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Prospect Snowboards isn't in every snowboarder's daily vocabulary and we don't have a problem with that. Being a non-corporate anti establishment board company, I guess you can say our marketing isn't awesome. Well... our commitment to making amazing snowboards is awesome. While we aren't interested in corporate subculture that comes with being a mainstream snowboard manufacturer it doesn't mean the industry isn't recognizing what makes Prospect rad.
The New Kid in Town Prospect as an up and coming board company is getting tons of leverage from people and industry publications because of our "by snowboarders for snowboarders" core culture. Coverage on Snowboard-review.com, by the SoCal Skate/Snow crew Concreteownage.com, and abc-of-snowboarding.com shows our company is winning the favor of core industry players. Among the the best programs going in snowboarding is Prospect's Design Co-op which lets snowboarders and businesses design their own custom boards. Our Co-op gives designers real access to getting their designs published without paying a fortune for an individual custom board. So far, the Co-op has made custom boards for Honey Goat Brewery and Adrenaline Power Sports for the 09/10 season.

09/10 Prospect Gear
Prospect's board construction is also a constantly evolving machine to assure our boards take the beating you dish. Our 2 year warranty proves there is no doubt about the quality of our boards, but innovation with rubber dampening, bamboo sidewalls, seamless edges, and re-engineered carbon placements gives Prospect decks a super smooth ride and consistent flex. Also, our "Tangent tech" reverse camber snowboard is an amazing park and powder deck. The real secret; our convex base. If you want a base that rides super smooth in the powder and doesn't catch on rails in the park you'll never be disappointed. If tech isn't your concern, our "Vitality" line carries the best of both worlds: Built for lighter riders and urban riding the Vitality line yells fun. Other projects coming out of the Prospect development lab demonstrate our values for hand crafted goods. Our newest Project, screen printed Logo T-shirts are made by hand will killer comfortable shirts and no 2 are exactly the same. And last, but no least, our newest product, Prospect Graphite Snowboard Wax makes you board lightning fast in all conditions. It works by conducting electricity to minimize friction with the surface of the snow. Absolutely genius and made with environmentally friendly ingredients.



This Years First Contest
So here is our newest announcement the 2009 Prospect "Tweaked Trick Competition"; Winners walk away with a Prospect Grab bag and an Interview with Prospect. Here is what you need to do; send us a short vid of your favorite trick tweaked out and oozing with rad style. Whether throwing a double cork, a Backside Boardslide, or a 180, it matters less than how insanely steezy you can make it look.
Online Orders
We are adding inventory as it comes in. All boards and soft goods are available for order and should be available for delivery. Check out our latest special!



Published On: 11/5/2009
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JumpCamp is still alive. Can you believe it?!

Well it's been getting cold
and to keep warm we've been doubling up on sweatpants. Besides that we've been working with our amazing sponsors and crew designing the new park and getting the mountain groomed and ready. Brochures and posters are at the printers and the website has been redone. All the new 2010 dates are up and a schwack of new photos, downloads and all kinds of other jazz. Check it out and secure your spot in one of this year's camps.

Photograbros
We have lots of photographer friends at JumpCamp. These hombres sit in the cold and freeze their fingers in the off chance that we'll do something rad. Here's three of our favourites: Billy Pipe  http://pipephoto.com/ Dave Prothero http://www.daveprotherophotography.com/index.html & Gordon Ross http://www.gordonross.ca/


Beautyass scenery. photo by Billy Pipe

Onethirtythree's website is brand new with a shred page being managed by the infamous barbeque organization; the Steak Knives. Check out the crew
fine dining and healthy living http://www.onethirtythree.com/steakknives_gallery.php .
Keep checking the Steak Knives page for all the latest shred news.

Twitty twitty!

He rocks in the tree-top all a day long
Hoppin' and a-boppin' and a-singin' the song
All the little birds on J-Bird St.
Love to hear the robin goin' tweet tweet tweet
JumpCamp's now on twitter http://twitter.com/JumpCamp Follow us around why don'tcha?!

Factory Magazine, a new design and arts magazine based in Vancouver is the brain-child of 22 year old Niall Hamill and that man-child is a senior member of the JumpCamp board of trustees. Go grab a Factory magazine at Onethirtythree and support art and magazines in these cyberworld, internet, face-twitter times. Check out Niall's webpage that says his website will be up and running soon. http://niallhamill.com/

Grand Puba behind the new Factory magazine and JumpCamp coach Niall Hamill chillin out with a camper and a dog.

Premiers and Parties!
Nov. 20
JumpCamp Season Celebration.
A big night of prints, movies, cocktails and music.
Gordon Ross Studio & Bar
2314 Rosewall Crescent
Tin Town, Courtenay
Doors 9pm

November 28
JumpCamp Swap Meet

Swap Meet Louie's clockin' lots of dollars!

