Snow Boarding – Increasingly Popular

At the moment there are lots of really cool snow boarding games out there for almost every computer console that you can think of, there is also online games and PC games for you to try. It really is a lot of fun for those of us who want to sample the world of snow boarding through a game. A lot people criticise computer games and the way that they stop children going out and doing real sport and activities, and although this is the case with a lot of children I have found that many of the people that I know that have started snow boarding only done so because they firstly tried it on a computer.

Yes folks, I am talking about people that originally played a game on a computer then thought that it was so much fun that they would give it a go in real life. This may sound crazy to a lot of you, but to me it sounds perfectly reasonable. The only problem is that games are made in a way so that they are more exciting, however pulling off some of the stunts that appear in the games is nearly impossible in real life, even for the most experienced snow boarders that I know and have heard of. What people have to do is keep a realistic idea of what they want to do and they are far more likely to attain their goals. This is what I thought, and it is one of the many reasons that I caution people about this before they get started. People are so used to doing things with little practise on computers, so they have to remember that doing things in real life can take far more practise and resolve.

The fact that computer games are bringing people to the slopes is great, but I am sure that it is not only computer games that are doing this on their own. Snow Boarding has become a brand, it is associated with a certain lifestyle and that is why those who want to be cool, hip and freestyle are hitting the slopes. The truth is that the sport is now classed under the “extreme” category placing it on a pedestal next to motor cross, BMX and skate boarding. The rise of popularity in snow boarding also comes down to its similarity with other sports. Those who previously skate boarded and still do will find themselves naturally apt to handle a snow board and the same applies to skate boarding. Those who are used to skate boarding will find the thought of snow boarding appealing, even surfing could be classed in the same manner.

The rise of snow boarding is also down to the personalities, sportsmanship and ability of the top athletes that compete in the sport. The kind of professionalism and dedication that you see within the sport is amazing considering the age of the sport, and the age of the athletes that compete within it. I am aware that international DJs, singers and sportsman all show up at the major events and this is also something that has raised the profile of the sport.

As more and more people enter into the sport and try it every week, it is important that we try our best to support these people and ensure that a high retention rate occurs. The fact is that snow boarding requires a level of commitment that other sports do not require in as much abundance from the outset. A boarder is expected to make an investment in equipment, memberships and a board from an early stage, and it is important that this is met. We should all encourage boarders to start, and in doing so we will raise the profile of our sport and we will raise the respect for what we do. Whether through computer games, brands and perceptions or whatever it doesn’t matter. It is snow boarding that matters.

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Snowboarding For Beginners

If you are interested in taking up a new hobby, and you enjoy thrilling, fast paced action, why not consider snowboarding? Increasing in popularity year on year, snowboarding has always been highly fashionable, and is no more accessible than ever, so you really have no excuse for not giving it a go if you are interested. In this article we will look at the equipment you will need, where to get started, and the things to watch out for when snowboarding.

First thing’s first – get yourself online. Look around, and find out exactly what snowboarding involves. It is a dangerous game, and highly physically taxing. Additionally, it can be quite expensive, so you need to try to ensure it’s right for you. Next you need to look for a board to get you started, and some clothing for wearing on the slopes. First off, forget about buying a top quality board. You need to start off with something cheap and cheerful, designed for beginners. You can find these easily online, and you may also be able to come across some models in your local extreme sports shop. Alternatively, you could try to pick one up second hand from a friend, or from another snowboarder. You also want to make sure you look cool whilst your out there! Check out some of the highly fashionable snowboarding wear, and kit yourself out from hats, to sunglasses to thick socks – make sure you’re prepared for the elements before you set off.

It is worth looking around to find lessons in your local area. Lessons range in availability, quality and price, although you will often find recommendations or local adverts particularly helpful. Again you could look online for some tips to get you on your way. If you do take lessons, it is important to take on board what the instructor says from both a performance and safety perspective. Additionally, get out there and practice between lessons if you ever want to improve. If you stick at it, and work hard, you will eventually see an improvement, and find the sport significantly more enjoyable also.

