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Finally after a long wait DC has brought out there first line of Snowboards and the word on the streets is that they have made a pretty good product. 

DC will drop 4 models of boards two of which will be Team Boards “Devun” and “Ikka” and the other 2 models are the freeride board “HKD” and last but not least the park board “MLF” which was awarded the Good Wood seal of approval by Transworld magazine.

Ken Block believes that DC boards can have a significant impact on the industry and the heavy hitters to be dressed in this new product should carry some heavy marketing impact. Devun Walsh, Ikka Backstrom, Lauri Hekari, and Aaron Bittner will all be rocking hard goods.

The DC company has all the money, technology, marketing, and know how to make their move into hard goods a success. With a great start we can only hope as consumers their line of product will live up to the hype!

A couple short days ago the first cabin made its historic trip from the Peak of Whistler Mountain to the Peak of Blackcomb mountain. Even though this is an engineering accomplishment I am totally against the Gondola.

As you continue reading you’ll learn why.

1. It’s unnecessary, you can just ride to the bottom of the hill that’s what your supposed to do.

2. Whistler Village could use the money, instead of spending the millions on that stupid contraption we could use that money for developing community projects and building affordable housing.

3. It’s an eye sore, this is supposed to be a beautiful natural wonder and now we have a huge wire and soon to be cabins ruining the view and making this place feel like disney land.

With that being said I do believe it’s going to be a pretty cool ride but that doesn’t make up for the last reason it’s a bad idea.

Building that Gondola to me says “Hey look at me I’m a big Douche Resort” I think the big wigs at Whistler Blackcomb need to take their heads out of each others asses and start using their millions of dollars to helping the community and bettering the lives of the people who actually live here.

That’s it, Peace

Burton has been around the snowboard game since the beginning designing and leading the way with new technology and innovation each and every year, so why does my title say “Burton Snowboards suck!”

It’s for the simple fact that many kids don’t realize that Burton is not the only company that produces quality product. Get your head out of the gutter and come to the conclusion that Burton may just be the evil empire of the snowboard industry, even though they have one of the best customer service and return policy’s in the industry.

After reading that first paragraph you might be thinking I have a personal vendetta towards Burton and the truth is I don’t and I actually believe Burton is still one of the top Brands in the industry. As you continue reading you’ll come to understand my point, and it is this.

The next time you saddle up in the car and are about to search your local snowboard shops for some new gear KEEP AN OPEN MIND. Check out all the other brands, ask what’s new, see what other technology is out there, see other pro model decks, and when you do this you’ll come to understand there is a lot of great choices out there.

Ride, Saloman, Nitro, K2, Lib Tech and more. These companies all deserve a chance to be seen and heard so make sure you check them out or you might be missing out.

Expand your horizons, take down the evil empire!

- Matt

If your like most snowboarder I know you’ll fall into 2 categories. If you’re in the first category it means your a lazy a$% and you don’t hit the gym and train for snowboarding. If you’re in the second group you actually hit the gym and get in shape.  Now as you continue to reading you’ll realize it doesn’t matter what group your in because this workout strategy I’m going to teach you is incredibly effective for building all the muscles you need for snowboarding in such an incredibly short period of time.

Do you have 7 minutes a day to put towards better health and better snowboarding?

Of course you do, ok here it is. 

This is a circuit workout. Do each exercise for 30 seconds each. Take a minute rest after the first set, then do another. When you increase your conditioning add another set or two

Excercises in Order to be performed 30 seconds each.

1. Jump ups: standing jumping up and down sucking your knees as high as you can into your chest.

2. Situps

3. Pushups

4. Burpees

5. Punches: punch fully extending to your arms out in front of you, to the right, left, up and down while keeping your feet in the same spot

6. Running on the spot punching out in front of you: Run on the spot bringing your knees all the way up and punch out fully extending your arms.

I do this workout all the time it’s difficult and well worth the effort!

Snowboard boots may be the most important part of your setup, nobody can ride well with sore feet or soggy boots. 

The first step in picking the right pair of boots is to understand what type of riding you will be using them for. I’m pretty sure if you are reading this your a freestyle rider and if that’s the case you want a freestyle boot. Now that you have that narrowed down there’s only one secret that you have to follow to find the right pair.

