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.

This article series provides you information on avalanches as a phenomenon, behavior of an avalanche as well as instructions to avoid avalanches, and what to do if you or your fellow skier gets buried by an avalanche. This first article describes an avalanche as a phenomenon of the nature.

As stated in Wikipedia “An avalanche is a flow of snow or rocks down a mountainside. Avalanches are among the biggest dangers in the mountains for both life and property“. There are several factors that together trigger an avalanche. Most of the avalanches are triggered by the weather conditions, but sometimes dangerous avalanches are triggered by humans.

How avalanches get triggered?

Very big avalanches have incredible power. They can easily destroy forests and structures and bury whole villages. Avalanches that destroy villages and kill people are a real threat in the mountains where people live, such as the Alps and Rocky Mountains. Sometimes these accidents are very dramatic, such as in 1999 in Montroc in France (near Chamonix) where an avalanche killed 12 people.

Dangerous avalanches typically are born in slopes that are 25-45 degrees steep, but an avalanche can be triggered on a 15 degrees steep slope if the conditions are optimum for an avalanche to form. In slopes steeper than 45 degrees the danger is not that big because the snow usually falls before there is snow enough for an avalanche to form.

In case of avalanche disasters, a human being is usually the one who triggered the avalanche. A human being living in a risky area triggers an avalanche which falls down to a village. This is a usual case in ski resorts where buildings are built in the bottom of a valley. When people go skiing the backcountries, every now and then someone triggers an avalanche. Sometimes the avalanches are huge in size and have power to fall down to valley burying houses, roads, railroads and people.

Different forms of avalanches

The most form of an avalanche is slab avalanche that can be wider than one kilometer and several meters thick. In optimal conditions a slab avalanche can gain speed over 320 km/h. A slush avalanche moves slower but has more destruction power due to bigger mass.

An avalanche is triggered when forces keeping snow from falling become weaker than the gravitational force of the snow mass. The forces pulling the snow masses down are the gravitational force of the snow and the mass of a skier or animal or such. The forces keeping snow from falling are friction between snow masses and the underlay, stress of snow crystals (cohesion) and “anchors” such as rocks, trees and man-made avalanche fences.

There are several types of avalanches, from which slab and slush avalanches were already mentioned. Other types of avalanches are powder snow avalanche and ice avalanche. As also mentioned, the most dangerous avalanche type is slab avalanche. In order to form a slab avalanche, the snow must be layered due to frequent snowing. A high risk slab avalanche is formed when the snow is layered due to wind. When a slab avalanche is triggered, a big slab of snow starts falling, usually in a large area. In the place where the slab was detached, one can usually recognize a typical “crown” formation on snow.

In the next article we will discuss how to find out the risk of an avalanche. Below is an example of a big powder snow avalanche as a series of still pictures.

Why do you want to learn to ski – What’s your motivation?

First of all, think about your motivation to ski. Are you really willing to go to slopes and ski? Are you willing to be out there in cold weather? Especially you need to think if you are ready to accept that in the beginning you will not be a good skier, just like it has been with every single skier. I ask you to think about your motivation because I have seen so many people quitting just because they haven’t been really motivated, and they have felt it embarrassing to be a beginner.

So you think you are motivated and ready to start learning to ski? Good! That’s the right attitude. Next you should start surfing in the Internet and look for articles such as “learning to ski”, “skiing techniques”, “how to ski” and “skiing basics”. By reading “what skiing really is” you can create yourself a picture of the whole sport. Skiing is very natural for people in northern countries, but think about those in cities like Mexico City, Tokyo, Sao Paolo, Sevilla.. Skiing is not obvious or natural for them and therefore it’s good to understand what this sport really is. So, go surfing in the Internet and read books in libraries or order them from the Internet.

Learn to ski with someone who knows how to ski

What next? Skiing? Yes, it is time to start! First of all, hire yourself an instructor (such as Megeve-Mike) who helps you with equipment renting and getting to slopes. It is best to rent the equipment in the beginning, because there is a risk that you loose your motivation to ski and the first time skiing can be your last time skiing. By renting the equipment you make it sure that you will not loose the investment to pretty expensive equipment.

As soon as you have hired the instructor and you have rented the needed equipment with the help of your instructor, you will go to the slopes with him/her. Your instructor will probably give you a “theoretical lesson in skiing” before you actually go skiing, but soon after that you will start skiing for real. It is very important to hire an instructor. Learning by yourself is very difficult because you cannot see yourself and therefore you cannot “monitor” yourself. Your instructor will look after you and gives you advices all the time. He/she is an experienced skier and instructor who knows the best skiing techniques and the best ways to learn to ski. Let your instructor help you at least the first few hours in order to learn the right technique.

