White.

Project-X was born.

Silverton, Colorado is home to some of the best powder in the world. Silverton is not a regular ski resort. There are no similar infrastructure and services as for example in nearby Vail. Silverton is for experienced skiers and riders, and because of that it gets much less traffic than normal ski resorts. Silverton is a perfect spot to keep Shaun’s work under wraps.

Shaun’s giant pipe includes foam pit to which Shaun practices his new tricks. After training Shaun takes his tricks from concept to reality. After couple of months of training Shaun has his bag full of new tricks to be shown to the world.

So the world, including Hometown Boyz, is waiting to see these new tricks. No need to wait long, because all new tricks will be unleashed during season 2010. For those who can’t wait, check Shaun White private half pipe on November 3rd. It’s a preview date.

Red Bull Project X statistics

• needed 7200 foam blocks to fill the foam pit
• needed 300 man hours to build the foam pit
• 250,000 cubic yards of snow was moved to make the half pipe
• 30 avalanches were created by dropping dynamite to build Shaun’s pipe

For those who have lived under the rock, Shaun Roger White (born September 3, 1986 in Carlsbad, California) has been a notable competitor in professional snowboarding since he was 9 years old, but is also known for being a professional skateboarder as well. He was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart defect for which he endured two open-heart operations; one operation at six months, and the second at 12 months.

The Mojo that I have is the 161cm baby poo brown model from season 2008/2009. I’m a 169cm (5’5) tall girl and this is my first own splitboard so although I’ve spent several days on other splitboards I’m more used to normal freeride boards.

Voile Mojo Splitboard Review, the uphill part:

For those of you who haven’t tried a splitboard yet here are some general remarks. When skinning uphill with the Mojo you can notice that you’re on a splitboard and not skis. The Voile Mojo splitboard is in two parts while skinning and both of the “skis” are pretty wide. This can become an issue when going up a steep and icy slope. You’ll feel that the skis are a bit too wide and part of them will be hanging in the air. On such slope you have to use a lot of force and smack the board into the hard snow before you can feel that the skin gets a good grip. This made me feel a bit unsure before gaining more confidence.

When the snow is hard using the splitboard crampons become your best friend. Although you can buy the Voile Mojo Splitboard without crampons they’ll help a lot and if you’re going to invest into an expensive splitboard you might as well buy the crampons also. You’ll be using them regularly, more often than your skier friends do and you’ll find yourself cursing a lot without them.

Even though the width of the skis can become a problem I still preferred the Voile Mojo Splitboard to the self-split Burton Fish that was in three parts. The Fish had skinnier skis for going uphill but as a downside I had to carry the third, middle part of the snowboard on my backpack. Because of the self-made nature of the board the skis didn’t have inside edges. The skis also sank into deep snow a lot more and maybe because of the general softness of the board they were so soft that it cause problems on the steep bits. The self-split Fish also had several unattached parts that you could possibly lose.

Voile Mojo Splitboard Review, the downhill part:

Switching from the uphill mode to the downhill mode is easy after you get the hang of it. You don’t have to struggle with the pieces, just make sure to clear the ice and snow buildup and after a few times of disassembling and assembling the process becomes surprisingly fast. A tip: Spraying some silicone on the moving parts will help prevent the snow buildup and will make things easier. Compared to the old Burton S-Series system the ease of switching between modes is remarkable. Especially in cold and windy weather struggling with the different parts can suck, but that is not the case with the Voile Mojo Splitboard.

Photo: Lea Hartl

The feel of the board itself inspires confidence and when in one part the board feels solid. You don’t have to fear about the board falling apart when riding. Because of the cap construction the board is pretty light (3,64kg/8lbs according to Voile) while still being a stiff board. I didn’t find the stiffness to be a problem and I liked the board in all conditions ranging from pow to hardpack. The Voile Mojo Splitboard is definitely not a very playful board and it requires some speed to come alive. Because of the stiffness the edge grip is good on hardpack and steeper, icier stuff if I ever find myself there. I haven’t felt that the inside edges of the skis affecting the ride.

I’ve also ridden the board on groomers but for that purpose I’d rather choose a board that is more playful. The nose is soft enough that the board floats well in the pow pow, no complaints there. It’s not a beginners board (hey, it’s a splitboard after all!) and for those who only prefer soft boards it might not be the right choice.

The cons of the Voile Mojo Splitboard

After a season of riding the topsheet of the Voile Mojo Splitboard looks scuffed. This is because the skis hit each other when skinning uphill. The damage is only cosmetic and doesn’t affect the performance of the board but the small aesthete inside all of us won’t be happy about this. You can see a bit of the minor damage in the photo below.

