The Origins of Snowboards

Should you care which country supplies your snowboard gear? Shayboarder has some thoughts.

Here's a comment I left:

As for China, well, yes, there are some serious problems there. Consider though that more people there have left extreme poverty in a shorter amount of time than in any other era in history.

As for environmental standards, they cost money. In the early industrial history of the US, we were desperate for development (as are most Chinese today), so we put up with stuff (air pollution, for example) that we wouldn't put up with today. So we're willing to suffer a bit. China is already feeling the need to clean up the air.

As for human rights, we should press for China to follow agreements they have made, but also keep in mind that, say, we had child labor well into the 19th century (sort of where they are, economically). So press the point but don't be self-righteous about it.

Resist the temptation to feel bad about buying gear that isn't made in the USA. Money you save by buying stuff made elsewhere is money that you spend on stuff and services that employee people here in this country.

As for what's in my gear bin, the most interesting thing I've found is that my board (Salomon Special) has "Made in Tunisia" imprinted on the base. China, I would expect. Tunisia, not.

Two Steps Back

One thing I enjoy about visiting different ski areas is seeing how they differ from each other. There's a lot of similarity in ski area management, but sometimes you'll spot something new.

For example, I was at Loon Mountain, New Hampshire, when I noticed a sign at the loading station of the Kancamagus Quad that said "This lift may run in reverse."


(Poor-quality photo taken with a disposable camera. My digicam died the night before I left home.)

Now if that makes you say "huh?," you're not alone. I asked the folks in the Loon public relations office, and here's the answer I received:

"We have those signs on detachable lifts only. This is because when the cars/chairs go around the bull wheel and reattach to the cable there are some sensors that the grip/cable pass through. If one of those sensors senses that something is amiss, then we will stop the lift. It is easier/safer to run the lift in reverse and fix the problem vs. unloading/evacuating the guests from that particular car/chair. This is a very rare occurrence."

This is consistent with the other answers I have been able to find. Still, it's a bit strange. I suppose it's one of those things that you hope you hear about but never experience.

Swap!

Here's one sign that the season is getting closer: Ski areas are starting to hold their ski and snowboard swaps.

If you're selling stuff, you may get more money selling it on Craig's List or on eBay. Ski swaps generally impose a per-charge item, and they also take a cut (20% in the case of one ski swap going on nearby). On the other hand, you could end up supporting a good cause (in this case, a local racing team). You also avoid the chore of having to handle e-mails or phone calls.

As for buying stuff at a swap, it's buyer beware. Look for obvious problems such as deep gouges in the base of a snowboard. Boards tend to use their "bounce" after a while, especially if they're ridden a lot, so a swap might have some boards that are as flat as a sheet of plastic. That's not good.

If you can get a decent price, a swap might be a useful place to find a "rock board" (one you ride in the early or late season, when snow coverage may be sparse). You might also use a swap to look for a board to complement your riding style. If you are a freerider, for example, you'll want a stiffer board. So to mix up your riding, you might get a freestyle board with a lot of flexibility, to practice basic snowboarding tricks.

An Indiana Sense of Humor

It's no secret that Indiana doesn't have the greatest terrain for snowboarding, though it does have Paoli Peaks and Perfect North. I imagine that neither has a vertical drop of over 300 feet, but then again, you make do with what you have.

Speaking of making do, how about the town of Terre Haute? Its name literally means "high ground." My best friend in college had looked into attending an engineering college there known as Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Sometime in the 1970s and 80s they developed a recruiting poster that played off the image of Indiana as a sea of cornfield as well as the irony that Terre Haute really isn't that that high (about 500 feet above sea level) and is in fact flat.

Come to our school, the poster said, and you can Ski Terre Haute!



If the poster was created today, would they use a jibber on a snowboard?

By the way, you can now order one of those posters for your kid's dorm room.

A Legal Dispute Could Shut Down St. Louis-Area Ski Hill

While the mountains we ride on may be natural, they're shaped by the human environment of business models (lift tickets), engineering (snowmaking equipment) and the law (liability and land use).

The only ski area within the St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area may shut down soon. The reason? A legal dispute between the owner of the area and the city council. There are a number of issues, including a demand by the city council that the ski area set aside a certain amount of land for "public use."

Thanks to Shayboarder for the tip. I'm doing some research into the matter and may report back later.

Making Snow at Loveland

The North American ski season is not far off. Loveland Ski Area has started making snow the other day. It even has a web page where you can watch the progress.

Have a Favorite Snowboard Instructor? Too Bad

If you have a favorite snowboard instructor that you'd like to return to this winter, you may be out of luck. Why? The politics of immigration have made it much more difficult for U.S. ski areas to hire instructors from other countries.

Here's an article I wrote on the subject


WHERE THE IMMIGRATION DEBATE MEETS MY SNOWBOARD INSTRUCTOR
Saint Paul Legal Ledger
September 18, 2008
John LaPlante

Last summer the big national issue was immigration reform. One side said "build a fence and enforce the law." Another said "create comprehensive immigration reform that includes making a way for undocumented workers to become citizens." The debate ended in an impasse. It was for me yet another debate "out there" until a fellow snowboard instructor told me that some ski areas were having trouble finding adequate instructors.

Immigration, like most areas of government, is an alphabet soup of laws and programs. Foreign ski and snowboard instructors come to this country through a seasonal work visa called the H-2B, which is for non-agricultural work. A business that wants to use this visa must fill out paperwork that is reviewed by the state department of labor as well as three agencies of the federal government. It’s likely that Pablo, who gave me one of my first snowboard lessons in Colorado, came to this country through this kind of visa.

