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The other day I mentioned that ski guru Lito Tejada-Flores had written favorably about snowboarding in one of his travel books.

Several years ago–prior to the release of the updated version of the travel book–I wrote a note to Mr. Tejada-Flores, something about his books and snowboarding, and got a gracious response. But I had wondered he would take to a snowboard some day.

Looking deeper into The Unofficial Guide to Skiing and Snowboarding in the West I saw that he had tried snowboarding. Here’s what he says, on pages 198-199. It does a good job of capturing some of the dynamics that cross-over skiers face. I don’t necessarily endorse all his tips, but it’s a worthwhile read. (And buy the book if you want to know your way around Western resorts.)

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Few things are as humbling or as stimulating to a good skier as abandoning the security of a sport already mastered to become, once again, an awkward beginner. This is true on cross-country skating skis, on telemark skis, on monoskis, and especially on snowboards. Recently I strapped on one of these amazing contraptions for the first time and loved it. Here’s a little of what I learned.

Which foot forward? Snowboarding, like surfing and skateboarding, is a sideways-standing sport. To discover your natural stance, find an icy stretch of pavement or a frozen puddle, run a few feet, and let yourself slide across it. Which foot do you instinctively stretch forward? That’s your front foot on a snowboard.

To get started, pick an easy hill with soft snow. What precisely does one do with a snowboard? There are several competing approaches in snowboarding instruction, but this is what worked for me. Go across the hill first. You will gain more confidence and control more quickly, if you develop a traversing/side-slipping/braking pattern first, before heading straight down the fall line. Unlike skiing, traverse across the slope on a snowboard is quite different depending on which way you’re heading. You will have a back-side traverse (back to the mountain) and a front-side traverse (facing the mountain). The back-side traverse is a stronger, easier maneuver, because the high plastic spoilers of most snowboard bindings give you more support from this direction—you can lean back against them to increase edging. On the front-side traverse you feel like your standing on your toes, and it takes more strength to control the board. Experienced skiers seem to react differently to snowboards than those whose only experience of sliding over snow has been on a board. Instinctively, the skilled skiers who tries snowboarding wants to develop strong edge control. The shortest route to this end is to use hard plastic snowboarding boots than soft Sorel-type felt-lined boots and wraparound bindings. Hard boots greatly strengthen your front-side edging.

While you traverse the slope, flatten and sideslip your board from time to time; to stop, push the board away from you, twisting it up the hill, while you let it slip. And—very important—when you get in trouble, sit down! In fact, you can sit down and flip your board around between traverses until you’re ready to turn downhill. As in skiing, the downward turn is the soul of the sport, but don’t try it until you feel comfortable just sliding sideways and across the hill. When you’re ready, start your downhill turn by committing your body in the direction you want to go—leading with your front hand—and then swivel your board with your feet to catch up to where your body is. The feeling is almost like falling into a turn, insecure but very effective.

This thumbnail sketch doesn’t take the place of lessons, and nowadays most ski schools have become ski and snowboard schools, so it won’t be hard to find good snowboard lessons at most ski areas. Five years ago it would have been a challenge, ten years ago impossible. Good riding!

Want more proof that snowboarding isn’t just for kids anymore? Consider the words of a ski guru.

One of my favorite ski writers is Lito Tejada-Flores, whose book Breakthrough on the New Skis: Say Goodbye to the Intermediate Blues (3rd Ed)helped me get my start in alpine sports.

Lito is also the editor of The Unofficial Guide to Skiing in the West, a review of, well, ski areas in western North America. Here’s what he has to say about snowboarding (pp. 64-64).

A new form of “skiing” has appeared as well. By this, I mean snowboarding, a controversial rarity a decade ago, now quite common at one Colorado ski resort.

[He’s speaking, in 1999, of Aspen Mountain, which has since dropped its ban–ed.]

Snowboarding is challenging and graceful, but above all, it’s new. And that is exactly why it’s attractive to the youngsters who, on the slopes as in every day life, delight in anything that sets them apart from their parents’ generation. Far from being a subversive threat to the integrity of our sport, as some over-reacting ski area managers initially perceived it to be, snowboarding has actually brought more families to the slopes together; it has given more kids a reason to accompany their parents willingly rather than grudgingly on annual Colorado ski jaunts.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, I thought, as I re-read this passage. I’m thinking that Lito is enough of a snow enthusiast that he has at least secretly tried out riding. So why the emphasis on kids and their desire to be different from the parents? Still, give him credit for saying that it’s not subversive.

