Dealing with "A Glut" of Luxury Stores

For those of us who live in the flatlands, mountain towns can be a bit unusual. Consider Aspen, Colorado.

According to the January 23, edition of the Wall Street Journal, Aspen now faces "a glut of luxury stores downtown."

Walk through the mall and you'll find high-priced merchandise, to be sure. It's a tail-end-of-the-bell-curve kind of place, as far as the prices that people pay. (Then again, you can buy ordinary stuff at Carl's pharmacy or the grocery stores a few blocks away.)

Is this a problem?

The Journal says that the city is considering a law that would require "new commercial building projects set aside a percentage of space at affordable leasing rates."


(Main Street, Aspen)

Now that's an interesting situation for economists to ponder. Presumably luxury goods stores can pay higher rents than those that sell mass merchandise--though whether luxury goods sell at a higher margin is an empirical question, not one that can be answered ahead of time.

In any case, what would such an ordinance mean for visitors? It all depends on one's chosen activities. For non-shoppers, not much.

There would be a logic of bifurcation that would reinforce itself, though. Here's what I mean: assume that you own some land suitable for retail. The city council says you must rent one-third of it at below-market rates. So what do you do with the rest of our land? You rent it out (market conditions permitting) at an even higher rate, in hopes of offsetting the lost opportunities imposed by the mandate.

Mr. Blue Sky Means Cold Days, but Great Light

It's about -10F around here these days, but we've got one thing going for us: Mr. Blue Sky (ELO clip below).



Blue skies make snowboarding easier--no more flat light.

Layer Up

One of the principles of keeping warm in the extreme cold is to layer up (and no, wearing one bulky piece of clothing in place of several lighter pieces isn't recommended).

Around here the temperatures have been rather cold of late--cold as in "The high today will be 2 degrees." So when I went out to the hill the other day, I put on plenty of layers. Here's what I wore on top:

• A base layer with wicking properties;
• thin pull-over shirt with a mock turtleneck;
• A light zip-up cardigan;
• A heavier zip-up cardigan;
• A jacket

Despite all this clothing, I was not overheated.

For my legs, I took no special measures. I wore my standard snowboarding pants (a two or three-year old pair from Ride) on top of some comfy base layer pants.

Remember what your mom said about heat escaping from your head? Believe her. That's another reason why a helmet is useful, but you might need to supplement it, as it I did, with some ear warmers.

The weak part of the outfit? The gloves. I don't like like the "helpless" feel of mittens, so I normally go with gloves. When I teach, I wear a ratty old $10 pair from Wal-Mart, and put a leather palm guard on top to keep the tow rope (used in our teaching area) to keep them from getting instantly sliced.

Gloves are lightweight and easy to pack. If you leave some stuff in your car or in the lodge while on the hill, it might be worth your trouble to bring along several pair of gloves, some heavier and some lighter. Swap them out as conditions warrant.

Mom and Pop Ski Hills

There are a lot of places to enjoy snowboarding, from large resorts such as Vail and Whistler that draw from a global market, to the small day areas that predominate in the Midwest and much of the mid-Atlantic states.

Likewise, in ownership there is a great deal of diversity. You might buy a few shares in Vail Resorts, a publicly traded company (ticker symbols MTN).

But rarely can you buy shares in a company that operates a ski and snowboarding area. Some are fairly large private companies, such as Boyne USA, which owns operations in British Columbia, Michigan, Utah, and Washington.

Some areas are owned by state or local units of government. Others are co-ops.

Some, though, are true small-scale family operations. The other day I was at one such area, where I occasionally teach snowboarding. I approached one of the owners, and she greeted me by name.

I was impressed. Our most extensive exchange was at an end-of-season banquet last season. Yet here it was, months later, and she remembered me, though I am one of perhaps 200 people (ski patrol, snowsports school, back office, etc.) That's not the kind of personal knowledge that you're going to find in a mega-sized resort.

Trees, Beautiful and Deadly

Snowboarding with trees in view is an integral part of many people's mountain experience. Whether the trees are deciduous or confers, they can offer a fantastic visual component to snow sliding. As a bonus, riding near large strands of trees can provide much-needed clarity of vision on a day with flat light.