Tons of new and used shred gear for sale or barter. Boards, gloves, goggles, stinky boots, jackets, glasses...!!! Bring some meat for the barbeque.
12 noon - 6pm
1120 5th st
Courtenay
(around back)

Dec.3
Day Before Opening Day Shred Movie Premier Party!
Absinthe Film's "Neverland" & Sandbox's "SHINE ON"
The Avalanche Bar
 275 8th Street
Courtenay, BC
Doors 9pm
Tons of Prizes

Have a happy and safe Halloween from your friends at JumpCamp!



Published On: 10/30/2009
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It's that time again...

That's right. Time for Vancouver's favorite Monday night party to return. This year promises to be one of our best yet. First off we had to say good-bye to the Royal, which shut it's doors in May. Lots of good times were had and we're sad to see it go. On the flip-side we're stoked to have found our new home at the METropole located at 320 Abbott St. They've gone out of their way to make us feel at home by installing a dozen HD TVs and a brand new HD projector and screen. On top that they have a full feature arcade with pool table and foosball.

We were so excited to get this season rolling that we've taken over Mondays already. The Pre-season is going on with no cover charge and $5 doubles so you can get in shape for the winter party season. The freshest beats are calling you to the dancefloor with resident elDJloco on the 1s and 2s.

Stay tuned right here for the latest party info or check us out at our blog:
http://mountainmadnessmondays.blogspot.com
or on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=6360267406


Published On: 9/28/2009
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When asked, if you had a job title, what would it be? he  had to stop and think it through for a moment. If I were to put a title on  myself as a job, I'd say pro snowboarder, life-time traveler.

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of interviewing legendary  shredder Romain de Marchi from his new home in far-off western Canada near  Vancouver. With kids in tow, tumbling around in and out of the Skype video frame,  Romain talked candidly about life as a father, how that's affected his  snowboarding and risk taking, as well as other controversial subject matter like  the Natasha Richardson tragic death and his bitter divorce with his old sponsor, Burton.

We also spoke about his new dedication to smaller  up-and-coming brands like his new sponsors Shred and Slytech Action Sports Protection with whom he recently signed (yes, having 2 little  tykes running around now, he straps on back protection wherever he goes to ride). And then of course, we covered that hot new  startup brand YES Snowboards you will want to hear about what he has to say about his new partners and why bigger is not always necessarily better.

His answers are not quite what you would expect from the rather  notorious party animal we have read about in the past. His contemplative nature  and deep insights paint a picture that is more Obi Wan Kenobi than a young reckless Anakin Skywalker.

I'm looking forward to share the insider look into  Romain, the pro snowboarder and life-time traveller's life and will let you know when and where it can be found in its entirety!

Later,
Stephan

Stephan  is a  writer for Slytech Action Sports Protection(http://SlytechProtection.com) and Shred Optics (http://ShredOptics.com). Besides an interest in winter sports, he spends most of his time in Maui, Hawaii where many athletes, including Romain, regularly come through to scratch their tropical itch. Follow his tweets on all things Shred and Slytech at http://twitter.com/ShredOptics and http://twitter.com/SlytechProtect respectively.







Published On: 5/27/2009
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Whistler Blackcomb's annual Showcase Showdown went off last Saturday as onlookers crowded into Skiers' Plaza and onto patios to watch the action at the base of Whistler Mountain. After a hard fought battle, Caley Vanular claimed first place in the women's category. Second place went to Molly Milligan and third went to Janelle Prtichard. Meanwhile, Andrew Burns took first in the men's category, while Rusty Ockeneden claimed second place and Mike Osachuk took third.

The six riders, who won a total of $5,000 cash and prizes from event sponsors, including Nixon headphones and Sandbox helmets, will also be featured in Sandbox's next snowboard film "Shine On."

In its twelfth year, the Showcase Showdown has enjoyed another successful transformation and has proven once again why Whistler Blackcomb's Nintendo Terrain Parks are ranked No. 1 in North America.

This year's course was inspired by the mini-parks in locals' backyards all over Whistler. The slopestyle course design, which included rails and industrial-style jib features with happy faces, was a collaboration of Showcase Team Manager Brad Broughton; Kevin Sansalone of Sandbox Films; Steve Petrie master park-builder and designer and builder of the 2010 Olympic Halfpipe; and Whistler Blackcomb's Park Rangers.

For a complete results list visit www.showcaseshowdown.ca. Showcase Snowboards is celebrating its 20th Anniversary. For all the latest gear and apparel, shop online at www.showcasesnowboards.com.













MORE PHOTOS

Published On: 3/4/2009
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Events/News - Whistler Blackcomb: Monday pow day, new videos
By: whistlerblackcomb


If you were in Whistler this past Monday morning chances are you didn’t hit the snooze button. The forecast called for 4cms of snow the night before but 11cms fell instead. Check out some recent videos and photos, as well as the latest Snowcast podcasts.









