The Our Camp ladies have announced the dates of two winter camps this forthcoming season in Morzine.

There’s an all-girl camp, based at More Mountain chalet, running from January 18 to 25. It includes half board accommodation, coaching in small groups with British pro riders, lift pass, yoga sessions and transfers to and from Geneva airport. The camp costs £659.

If you want to take your man, brother or Dad with you, you could check out Our Camp’s mixed camp which is based at Ride&Slide from March 15 to 22.  The campo includes half board accommodation (including unlimited wine!), lift pass, six days of coaching, transfers and other goodies. It cost 920 euros for the week.

Next up is another ladies week at the Ride & Slide chalet from April 5 to 12. This camp also includes six days of coaching with British pro riders, half board accommodation, meals, lift pass, après activities and transfers. This week costs 920 euros.

For more info on the camps or to find out how you can book day-only camp sessions in Morzine next season with the Our Camp crew, visit www.ourcamp.co.uk

Billabong has announced that it is buying DaKine. It’s paying $99.9 million for the bag, gloves and accessories brand.

DaKine’s founder Rob Kaplan launched the company in 1979 in Hawaii and he will be staying on in the DaKine management team.

More info at Boardsportsource.com

Absinthe Films are taking their latest movie, 'Ready', on tour - I'll be going to the showing at Vancouver's Ridge Theatre on 7th September, with rider appearances by Romain de Marchi, Wolli Nyvelt and Canadian Matt Beardmore.

You can check out the tour schedule at http://www.sphereofinfluencetour.com/

Volcom are opening a shop in London this autumn and they’re looking for staff.

The shop, situated near Covent Garden, needs an assistant manager and sales assistants.

The sales jobs are for full-time employees working 39 hours per week, part time employees working 20 hours  a week and weekend staff working eight hours.

They’re looking for people with a knowledge and interest in the boardsports industry and at least one year of retail experience. You must have good customer service skills and be able to work weekends as scheduled.

If you are interested, send your CV and salary requirements to jobs@volcom.fr asap.

A key snowboard movie company is helping to take snowboard gaming in to the backcountry.

The Absinthe Films crew has been helping to develop a new game for the Xbox 360 console and other Microsoft systems called Stoked.

The game, due for release in November, features 45 square miles of open terrain areas, changing weather conditions and the chance to compete as one of many high profile riders. You can take part in sponsored events and contests against other Xbox live players.

Featured riders in the game include Travis Rice, Nicolas Mueller, Wolle Nyvelt, Annie Boulanger, Romain de Marchi, Tadashi Fuse, Gigi Ruef, and Bjorn Leines.

A massive range of snow brands have also been involved – including Burton, Dragon, Arcus, Von Zipper, Eleven, 686, Billabong, DaKine, Electric, LibTech, Nitro, Northwave, Oakley, Quiksilver, Ride, Hart, Rome, Salomon, TechNine, Vans and Volcom.

Click here to visit gaming website Kotaku to check out some screengrabs of the game.

Just only two months until the Metro Ski and Snowboard Show in London. If you’re heading to the capital for the show you might be interested to know that there’s also an FIS World Cup event taking part here at the same time. Rumours of a multi-day snowboard and music festival at Battersea Power Station are still emerging – more info when we get it!

Ten-year-old Shayna Aaronson is one of the lucky campers enjoying a ton of powder at the South American Snow Sessions in Bariloche, Argentina. In the latest session update from SAAS she talks about trying her first ever 360.
Find out more about SASS, see their picture galleries and check out their latest podcast www.sasnowsessions.com

It's a Thursday powder day. Robin Van Gyn, Nat Gough, Luke Shelley, Jack, Jacob, Harry, Gabe, Garrison, Micaela, Elin, Ben G., Ashley, and I built a big powder jump.  It was at least 25 feet to the landing. 

I did one straight air.  It's the best powder landing you will ever get.  The pressure is on.  Either I commit to doing a 360 or I keep doing straight airs, that I have been doing for years.

I talked to Luke and see what I should do.  He told me that if I want to do a 360, I have to commit to it.  I told Luke I want to try a 360, because if I step it up right now then it won't hurt if I fall.

I'm about to commit to a 360. Luke is talking to me on how to be clam in the air.  Jack is going before me and doing a backside 540.  Jacob is going before Jack and is doing a frontside 540.

Jack and Jacob just went. Now it's all me. Luke is radioing Ashley and Ben G. that I am about to drop in. I count down from 10.
10...9...8...7..6...5..4....3...2.....1 "DROPPING."

I slide down a little and then I go.  Nat counts down from three. 3..2...1 I blast off in the air.  I turn to a 180, then I go from 180 to 270 to 360.

"BOOM!" I'm on the ground ragdolling all the way to the poma lift. It didn't hurt because it was all powder.

I was proud of myself that I committed to doing something that I'm not that good at doing.

