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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.

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Welcome to the first global online Game of S.N.O.W – the Quiksilver King of S.N.O.W. Hampus Mosesson is submitting the first trick and you are pleased to copy it! Switch BS 180° Indy is the trick of the hour which you should copy on every similar kicker on mother earth and with as much style and power as possible. Don´t forget to show your face right into the cam after you did your Switch BS 180° Indy!

This round’s winner will get a nice Quiksilver Package including: Quiksilver Travis Rice Signature Goggle and the Quiksilver Premium SnowPack (thechnical snowboard features, suspensions system, LED lighting system und premium audio components – make the backcountry a whole new experience)

This winter is going to be one giant worldwide session!

From now on every 14 days one of your favorite Pros will present a trick you have to imitate within two weeks and on a similar obstacle. Once you have sticked and – hopefully – filmed the trick you must upload it as video file to the Quiksilver King of S.N.O.W platform. Needless to say that you should try to redo the trick with as much style as possible in order to get as many judging points as possible in the worldwide ranking. Because in every single round – that means every 14 days – the most gnarly and styled trick will be rewarded with a massive stuff package.

We will make you rich and famous!

The top four snowboarders that have earned the most judging points after Round 7 will be invited by Travis Rice and Mathieu Crepel to their invitational-only event in La Plagne, France – called Chromatophobia. Quiksilver will assume just everything – flight, accommodation and catering – no matter from where on this planet you have to travel.

T-Rice will present the final trick in the Quiksilver King of S.N.O.W snowpark the four finalists have to copy. A camera team will capture every single trick and finally upload it to www.king-of-snow.com. Afterwards the tricks will be judged one more week for the very last time. The one with the highest score may be pleased about 5.000,- USD cash and short interviews with all our media partners worldwide.

As a special goodie the four lucky finalists will get a wildcard to compete with Mathieu, Travis and many other topguns at the Chromatophobia.

Sign up now for free!

Get your free account at king-of-snow.com now! Further information you will find there. So just check back regularly to ensure that you will be well-informed and on top of the world from the very beginning!

http://www.roninsnowboards.com/en/quiksilver-king-of-snow/

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I woke up the other morning to the realisation that it's already the month of June. Which means that winter is less than six months away. One reason I suspect the time seems to have gone by so quickly is that, by most standards, the weather this spring has been rather sub-par with cooler than usual temperatures and lots of rain (let's save that precipitation for the winter folks). In the spirit of making the best of it, the Snowboard.Com east coast crew decided to end the month of May with a bang (from a boom stick) by taking in a musical.

The city of Toronto has a rather vibrant theatre scene. Which is not something you would expect snowboarders to notice but we can be highbrow once in a while too. Of particular interest, the Diesel Playhouse was putting on an adaptation of a classic cult zombie movie Evil Dead throughout the spring. When I tell people about it, they usually give me a strange "it's a musical about zombies?" look. I'm quick to point out that It can't possibly be any worse than the opera adaptation of An Inconvenient Truth (an opera about a PowerPoint presentation? Really?) Besides, how often can you say you've been to a musical and left covered in fake blood (I assume it's fake). It's like Shakespeare meets Gwar, how can this possibly suck?

The Ottawa contingent of the crew stayed at the Holiday Inn on King street, only two blocks away from the playhouse. Upon arriving, we shared the elevator with some nice ladies who were in town to see the Dirty Dancing musical at the Princess, and they asked us if we were there for the same reason. Based on my general appearance, I found this question somewhat odd. The look on their face was priceless once we told them we were going to see Evil Dead, and it led me to the conclusion that we probably wouldn't to be going down with them (in the elevator you perverts).

The East Coast Crew waiting to get Evil

After scattering to track down food and beer for later, it was time to meet up with the rest of the crew. Since we were all coming from different directions, and not everyone had actually met in person prior to this meet, the logistics of meeting up were a slight bit difficult. In fact, one of my road trip companions, Chris, called my cell to tell me he was going to meet one of the other members of the crew, also named Chris, whom he had never met previously. I said "you don't know what he looks like, how are you going to spot him on a downtown Toronto street?" His response: "He's a snowboarder." That's when it occurred to me that we snowboarders do live at a different pace than most people (skiers too). Especially in a metropolitan area such as Toronto where people seem to be in much more of a hurry and much more concerned about their image than in most places. I actually had faith, due in no small part to Chris' response, that my shred pals would have no problems finding each other. I was not mistaken, I caught up with the rest of the group in front of the hotel and we made our way to the playhouse.