If you're a Canadian or Washington State resident looking for the best deal on lift tickets at Whistler Blackcomb, check out the EDGE Card. It’s being offered at a discounted rate right now but sale ends Feb. 13th so get yours now.

Published On: 2/12/2009
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Hi all
  I busted my right distal radius into multiple pieces(comminuted)about two wks ago which led to other issues: stiff and unusable primary hand. I wasnt able to find any blogs out there that went thru the day to day recovery so i hope i can be there for anyone in the future who might want more info. Its hard to type so thats probably why there are few blogs chronicling this.
 
How it happened: Some might feel indestructible blasting down or jumping up as fast without a worry in the world and have a glory accident story. But my story is very pedestrian. I basically modified the way i fell due to a series of crashes(high speed near bottom of the mountain on the rear right deltoid). So the day of the injury my shoulder was so sprained i couldnt raise it above my head.. But I still went boarding the next day (mlk wknd at squaw valley) and it was my toe edge on ice near kt22 lift traversing to red dog in the afternoon that did me in.

    After the incident I knew right away something was wrong since the wrist was deformed,swelling,  and my fingers I couldnt move them. After the doctor onsite 'reduced' it(pulled it back into place) I felt better although far from normal.
    Fast forward to vicodin/naprosyn and a surgery to correct everything. By wednesday after I was in surgery in which the surgeon put a titanium plate and screws. Post surgery, I did not feel like myself at all(low energy sleeping too much eating simple and not desiring meat/wine, X games were inspiring tho). It has now been 10 days since surgery. It is a real bitch to sleep at night since the pain is throbbing and unending. I went off the meds though since it was making me wake up super late and groggy although I was beginning to get addicted to the vicodin.
      I guess my right hand still works a little bit as I can grip some items but it feels robotic slow and stiff. Pressing buttons is even a strange experience. I started typing but it is still very foreign. Doc says I will start pt after the splint comes off 6wks post surgery.. And advises me to move as much as possible.. I dont know but Im more focused on writing/using my hands than getting back on the slopes. I do still have a season pass tho that I need to utilize.   
      I am really hoping that the pain will go away so I can sleep at night, and that I can type more proficiently. After I would like to write. No idea how many days that will take though.. I wonder if I will be able to brush my teeth before beingable to write normally again. Cheers.



Published On: 2/2/2009
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I am going to talk to you about affiliate marketing or what is most commonly know as MLM – Multi Level Marketing.

For those of you who have not heard of MLM it is considered the best way to make money online although I have to say this method has received a lot of stigma over the years namely from those people who never made money from them and quit.

 

The fact is that 70% of people that TRY MLM programs usually quit within 2 months of joining and are usually for the same reasons, that they never made any money.

Truthfully those people were probably told they would make a small fortune in a very short period of time but sadly the person that introduced them was only interested in signing them up and failed to explain how to build a successful business.

 

To build any business successfully will require hard work and should be treated as a full-time job although this is not permanent it is necessary to build a solid foundation in the early days.

Sadly most are not presented with these facts so I guess you cannot blame them for quitting or even giving the MLM opportunities a bad name.

 

There are 3 main reasons to be able to succeed in any MLM program which I am about to share with you and in my opinion are key to success.

 

  • The Right Program - You need to find the right MLM program that is low cost and offers the best compensation plan.
  • The Dream – This has to be one of the most important ingredients because if your dream is big enough you will do whatever it takes to achieve it.
  • Support – You need support with anything that is new especially from those who are already successful and are willing to help you succeed.

 

 

Ok now let’s look at these 3 key reasons in more depth to help put things in perspective.

 

The Right Program

 

Now although there are a lot of MLM programs on the internet it is important that they are an established company, offer an excellent compensation plan, provide tools to help you build your business and have a product that most people want and need.

GDI or Global Domains International are in my opinion the only MLM company that offers all of this and for only $10 a month.

Now one thing you have to realise is that if you want to work online from home and be successful in any business there will be some cost attached to it. Although GDI offers you your own business, product and unlimited income opportunity for only $10 a month plus you can try it for 7 days free.

So lets break it down and see what you get for your hard earned $10 a month.

 

  • Web Hosting
  • Your own domain name
  • 10 email addresses
  • Web site building tool
  • Access to the GDI Forum
  • Tools to promote your business
  • Unlimited income opportunity

 

 

As you can see you get your own website, the tools to build it and can be active online within a few short hours but what’s more incredible is you can earn money too.

 

So who are GDI and how do I make money?