Even though I went down, I still did it.

Pictures courtesy of www.ashleybarker.com

The Body Shop is raising funds for Women’s Aid in the UK with a great, useful product.

Women’s Aid is Britain’s national domestic violence charity that co-ordinates and supports local organisations and services to end violence against women and children.

The ‘For You, For Me’ lip care duo was launched as part the Stop Violence in the Home campaign which has been launched by the Body Shop and Women’s Aid to increase awareness, raise funds for the national domestic violence charity and help put a stop to domestic violence. 

The set contains two moisturising lip balms full of luscious shea butter – so you can give one to a friend or keep one in your drawer at work and one in your bag (or snowboard jacket).

It costs £7 and £4.80 goes directly to Women’s Aid. The shea butter is sourced from a community in Ghana and benefits people there through Body Shop’s Community Trade programme.

Buying one of these you'll be doing good things for lots of people - and your own lips too.

One of the biggest challenges of seasonnaire chalet work has got to be coming up with tasty meals for large groups of skiers and snowboarders every night.

One way to get some inspiration and take some of the terror away is to get some training in advance.

You could try out the Well Seasoned Chalet Cookery Course which takes place in Tignes in October.

There are two week-long courses available in October and 10% discounts for powderroom.net readers are available on both.

The courses help you pick up the practical skills necessary to make scrummy meals for your guests and also explores menu planning, ordering, time planning etc too.

Accommodation is in luxury chalets and there is also free time so you can make the most of the early season snow on the Tignes glacier.

To find out more about the courses visit www.well-seasoned.co.uk and don’t forget to mention your powderroom.net discount if you decide to book.

So while we are sweltering away in the northern hemisphere summer, some lucky peeps are enjoying some proper winter conditions in the south.

In Bariloche, Argentina a gang of happy snowboarders and skiers are getting to grips with the powder and the language at the South American Snow Sessions.

SASS are running camps through to early September and we’ll be getting the lowdown on life at camp from campers throughout the season.

Here’s a report from 17-year-old skier Mel Yemma. For more information visit www.sasnowsessions.com

"Two..four..six..eight.. who do we appreciate?... POWDERRRR!"

Garrett Russell just reminded us SASS campers why we love skiing so much.  Whether it’s the fresh pow, the beautiful scenery, the big lines, or the fun jibs, its pretty much impossible not to have fun skiing at SASS. 

The Pros, our coaches, Garrett and Michelle Parker, who is an insane skier, and the local coach Mauri, teach us and inspire us to go beyond our regular skiing level, such as jumping off a cliff twice as big as usual.

Not only is the skiing and camaraderie at SASS so perfect, but the opportunities this camp gives us is insane. 

We get to take Spanish and avalanche safety classes, but my favourite part is connecting together what I do at home. For a high school independent research project, I decided to connect together two of my biggest interests : skiing and science, especially environmental science.

So, I decided to build my own pair of skis with environmentally friendly sustainable, flexible, and durable bamboo.  It took a lot of research and time to finally build the skis, but the feeling I got when everyone was so impressed and excited to ride them was out of this world.

And I bet it will get even better when my fellow campers, myself, and even pro skiers try the skis out.

Just like when everything from home, off the hill, to SASS in the mountains just comes together perfectly."

Pictures courtesy of www.ashleybarker.com

29Feet in Fernie,BC, Canada just dropped us a line to say they’re offering powderroom.net readers 10% off holidays this season.

29Feet offer a range of accommodation pages from single weeks or months to whole seasons in the BC resort.

The discount is available for all holidays and you don’t have to pay in full when you book to take advantage of it.

Just mention you’re a powderroom.net reader when you book to receive your discount.

Full details of the packages available at www.29feet.com

Our Camp’s summer snowboard camp for girls hit Les Deux Alpes last week. The crew recorded the thoughts and experiences of the campers throughout the week and we’ll be reporting them in the blog.

For more info on Our Camp events visit www.ourcamp.co.uk

DAY FIVE

Claire is a biochemical engineer currently completing a PhD in London. She started snowboarding three years ago whilst working for a biotech firm in New Zealand, when her friends persuaded her to go up with them at the weekends.

Since then she’s had a two week holiday in Fernie and spent a week in Serre Chevalier. She’s hardly done any freestyle, and decided to come to camp so that she could have more fun playing around on the slopes.

“I’m much better at learning from instruction than by just picking it up myself, and I get nervous learning around boys. They look so confident and it somehow that makes me feel less confident, so I just don’t give it a go.

“After this week, though, I do have more confidence, so now I’d be prepared to give things a shot even if I was not nearly as good as them. I felt a lot better doing the jumps today. I managed to get some air and actually I enjoy getting speed to go into the jumps now, whereas before it freaked me out – I barely even got up the jump when we first did it.