The musical itself was extremely entertaining. Since it's based on the Evil Dead series of movies (Evil Dead , Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness), we were expecting a certain amount of camp, and this stage show was certainly full of it. It was done in the perfect self-effacing way which rendered it amusing rather than annoying. The actors even joked about how Spider-Man 3 was a horrible movie (Sam Raimi directed the Evil Dead movie). The highlight of the musical was the final battle at where Ash slayed all the zombies (sorry for the spoiler). I have never seen so much fake blood used in my life. It was squirting out of the walls all over the crowd. Fun times.

After the show, stoked on being evil, the crew got up to some pre-drinking at the hotel in preparation for painting the town red (with blood?). After getting nicely warmed up, we were off to find establishments to consume refreshments. Yet somehow this feat could not be managed without a tree being transplanted into the hallway to our hotel. Apparently alcohol turns people into landscapers.

After walking around for a while and ducking into a number of pubs for refreshments, along with some other random shenanigans, it was time to call it a night since the bars were closing. On the way back to the hotel, I received a text message from Chris saying that apparently someone was shot behind the princess theatre. They were cleaning up the scene as he was walking to meet his ride to Whitby. All this time, I was expecting that our musical would prove more violent than Dirty Dancing, which our lovely friends from the elevator were attending. Clearly I was mistaken on that count.

Puppet Jesus sitting at the top of the Big Apple in Colborne.

The following morning, we decided to locate a Golden Griddle we had seen the night before to have breakfast before we left. After fueling up on the all you can eat buffet and omelet bar, it was time to hit the road. On the way home, we decided to stop at the Big Apple in Colborne to buy some pies. This is where our trip took on a whole new dimension of cool when picked up an itinerant puppet with long hair, a beard, and some crazy ideas. That puppet turned out to be Jesus (or at least a very striking likeness thereof). The irony in all this is that we found him at a Big Apple which, if memory serves, is the forbidden fruit of the Genesis. Jesus was quick to participate in our road games of "hot or not" and was surprisingly good at it. Although I suppose I shouldn't be surprised since he is the son of god. In any case, Jesus is dope and he's certainly a good road trip companion, a fan of metal and a darn good dancer. When we first picked him up, he was rather subdued. Nathan even thought he was dead but we knew not to worry, "he'll be full of life in three days." It certainly didn't take three days, especially after a can of Saskatoon Beaver Buzz.

The Beaver Buzz turned out to be a bit of a mistake. Although tasty, it must contain some kind of super diaretic because it made me have to pull off the highway to pee. I was going to wait for the gas station restrooms until Jesus pointed out that the world is my gas station rest room. He's so wise. We finally made it home satisfied with our road trip shenanigans and happy for having found Jesus.

In sticking with my usual modus operandi of never walking away from an experience without learning something, here's what I learned this past weekend:

• Snowboarders are recognisable everywhere. They seem to have a different gate about them.
• Apparently the Dirty Dancing musical, counter to conventional wisdom, was much more violent that the Evil Dead musical... go figure.
• Jesus Saves... road trips. Although ours didn't need saving by any stretch. He sure made it more interesting. Keep your eye open for him, you never know where you might find Jesus.

Phew! Those are important life lessons indeed. Now I'm looking forward to my next live theatre excursion. Rumour has it that Monty Python's Spamalot is coming to Toronto in the fall, maybe I'll check that out. I'll be staying away from the Dirty Dancing musical though, that's much do violent for my sensibilities. In the meantime, I'm rejoicing in the fact that there's less than six months until winter and you can bet that I'm counting down the days.

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SNOWBOARDING QUOTES

Snowboarding creates Life, Life creates snowboarding.

When Hell freezes over I’ll snowboard there too.

I tell you the truth, The kingdom of Heaven is like the brave snowboarder who enters   through the narrow opening in the trees. He finds many fresh turns there, and blessings of all kinds. There is weeping and gnashing of teeth on the icy groomed runs for the lazy snowboarder who tales the wide open path.