 

Global Domains International, or GDI, was founded in 1999 by Michael Reed, CEO and Alan Ezeir, President who both recognized another opportunity that was largely ignored. The dot com boom that was so popular back in 1995 reached its peak around march of 2000. What Michael Reed and Alan Ezeir wondered was if there were other available extensions that businesses could use as a domain name. They ultimately focused on the domain extension .WS, which belonged to the tiny island nation of Samoa, deep in the South Pacific. They were able to execute a deal with Samoa stating they had to produce 15,000 registered domain .ws extensions in 3 years. Well they accomplished that goal in GDI’s 1st month of business and the rest as they say is history. In the 2002 Special issue of Inc. magazine, Global Domains International placed #37 on the Inc 500 magazine’s “List” of the USA’s 500 fastest growing private companies and #5 in the state of California. If you have come across any .ws adresses on the internet you can rest assured that they have been registered through Global Domains International, as GDI has single handedly captured the market share for the .ws extension. But what really puts the icing on the cake is the amazing business opportunity they have incorporated in to the equation.

 

So now let’s talk about how you earn money.

For every person that you refer to GDI you will earn $1 every month for as long as that person remains a member.

That person that you refer – for every person that they refer to GDI, you will earn $1 every month for as long as that person remains a member. This continues down for 5 levels.

So even if you only refer one person, but that one person referred 50 people, you would earn $1 for each of those 50 people. If those 50 people referred just 1 person each, that’s another $50 per month you’d earn.

Remember though, as I said earlier you only get out of a program what you put into it. You could very easily get someone in your downline that could refer 50 people and that would be great, but you might not, so don’t just rely completely on your downline, especially in the beginning, try to refer a few people.

Let’s look at an example of the sort of income you can earn with GDI.

If you referred 10 people and those 10 people referred just 5 people each, and those 5 people referred 5 people each, and so on for 5 levels. Your monthly income would be $7810.

Sound Good???

Well that’s not all, GDI also offer a weekly bonus scheme of $100 for every 5 people you personally introduce. So for example if 20 people joined your business you would be paid $400 for that week and best of all there is no limit to the amount of people you refer. If you were to do the same every week that would an average of $1600 a month which for a lot of people would replace their job salary.

You may be thinking it sounds too good to be true or how can I refer 10 people, I don’t know 10 people that would be interested in this.

Well its not too good to be true, there are people earning even more than that with GDI.

As far as referring people GDI offer the tools to help with this however as I mentioned previously support in this business is key to your success from those who are already successful.

 

The Dream

 

To be successful you need to have a reason or a dream this could be a few hundred dollars a month to begin with or a new car.

What I have found is that people fear to dream because they don’t believe it will happen. It has amazed me being around this business how quickly people underestimate themselves and what started out as being a dream of making a few hundred dollars a month turned into buying their dream home cash.

This business offers so much its about people helping people and the feeling of knowing you have helped others take back their lives is priceless.

 

 

Support

 

Most people that join MLM programs have little or no experience on how to build a successful business and sadly quit before they even get started.

Having support from those who are already successful in this type business is by far priceless and it amazes me that so many people do not grasp this when inviting people to join.

After all the core of all MLM businesses is helping others to succeed which in turn helps you succeed.

Failing to grasp this simple concept and not put in any effort will surely lead to failure and again these types of people will only end up hopping from one opportunity to another but never finding success.

 

 

So there you have it an honest opinion on Multi Level Marketing which I hope this article has helped you in your pursuit for financial freedom

 

Donna Fielding is a successful network marketer with GDI. Click the link below to watch a video presentation on the GDI opportunity and the 7 day FREE trial and see if Global Domains International is the right choice for you.

 

www.themoneyprospect.com

(copy and paste into your browser)



Published On: 1/25/2009
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Thesnowlife.com
Smokin Snowboards
Smokin snowboards
Smokin Snowboards
So the Smokin Snowboard factory tour last week had more to it than just the tour, we also went down to pick up some 2010 newly pressed decks. I was lucky enough to nab the new M.I.P. D.I.R.T. Rocker with Magne-Traction with some custom graphics brought to you by JP Lagos at Thesnowlife.com. I was even more excited to try out Smokin’s Magne-Traction since out snow has been rock hard as of late and last time I rode a board with magne it made the saying “Turns ice into powder” hold true. Friday afternoon of last week Squaw was still pretty firm with a nice east wind keeping things rather chilly, so what better time to go try out Smokin Jay “the evil genius’s“new concept.

My first thoughts was the same as any of the other reverse camber boards I have ridden, the nose seems to hook a little quick when you really get the board on edge. Once I detuned the nose and tail a little the board simply took off. The M.I.P. has a great predictable flex that reminds me of many of the old boards from the good old days. Jay doesn’t use fancy barely known named stuff to create his sticks yet he produces a board that rivals all those high-end uber scientific factories. The M.I.P. holds a super fun edge, makes a snappy turn and rebounds really predictably that you can stray away from the park and still rip turns. I have complained for a few years now that many companies are making boards to specific to one discipline and are hard to enjoy on every part of the hill. I think the smoking M.I.P. brings back the idea that you can have a great park board that doesn’t sacrifice the rest of the mountain.

