SNOWBOARDING

SNOW BOARDING

The size of your deck does matter

By Mike Coupland

HOW DO YOU figure out what length, width and style of snowboard is best for you?

Some people fear this issue is clouded in mystery, but it’s actually very simple. Here’s a five-step checklist that both experts and entry-level riders can use to figure out what kind of deck you need to successfully combine snow, a hill and gobs of gravity. 1. IMPACT. The most important factor in choosing a board is your weight. This determines how a board will turn, flex, and respond to the beating you’re going to give it.

2. ABILITY. The length of board a rider chooses should vary according to the rider’s experience. The range of snowboard weights that manufacturers provide is very broad. An aggressive rider with more experience is happier on a longer board to accommodate his or her ability. Someone with less weight or ability is better suited to a softer model. This makes it easier to get from edge to edge and the rider doesn’t require as much force and energy to control speed. Having less material in contact with the snow causes the board to accelerate slower when not on edge. Choose carefully when you see boards with a weight range of 130-170 pounds. Consider both your weight and your ability.

3. WAIST WIDTH. Not yours—the board’s. This is the narrowest point measured on a board. Your choice should be contingent on whether you have a small, medium or large foot. Unlike a ski, where the skier’s foot runs parallel with their edges, a snowboarder has to worry about edge contact and toe and heel drag. The size of a rider’s foot, in relation to the board waist width, will affect how the rider is able to turn. If your foot is too big, it will cause your toe and heel to drag in the snow. If your foot is too small, it makes for slow turns because the rider can’t get good edge contact. Veterans are reminded to think about your binding angles when choosing your board.

4. STYLE AND BOARD SHAPE. The many different snowboard shapes, flexes, sidecuts and constructions exist for a reason. There are boards designed for cruising, flying, halfpipe, jibbing (handrails), powder, backcountry, bordercross, or just going crazy. Whether you are a beginner or you have been riding for years, there is a board out there to suit your style and ability.

5. GENDER SPECIFIC MODELS. Finally, after years of women having to ride boards designed for men, you can choose boards, boots and bindings made just for you. Designed and tested by women, these products allow women to take snowboarding to the next level.

Don’t forget to do a little research before you go out to buy your next deck. Check out some demos, ask the right questions and don’t be afraid to “shred the NAR.”

DISC GOLF

Chillin’ on the links By Kevin Grignon

As the days grow colder and shorter, many outdoor enthusiasts follow their passions indoors.

Bubble domes and specialty gyms mean that Ultimate, soccer, football, lacrosse, rock-climbing and golf can be year-round pursuits. Many folks fear the “mushroom effect” from moving indoors—sunshine and fresh air is an important ingredient in an outdoor enthusiast’s life.

At Jacques Cartier Disc Golf Park in the winter months, you’ll find a multitude of snowshoe and cross-country trails meandering from each tee pad to basket. Jacques Cartier Disc Golf Park offers the peace and serenity of a winter trail with the excitement and challenge of playing a summer game in winter conditions.

The high point of the winter disc golf season is the annual Ice Bowl charity tournament, which raises money and much needed food for the Ottawa Food Bank and the Shepherds of Good Hope.

The 2004 Ice Bowl will be held on Saturday, January 24, will be only one of more than 100 Ice Bowls held across North America and around the world. Ice Bowls raise close to (US)$75,000 for local charities each year.

For more information about this year’s Ice Bowl, contact Tournament Director

Don Lane, at icebowl@rogers.com. You can sign up by email or register at the Ultimate Disc Golf Store located at CD Exchange at 142 Rideau Street in the Byward Market.

TIPS FOR WINTER DISC GOLFING:

• To find your disc more easily, attach a metre-long thin piece of reflective Christmas ribbon to the centre of the disc with some duct tape • Test your throwing technique with a variety of gloves until you find one that gives you control as well as warmth • Avoid using white discs! • Bring some hand warmers to keep your fingers in prime shape

Play disc (Frisbee) ™ at night!?

No kidding, this is for real.

This is a regular-sized disc and it really glows! It uses a battery L.E.D. & Fiber Optic Technology. An excellent gift for that disc-playing friend with everything! Check’em out at the Ultimate Disc Golf Store, 142 Rideau Street., 613-241-9876.

In About 30 Seconds, Only One Thing Is Going To Matter. In About 30 Seconds, Only One Thing Is Going To Matter.