You can never own the snow, But you can sure try as hard as you want to tame it

Some people like to have all the fun. I like to call those people the snowboarders.

Its not your aptitude, but your attitude that will determine your altitude!

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The Superman Mythos

by Thyroros

The term superman first entered into modern usage through the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. This late nineteenth-century German philosopher was vehemently anti-Christian and never tired of condemning the faith as weak, absurd, even detrimental to human development. While Hitler admired him, and the Nazis are said to have made use of some of his ideas, Nietzsche did not actually share their racist and anti-Semitic views. (1) Thus it is not entirely incongruous that two young Jewish men from Cleveland, Ohio would have adopted the term for their own use. While many assume Superman is merely a work of science fiction, I do not believe this to be the case. I too grew up amid all the movies (the first film starring Christopher Reeve came out the year after I was born), cartoons, and TV shows, believing the Man of Steel to be nothing more than a slightly stale and out-dated comic book hero. However, after watching various episodes of Smallville, a very different interpretation of the American icon began to impress itself upon me.

As nonsensical or offensive as some people might think this to be, the tale of Superman represents an allegory of another well-known supernatural, extra-terrestrial being: Satan.

Before delving into some of the more specific correlations, and often glaring similarities, between these two legendary immortals, there is an important point which needs to be made regarding the nature of angels. Angels are extra-dimensional and other-worldly travellers who make infrequent appearances throughout the Bible and other related texts. They usually do not have wings, and they almost always appear just like men. The Seraphim and Cherubim are the only two celestial orders consistently described in the Bible which bear wings. While most angeaologies consider both orders to be angels, the highest orders in fact, neither the Old nor New Testaments refer to them as such. But this is really just a semantic argument that needn't be fully addressed here. Anyway, the English word angel is derived from the Greek angelos which simply means messenger, as does the Hebrew mal'ach, which is used in the Torah, the prophets, and other Hebrew writings. (2) These terms can be used to indicate human or divine beings. Many times the humans with whom angels communicate are not even aware of it until the supernatural visitors perform some act obviously beyond the capability of mere mortals. After closely examining all the Biblical references, I was forced to conclude that there is no overwhelming distinction between angels and what modern mythology refers to as aliens. Both are extra-terrestrial, and both seem to exhibit powers and/or technology beyond what might traditionally be considered human. Now, Satan, if standard Christian doctrine is correct, is a fallen angel, while Kal-El, or Superman, is a stranded, immigrant alien.

Objections may arise as angels are said to dwell in heaven while aliens inhabit the supposedly innumerable worlds located in the vast reaches of space. But again, the only difference between the concepts of heaven and space lie in the minds of people who refuse to acknowledge the simple facts. Both exist above and outside the earth, and both are impossible to visit for the majority of living human beings on this planet. Even now, after thirty-some years of manned space-flight, it still requires the pinnacle of human technology, and the availability of monumental resources, to even consider such undertakings. We haven't been to the moon in over thirty years according to official sources. Moreover, space remains extremely dangerous. It is a notoriously hostile environment; the slightest mistake or malfunction can bring about instantaneous death for even the most well-trained astronaut. So, heavenly realms and intergalactic space, not that different, right? Okay then, hopefully that matter is settled, and we can move on to Krypton.

As most of us know, Kal-El's homeworld, Krypton, was completely obliterated due to a nuclear reaction at its core, which resulted in the infant Kryptonian's emergency flight to earth. Now, some theorize that the asteroid belt in our solar system was created when a large, terrestrial planet located between Mars and Jupiter (often referred to as Astera/Astara) exploded some time in the past. (3) It's possible that this same cataclysm was also responsible for the destruction of the Red Planet's atmosphere and its civilization. Satan may also be connected with Mars and Astera, depending on one's interpretation of certain Old Testament books such as Ezekiel. Ezekiel states in chapter 28, verse 14 that the former anointed cherub, Satan, "walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire". It's not a very far stretch of the imagination to connect "the stones of fire" with planets. Please examine the following verses for more details:

Ezekiel 28:15-17 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground (Hebrew 'eretz is also often translated as land or earth), I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

So Satan may have ruled a physical civilization spanning Mars, Astara, and perhaps several moons as well. But he rebelled against his God and King, and was cast to the earth along with a third of the Heavenly Host (See Revelation 12:4).