If you are looking for a great park and all around board that’s actually handmade the new 2010 Smokin M.I.P. D.I.R.T. Rocker is gonna blow your mind.

What about the graphics? JP Lagos designed the graphic based loosely off the Obey “Obama” Poster series. Taking funny pictures and translating them into the Obey scheme, JP created a series of Bromodel snowboards. All the boards were either using Smokin’s 2010 M.I.P. blank or the 2010 Superpark blank. So the boards that were in the pictures being finished during the factory tour were none other than the bromodel boards. Special thanks to JP for including my funny grill on a snowboard and Smokin Jay for pressing a super fun board!


Published On: 1/19/2009
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

The North Face Masters of Snowboarding 2009 Tour Dates Announced by The North Face and Mountain Sports International

The North Face Masters of Snowboarding is the largest big mountain snowboarding tour in the country, with a prize purse of $45,000 and two new world-class venues

 

Registration is now open on www.thenorthfacemasters.com

 

Salt Lake City, Utah, December 17, 2008 – Now in its sophomore year, The North Face Masters of Snowboarding (TNF Masters) has become the largest cohesive competitive big mountain snowboarding tour in the country. A three-stop tour, TNF Masters is designed to cater to the motivation, talent and skill of world-class big mountain snowboarders. The 2009 tour visits Snowbird, Utah, Crested Butte, Colorado, and culminates at the ultimate big mountain competition venue of Kirkwood, California.

 

“The North Face Masters tour is going to be off the chain this year,” said TNF Masters Alyeska, Alaska, 2008 champion Rob Kingwill. “I am excited to be a part of the movement toward giving big mountain snowboarding competition the recognition it deserves. All three 2009 venues are world-class, and I can't wait to see what happens.”

 

TNF Masters features a $45,000 cash prize purse and serves as a qualifier event to the Freeride World Tour. Winners from the Snowbird and Crested Butte TNF Masters events will have the opportunity to compete in the Nissan Tram Face at Squaw Valley, California.

 

"Freeriding, the use of natural terrain, fall line, and innovation from riding style is the essence of big mountain snowboarding,” said TNF Masters Head Judge Tom Burt. “The TNF Masters series is designed around this and that is the reason why I agreed to become the head judge. The terrain will be delivered by Snowbird, Crested Butte, and Kirkwood. All have different flavors of terrain so each will bring its own challenges for the riders, and every rider will bring their own style and innovation to each venue. When the two mesh the best freerider will emerge.“

 

TNF Masters gathers big mountain snowboarding tribes from all around the world. All male and female snowboarding competitors above age 18 are welcomed to participate. Registration is now open on www.thenorthfacemasters.com.

 

The North Face Masters of Snowboarding 2009 Series Schedule

Stop #1 – Snowbird, Utah.                  January 29-February 1, 2009

Stop #2 –Crested Butte, Colorado. February 12-15, 2009

Stop #3 –Kirkwood, California         March 5-8, 2009

 

Fans of big mountain snowboarding can catch same-day coverage of the Semi-Final and Final rounds of each TNF Masters event on www.thenorthfacemasters.com where there are complete videos, photos, athlete profiles, detailed event schedules, registration information and more.

 

For more information please visit www.thenorthfacemasters.com.

 

Special Thanks To:

The North Face

Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort

Crested Butte Mountain Resort

Kirkwood Mountain Resort

Primaloft

Snowboard Magazine

Mountain Sports International

 

REGISTRATION INFORMATION AND ATHLETE INQUIRIES CONTACT

Sara Pinsoneault

Athlete Communications

Mountain Sports International

801.349.4650

sarap@mtsports.com

 

MEDIA INQUIRES AND FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT

Cara Williams

PR, Communications & Media Manager

Mountain Sports International

801.349.4608

cara@mtsports.com

 

Pamela Bennett

Communications Manager

The North Face

510.618.3654

pamela_bennett@vfc.com

 

About MSI

Mountain Sports International (MSI) is a private company, founded in 1997, to develop and produce action/adventure sports events and programming in North America. MSI owns and produces the U.S. Freeskiing Series, the U.S. Skiercross Series, and the Freeskiing World Tour, in addition to several other properties and concepts.

 

MSI provides event management services for Burton, Salomon, and Red Bull and has provided infrastructure and expertise for the NBC Gravity Games and ESPN Action Sports Projects, including the Tony Hawk Gigantic Skatepark Tour. MSI specializes in matching clients with events for brand penetration into target demographics, developing product identification and loyalty. MSI matches brand and culture, company and credibility to create sought-after events that help to define the action sports culture.

 

About The North Face

The North Face, a division of VF Outdoor, Inc., was founded in 1968. Headquartered in San Leandro, California, the company offers the most technically advanced products in the market to accomplished climbers, mountaineers, snowsport athletes, endurance athletes, and explorers. The company’s products are sold in specialty mountaineering, backpacking, running, and snowsport retailers, premium-sporting goods retailers and major outdoor specialty retail chains.

