It's 'all systems snow' in New Zealand's Mt Cook Mackenzie region which is rolling out the white carpet for the start of the ski season.

 

Mt Dobson got the party started early last weekend - fantastic snow conditions saw the ski field open three weeks ahead of schedule, celebrating its 30th birthday with a hugely popular free skiing day.  The mountain will open every weekend between 13 June and 4 July, when it will open seven days a week through to October.  

 

All other ski areas in the region will open with a bang in time for school holidays.  Snow fun ranges from three family-friendly ski fields and a new snow tubing park, to catskiing, wilderness heliskiing and Tasman Glacier skiing for the more adventurous.

 

Ohau ski field will be the next to open on Saturday 27 June.  Its laidback, friendly atmosphere is particularly popular with southerners who often book a dinner, bed and breakfast package at Ohau Lodge and enjoy a great social day up the mountain. 

 

An eagerly awaited snow tubing park launches in Lake Tekapo on Saturday 4 July.  Alpine Springs/Spa & Winter Park is opening a state-of-the-art snow tubing slope which will complement its popular outdoor hot pools, boutique day spa, and international size ice skating, ice hockey and curling rink.

 

Roundhill ski field also opens the same day.  Renowned for its excellent learner and intermediate terrain and wide open trails, this year the newly developed 'Central Park' offers kickers, tables, boxes, rails, rollers, jumps and two massive sculpted earth 'platforms' for more advanced skiers and boarders.

 

Serious powderhounds can enjoy the ultimate in backcountry skiing and boarding with unique Southern Alps adventures including catskiing, glacier skiing and heliskiing. 

 

Alpine Guides is the 'big mountain' skiing and boarding specialist.  The only company with a concession to heliski within the spectacular Aoraki Mount Cook National Park and World Heritage Area, it offers exclusive access to the Southern Alps and Aoraki Mt Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain.

 

Operations are scheduled to start on 1 July but are likely to be earlier due to fantastic snow conditions - in May alone the Main Divide received an estimated 15m of new snow. 

 

Small groups of intermediate and advanced skiers and boarders can also take an unforgettable journey down New Zealand's longest glacier with Southern Alps Guiding or Alpine Guides.  At 27km long, the Tasman Glacier offers up plenty of opportunities to explore ice caves and seracs, amazing ice features sculpted by the elements.  

 

For guaranteed fresh tracks, deep powder and no queues, Alpure Peaks has more than 2,600 hectares of private land near Fox Peak ski field.  Opening from 1 July, the terrain boasts spectacular views of the Southern Alps, and huge untouched bowls between Fox and Butlers Saddle, a 2,220m peak with vertical 650m run and a huge area in which to ski, board, snowshoe and telemark.  

 

In essence, catskiing offers access to terrain similar to heliskiing but is with a cheaper price tag and unusual transportation.  Alpure Peaks offers an exhilarating ride on a Hagglund and Snowcat all-terrain vehicles and non-skiers are also welcome to come for a joyride. 

 

For more information about winter holidays in the Mt Cook Mackenzie region visit www.mackenziewinter.co.nz 

Fancy checking out the latest snowboard clobber before it hits the shops? Want to get one up on your mates by appearing in your favourite mag? 

 

Whitelines are looking for snowboarders of all shapes, sizes and sexes to model the clothes for next season's Whitelines Buyers' Guide edition. 

 

All you need to do is rock up at Hemel Hempstead Snow Centre on Wednesday June 24 evening with your best blue steel poses at the ready and prepare to be photographed in the best-looking snowboard outerwear money can buy. There will be a box of Whitelines goodies up for grabs too. 

 

More info on Facebook at www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=91332554686

The Snowboard Club Summer Bash takes place from July 3 to 5 - and it's a mightily fun weekend if you have a couple of days to spare. 

 

Once again, SnowDome are the hosts for the Summer Bash. As well as setting up a great park and offering SCUK Members the night at half-price, they also source the camping field and hire the portaloo and skip. Essential!

 

Dragon Lodge is providing one lucky SCUK Member a free week at the SCUK Winter Bash, happening next January. Just remember to bring your membership card!

 

The rest of our sponsors are clearing out their stock cupboards too with Burton and Westbeach amongst those raiding their supplies. 