But trees can also offer something else that's much less enticing: death. On her blog, Shayboarder, one of my favorite snowboarding bloggers, offers advice on the dangers of tree wells. Be sure to read through to the link she provides to a site on tree well and deep snow safety.

Sadly, the most enticing kind of terrain--deep snow, lots of trees--can also be deadly. Be informed, and act accordingly.

Adult Snowboarders in the News

One of my favorite types of news articles are the ones about adult snowboarders. They have this "Holy Cow! Can you believe that?" quality to them.

I'll grant that it's a rather old story now, as adults have been snowboarding for years now. Then again, you'll always find stories telling you that winter is here and guess what, there's an outbreak of the flu. In both cases, old news can be informative (get that shot! give snowboarding a try!), and at least with snowboarding, it can make the winter go (too) quickly.

The latest publication to catch on to the grays on trays phenomenon is Crains Detroit Business. It features Patrick Becker (age 40); Greg Flowers (42); Brad Hynes (44); and Oliver Dixon (42). These men are no slackers, working (respectively) as a vice president of sales and marketing; an automotive designer; a vice president of operations; and a marketing manager.

They've got some pretty good skills for grown-up riders. Becker is an experienced instructor; Hynes teachers a snowboarding team at a local high school; Dixon has participated in USASA competitions; and I suspect that Flowers is no slouch, either.

The story offers several benefits of snowboarding:

• Innovation is the spice of life;
  
• It's a resume boost [really?];
  
• A thrill of competition;
  
• A rush from big air [sorry, I can't relate];
  
• Joy of playing in the snow;
  
• Families can enjoy it together;
  
• The equipment is lighter (no back strain!);
  
• There are plenty of opportunities to try something new;
  
• A community of people with a shared passion.

So dads, moms, and just anyone 30 and up, if you haven't tried snowboarding but find it interesting, find a snow sports school and take a lesson or three. (You might benefit a lot from getting a private lesson from another adult.) It may be one of the best purchases you've ever made.

Shopping at Steep and Cheap

Got an itch to buy some gear for your next snowboarding outing? I've heard some people say good things about the web site steepandcheap.com.

Not all the stuff is related to snow sports, by the way, but much of it is.

It's got an unusual (though not unique) business model: One item is sold, at a discount (at least 50 percent off retail) until its gone. Then another item goes on sale. Downside: no browsing possible, you've got to know your stuff since there's little time to look at other options.

Upside: you could save some dough and get the stuff you need, or at least want.

Have a Ball--and Get Ready for Snowboarding

Success in snowboarding depends in part on having strong abdominal, or core muscles. There are lots of exercises that you can do to develop a stronger core.

Are you pressed for time and can't make it to the gym? Here's one thing you can do without even leaving the office: Replace that office chair (at least temporarily) with an exercise ball.

The Wall Street Journal has the story, which you can read on its free site Career Journal.

"Devotees," reports the Journal, "say exercise balls, whose diameter ranges from about 18 to 30 inches, help improve posture and concentration. Sitting upright on them requires using abdominal and lower back muscles."

As an adult, you may not be as fit as when you were at a younger age. But that's no reason for sinking into the living room furniture and becoming a couch potato. The exercise ball can be one tool for improving your fitness, and making that on-the-snow experience less of a workout, and more a sheer session of enjoyment.

Drugs for Altitude Sickness

For the best snow and most interesting terrain, snowboarders need to get high--that is, high in elevation. But traveling from sea level or the flatlands to the mountains can give a person altitude sickness.

Last March I took a trip to Crested Butte, which has a base elevation of over 9,300 feet. Before going there, I did some research into altitude sickness. I'd like to say that it helped me, but I don't think so.

One thing I did is get a prescription for Acetazolamide, which WebMD says is used to "prevent and reduce the symptoms of altitude sickness." The National Institutes for Health has more.

The information sheet that came with my prescription had this to say, in part:

"This medicine is a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor used to treat glaucoma or to remove excess body water."

I was a bit startled when I read this. Nothing about altitude sickness. So I kept reading:

"It may also be used to treat other conditions as determined by your doctor."

So there's the altitude sickness, I guess.