“It’s nice to know that I can do the spins, too, even if it’s just low off the ground. We were trying spins off the banks on the side of the boardercross, so it wasn’t scary, it was just a case of getting used to getting around. I didn’t think I could do it at first but I can – now I don’t have to worry so much about the take off and spinning bit, I can start working on shifting my weight over to my front foot.

”Oh, and I did some good ollies today – we just watched it on the video. You can actually see my board go off the snow! And it felt good too – it felt solid. I was getting my knees up, getting my shoulders right.

“Gilly helped me to see what I do wrong, which means that now I’m able to correct it. I’m a scientist: I need that blow-by-blow breakdown. I like to have a set of instructions and to analyse how I’m doing something – that’s just the way I process things. And I feel a lot more confident and a lot happier now. I had a crap second day; at first I thought that the other girls were so much better than me, but now I realise that’s just because most of them have been snowboarding for longer.

”Actually Michelle and I are pretty much at the same level, so I’ve realised that what I can’t do is just down to my lack of experience, not because I can’t inherently do it. This week has set me up so that now when I go on my next holiday I’ll try some 180s and to ride switch, and practise some hits on the side of the piste – it’s given me the confidence to try stuff on my own.” 

The Sea to Sky Highway between Vancouver and Whistler has been completely blocked by a rock slide: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=4d2f2262-e433-42e4-b27f-a3228f38df3f

The highway is expected to remain closed for five days while crews remove rocks and repair damage to the road and the railway line. Officials are playing down safety fears for the 2010 Olympics, when the road will be heavily used. The road has been the site of heavy construction work for the last couple of years as major improvements are made running up to the Olympics. It's the thought the catastrophic rock slide was caused by a long period of hot dry weather, followed by heavy rain, which de-stabilised a cliff overhanging the road.

Squamish and Whistler residents face a 250km detour round Lillooet and Lytton to reach the Lower Mainland, and are facing gas and some food shortages while they await supplies.

You might have seen this video for the new Goldfrapp single Caravan Girl over the last few weeks. It’s really cute – featuring a girl cruising around town on her longboard.

The crew at Arbor would like you to know that the board she’s riding is the Arbor Bamboo Bug. Tge video was produced by Emmett Malloy and Arbor USA friends at Jack Johnson’s Brushfire records.

Check out their full range at www.arborsports.com

Our Camp’s summer snowboard camp for girls hit Les Deux Alpes last week. The crew recorded the thoughts and experiences of the campers throughout the week and we’ll be reporting them in the blog.

For more info on Our Camp events visit www.ourcamp.co.uk

Day Four

Jenny is a biomedical engineer from Belfast. She teaches climbing, she kayaks, and she’s been snowboarding for about fourteen years, having started out going on school and family ski holidays.

Surfing and skateboarding had always looked interesting to her, but she found the scene in Belfast a little bit intimidating and didn’t know how to get started. Snowboarding seemed more accessible – it was easy to find lessons, and she had seen other kids in the resorts doing it.

 After going to a dry slope back home on a regular basis, she decided to take five months off work this year to spend a season in Morzine. It was great, but she’s been feeling like she didn’t progress as much as she wanted, and has been stuck on a plateau.

Originally she chose Our Camp simply because the dates fit her summer plans – but the more she found out about it, she realised that she was looking forward to having female coaches.

“I often don’t get on particularly well with male coaches that I’ve had in my various sports. This week has been so much more friendly and relaxed and so much more positive and encouraging than any coaching that I’ve had before.

Today we rode the pipe for the first time this week. I tried riding into a small pipe before and fell flat on my face, which left me with a fear of them; they’re quite intimidating to look at. But Gilly had taught us how to do 90 degree hops on the slope so we knew how to do the turns already, and we’d been practising keeping low and kepping our base nice and flat on the boxes and the whoop-de-woos, so it was just a case of bringing that all across.

We dropped in right at the start so it wasn’t so high – and it just felt right from the start. We weren’t trying to go too high at the beginning, just getting used to the turns, but that feeling of weightlessness – it was amazing. 

“Then we moved on to some bigger kickers. The first time I went I was too slow, so the second time I straightlined it and the ground just fell away from me. After that I was worried about going too far, so third time around I followed Tamsin in and had just the right speed, which was great.

We had the first ever Irish Snowboarding Championships this year in Livignio, and I’m feeling like I’m getting the confidence now to give that a go.

“We hurried down the mountain to go white water rafting. It was pretty tame compared to kayaking, but it was great fun because the instructor was completely mad – he made the whole trip like one big bumper car ride.

Oh yeah – the owner of the rafting company came out with a load of leftovers to feed a piglet that he’d been given as a “stupid gift” (his words). I was feeding it the food and it – well, it tried to eat my thumb…”

UK ladies, if you’re home at 6pm (or see this after and can get yourself on to the BBC iPlayer at www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer) check out a programme on BBC2 tonight called Siberia to Sahara: A Snowboarder’s Odyssey. It features Ed Leigh visiting some of the world’s most unusual and exciting snowboarding destinations. He starts in Moscow and heads to Siberia’s Sheregesh – one of the coldest resorts on the planet.

