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RSS/XMLWelcome to my void
This is not an empty void. It's a clamourous and offensively loud void. It radiates of all things snowboarding. Truth may not have brought you to this void, but it is all that can escape it; and the fact is that, when everything else sucks, snowboarding still rules. This is the truth through the eyes of a militant snowboardista.
Summer - No time for change
2010-06-14 10:36:36
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.
While attending the SIA tradeshow in January, I got to see the premiere of Generations; a short film about climate change produced by Teton Gravity Research in partnership with The North Face and Protect Our Winters. I'm already a believer in anthropogenic climate change, so this movie was essentially "preaching to the choir", but it was still eye opening to see how winter sports have been affected by the warming trend of the global climate; especially in my usual stomping ground of New England (and by inference, the townships of Quebec).
I realise that using first hand, annecdotal, evidence to support anthropogenic climate change is stupid and un-scientific, especially when you consider that our lifetimes are insignificant when compared to global climate cycles. However, it's also stupid to say that a cold week in January is evidence which disproves the global warming phenomena; a theory which, I might add, is supported by a vast scientific consensus. Whether or not you believe in global warming, I think everyone can agree that all the crap we're putting into the atmosphere is not healthy. If you doubt this fact, I challenge you to run a gas powered lawn mower in your bedroom then come back and tell me how that makes you feel. For that reason, I think it's important for everyone, believer or not, to care about what we're spewing into the atmosphere.
Right now is a critical time for action on climate change. The US Senate narrowly defeated the Murkowski Resolution, on June 10th, by a vote of 53-47. This resolution proposed to block the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing greenhouse gas regulations. Although this, by most accounts, is a victory for the climate, there is still an uphill battle ahead to ensure that binding climate legislation gets passed.
Senator Harry Reid has been polling other Democratic Senators about whether, or not, they want to go ahead with a climate bill this year. So if you're in the U.S. of A, and are looking for something productive to do this summer, an easy one would be to write to your Senators and ask them to tell Harry Reid that they want to see a climate bill this year. Check out the "60 Days To" campaign sponsored by Protect Our Winters for more information.
It's also possible for those of us in the Great White North to get involved. The G8 Summit will be held in Muskoka, Ontario from June 25 to 27.
[This is] a perfect opportunity for the world's wealthiest nations to make some decisions about climate change. But Prime Minister Stephen Harper has refused to put it on the agenda. World leaders including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and European Union President Manuel Barroso have urged the prime minister, as the Summit’s host, to allow discussion on this important issue. Six Nobel Peace Prize winners just sent an open letter to Stephen Harper urging the same.
The David Suzuki Foundation is currently promoting a letter writing campaign to have canadian citizens write to Prime Minister Harper to convince him to put climate change on the G8 agenda and deliver the financial support to help poor and vulnerable countries adapt to the climate change impacts we created as he committed to doing in Copenhagen.
Hopefully if enough of us get involved, our respective governments will finally stop dragging their feet and implement policies that will keep both our environment, and ourselves, healthy. This way we'll be able to keep enjoying winter for a long time to come. These are pretty simple actions that anyone can take, so they won't take too much time away from surfing YouTube and working on your tan.
Summer Time - Waste it well with Signal Snowboards
2010-06-11 18:22:58
For many, the summer months are a stop gap season. Although some will be lucky enough to head south of the equator to extend their winter (ahem, New Zealand 2011), to most winter sports enthusiasts, summer is a time to learn new sports, perfect less practiced ones, let the body heal, work on their tan, or even fill their brains with nonsense to talk about in the lift lines next winter. This summer, Signal Snowboards is stepping up to provide an assist in the shenanigans department with a new video series called Every Third Thursday.
Signal Snowboards has been a pioneer in finding different techniques for constructing snowboards. With the Flotsam & Jetsam project, they have been recycling discarded base material to manufacture the bases of their own new snowboards which is a step in the right direction for a truly sustainable snowboard industry (in the spirit of the cradle to cradle philosophy).
