Frostbite – cold weather health tips

When exposed to very cold temperatures, skin and underlying tissues may freeze, resulting in frostbite. The areas most likely to be affected are your hands, feet, nose and ears.

You can identify frostbite by the hard, pale and cold quality of the skin that has been exposed to the cold. As the area thaws, the flesh becomes red and painful. If your fingers, ears or other areas are frostbitten do the following:

Get out of the cold.

Warm your hands by tucking them into your armpits.

If your nose, ears or face is frostbitten, warm the area by covering it with dry, gloved hands.

Don’t rub the affected area, especially with snow. If there’s any chance of refreezing, don’t thaw out the affected areas.

If they’re already thawed out, wrap them up so they don’t refreeze.

Get emergency medical help if numbness remains during warming.

If you can’t get help immediately, warm severely frostbitten hands or feet in warm — not hot — water.

Hypothermia

Unlike other warmblooded animals that have a layer of hair or blubber to keep them warm, you need an extra layer of clothing to keep you warm when it’s cold outside. Without that extra layer of clothing, more heat escapes from your body than your body can produce. If too much heat escapes, the result is hypothermia. Exposure to cold water and certain medical conditions also can cause hypothermia.

Hypothermia occurs when your body’s control mechanisms fail to maintain a normal body temperature. Signs and symptoms that may develop include gradual loss of mental and physical abilities. Severe hypothermia can lead to death. For most Americans, hypothermia isn’t a serious risk. Still, each year nearly 700 people in the United States die of hypothermia.

In addition to prolonged exposure to cold temperatures, factors that commonly increase your risk of hypothermia include advanced or very young age, substance abuse, impaired mental status and immersion in cold water. When you’re outdoors enjoying such activities as camping, hunting, fishing, boating and skiing, be aware of weather conditions and whether you or others with you are wet and cold. The best approach to being cold and wet is to move indoors and get warm and dry early — before you develop hypothermia.

Kimmy Fasani: Keeping fit in the off-season

(Ed. Note: Winter X Games veteran Kimmy Fasani is a  Pretty Tough Team Rider. This is one in a series of exclusive blog post for the site. )

The 2009 to 2010 season is just around the corner and as an athlete, a healthy lifestyle is the glue that holds my body and mind together. When I feel strong physically, I typically feel a lot more confident mentally. Each year from June until November I have to find my rhythm again with how I’m going to get my body back in the best shape. This summer has flown by and I’ve been on the road a lot so I have hard a hard time finding my groove for getting into the gym. However, even when I’m not able to hop into the gym I find ways to get active.

When I’m on the go, and not in a place long enough to get a gym membership, I try to do some kind of cardio workout at least four times a week. During this hour workout I will do three sets of lunges, squats, pushups, and sit-ups. This gets my muscles firing and keeps me fit, while also not taking up too much time. I notice a big difference in my endurance levels on the hill when I make time for this quick workout.

When I am home in Mammoth Lakes, CA and don’t make time to go to the gym I have found a good routine that will make me strong going into the 2009-2010 season. I am an early riser and prefer to get my workouts done in the morning, so I don’t have to worry about doing later in the day. Plus anything I do after my morning workout will be an added bonus. About five days a week I hop on my road bike before I eat breakfast giving my body a chance to burn off more of ‘last nights’ dinner. Later in the afternoon I may go rock climbing with my boyfriend, if we are both in town. About three times a week I do yoga, which keeps my body limber and stretched out. The three of these together lengthen, strengthen, and stretch my body making me feel rejuvenated and ready for another season.

If you’re an athlete or not it’s very important to keep your body moving. This will keep your joints lubricated and healthy, which will make your body happy for the rest of your life.

Snowboard A – Z

Her run consisted of an Air to fakie followed by an Ally-Oop McTwist.  If you’re not sure what that means, read on….

180
Closest thing to a 180 in the halfpipe is the straight air.

50/50
Riding straight over the rail

AIRDOG
snowboarder who jumps most of the time and is most interested in aerial tricks

ALLEY-OOP
used to describe any maneuver in the halfpipe where one rotates 180 or more degrees in an uphill direction.

