Snowriter

I disagree. It is relevant. The first person to win a gold medal in snowboarding was mired in controversy. He tested positive for an illegal substance. He was questioned by Japanese police because of his positive test. That's news. That controversy was among the biggest stories of the 1998 Games. It happened. You can't omit the event simply because it doesn't make the sport look pretty. To do so is bad journalism and an attempt to whitewash history. IMHO of course :) As to the IOC/FIS issue, from the NY TImes Feb 13, 1988: The I.O.C. medical code does not penalize the use of marijuana unless a specific sports federation penalizes its athletes for using the drug. FIS guidelines state that a penalty may be imposed for a positive test, but Letheren said that the FIS president, Marc Hodler, informed the arbitration panel that FIS considered snowboarding's giant slalom an event in which marijuana testing was neither necessary nor relevant. ''The FIS said marijuana was in their guidelines to help protect the health and safety of athletes who might take the drug to overcome fear in sports where that might be important,'' Letheren said. ''They quoted ski jumping as an example. They said they were not at any time asked if they wished to have marijuana tested for in snowboarding, and that if they had been asked, the answer would have been no because it is no advantage in giant slalom.'' That doesn't look like a conspiracy to me. But, that said, I have heard other people close to professional snowboarding say there were other issues going on at the time ...

Ross Rebagliati - First ever Olympic champion in snowboarding. Also known for having tested positive for marijuana and nearly losing his gold medal as a result. Is that what you were referring to? If so, I wouldn't call that a pointless smear. It's accurate and was one of the biggest stories of the 1998 Games.

Years ago, like 1999, I was hit from behind by a skier at Greek Peak. Impact was so hard ski patrol came down because he "heard it from the top of the hill." The guy was very apologetic and took the full blame for the accident. Said he he thought he could pass me and didn't expect me to move to that side (my right side/heel side). No real injury and he seemed to take full responsibility for trying something he shouldn't. Likewise, the couple times I've slid into someone (always at slow speeds -- I just don't open up if there's not room) I've always been apologetic. Seems pretty basic. You hit someone, you apologize. Common courtesy.

So this week I got a couple days in a Whiteface ... Slushy freeriding but fun. Anyway, on two separate occasions a skier passed me in a dangerous manner. 1) The skier passes me and then immediately cuts me off, forcing me to speed check. I tried to catch up to him, hoping he would stop at a flat, but he didn't. I was planning on chewing the kid out ... and I really don't do that. But when you force someone to brake, you need to be informed of your error. 2) Skier passed me on my heel side so close that if my arm was extended out, I would have clotheslined him. Talking to my skier friend, she says most skiers just have no clue how dangerous it is to pass close on our heel side. Again, if I could have caught up, I would have wanted to discuss the situation. Oddly, no snowboarders were causing me any real problems ;)

Not exactly unprecedented behavior. I think it's also important to note that it's not like Burton's R&D is minimal. They put a lot of money into it and Jake is known for always looking for ways to improve his boards.

I smoke most of my skier friends in powder and they destroy me on hardpack. Is the way it is ... But, overall, yeah, two skis are faster than one board ... just look at waterskiers. As for fast descents, don't forget Johann O classic run in TB 5 ... for the impatient, it's at about the 3 minute mark :) <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REIbSgufwSU&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REIbSgufwSU&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Ask Mads:eplus2: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsdBp_3bDYk&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsdBp_3bDYk&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <object width="480" height="315" id="mporaplayer_2kpPytGDH" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"><param name="movie" value="http://video.mpora.com/ep/2kpPytGDH/"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://video.mpora.com/ep/2kpPytGDH/" width="480" height="315" wmode="transparent" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object><br /><font size="1">More <a href="http://mpora.com/snowboarding">Snowboarding</a> >></font><br />

I hope I'm not going over 50 ... not interested in a car accident, thank you!

Uniforms were designed by Burton for the team. Frankly, I think it probably didn't help them in scoring ... halfpipe is subjective and the cleaner you look, the cleaner your lines look ... granted Torah Bright was gonna take it based on her second run anyway, but her outfit made her look better doing her tricks than Hanah Teter ...

LOL ... okay, I hit the link and see that, yes, indeed, it's Yuichiro Miura ... and the quote on the page is from my interview with Miura for the article I just wrote :) http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Godfather-of-Extreme-Skiing.html Gotta love it when that happens ...

Found it in my notes: Raging Buffalo in Algonquin, IL did not allow skiers circa 2006. They do now. Policy began in 1993.

There was a snowboard only mountain, but I can't recall the name of it at the moment. Don't even know if it's still in business. This was a couple years ago.

Snowboarding is one of the most popular Olympic sports from a TV ratings perspective. Typically, Figure Skating is #1, snowboarding and skiing battle for #2. Not sure how it will work this year.

