When you think nothing else matters, winter does.

Winter, is both loved and loathed by many. Love it or loath it, it is still very much important; it matters. To that end, our mission is to share with you various matters that pertain to winter. As snowboarders we think it's important, and whether you're a winter sports enthusiast, or just looking for a stop-gap between summer activities, we hope you think it matters too. After all, the Ying does not exist without the Yang...

Matters

Tailgate Alaska 2011: Hurry up and Wait

I recently attended the 2011 installment of the World Freeride Festival. This annual festival takes place on Thompson Pass in Alaska, and draws riders from all over the world to tailgate and ride some of the sickest terrain on the planet; hence its name, Tailgate Alaska. A friend told me that the problem with going to Tailgate Alaska is that you end up being compelled to return every year. My response to him was: so what's the problem? As it turns out, he was exactly right.

Map: Show me the way to AK

Map and Compass.

Tailgate Alaska officially kicked off yesterday (7PM AKDT) at mile post 29.5 on Richardson Highway. The bad news for me is that I'm writing about it while sitting in the flat eastern timezone. However, my official departure for AK is not too far off — less than seven days away — so I'm not too bummed about it either. It will give me a bit more time for some last minute preparations before I leave; like securing a good map for example.

The Young and the Restless Snowboarders

Bebe Perron

I've often been asked by parents how old a child should be before they start to learn how to snowboard. I usually tell them the guideline set out by the ski school, and the Canadian Alliance of Snowboard Instructors, is to discourage kids from taking up snowboarding before the ages of six or seven. As a professional instructor, I've always accepted this guideline.

Tailgate Resolutions for The Last Frontier

Bear!

The January issue of Backcountry Magazine arrived in my mailbox this week. During my initial flip through to determine which articles would most interest me, I came across an ad for Alyeska Resort in Alaska. The full page ad consisted of a picture of skier Clint Butler riding in fresh pow, presumably at Alyeska resort, with the caption: Alaska, the last frontier.

Fear of a Black Pant

Clown Pants!

The snowboarding season is finally on in the North East (North America for you global netizens). With it comes the beginning of the lesson programs offered by the ski school at my local resort; a winter source of employ for yours truly. However, this year is a bit different than in the past because the ski school — which manages both ski and snowboard programs — has a brand new director. With the new management in place, the big question before the season began, was whether or not this would trigger the usual war over uniforms (i.e.

Cold Fuse'n with Spark R&D

Plateful of bindings

Last spring, while I was "living" on Thompson Pass in Alaska, I got the opportunity to test out some Spark R&D Fuse bindings with my split board. Erik Morrison, Spark R&D Rep. and King of the Hill Competitor, was gracious enough to let me use them for a couple days, so I got to test drive them on both sled accessed and skin accessed terrain. Although I didn't get to log any heli time with them, I still thought I'd share the experience and my thoughts on the bindings.

Summer: No Time For Change

Hiking into Tuckerman Ravine.

Just because winter is over, doesn't mean that it's not on my mind. Maybe sub-consciously, that's why I like Never Summer snowboards so much; in my imagination it's never really summer. This fixation doesn't really fit into Freud's Psychosexual model – although I suppose in a way mountains might be phallic, but that's neither here nor there – yet I'm am quite sure that I'm not suffering from this fever alone, which is why I recently suggested some potential activities to pass the summer months. The productive quality of these activities are questionable, however, so if you're looking for a slightly more constructive endeavour for the summer, perhaps doing something to protect the season you're breathlessly awaiting (i.e. winter) is just the ticket.

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POW Gloves - El presidente raps about gloves and horny underwear

Bif! Bang! Pow! Gloves.

In January, Dana and I decided to become a major nuisance at the SnowSports Industries of America trade show in Denver Colorado and we recorded most of it on video. Since the snow season is effectively over for me, and I have a little bit more spare time on my hands, so I decided to go through that video to see what we got. I came across a few nuggets which I thought would be good to share with the public at large including a few peaks at some of the stuff that's slated to come out for the 2010/11 snowboard season, including POW Gloves.

May 2-4 Unfrozen Ocean - observing the water cycle.

Marc hiking at lunch rocks.

Last weekend was the Victoria Day long weekend in most of Canada; except for Quebec where it is observed as la journée nationale des partriotes. In either case, the end result was that most of the residents of the Great White North had the day off on Monday. Some of us, therefore, decided to take advantage of it and try to both surf and snowboard on the same weekend. So we packed up the necessary gear, made our way to Mount Washington in New Hampshire to snowboard on Saturday, then to York Beach in Maine to surf on Sunday.

Extreme Ravine - Charlie (Waldo) does Mount Washington

Marc resting at the top of Hillman Highway.

This weekend a group of friends and I, decided to head down to New Hampshire to hike up the Tuckerman Ravine of Mount Washington for some spring snowboarding. Following the recent late April storm, we were hoping to find some good snow to shred without undue risk. Although we did find what we were looking for, we also found much more; sometimes the things you don't plan to see are what make road trips the most memorable. Best of all, now and again you even learn stuff about stuff in the process.

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