Conclusion

Having an own splitboard has opened up a world of opportunities for me. The new Voile split kit works great and I’ve been happy with the Voile Mojo splitboard. I can recommend getting one if you can afford it and want to venture into the backcountry.

“If there’s no risk, there’s no adventure“, says Bill Briggs who was the first to ski Grand Teton. Bill was later named as the father of backcountry skiing in United States.

“There’s nobody out there with signs, there’s no ropes, there’s no patrol men, there’s nobody taking care of you on the slopes. It’s not a ski area“, said Doug Coombs in ski movie Steep.

Extreme skiing is skiing performed on long, steep (typically from 45 to 60+ degrees, or grades of 100 to 170 percent) slopes in dangerous terrain, outside the ski area boundaries. The French coined the term ‘Le Ski Extreme’ in the 1970s. The first practitioners include Swiss skier Sylvain Saudan, who invented the “windshield wiper” turn in the mid-1960s and in 1967 made the first descents of slopes in the Swiss, French and Italian Alps that were previously considered impossible. Because of the extremely long, steep slopes, and dangerous terrain, single mistakes at the wrong moment by some extreme skiers have led to their deaths. [Wikipedia 2009]

Riding the legendary north face of l’Aiguille du Midi via Mallory-Porter

Homeboy team rider Jarkko Henttonen discovered Chamonix in the beginning of 1990s, and since those days he has ridden many of the classic extreme runs, such as the north face of l’Aiguille du Midi via Mallory-Porter couloir. Although Jarkko did Mallory some time ago already I wanted to hear more about preparing and riding probably one of the best known extreme route. Here’s my discussion with Jarkko.

Jarkko, how would you first of all define the term “classic extreme ski descent”?

Extreme descent is a ski route which is big, steep and hazardous. Extreme skiing is a game that was developed in Chamonix over the past century. Chamonix, as we all know, is the birth place of mountaineering and it was just natural that folks who were climbing all over mountains started to ski all over mountains as well. In 30s and 40s some of the pioneers of the sport skied in pretty funny places, especially considering the gear they had. The sport stared to develop faster after the WW II when modern ski gear came out, and modern extreme skiing started in the end of the 1960s when Sylvan Saudan started to explore steep faces and couloirs in the Aiguilles du Chamonix and other big peaks in the Massif du Mont Blanc. Or so the story goes, at least.

The definition of extreme skiing, or snowboarding, if that is your sport, is that if you fall, or even loose control, you can expect to die sometime very soon. This happens because the slope you are riding is so steep that you won´t be able to regain control and you´ll fall all the way down to the bottom of the slope, hitting rocks and falling over rock or ice cliffs or whatever may be on your way. Basically you are tumbling down for a long time like a rag doll, not being able to do a thing to save your sorry ass.

Classic descent, in turn, is a ski route that has usually been opened up sometime ago, say in 60s, 70s or in some cases in the 80s, and that has some qualities that make it desirable. What I mean is that the route must have somehow aesthetic, historical or other such  value that lures people to it.

How did you come up with the idea of riding the north face of l’Aiguille du Midi via Mallory-Porter?

Someone, likely my friend Marko Virtanen, showed it to me. Check it out, that´s Mallory there! And like most everybody at first I didn´t even see where it was. I was like, where? This was in the beginning of 90s, I think in 1992.

The first ski descent of the route was done in 1977, I think, and with snowboards, which was still pretty new then, in 89 0r 90. The route had bit of aura on it back then. If you had done it, you were elite, pure and simple. I´d say that despite some trends and changes in attitudes that is still true. It´s a test-piece.

Next year, in 93, I was getting into extreme riding a little bit, and kinda started looking at Mallory, too. That kinda stuff was solely domain of french extreme athletes back then, and I wondered if I´d ever be good enough. I mean, I come from Finland, and how much tradition we have in that kinda stuff? To start with we don´t even have that kinda stuff in Finland, nothing like it, our highest so called mountain is like, what, less than 1300 m and about as flat as the earth was during the middle age. Our country is like a pancake. Anyways, that year a late friend of mine, Jukka Sistonen, skied it with another late friend, Alain Moroni, a french mountain guide and a pioneer of extreme snowboarding, and another frenchie, David Ravanel, a skier and a mountain guide whom I´ve only met a couple of times. I realized that this kinda stuff is also possible for flatlanders,  and from then on I really wanted to do it.