BAIL
used to describe crashing or falling to escape out of a trick

BACKSIDE  180
Aerial maneuver in which the rider makes a 180 degree rotation off the jump leading with the heelside

BASE
bottom side of the snowboard, the part of the board that touches the snow.

BETTY
female rider

BEVEL
degree of angle to which the edges of a snowboard are tuned

BLINDSIDE
A term given to any rotation where the rider has oriented herself  “blind” to her takeoff or landing.

BOMB HOLE
a rutted out landing off a jump or rail.

BONK
hitting a no-snow object with the snowboard.

BOOST
used to describe catching air off of a jump. e.g. “She boosted ten feet out of the halfpipe.”

CAMBER
amount of space beneath the center of a snowboard when it lays on a flat surface and its weight rests on the tip and tail.

CHATTER
vibration of a ski or snowboard caused by the edges bouncing off hard snow instead of biting in.

CORN
small, rounded kernels of snow, most often seen in the springtime

CORDUROY
when a snowcat freshly grooms a trail leaving a finely ridged surface. Corduroy is nice for laying out clean turns.

CRIPPLER
a general term for an inverted frontside 5, 7 or 9 with most commonly a back flip and sometimes more of a side flip blended into it.

CRATER
used to describe a crash or fall

CRUD
snow of variable consistency because of temperature changes and several snowfalls.

FAKIE
riding the snowboard backwards from a normal stance

FALL LINE
the path of gravity’s pull on you down the hill.

FLEX
used to describe the stiffness of the board and how it absorbs various snow conditions; determines how a board will go into and out of a turn.

FREERIDING
recreational snowboarding; no contests, no halfpipe, no gates, no rules.

FRONTSIDE AIR
performed off of the toe edge wall; While airborne, the frontside of the riders’ body is facing out of the halfpipe.

GOOFY FOOT
riding on a snowboard with the right foot in the forward position, closest to the nose of the board.

HALFPIPE
trough-like area of snow with vertical walls.

HUCKER
one who throws herself wildly through the air and does not land on her feet.

HUCKFEST
gathering of snowboarders riding as hard and wild as possible.

INVERT
trick where the head is beneath the level of the board and the snowboarder balances on one or two hands.

JIB
act of riding on something other than snow, i.e. rails, trees, garbage cans, logs.

KICKER
a medium-sized jump

LEASH
device used to attach the snowboard to the front foot so that it doesn’t run away.

MCTWIST
inverted aerial where the rider performs a 540 degree flip.

NOSE
front end of the snowboard, specifically the tip.

OLLIE
pushing hard with your rear foot to get lift.

POWDER
fresh, dry, light snow that hasn’t been groomed.

POWDER PATTY
When one’s face meets the powder

PUNCH
a bad crash.

ROLLING DOWN THE WINDOWS
phrase used to describe when someone is caught off balance and they rotate their arms wildly in the air to try and recover.

SKETCHER
someone who flails precariously and comes close to falling.

STANCE
position of one’s feet on the snowboard.

STEEZ
style

STOMP
term used to describe making a good landing.

TAIL
rear tip of the snowboard.

TWIN TIP
board has an identical tip and a tail so that the board may be ridden similarly in both directions.

Kelly Clark, Jamie Anderson win Burton New Zealand titles

New Zealand’s largest snowboarding event, the Burton New Zealand Open Snowboarding Championships, came to a close after four intense days of competition. Part of the Burton Global Open Series and the Swatch Ticket To Ride World Snowboard Tour, the 7th Annual New Zealand Open showcased some the world’s top snowboarders competing in halfpipe and slopestyle competitions for over NZ$50,000 in prize money.

Hundreds of competitors from all over the world flocked to Cardrona Alpine Resort to compete, and action got underway on Wednesday with men’s and women’s slopestyle pre-qualifications and qualifications. Men’s and women’s halfpipe qualifications went down on Thursday, followed by men’s and women’s slopestyle semifinal and finals on Friday with Jamie Anderson (USA) and Sebastien Toutant (CAN) riding away with the top spots worth $6,000 each.