Let us know what you think if you manage to catch it!

Our Camp’s summer snowboard camp for girls hit Les Deux Alpes last week. The crew recorded the thoughts and experiences of the campers throughout the week and we’ll be reporting them in the blog.

For more info on Our Camp events visit www.ourcamp.co.uk

Day Three

Michelle is a research chemist from Cork. She started snowboarding two years ago on her first ski holiday, did a snowboard taster on the last day and decided immediately to wave the skis goodbye. She’s only ridden about four weeks since then, but decided to give the camp a go because she wanted to ride in the summer.

“It’s the only kind of holiday that I want to do anymore. None of my friends snowboard so I had to come on my own, and I thought a girl’s camp would be a bit more encouraging; I never went into the parks before because I found all the fellers a bit intimidating.

“Yesterday was good because everything just kind of clicked. I found that I could take the 180s and switch riding that we had done the day before on the piste straight to the rollers. But then today – well, the weather was hot, the skies were blue, but I just couldn’t get the boxes. Okay, I got the first one. I didn’t think about it, and it was perfect; they were all like, “you’ve never been on a box before?” But I couldn’t do the second one, and then I came down on the last. I started thinking about it too much, I think.

“It’s just in my head, just the way I work – but I suppose I still learnt tail presses today, and even coming down off the mountain I was throwing some of those in, so … it’s just something you have to get over.

“Luging cheered me up a bit. Getting the speed was cool, after going a bit slow the first time, we started to try to chase each other down.

“And I was surprised when we went skating this evening; I thought that because I’d had a bad time on the hill that it would cross over, but actually I was learning stuff. And I think that will probably help too, when I go back up the hill tomorrow – it gets your confidence back.”

Some news from Nikita on a trip to Iceland for some lucky ladies - read and be very jealous....

Back in June, Nikita Snowboard Clip Contest winner Kasia Kwiecien from Poland and Zumiez sales supremos (US) won a trip of a lifetime, courtesy of Nikita.  They spent a few days exploring the Icelandic way with the ruggedly refined Ásgeir Höskuldsson, AKA Geiri, International Marketing Manager at Nikita Clothing and General Manager / Moral supporter, Runar Omarsson.  They were soon aware of the vastly contrasting terrain and experiences Iceland had to offer. 

Their journey began when they arrived at Keflavik Airport, about a 40 minute journey from Reykjavik town centre and Nikita HQ.  They were escorted to the geothermal seawater of the Blue Lagoon for some relaxation, taken on a caving and snorkelling trip by Arctic Adventures in Þingvellir (a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site), had a blast at snowboarding on the glacier and even donned some serious wetsuits to hit the Icelandic surf.   The girls also met with founder and head design Heida Birgisdottir and her design team at the Nikita HQ.  Here’s what they had to say about their trip;

Kasia Kwiecien – Nikita Snowboard Clip Contest winner, 2008

I won the Nikita snowboard clip contest so I got the chance of going to ICELAND!!  On the June 16, in the early morning I went to Warsaw’s airport.  I got my flight to Reykjavik through Helsinki.  I was tired but I got some extra power when I saw the crew and video camera on my arrival. 

Then we went to the Blue Lagoon in this big sport-utility vehicle (it’s amazing that most people in Iceland have them!!).  We were chilling and got some beauty masks.  Then I left my stuff in the hotel and went to the Nikita House.  We ate there, drank menthol vodka and hit nails into the big log of wood.  Then we explored the beauty of Reykjavik through the night.  It was light all the time!!! 

In the morning (everybody was sleepy) and we went to a cave where Geiri showed us real nature.  After that we ate dinner ‘with’ the Prime Minister (the national park they were in is also home to the summer residence of the Prime Minister of Iceland) and got into these crazy suits. We went snorkeling into this cold water (it was 2° Celsius), jumping from the cliff there.  We looked really weird but that was funny. 

After that we spent a few hours in the car which smelled fishy (everybody except me and Shannon ate dry fishes with butter bleeeee), went to an outdoor swimming pool, ate dinner in a great fishy bar near the ocean and finally got to our hotel.  We then went to a party, which took place at the nearest campsite.  We met many funny people there.

Next day everybody was super tired!!!  We got into our snowboarding clothes and went to glacier!!!  That road was really crazy dangerous and the surrounding view was similar to that on the moon. We got to the top by snowmobile and had to use all of our abilities to get down. Later on we ate bad hamburgers, went for a walk (Runar saved us from some crazy birds) and got to the shore.  We dressed up in winter water suits (so we looked really sexy hehe), got boards and hit some waves!!!!  I coughed my first, and almost sank!!! 