By the way, during 93-95 or even bit later, there was some kind of a change going on in attitudes. I´d say that´s when freeride started to develop big time, and that had an effect on a lot of things that were happening up in the mountains. New school freestyle skiing started to develop then, and similar thing happened in freeride, too. It´s going to be interesting to see what happens now that the two are really starting to merge, with guys like Travis Rice and the likes really getting into back-country freeriding…

How and how long did you prepare for this endeavor?

Quite a while. From the day I realized it´s there and I can do it, it took me about 8 years to actually make the descent. Either it was in condition and I wasn´t or I wasn´t there, or if I was good to go, the route wasn´t. Gotta be patient. If I had been in Chamonix all the time, probably I would have made it much earlier. I almost did it in 95, but missed my chance by about an hour or two.

Could you tell us about that day? How were the snow conditions, how did you feel?

I rode it with Antti Kurola, the day before Verbier Xtreme in 2001, in the beginning of April. I don´t remember anymore who it was but anyways somebody told me that it had been skied and that it is in condition. I´d been in Verbier for about 10 days or something, waiting for the Xtreme to take place, it was delayed due to weather and snow conditions, and was planning to go back home to Finland right after the contest, and since I had nothing better to do, I decided to go have a look.

So, we woke up in Verbier around 4 o´clock in the morning, drove to Chamonix, bought the lift passes to Aiguille du Midi, took the tram up and had a good look at the face from the mid-station. It looked good enough and we went up with the second lift and had a good look at the route from the lift, as well as from the top station. Even from closer it look kinda ok, so we decided to ride it.

We did not drop in from the entrance of the icy tunnel, which would have been better. The top was icy, so we opted to traverse to the ridge from top of Eperon Frendo. It was pretty cool feeling to drop in, after such a long wait. I mean, eight years is quite a long wait.

I went first and Antti came after me. We were both pretty stoked. Antti likes his big lines, he is or at least was into skiing steeps.

The traverse was ok, but the snow on the ridge was sorta hardish. Antti made the first turn and we just laughed. Whoa, here we go! Nowadays Mallory is ridden constantly if the conditions are good, but back then it was still sort of a big deal to do it, and definitely it was a big deal for us, especially for me.

Some guys have done it in like 15 minutes or something, but we wanted to take it easy and enjoy the ambiance… So, we took our time, I think it took us about 2 hours or something to go from the top to the bottom of the face.

The kinda has five or six different sections. First it goes down this broad ridge, which is mostly snow up high, then lower down it has big rocks sticking out of the snow all over. The top part was in sorta bad condition, it was not icy but the snow was quite hard so we had to take it easy. Lower down on the ridge, in this kinda shallow bowl thing it was better and we could relax a bit. Then you drop into this quite steep couloir that is above some gnarly drops. The snow was good there, so it was pretty ok doing that bit. Then you enter this sorta big diagonal ramp with at least partial double fall line with pretty big exposure above cliffs. It was bigger than it looks, so you don´t really feel the exposure that bad if you don´t go to the edge. I of course went, especially at the bottom of it I had to go look over the edge. I reckon I made my most precise turn ever there. Then you traverse to this patch of snow that is pretty damn steep, and really exposed. It was hard making turns there, the snow was bit weird. Stable and solid, sure, but not too smooth, it felt kinda grippy. From there you traverse on this little ramp to a spot from where you make a I think about 25-30 meter rappel to this steepish ramp. Once you are there, you should be fine. The ramps leads into a couloir, which opens up underneath the face. The whole thing is about 1000 m high, I´d say most of the way it´s most definitely at least 40-45 degrees steep, with long sections of about 50 degree incline and the steepest parts are about 55 degrees. It´s a radical route to ride, for sure, and the guys who opened it up in 1977 must have been super fucking stoked to do it. I mean, it´s right there, underneath the lift, and because of this, it´s unique. No other place in the world like this.

What were the highlights of riding Mallory-Porter?

The whole thing. First waiting for years and then one day waking up in Verbier, driving to Chamonix, going up, riding down, driving back… The whole thing was just such a fun thing to do.

Maybe the funniest thing was when we were about to do the rappel, and decided to call to Arto Majava, our buddy, who for sure would have wanted to be with us, but was back home instead. It was sorta early in the morning so we woke him up. I asked him how he is, he said ok, then he asked what we are up to, and I told him, trying to be as casual as possible, that we are on Mallory, about to do the rap, and then there was just a very long silence on the other end of the line.

How difficult is it to ride this classic off-piste run? To what would you compare it?

I wouldn´t really call it an off-piste run. Off-piste run is something way easier. Anyways, it is quite difficult. Not out of this world, though. I mean, I´ve done it, so more or less anybody can do if they really want it enough. And as I said, guys have done it in like 15 minutes, and if it is on, people do it a lot, it´s a mogulfield on the best, or the worst days.