Why not asking for your buddy to help you to learn to ski? Asking a non-instructor to teach can be a bad idea. Your buddy may quickly get bored and frustrated and therefore cannot give you the right help. Although a professional instructor has a price, it is always better to invest to an instructor. Your instructor is also very needed in case you get injured. Yes, it is possible to break your leg or arm as a beginner. A professional instructor knows exactly what to do in an unexpected situation. You’re buddy might have no idea what to do in that kind of a situation.

Learning to ski by skiing more advanced slopes

As soon as you have learned the basics, you’re instructor will bring you to more advanced slopes to learn more. He/she teaches you the slope-etiquette and those “unwritten rules” (how to behave in certain situations) of skiing. After few lessons you should get back to your books and Internet sources, such as Homeboy Read again the techniques and “how to ski”-types articles and mirror that information to your skiing and your experiences. This helps you to understand the technical side of skiing. Read also about the equipment and start looking for equipment for your needs.

As soon as you’re skiing lessons are done and you are still willing to continue, it is time to buy you’re own equipment. Come up with an idea of the equipment you would like to buy, but remember to take someone experienced with you to a shop. He/she might be helpful when you don’t understand some details.

Well, then what? Simply go skiing as often as you can and try to enhance you’re skills every time you go skiing. If you do this properly, you will be a good skier one day.

Here are few good beginners books of learning to ski:

Anyone Can Be an Expert Skier 1: The New Way to Ski (Includes Bonus DVD) ($16.47)

Anyone Can Be an Expert Skier 2: Powder, Bumps, and Carving(Includes Bonus DVD) ($16.47)

The Essential Guide to Skiing: 201 Things Every Skier Must Know ($16.46)

The New Guide to Skiing: A Step-by-Step Guide in Color, Revised Edition ($15.61)

Inner Skiing: Revised Edition ($15)

[UPDATE December 12th 2008: Please check also our more detailed article in ski sizing].

This is a question for which you can quickly get 5 different answers or even more. The truth is that there is no exact answer, and therefore the answers differ a little bit from one another. Anyhow, let’s list the rules of thumb. These should help you to find the right length for your skis when you go buying new guns. The length of your skis depends on what kind of terrain you ski. For example, the length of your skis should not be the same on slalom tracks and backcountries. In this instructional article I focus on traditional alpine skiing, not backcountry skiing, ski-touring or such.

How to determine the right length for your skis?

1. Giant Slalom (Super G): your own height

2. Slalom: your own height – 10/15 cm.

3. Ordinary skiing on slopes: your own height – 5/10 cm.

As you see, skiing different terrains requires different skis. If you don’t ski trails such as slalom or super G, you’re skis should be the length of your height – 5/10 cm.

Do you agree with me? Disagree? Please leave your comments and say how you would decide the length of your skis. As stated above, there is no exact answer. These are my rules of thumb for finding the right length for your skis.

These tips are for adult skiers. If you are buying skis for your child, stay tuned. We will write also tips for defining the right length for kids skis.

When my son was two years old, I considered taking him skiing. I was not sure if he was old enough, so I spent some time in the Internet to find out. I came to the conclusion that it is too early to take him skiing with me, and therefore I decided to start later. First of all, it is a fantastic idea to start skiing with your child! Going skiing with the whole family is potentially a great idea, but make sure you know what you need to know.

What do you need when you start skiing with a child?

Let’s start with the equipment. In order to start skiing with your child you need at least:

• quality clothing for your child, such as Gore-Tex to resist water
• skiing equipment (skis for kids, boots, etc,)
• helmet! I would NOT recommend skiing without a helmet. The helmetless days were before 2000, now it is different. Use a helmet!
• time (take your time, you need it)
• patience (yes, sometimes kids prefer doing something else instead of skiing; also learning takes time)

Now what to do? If this is your first time skiing with your child, make sure

• he/she wants to go skiing
• he/she is physically ready (usually 3 years is enough, but I recommend starting at 4 because muscles are stronger)
• he/she gets an instructor, in case you are not able and/or skillful enough to teach

Other things to know when skiing with a child

If it is cold out there, check every 30 minutes your child is not freezing. Wear good clothes but be ready to go inside as often as needed. Make sure your child is wearing a helmet. If you are using borrowed skis, make sure the bindings fit well. If you are afraid that your child is not able to control speed, you can use a leash.

Respect your child’s wishes. Go for lunch if he/she asks for it. Don’t bring him/her into places that are risky an or too difficult for your child, such as moguls tail. Consider bringing your child to a ski-school or lessons: it could help a lot!

Enjoy your time skiing with your child!

Photo: sara_atkins