My first waxing!

Today I finally got around to waxing my board, it's been long overdue and with another boarding holiday imminent I figured it was about time I tried this out.

I found a video on YouTube (HERE) which gave some good guidance then got started.

I'd bought a £3 iron from Argos so wasn't worried if that broke, heated it up just until it was hot enough to melt the wax without smoking and I dripped it onto the board - roughly 1 spot per square inch.

I then ran the iron over the board, "ironed" it until the wax was spread across the entire base evenly (ish) & left it for 20 minutes to dry.

Once dried properly I took the scraper and forming a 45 degree angle just scraped away until all of the wax had come off - it took quite a while and I have to say, made quite a mess!

Once it was all off I took a sponge with pan scraper bit and gave the board a rub down (front to back). The end result wasn't immaculate, there were still scratches in it etc. but I think thats the way it's meant to be. Less than 2 weeks & I'll be testing it on the side of a mountain! :-)

Another day, another slope!

Today I went for a 2 hour session at "Chill Factore" in Manchester.

First impressions, it was similar to Glasgow's Xscape in terms of the quality of snow, it also had a drag lifts just the same as Glasgow. The slope was a little wider although possibly not as long.

Half of the slope was roped off for the first hour while some sort of ski competition was taking place, then afterwards they opened up the full slope to us - obviously the new side was full of moguls but it made for a little different terrain so we stuck with it.

My only real complaint about Chill Factore was the fact that you needed to swipe your lift pass every time you went up the button lift - which is the same as real lifts on resorts abroad, except that in a snow dome with such short runs you literally get 10-15 seconds on the slope then have to take your glove off, get your pass out, swipe it, put it away, glove back on, then get on the button lift and repeat.

After a few runs I started to get a really sore foot with pins & needles etc. and after a while I realised that my inner boot was too tight - I've always made a point of tying them as tight as possible but I think once it was on and my foot had swollen a little from riding it was too tight. After loosening it I got back into it and managed to find a few moguls to get air off with varying success.

Unfortunately there were no kickers or boxes out so I'll have to save that for my next session!

One thing I did notice, when I had a go on my mate's board, was that it was noticably faster than mine - I concluded it was because mine is in need of a wax so I will be giving that a go before my next session.

Some more new gear!

Yep, my buying bug hasn't stopped with the board, bindings & boots - I've accumulated a few other things this month too :

• Snowboard tool - well I figured it was a must, has all the necessary attachments for adjusting your bindings & cost a couple of quid.
  
  
• Face mask - a neoprene face mask to protect me from the cold winds on the mountain top and on high up ski lifts! & it makes me look like a cross between a ninja and some sort of bionic commando! lol
  
  
• Bonfire snowboarding jacket - with my boots & bindings being white, I felt compelled to deck myself out with white salopettes and jacket to match, but that left a dilemma due to my helmet being black. This jacket is perfet, it's mainly white with the top part being black. Suits perfectly & a bargain buy!
  
  
• Avalaan salopettes - actually my first pair of sal's, my other ones are borrowed from my mate H. These ones are white to go with "the new style" - another bargain buy off Ebay.
  
  
• Waxing bits - so far I have wax & a scraper, planning on picking up an iron soon then giving my board it's first wax (it is in dire need of it!)

So that's it for now, I'll be heading up to the Chill Factore snow slope in Manchester next weekend so ideally want my board waxed by then & I'll be all set!

Another slope!

Whilst visiting my girlfriend in Scotland this weekend we paid a 2-hour visit to the Xscape snow dome in Braehead, Glasgow - this was my first experience of a different slope in the UK and I was pleasantly surprised!

The boards & boots I have to say weren't great, not as good as those at my local snowdome (Tamworth), but the slope itself was WAY better. It was considerably wider for a start, probably about the same length but without the corner that Tamworth has near the top. However, what really stood out was the quality of the snow, it was a lot more like riding on a proper mountain - as opposed to Tamworth which was often very icy.
Also, because of the extra width, the slope had a few things on it instead of just being a straight run - it had a rail/box affair near the top, a kicker (jump) half way down & another rail setup further down. It also had... a button lift!

Just to explain, Tamworth has 2 methods of getting you up the slope, either the travellator which is just what it sounds, you stand on it and get carried to the top. Or the alternative is a rope pull, which you just hold onto and it pulls you up the slope.