Nope. US TV Ratings are measured by Nielsen. Only a certain number of families have Nielsen boxes. A relatively small sample of the population.

In January at Bristol I'm zipping down the hill at nite. Woman (skier) comes out of the woods without looking uphill - like a deer darting across the road. Had two choices: Bail or hit her. I bailed, hit my head hard. If I didn't have a helmet it would have been terrible. As it was, I got my bell and tailbone rung. She asked me twice if I was okay... but I was only capable of saying F--- a record number of time. She then took off ... good thing as had I gained my senses, I would have had told her off. Went to ski patrol to get checked out. No concussion, but I was done for the day and didn't go riding again until yesterday ... I was so tentative. Haven't been that tentative since 1997, LOL. Ski Patrol said they probably would have revoked her pass for coming out of the woods without looking uphill, particularly at nite. Really made me rethink things ... one mistake and you can end up in severe trouble.

While that statement adheres to "the code" it ignores reality. Newbies can and do lose control. By listening to music you make it impossible to hear them when they yell out a warning. Long time riders can and do lose control -- whether it's the result of unseen boilerplate, over aggressive riding, or a simple mistake -- by listening to music you make it impossible to hear them yell out a warning. Now, let's say something terrible happens (and I truly hope it never does). The skier yells out a warning. If you heard the warning, you would not have been hit. But, you don't hear the warning because you are listening to tunes. The skier slams into you and you suffer a broken arm. Okay, so you can be really angry that the person hit you because they lost control. You can claim they didn't follow "the code." Guess what? Your arm is still broken. Oh, by the way, you are partially responsible because you knowingly reduced one of your senses that would have helped you avoid being hit. Forget the code, by purposely compromising your hearing while you were riding, you put yourself in greater danger. You are now partially at fault regardless of what "the code" says. Let's take it a step further. You're really angry about the accident and you sue the skier. Boy, are you going to love being cross-examined when opposing counsel learns that you were listening to music when you got hit and that you didn't hear the warnings from the skier because you were listening to tunes. Guess what? You can cite "the code" all day and all night in court, the judge/jury will find you partially at fault and reduce any potential awards accordingly (if you get any award at all -- some juries might equate your wearing headphones with talking on the cell phone while driving and award you nothing). So, you proved your point. It was the skier's responsibility to yield, so you felt it was your right to crank your tunes because it was their job not to hit you. Enjoy the broken arm and the reduced/zero damages.

A friend of mine is running an operation called Snow Day Card. Basic premise is buy the card and you can get 2 for 1 lift tickets (weekdays only) at six different mountains in Central/Eastern NY and Magic Mountain. If you're interested, here's the link: http://snowdaycard.com (If this violates any message board policy, my apologies in advance.)

Think this is it ... combination of some local family resorts and some nice destinations. CO Winter Park/Mary Jane IN Paoli Peaks NH Attitash Bretton Woods Cranmore Ragged NM Sandia Peak Sante Fe NY Gore Labrador McCauley Snow Ridge Song Toggenburg Val Bialas Windham Woods Valley VT Bolton Valley Bromley Burke Jay Peak Mt Snow Smugglers Notch Stratton Sugarbush

I'm a freerider and have a T6. Love it. It's not a mellow board, however. When you just want to play, particularly at slower speeds, I'm not sure it's the best board. But, it is a sweet board. Make sure you lock it up when you're getting lunch, etc.

1) The Winterstick brand has died more than a few deaths :) 2) Were there 850 snowboard manufacturers? Seriously? Jeez. Do you have anything that documents that? It would help for some research I'm doing. Thanks!!!

IIRC, Winterstick wasn't distributed last season. Could be wrong. But, I seem to recall no new product going out in 07/08. So, it had another restart this year with Wagner producing the boards and Tom Burt buying in. Again, that's my recollection at 2am... Could be off. There are some other companies that aren't on the list due to either very low market share or because for some other reason they weren't tracked ...

Thought I'd bump this for fun.

So what was our final tally?? LOL!!!!

Tom Burt picked up an ownership interest in Winterstick in '08.

Most people who bowl probably don't know much about bowling history either... Heck, most people who play baseball probably couldn't tell you why Cy Young was important. In fact, when MLB retired Jackie Robinson's number in 1998, a survey revealed that many pro players - including several minorities - had never heard of Robinson. Following up on your other points: 1) Yes, Sims and Burton were never partners. 2) Yes, Sims did sue Burton over the Craig Kelly signing. Received a TRO, which was eventually overturned by an appellate court. 3) Yes, Burton was more into racing than freestyle until the late 80s. When Burton signed Craig Kelly, one reason was to give the company credibility in the freestyle movement. It worked.