I dug some further digging on Amazon and found that the book has been updated, and given a new title. Here’s what Lito has to say in The Unofficial Guide to Skiing and Snowboarding in the West:

Fifteen years ago, snowboarding was a controversial rarity. Now skiers and riders share the slopes at all Colorado ski slopes and at all but one in New Mexico. Snowboarding’s initial appeal was to youngsters who, on the slopes as in everyday life, delight in anything that sets them apart from their parents’ generation.

But those first-wave young riders have now grown up, and even their parents have taken up the sport. Snowboarding has actually brought more families to the slopes together and has given more kids a reason to accompany their parents willingly rather than grudgingly on annual Colorado ski jaunts. Mountain snowboarding is challenging and graceful, while Colorado’s abundant half-pipes, quarter-pipes, and terrain parks still bring on that adrenaline rush, not just for single-plank snowboarders, but for new-school skiers.

He’s right on several accounts. The initial reaction has been corrected, kids love it, and adults can enjoy its grace and challenge.

If someone in your family still prefers skiing, you might wish to peruse Lito’s web site, Breakthrough on Skis. Check out his threeDVDsas well.

I am alternately amused and appalled by one hardy perennial: the anxiety over whether snowboarding has “lost its soul” through “going mainstream.” This was most famously evident in the 1996 Olympics, when “the snowboarding community” did not know if it should rejoice or reject the invitation to enter.

I believe that you see a similar phenomenon at work in skateboarding. (I recall reading something about this in the August or September issue of TW Skateboarding.) And in the 1960s, you probably (I was too young to notice) had surfers lamenting that the Beach Boys were, by promoting surfing in a superficial way, destroying the sport, the life, the universe and everything.

Whether you see riding as a fun diversion from life or something approaching a religion, what other people think of it–and whether or not it is used to sell cars and trucks, telephone service, or denture cleaner–shouldn’t matter. Enjoy it for what you get out of it, not how it is popularly defined.

Opening day this season isn’t at all like my last day of the last season, but it will do.

In April of this year I closed out the 2005-2006 season with a trip to Vail. (See day one, day two, and day three for the account and some photos.) Today I opened the new season, back in the Midwest.

It’s not quite the same.

I was at Wild Mountain, a Twin Cities-area ski hill that prides itself on always being the first place in Minnesota to open. The people are great (I’ve met the owner and many members of the staff), and they introduce a lot of people to the joys of skiing and snowboarding.

Vail has thousands of acres; Wild has somewhere under 200. Vail has something on the range of several thousand feet in vertical drop; Wild has several hundred.

But unless you live near a big mountain, what are you going to do? Here’s what you do: make the best of what you have available. That’s why Midwesterners flock to their hills when they aren’t traveling to the Rockies.

So what was my experience like today? One intermediate run was open, a broadway that goes in a line from the top to the base. I did not get there until mid-afternoon, so some of the snow was gutted out, especially near the top.

Midwestern ski areas depend on their snowmaking abilities, and Wild had at least seven pieces of equipment lining the top of the run. They weren’t going during business hours, but being spaced about 30 yards apart like staggered steps, they did increase the challenge level. I took a few runs, and wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked. But it’s very good to be back on the snow.

This day is more than two weeks earlier than last year’s opening day. Given that I went golfing just three days ago, it’s amazing that Wild was able to offer any terrain. Chalk it up to good equipment, a financial committment, and ownership’s desire to get the season underway.

Laissez les bon temps roulez!

Snowboarding is great, in and of itself. So why do business leaders feel the need to lace their presentations with “edginess?”

Shortly after my post on making snowboarding safe for boring people, I received an e-mail from someone who pointed me to a snowboard-related commercial website. All in all it was a worthwhile view.

But there was something about it that bothered me. The copy on the site was informative, well-written, and even useful. But from time to time it veered into sexual innuendo, juvenile humor, and more simply, crude language. Actually, this happened only a few times, which means that when it did appear, it was even more out of place.

I guess that this kind of language that makes a publication “edgy.”

If you say so. But does that make it attractive? Not in my book. It’s something I put up with rather than find attractive.

There’s a difference between going up to the line and crossing it. There are, for example, a number of popular songs that talk about having sex in the back of a car. And automakers have used seductive models in their advertisements, just like many other companies. But it would be a stretch then for Chevrolet to run a print advertisement with the tagline “Because it helps you get laid,” or something like that.