Saturday saw a field of 40 men and 21 women compete for the halfpipe titles worth NZ$6,000. In the women’s competition Kelly Clark and Jiayu Liu battled it out in semifinals with huge amplitude and clean spins, while Elizabeth Beerman just bumped Kiwi Kendall Brown from advancing on to final.

Halfpipe finals consisted of three runs each for men and women, with the women first to drop. The Asian contingent finished strong taking four of the top eight spots in the women’s finals, with Zhifeng Sun from China taking third. Her winning run featured an impressive frontside 900. Jiayu Liu (CHN) rode away with second with a run that featured back-to-back 720s and back-to-back 540s. But it was Kelly Clark that pulled it out with a whopping score of 83.67. Her winning run started with a massive frontside air followed by a backside 540 indy, into a frontside 720 tailgrab, followed by a Cab 720, finishing with a frontside 540 indy.

Clark had this to say of her win, “I felt really good today; I got to try new things. I like progressing, and when you ride against a solid group of competitors it pushes me to do more. I’m happy that I did well for my first contest of the summer, especially going in to an Olympic year.”

With the Burton New Zealand Open finished, the next stop in the BGOS is the European Open, taking place January 9-16, 2010 in Laax, Switzerland. The European Open is the second stop on the 2009-2010 Burton Global Open Series.

Jamie Anderson is currently in the lead for the Burton Global Open Series Championship titles and a piece of the $200,000 prize purse. With only two results on her account so far, 08/09 Swatch TTR World Champion Kelly Clark moves into world no. 7 with her victory in New Zealand.

Day Two of the Burton New Zealand Open Snowboarding Championships

Heavy snowfall and limited visibility delayed the start of the second day of the seventh annual Burton New Zealand Open, but the riders and course crew overcame the challenging conditions with a full day of competition. It was no small task as over 70 men and 35 women from 16 countries were slated to take to Cardrona Alpine Resort’s newly sculpted slopestyle course, each vying for a highly coveted spot in Friday’s semifinal competition.

The men were first to drop into the 800m-long course featuring up and downrails, boxes, three kickers and a unique upstair feature to quarterpipe. Following that competition, a thick fog rolled in making things more difficult for the women as they were lined up and ready to go for their turn in the course.

Thirty-five women were to take two runs through the course, the best score counting, however Mother Nature had other plans and the women were only able to take their first run.  Tommorrow morning will see the continuation of the women’s slopestyle qualifications, followed by men’s and women’s semifinal and final competitions.

Women advancing on to semifinals and finals will compete against riders like  Chanelle Sladics (USA), Cheryl Maas (NED), Jamie Anderson (USA), Lisa Wiik (NOR), Sarka Pancochova (CZE), Shelly Gotlieb (NZL), Silvia Mittermuller (GER), Sina Candrian (SUI) and Spencer O’Brien (CAN).

The NZ Open action continues with men’s and women’s halfpipe qualifications. Cardrona Alpine Resort is the home to the only 22’ halfpipe in New Zealand, which is the same size pipe that will be featured at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

U.S. Snowboarding announces Grand Prix schedule

With the hot holiday weather this weekend, snowboarding may be the last thing on your mind. But for future Olympians, dreams will be made and broken during the 2010 U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix so it was a big deal when U.S. Snowboarding announced the three stops the tour will make in its 14th season.

A total of five Olympic qualification competitions will take place at Copper Mountain in Colorado’s Summit County and Mammoth Mountain in the Mammoth Lakes region of California. The tour will make its final stop at Park City Mountain Resort, the venue for the 2002 Olympics, to announce the 2010 Olympic halfpipe team.

The Grand Prix series, which will feature 22-foot halfpipes at each of its venues, will narrow down the competition for Olympic spots through its first two tour stops and solidify the 2010 team at the final event in Park City.

