WAXING YOUR BOARD

Waxing is one of the easiest things you can do to enhance your board’s performance and speed. Waxing makes it easier for you to control your board thus making it easier to perform at higher speeds. Also when waxing your board it will prolong your snowboards shelf life. And lastly waxing your board can prevent damage on the board that will agitate your riding performance. There are three easy steps when applying wax. First you begin by holding the wax up to the hot iron and let the wax drip on the backside of the board. Once you have a decent amount of wax from tip to tip on the board, you should begin to smooth out the wax with the iron. Usually you can feel the front side of the board starting to get warm, and that is when you know the wax is all smoothed out. When you are finished with this, you should leave the board to let it cool and let the wax fully get soaked in to the base before you start scraping. The technique for scraping is used with a Plexiglas or a plastic scraper that you can gently scrape off the excess wax. Once you are done scraping, your board is ready to ride.

AIR TO FAKIE

When doing air to fakie the main concept of this is to be able to ride away in a switch stance. By being able to ride away fakie or switch is going to help you to walk on air and later on when doing aerial maneuvers. I will show you how to perform an air to fakie. The first step is to find a gradual slope on the trail where there is little or no traffic. Step 2: to initiate the turn crouch your body and twist your shoulders and hips in the direction you’re going to be spinning in, remember to keep your weight on your back foot. Step 3: Lift your board, begin with lifting your nose first then your tail, and keep your balance. Step 4: Jump and rotate 180 degrees. Step 5: after the rotation land with both feet stomping on the ground at the same time, this is to prevent you board from slipping out from underneath you. Step 6: Ride away from the trick and keep repeating these steps. Air to Fakie is a great trick to learn before going into the terrain park. It will give you a sense of what it will feel like when performing rotating aerial tricks off the jumps.

BIG AIR FOR BIG BUCKS

Local Snowboarders Tyler Trot and Chris hagerty win big at sugarloaf’s revolution tour competition. On March 9th these two young men from carabasset valley academy high school competed in the men’s halfpipe and slopestyle snowboarding competition and won $5000 dollars a piece. The contest consists of three competitions halfpipe, slope style, and snowboard cross. The Tour is used to qualify athletes for World Juniors, U.S. Open, U.S. World Cup, US Grand Prix, USASA Nationals and Project Gold camps. This year the tour stopped in sugarloaf Maine where local snowboarders from CVA competed on there home turf. For those boarders from CVA who placed in these competitions not only walked away with some cash in their pocket but now have the experience to travel with the USSA Revolution tour and compete in bigger competitions across the world. This tour was a great preview of the new upcoming stars in snowboarding.

BASIC TIPS TO SNOWBOARDING

Last winter my friend, a formal skier since she was a child, decided she wanted to learn how to snowboard. I gave her some of the basic tips on snowboarding and after two days she was no longer on the bunny slopes. The basic rule of thumb when it comes to snowboarding is to always stay on your edge. What I mean by this is a snowboard has two edges, your heal and toe edge. The edge is a metal lining that wraps around the outer part of the board. It helps the snowboarder dig into the snow when carving the mountain. When turning onto your heal or toe edge use your back foot, this is the foot that points you in the direction you need to be going. Pivot your steering foot back and forth to maintain your speed and balance. When you’re pivoting your board like this always keep your board on a bit of a 15 degree angle. If your board is lying flat while you’re trying to carve you’re going to catch an edge and eat s@#*. Always be bending your knees when snowboarding, this is going to help keep your center of balance when controlling your board. In a nutshell when snowboarding start off with your knees bent, point your board in the direction you want to be going in, use your front shoulder as a guide because this is going to be the direction your going in. once you are moving push on your back foot to move from your toe edge to your heal edge. That is the basic concept of snowboarding and once you have a feel for it you need to not be timid and be ready for anything.

DOWNTOWN SHOWDOWN

On February 14th Sunday River and sugarloaf put together a rail jam in the center of downtown Portland during the winterush celebration. Sunday river and sugarloaf combined together and built a two-story starting ramp leading into a 30-foot long, three-rail staircase complete with an overturned lobster boat hull as the park’s sliding surface finish area. 16 skiers and 16 snowboarders threw down against each other in this cash prize competition. The competition consisted of three rounds, warm ups, open jam and finals. The final round consisted of the last eight skiers and snowboarders standing in the competition and this is where things really heated up. The competition ended in a first, second and third prize. For the snowboarders Tristan Corriveau took first place with a $5000 dollar cash prize and on the skiers side Richie Paradise walked away with the $5000 dollar cash prize as well. The competition was accompanied by live music performed by DJ light and MC’s. This was a great competition or skiers and boarders to be able to walk away with bragging rights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqS2w3M-S-g

SUGARLOAFS ANNUAL REGGAE FEST

Sugarloaf is holding there 21st annual Bud Light Reggae Fest April 16th to April 19th. It is a weekend filled with amazing spring skiing, excellent live bands, and a constant feel of upbeat partying all day and night. No matter where you are on the mountain throughout the day, reggae music can be heard from all directions. When you are finished skiing, there are a number of bars to go relax, have a good time, and listen to some live bands. Since Reggae is a non-stop party all weekend, night time is a huge party that does not end until the sun comes up. No matter where you stay, and how far away you are from the actual mountain, there will be a party right near your location. Whether you are at The Rack, The Widowmaker, or The Shipyard, there are always attention-grabbing bands at these bars you will dance to all night long. Make an appearance for a wonderful time at the loaf.

http://sugarloaf.com/

Tragic skiing accident

Would wearing a helmet have saved Natasha Richardson? What started with a fun vacation turned into a tragic loss. Natasha Richardson was a beloved actor, daughter and sister who took a vacation to learn how to ski. While she was taking a ski lesson on one of the easy trails at Mont Tremblant Ski Resort in Canada, Richardson fell and hit her head. She immediately got up and started joking about the accident, not realizing what had actually happened. They later found that Richardson died of Epidural Hematoma, internal bleeding in the brain usually caused from sudden impact or trauma to the head. She was taken off life support and died on Wednesday at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Movies/story?id=7119825&page=1