We took some pics and came back to the Nikita house. There we ate probably the best pizza in Reykjavik and I got the chance of choosing some Nikita clothes (Yeah!!!! Thanks a lot!!!).  After that I got my stuff and had to head home.

I am sure it was the best trip of my life!!!  I’d like to thank all the Nikita Crew, people who voted for me and my friend Aram who was patient while recording me;)  ISLAND BEST Í HEIMI !

Shannon Johnson – Winner for her super sales at Zumiez

The Iceland trip was amazing.  I honestly want to go back and share my experience with my friends and family.  It is soooo gorgeous there!  Everything we did was so so much fun but if I have to choose what my favorite thing was, it was snorkeling.  The water may have been beyond freezing but it was amazingly beautiful.  It’s crazy how clear the water is.  Not in a million years would I have thought I would be in Iceland snorkeling in water that is like 5 degrees! 

I also loved snowboarding.  I didn’t ride for too long but the top of the glacier was so rad!  It wasn’t too clear up there and Geiri described it best by saying it’s like you’re in a ping pong ball.  Haha he is totally right!  You could only see like 20 feet in front of you.  It was pretty intense.  When it cleared up about halfway down it was really cool to see the ocean and the beach.  Everyone we met was awesome. 

Everyone was beyond nice to us.  I have never felt so welcome half a world away.  One super funny thing was when we were caving and Torfi (spelling?) described the end of the cave as kind of like you’re being birthed because you come out of this tiny hole in the earth.  So Geiri is the last one out of the cave and being the crazy guy he takes off his clothes and emerges from the hole with this fake cry.  Haha it was sooo funny.  He is quite the character. 

Jenn Huynh - Winner for her super sales at Zumiez

I thought Iceland was pretty much amazing.  I didn't expect the actual countryside to be so desolate and beautiful.  Everyone at Nikita was so nice and welcoming. 

Initially, I thought the language barrier would be an issue but I was totally wrong. Geri and Bjorn taught us some Icelandic phrases, helped us get acquainted with the Icelandic culture and cuisine and took us on some crazy adventures.  Snorkeling, caving and surfing in Iceland was certainly unexpected. 

The boys showed us a good time and I just want to thank everyone at Nikita, especially Runar and Geiri for being so awesoooome!

You can watch a video of the trip at http://www.youtube.com/nikitaclothing and http://www.vimeo.com/1322040 - Just click on the Nikita Iceland Roadtrip 2008

A bundle of great images are also available from throughout the trip, check them out here - http://bjornrosdahl.net/

Scottish Our Camper Jess

Our Camp’s summer snowboard camp for girls hit Les Deux Alpes last week. The crew recorded the thoughts and experiences of the campers throughout the week and we’ll be reporting them in the blog.

For more info on Our Camp events visit www.ourcamp.co.uk

Day Two

Jessica is a liftie in Britain. She’s proud to work at Nevis Range, one of Scotland’s four remaining resorts, and this season (lasting from February through April) got in about five days a week on our very own powder, hardpack and heather.

Having never ridden outside Scotland before, she had planned a summer trip to the Alps with some friends - aiming to get at least a few days on snow between now and next season. The friends cancelled, Jessica typed in “girls’ freestyle camps”, and voila - she’s at Our Camp.

Actually, that makes it sound a bit too easy: Jessica’s travel plans ncluded a night bus from Scotland to Stansted, which first broke down and then abandoned her in Birmingham when she went to make a call to check on her flight. She rolled into Les Deux Alpes a day late, weary but determined.

“I can panic a lot about meeting new people, but when I arrived yesterday afternoon I found it really welcoming; everyone seemed really calm, despite the typical Scottish weather that they’d had up the hill.

Jess hits the park in L2A

”Fortunately the weather today was amazing, really hot and sunny. I only started riding in park this year, but because I was in a group of girls I didn’t mind giving new stuff a go; at home the guys are always going huge, so unless I ride with the one other girl at our hill I find that I don’t really push myself.

“Today I landed my first backside 180, which I surprisingly found easier than a frontside one. Gilly was telling us to just give it a go and everyone was going down the slope trying new things together - it was a really good environment to learn in.

“This afternoon we went down to the fake lake. Gilly and Sara walked in and somehow made it look like it wasn’t cold, so me and Claire walked in and it was freezing! Then we did some yoga on the grass by the lake, surrounded by the mountains. I’ve wanted to try yoga for quite a while and it really felt like it was stretching out my muscles, so that will give me something to get started with now.

“Tomorrow I want to learn some tricks on the rails. Hardly any girls enter the Highlander Comp at Nevis Range, and there are some good prizes on offer, so I’m going to build up my confidence this week to give it a go.

”I do miss my little boy, especially seeing the other kids out here but it’s also quite nice being able to relax. He’ll have a go at snowboarding in the next couple of years but I won’t force him to do anything.

