With the recent onslaught on online snow zine redesigns, Snowboarder is the only
magazine that seems to be winning the race with unique features, videos, articles
interviews and more. Today Snowboarder posted an
exclusive video interview
with legendary pro Todd Richards
and a visit to his office at O-Matic snowboards, which happens to be across the street from Swamis. Talk
about the life. Todd takes us on a tour of the office and gives is a run down of the
new 2009 O-Matic Snowboards. The 2009 O Matic line up includes the Awesome (Todd's Board), Extreemo, Benetar, Boron and
pro models for Hampus Mossensen, Louie Vito & Tara Dakides. The
2009 O-Matic snowboards
line will be in stores soon, and when they are, we'll be on it. Todd is quite the personality, take note that this interview is uncut and done all in one take.
Splitboards are the most under rated and stealthy piece of snowboarding equipment on the planet. Mainly
for the backcountry enthusiast, splitboards are a must for any experienced rider that lives
close to mountains, but away from the chairlifts. Splitboards have come a long ways in the past decade and their ride and feel is
now quite similar to that of a normal snowboard. There are also a wide variety of
companies building quality splitboards at reasonable prices. Although splitboards often run
close to $1000, the labor required to make a splitboard is at least twice that of
a normal snowboard.
Splitboards allow you to "skin" up the mountain like a telemark skier. When a splitboard
is in "ski mode", attaching "skins" to the bottom of the skis will keep your from
sliding backwards down the slope, allowing you to basically cross country ski "up"
a hill. Once you make it to the top of your line, it takes just a few minutes to remove
the skins and reassemble the splitboard so it can be ridden down as a snowboard.
Many companies have tried different binding interfaces, but over the past few years, every
company has adopted the Voile mounting set up. Even Burton ditched their splitboard
binding interface in favor of Voile's. The Voile splitboard binding interface is
as simple and clean as it gets. The mounting plates are slim, strong, functional
and will almost never clog with snow. If you purchase a splitboard that does not
already come with the Voile mounting plates, make sure you do not inadvertently order
Voile's home splitboard kit, rather than the standard kit.
Volie's DIY splitboard
kit comes with t-bolts so you can tun that old pow board into a split. Some shops
like Salty Peaks
in Utah, will turn any snowboard into a split board for $275. However, if you have
the extra coin to purchase a real splitboard, it will be well worth the investment.
Frankensplits are great, but they lack the
torsionally rigidity and longevity of a true split board. This
is due to the fact that you're working with 4 sidewalls and edges, rather than just 2. Also, when
mounting your own split board, you will be restricted to the stance you set it up with. With a
true splitboard, you usually have the same type of stance options as a normal snowboard.
Voile's mounting system is designed to work with any standard 4 hole or 3 hole snowboard binding.
If you really want to go for the gusto, check out Spark R&D's
Ignition Bindings that are designed to
fit over the Voile baseplate pucks, adding to performance and removing an entire plate of
metal from each binding mount. Yeah, these are sick.
Burton &
Voile are
the most popular splitboard manufactures. Splitboard.com has some very comprehensive reviews of the
Burton Split Boards,
Volie Splitboards &
Prior Splitboards.
If you're interested in learning more about splitboarding, check out their
forum.
If you're going to be splitboarding in an area that is avalanche prone, make sure you've
taken an avalanche course and know about the safe routes and snowpack that exist. The other
essential backcountry gear you'll need for splitboarding are
collapsible poles,
an avalanche beacon,
an avalanche shovel &
avalanche probe.
The summer solstice in the northern hemisphere has come and gone, but if you're
still jonsing to ride, there are a couple of local options available. In North
America,
Timberine Resort
on Mt. Hood will be open until late August with summer snowboarding camps
already in full swing. Mt. Hood had over 850 inches of snow this season which
will ensure epic coverage all summer long. Tickets are $49 and the Magic Mile and Palmer
Express lifts will be operating from 7:00am - 1:30pm daily.
read more
Learning to surf starts by building a relationship with water and the ocean. Being a good swimmer is half the battle of learning to surf. 98% of the time you're in the water will be spent padding or waiting for waves, you're lucky if the other 2% is spent standing your surfboard. Swimming in the waves where you think you'll first try surfing is a good, again to get familiar with the water and read more
Board Shop Knowledge