The aforementioned information thus allows us to have a much clearer understanding of the scenario presented in Smallville 1961. While I don't disagree with Chloe about the possibility of genetic memory being stored in the DNA, I don't accept that this was necessarily true in Clark’s case. I believe it to be more likely that Jor-El and Kal-El are one person, not father and son. Here's how it works:

I. Jor-El is Satan. II. The father who exiled Jor-El/Satan to earth is actually the Father, as in Yahweh, the God of the Bible. III. Jor-El/Satan returns to space to continue the "War in Heaven" (See Revelation 12:7).. IV. In order to eventually assume the role of Anti-Christ, Satan devises a seemingly foolproof plan. Just as Yahweh/God limited himself in power when He assumed the form of Jesus/the Christ, Satan formulates a a similar device. He clones himself and denies this clone access to certain segments of his memory and powers. This way he will more easily deceive humans into believing that he is a righteous savior rather than evil incarnate. But he makes messages and recordings beforehand which will remind him of certain things at planned intervals. This will enable him to develop in the most ideal way in order to fit the role of the Christ more perfectly. V. Satan and his angels are defeated in the heavenly realms, Mars and Astera/Krypton is destroyed as a result. Satan transfers his consciousness/spirit from Jor-El to the infant clone, Kal-El and rockets off toward earth.

As additional support for this concept, let us explore the meanings of the principal character's names belonging to the Superman mythos:

Clark - Old English - Clergyman or learned man (4)

Kent - Welsh - Bright white, white or bright (5). Another interesting possible derivation of this name is from the Biblical Kenites (first mentioned in Genesis 15:19 as enemies of Israel), who may have been descended from Cain (for in Hebrew Cain is more accurately transliterated as Qayin, and Kenites as Qayini. Adding an "i" to the end of a name in Hebrew indicates the people or descendants of that personage. Israel/Israeli, Qayin/Qayini. See the pattern?) (6)

Kal-El - Can be translated as destruction or completion of God in Hebrew (or possibly 'all that is God/totality of God'). (7) El is the Hebrew word for God.*

Jor-El - J is actually pronounced Y (the letter Yod) in Hebrew. Possible translations are: Yare'-el - fear of God, Yarah-El - God teaches, taught of God, Yeru-El - God is a foundation, Yeri-El - founded of God; God will see. (8)

Krypton/Kryptonite - From the Greek words krypto - To hide; kryptos - hidden unseen, secret; krypte - hidden place (9)

Lex - Latin for law (Just in case 'Lex' is actually short for Alexander, Alexander is Greek for leader of men, alex (leader) + ander (men).10

Luthor (Luther) - Teutonic- famous warrior/ famous in war

Old German - Warring ones

German - warrior/famous people?. Martin Luther was a Catholic monk and theologian turned Protestant reformer (1483-1546). (11)

*If one is inclined to doubt that Kal-El and Jor-El may actually be Hebrew names, allow me to you remind you that both Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the original creators of Superman, were Jewish. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think it's highly unlikely they would give their characters Hebrew-sounding names by pure chance. (12)

There are just a few more items of interest which may possibly be connections between Kal-El and the Red Dragon/Satan. Since Superman derives his powers from the sun, that would make him a kind of 'sun god'. Satan has sometimes been compared with the sun gods of ancient mythology such as the Egyptian Ra, the Greek/Roman Apollo and the Persian Mithra. The 'infinity serpent' burned onto Clark's chest in the second season finale of Smallville is another fascinating correlation, as Satan is often recognized as being or controlling the serpent in the Garden of Eden (Genesis chapter 3), and one of his titles in Revelation (12:9) is that "that old serpent". Finally, it would be quite simple to draw a pentagram inside the five-pointed shield emblazoned on Superman's costume. Pentagrams are used in ceremonial magic and Satanism the world over. Not that such a detail is conclusive, but I just thought I'd include it for the sake of being thorough.