The information sheet had the typical warnings about alcohol use and operating heavy machinery. I was struck by another line, though:

"This medicine may cause increased sensitivity to the sun."

Crested Butte, we have a problem. At least I had a problem: I burn rather easily, and here my new helper would make that even more likely. After all, I would be (I hoped!) spending a lot of time in the sun, and at a high elevation. A word with the pharmacist gave me some relief though: use plenty of sunscreen and you'll be fine. Same old, same old.

By the way, did it help? It's hard to say. You're supposed to take it a day or two before you head to higher ground, but once there, I forgot to take it on the first or second day. I didn't get the same intensity of a headache that I had during a trip to Summit County (the elevation in Breckenridge: 9,600 feet), but on the last day I wsa so wiped out that I came inside for a quick nap.

Gear Review: Obermeyer Radial

My Rossignol snow jacket has served me well since I bought it in late 2002, but it's been heading towards retirement lately. The main zipper has become unreliable, and prone to jamming, causing me to have to pull the jacket over my head.

It was time for a new one, and I decided to step it up from a technical standpoint. The fact that I could get a nice professional discount on some new gear helped out as well.

So I spent the better part of a recent flight pouring over the men's catalog from Sport Obermeyer.

If you hear someone talk about sports clothing being "technical" and you're not sure what that means, trust me: It's technical. Technical as choices in fabrics that might be at home on the periodic table. Technical as in numbers such as as "20,000 gm/m2," which sound like they came out of a physics lab. Technical as in features, such as "Control Zone Ventilation" that conjure up images of civil engineering.

What I knew, primarily, was that I wanted a new jacket.

Now I'm by no means an expert in clothing or snowboard gear generally. So here's what I went with. There are two numbers key to any piece of snowboarding jackets or pants. One tells how waterproof it is, or how good it is at keeping water out. The other deals with breathability, or how easily it lets the sweat from your body go out, and evaporate.

These two items are in a push/pull relationship. A raincoat is waterproof, but not terribly breathable. Other jackets are breathable, but if it rains or you get in the path of very wet snow, watch out: you'll get wet.

So if you want a jacket that is both breathable and waterproof, you will have to spend some serious dough. In a totally unscientific method, I looked for high numbers for both qualities. I also made sure that the breathable number was close to or even higher than the number for the waterproof quality.

Oh yeah, and I also had to find a model that was in stock. Shop after November at your peril.

So I ended up with the Obermeyer Radial. Click on the link if you would like to look at all the my-eyes-glaze-over details. Here's what I'll say after spending a couple of days in some wet snow: I like it.

I'd like it better if it came down a bit longer in back. (Did I mention that I'm not much of a shopper?) But it kept me dry on a day of wet snow, and though I was wearing four layers underneath it (base, pullover, fleece jacket, fleece vest) on a fairly warm day (high: 22 or so), I wasn't too hot until I went to the third floor of the lodge and near the fireplace, at which point I had to quickly shed layers.

It's got several pockets, including one for an MP3 player, and another for a cell phone. There are features that I'm still learning about, such as a loop-with-a-fastener in an outside pocket. That's for clipping your car keys--something I could have benefited from a great deal about a month ago, when I wiped out--and the keys flew out--while wearing my Rossi.

The jacket comes with a hood, which doesn't do me much good while on the slopes, as it's too small to fit over my helmet. But it did come in handy while driving about town.



The coat comes in many colors, including the one shown above. (I got "cayenne," which is a shade of red.) Availability may be limited.

It's sold as a jacket rather than a shell, but unlike my Rossignol jacket, it's probably too thin to wear on colder days about town when I'm not bulked up with mountain-ready layers of fleece.

Where's the Love for Snowboarders?

I really don't care if any particular ski area company allows snowboarders on the slopes or not. On the other hand, if a resort is going to expect snowboarders as customers, it should accommodate their gear.

Recently I was at Lutsen, which has perhaps the finest lift-served terrain in the Midwest. It has a shuttle bus--an old school bus--that takes customers from the parking lot to the base area.

That's good. What could be better? Start with the outside. It has a rack for holding skis. And not snowboards. The slots are simply to narrow to hold a board, meaning that snowboarders must take the bus on board.