Even though the durability of their boards has occasionally come into question, the fun factor when riding them generally does not, and you can't fault them for trying to come up with new construction techniques or sources of material for their products. This philosophy of experimentation and creative expression seems to be the essence of their new show. According to the Signal blog, where Every Third Thursday was announced:
"This show will take you through the process at our factory as we build freak boards with random materials, meant to inspire and push the creative boundaries of what a snowboard can be."
I'm curious about what kind of wacky materials they will use.
So if you can't afford to go to Big Mountain Camp in Las Lenas Argentina, and are looking for something to distract you until the snow starts to fall, Every Third Thursday might be a good outlet for you (besides scouring my blog and cogitating on the philosophical ramifications of a snowflake falling to the ground of course). The show will be broadcast on Sign als YouTube channel starting June 17th. In the meantime, check out the preview embedded below:
Pray for Snow - hopefully Ullr and Skaõi are listening
2009-11-19 22:23:59
Currently the east and west coast are having pretty much opposite weather. While Whistler is reporting base depth of more than 200cm (84 inches) of snow so far this season, the east coast has been unseasonably warm. In fact it hasn't even been cold enough for local resorts to start making snow forcing them to push back their opening days. This inconsistency in seasons got me thinking about the possible reasons why this might be happening and what I might be able to do about it (aside from the obvious and selfish solution of going west). One possibility is that the gods of snow are frowning upon us. Perhaps it's time to start making supplications to Ullr, but can he really make it snow? What kind of offerings does he demand? Are there possibly other figures who could help in this regard. All these are important questions in my quest to find winter.
Unlike it's bigger Intrawest brother on the west coast, Tremblant is looking a little bare. It's high time to send supplications to Ullr to blanket the fields with snow.
Many resorts hold events to honor Ullr. In January Breckenridge, which was reporting 19 inches of base depth on Nov. 19th (seems meager by Breck standards), is hosting its annual Ullr Fest. However, this festival seems to be more of an excuse to get people outside in the snow than a ritual to encourage the clouds to open up and barf. This, and the fact that the festival hasn't actually taken place yet this season, might explain the apparent dearth of snow at Breckenridge (even though it's still 19" more than we have locally).
Mammoth Mountain, currently reporting a base between 16"-24" deep, also has an annual Ullr Fest. However, this one seems more like senior prom than a ritual to honor the gods of snow. An Ullr god and goddess are nominated and featured during the festival just like a prom king and prom queen; how 90210. Like Breckenridge, a 16"-24" base depth seems meager by Mammoth standards, but again this may be explained by the fact that the Ullr festival doesn't take place until December 11th.
The Whistler Ullr festival is more along the lines of what I have in mind. This year it was held on November 4th, well before opening day and a whole 100 days before the opening of the Olympics, and consisted of live music, drinking games, and other shenanigans at the GLC. In the past there used to be a bonfire where old ski equipment was burned in a pyre as an offering to Ullr but this practice has been abandoned since skis and snowboards have plastics in them which are bad for the environment; especially when burned. This does not seem to have angered Ullr, however, as Whistler still seems to be getting plenty of snow. Besides, this pyre would probably make Mother Nature unhappy and it would be strange for she and Ullr to be at odds in this way. Regardless this early honoring of Ullr seems to have payed off for Whistler.
The common theme here seems to be honoring the gods: Ullr in particular. However, it's probably of great importance to know about the entity to which you offer supplications before going ahead and randomly building a pyre. After all, angering Ullr would probably have the opposite of the desired effect. This is why I decided to do a little digging to find out more about this mythical figure.
Ullr (pronounced ool-ler), in Norse mythology and Viking folklore, is the patron god of winter and hunting. In the Icelandic Sagas, Ullr is the Lord of northern lakes and mountains. "A popular God with many temples in the North, farmers would make offerings to him to ensure a thick blanket of snow for their fields, to make the land more fruitful when the spring came."[1] Nowadays, rather than farmers, it's skiers and snowboarders who pray to him to ensure a thick blanket of snow. Unfortunately, Ullr is not known to be a cheerful god. "[H]e very rarely bestowed a bounty upon Midgard (the abode of human beings) unless the people prayed very hard; and even then he was known to completely ignore them if he was in a bad mood"[2].