 

Everybody and anybody is welcome to come along and enjoy the BBQ, music and beer from Friday afternoon onwards and of course, the snowboarding on Saturday night. 

 

Camping for the weekend costs a mere £10 but there's a Travel Inn near the SnowDome if you've lost your tent.

 

More info at  www.snowboardclub.co.uk/events-sb09.html

Cardrona Alpine Resort are proud to present the first ever OnTransition snowboard camp with coaches Ju Bray, Euan Baxter and Lesley McKenna. The camp will be based in Wanaka on the South Island of New Zealand and the riders will ride the Cardrona World Cup half pipe and slopestyle  park. Coaches Juliane Bray and Lesley McKenna are both Olympians and  all are qualified coaches and will provide top level coaching and advice to the riders accross all freestyle disciplines. The camp is open to all riders,  who are already competing at a regional, national or international level as  well as riders who wish to further their park and pipe skills. Instructors  looking to boost their feestyle skills are also wlecome. Riders will have the  opportunity to compete in the Burton New Zealand Open, a 5 star TTR  event. Various camp dates are available. 

 

Dates: 

 

Full 3 week package: three blocks of on snow coaching in the park and pipe. Snowboard specific dryland training 4 times a week. Yoga sessions four times a week. Mental and psychological competition training. Goal setting and time management advice and training. Equipment tuning and maintenance training. Option to compete in the NZ Open if pre-registered. 

Dates: 27th July - 14th August 

 Price for 3 week training block: 2000 NZ dollars. 

Price with Cardrona season pass: 2500NZ dollars 

 

5 day package: 5 days on snow coaching in the park and halfpipe. Video analysis and goal setting sessions. 

Price including lift pass 1000 NZ dollars. 

Price without lift pass 550 NZ dollars. 

Dates: 27th - 31st July, 3rd - 7th August, 

 

 

Slopestlye midweek camp 17th, 18th, 19th August 

Cost  330 NZ dollars 

 

Park & pipe weekend 29th - 30th August 

Cost 220 NZ dollars 

 

Park & pipe midweek 1st - 3rd September 

Cost 300 NZ dollars 

 

Park & pipe Weekend 5th - 6th September 

Cost  220 NZ dollars 

 

Please express an interest by emailing lesley@lesleymckenna.com

 

 

Already thinking about buying next years kit? Well if you are, there's a snowboard demo session taking place at Hemel Snow Centre on June 5 at Hemel Snow Centre - the same night as the FBBB Jam.

 

So far they have confirmed K2, Bataleon, Omatic, Artec and Salomon and they hope to have Rome there too.

 

For more info on the night visit www.thesnowcentre.com

 

A group of children aged 11 to 12 from Oakwood Technology College in Rotherham were taught to snowboard by academics at the University of Sheffield using a high-tech 3D virtual reality snowboarding simulator.

 

The group hit the slopes at the SNO!zone indoor real snow centre in Castleford for the first time this week to find out how they fared on real snow.

 

The verdict was that although the simulator had taught them some of the basic moves, that the experience was completely different.

 

Jade Wilkinson aged 12 said, "It was easier because we had already tried it before, but it was more fun doing it on real snow"

 

Sarah Finney also aged 12 added, "It hurts more when you fall, but you react quicker on real snow and it's much more fun than the simulator"

 

Professor Peter Styring, from the Department of Chemical & Process Engineering at The University of Sheffield, said: "Computer scientists have created an immersive virtual reality simulator, which using the landscape of mountains in Stratton, Vermont, USA and a snowboard simulator, feels just like you are really there.

 

"The children had been learning to snowboard purely by using the simulator and had never been on a real snow slope. We wanted to see if the children could not only learn to snowboard using the simulator alone, and if so whether it enabled them to learn faster.

 

"The children have had around 20 minutes each on the simulator but have already shown remarkable understanding of how a snowboard works."

 

SNO!zone brand manager, Lisa Allan, said: "It's a really interesting idea that a virtual learning experience could help people to learn to snowboard faster than on a real slope.

 

"However I think the children have proved that although virtual experiences can be fun, they're no substitute for the real thing."

 

For more information about learning to snowboard at one of SNO!zone's indoor real snow centres visit www.snozoneuk.com

Slide 2010 has announced a radical change to its dates for 2010, moving from mid February to late January (27th-29th), bringing the show in advance of ispo, the European tradeshow (7th-10th Feb).