(The shuttle bus is like one of these, but it's painted red--and probably quite a bit older--and has a rack with slots for skis.)

My board is on the long side (162cm) but not outrageously so. But I had trouble maneuvering it through the narrow, relatively short door and up the steps. There's not much room between the seats, either--this is the kind of bus, after all, that transports children to school. The bindings on my board don't collapse, and they fell at just the "wrong" places on my body and against the back of the seat in front of me.

Not having a storage space for snowboards outside the bus affects everyone who takes the bus, not just snowboarders. Snowboarders, I suspect, must take some extra time to get themselves on and off the bus, which slows down loading and unloading for everyone else.

The solution? Put a second rack on the outside of the bus, one that is wide enough to fit boards.

The Ultimate in Powder

No doubt about it, skiing and snowboarding can be expensive. Perhaps the most expensive way to find snow for sliding is to take helicopter trips into the backcountry in pursuit of powder.

I just received an e-mail for one such trip. An eight-day excursion in British Columbia costs $8,000, reduced from $9,800. It sounds delightful, though perhaps the accommodations are more upscale than I need. All that snow should be enough.

Varieties of Snow and Snow Sliders

You've heard the cliches about Eskimos and the number of words for snow? Well, if there are hundreds of words for snow, there must be at least a dozen types of snow sliders.

We don't get much powder here in the Midwest; much of the snow is put on the ground through snowmaking equipment. When snow does come down, it's often quickly subjected to the grooming machines. It seems a crime against snowy goodness to tame powder into submission, and I'm not sure why ski areas do it. One reason is that many guests actually don't like powder. Hard to believe, but true, some don't. Another reason is that powder dumps are rare. So when the powder is inevitably chopped up and pushed around, it can end up in difficult-to-manage piles, so ... might as well get it cleaned up right now.

Some of my favorite snow companions are skiers who actually seek out groomers, and find powder a challenge rather than a pleasure. Sometimes, then, I'm faced with the choice of being a "good citizen" and seeking out my preferred terrain.

At other times, like this recent trip, the choice doesn't exist, since the groomers don't exist. That means being in a strange position: I'm delighting in the fresh stuff, while my companions struggle through it.

The Ripstick as a Training Aid

Live somewhere where it's too warm for snow, but you want to get ready for a trip to the mountains? I've come across some instructors who say that the Ripstick is a useful training device. The video below makes it look worthwhile.

Riding in Faith

I found another blog that has an interesting post about the role of faith in snowboarding. Not religious faith--that's something I may want to write about later--but something of equal value.

Snowboarding, like so many other things in life, is about owning one’s fear. Every day I go ride, I grow. My greatest joy comes when I overcome my fear and have faith in my own ability to ride through the moment.

Indeed, progression in snowboarding (and some other sports) presents us with many avenues for personal growth. As they say, read the whole thing.

If You Stand Like a Duck ...

There are many ways to stand on a snowboard. Some people, mostly those in extreme carving, stand with both feet pointing nearly downhill. Many freestyle (trick) riders like having their feet pointing across the hill. That's called a "zero-zero" stance, and it has the advantage of making it easier for either end of your snowboard to lead the way. That's useful when you're doing jumps and spins--something not suitable for many adults, especially novices and beginners.

Lately I've been going to parties, family gatherings and other events and looking at people's feet. Well, not their feet as much as where place them in relationship to each other, and how they stand.

You know what "pigeon toed" means? As you stand, your big toes are pointing to each other.

What I've noticed, as I look at how people stand, is that most people use what snowboarding instructors call a "duck" stance.

Quack!

A duck stance is the opposite of a pigeon toed-stance. If you picture that you're standing on a clock, your toes, in a duck stance, are standing on the numbers 10 and 2.

I don't know enough about biomechanics to explain why we do this, but apparently it's a very comfortable, stable stance to have.

Snowboarding is all about maintaining some stability (or balance) as the terrain changes and where you are on the hill changes.

If you're just starting out snowboarding--or if you've been at it a while and a feeling a bit shaky--try standing like a duck. In technical terms, ride with an angle of +12 degrees in the front and -9 in the back. Maybe you'll find that you're a duck, too!