Glasgow Xscape by contrast had a button lift, which is like a metal pole with a large button-shaped piece on the bottom, designed perfectly for skiers to stick between their legs and be pulled up the slope. Snowboarders on the other hand ride sideways on making it a little more difficult to use this type of lift. I'd already read up about them but was a little unclear still, until I got there and had a go, it was basically simple, you face sideways, stick the pole between your legs (it has a bend in it to go round your front leg) and off you go, dragged up the slope. I never fell off once!

Obviously I was on hire equipment so back to beginner boards so more forgiving than my new board, I soon got up to speed after a little adjustment to my bindings. Then in the 2nd half of the session I decided to go for it on the kicker (jump) - it was a little higher than the one at Tamworth I'd already done but c'est la vie.

My first 3 attempts all ended in failure, not too bad though as I just fell upon landing in a controlled manner, but I was determined and kept at it and finally landed it - I think 4 times in a row. Only then did one of the instructors on the slope come over and tell me I wasn't allowed on it without a helmet! Never mind, the session was at an end and I was very happy with landing the kicker so we called it a day.

Almost back up to scratch!

I had another 2 hour session at the snowdome today, 2nd time using my new gear and I was hoping to make progress.

After another shakey start on my new board (but luckily no falling) I started to get back into my comfort zone and get used to the equipment more. By hour number 2 I was a lot happier, had the kicker been out I would have been going for it - I even came close to ollying but think a little more practise is in order for that one!

There were however a couple of "boxes" out (I think that's the correct name for them) and I watched some of the other guys there going down them - they were clearly hugely more experienced than me & also hugely younger which I guess is just life! lol

I was very tempted, doing a 50-50 (basically riding straight onto the box, straight down it then off without turning your board) seemed like a fairly simple prospect - I know the board accelerates when you ride the box so you need to lean forward more but that's about it.

Apprehension got the better of me though and I decided it was better left until my next session as I didn't want to knock my confidence after a successful ride.

New boots & first try of new board!

Well, after 2 weeks of scouring the internet for suitable shops to try on boots (and largely failing miserably due to the time of year and most shops being completely sold out) I took my new board along to the snowdome today with the aim of trying it out using hire boots & also checking in their shop (The Snowboard Asylum) for any potential boots.

The guys in TSA were incredibly helpful & knowledgable, I had a chat with one guy and he sat down and checked out the size and shape of my foot etc. - it was a good 5-10 minutes before I actually saw any boots. When he came back he had 1 pair of boots (Vans "Andreas Wiig") and explained that it was the only pair out of all their stock that was a suitable size/shape for my feet! Well, all I can say is, that guy deserves a pay rise - the boots fitted perfectly!

I walked around the shop in them, flexed, tried different typical snowboard positions, and they felt spot on - it went against everything I'd read about trying on as many different boots as possible but I bought them straight away. The guys then heat moulded them to my feet and also kindly set up my new board for me and applied some liquid wax stuff (good for one session really).

Then, £110 lighter, I set off for our 2 hour session on the slopes.

The phrase 1 step forwards and 2 steps back comes to mind. The new board setup was clearly an intermediate setup wheras I was used to the more forgiving beginners boards that you get from the snowdome. As a result, as happy as I was with my new gear, my boarding wasn't up to the same level as last time I was there - I fell off several times, was very wobbly / shakey, and had the kicker been out I wouldn't have attempted it as my confidence was knocked a little.

I realised however that this was normal, the board was less forgiving, so I had to up my game a bit, and by the end of the 2 hours I was getting better again - in fact technically even better than before as I'd had to be more precise with my movements. So I wasn't put off, but this made me even more determined to come back again soon and get more practise!

At the end of the day, I was happy with my new setup.

My first board & bindings.

As mentioned in my previous post, my re-kindled love of snowboarding sent me scouring the internet for "things I need to buy" (this is what I do when it comes to hobbies) and I stumbled across a guy selling his snowboard, bindings & bag for an incredibly reasonable £110!

The board was a Salomon "Driver", 160cm length. The bindings Burton "Contour"

Obviously it meant very little to me, all I knew was that the board was roughly the right length (I'd actually ridden a 155 on holiday but my height dictates that 160 is about right) and the bindings were big enough for my size feet / boots.
Most importantly, it was an absolutey blinding bargain!

