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Picture courtesy of Alta Ski Area |
Wow! Winter is already upon us--and we all know what that means. Time to ski!
Funny thing about sport and males. If we suck at a sport, we like to explain that it is because our equipment is outdated, inferior, broken or plain "just don't feel right". You see, we never say it is about our lack of skill. Case in point: golfers who claim that they can't get a decent shot because their $1200 titanium golf driver is not "right".
That being said I should explain that I suck at skiing--of course, it can't be my skill. I have been skiing for over eight years now and because of my irregular skiing schedule, I have only seen marginal improvements in my ability. What is holding me back MUST be my old equipment. Hehehe.
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Mike Nick shows off a pole slide trick on some Line skiboards. |
My ski equipment
I bought my 188cm Rossignol 4XS skis about six years ago, and they have certainly served me well. When I bought them, these skis were were considered to be a fine pair--it even had groovy technology such as a kevlar strip built into the ski for suspension and torsion control (Rossignol's VAS system).
Today, skis have become extremely more complicated (than from what I remember). Of course you have different skis made for each level of skiing: beginner, intermediate, advanced. You also have different skis for different types of downhill conditions: skis for powder, skis for carving, skis for freeriding...the list goes on. Heck, even the riding population and skiing technique is divided between those of the "old school" and the "new school". Sigh. All the while, some of my friends have been suggesting that I convert to the dark side and try snowboarding because it is more "cool". I say: "Hell no!" After learning how to ski for eight years, you think I'm going to start again at the bunny hills with the snowboard? No thank you! I don't have that much patience.
Snowblades? Skiboards?
So after cruising webpages for a decently priced, decent ski replacement, I came across Salomon's snowblade site. Basically Salomon were marketing some short skis (less than 100cm or so) that they claimed were a balance between skiing and snowboarding. While offering the freedom of skis, they claimed their snowblades also offered the snowboard's traditional advantage of short length that allows for groovin' air tricks. Hmmm....interesting.
I searched further and found that these short skis are becoming quite the rage these days. Because of Salomon's copyright on the term "snowblade", everyone else in the industry (such as Canon Industries, Line, Groove, Journey and Snowjam) calls them skiboards. Although skiboards have been around for several years, it has only been in the past year that people are starting to catch on to this hot new item. These skiboards come with non-releasable bindings that are compatible with regular ski boots. Unlike snowboards, you can just use your existing ski boots! Although you can use your poles when using skiboards, most people don't.
Online opinions (at eopinions.com and skireview.com) about skiboarding were 99% positive. Numerous skiers' stated that skiboarding was better than sex, and with that, I was convinced to buy some for myself. Most users seemed to recommend either boards from Line or Canon. After calling Line, I found out that they had a demo pair of their 1999/2000 Mike Nick Pros (a nice 98cm skiboard) that they were selling off. With my height at 6 feet, they recommended that I needed to get at least a 98cm board, so I snatched their demo pair up. Shipping takes about three weeks, and when I try them out, I'll post an update.
Preparing for the season.
Well even if the snow hasn't fallen on the mountains, that means I need to get prepared. I have always been busy to go up to the mountains to really ski, but this year I have promised myself that I will ski more! I will. I will.
I gotta get physically ready in order to fly higher, and ski faster this year. In Korea, with my late-night eating and beer drinking I actually lost weight! As soon as I came back home and started eating a more healthy diet and stopped drinking I just added the weight back. Ironic huh? Sigh.
Well one key element to being able to survive on the mountains (and steer away from those pesky trees) is to have good strong legs, so I'm starting an exercise regiment. During the summer I leg pressed about 230 kg / 507 lbs, so I know I had the strength...I just don't know if I still have it. Unfortunately I don't have a leg press downstairs, so I can't really find out. Well no matter, my emphasis will be have to be on endurance rather than brute force anyway.
So for the past week I have been started to jog everyday on the treadmill. Oh jeesh. I'm SO out of shape...after the first five minutes I'm huffing and puffing like a steam train. Currently I'm only doing 20 minutes each day, but I'm slowly working up to 30 minutes, and then 40 minutes, then 50 minutes, and then to the hour mark.
Well I'll tell you how it goes in a few weeks time...
Posted by Dave at October 14, 2000 11:48 AM