So what does all of this mean? The reader, of course, is free to draw his or her own conclusions But here's what I believe; Superman comics, movies, and TV shows (and everything else in between) are Satanic Propaganda. Superman is the Anti-Christ/Satan and Lex Luthor, representing Christianity, is desperately trying to defend the earth against him. As the story is told from Satan's perspective, Lex is falsely demonized and portrayed as an insane criminal. In the words of Friedrich Nietzsche from Thus Spake Zarathustra, "God is dead. I teach you the superman." This is the lie that the father of lies is eager for us all to swallow down between mouthfuls of French fries and jelly-filled breakfast pastries.

- Thyroros, December 2, 2003, Redlands, CA.

Endnotes:

1. See Friedrich Nietzsche's Biography.com
2. Information gathered by using the King James Bible (1611 Authorized Version) and The Strongest Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. James Strong, L.L.D., S.T.D. Fully Revised and Corrected by John R. Kohlenberger III and James A. Swanson. Grand Rapids Michigan. Zondervan. 2001
3. Click here for the standard line on the Asteroid Belt formation. Go here for more information on the possible link between Mars, Astara, and Satan, maybe even Venus?
4. Name definition for Clark (Any standard name/baby-name book should provide this information.)
5. Name meanings & Name origins (Any standard name/baby-name book should provide this information.)
6. See footnote 2. Most Biblical scholars don't make the connection between Cain and the Kenites. This is probably due to the long-held view that the Flood of Noah/The Great Deluge (as related in Genesis chapters 6-8) was worldwide and no one survived except Noah and his family. However, a gr owing number dispute that the Flood was regional rather than global (which is possible based on certain interpretations of the passages in Genesis), and therefore, Cain's progeny could have survived.
7. From the Strong's Concordance Hebrew Dictionary (contained within the same volume), Reference numbers 3605-3607, 3615-3617
8. From the Strong's Concordance Hebrew Dictionary (contained within the same volume), Reference numbers 3372, 3384, 3385, 3400. Incidentally, yerah is the Hebrew word for moon, ref. 3391.
9. From the Strong's Concordance Greek Dictionary (contained within the same volume), Reference numbers 2926-2928 10. (Any competent Latin-English and Greek-English dictionaries can be used to find these definitions. Also standard name/baby-name book should provide this information.) Here's a couple of websites just in case you want them. For Alexander. For Lex & another for Lex. Just for fun, here's website containing excerpts of Plutarch's Alexander the Great (who was not a good guy) bio.
11. "Luthor/Luther" name meaning.
12. "Jews are the true comic book heroes", article from the Chicago Sun Times and here's a History of Superman article from Superman.com.ar in case your interested.

End the words of Thyroros.

This article can be found at: http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/comics.php?topic=articles/superman-satan

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Westbeach unveils the Emperor’s New Collection

VANCOUVER, BC, April 1, 2008 – Today, Westbeach, the Canadian Snowboarding Original,

presents the Emperor’s New Collection, a limited edition late-season line injection boasting

sensational performance and ballsy design.

“The first time people witness the Emperor’s New Collection, they’re shocked by the beauty

and power of the design—sometimes even speechless,” says Jon Cartwright, Westbeach’s

GM. “This is gear fit for a king.”

Created by world-renowned designer H. C. Andersen using ultra lightweight materials, the

Emperor’s New Collection allows maximal movement and features the industry’s best

breathability rating. Though not intended for extreme conditions, each piece incorporates

strategically placed insulation in areas prone to hypothermia or frostbite.

Extensive prototype testing concludes that consumers will find the Emperor’s New Collection

liberating to wear. “The fabric is so light, it’s as if you’re not wearing anything at all,” says

Westbeach team rider Matt Belzile.

Industry leaders have already voiced their appreciation for Andersen’s grassroots approach,

which embraces minimal design elements without foregoing serious wow factor. “The lay factor

is asstronomical,” according to team rider Dick Flapper. “This Collection brings women to their

knees. And it keeps men honest.”

In addition to terrific performance and styling, the Emperor’s New Collection requires little care.

Washing is seldom required. On those odd occasions when you get really dirty, Westbeach

recommends handwashing garments from the Collection in warm water, as using cold may

result in shrinkage.

See attached picture for details.

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I’m not gonna lie, I don’t remember the entire weekend. But one thing I can say is there was a good group, great snow, and never a dull moment! I’ll try and piece it together...