So I popped along and met the guy selling them, who had boarding briefly then swapped his sport of choice to skydiving (fair play) and soon became owner of my own gear! All I needed now were boots but this was a job for a snowboarding shop as I'd read a million times over that the most important piece of equipment was the boots and they had to fit & fit well!

With a plan to go to the snowdome again in a fortnight, the search for boots was on!

Finally back on the slope & I landed a kicker!

Despite the fantastic holiday in January, my eagerness to go away again & my snowdome membership - it's actually taken me this long to get back to the snowdome and on a board!

It was a present from my girlfriend who is a skier (& knew I wanted to get back on the slope), we went for a 2 hours recreational session which I was interested to see how I managed after 4 months of no boarding!

Well, it turned out I managed just fine, got straight back into it and found my feet fairly quickly.

Towards the end of the session I even had a breakthrough, I attempted a small kicker (jump) half way down the slope - having ridden past it on every run and thinking about the one in France I wished I'd tried out.

I just slowed up as I approached, then made sure I hit it dead on. First attempt and I fell on landing - just a controlled fall so wasn't too bad really and I was determined to try again.

My 2nd attempt was much better, I took the same approach, but just somehow had the confidence as I figured I could do this - and I did! I landed it twice in a row before our session on the slope came to an end.

Needless to say, this session - and particularly the success with the kicker - totally rekindled my thirst for snowboarding, & I vowed I would try and visit the snowdome at least once a month from now on - preferably more!
I also soon found myself back on the goneboarding snowboarding forum and scouring ebay for the next purchase...

Give me moisture!

I made a new purchase today, one thing that I noticed on the holiday that I hadn't expected was that I was thirsty all day long. H had himself a camelbak - basically a backpack with a water "lung" inside and a pipe to allow you to drink from it all the time while on the slope.

So after scouring Ebay I found one that was army issue (with details on how to attach to your respirator mask) - I picked this one as it had a neoprene sleeve over the drinking tube to stop the water freezing in the tube (which did happen).

When it arrived I was very happy with it, just the job - unfortunately I wont get to use it until next January when I hope to go for another boarding holiday!

Les Deux Alpes - days 3-7

Day 3 (the second day on the slopes) and we set off straight for the top of the mountain. Today was was cloudy & windy with a little snow fall and as a result it was cold - on the top of the mountain it was VERY cold. As we came out of the funicular railway at the top slope we just got sorted and down the first part of the slope as soon as possible. This ended up being the only cold day we had so really the weather had been fantastic the whole time.

Today though was a breakthrough for my boarding, it somehow all just fell into place, I was linking turns smoothly from the off and varying from picking up speed to having slow winding descents - it was great!

The rest of the week followed suit, my riding improved, I hardly fell over apart from the occasional spectacular fall when crossing a black run where I managed to end up on my back sliding down the slope head first unable to stop myself!
On one of the slopes there was a little area sectioned off with a kicker (jump) and a guy sat with his camera, he would take your picture as you jumped and you could presumably download it later on. I was really temped later in the week to have a go but never quite plucked up the courage.

On the subject of ski lifts, I have to say that after the first day of falling off them, I soon got used to riding with 1 foot out and keeping my balance. The rest of the week was fairly uneventful in that respect apart from one day when we got on a chair lift, it swung backwards as we sat on it, then as it came forwards again the front of my board dug into the snow and it flipped me right off the chair! The crowd of people waiting for the life were highly amused! :)
There was also a rope lift / pull thing that was a little awkward but again once I got the hang of riding with 1 foot out it wasn't so bad.

The days were spent boarding in the sun, then having breaks at the cafe's and restaurants on the slopes - hot chocolate with baileys & cream or hot mulled wine and decent food to keep us going.
The resort had runs leading right past our lodge and right past a local bar so we often boarded right up to the bar, had a couple of pints then nipped over to our lodge for the evening.

On the last day we decided to attempt a black run as there was one off a green run and it headed right back into town. It was pretty steep, but to be honest, as a snowboarder it wasn't really a major concern - if in doubt you could just go down it in "falling leaf" and take it easy so there was nothing to worry about - the skiers found it slightly more difficult but again they managed just fine.

There was a board park at Deux Alpes which we never attended - in hindsight I think it was the right decision (for me at least) as I wasn't anywhere near up to the required level, however next time I will be tempted to go to a park for a bit.