We're an 8.1

I've get up a Google News alert with various terms related to snowboarding, so I can keep up on the news. This morning's alert pointed me to a web site that gives a review of this blog. It's called Blogged.com. According to the "About Us" page, "Blogged.com is a blog directory that offers reviews, ratings, and comments on a categorized list of popular blogs." (Here's the page for the GraysOnTrays blog.) A pop-up screen says that ratings are "based on professional editors who evaluate a blog based on the following criteria: Frequency of Updates, Relevance of Content, Site Design, and Writing Style.

I'm happy to find that the Grays on Trays blog scored an 8.1 out of 10, which translates into "very good." Of course, a 10 would be even better, but that just gives something to shoot for. "Site design" could certainly use some help. Design has never been me strength, and I recognize the wisdom of division of labor. I've never been satisfied with the look of this blog, so if you've got some ideas for spiffing it up, send me an e-mail.

Skier-Snowboard Feud

I just noticed it now, but the Wall Street Journal had its own article on Taos Ski Valley lifting its ban on snowboarders. The article makes it clear that the decision was a business one. No surprise there.

But with ski revenue sliding and offspring of even the most hard-core skiers gravitating to boards, skiers-only destinations find it hard to keep refusing. Skier and snowboarder visits dropped in the 2006-2007 season to a combined 55 million, from close to 59 million in 2005-2006, the national ski areas group says. Industry revenue of $4.9 billion in 2005-2006 was down slightly from the previous season, according to the group's latest data. ....

Alejandro Blake, events coordinator and a grandson of Ernie Blake, the resort's founder, says Taos Ski Valley has been weighing the change for seven years. Skiing clans who came to Taos for generations began writing letters to say they couldn't return because a child or a grandchild wanted to snowboard. Four years ago, the Blakes asked resort guests to rate the importance of the no-snowboards rule in their decision to visit, on a scale of one to five. For the past two years, more than half the respondents gave it a one, two or three -- indicating dwindling support. "It is a business at the end of the day," says Mr. Blake. "We weren't forced into this, but we needed to do it in order to grow."

Mr. Blake says the decision to eventually accommodate snowboarders was made two years ago, when the resort finalized plans for a major expansion of the base area. The resort decided to enlarge rental shops to handle snowboards, install snowboard-size racks outside and build more hotel rooms to house an expected 10% to 15% increase in visitors.

A successful business listens to its customers.

What I found most puzzling about the article was the state that "Relations between skiers and riders (as snowboarders are known) have never been chillier." The article offers no evidence, not even a quote from a disgruntled skier. If you read stories of the early days, you'll most likely conclude that today's relations are by comparison as warm as a spring day. In its current issue, "Pro Rider," the magazine of the American Association of Snowboard Instructors, features an interview with several veteran instructors. The stories they tell make it clear that times have changed.

Twice Your Age, Twice the Fun

One thing I enjoy about the whole snowboarding world is finding out about adults who enjoy the sideways slide down the mountain. Yes, it's more and more common for those of us 30 and up (and even 50 and up) to enjoy snowboarding, but there's still something a bit head-turning about it all.

And why is that important? Because it may cause some people to stop and think "Hey, maybe I can do that, too!" Introducing people to the sport is sometimes as much fun as a good trip down the slopes.

Here's a letter published in today's Wall Street Journal, written by Tai Sugimoto of Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina:

It may be true that the majority of skiers are older than 25 and the majority of snowboarders are "not old enough to rent a car" ("Snowboards Invade Another Ski Shrine," Weekend Journal, Dec. 22). It is also a quite common trend that the children and grandchildren of skiers demand to open the "skiers only" resorts to boarders, or else. There is, however, another significant trend developing based on my observations and experiences: boomer skier turned boomer snowboarder.

I've just become eligible for Social Security benefits, but about 10 years ago my daughter started snowboarding and was too young to do it by herself. I strapped on a board and took lessons with her. Admittedly, it was humiliating and frustrating for a few days, until I got the hang of it.