I get up around 9:30 Friday, March 14^th. I grab a shower, eat a pancake and head out the door. I get to Al and Brien’s house around 10:00, Brien’s still in bed and Al’s out shopping for trip supplies (I got mine the day before.) Which consists mostly of Booze and Energy Drinks. So he gets back with Arby, his sister’s soon to be husband. (A little Fun Fact: He proposed to her at PowderKing on an Earlier trip that year.) So Judy and Arby take off to Grand Prairie to pick up supplies and Mike and Ray for the trip. So we load up the truck and head to Donnelly for lunch at Kan’s Corner. Than we go and pick up Amanda and the rest of our shi*t, which we forgot but remembered on our way to lunch. We out of town by 1. So we get to Rycroft, buy some snacks and huge cans of Monster, 710ml! Wicked! We’re between Dawson Creek and Chetwyne, we hit a Check-stop, just after we literally molested a hot chick and her good-looking mom, with a sign that reads "Call Me! 1-780-837-8869" (Brien’s Cell Number! LoL.) Luckily we don’t get messed with, but the cop acted like Brien stole the truck, checking his plate and his tires/rims. Why the tire? We’ll never know. So we get to P.K., and our A-Frame accomadations. We unload and Start Socializing. We start drinking as we check the place out and its wicked! A total party house! A drum set, 3 Guitars, and a Gas Fireplace and huge windows, with a wicked view of the mountains! So far there is 7 of us, Me, Al, Brien, Amanda, Jody, Arby, Mike and Little Ray, the youngest of the group, a cool 10 years young. So we start playing 31... with drinks. So I suck at drinking game, and I lose hard since the have turned to shots. By the last couple rounds I was doing 4, 6 and 8 shot hands. The last hand of the game, I lose, 8 shots, I say, "f*ck It" and Chug half a bottle of Cherry Whiskey and go to bed. But not before Matt and Guss show up. Matt drinks 2 thirds of a 26 of J.D. and then has a beer and Pukes a huge puddle. I fix the toilet for the third time and finally go to bed.

Al and I awake to Matt Bangin’ on the drums and yelling "Wake up a**holes!" Its 7:00 in the Morning! f*ck! And I’m as drunk as I was when I went to bed! So we roll out of bed around 8, and Matt’s still drunk too! Wicked! We all eat breakfast, suit up, and head out. Me, Matt, and Al jump on the back of Arby and Jody’s Jeep. We get a lot of smiles as we roll into the P.K. parking lot. So we get out lift tickets and head up the Mountain. We get to the top of the T-bar, me , Matt, and Al are going to hike to the summit, to our surprise everyone is coming, even little Ray and Jody! So we hike to the top. I don’t know if anyone elsa felt as light headed and as drunk as me and Matt from the night before but hell did that make a harsh hike! Our group breaks up into two groups. Mellow group consists of Arby, Judy, Ray, Guss, Amanda, and Brien. The Gnar group is Me, Matt, Al, and Mike. We ride the trees all the way back to the A-Frame for lunch. So we eat and Bullshi*t for a bit than header back out. We meet up with the rest of the group and shred the rest of the day? We end the day back at the A-Frame, and we invent a new drinking game called "Spin Draw" you pick a card, and if your is the lowest you have to take a shot, spin on a stool 10 times around fast, and take another shot. I got screwed in this game as usual. Pulling the most low cards, thus taking the most shots and rides on the stool. After my last shot I head outside to cool down and spit a lot. So I’m buzzin’ pretty good now, cooking stakes on the BBQ, when Arby says, "Lets go hit that roof, lets just go and session something." So after supper all us guys go out and build a jump, but its so dark by the time its ready, that no one sticks anything, except landing on there asses (Good thing I was wearing my butt-pads, and it was slightly powdered up.) So we head in and watch some footage from the day on the TV, have some beers before we call it a night.

So we get up the next day, eat breakie, get geared up and head out the door. We jump on the back of the jeep again for the ride to the hill. So we go to the top of the T- bar and ride down to Satisfaction and have a beer for the trip like usual tradition. Than we ride the day, I’ve been filming most of the time with my Goggle-Cam, and got some rad footage of jumps and Tree-riding (2 GB worth! Probley only 10 minuets after editing.) The day ends with everyone back at the A-Frame having drinks, packing up, and watching the days footage. We all load into our Vehicles after saying our goodbyes and make our trips back home...

