Snowgo

South

Ben Saunders has launched his ambitious South expedition.

Setting out from Scott's wooden hut on the edge of Antarctica, we will manhaul 400lb sledges across 1,800 miles of the most hostile terrain on earth, to the Pole and back.

SOUTH is the four-month trek, the first ever South Pole round trip on foot. We will have no outside assistance, no air resupplies and will ski every mile under our own motive power.

Reading about the expedition on Ben's blog I was immediately captivated by the idea of seeking sponsorship from individuals. I can, to some extent, share the dream of making an epic expedition like this but I know I'll never do it. Sponsoring Ben and Tony is my small way of helping to allow this sort of thing to happen and, in the process, raising the human spirit.

Good luck guys and I look forward to following your progress.

Pretty in pink - not

Some skier friends of mine just returned from Val Thorens and took great pleasure in showing me this 'boarder' in a lovely pink one piece.

Initially I was shocked but, on closer inspection and judging by her uncomfortable looking stance, I would guess she was a skier trying a board for the day.

The picture reminded me of the entertaining Romper suited tosser's site which is worth a look if you have not seen it.

The pain of fame

Sting was apparently hounded off the slopes by phone cams, you'd think he'd get some goggles and a beanie - obviously not that committed a rider.

Huck Doll

We've all seen those little finger snowboards (used to help visualise tricks right). Well now Huck Doll is offering them complete with a fully flexible bendy doll to strap in and get an even better visualisation of that wicked new trick you are perfecting.

Don't eat yellow snow!

Alternatively, write your own message with this nifty tool called simply: pee.

Couloir.org

Just found this beautiful photo site via del.icio.us. It covers a number of other mountain sports but there are some great skiing and mountainscape shots and the slideshow design is neat.

Make-a-Flake

Not many snowflakes around just now, so have some Friday afternoon fun and make your own!

Film up

The Film up amateur snowboard film making competition slipped beneath my radar this season but now that I am suitably equipped with a DV cam and helmet cam I intend to start planning an entry for next year.

Snowboarder's Ankle: Fracture of the Lateral Process of the Talus (LPT)

It seems that my injury is very specific to snowboarding and hardly found elsewhere. This article from The Physician and Sportsmedicine makes for slightly depressing reading but is highly educational.

The Web needs you

When I first started to promote this site I listed it with all the usual search engines and with the Open Directory Project (ODP), the open source directory of The Web. The ODP is built and maintained by the collaboration of thousands of volunteer editors and its directory data is freely available and is used by most of the major search engines.

Continue reading "The Web needs you"

Wallpaper

As the new season approaches I thought it was about time to update my wallpaper. Victoria Jealouse, courtesy of skipass.com, has done sterling work over the last year but a new laptop with a 1400 x 1050 screen demands a new high res image (I am also fed up with having to tell everyone who asks that no, that is not me on the screen).

Unfortunately, I could not find anything I liked at a resolution of 1400 x 1050 but Nokia's 2004 snowboard site had a great shot in a slightly improved resolution at 1280 x 1024 which, happily, does not encourage comparisons between me and the pros.

Warren Miller's Journey

Warren Miller's new film for 2003: "Journey" is coming soon and the trailer is up on his site.

Going along to this annual event with a few boarding or, if you must, skiing buddies usually works out as much more fun than some of the more high profile pre-season warm up events like Board X and the Daily Mail Ski and Snowboard Show.

Nokia Game 2003

Nokia Game 2003 registration opened yesterday. This year's game has a strong snowboarding theme and there is a PC demo boardercross game to download as well as a multiplayer online (via GPRS) version for the Nokia N-Gage and 3650. Neat.

Underwater snowboarding

From my archive: this amazing underwater snowboarding shot is from the FT (19 February 2000).

Snow-Fever

Champ from snowserve just posted a report on his Mont Blanc trip. It got me yearning:

Snow-Fever (after John Masefield)
I must go up to the snows again, to the lonely snow up high,
And all I ask is a tall stick and a line to steer her by;
And the heel's kick and the powder's swish and the white lines making,
And an empty piste on the mountain's face, and a blue sky waking.

Summer time blues

Well now that the snow has all melted its time to get my skates on. I am just hoping that it stays dry for the big TNT skate on Friday.