To my surprise snowboarding has rejuvenated my excitement on the slopes. I can do more with the board than I was ever able to do with skis and with less probability of leg injuries. Besides, it's pretty "cool" when my boomer buddy and I say to the teens sitting next to us on the lift that our combined age exceeds 120 years, and then we beat them on the way down, getting (not giving) air for show.

(Emphasis added)

To quote one of my youthful e-mail correspondents: "Go old people, go!"

Safety First

Today's Wall Street Journal reports on ski and snowboard safety. The "movement to improve safety for skiers and snowboarders" includes educational efforts about behavior on the slopes as well as safety equipment. The "Lids on Kids" campaign is cited, as is the National Ski Patrol and various mountain-safety gear such as helmets.

The most hazardous situations (and best snow) are in the back country terrain, where safety is a do-it-yourself affairs. Worldwide, about 150 people die each year in avalanches, though the article doesn't say how many of those people were on skis or snowboards rather than, say, snowmobiles.

What about in-bounds terrain?

Within the boundaries of U.S. snow resorts, meanwhile, there were 562 deaths to snowboarders and skiers during 761 million resort visits between 1992 and 2005, according to researchers at the University of Vermont and the Rochester Institute of Technology. The majority of the fatalities were skiers; experienced males between the ages of 18 to 43 accounted for most of the deaths, most commonly from severe head injuries resulting from high-speed impact with a tree. An estimated 100,000 to 140,000 injuries require treatment in an emergency room each year.

What may be the most striking in the article is that for all the hoopla of snowboarding being the sport of yahoos and daredevils, most of the focus of the article is on ... skiing. In particular, there's been a lot of efforts to make ski bindings safer to deal with knee injuries.

Chalk one up for snowboarding; friends. On skis, you can put injury-inducing stress on one knee when a ski goes loose or the legs splay in two different directions. That's a situation that won't likely happen on a snowboard, though of course other injuries are possible, such as wrist sprains and fractures and head injuries from aerial tricks.

The Journal mentions one of my favorite experts on snow safety:

World-wide, more efforts are being made to collect and analyze snow-sports injuries and make facilities such as snowboard jumps safer, according to Mike Langran, an Aviemore, Scotland, physician and U.K. national secretary for the International Society for Skiing Safety, a nonprofit group that includes physicians and industry members. Dr. Langran's Web site (www.ski-injury.com) includes advice on safety equipment such as helmets and wristguards for snowboarders and detailed information about the dangers of injuries.

Finally, as columnist Laura Landro points out, for some people the risk it the thrill. Fair enough. The key is to keep the risks within reach. Push yourself if you'd like, but within limits. If you're interested in riding moguls in the steeps, for example, first try moguls, or steeps, before putting the two together.

A Little Snowboarding History

It seems like every third sixth-grader writing a history report for school wants to write about Jake Burton and the history of snowboarding. Well, last year the Wall Street Journal put together a short profile and video interview with Jake Burton on a free web site that gives profiles of notable people.

There's not much new in the story, but you might find it worthwhile anyway.

The Burton Thumb Drive

One of the Christmas presents I received recently was the Burton Flash drive. Shaped like a snowboard, it's an interesting and fun item.




The version I have is a smaller model--a single gigabyte.

It has, for example, two Quicktime movies. Actually, "movie" is too grand a word for what are actually 30-second commercials. One features an unnamed rider getting big air off a jump. Another features an unnamed rider taking a line down big mountain terrain, and getting air off of natural terrain features.

A much longer clip--10 minutes--is titled "Burton Lesson 101.” It opens with some eye-candy shots of big mountain riding that will inspire newbies to say “I’d like to do that some day.” Jake Burton gets some brief face time before receding for the rest the film, though he remains the narrator.

The video is one part pitch for the company, one part enticement to riding, and one third educational product. It pitches the company's various "learn to ride" programs at resorts.

The video also includes general tips for how to dress, how to select the right sized board, what safety equipment you might consider, and how to use strap bindings. (It also includes tips on how to use step-in bindings, which don't get much play today.) Fro there you get taken to the very elementary basics of a lesson.

Another feature is less useful--a collection of still photos of riders sponsored by the company. There are also three catalogs of Burton products. Those provide some information, but you'd be better off going to a shop and getting a paper copy to browse.

All in all, I'd say this is a useful product.