By the end of the week we were all well and truly aching, I don't think my body could have coped with 10 days, much less a fortnight - but it was a fantastic holiday and we capped it all with a big blow out on the Friday night which started in a quiet bar and ended up with the whole bar around us watching us playing drinking games. They were all very friendly!

For next time, I wouldn't do much differently, I largely had all the equipment and stuff that I needed (thanks to the advice of my friends) and had a great time - looking forward to the next one now!

Les Deux Alpes - days 1-2

The big day arrived, Saturday morning we set off to the airport, checked in our baggage (which included stuffing a load of clothing into the snowboard bag as our main luggage was too heavy) and went to have a pint while we waited for the flight.

After landing in France at Grenoble airport, we took a coach ("Bens Buses") the 111km to Les Deux Alpes, it was pretty uneventful and dark so we saw very little but once we started up the winding roads into the mountains we started to get a feel for the place.

When we arrived and got off the coach, nothing could have prepared me for the place, it was unlike anything I'd ever seen before, snow drifts 10 feet deep at the side of the road, the alpine lodges, snow everywhere, the night life, everything about this place was fantastic!

The lodge we were staying in was nice enough, although there was barely

room to swing a cat, 6 of us in a 2 bed lodge, but it was fuctional and that was all we needed.

We popped up the road for pizza that night whilst meeting everybody off the bus then got a relatively early night ready for our first day on the slopes.

The next morning, ski pass in hand, we set off up the slopes, 2 skiers and 4 snowboarders (me being the most novice by far).

Les Deux Alpes is a little different to most other resorts, generally the steepest slopes are towards the top of the mountain with more gentle slopes further down, however this was not the case with Deux Alpes, it was the other way around.

I had been advised by regulars on the goneboarding snowboarding forum that the best thing to do was travel all the way to the top of the mountain and work our way down - possibly getting a lift back down the last bit as it was mainly black runs, however we didn't start at the correct lifts so only got a bit of the way up the mountain before we headed back down one of the slopes.

At this point I'll just mention the chair lifts, if you've never been on one before, you should get some practise riding with your back foot out of your bindings (just standing on the board) - as this is how you'll exit the chair lifts, on top of a short slope, you have to get off the chair and ride 1 footed to the bottom of the short slope (I'm talking 6-12 feet really) - and if you've never practised, you WILL fall off - several times!

Anyway, back to our first descent from low down the mountain, and this as it turned out was a bad idea, the slope was a green run (the only one at the bottom of the mountain) which should have made it easy but it was designed for skiers, it was a narrow winding path and as a novice all I could do was travel down it on one edge until it turned 180 degrees then I swapped edges - it was terrible, it hurt my shins & calves - by the end of it, me & Rich were positively aching!

Thankfully at the end of the run, we stopped at the main lift (cable car) up the mountain and promptly got on board, it took us up very high and as I was starting to wonder how much further it could go, the end came into sight - and by the end, I mean, the next station, where you got out and into another cable car which went up even further. After this cable car, we then got into an underground railway which took us right up to the top of the mountain - the views were amazing and we spent some time just admiring it and feeling lik

e we were on top of the world!

The "bottom" of the mountain where our lodge was is at 1650m above sea level. The first cable car stopped at 2600m, the second one stopped at 3200m and the funicular railway brought us out at 3421m above sea level (the mountains actually continued to 4102m but that was beyond the point of reasonable slopes).

Once we set off from the top, things improved

dramatically for me, we were on wide open slopes with plenty of room and I got into my linking turns rather than just falling leaf all the time.

I have to say, I lost it and fell over A LOT this day, I had some real high speed ones too where I cartwheeled several times before coming to a halt and by the end of the day I was positively aching, but I wa

s loving every minute of it as well!

The ibuprofen gel came in particularly handy that evening I can tell you!

All the gear but...

Just days before the holiday I assembled the last required items - as I'd never been before this was all alien to me and I harassed my mate to death asking him about what I did or didn't need to take with me. In the end, the list of things to pack (aside from obvious clothing etc.) was something like this :

• Plasters
• Nurofen / Paracetomol
• Ibuprofen cream
• Deep heat
• Sun cream (yes really!)
  