Yesterday I went to my third and final ski swap of the pre-season. As was the case with the other two meets, I looked but did not buy.

Every sport has its gearheads. I used to think that golf was the most extreme case; there’s a new gimmick for drivers or irons or (especially) putters every year. And that’s just the clubs. A visit to a local “outdoors” store made me reconsider, however: maybe it’s fishing, with the variety of rods, reels and (especially) lures.

I’m not much of a gearhead when it comes to snowboarding, and I can take only so much tech talk. Still, I look forward to the swaps as an easy low-pressure way to see what’s new–or perhaps more accurately, what was new a couple years ago.

The first two swaps I went to this month were at local ski hills. Oddly enough, the new gear that was being sold came not from local shops, but from two shops at a distance–as in adjacent states!

Here is another oddity: you may think that snowboarding is taking over everywhere. Yet at each of the swaps I attended, there was much more ski gear for sale than snowboarding equipment.

Yesterday’s festivities took place at the fairgrounds, not at a ski hill. Perhaps that’s one reason why I had to pay an admission fee. Bummer. On the other hand, I got two lift tickets for the trouble, each one of which is worth more than the cost of admission.

I talked with a ski area representative about the show. He recommended to the organizers that they include the word “board” in the title of the event. They did. It didn’t help. There was even less snowboarding equipment at this event than at the two on-hill events. It was interesting to see a whole table of rental boots, however; they all had a metal rod, used for step-in bindings, that was perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the boot.

There were several exhibitors, with tables, distributing brochures, candies, and tickets for drawings. Sign your name, address, and get put on a mailing list–and perhaps win something.

I was going to stop at one table, but the woman attending the table was yakking on her cell phone. “Yah, it’s kinda boring here.” So much for customer service!

I bought my board from this swap a couple of years ago. If I get a different board (something smaller and more manuverable), it won’t be coming from a swap. At least not this year.

If grandpa wants a new snowboard for Christmas, will the young-uns still want to ride?

People used to take up snowboarding because it is cool. Perhaps some people still do. If you read snowboarding magazines and web sites, you will find that “steeze” (style) is important. So is image and presentation: witness the emphasis in boards on creating the right graphic art. (Graphic art … I mean that in both senses of the word.)

Teenagers and young adults are still the largest single segment of snowboarding, and there is nothing that some of them fear more than their ideas, likes, habits, and so forth, being picked up by the older generations–going mainstream, selling out, what have you.

The web site Digital Media Wire says that apple’s iPod faces a new challenge in the marketplace: so many adults are buying the MP3 players that the product is losing its cachet among the young. (I admit to finding an iPod useful to dealing with the monotony of work outs at the gym.)

“The biggest year over year increase in iPod ownership: People between 30-49, who comprised 12% of iPod owners in 2005, and 33% in 2006.”

Is that a good thing for Apple? Not entirely, says the site. The rise of the older market may mean a decline in the younger one. “Teenage perception that [the iPod is] Yesterday’s News because of Grandpa’s fancy new Nano could mark the beginning of a product shift.”

The article then mentions GraysOnTrays.com, and the phenomenon of adult ridership. It notes that the old folks haven’t driven the younger crowd away:

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There are certainly products that go beyond trendsetting rules. Snowboarding, for example, continues to be one of the largest growth sports in the U.S. Between 2000-2005, the number of snowboarders increased 50%, and between 1997-2002 the number of snowboarders aged 35 and up rose 400%, according to graysontrays.com. In fact, during the largest period of growth, 1996-2004, the median age of snowboarders remained about the same at 21, which means the increase in old folks on snowboards has not affected the teenage perception that it’s a cool sport.
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See? We can all play together, tweens, teens, twentysomethings, and grays on trays. Whatever your initial motivation for getting on the slopes, you’ll find that snowboarding is a great activity. Hip kids? Sure. Boring adults? Come join the party!

You don’t have to be in great physical shape to go riding. But it helps.

I spent most of last week indoors, 24/7. I was at a hotel for a conference, and from 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday until 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, I never left the building.

Over the last year I have gotten into an exercise routine that includes leg curls, crunches, and some upper-body workouts. In the last month I added some boxing. It’s just me and a punching bag, but it’s enough to be an aerobic workout.

This all started in October of last year, out of two objectives. One was the “it’s good for you” concern–exercise because it’s a good thing to do. But the other objective was to have more endurance while riding. I’m happy to say that both objectives have been achieved.