 

Damon Street, president of SIGB explained, “SIGB has been monitoring the timing of Slide relative to order deadlines and other relevant events, both in the UK and worldwide. Due to the changing nature of the way business is conducted these days, the time is now right to bring Slide into January, when we believe it will be of most value to the majority of our members and to the industry as a whole.”

 

It is anticipated that the new dates will prove more attractive to companies returning to Slide with the new dates falling before factory order deadlines. 

 

Lesley Beck, show organiser said; “Slide is an ordering show where exhibitors meet existing and new customers to do business, so it’s vital that the show takes place at an optimal time in the order-writing window.”

 

The change also benefits retail buyers by removing the school half term clash, leaving them free to be in-store when it counts. 

 

The SIGB has taken steps to make Slide affordable for exhibitors in recent years and plans to continue the ‘value for money’ offering in 2010. 

 

Previous and potential exhibitors will be contacted in June, with floorplans, prices and booking options.

The 2009 British Snowboard and Freeski Tour returns this summer serving up 12  British Championship events across four of the UK’s most established snowsport hotspots, Norfolk, Milton Keynes, Glasgow and Castleford. More than 130 British Championship medals are up for grabs along with prestigious TTR World Ranking points and a credit crunch-busting combined prize purse of over £20,000.

 

To make it even easier for everyone to get their shred on this summer the British Snow Tour has also introduced some amazing credit crunch specials, including: 

- Free beginner lessons during each Championship event.

 - Entry to three indoor Championship events for the price of two.

- A mini ‘Artificial BRITS’ – Three artificial snowboard and freeski Championships over one bigger, better and more cost-effective weekend event. 

 

British Snow Tour dates for your diaries:
 

British Artificial Championships:

12th  & 13th September 2009 – Norfolk, British Snowboard & Freeski Big Air, Slopestyle & Snowboard /Skiercross Championships

 

British Indoor Championships:
 

19th September 2009 – Milton Keynes, British Snowboard & Freeski Big Air Championships

26th September 2009 – Glasgow, British Snowboard/Skiercross Championships 

3rd October 2009 - Castleford, British Snowboard & Freeski Slopestyle Championships

 

British Invitational Championships:
 

23rd October – Metro Ski & Snowboard Show

 

The British Snow Tour is open to all ability levels from novice to pro and is served up across five age categories, Kids, Youth, Junior, Senior and Masters. Pre-registration opens on the 1st August, so to book your spot to compete, find out more event news and info and snap up those credit crunch specials go to: www.britishsnowtour.com 

 

The Burton Global Open Series has announced dates for its 2009/2010 international snowboard competition series, which will kick off in New Zealand this summer. Below are dates and locations for all 2009/2010 Burton Global Open Series events. 

 

New Zealand Open - August 11-15, 2009 - Cardrona Alpine Resort, New Zealand 

 

European Open - January 9-16, 2010 - Laax, Switzerland          

 

Canadian Open - February 2-7, 2010 - Canada Olympic Park, Calgary, Alberta

 

Asian Open - March 2-7, 2010 - ALTS Bandai, Japan       

 

US Open - March 16-21, 2010 - Stratton Mountain Resort, USA

 

Instead of having two events down under in 2009, Burton has decided to

combine the Australian Open and the New Zealand Open into one Southern Hemisphere event taking place in New Zealand.

 

"Heading into a busy Olympic year, we've decided to reduce the number of events to free up some room in the global events calendar," said Liam Griffin, Global Events Director for Burton. "We're totally committed to the riders who support the series, and are trying to make it easier for everybody to hit all the different events they need to this coming season."

 

With events scheduled year-round and in five countries, the Burton Global Open Series boasts the most lucrative cumulative prize purse in snowboarding. All five Burton Global Open Series events offer riders the chance to earn points towards male and female championship titles, which are awarded at the US Open in Stratton, Vermont. 

 

The Burton Global Open Series is also part of the Swatch Ticket To Ride (TTR) World Snowboard Tour, the largest group of independent freestyle snowboard events in the world. The Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour Champions are crowned at the end of the season. 

 

Go211.com is the official webcaster of the BGOS and home to live scoring, standings, rider bios and more for each Burton Global Open Series stop. Check out Go211.com for more information.

 

For more information on the Burton Global Open Series head to  www.opensnowboarding.com