Get the right fit and try on many many pairs, that’s it. With snowboard boots you really just need to try on a bunch of pairs and go with what feels right for you. DO NOT buy into cool styles or labels if the boots don’t feel right.

When you find the right pair you’ll know!

P.S I like Vans

22 Riders 150 boards and an extensive test that lasts 5 days in the park and 3 days in the pipe. Wow that’s too many numbers for one sentence but all that matters is the right people are testing the sh*t out of all the new boards so we can get a grasp on who’s putting out the best gear this season.

The results are in and the top 10 good wood boards over $400 for the 2008/2009 season are as follows in no particular order.

1. K2 Believer, $439

2. Nitro Wiig, $529

3. Burton Uninc, $549

4. Nitro Team, $419

5. Ride DH, $449

6. Lib Tech Skate Banana Series, $469

7. Salomon Official, $549

8. DC MLF, $450

9. Gnu Riders Choice BTX, $519

10. Rome Mod, $550

Your sitting back relaxing watching a snowboard video thinking to yourself “how the F#$k” do they do that? I’ve been in that seat before and I still am, the difference is I actually can do most of the tricks you see in the videos (although maybe not off 60 foot cliffs and 30 stair handrails) but I can still hold my own. Anyway there are 2 types of riders. The first group of riders are born to ride, they naturally can perform and learn snowboarding quickly because of past sports, mindset, or a combination of the two. The second group is the group that practices everyday, doesn’t know the meaning of give up, and trains effectively. 

Now if your in group one and you start training effectively your ability will skyrocket. If you are in group 2 which most of you are including myself your ability will still skyrocket. Sounds good right? Well I’m about to share with you a strategy you can learn to start programming all the trick you want to learn this season right into the very core of your being, the trick will be ingrained into your muscle tissues and mind, but you have to work. 

NO WORK = NO IMPROVEMENT

SOME WORK = SOME IMPROVEMENT

LOTS OF WORK = LOTS OF IMPROVEMENT

you choose, all you need is about 20 minutes a day. Stay consistent and you’ll blow your mind!

THE STRATEGY FOR DEVELOPING PRO SKILLS ON YOUR SNOWBOARD

STEP 1 “BODY”: You must have the right body and flexibility to perform hard snowboard tricks. You train hard for hockey, football, soccer, basically all sports. Why not for snowboarding?

Here is a circuit I invented to give you all the muscles you need. Perform each exercise for 30 seconds before moving on to the next

a) High Knees: Jump up and down repeatedly bringing your knees as high as you can into your chest.

b) Situps:

c) Burpees: Look it up on the internet if you don’t know what a burpee is

d) Running on the spot: bring your knees as high as you can with every stride and keep your hands up to your face.

e) Jump 360’s: both pretending to go switch and regular jumping into the air spinning a 360 rotation focusing on technique of spin and exploding through your legs. This is kind of a down time, do your spins properly with style.

***** Stretch for 10 minutes full body before and after *******

Step 2 “FOCUS”: In order to start learning both easy and difficult tricks you need to first develop the base layer of skills to build off. The way you do this is to mimic the tricks as much as possible whenever you can. For example if your learning rail tricks set down a broom pretending it’s the rail and focus on proper technique jumping into the board slides. If your learning to spin jump spins at home focusing on technique frontside and backside switch and regular. MIMIC THE MOVES OVER AND OVER on and off the hill. You can butter most tricks on the hill and start on small features. Doing this allows your body to begin programming all the muscles of your body and builds muscle memory needed to go from landing the trick for the first time to doing the trick without even thinking about it.

STEP 3 “MIND”: Have you every heard the expression sports is 90% mental and 10% physical? I believe that but for snowboarding it’s 95% mental and 5% physical. It’s all in your head! When you try your first 360 you deal with fear, when you stare down a handrail your heart starts to race, when you hit the first jump of the day, when you get in the zone, when you feel that you can land any trick you want. Snowboarding without a doubt is all mental. Now with that said how do you develop a strong mental game? The first step is to start visualizing your tricks. If you have never visualized before don’t worry it gets easier with practice. You should also visualize your tricks in 2 ways the first is to see yourself perform the trick as if you were a spectator watching yourself. The second is to “feel yourself” do the trick. It is important in all visualizations to imagine yourself doing the trick perfectly each time. Visualize before you go to bed, in the car, on the lift, as much as you can, and most importantly before you try the trick you want to do.