“Copper, Mammoth and Park City are all classic Grand Prix sites and will provide a most fitting stage on which to name the Olympic halfpipe team for 2010,” said Grand Prix Tour Director Eric Webster. “Copper, Mammoth and Park City all have a proven track record in hosting world class snowboard events, which lends confidence to the riders and coaches in a season with so much on the line.”

The competition will heat up as Olympic gold medalists Kelly Clark (Snow Mountain, VT), Hannah Teter (Belmont, VT), and Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA), along with fellow Olympic medalists Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen, CO), JJ Thomas (Golden, CO) and Danny Kass (Portland, OR) all look for another shot at Olympic glory. Joining them in the hunt will be Grand Prix overall champions Steve Fisher (Breckenridge, CO) and Louie Vito (Sandy, UT) as well as Grand Prix podium performers Ellery Hollingsworth (Stratton, VT), Clair Bidez (Minturn, CO) Greg Bretz (Mammoth Lakes, CA) and Olympian Elena Hight (South Lake Tahoe, CA).

Copper Gets Things Started

For the second straight year Copper Mountain, which is known as one of the top resorts for snowboarding in the U.S., will play host to the first stop of the Grand Prix Dec. 11-12. Copper, which is at the epicenter of snowboarding development with variable terrain and more than 19,000 sq ft of park and pipe progression tools in the new Woodward at Copper Barn, has a longstanding history with the Grand Prix tour, having hosted events in 1998 and 1999.

“I’m really excited to have the Grand Prix at Copper once again because I personally love having my family and friends close, as well as having the support of my home mountain,” Copper local Clair Bidez said. “I know that Copper is really going to put their all into making the Grand Prix a great event.”

Copper Mountain, which lies a convenient 75 miles from the Denver area, is known for traditionally having the first superpipe open in the U.S. and continually providing the best conditions for riders to compete in. Another great feature of Copper’s superpipe is the location – it will provide a very entertaining and intimate experience for spectators because it is located just steps away from the Village at Copper and Burning Stones Plaza.

Look for the action in Copper to continue when the sun goes down as the mountain hosts a Paul Mitchell Progression Session under the lights.

“Copper delivered an outstanding Grand Prix for us last year with an amazing pipe. It brings an incredible snowmaking capacity, and an ability and commitment to build an early season pipe,” said USSA Vice President of Events Calum Clark. “This year Copper has committed to having a 22-foot pipe, which pushes the envelope even further. We will have an Olympic quality pipe ready for competition in early December.”

Mammoth Mountain Returns to Grand Prix

The hosting the first Olympic snowboard team announcement in 1998, Mammoth Mountain is back on the Grand Prix tour as the second of three stops and will host two full-field halfpipe competitions Jan. 8-10.

“Mammoth has been a tremendous partner of ours for years. It has been a hotbed for growing a tremendous amount of talent out of their parks and pipes,” Clark said. To be going back to a longstanding partner, someone who’s really grown with the snowboard industry as it has expanded in the U.S., it’s fitting and exciting.”

In addition to hosting the halfpipe competitions, Mammoth will also hold a slopestyle event where athletes have the chance to show off their style on the kickers and course features.

“Mammoth is a great place to hold the Grand Prix. The park staff and night crew will make the terrain perfect for competition,” Mammoth rider Greg Bretz (Mammoth Lakes, CA) said.”I think a lot of people will come up to watch the competition and the local crowd at Mammoth will make the event super exciting. It’s a great place to go for Olympic qualifications.”

Known for being the only resort in North America to offer three different-sized halfpipes, Mammoth’s 22-foot super pipe will give athletes their last two competitions in which they can qualify for a spot in the reduced field at the final tour stop where the Olympic team will be named.

“It is so exciting to be a part of this history making Grand Prix series,” Mammoth Mountain Youth Action Sports Marketing Director Oren Tanzer said. “I can’t wait to see the progression of snowboarding and to be a part of naming the U.S. Team for the upcoming Olympics. It doesn’t get any better than this!”