Wow, I remember quiet a bit! A damn good trip, with some damn fun people. I’m going back again, next chance I get!

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Words: Gerhard Gross Images: David Rouleau

Friday the 15^th marked the beginning of the first annual Westbeach Chinese Downhill and an effort to reconnect with the spirit of shredding often lost in the myriad of publicly traded companies, profit margins and share-holder accountability that make up the current snowboarding landscape. Although all in the name of fun and beer drinking, a definite air of competitiveness was present amongst the 35 or so contestants vying for the title of fastest shred.

Westbeach's Dave Short and posse, pre mayhem gondy ride.

Notable attendees included, Shin Campos, Rube Goldberg, Kevin Sansalone, Jon Cartwright, Colin Adair, Ryan Tiene, Steph Just, Beau Bishop, Wiley Tesseo, Robjin Taylor and all the local shreds that made this event great. The rules were simple: first person to reach the Creekside Underground skatepark from the top of Million Dollar ridge and successfully finish a beer would win the affections of his peers and $500.

Weather? Dude it was epic...of course.

Brian Hockenstein and Robjn Taylor. Check out the polar opposites of emotions.

In the end it was a mix of veterans Kevin “Snacksie-pants” Sansalone and Shin “Getsu” Campos racing spring-chickens John Caulfield and Anthony Weglan to the finish line. Their shred skills had brought them to the bottom in a possible record time of 4 minutes 53 seconds but the contest was ultimately decided by the beer chugging skills of Shin. Who says professional snowboarding doesn’t teach valuable life skills?

A couple peaches in a big pot of dude stew, Alison Pesemko, Jenelle Pritchard, Steph Just. The only girls brave enough to roll up on this shi*t.

Can i get a lens wipe? Filmer Corey G's rig under attack from the elements.

Perhaps the best part, and the intended effect, was the sense of camaraderie felt by everyone there. It was a great reason for people who are often segregated by work and busy winter schedules to come together and snowboard for the sake of snowboarding. Thanks Westbeach, see you next year.

Don't f*cking film me....ok, ok, just one photo. Nitro, Billabong's Rube Goldberg, shunning the paparazzi

"CCHHHHYYYYYeah! I think i see Caulfield coming -over." Brocklebank on race patrol.

kind of smells like updog around here.

Gnarcore.com's Willey Tesseo and Beau Bishop with Lucas Ouellette.

The man, the myth the legend, gnarcore.com's John Caulfield accepting the "hey-you-tried" award from Cartwright... and talk about shnetworking, is that a business card exchange?....call me we'll do lunch.

DC Canada team manger Gerhard Gross and DC am Ryan Tiene may not have won the race but they won a spot in our hearts. "Its ok ryan, it's not all about winning, its about having fun... i love you man." they would later hug for an hour straight.

Looky, looky who we ran into. Annum's Ian Gauthier, with homie Matt Macneil and Stepchild's Eman Anderson.

Women, clothing, money and beer.......folks Westbeach is in the house.

When younger legs have you beat, it comes down to good old fashion beer drinking skills, Shin Campos...aka the Creekside King.

why did we cover this event?

gnarcore.com fully backs companies like Westbeach and any activities dedicated to preserving the soul of snowboarding.

Stay up for the video. coming soon to gnarcore.com.

Now go f*ck shi*t up.

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 Powder king B.c. rocks!

First of all i want to thank my boss for having the great idea of bringing the hill crew to PK!!

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I want to take a second to recognize a man who changed history forever in the U.S. To organize a strike is grand, to lead a movment is something special, but to start a revolution of equality in a place that it didnt exist is something totally different. They DO NOT name a federal holiday after just any Tom, Dick, or Larry. $hit, I can't think of a better way to celebrate than tear up Monarch over this three day weekend. I may or may not remeber on Monday why I am on the mountain instead of work. I might not even know what time I'm supposed to be at work after this weekend but isnt that the point. If all my friends get the day off to celebrate my life once a year I would be pi$$ed if they werent slightly cocked...So in honor of the great Dr. I invite you all to share a chair.

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Absolutpark Jib – King

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