You’ve never gone this high up before. Up until four days ago, you’d only ever ridden the hard pack back home. Your board and knee are half done from Monday’s ride. But in half a minute, none of that’s going to matter.

The only thing that will matter is the only way up has disappeared behind those clouds, and the only way down is in your right hand.

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The Board Room At Tommy & Lefebvre

Adult & junior snowboard equipment & apparel. .Pow, freestyle, pipe or jib. We ride. We know

464 Bank 236-9731

2206 Carling Orleans828-4550 834-2653

ESCAPE the everyday.

Gatineau Kanata568-3595 271-8524

www.tandl.com

Ten reasons why you should take up Nordic skiing this year

By David McMahon

1. Super-human fitness: Nordic ski racers are arguably the most highly conditioned athletes on the planet. It is low-impact sport that exercises your heart, lungs and every muscle in your body—an excellent way to stay in shape. Runners will find that Nordic skiing will help them maintain or improve their fitness while allowing their joints and muscles to recover from overuse or repetitive stress injuries.

2. Fresh air experience: Nordic skiing is a clean oxygen-fed sport that takes you into nature and away from busy roadways and claustrophobic gyms. In the spring, a strong crust of snow covers the entire landscape that allows you to ski anywhere in total freedom. “Crustcruising” can take you skate-skiing from the trailhead, through the woods, over a mountain and back within a morning.

3. Great return on investment:

Good equipment is essential to provide a quality skiing experience. Expect a modest entry cost that may be higher than running, but certainly less than canoeing or alpine skiing. The new gear will last years and thousands of kilometres. The payoff is immeasurable in terms of health, fitness, recreation and personal growth.

4. Nordic lifestyle: People of all ages frequent the Nordic ski trails to maintain and improve their health. It is an environment where Spandex lives in harmony with wool, and where skiers, regardless of ability, exchange salutations

in passing. Hard bodies in Lycra and rosy, healthy faces make an afternoon outing in the park not too hard on the eyes.

5. Ski in potluck: You are missing out if you haven’t skied hut-to-hut, stopping for a candlelit dinner around a woodstove with wine, fondue and friends. It’s a decadent and efficient way to share the effort of preparing a meal and enjoying a workout. Food always tastes better if you have to carry it some distance. Delicacies warmed over a woodstove seem so much more wholesome inside your tummy when there is a cold breeze on your face and icicles hanging from your eyelashes.

6. Star-gazing: You would be surprised how many people ski in the Ottawa region after work. The night sky is a planetarium overhead stretching from horizon to horizon. The trails are particularly bright on evenings where there is a full moon casting a blue hue magically through the trees. Skiing at night can feel a lot like striding at the edge of the universe—without gravity, you might even ski into space.

7. Launching pad: Science has told us that given enough thrust, it is possible to make a brick fly and so it is with a self-propelled activity like Nordic skiing. There is even more satisfaction knowing that the experience is self-generated. This is perhaps why children aged eight to 80 will find any bump in the woods to launch from for hours, or the more amplitudecraved jocks pop a “backscratcher 720” off something improbable.

8. Time: Squash court bookings, scheduled aerobic classes, ice time, and alpine lift lines are the few obstacles to doing exercise on your own terms. Avoid getting stuck dangling from a chair while your limbs freeze and your butt goes numb. There is no wasted time waiting to Nordic ski. It’s up to you when and where you go. Nordic skiers can do lots of vertical runs in a day without ever stepping into a lift line.

9. Free-riding: Unless you and your friends have a helicopter at your disposal, the only environmentally-friendly way that you are going to get into the backcountry is on snowshoes, alpine touring, or Nordic skis. The fastest means is using Nordic/telemark gear. Since the majority of your time will be spent climbing or traversing the flats, it is in your best interest to become proficient in Nordic ski technique.

10. Earn your turns: There is a certain satisfaction reaching a destination or ascending a mountain under your own power. In a time before lifts, people made every turn count; focusing on the quality of the experience. In Nordic skiing, speed only comes with skill and experience. You need not fear getting blind-sided by some novice skier going Mach 2 who can’t turn or stop because they’re supported upright by the stability of their high-tech equipment.

—David McMahon is a former National Biathlon Champion, and was a personal coach at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics. He now operates XCZONE.TV with his wife Lise Meloche, featured in this issue’s Profile.