Park City’s Olympic Pipe Rides Again

The historic pipe where U.S. athletes swept the men’s podium and won gold in the women’s event during the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002 will entertain the masses with Olympians again. The Grand Prix makes its final stop at Park City Mountain Resort for back to back night competitions, after which the winners will be crowned and the 2010 Olympic halfpipe team will be named.

Among the athletes stoked to hit the Park City pipe is White who, after having dinner with PCMR owner John Cummings, took to his Twitter page to spread the good news.

“Had dinner with John Cummings,” White wrote. “Super nice guy, he told me Park City is having Olympic qualis mid Jan! booyeah!”

A reduced field comprised of the highest scoring athletes from previous tour stops will throw down the best tricks in their bag in an attempt to be one of the few named to the Olympic halfpipe team when the event is over.

“It’s the perfect place to close the story of the Olympic team selection,” Clark said. “The pipe has the tradition of being one of the best in North America. They put a tremendous amount of pride and energy into their venue. They are very excited to have this here.”

In addition to hosting the Olympic halfpipe competition in 2002, Park City also held a Grand Prix the following December in which the Olympic medalists all returned for competition in their glory stomping ground.

2010 U.S. SNOWBOARDING GRAND PRIX SCHEDULE:

• Dec. 11-12, 2009, Copper Mountain
• Jan. 6-10, 2010, Mammoth Mountain
• Jan. 22-23, 2010, Park City Mountain Resort

Win a scholarship to Windells Action Sports Camp!

A lot of students are assigned a “personal essay” as the final English assignment of the year. For some kids,  the paper morphs into the essay they submit as part of their college application. Others embark on a period of journaling as a road to personal development.

If you like action sports,  your writing can also turn into a way to ride scot-free this summer.

Tim Windell, owner of Windells Camp, has started a writing contest for a chance to win a free session at the “Funnest Place on Earth.” One deserving kid will receive an all-inclusive week at Windells Camp including instruction, food, prizes, supervision, video review, camp activities and more – without paying a dime.

If you don’t already know about Windells,  you should.  Based in Mt. Hood, Oregon, where year-round, natural snow beckons, Windells is a non-stop, camp fun experience. It’s also  a place where beginners and experts fine-tune their skills and rub elbows with their favorite pros.  There are girls-only sessions and an innovative assortment of snowboard, skateboard, freeski and BMX parks with super pipes, rails and jumps.

Tons of the best female professional snowboarders have spent time at Windells, as both campers and coaches. Gretchen Bleiler, Kelly Clark, Hannah Teter, Molly Aguirre, Tara Dakides, Clair Bidez, Alexis Waite, Hana Beaman…the list goes on and on of women who have benefited from sessions at Windells, gaining confidence and skills on the mountain as well as having fun and making friends back at camp.

If your interest is piqued,  this could be your golden ticket. Just show your creativity, honesty, and personality.

“We are not looking for the best writer in terms of grammar and punctuation,” says Windell. “We just want to pick the person who will benefit the most from camp – It goes without saying the camp will benefit from the kid as well.”

All submissions will be read and considered for the contest. The rules are simple: Submit a 1-3 page essay stating why you need the camp and why the camp needs you.

Submissions should be emailed directly to Tim at tim@windells.com who will decide which shredder is most deserving of a free ride. 

If it sounds too much like school, or you’ve got writer’s block, Windells has posted tips and an example of how to craft the essay on its website at http://www.windells.com/tag/scholarship.

So get crackin’ — entries must be sent to received by midnight on June 15th, 2009.

State of Vermont hopes to make snowboarding an official sport

The state flower of Vermont is the red clover. The sugar maple is the official tree of the Green Mountain State. And within the next year, several legislators hope to make snowboarding the official sport of Vermont.

How awesome would it be if every state had its own official sport and one day out of the year was designated a state holiday just for that sport.  Hawaii could claim surfing while Californians take a day for kiteboarding. The official sport in Idaho could be cow-tipping. Florida might make swimming the official sport. Rhode Island could adopt sailing.

The bill currently sitting in the Vermont legislature cites the importance snowboarding plays in the economic and historical well-being of the state.