As I described, it has some rather steep sections, and it is exposed all the way. In some places I´d say it is very exposed: you are riding above huge cliffs, and it feels really airy. I´d say it falls into extreme descent category, and if you do fall you have a pretty big risk to die. Then again, I´m quite sure somebody has fallen, or at least slipped there and not died, but in some sections I´d say it´s guaranteed death if you loose control, start sliding and cannot stop.

I wouldn´t compare it to normal riding at all. In some respect this kind of riding is closer to free solo climbing than anything else. Mallory is not particularly difficult extreme descent, but still, scary and difficult enough.

Would you do it again?

I would, if it´s in good condition and I´m in good condition, too. Right now I´m not.

What would you like to say to those who are planning to ride Mallory-Porter?

For those who are actually really planning it: have a great time when you get to go, it´s an awesome route! For those are thinking about it: make 100% sure you are ready for it. It´s really not a place where you go find out whether or not you are able to do what needs to be done. Test yourself somewhere else.

Is Burton still the king of snowboarding?

I met some friends at the movie theatre and the discussion immediately turned to a question whether it is clever “content-based marketing” or just cruel business to charge a 5€ fee from teens to watch “advertisement material”? Just joking of course. After all, in this case it would be a huge understatement to call the film just “advertising”. And, by the way, the aforementioned question came from the guy that actually designed the graphics on Jussi Oksanen’s board last year . (A bit of name dropping here but check out www.jarisalo.com for really cool skate/snowboard graphics, beautiful trip photos and nice general design stuff.)

Well, on to the content then. I am not that familiar with all the latest trends in snowboarding, but Burton still has one of the most talented teams around (shouldn’t be a suprise to anyone?) and pretty much lives the evolution of the sport.

In general everything you see is either mindblowing (i.e. tricks that 99% of us mortals wouldn’t even dream of) or just otherwise tells you exactly what snowboarding is in 2010 – for example all the highly creative urban stunts by Jeremy Jones (The “jibber” one, as another Jeremy Jones is one of the sickest big mountains guys – funny coincidence that is!).

Edition, filming and music in The B Movie

The editing was typically fast but nothing too “mtv” for a 36-year-old guy like me. There were some fast edits and unusual visual effects (like using overly-exposed-looking picture, etc.), but all those were used in a very stylish and quite mellow manner. I also liked the music – instead of (only) typical electropop from recent years, there was a healthy dose of groove/funk/soul and some classic rock too. And 1990s stuff like the Charlatans song from 1996!  I remember some friend saying back in the 1990s that “the big B” always tends to be a few years ahead of the curve – what they do now, everyone else will do in a couple of years. I guess this still holds true?

Riding in Burton’s 2008-209 The B Movie

As stated, riding was good, and some of the tricks and airs made me gasp – kind of expecting that some disaster is about to happen any second. Nicolas Müller’s part was nice, playful all-around snowboarding. I also liked Fredrik Kalbermatten’s part and style quite a lot.

Jeremy Jones did some very innovative/crazy urban jib things, as usual (although I’ve heard that Finnish Sebu Kuhlberg did that “shove-it” allowing trick with his bindings already in like 1994? In other words, he apparently filed the serrations off from the binding’s under plate, allowing the board to be “whipped” around on one-footed airs, and thus allowing the skate board trick “shove-it”/”360 shove it”).

Speaking of Finns, Jussi Oksanen’s part was also fine…some of the more “natural” riding in the flick. Lake Tahoe, good snow and natural lines, which all looked fun, stylish and as effortless as it can be. No wonder Jussi has been B’s team member for ages!

Where’s Terje, insane powder and “just” turns?

Ok, on to the criticism then. I guess times goes by but I couldn’t believe they’ve demoted Terje Haakonsen to have a “supporting role” only. All in all I would have liked to see more “soulful” riding – turning in steep terrain, trees/pillow lines, some real big mountain hairy stuff and top-to-bottom sections. There was some nice segments and locations, but to me it seemed that the edition/action/filming always concentrated on the “trick” part of the line, leaving on-the-ground-riding out of the limelight.

Give me Terje slashing Japan trees on his Fish! Or a few good old steep AK lines. I also missed the TGR type “deeper than deep” powder segment – isn’t that what the ski/snowboard porn is all about? (And yes I sound and am old school…)

To be honest I awaited that ultimate powder segment throughout the whole flick and therefore the otherwise massive, even spectacular “B” segment in the end was just “meh” to me. Although the set-up (massive “B”-shaped sculpture of snow), filming and riding were all top-class. But that is all apples and oranges, you know…go see the film and decide for yourself!