”I don’t care what he does - skiing, even blading - so long as he comes up the hill so that I can get to ride!”

Gnar Wars by Mike Benson from Mike Benson on Vimeo

Some of the campers on the Les Deix Alpes glacier

Our Camp’s summer snowboard camp for girls hit Les Deux Alpes last week. The crew recorded the thoughts and experiences of the campers throughout the week and we’ll be reporting them in the blog.

For more info on Our Camp events visit www.ourcamp.co.uk

Day One

Sara Helme is a computer programmer from Cheltenham. She’s been snowboarding for seven years: her boyfriend dragged her into it and she’s never looked back. She was fascinated by it right from the start, even though it wasn’t until the second week of her second holiday that she could turn toe edge. Now she spends two weeks of every winter in Canada, and tries to get some indoor riding in at least once a month.

“Usually a whole bunch of us go to Canada; we all ride together and spend a lot of time in the trees, but nobody else is really interested in going into the park. I’ve always wanted to get more into freestyle, so I thought it would be good to come and do it on a girl’s camp.

“There’s only one other girl in our crew usually, and I like riding with guys, but with girls it’s just more comfortable ¬ you relax a bit more. Seems like guys are always trying to impress each other, and are more competitive than supportive. Come to think of it, maybe that’s why they don’t want to ride in the park when we’re on holiday ¬ perhaps they're too embarrassed to fall?

Sara tries some apres skate lessons

“Today was flipping windy! My first thought was damn, I forgot my neck gaiter. But surprisingly, it didn’t matter; it was such good fun. I’ve been trying to do 180s for two years: I had an idea of what I needed to be doing, but it’s never really clicked.

“Normally I have a couple of goes, turn 90, smack my head on the floor and give up. But today Gilly helped me visualise exactly what I needed to do and then I just got up and did it! I think that I just needed to have it broken down and then relate that to what my body was doing. By the time we had to go down because of high winds, my legs were exhausted but I was so pleased. I could do a f/s 180, ride it out switch, and then pop it back - just really chuffed.

“The weather got better in town in the afternoon, and we had a go at skating. I’ve never skateboarded before so I'm impressed that I managed not to kill myself. I've always looked at people skating before and just thought it looked really hard, but everyone did so well and it was brilliant fun.

"It was nice to see the sun, but I don’t really care what the weather’s doing - I’m just thinking snowboard snowboard snowboard snowboard!”

I was just lookin at this and thought some of you ladies might like to go have a look...its the new Ride Ladies site. All the new range is there as well as profiles and interviews with the womens team.

Oh and just as a side note...I am in love with the new artist collaboration Tokidoki range (well the way it looks at least)..this board and bindings are fab!

The San Jose Mercury is reporting that snowboard legend Shaun Palmer was arrested at the weekend. He was one of four people arrested over an alleged Fourth of July fight.

Reports say Palmer was trying to break up the fight but was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication.

Click here to read the story.

Check out this nice wee movie of Kevin Pearce getting a hands on tour of the Burton board manufacturing center in Burlington, VT:

This is a few days old but I just spotted it on The Times Surf Nation blog.

Two guys have ditched the Tube (I don’t blame them) and have taken to paddling on their surfboards down the Thames to work to commute to work. The journey takes several hours – although they can save up to an hour if they time the tides right.

No information on how they keep their copies of the Metro dry in the morning though…

Check out the story on the Evening Standard website here.

Surfing Magazine has a pretty horrifying story about the battle to catch the best waves in Peru turning nasty.  Guns have been involved as well as some pretty scary-sounding characters. Click here to read it.

Could it happen in snowboarding? Could snowfolk resort to violence to protect their access to the best powder? Here’s hoping not.

I’ve thought about cycling to work before but the London traffic scares the hell out of me. What might make it a bit less scary would be some experienced commuting friends to help me negotiate the daily obstacles.

Burton employees in Burlington, VT are encouraging people to cycle to work with just this kind of group.

They’ve embraced an in-house project called Creative Commute Fridays which encourages people to ditch their cars on Fridays and use alternative methods to get to work instead. More inexperienced cycling commuters get to take advantage of guidance and tips from more experienced riders.

Read this article in the Burlington Free Press to find out how the growing gang of Friday cyclists is encouraging more people out of their cars and onto their bikes.

The first winter gear websites are launching now – so 2008/9 shopping season isn’t far off.

Westbeach are offering a hint of their key fabrics and prints – click here to check it out.

Nomis are launching women’s outerwear for the 2009/10 season but for this year they’ve built a dedicated women’s site for their growing streetwear range at www.nomisgirls.com

Just found this awesome video of Roxy’s 8-year-old American rider Maddie Mastro. The movie also features her brother Cameron – an equality precocious snow talent.