It is also good to note that snowboarding is a highly dangerous activity and people do get hurt. Before you even think about snowboarding, take some lessons in safety, and make sure you are fully equipped both mentally and physically for avoiding injury to yourself and others. Snowboarding is responsible for many accidents every year, and it is an extreme sport after all – if you’re of a weak disposition, it is perhaps not the best sport for you. Having said that, snowboarding can easily be performed safely with a bit of common sense, and a bit of research, so make sure you’re prepared before you get out there.

Warnings aside, snowboarding is great fun, if you like this sort of thing. Many people adopt the mantra that you should try everything at least once, and as far as snowboarding is concerned, this is definitely true. Try snowboarding once, and join the legions of followers who enjoy snowboarding at every opportunity. Chances are there are clubs and associations in your local town, so get yourself along and join in with like minded people. Your level of experience doesn’t matter, as long as you go along and participate, you will gain a lot from it, and you will definitely have a good time in the process.

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Snowboarding At My Local Slope

My local ski slope is quite a fun place to hang out for me and my teenage friends. We find that it’s a good way to keep ourselves amused. You see in my local area when you are under 21 their really is nothing else to do. You see me and my friends can’t go out drinking and nor do we have any particular desire to hang out at the local tennis court, that is why we were looking for something to do that was knew, exciting and more suited to our need for extreme entertainment!

So we went down the local ski slope and asked some questions about what kind of thing goes on and basically tried to get a grasp for how much it was going to cost to get started. The lady was really helpful and seemed to be really encouraging. She explained that we would not need a snowboard, snowboarding boots or even snowboarding skills to get started. We were really pleased to here it, so basically asked if we just went on the slope or if we needed some kind of tuition first. The lady explained that we would definitely need some kind of tuition first, and explained that for $15 an hour we could get a group lesson. This was kind of what we were looking for, as the idea was to do this as a group and we felt that if we all done it together It would be more of a laugh. So we basically booked a lesson, and the lady explained that we had to pay a deposit because the slope had to arrange it with the instructor. She explained that we would get lessons for around 5-10 hours and then she thought that we would be good enough to come down the slope on our own and try things out. This was the kind of thing that I was looking to do, because we wanted more than merely to learn. We wanted to pick up the basic skills that were required and then come down on our own and have a laugh at the slope.

So we went to the lessons and they worked out great. They were really fun for everyone involved. It turned out that it wasn’t just us at the lessons, but the other girls and boys who went to the lessons were all really easy to get on with and everyone got on well. Nobody had been to snowboarding lessons before so we were all kind of in the same boat so to speak. The teacher went over really basic stuff at first, and to be honest I did not pay too much attention because I was more concerned with actually going out their and starting to ski for real. The guy who was our teacher was really approachable and that just made it so much easier for everyone. We were able to ask all the questions we wanted, and he seemed to pick up when someone was having problems and when we understood things. He then explained after around 30 min’s that we were ready to hit the slopes, and you can be sure that we were ready, I was practically desperate to hit the slopes and get started. At first, he asked us to go down the beginner slope which is basically a slope that is for people who are just starting to learn. The gradient is much less and that makes it so much easier to get going, because if you build up to much speed and you do not know how to stop then that could cause real problems for a beginner.

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Snowboarding Activities

If you are considering doing some snowboarding activities then I simply must tell you about the kind snow boarding activities that I have tried in the past, and the kind of activities that I intend to try In the future. The fact is that when I first tried snow boarding I had only been skiing a couple of times, so I was really a newbie that was looking to have a little bit of fun and experience some snowboarding activities for the first time.

Me and my friends all decided to go out their and see what kind of fun we were able to have on the slopes, and we sure did have heaps of fun and in fact far more than I would ever have imagined. We went out their, and because we had a rough idea how to ski we were far more cocky than we should have been but that did not stop us from having the most fun in our lives. The slope was very quiet, which just made it so much better. They way you move on a snowboard just makes you feel so much more in control, however you feel like you are taking more risk. When you are skiing it is just that little bit too comfortable at times, but the fact is that you never actually notice it until you give it a try. It really does not surprise me that people are choosing to give up skiing and are taking up snow boarding in its place, lets be honest you cant actually jump on ski’s. So OK, it is possible but you could hardly suggest that they are custom built for doing Ollie’s. That is why I have to tell, you that when I done my first jump on a snowboard and successfully landed it, I was sure to give it a try again, in the future.