As they say in Yibb home page, “the Yibb is a snowsports product that can be mounted on to any standard snowboard. It allows you to snowboard without the use of bindings: your feet are not attached to the board and you ride with the use of your entire body, including your hands”.

This gives not only a new riding experience, but also a new way to learn snowboarding. May be it makes learning even more fun as you don’t crash every three seconds.

The Yibb was invented to open up snowboarding to everyone. It makes snowboarding accessible to kids from 3 years old. This makes me really interested, because my daughter is currently three years old, and I want to teach her skiing and snowboarding. But will this thing really teach real snowboarding or is it just a crutch that will be useless for learning proper technique?

Yibb was invented by Dutch designers who have their background in designing products for sports and outdoor. Read more about the history of Yibb and the designers in Yibb website.

Check out the video below for more about Yibb snowboard.

Cheetah Ultra Sports says, “The main purpose of the opening is to reduce the amount of surface which comes in contact with snow. Smaller surface means less drag, which translates into more gliding speed.”

Wow! Wait a minute.. Less surface means more gliding speed? Maybe this idea works on hard slope, but when riding powder snow I guess the opening will cause some serious trouble. I believe you get tons of snow right on your face through the big opening. I might be wrong, but what else could we expect?

Then those huge “shelves” for attaching bindings of Whip F-117 look really interesting to me. Why so big? Unfortunately I don’t know the answer to my question, but there must be a good reason. Anyhow they look cool, eh? The cool design has also the negative side, and it is the fat price of $1,900. I gotta say I would think twice or even few more times before investing almost two thousand dollars to a board which has a huge opening in the middle, but you know, we can’t be sure until we have tested the snowboard.

Btw, Cheetah Ultra Sports say that Whip F-117 is the Lamborghini of snowboards, promising to make riders go faster, feel lighter, turn quicker, edge harder, carve sharper.

Hangboard is made of aircraft aluminium, and the whole system weights only about 11 kg (snowboard not included). T-shaped bar is 32 cm high and 47 cm wide. It took years for Don Arney to develop the hangboard, but finally his company is going to launch the product.

There are only a limited numbers of hangboards available for sale on 2008, but probably more on the following years. One hangboard costs $1495, which sounds pretty high price, but may be price will come down as soon as hangboard starts selling more.

Hangboarding is part of the future of skiing

Is hangboarding going to be the next big hit? May be it won’t become as popular as traditional skiing, but for a number of dare-devils hangboard will definitely provide lots of fun on snow. I guess hangboard is a bit too technical for the masses, so the product might stay as one kind of “special skiing equipment”. I also guess that many ski resorts will purchase few hangboards, so you don’t necesserily need to buy one in order to try hangboarding. If you think you’re not ready to buy your own hangboard, wait a while and your local ski resort might start renting hangboards.

I am really excited to try hangboarding. I’ve skied since 1980 and I have tried probably all kinds of formats of skiing, but nothing like hangboarding. Would you give it a try?

Source [Hangboard]

The concept is to create a 5-minute film combining 5 outdoor sports activities: Mountaineering, Skiing, Snowboarding, Paragliding & Hang gliding, BASE Jumping & Wingsuit flying. The world’s best specialists in each discipline will utilize their creativity and sense of adaptation to present their sport and their level of performance to enrich the scenario.

In 2008 many well-known athletes, such as Karine Ruby, Liv Sansoz, Julian Boulle and Eric Themel participated in the Nissan Outdoor Games.

The teams will have 7 days–from Saturday, February 14th, to Friday, February 20th, 6pm–to film and edit a short 5-minute film: a definite challenge. All teams will be working on the same playground, the massive Mont Blanc mountain range.

Only the best in each discipline are chosen: the cast brings together 5 teams comprised of athletes, production companies, professional cameramen and photographers from all over Europe and North America.

Comprised of professional movie makers, photographers and sports personalities, the jury will deliberate on Saturday February 21, 2009 to elect the winner of the ‘Golden Peak’ award.

The ‘Golden Peak’ Trophy will be awarded Saturday evening in the center of Chamonix after the public has seen the films live on a giant movie screen. Three other awards will be given: Jury’s Special Award, Best Sports Sequence, Best Photographer.

Although Nissan Outdoor Games in Chamonix is for professional athletes, there will be a lot of things to see and experience for tourists both on the slopes and in the village of Chamonix. It will be a wonderful weekend, so be there!

Pictures by osbornb, alainwibert, phileole