This is only a quick outline of what I have in detail in my Snowboard Development course at www.SnowboardAcademy.com if you want step by step detail with everything revealed to you on how to become a phenomenal snowboarder then check out the course and begin training seriously. The best part is even if you follow and dedicate to practicing what I have written in this short article you will be leagues ahead of everyone else and you will develop your skills so fast you’ll be amazed at how good you have become and you’ll be extremely excited at the possibilities ahead of you.

- Matt

Founder of the 3 Step Snowboard Training Method at www.SnowboardAcademy.com

contact SnowboardAcademy@gmail.com

The new season is just around the corner, the buzz is in the air and I’ve watched all last years videos about 100 times in the last week. If your anything like me and you busted your last years board along with your body at the end of last season then your in the market for a new one. Here is the simple and fool proof way to make sure you buy the perfect board that calls your name and delivers all the performance, style, and technology that you are dreaming

“Without my snowboard I am nothing, without me my snowboard is nothing”

The very first thing you need to consider before spending your hard earned cash or ruining or Xmas present is what kind of riding you will be doing. Are you a park rider? I would assume most of you reading this are. Are you a free-rider and ready to slash the pow? Or maybe you need a board that can deliver all around performance. Whatever your choice be sure to choose the style of board that suits your riding style! 

Next is price. How much do you want to spend? Honestly snowboards today are friggen expensive and the fact is that some boards in mid price range 350-450 can deliver more than enough performance for you buck, especially if your just developing your skills as a rider. But if you have the bucks and want to go all out make sure to consider the next step . . . 

Your size, how tall are you? How much do you weigh? Getting the right size board is extremely important. If you’re buying a park board you should go with a board that’s a little bit shorter. Around chin level or just below is a good guideline. If you are big and heavy your going to need a little extra length to carry you through the park. You’ll also need a longer board if your planning on riding some deep, beautiful, fantastic, pow this season. Also don’t forget to get a wide enough board if you feet are size 10 or bigger.

Finally the last step, take someone who really knows about snowboarding and/or ask the guys in the shops. Don’t take the first guys opinion shop around and see what kind of options you have. Most reps are pretty up to date with their info or atleast have enough knowledge to point you in the right direction.

That’s it so grab your pink piggy, piggy bank smash it open snatch up the cash and hit your local snowboard shops and check out the newest line of boards!

Whenever you say the word “Whistler” to anybody whether it’s a true Whistler Resident or someone across the world you automatically go in your mind and bring up your beliefs and thoughts about what you think Whistler truly is. Unfortunately most people are way off!  There are two kinds of people who live in this magical wonderland. The first is the tourist and young folk around the world who travel to here to party, drink their face off, and enjoy the outdoors. The second group and in my opinion the right group live in Whistler for the incredible lifestyle. Sure we can drink and party but we live here for the atmosphere, for the riding, for the friends, lakes, beaches, BBQ’s, people, events, etc.Working a 9-5 in a rat race city is nobody’s dream but the reality of most. It is the few fortunate people who have the guts to get the hell out of their current situation and follow their inner voice and go some place they would love to live in. The locals of Whistler are courageous in the face they choose their life and choose the lifestyle that makes them happy everyday!The new season is coming you can feel the buzz in the village as the leaves begin to change colour and fall, snow is just around the corner. In a few months time the snowboard and ski bums will enjoy another epic season of riding and wouldn’t be anywhere else if we could!Get Up Get Out Go Riding! 

Some days I wake up look at the mountains and forget where the hell I am. I am one lucky person, in every situation you can be content if you choose to focus on it. Most of you reading this are probably teenagers in highschool maybe not either way this blog has one message do what you want and don’t make excuses. I only say this because the other day I was pretty depressed for no friggen reason then I recapped my last two weeks which included a CFL game in Vancouver featuring my good friend Anthony Magiacommo who plays for the winnipeg bluebombers. After our adventure in the big city it was back to Whistler for the “Whistler Music festival” and then the next week the Pemberton Music Festival and it was incredible! Tom Petty, The Tragically Hip, Jay Z, and many more incredible performers. Now for the message. Although some days I get pissed off because I have to work or something small bugs me I remember that I chose to come here. I chose to live in Whistler, I choose to be a snowboarder, and I will continue to do whatever the hell I want all the time everyday and that’s all that matters.Find what you love, Do it, forget about the rest.