 



Published On: 1/19/2009
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Ski or Snowboard Rentals – Whistler


Renting skis used to be a dreaded experience, long line ups for poorly maintained out of date equipment provided by ski bums who didn’t care. Changes have swept across this industry with new companies competing in every resort worldwide.

With airlines charging extra for ski baggage, the inconvenience of carrying heavy equipment and an increased environmental awareness the number of skiers renting equipment has risen.

If you look at ski technology and ski branding a two year old ski can often look outdated, therefore before you leave home do a quick calculation of “how many days a year do you ski?” multiplied by the cost of renting against the cost of new skis. The average cost of renting top end gear is around $50 CDN for two days. If you average 10 days per year that works out at $250 per year. New skis with bindings range from $500 to $1100.


Factor in the cost of tuning, inconvenience, baggage fees and your environmental consciences and renting comes out the winner.


My family decided to test this theory with a visit to Whistler in January, we looked online and booked with a company called Affinity Sports. (www.affinityrentals.com)

After breezing through the airport and traveling the sea to sky highway we checked into our hotel around 9pm. Surprisingly the rental shop was still open so despite our jet lag we headed in to pick up our gear. The staff greeted us on the way in the door and our reservation was ready. We tried on the boots and with skis hanging on every wall I picked out a new Pair of Volkl AC50. The binding was adjusted and the staff answered all our tourist questions while helping us feel welcome in Whistler. The kids tried snowboarding had to choose from a selection kids gear.


On the third day the weather moved in so we took a rest day, I dropped the skis back at the store and was surprised to learn I would be credited back the days I didn’t use. I then took advantage of the best reason to rent, trying different equipment. The trend in skis is to have more specialized equipment to suit the conditions so I changed for a K2 Coomba, a powder ski. Each time I dropped into see the staff at Affinity they accommodated my every request without hesitation. The equipment was tuned, it was the latest model and the service was excellent.


Two weeks later back at my desk I thought about the old rent vs. buy argument. I will be renting skis, snowboards and maybe even snow blades every time I go. The image of ski rentals is changing and being driven by companies like Affinity, I hope to go back to Whistler for the Olympics and will be renting everytime.



Published On: 1/19/2009
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Hmmm the snow is pretty sweet but the parks never seem to be built till half way through the season on grouse mt. pretty lame, went up and there was only 3 small rails jibable. maybe this week will have something worth shreddin. 

when i get my charger back for my camera ill be shootin some vids and posting them up youtube stlye (although they will probably pull it for some stupid music copyright reason) hate that!

if anyone is still into riding/training this week ill be up on wednesday late afternoon evening. 

its weird i didnt know till now that they have these free girl nights for all 3 local mountain. what a gip...... thats gonna create crowds....(i hate crowds) hence the reason i dont ride on weekends. its like a spamathon the mountain.

hows the whistler riders doing? i still havent gotten out there yet.

so by this point ( if you made it this far ) your definitely sick of my blabbing so you should probably stop reading this and be riding (or recovering).

again if your down for a ride im at grouse every week. it might help if your a grouse rider (cheapest passes why not)

hope ya'll having a sweet season so far. definitely the best christmas present this year is the sweet snow. you really know its good when the busses dont run up the hill. 

thats why we drive lol.
peace


Published On: 1/13/2009
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After an hectic pre season I was ready and excited to leave to Austria with my friend Vanessa Andrieux. We go there every year to find good snow condition, I was all packed, board and bags in my trunk and as i was driving back from Barcelona it started dumping everywhere, and by the time i was in Switzerland my home mountains were covered by a good 60cm of fresh snow ! This is when we both decided to join the Demonium base camp in les diablerets (definitely the best place to stay, hang, mini shred and skate up there) and shoot a couple things home before heading to the austrian mountains. We waisted the first day looking for features to shoot along the road and at 12pm, after 3 hours driving around for nothing, we decided to go up on the mountain and shred. luckily the place wasn’t totally tracked yet, I found a couple good friends at the first chair lift, they took me to the good spot and I got chest deep for my first run of the winter !! I can’t remember a better start of the season ever ! sik ! The next day we built a kicker with Eman, Damien, Nico and Tonton not too far from the road in a safe area as avalanche danger was quite high at that time. It was fun to be shaping a kicker already. The snow was deep in the landing, the sun was shining we had a good thermos with hot tea and good meet, cheese, bread and chocolate. Family style ! After that we joined Nicolas Droz in Chatel to get a couple shots, each day we were pushing the austrian destination a bit later and we finally never made it there. That’s when my friend Annie Boulanger called, there was no snow in whistler and she jumped in the plane to come shred with me.. I was so stoked to have her here because I m always the one going to canada or US and for once I got to show my place to a good friend ! as soon as she got off the plane we called Jonas Emery who could eventually give us heads up on the conditions where he was staying.. and we ended up staying at his place for a good 4 days.. We got sik tree runs in still really good snow on our first day and it dumped overnight !! We went to Verbier the next day, same thing, good tree pow runs under the cabin, and the great thing is that no one was on the slopes before christmas ! We joined Emilien Badoux the next day for the same luck with sunshine this time! After that we headed to my home resort with my both of my parents my cousin, my boyfriend and 2 other good friends with whom we shredded all weekend.. It really felt like christmas ! This last couple of weeks were such a blast, I got to practice some Quebecquien expressions, I got to shred for the fun of it which happens very rarely, i got to stay at my grand parents cabin and the conditions were fantastic ! That was definitely my best christmas present this year.. and i wish you just as much fun and good shred !  
  WWW.ANNEFLOREMARXER.COM