Me and my friends all decided that the most fun thing that we could do was have a race down the slope, and this what we done. I was actually very nervous, as I was very anxious to win, but I knew if the worst came to the worst then I could always say that I tried my best, and trying my best is certainly what I done. Over the next minutes as we went done one of the most daring runs on one of our first times I was sure that I was going to win. That is not to say that I was, I could have hit a tree, or took a wrong turn and in the end I done the later. I lost and I was gutted, but the exhilaration just meant that I wanted to do more. I proposed doing it again, and everybody was up for it. It was the fact that when we done the first run, we had managed to grab some “Air-time” and I can assure you if you think that is good on ski’s you have experienced nothing yet.

The main problem with doing this run was that we were failing to abide by the rules of the slope with aggressive turning and twisting. The last run my friend Alan actually pushed Collin into a tree for a laugh. Although most people would not see this as being fun, it was the kind of think that happened based on excitement and I have to tell you that this snow boarding day has to be one the best days of sport that I have ever experienced, and even when I go skiing and snow boarding these days I often think back to the stuff we got up to that day on the slopes. I have to say that skiing just doesn’t seem to compare to snow boarding and it really does not surprise me to see people migrating from snow boarding to skiing at all. The thing is though we really should not compare them, I suppose they are both good in their own way.

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Snowboarding Accidents

Snowboarding accidents happen every single day and the reasons for this vary from person to person, and from accident to accident. Despite this, one thing remains prominent. Of those accidents, many of them could have been stopped with appropriate care and attention from the snowboarders involved. This is why we have to realise that snowboarding is a dangerous sport, and therefore health and safety should always remain an issue to any snowboarder.

The first thing that any snowboarder has to remember is to wear appropriate protective head wear. Protective head wear may not look as cool, or even be as warm as a hat, but when it comes to going down the slopes wearing one could save your life. In 2003 15 people suffered fatal head injuries whilst snowboarding. This number could have been reduced to 0 if those 15 people had chosen wear a helmet whilst snowboarding. When people go snowboarding and do not wear a helmet, they do not take precautions based on this, and are still happy to attempt stunts such as jumps, slaloms which involve dodging trees, and other activities that could not be recommended. People have to remember that snowboarding is in the top 10 most dangerous sports, and I would call on the authorities within the sport to drive even further towards excellence in health and safety.

My brother is a keen snowboarder and recently broke his leg whilst snowboarding. Although this was not his fault, many of the complications that went along with the injury could have been avoided with due care and attention. This includes the fact he was stranded on a slope for over 4 hours before he was noticed by a boarder who was then able to go and get help. But how could this have been avoided. Firstly he should not have chosen to hit the slopes on his own. Through doing this problems arise automatically, if you do have to go snowboarding on your own then make sure you tell people that you are away. I would also call on snowboarding facilities to keep better records of who is on the slope, and for what time. This could certainly help with many issues.

I would secondly advice and call for people to carry mobile phones with them when they go snowboarding. Even, a mobile phone on its own may not be enough if you do not have a signal or do not have any battery left in your phone. This is why I advise that you ensure that your battery is full at all times, and that you also take appropriate care to ensure that you have a replacement SIM card. If you have a replacement SIM card that works on your phone you may be doubling the chances of you being able to contact someone if you phone does not work. This is why people also choose to carry a torch, a flare or an air horn. All of these can work in alerting people to a situation as long as they are near where you currently are.

Health and safety are prominent issues in snowboarding and that is why we all, have to be careful that we abide by them. Through choosing to take simple measure we can all choose to snowboard, and enjoy ourselves at the same time. Do not make yourself another statistic.

