SNOWBOARDING  

Welcome to "Blading Vancouver's" third edition of recreation tips, hints and news from Lorne Milne. Lorne has been a guest writer for 'englishbay.com' since last year and you may have seen his inline skating column (if not, have a look!). Find out what he has going in his life and what he has to say on the topics of boarding, blading and skiing...

The Vancouver area is a 'smokin' place to board...and I don't mean the kind of smoking Olympic gold medal winner Ross Rebagliatti got a side-stream whiff of!!

We've got some of the best areas in the world to snowboard with mountains like Whistler/Blackcomb, Cypress Bowl, Grouse Mountain, Mt. Seymour, Hemlock Valley and Mt. Baker nearby. In addition, some of the best technical riders in the world reside here (as evidenced by Vancouver-raised, Whistler-riding Ross Rebgliatti), plus some of the best snowboard coaches/instructors in the world (through C.A.S.I - the Canadian Association of Snowboard Instructors). It's not a fluke that the Canadian National Team are world-class players in the snowboard game as well.

Clearly Whistler/Blackcomb are the 'long run' mountain specialists where you can get 6-7 miles of top-to-bottom rides and the benefit of high quality half-pipes cut with a 'state-of-the-art' pipe dragon machine.

However, for great technical riding and pure fun (as well as accessibility), the North Shore mountains are great snowboarding scenes:

Cypress has super learning terrain, 2 snow adventure parks (one off of Panorama and one off of Fork) that are now open to Snowboarders, snowbladers and skiers.

Cypress offers the longest vertical drop of the North Shore mountains, the highest altitude (with the most snow up there at the top) and some of the steepest pitches (on 'Trumpeter' under the Eagle Chair, on 'Top Gun' and under Skychair on the peak). Yes, snowboarders are not just side-slipping down green runs anymore. Skilled riders are now riding the steep (and moguls) along side of high-end skiers...all you have to do is take a few lessons from a board instructor trained in these skills.

C.A.S.I. has certified, fully-trained Level 1 and Level 2 instructors on the North Shore** (the same certification level as you'll find up those very expensive mountains of Whistler and Blackcomb). A bit of advice....if you are planning to do some riding up on the 'W & B' mountains, invest your cash in some lessons here on the North Shore and then free-ride up at Whistler when you're paying the premium price for your lift ticket!!

Cypress is definitely one of my favorite places...

Grouse Mountain

Another fun place to buckle into the board. Riding through the moguls under Inferno chair is a great challenge and a nice 6-foot park in their Adventure Park!

Mt. Seymour

Seymour doesn't have the steeper grades and complex terrain of Cypress but it has really good beginner slopes and they've done a nice job of putting in a varied adventure park.

Mt. Baker

There's a great deal to be said about shorter-run mountains like the North Shore hills and Baker. First of all, snowboard boots (well, soft ones anyways!) are not as supportive as ski boots and your feet fatigue faster (if you work on turning your board and not riding straight...in 'hack' style). It's nice on a board as you can cruise over the 'roley-poley' runs like a surfer cresting over a wave. I get a real kick out of the pretty drive to Baker, riding on the quad chair area, hanging at their new lodge (with the animal carvings and animal footprints in the tile) not to mention capping off the day with a yankee beer looking up at Mt. baker and Mt. Shuksan...

Why is this place such a secret??? Tons of powder!! Acres of ungroomed blue square and black diamond runs that snowboards can float through (there's vast tree-free fields of snow) and majorly friendly hospitality (including live music at the bar).

I gave a Level 1 Snowboard Instructor Course there before X-mas and was amazed at how good it was (definitely worth many return visits...but beware: they are only open weekends!)

In my opinion, I prefer to snowboard on the shorter mountains, do lots of turns there and hunt for the knobs, bumps, knolls and rolls....and then leave the long runs of Whistler/Blackcomb for the days when I throw my skis on!

Here's some Quick Tips to improve your snowboard riding:

--> Bend your knees! Bend your knees! Bend your knees!!!

--> Lose the low-backs. Hi-backs are more supportive for every kind of riding

--> Max out your forward lean on your hi-backs. Your heelside carving will improve and you'll switch edges faster

--> Learn to turn. Don't just ride large radius turns. Pull off some medium size, some small radius and some mini-turns. It'll increase your maneuverability and you'll develop the skills to eventually ride moguls!! (Anything that can be done on skis can be done on a snowboard).

--> Lessons! Mileage! Lessons! Mileage! Lessons! Mileage! Lessons! Mileage! You can learn to be an expert within a year if you get focused...and know what's best to focus on!!)

Stay tuned for more 'Blading + Boarding Vancouver' info in our next installment!!