Published On: 1/6/2009
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Yep, there's only 3 days left to enter our Find the Money Line contest.

Pretty easy stuff. All you gotta do is buzz around our new zone map, find the money line logo, and enter to win.

Why Find the Money Line? Because that's exactly what we'll be doing with our Big Mountain Experience trips lined up for later this winter. Pray for some snow and when it comes, we'll be getting lots of it!


Published On: 12/16/2008
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Well we went to ride @ Norway on Saturday. We were there about 15 minutes on our seconds run when One of my sons friends went down hard. The kid (Matt) already had a broken right hand. So we had to take him to the hospital. after being there six hours we finally knew for sure that he had broken his collar bone. I'll post up x-rays later. It's a pretty sick break, it broke completely in half. He was in a lot of pain. So needless to say we really didn't get to ride that day. O well there's always next weekend.

Published On: 12/7/2008
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Dev's fresh back from a little trip to California where he did a interview for Fuel TV as well as an infomercial for DC. Now I have him doing a Pro Tips for SBC. Busy man. I'll hit ya with links once they're available for viewing.



The Updown site is up and full of fun content to explore. Look for a copy of the latest issue of Updown at a store near you.



Oh and we have a PartySnake premiere tonight in Kelowna. Its an Island Snow / Jager / PartySnake deal but I can't seem to be able to find the flyer for it with all the info. It shouldn't be that hard to figure out, there can't be anything better going on in Ktown on Thursday night.

Christmas countdown:
Christmas is only 21 days away!

Published On: 12/4/2008
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A couple years ago, I fell in love in Jay Peak. An otherwise cold, windy and miserable day would also prove to be one of my best. There is something to be said about visiting places that were the setting for important moments of your life. Since November 22nd was set to be opening day at Jay, and due to the personal significance of the resort, I decided to get a car load of bros to go down there and ride.

Yeti, Marc, and Brad on the lift
The unusual suspects of the bro-down in Jay.

The road trip started out early, I picked up Yeti and Brad, and with Yahoo! directions in hand, we proceeded east for what we hoped would be a good day of riding (first for Brad and Yeti, second for me). The drive was mostly uneventful up until the Canada-USA border where we got pulled aside by the customs agent. He asked us if we were carrying more than $10,000 in cash (I wish we had that much scratch). I guess he wanted to search our stuff to make sure we weren't secretly part of the wealthy elite.

Normally a customs search would be no big deal, however, in this instance Brad really needed to use the restroom. So he asked the customs agent "do you guys have a public washroom in here?" To which the agent replied "It makes no sense for us to have public restrooms here because if you were smuggling drugs you could go flush them, or if we say something you don't like you can smear the whole place in poo." (no joke, he said that). Of course that's when we realized that Brad had probably set off a red flag with his request. Fortunately it didn't take long for them to search the car and they didn't make a huge mess of it. Once we were out of visible range of the border, we had to pull over to the side of the road so Brad could take care of business.

Yeti and random guy with identical gapers.
Yeti meets his doppleganger. What are the odds of seeing two of the same gaper.

With our urinal emergency behind us, we continued on toward Jay. However, we ended up taking a wrong turn (we turned up VT-105 instead of VT-242). Once that feeling of being in the wrong place set in, we decided we should pull over and ask someone for directions. Fortunately there was a pedestrian up the way. Yeti started joking how it was probably hillbilly with a shotgun. As we approached, we realized that this guy did in fact have a rifle slung over his shoulder. Not to be deterred, however, we stopped and asked him for quick directions. He confirmed that we had in fact taken a wrong turn and kindly directed us on how to get back. We thanked him and made our way. When we finally arrived at Jay, we were stoked to realize that it was snowing pretty heavily.

No sooner had we started unpacking did the gaper hunt begin. The first victim: Yeti. He decided to rock a purple one piece but because he does it in typical Yeti style, it had a certain panache that couldn't be ignored. However, Brad had been instructed before he left to make sure to spray a gaper wearing skier, so he looked at Yeti and said "expect to be sprayed."