Ullr is not the only mythological figure that should interest to snowboarders, and pretty much any other winter enthusiasts. His wife, Skaõi (pronounced skay-dee), although originally a mountain giantess, was later elevated to the status of goddess. "Skalds have long called her the Goddess of the ski and snowshoe, and is a well-known bow-wife and huntress. These characteristics, along with her name - meaning shadow - point to a mistress or Goddess of the darker half of the year: winter."[1] Before being married to Ullr, she was married to Njord, however, they separated because she loved the mountains and he wanted to live near the sea. So having Ullr paired up with Skaõi is a perfect match: mountains and snow are pretty much what I live for.
With this new knowledge about Ullr and Skaõi, it should now be easier to figure out how much effort should be involved in supplicating them for snow. Knowing that Ullr is not much of a cheerful god makes me realize that we should double our efforts. Hopefully he doesn't ignore the east coast for very much longer. Otherwise I'll have to figure out how to establish myself among the people of Hyperborea.
The Colours of Fall - I like boobs (and snowboarding)
2009-10-09 18:38:01
It is now the second week of October. That means the leaves are changing color, the days are getting shorter, and the scents of winter are in the air. In fact, on Wednesday Shay was shredding in Loveland and making me jealous by writing about it. Hopefully it won't be long before I hit the slopes too. I'm encouraged by the fact that October is like the opening act of the winter play.
Besides being the prelude for winter, and the host of the wicked event that is Halloween, October is also known for something else: it is the official breast cancer awareness month. Because of this fact, I've decided to do something special to show my support; I've added a little pink to the colour scheme of my site. Although it's only a symbolic gesture, symbols generally resonate with people, and I think this is essential in raising awareness about something. It allows me to spread the word about other gestures that are more than symbolic.
Zoe sports a pink jacket, perhaps in support of breast cancer awareness and to promote Betties for Breasts, as she locks into a front board at Kinky Rail Jam.
You may wonder what snowboarding has to do with breast cancer awareness. To answer that question, I turn your attention to Boarding For Breast Cancer. This foundation was started by Tina Basich, Shannon Dunn, Lisa Hudson, and Kathleen Gasperini. Some of you may recognize the names Tina Basich and Shannon Dunn as former pro snowboarders (Shannon Dunn won a bronze medal at the 1998 winter olympics). B4BC's mission is to "increase awareness about breast cancer, the importance of early detection, and the value of an active lifestyle." Snowboarding is a good way to encourage an active lifestyle so the connection is becoming clearer.
Another project that I find particularly interesting, maybe because it's being headed by my friend Zoe, is Betties for Breasts. The goal of this project is to raise money for cancer research by putting together, and selling, a calendar featuring some local women who snowboard. The plan is to raise money by selling ad space in the calendar, and by soliciting sponsors for all the events that surround its production. The current list of sponsors includes my home mountain Mont Cascades. The calendar is scheduled to be ready for 2011, all proceeds will be donated to the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. Check out the Betties for Breasts Facebook page for more information or if you'd be interested in sponsoring an add to support the cause.
At this point some of the guys reading this may be wondering why they need to become more aware of breast cancer. Well the answer is that, in spite of not being blessed with chesticles, men are also at risk of developing breast cancer. In fact the American Cancer Society estimates that, in 2009, about 1,910 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among men in the United States. This fact shocked me, and I learned it thanks to the efforts of B4BC (see it's working). However, in addition to being at risk of this disease, breast cancer may also affect the women that we love. That, in my opinion, can be more difficult to deal with than any disease or injury ever could (or maybe that's just me feeling macho about the manly new dusty rose colour of my website).
The philosopher and feminist Simone de Beauvoir said it best: "Life is occupied in both perpetuating itself and surpassing itself; if all it does is maintain itself, then living is only not dying." So by snowboarding, you're both surpassing life by staying active and perpetuating it through experience. That is a recipe to a healthy life, and something that both B4BC and Betties for Breasts promote: stay aware, stay active, stay healthy, and live.