Snowboard Captain
February Recap
Hello,
So far this season has been a ton of fun. We’ve had great conditions at every meet and early February in Snowbird was a snowboarders paradise with POW, POW and more POW, knee to waist deep . For all of you that could not make it I am sorry you missed a good one. The race course in Snowbird, as always, was very good. Long, covered with a few inches of new snow and fun to ride. We had only 7 boarders this time, 1 girl and 6 boys. Sandra Beltran was our top female racer and she did a wonderful job. The top three male racers were Jim Tullos (what a shocker), David Hrdlicka aka Dark, and Earl Weintraub. Good job guys.
As you can see we need more females boarders. The few we have are very good riders but they cannot cover every meet so we need to recruit more ladies. I am sure they are out there. We just have to find them and get them excited about joining the team. Also anybody interested in learning the sport is welcome and we will be sure that they can learn safely, quickly and have a great time.
The last meet of the season is just a few weeks away and it is shaping up to be a lot of fun with spring riding and bikini tops flying by (and some hunky guys for you ladies.) I hope most of you can make it and it would be nice to see some new faces at Crested Butte.
Pedro
January Recap
Hello All,
Steamboat week in one word – Pure Fun! oops, that’s two words. We could
not have asked for better conditions. Lots of pow, amazing tree runs, a
great group of snowboarders, and a week chock full of activities.
The first part of the week we got new snow – lots of powder and good tree
runs plus good groomers, and a practice race course on Monday. The NAASF
race on Tuesday we had a total of 14 snowboarders (2 females and 12 males)
on a very nice race course. We had very good overall results in both female
and male races. However for the female races we had only two boarders –
Jennifer Naylor and Pam Curran. They did a great job but as you can see,
they need some help - we need more female boarders. I’d like to ask for
your help in recruiting new female members and bringing back previous
riders.
For the men, the top three racers were Jim Tullos, David (Dark) Hrdlicka and
Earl Weintraub. Great job guys! We also had a couple of new boarders –
Russ, Kurt & Justin . They got to race and did great.
On Tuesday afternoon we had what I consider the highlight of the day, we
called it the Boarder-X-Air-Extreme-Awesome-Super Race or boardercross for
short. We had most of our boarders come and ride the course. We had a
great time riding with each other in groups of 4, 5 and then everyone at
once, down a very nice boardercross course. No carnage, no collisions but a
lot of smiles, good comments and excited chatter. We learned a lot about
this type of racing and we would like to explore the possibility of
including this kind of event in future NAASF events.
On Wednesday afternoon we had a half-pipe clinic on the Maverick’s super
pipe – 450 feet long with 18 foot icy walls. At the beginning it was very
intimidating and everyone was wondering what the heck they were doing there
but after some excellent instruction from Sean, the Steamboat Springs
instructor, and a few runs down we were starting to get the hang of it and
the pipe seemed to shrink a little bit. It was super fun. Everybody that
participated was excited and would like to do it again.
As you can see, it was a fun week for the snowboarders with different
activities and a chance to learn new skills in addition to doing the NAASF
race. I hope we can keep this trend going for the future meets and get
other airlines to involved.
Your feedback is very important. If you participated in any of these events
and you have any ideas or suggestions please let me know. If you couldn’t
make it, feel free also to give me any thoughts and comments. I hope you
can make it to the next meet. We will do our best to plan some good
activities for the week in Snowbird.
I’d also like to thank Earl Weintraub who put a lot of work into
coordinating the extra events. Lastly, remember to let me know if you’re
coming to Snowbird next month. It’s very important so I can send the
seeding list to NAASF.
Hope to see you soon!
Pedro
Steamboat Training Camp Recap
Hello All,
Steamboat training camp... It was great. We had one of the best camps ever. The instruction was topnotch and we had a large number of snowboarders, almost as many as skiers. We are no longer a minority, but a group of very accomplished riders. The instruction went from back to the basics, carving techniques, gates, pow, trees and a very fun session at the terrain park. I believe we were the oldest group ever through the park with a combined age of over 400 years. The coaches had a comprehensive plan for the four days of the camp and the feedback from the participants has been very positive. The race on Thursday showed a very even group - the times were very close but once again Jim Tullos showed his magic and won. Jim, congratulations! You are a great rider but most of all a great racer. I will call the training camp a great success and a big part of this we owe to El Presidente, Earl Weintraub. Earl was able to communicate with the coaches - Earl is also a certified coach in Steamboat - and addressed most of the complaints and concerns from previous camps. Thank you Earl for all your hard work. It paid off big time. Also, I'd like to thank the room mom, Rachel, and everybody that spent time and effort putting the camp together. And, of course, to all the participants, you were a great, fun group. I am sure just like me, you are looking forward to meeting again.
January 11-16 will be the first NAASF meet. It is very important that you let me know as soon as possible if you are coming. This will guarantee a good seeding for the race. I believe this meet will be a lot of fun with a lot of snow. (Think powder - lots of it!)
As Snowboard team captain I am very pleased with what I saw during camp and I am sure we will have a great season.
Pedro Tirado
Season Welcome
Hello,
I will be the new snowboard captain for the next season. I joined the team in 2001 and I have seen how the number of snowboarders has increased since then. Also, the level of riding and experience has increased and today we have a very solid group of riders of both sexes. A very important part of this improvement is the upcoming training camp. Every December the training camp allows us to get back on the boards and ride with an excellent group of coaches; go back to basics and get our riding in top form - not only on the race course but as complete snowboarders, riding with confidence, safely on trees, pow, groomers, crud, bumps, skiers, park, you name it - with a smile on your face, having a blast. One thing that is very important during training camp is that everybody has an idea of what part of their riding needs review or improvement. This is the key for a successful session and your coaches need to know exactly that. Also, your feed back is very important to address any concerns that you may have. All suggestions and ideas are welcome. In the next few weeks it is also a good idea for some of us to get those legs back in shape. It is a great feeling to stand on your board with a pair of tree trunks and be ready rip it. Don't forget your equipment. This is the time to check that everything is still in good working order. Check the buyer's guide if you are thinking about new stuff and demo before you buy if you can.
For non-snowboarders:
I would like to talk to people that are interested in snowboarding and may like to learn it. It is not as hard as you may think and the training camp will be a perfect opportunity to give it a shot with good coaches and good, soft snow. As a general rule it will take about 3 days of lessons to learn the basics and start to link turns. Snowboarding is not a new sport anymore and people of all ages and physical abilities are able to ride. Also, the improvement of the instruction and the equipment allows them to teach it safely and without the pain that some of us endured years ago. If you are a skier the changes will be wonderful... comfortable and toasty boots, no poles, cool people, learn new lingo and best of all you can sit any time you feel like it! Take that skiers. If you think you may try it, just a few safety tips - get a comfortable helmet, wrist guards and padded shorts. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me and I will do my best to help you.
If you are thinking of attending the training camp please let me know and tell me if you have any suggestions or concerns from previous camps and what kind of training you are looking for. Remember that there is always room to learn something new or refresh the basics. Sometimes just a little correction can improve your riding tremendously.
I am sure that everybody is looking forward to this season. I know I am. There is a lot going on these days and this is the perfect opportunity to forget about it and just ride your ass off and have fun.
Pedro