Colorado has skiing and snowboarding as its state sports and some Vermont legislators would like to see the dual sports designated as official sports in their state. With competing pieces of legislation sitting in committee, lawmakers do not expect to tackle the state sport issue until the 2010 session.

Both options make sense since skiing and snowboarding have a long history in Vermont:

In 1934, the country’s first ski area opened outside of Woodstock when the first rope tow ski lift was installed, leading to the nation’s first ski race on Mount Mansfield the same year.

Four years later, C. Minot Dole founded the National Ski Patrol in Vermont, using his model to convince the U.S. Army to activate a division of soldiers on skis.

The Suicide Six Resort in Pomfret was the first American resort to allow snowboarding in 1982. Vermont was also the first state to host a snowboard park.

Additionally, Vermont resident Jake Burton Carpenter founded the first snowboard company in 1977 and perfected the technology to build the boards.

A number of Vermonters have excelled in the Winter Olympic games as well, from skier Barbara Ann’s gold medal in 1972 to the first-place snowboarding victories by Hannah Teter, Ross Powers and West Dover’s Kelly Clark.

While we wait to see what happens in Vermont, what do you think should be the official sport in your state?

Winter X 13 Update – Women’s SNB

Jan. 23, 2009 - Aspen is heating up, even with the soupy fog that’s hanging over Buttermilk. Despite the conditions, the riders are killing it on the slopes. Winter X Games 13 (Jan. 22-25) is on and the big action takes place this weekend.

SNB Women’s SuperPipe: With her first run of the elimination round, Torah proved she is the number one to watch in the pipe. The crowd thought they had seen it all with Olympic gold medalist Kelly Clark posting a remarkable 95.00 out of 100 on her second run. But Torah, making good on her promise to show some new tricks, cemented her place as the most technical rider with a switch backside 7 to a cab 7 and posting an all-time high score of 97.33.  ”I am so happy to be in tomorrow’s final,” said Torah.

SNB Women’s Slopestyle: Noticeably absent from the comp is Jamie Anderson, who pulled out due to an injury sustained at the Burton Open.  Brit Jenny Jones, no stranger to London fog, topped the pack of 11 competitors in Friday morning’s Slopestyle Elims despite the hazy miasma hanging over the mountain.

Comp Schedule

Check out the Women’s Superpipe Practice (view in HQ if you can)

Women’s Superpipe Qualifying

1. Torah Bright / 97.66 / Cooma, Australia
2. Kelly Clark / 95.00 / Mount Snow, Vt.
3. Hannah Teter / 86.66 / South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
4. Ellery Hollingsworth / 85.66 / Darien, Conn.
5. Gretchen Bleiler / 84.66 / Aspen, Colo.
6. Kaitlyn Farrington / 73.66 / Bellevue, Idaho
7. Kjersti Oestgaard Buass / 73.33 / Trondheim, Norway
8. Maddy Schaffrick / 64.33 / Steamboat Springs, Colo.
9. Molly Aguirre / 62.66 / Mammoth Lakes, Calif.
10. Faye Gulini / 55.33 / Vail, Colo.
11. Leslie Glenn / 51.00 / Breckenridge, Colo.
12. Meg Pugh / 49.66 / Cottonwood Heights, Utah
13. Tricia Byrnes / 48.00 / Aspen, Colo.
14. Lizzy Beerman / 37.00 / Weston, Vt

Fourth graders ski for (almost) free in New York

December 15, 2008 – Fourth-grade students from anywhere — New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Canada, even the Bahamas — can ski or snowboard for free this winter at 28 New York State ski resorts (when accompanied by a paying adult).

Just fill out an application form and send it to the Ski Areas of New York with a copy of your student’s 4th Grade report card, progress report or letter from the school stating that your child is in 4th grade, along with a $19 processing fee.  

You will receive a Ski & Ride Passport with three coupons per participating ski area. When an adult lift ticket is purchased the child presents the 4th Grade Passport booklet and a coupon for that ski area is redeemed for a free lift ticket for the day.

Participating Resorts:

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