Only 66,000 H-2B visas are granted each year. Thanks a special law, workers who had obtained a visa in a previous year were exempted from the cap if they wanted to return. In fiscal year 2007, some 69,000 foreign workers used this provision. But it expired during the immigration blow-up, effectively cutting the number of visas by more than half, and Congress never came close to reauthorizing it.

The returning-worker law was doomed by the larger issue over immigration, which included debates over agricultural workers, high-tech workers, economics versus politics and a proposal that businesses verify the legal status of everyone they hire. The Hispanic Congressional Caucus opposed piecemeal laws such as the returning-worker rule, favoring comprehensive reform and a new paths to citizenship. Union advocates such as Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), meanwhile, argued that the H-2B program required more vigorous enforcement of worker protection laws and the visa’s "prevailing wage" requirement.

On the other side, U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY), wrote that absent the returning-worker law, "many family-owned businesses that depend on such employees will be without the workforce they need to stay in business." Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), keeping mind the folks who harvest crabs in her state’s waters, said that without the exemption, "many businesses would be forced to limit services, lay off permanent U.S. workers or, worse yet, close their doors."

Since the legal supply of H-2B workers has been halved, businesses have adapted in a lot of ways. Some, I suspect, simply flout the law. That puts companies that hew to the law at a competitive disadvantage.

Customers may see changes, too. If I return to Colorado and want to take a lesson with Pablo, there’s a good chance he won’t be there. As gas stations did years ago, businesses that depend on low-wage workers will find ways to shift some of the work onto consumers, and call it self-service.

Some ski and snowboard instructors hope that the law will improve their own conditions. After all, their pay is typically low (high-priced Vail, for example, proposed in its visa application to hire instructors at $9.06 to $18.05 an hour) and housing costs in resort areas are high, due to limited land for building. Other instructors, however, are pessimistic. After all, there’s a limit to what even well-healed skiers will pay for a lesson, meaning that raising instructor pay—one obvious way of attracting more U.S. job applicants—could simply price some instructors out of a job.

Ski towns and ski areas, which use the H-2B program for lift attendants, retail clerks and housekeepers as well as instructors, are scrambling to adjust. The timetable laid down in immigration law puts ski areas at a disadvantage: By the time they are able to submit their applications, much of the quota has already been filled.

So they’ve ramped up efforts to recruit U.S. workers by holding job fairs and advertising on Facebook and other social networks. Copper Mountain, a well-known Colorado resort, has advertised for experienced instructors on Craig’s List. According to one Denver-based snowboard instructor I know, that’s the first time Copper has had to recruit experienced instructors. I expect, though I haven’t read this yet in industry publications, that the larger, better known resorts will be able to poach some employees from their smaller brethren. No surprise there—regulations that make it more difficult to do business usually give the bigger boys an advantage.

As for Minnesota and the Midwest, a few ski areas have dabbled in foreign workers, but at least for day areas such as Afton Alps, the dispute has no impact. They’re able to hire local workers.

Instead, the businesses most affected are landscaping and lawn care services, nurseries, golf clubs, and summer resorts. Fran Regan of the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development (DEED) told me in an e-mail that in fiscal year 2007, DEED transmitted 95 H-2B applications from Minnesota employers to the U.S. Department of Labor. In turn, that department certified a total of 75 applications for a total of 2,125 workers. So even if they never leave the state for a ski trip, Minnesotans may see the impact of the restrictions, too.

PowderRoom.Net

I'm always eager to highlight niche outlets that spread the joy of snowboarding. Since the teenage male gets most of the media attention, there's a lot of room for adults.

Another segment of the population that doesn't get much attention in the world of snowboarding is women, generally. So here's to PowderRoom.Net, a U.K.-based site that bills itself as being "for girls who know snow."



It's got news, a blog, a discussion forum, and other features.

Green and White

Some ski resorts have been making a name for themselves by touting their "green" credentials. Of course, that helps them obtain another form of "green"--cash.

One such company is the Aspen Ski Co. Since I bought some lift tickets from them last year, they sent me a 14-watt CFL, or compact fluorescent lamp. You know, the kind of light that Congress has pretty much declared that we will all use, like it or not.

There's nothing terribly unusual about the bulb, of course. But it's got several additional layers of cardboard and paper around it (save the trees, anyone?) To begin with, there' the standard-issue cardboard box that the bulb comes in. Then there's an outer wrap with images from the Aspen/Snowmass region on it. OK. A pleasant touch, but the scenes are obscured by the words "save" and "snow" that alternately appear on each panel.

These two layers of packaging are then placed inside another box with a flip-top lid--think "mini-coffin," which says "printed in China." (How much of a "carbon footprint" was created to print this box in China--perhaps burning coal in an electricity plant with marginal pollution-control technology--and then ship it back to the United States?)

The top side of the lid has an inspirational (scolding?) quote about the interdependence of life, while the underside promises financial and environmental benefits of CFLs. Finally, there's a mini-brochure touting the SkiCo's environmental record: snowcats run on biodiesel fuel, they purchase "renewable wind power credits" (perhaps from the same company that lets Al Gore feel at peace touting the green lifestyle while using more electricity in a month than most Americans live in a year), etc.

Can you tell I'm a bit annoyed? Yep. Sure, I love snow. And I also think that a company ought to be free to do what it wants to do to attract customers. I would certainly prefer that to having politicians in Congress (or worse yet, unelected bureaucrats) making decisions for all of us. Obviously, ski industry leaders think that polishing their green credentials is good marketing--that being green can bring in the green.

Perhaps. On the other hand, I have my fears that any large-scale political response to observed changes in climate--a "cap and trade" system, for example--will enrich a few, politicize life even more, and harm the overall economy.