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Snow Boarding Vacation

Around a year ago I went on a snow boarding vacation to Europe and had a great time by all accounts. The best part was that I went with all my friends, all of which had varied abilities in the sport. Some of my friends compete in competitions and the like, whilst others have only been on the slopes a few times in their life. The fact is that we were all really looking forward to it, and we were all sure to enjoy ourselves whilst we were away. The fact is that we do not spend that much time together, as we all went to different colleges whilst others decided to enter the world of work and go out their and get a job.

When we decided to book the holiday I was delighted to hear that everybody was able to make it, and that everyone had promised to save up enough money to really enjoy themselves while we were away. The cost of booking the holiday worked out at around $300 for accommodation for the week as we were going to be staying at a backpacker’s location, and it was only going to cost $150 for return flights. We really felt like we had struck a bargain, and we were even more delighted when we heard that the cost of living would be really cheap when we got their. We had decided to save up $1000 each, which meant that we would have more than enough spending money for when we arrived.

The price being so cheap, some of my friends decided to go online and buy some equipment for the trip and that was anything from new boards to clothing. I personally never bothered, as I was currently struggling for money, surviving merely on the pay that I got for working in a local MP3 player shop.

When we hit the slopes I cannot explain how brilliant it actually was. We had never had an opportunity to ride a snow board on snow, apart from one of my friends who has more of an interest in the sport than the rest of us. We decided that would really just do our own thing, please ourselves and then meet up at night. This is not the way it worked out as we had such a laugh out their on the slopes. My best friend Blair was struggling at first so I done my best to teach him about how to handle the slopes. After a few hours he was doing great, and even managed a nice little Ollie or two. After our hard days on the slopes we couldn’t wait to get home and get a shower. Although it is not cold, when your clothes get wet, it can become very tiring and you often feel like getting in, having a hot shower and changing your clothes.

Next thing it was time to get out their and sample the night life. This is what we had been looking forward to, we had heard great things about European girls, and we were sure to enjoy ourselves getting to know the culture. We firstly went out for a meal, and we all ended up having burger and chips! Next we went to a local club and really had a great night. This was the pattern for the rest of the week and I can hardly say that I regret it.

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Snow Boarding Training

If you need snowboarding training then it is important that you make sure that the training you get is good, and from an appropriately trained snow boarding trainer. That is why you have to consider ways that this can be done to meet the needs, and goals that you have set yourself. What I always tell people is that there is no point in telling yourself that you are going to be the best snowboarder in the world, because that just isn’t going to happen in a few months. What I done was set myself the challenge of being able to do the second most challenging slope, of three at my local snowboarding centre. Once I set myself this challenge I had something to work towards and a goal that I could aim to achieve. This is what you should do, and the chances of getting further in the sport are greatly increased. Once I achieved this goal, my next goal was to handle the most difficult slope and then to improve my times and agility after that. You should set goals before you start snowboarding training and then you will be more likely to achieve your goals in the shortest time.

The next thing that you have to do is decide what kind of training you want to undertake. Many people just try and teach themselves and to be honest it really is not worth it, unless you are doing it for the pride of saying that you taught yourself how to snowboard, if this is the case then you are going to have to get lessons at one point if you want to be one of the best so I would tell you just to give up now. The next type of person is the type that decides that they will teach themselves the DIY way. This means that all they do is read books, read stuff on the internet and ask people for help that are friends or people that they meet down their local snowboarding centre. This is fine, but it is also kind of stupid and kind of pointless. It is a waste of time, but if you do not have the money to afford proper tuition then this is fine with me, at least you will get somewhere if not as fast as others! The next kind of snowboarding training can be split into two kinds. The road name for it is getting professional tuition from a trained snow boarding instructor. This can be split up into group lessons, and individual lessons. So you are probably wondering about the difference between each.

Those who chose to get individual instruction will be doing so at a higher cost, and the reason for this is simple. If you are getting individual instruction then it actually means that there is nobody to share the cost of an instructor but if you are doing it in company and with others then they are also making a contribution towards the salary or wage of the person that is teaching you. That is why I actually recommend getting solo instruction after you have managed to pick up the basics. This is a sure way to save money, and improve your ability down the slopes. Good luck and I am sure that you will be whizzing down the slopes in no time!

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