One of the great things about the snow sports industry is that it keeps re-inventing itself every few years. Just when you think you’ve mastered everything there is in skiing, snowboarding, and backcountry skiing, somebody comes out with something new – like the dual edged snowboard.
Snowboarding was born during the 1960s and has gone through a number of evolutionary changes. Beginning with the “Snurf,” snowboarding started out as a simple toy without bindings or sophisticated technology. Jake Burton exploded onto the scene when he introduced his own unique snowboard design that included fixed bindings, space-age materials, and radical sidecut designs in the 1970s. Since then, snowboarding has enjoyed phenomenal success. But during the past five years, snowboarding interest has begun to wane as new winter sports enthusiasts return to the action of skiing made popular by the X-Games.
Many snowboarders have returned to skiing for one simple reason: skis allow the rider to take advantage of more varied terrain and ride them with more control. For riders who are still …Â More info
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It’s mid-February, and Western ski resorts are set to celebrate warmer weather, longer days and festive nights by staging everything from Mardi Gras carnivals and spring festivals to other upbeat events.
New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro are more famous for their carnivals, but Angel Fire, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Keystone, Red River, Snowmass and Vail are ready to launch their own brand of Mardi Gras frivolity.
Angel Fire‘s five-day fete Feb. 20-24 combines the “world’s second-smallest” Mardi Gras street parade, grand ball, costume contest, mask-making party and live music with on-mountain bead tossing by skiers and snowboarders. 1-800-633-7463; www.angelfireresort.com
Keystone says it has one of the Rockies’ biggest Fat Tuesday parties…Â More info
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Shaun White, 22, the champion snowboarder and skateboarder known for his shock of curly red hair, does not know the meaning of off-season. After winning the slopestyle and superpipe at the Winter X Games last month in Aspen, Colo., he came to New York to compete in the Red Bull Snowscrapers event on Feb. 5. (NBC will broadcast it at 5 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.) Though Snowscrapers took place on a specially built 90-foot-high ramp in East River Park, it was business as usual for White…Â More info
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Burton Snowboards and Stevens Pass are teaming up to bring you the 2nd annual Burton & Stevens Pass Women’s Only Snowboard Retreat! Don’t miss this chance to take your snowboarding to the next level and share a weekend with a great mix of women from across the Northwest (and beyond!)
Join us on the hill Saturday and Sunday Feb 28th & March 1st for 2 great days of riding & camaraderie – there will be Burton Team riders as well as professional instructors from …Â More info
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