Maddie was discovered last year at the USASA nationals. She started skiing when she was two and to part in the nationals on skis when she was just five. She took up snowboarding when she was six.

Check her out on the slopestyle course in the movie below – super smooth style for such a young un!

Cameron and Maddie Mastro 08 from Robert Madrid on Vimeo

South Africa is also celebrating its winter season at the moment and riders recently headed to the Lesotho mountains for the AfriSki Kings Cup at the AfriSki resort in preparation for the Quiksnow SA National Snowboard Championships which take place at the end of July.

Check out The Times picture gallery below to find out more about snowboarding in South Africa.

Danny Kass and Nate Holland were amongst a group of boardsports professionals who visited American troops in Afghanistan late last month.

They visited a field hospital in Bagram and found out more about work carried out there to treat servicemen and women and civilians.

Read the full story at First Tracks Online.

Shralp video podcast number 101 is available now

This episode features Gigi Rüf perform what appears to be a frontside 1010 Tuck Knee at the Gap Session, clips from a new series of Canadian avalanche education films and a teaser from the new Rome Snowboards team movie No Correct Way.

Check it out at www.shralp.com

Not one to spread rumours, BUT if we are to believe this blog post on Popmag.com.au then we may or may not have seen the last of Future Snowboard Magazine. Here's hoping...thought they were doing a pretty good job. Their female focused Drift supplement was great.

Howies are holding a four-day series of lectures and workshops near their Welsh HQ in Cardigan in September.

The Do Lectures run from September 4 to 8. As Howies co-founder David Hieatt explains:

“Back in 1995, Clare and I started a company with a couple of aims. To make the highest quality clothing for our sports and our daily lives that we knew how, and to make it in the lowest impact way that we possibly could.

The other aim was to use the company to try and make people think about this amazing planet we all live on. So for me, it follows that we should use some of our Earth Tax money to put on a series of lectures with the aim of inspiring people to go and try to change the things that we all care about. Let the Doers of the world inspire the rest of us."

There are 75 places available at the lectures. To apply for a place, you need to send a handwritten letter to howies explaining why you’d like to attend and what you hope to ‘do’. Send the letter for the attention of Alison to howies, Bath
House Road, Cardigan, West Wales SA43 1JY

You’ll need to pay your own transport costs but accommodation at the fabulous fforest campsite (www.coldatnight.co.uk) is included.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Michael Braungart - Co-author of the ‘Cradle to Cradle’ book; one of the most important books on design for a couple of decades.
• Ken Yeang - An architect and ecologist, he is the author of ‘Eco Skyscrapers’.
• John Grant - Author of ‘The Green Manifesto’ and one of the most forward thinking thinkers of his time.
• Andy Kirkpatrick - Climber. If he doesn't inspire you to climb your own mountain, no one will.
• Russell Davies - Strategist, futurist, blogger, gadget maker and organiser of all things interesting.
• Andrew Whitley - Author of ‘Bread Matters’, one of the most important books on getting bread back to simple.

For more information visit www.dolectures.com

Next time you’re at Manchester’s Chill Factore keep your eyes peeled for some new hits courtesy of Nomis, Technine and Subvert boardstore.

There’s a four metre long by one metre wide flat box and a flat down rail which is two metres flat then two metres down and about 12 cm wide.

They’re both branded with the website www.oneloveofsport.com which has info on Technine and Nomis products and stockists plus logos for Subvert, the snowboard store in the Chill Factore centre.

Look out for them at the Subjam session taking place tomorrow – Friday June 27. The event, which starts at 7pm is raising money for cancer care at Christie’s Hospital in Manchester.

There’ll be 2008/9 demo kit, DJs, raffles, free nibbles from Nandos and drinks promos.

Snow may be thin on the ground in Europe but this hasn’t stopped the Shralp crew putting out their 100th video podcast.

This episode features Nicholas Muller congratulating the crew on their landmark show, a piece on the new indoor snowpark in Qiaobo, Beijing, China, a 1080 clinic with Anti Autti and teasers for 2008/9 movies Pony Tale by Actionhorse Films and Back in Town by Vanillenoir.

Check it out at www.shralp.com

Pony Tale is the first movie from a new Swedish production company. There are some notible riders involved - Hampus Mosesson and Jakob Wilhelmson - are two of the guys behind the movie which will be available as a free download in September 2008. Riders appearing in the film include Markku Koski, Stian Solberg, Knut Eliassen, Eero Ettala, Fredu Sirvio and Eiki Helgason. Loving the 80s teaser soundtrack...

 More info at www.actionhorsefilms.com

SMK Camps are offering powderroomies discount off their summer camps in France and Switzerland and accommodation at the Riders’ Hotel and Apartments in Les Deux Alpes this summer.

This is the fifth summer season of SMK Camps. They’re aimed at riders of any level looking to improve their freestyle riding.