  
• Board rental certificate
• Passport
• Driving license
• European Health card
• Holiday insurance
  
  
• Snowboard Jacket
• Salopettes
• Gloves
• Impact shorts
• Wrist guards
• Helmet
• Goggles
• Sunglasses (I later discovered I didn't really need these)
• Long socks
• 2 Fleeces (something else I never needed but had it been colder they'd have been handy)
  
  
• iPod + charger
• Phone charger
• Digital camera + battery charger

A couple of after-notes :

The plasters were hugely welcome on day 2 when I woke up and realised I was in danger of getting blisters - where? On my hands, where my wrist guards were rubbing - who would have though it!

Aside from that, the plasters, tablets, sprays etc. were all of little use apart from the ibuprofen gel which I applied a couple of times just in case I started to suffer (which I never really did)

Sunglasses I didn't need as I wore goggles every day, and the fleeces were also redundant as with just a T shirt and snowboard jacket I was more than warm enough (often having my jacket half zipped down for ventilation) - that said, we had great weather and had it been colder I'm sure they'd have come in handy.

The iPod was an absolute must, it made my days so much more enjoyable as I zoned into the music and the boarding and zoned out of people around me, personal preference of course but I wouldn't be without it now!

Each day I took my iPod, mobile phone & digi camera up the slope with me - the phone never got used but I guess was there for emergencies as much as anything.

Board, boots & bindings I hired from InterSport for about £85 for the week and the equipment was in great condition so that worked out fine for me (it costs roughly £60 to transport your snowboard on a plane anyway so even if I did own one, this way was definitely cost effective!)

The finisher!

After another 2 hours of lessons in which I learnt to go from "falling leaf" to turning down the slope, then back to "falling leaf" again, I had my 2 hour finisher lesson - this was basically the final lesson which meant once passed I would be allowed on the slope unsupervised.

The lesson didn't start well, the hire board I had been using had loose bindings, not majorly loose but loose enough that they moved about a little and even at this early stage I could tell the difference as the board wasn't responding to me as much as it had on previous lessons.

I spoke to the instructor about it who was great and tried (in vain) to fix the problem - eventually it got to the point where he couldn't get the bindings back on the board so went off to get me another one, in the meantime I got to use one of the instructors own boards and I really saw the difference using that! It felt 100 times better!

In the end the instructor returned with another board and I continued with the lesson, this one was all about learning to link turns, so going from "falling leaf", turning down the slope, then turning right round to "falling leaf" on the other edge, so from heel to toe, then back again. This was basically the final step in being able to travel from the top of the slope to the bottom in a controlled manner.

At the end of the lesson the instructor told me I had passed but advised a couple of free ride sessions prior to my holiday in order to get the best out of what I'd learnt - I booked another 2 hours to tide me over until the holiday!

In the beginning...

These first few posts are actually pre-dated, having been written after I first took up snowboarding, but I thought I would date them as and when things happened to make things appear in the correct order!

So, a little bit of background, it was over Christmas 2008 that my friend H had suggested a snowboarding holiday with some friends. It was something I'd always wanted to do but never had done and at the age of 33 I was very much in the "can't teach an old dog new tricks" camp so had to decline (especially as they were going within a month so no time to learn).

H's response was that a month was plenty of time to learn, and that it was an experience not to be missed and a top laugh - and so my journey began!

By the 5th Jan we were booked, 1 week in Les Deux Alpes on the 24th Jan - less than 3 weeks to go!

I had my first lesson that night, 2 hours at the snowdome in Tamworth. It went really well, I first learnt to balance whilst heading down the slope on both toe & heel edges (imagine standing on a slope with your board lying across the slope rather than up/down it - heel edge is when you are facing down the slope & so digging your heels in to control yourself, toe edge is when you are facing up the slope and digging your toes in to control yourself. Digging your heels/toes in acts like applying a brake, the harder you push the slower you go)

We then learnt to do "falling leaf" which is basically the same, coming down on toe or heel edge, whilst moving side to side in a "falling leaf" motion.

It was a lot of fun, I fell over a couple of times but in a controlled manner to prevent myself shooting off down the slope at speed.

The next day I became a member of the snowdome, it was money well spent as it meant I got a third off my future lessons, also a load of vouchers for guests and drinks and stuff.

Now all I had to do were a few more lessons & pass my finisher which meant I was allowed on the slope unsupervised!