So it was with some concern that I gave up on getting much exercise in during the conference. When Saturday morning came around, I was ready for the 5k run/walk, even though I had not run in 30 years.

Twelve of the conference attendees met in the hotel lobby at the appointed (early) hour. I had no plan for whether I would take on the whole route, or double-back and return part-way through. I expected to walk, not run.

We gathered at the starting line, and took off. To my surprise, I started jogging near the head of the pack. And I stayed there for perhaps half a mile. Then I retreated into a walk some, jog some routine.

All was going well until the halfway point. That’s when some rubbing on my left foot really kicked in. It hurt. A lot. There was a sharp pain on my instep.

After that, I walked, with the occasional jog to get across the street. I thought of taking off my shoes and running in bare feet, or perhaps stocking feet. But the air temperature was about 50, and I figured that the pavement would be pretty cold, too. Plus, I was concerned about stubbing my toe–or doing something worse–on the occasionally uneven sidewalks.

I figured that I would be the last person back to the hotel, and that the organizer would be there waiting for me, making sure that nobody had died along the way.

Instead, I could hear the entire crowd of runners as I ran out the last two or three blocks. When I arrived near the party, they let out a bigger cheer. Someone took some photos of us all, and I sheepishly blamed my slow time on “equipment failure.” I don’t know that anyone believed me.

So what sorts of ailments did I suffer? A blister on my instep. It hasn’t popped, and if I am lucky, it won’t. Though a few people warned me of crushed knees, they feel fine. Oh, I have some soreness in the muscles on the tops of my feet, and my thighs ache the way they used to after I went on 20-mile walks. But overall, I feel fine.

For that, I can credit–or if you will, blame–snowboarding.

Snowboarding is going to claim another victim. Hurray!

Yesterday I was speaking with some members of the extended family. Though we often make a trip to Colorado, we didn’t do so this last season. The topic of conversation: whether we would do so during the upcoming season. The conclusion: yes we would.

My sister-in-law turned to me and said “You know what this means? It means that I will have to learn how to snowboard with you.”

Her opinion is easy to understand but one I don’t share: learning to ride in Colorado is great, but it just isn’t worth the trouble if you are going to stay in the Midwest.

She does have some back yard riding experience–two times when I helped her get a rudimentary feel for the experience. But each ride was no longer than ten seconds long, barely long enough to start a turn.

So I am hoping that sometime in the early part of the season, we can get in a day at a local ski area, one with warmer temperatures and some new snow (for a softer surface). That way she can get in some experience making turns before heading out to the real mountains.

She’s a good skier, and having her spend a day or two on the board while we are all out west will put me on easier slopes than I might otherwise choose. But I could hardly be happier about the prospect.

Snowboarding isn’t just fun–it’s good for you.

In his column of July 18, 2006, “Farming? Running? It Doesn’t Sound Like a Vacation to Me,” the Wall Street Journal’s Jared Sandberg talks about what makes for a good vacation. He quotes, among other people, Geoff Godbey, a professor of leisure studies at Pennsylvania State University. It turns out that what we do with our non-work time is important to who we are:

To be most satisfying, Prof. Godbey explains, leisure should resemble the best aspects of work: challenges, skills and important relationships. Leisure has its hierarchy. At the lowest level, it’s a search for diversion, higher up it’s a search for pleasure and, at the top, it’s a search for meaning. “It’s not that diversion is bad,” says the professor, “but in terms of human growth, it’s inferior to activities that are more pleasurable — and they’re inferior to activities that are more meaningful.”

Scientific evidence, he notes, shows that people who engage in skill-oriented leisure — crossword puzzles, bridge, chess, woodworking — score higher on practical intelligence tests. “Leisure is a very important medium for making us stupider or more intelligent,” he says. “At the end of your life what you’ve done with your leisure may be more important than what you’ve done at work.”

So maybe that explains why some people find a spiritual aspect to snowboarding.

And if a professorship of leisure studies isn’t a sign of the wealth in our society, what is?

Carol Hymowitz takes up a similar theme in her August 14 column, “Executives Who Make
Their Leisure Time Inspiring and Useful.” She quotes a CEO who is learning Spanish in his off-work hours.

He says of his language learning: “There was something very inspiring about tackling a new skill — and being able to chart my progress … up the learning curve each day.”

Sounds like he’s tried snowboarding, too!