Accommodation at the L2A camps is either in self-catering apartments or in the full-board Rider’s Hotel while self-catering is the way to go in Saas Fee.

The crew are kindly offering powderroom.net readers 7% off any camp this summer. To get your discount just enter the code POWD08 in the promotional code field when you book online at www.smk-camps.com

If you just want to hit the glacier or perhaps stay on a little longer in L2A after the camp, you can also get 10% off bookings at the Rider’s Hotel and Apartments (www.theridershotel.com) by entering the same code – POWD08 – in the promotional code field in the booking form.

If you’re looking for a new t-shirt for your summer workouts, consider picking up one Nike’s Say Yes t-shirts.

This women’s tee is on sale at Nike stores throughout Europe and £7 from each £15 t-shirt will go towards a non-profit organisation called Women Win.

This group provides underprivileged girls with access to safe sports facilities, appropriate clothing and equipment.

The T-shirt features several ‘Here I am’ statements from Nike’s campaign of the same name to inspire women to take up sport to improve their bodies and minds.

The T-shirt is made of 5% organic cotton and contains Dri-FIT fabrication to wick away moisture from the body.

For more information on Nike’s Here I Am campaign visit www.nikewomen.com and to find out more about Women Win’s work check out www.womenwin.org

We discovered these l’il balls of loveliness a while back in a health store and found out some more about them for our Ban the Bar series. This occassional series aims to bring you healthy, tasty snack options for snowboarding days - so you need never buy an overpriced chocolate bar again!

Bounce Balls were invented in Australia by Andy and Paula Hannagan. They come in five flavours – Almond protein, Cashew & Pecan, Fudgey Walnut, Premium Protein and Spirulina & Ginseng.

Most are wheat, dairy and gluten free (but check individual packs for details) and they contain between 169 and 209 calories per ball. They’re a filling, nutritious snack which will give you plenty of slow-release energy for days on the hill. They're solid little snacks, really tasty with a chunky nutty coating.

They are available at healthfood stores and supermarkets in Australia and the UK and can also be bought online at www.bouncefoods.com

We caught up with Andy Hannagan to find out more about them:

Where did the idea for Bounce Balls come from and when were they launched?

The idea was born out of a trip to New York in 2003, my wife and I saw the products and we investigated with the manufacturers whether they would be interested in making a slightly amended version and a different brand for the Australian and UK markets. We launched in 2004 in Australia and then 18 months later in the UK.

What are the benefits of choosing Bounce Balls over other healthy snacks?

Taste, Taste, Taste! And the fun aspect of the brand appeals to our core consumers. Also we are gluten free, wheat free, preservative free, GM free. Women love our products and are the dominant consumers.

How did you decide on the flavours?

We decided on the flavours based on our tastes.

Why have some got more protein than others?

There are two protein flavours, and these two products serve a particular purpose for replacing protein stores in the body (great for post workout), or giving you a more filling snack food on the run. The Spirulina is more a natural energy hit with the Spirulina and Ginseng - this is actually our best product from an ingredient perspective but not to everyone taste!

Which is your favourite?

The Premium Protein - love the peanut flavour interestingly this flavour is the best seller in Australia and the Spirulina ball is the best in the UK.

Any plans to introduce them into other countries?

We have conquered Australia and UK for the moment with this range, we are planning some European destinations soon. We are also looking at expanding on the current success of the brand with other products.

We heard you were a ski instructor in New Zealand in a previous life. Do you think Bounce Balls are good for snowsports fans?

I have sat on many a ski lift eating one of the Bounce Balls! They are the perfect snack for on the snow fuel to keep you going so you don't have to stop for lunch!

What are your plans for the future of Bounce Balls?

Have more fun!
Develop new products
Have more fun!
Take the brand further into new countries
Have more fun!
And then have more fun!

Ok so if rumours are to believed long time friends Danny Kass and The Dingo are set to embark on a reality TV goodness here is a recent upload on YouTube which may or may not be the trailer for their rumoured new show. Where or indeed if it will be aired is yet to be released but ‘The Adventures of Danny & the Dingo’ appears to be the story of the Grenade Strikes Back tour and everything in between.

Check it out 

Runway Films has just released the teaser for their upcoming film See What I See. The action takes place in all over north America - including the historical streets of Quebec City, the glaciers of British Columbia and the terrain parks of the USA.

There's a vast and illustrious cast of riders including Natasza Zurek, Anne Flore Marxer, Desiree Melancon, Erin Comstock, Cheryl Maas, Gretchen Bleiler, Kimmy Fasani , Meghann O'Brien, Leanne Pelosi, Kjersti Buaas, Robin Van Gynn, Jamie Anderson, Izumi Amaike, Janna Meyen, Jacqui Berg, Marie France Roy, Victoria Jealouse, Coleen Quigley and Chanelle Sladics.

Full details at www.runwaysfilms.com