Although Yeti's was the first, it certainly wasn't the last gaper we saw. In fact no sooner had we gotten our lift passes did we notice another skier wearing the exact same gaper. An instant friendship was forged.

For our first run of the day, we decided to go with the more difficult of the runs that were available to us. The snow was good but the moguls were large and the visibility basically nil. Which is probably why we hadn't noticed that we had ventured onto one of the closed sections of the run. This is when I fell in the creek (I seem to do this at least once a year). None the worse for wear, I tried to make my way back to the lift except I found the going to be tough (Yeti and Brad were already way ahead of me). That's when I realize that I have about 2 inches of sluch caked onto my base. I finally cleaned it off so we could resume our riding.

Yeti and Brad standing in the snow.
Gene Kelly sings in the rain but Yeti and Brad sing in the snow. The Jay clouds strike on opening day.

We spent the rest of the morning shredding up any run that was open until our legs were sore and our finger tips frozen. We decided to head inside for a while to warm up our fingers and take a bio-break. This is when things almost went south. While going to the restroom, Yeti's iPhone fell out of his pocket. He realized it was missing and we spent the next 15 minutes or so re-tracing his steps trying to find it. After asking pretty much everyone in the lodge if they had seen it, and only seconds before Yeti lost it and started throwing tables around, he realized that it had fallen into the hood of his gaper. Crisis averted.

The rest of the afternoon was a lot more of what we experienced in the morning: snow, lots of riding, some freshies, some gapers, more snow, and lots of laughs (did I mention it was snowing). At one point, while marveling at the heavy snowfall, we came upon a guy sitting in the snow, seemingly trying to fasten up his bindings. What was significant was that he was complaining that he wanted to go back to Delaware. I said "But there's no snow in Delaware!" "Exactly" he said which made me wonder what he was doing in Jay in the first place.

Finally when it was time to call it a day, we packed up all of our gear and made our way back toward the border. Four hours or so and 63 litres of fuel later, we made it back to Canada's capital craving massages and sleep. We were thankful to have benefited from the mystical Jay clouds for a truly epic opening day in Jay and to have averted any potential buzz-kill worthy crisis. I was happy to have gone back to a really important junction place of my life. The day was truly epic but at the same time made me realize how much I missed those who could not be there.



Published On: 11/23/2008
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My Blog: Me
By: JaredMG


I wonder what enlightened individual can answer the question of who they are. I cannot.
Stroke by stroke I paint this picture of myself, or is it a revelation of self?, throughout all these years of life. Most days I wander about dazed or lately... quietly amusingly lost.
I look at all these connections spinning out ahead of me into the future and... it doesn't seem right in a way. So I wander around life looking at people a little too hard, searching for those few whom who'll complete me, whom I'll help complete.
Here I am writing a blog that no one may ever read yet one special person may. It's that prospect of the latter which tickles me funny. I think it's silly of me to write here, nonetheless all I can do is write here and shake my head at myself while I sip hot chocolate.



Published On: 11/16/2008
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So the weather this year is totally f*ckING with me.  Last year at this time it was cold.  Cold! and two years ago there was at least 7-10 inches of snow.  Now that was awesome, because you could tell MY snowboarding season was coming.  Yesterday, after a hard few weeks of 20 and 30 degrees....it was at least 70 at one point in the day.  

This brings me to my beliefs on global warming.  Hey its gunna happen.  History has proven that, which also means another ice age will eventually happen ( :)  all those future snowboard junkies should be wet at the thought of that).  I totally believe tho, that everyone is f*cking up my snowboarding privelages in NORTH DAKOTA. we dont have mountains. we have hills. thats good enough. 

Now this is my life. And each year, snowboarding comes later and later.  It's actually started to piss me off and make me antsy and makes me wanna move somewhere where there is snow. and mountains. constantly...

So lets not try and accelerate global warming. please. i need my snow. and cold.

DUH SO I CAN f*ckIN SNOWBOARD!


Published On: 10/30/2008
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The 4 annual Jibassic Pro Invitational went down last Saturday night, and the riding was better then ever. Porters team riders Brandon Cocard and Chaz Guldemond dropped some heavy 270's in three different directions. Johnny Lazz had some awesome boarding, but was taken out by a heavy fall later in the competition, and Johnny Brady also had an immaculate backside 180 on to cab 360 out on the rail feature. Forrest Baily produced some awesome combinations on the down rail. And holding it down for the ladies was Jessie with a mean backside lipslide down the rail. All in all the event was a success, with Andrew Brewer taking first with his smooth style and well executed manuevers including a frontboard same way 270 to 5-0. Judge Sean Carney said " The riding was higher quality then the Vans Cup."
  • 1st: Andrew Brewer
  • 2nd: Brandon Cocard
  • 3rd: Forrest Baily
Words: Alex Horgan Photos: Zak Shelhamer

Published On: 10/27/2008
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