Travis Rice Red Bull Supernatural Contest

You may have seen a few edits of this already, but here is the latest and most in depth. The full show is to be screen on NBC in March and be sure to expect more hype and teasers in the run up to it's official airing.

Until then the discussions continue. Is this the future of snowboarding? Was it written into the script that Travis Rice won his own event? Either way the footage is incredible and the concept very interesting. Take some pretty challenging terrain (parts of the slope at Baldface Lodge are over 40 degrees) and add in some man made features. Wait for the snow to fall, grab some of the best snowboarders around and go ballistic on the resulting hits, kickers and pillow lines.

With Redbull behind the event, you know there will be heli footage, super slow-mos and awesome post production. The one think that stands out when you watch this though is the riding. These boys didn't hold back. Bear in mind that most of them hadn't seen the contest site before, let alone ridden it. Hats off, and just think where do we go next with the boundaries of snowboard competition being stretched way beyond the superpipe ?

Snowboard Rocker Explained

Everywhere you look at the moment, snowboards have a massive variety of rocker shapes, from subtle tip rocker to full flying V and everything in between ! Some boards even look broken, when viewed from the side.  But fear not that wobbly profile has subtle kinks and curves to give you optimum performance.

Rocker is good for beginners, powder & park riding.  True or False?  Well believe it or not the answer is yes to all of these, but there are subtle differences between rocker profiles which work better in different conditions, so we'll try and help make sense of it all here. Each brand has their own version (and sometimes multiple versions) of rocker profile but we've taken the most common and popular variants to hopefully shed some light on what it all means.

Camber
The traditional board profile.  Still the best for power, precision and control.  The large camber section when under pressure creates a natural edge, giving the board unrivalled control and hold in a turn, particularly on hard snow.  The absence of rocker means slightly less float in the pow but a good all round option for the hard charger.
Examples : Arbor A-Frame, Ride DH, Burton Honcho

Cam Rock / Camber Rocker Combo
Offering great response and control with the shorter camber section along with forgiveness and pop in the tips, this shape provides the best of both the rocker and camber worlds. Combining a slightly surfy feel that comes from the rocker but blended with hard charging pop you get from camber. A perfect profile setup for most all mountain versatility.
Examples : Jones Mountain Twin, Salomon Man's Board

Flat / Low rize
Boasting a pretty much flat profile between the feet, with rocker kicking in in the nose and tail, you benefit from a real hook free ride with great stability, speed and edge hold in the turn. Great control and extra float in the tip make this a very versatile board profile
Examples : Salomon Grip, Ride Promise

Flying V
A blend of camber and rocker performance, Flying V offers the best of both.  Featuring small camber zones under the bindings for added edge control in the turn and extra pop, but with rocker outside of each binding to loosen up the tip and tail to enhance playfulness and float in the pow.
Examples : Burton Custom Flying V, Burton Deja-Vu

V Rocker / Full rocker
This means rocker pretty much throughout the entire length of the board giving catch-free fun in the park and improved float in the deep stuff. The board will ride with an overall loose and forgiving feel.
Examples : Burton Whammy Bar,  Burton Lux

S Rocker / Powder Rocker / Directional Rocker
This is all about speed and float for you all mountain freeriders.Entry rocker runs all the way from the tip to under your front foot, then turns into to camber under your feet. With a slightly more pronounced camber under the back foot you benefit from natural lift in the nose improving float while maintaining stability through deep driving turns on and off piste.
Examples : Burton Barracuda, Jones Flagship

Salomon Goggles

Salomon Freeskier Mike Douglas gives his view on the all-new Salomon Goggle Range

New to market for this current 2011/12 season, Salomon introduces it's goggle range.  Not a brand to blend into the pack, Salomon have come in with a new collection boasting 3 impressive patents :

The XTEND frame concept, effectively makes the lens bigger and the frame smaller, equating to 20% increase in vision, and a wider field of peripheral vision when compared to other goggles.

The THERMO Control System vents the lens using small scoop shaped air vents.  These vents create low pressure zones designed to pull moisture away from the lens and face to eliminate fogging.

CUSTOM Frame is designed to flex and adapt to a wide variety of face shapes, giving a very close and comfortable fit.  The frame itself, is a lot more flexible than most goggle ranges.

We've demo'd this range in both flat and bright light conditions and the first thing you notice, after the sexy external aesthetic is the increase in your field of view, particularly in the peripheries.  No more catching a glimpse of your goggle frame as you look up or sideways, the effect is very impressive.  Optically, they are very strong with great clarity and a number of lens options available from black which lets just 10% of natural light in (perfect for those blue sky days) all the way through to the yellow standard lens which lets in a massive 77% of natural light.  This is the go-to lens for those flat light days. I have a pretty narrow face and generally struggle with larger goggles, usually suffering little gaps just under the eyes which allows air to rush in.  The Custom frame was put to the test and the fit was near perfect, hugging the face all around the goggle.  This is definitely a first for me, so that flexible frame really does work! 

Helmet compatibility was also extremely good.  Larger goggles can at times push helmet peaks up and don't always fit that well with a helmet. We used these with RED, Salomon and Bolle helmets and saw a near perfect fit with most helmets we tried.  As you would imagine, wear these goggles with a Salomon helmet and you have a perfect seamless look.

Before you buy a new goggle this year, and there are some impressive offerings out there, head down to the store and try a pair of Salomon goggles on.  We're sure, as we were, you'll be impressed at the build quality and incredible field of vision the all-new Salomon range delivers.

It's all in the numbers ...

Well, what a start to 2012 in the mountains of Europe and the US.  It seems to have been snowing non-stop since mid December, and it looks like continuing without too much of a let up.

This all sounds incredibly exciting, particularly for those of us who haven't been lucky enough to get out to the powder filled mountains over Christmas.  But let's pause for just a second and have a look at just how much of the white stuff has fallen compared to this time last year.  Here is a short list of current snow conditions in a handful of resorts compared to January last year.  Remember last years figures represent the whole of January as an average, and so far we are only 9 days in :

Resort                            Current Snow                          January 2011

Val d'Isere & Tignes        220cm upper/140cm lower      123cm upper/49cm lower

Meribel                            265cm upper/120cm lower      74cm upper/45cm lower

St Anton                          395cm upper/130cm lower      185cm upper/48cm lower

Val Thorens                     270cm upper/210cm lower      161cm upper/81cm lower

Avoriaz                            260cm upper/230cm lower      130cm upper/94cm lower

Verbier                            305cm upper/32cm lower         126cm upper/31cm lower

Argentiere                       400cm upper/210cm lower       173cm upper/12cm lower

Saas Fee                        370cm upper/95cm lower         195cm upper/61cm lower

Chamonix                       370cm upper/210cm lower       174cm upper/6cm lower

Pretty impressive reading.  It's those lower depths that tell the true story with many reports of snow falling heavily at lower altitude.  We've seen many reports of big resorts like Zermatt, Avoriaz and Tignes all having to close due to too much snow on access routes.  The good news now is that this is all cleared and the conditions in most resorts has to be seen to be believed.

If you are lucky enough to have spent some part of the festive season in the mountains we're sure you must have had some unforgettable conditions and for those of us planning trips this year, it's time to start looking at those numbers above and rubbing your hands in excitement at the prospect of some of the best snow for many years.

Snow information c/o Igluski.com