Goggle Review: How To buy the best Goggles you will ever own.

Goggles are and can be a very understated piece of equipment when you are piecing this year’s list of essentials together. I’ve done it myself, you put off replacing them for another year claiming that “they are fine, I don’t NEED new gogs.” As the foam falls away from the frame and the lenses have more scratches on them as if the face hugger from aliens has tried to get through them. Trust me. Save the dollars, buy cheap beers, eat instant ramen for a month and treat yourself. Without your precious peepers you will never be able to see that Epic pow run in all its glory or when the blinding spring sun is beaming down on you and your squinting like Renee Zellweger on the beach when she forgets her sunglasses. Goggles mean EVERYTHING! Sure some people wear sunglasses on the mountain, but if you want to be taken seriously and start pushing your riding, invest in a descent set of goggles. From the fit to the Lenses here are some recommendations as to what will get you the best pair of goggles you will ever own: 1. Its all about the fit; The process of buying goggles can

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Building Booters in the Backcountry

Building Booters Who doesn’t love watching those epic video parts where the pro launches off a perfectly placed booter built in the middle of nowhere, spinning some switch 1660 quadrillion triple cork thing (pretty sure that’s a thing -ha) landing in to a perfect down ramp of untouched powder and riding out like the wizard they are. How did the booter get there? did they use a snow groomer ?why is it so perfect? Well, it takes patience and an understanding of the snowpack. All those backcountry booters are handmade and built by the filming crew and the riders. 1. Find the right location. When searching for that sweet spot, always make sure that there is a good run in where you will have enough speed and good landing zone (if you crash you don’t want to end up cartwheeling into a tree). Test the run in before you build to ensure you have enough speed. 2. How big do you make it? Once you have established that sweet spot you will want to work out the exact size of the height/distance you will travel in the air. If you want to go higher for a steeper landing build the

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ESCAPE

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You learn a lot from going snowboarding: the changing of the weather and the seasons, the ability to read terrain, the limits of your own physical capabilities; all those valuable skills that we pick up from years of riding. To some these lessons seem insignificant. They are certainly a far cry from what I learnt in my tertiary education. But I think what we learn in the mountains has an application that can reach far beyond the limits of the snow line. The sum total of all these lessons is experience. I sit here writing this looking at reports from another massive dump in NZ almost a meter just this week are blanketing the peaks. Almost the reverse of last year. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realised that it’s not the depth or quality that defines my enjoyment in the mountains, although it certainly helps! It’s the feeling you get when the mountains fill your windscreen and the lights fade in your rear view mirror and the high country opens up before you. I’ve stopped worrying about how much snow we will get when we head for the hills. The snow will come and all our worries will be forgotten, and all

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Rescue in Revelstoke

Panic…. No don’t. That’s the first response you have when you realise you have a friend lost out on the mountain. Revelstoke B.C isn’t just your regular ski resort. This mother of a hill is a free riders wet dream. 5620 feet of vertical fall line with the very best of British Columbia’s famous snowfall almost 18 meters annually and that’s what makes this a destination for any skier or rider worth their salt. This mountain is anything but forgiving. The regulars for any of our road trips Matt, Tom, Del and our friend Joe who was visiting from Oz. We were meeting with our friends who call the town of Revelstoke home. These guys are the real deal. Living day to day and meal to meal. As long as they got on the mountain they sleep better than any baby,and they know the mountain like the back of their hand. After a massive day on the hill. Which involves a non stop top to bottom thrashing of our legs we were all ecstatic with the day’s conditions. Blue bird day and 30cm of fresh blower pow! So we regroup and decide to do one more. A wee hike into

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30 Seconds of Powder

To get you stoked on the next Epic Snow Tour here is a 30 second short of Co-Founder Benny V shredding some deep deep powder in one of Myoko Japan’s secret spots. Its constantly knee to waste deep in this run with face shot after face shot. To find out more about Epic Snow’s tours, visit www.epicsnow.co for full tour details.

Aero Plane Food

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Aero plane food. Late 2011 I was on my way back to The Northern hemisphere  for my second full season in the Canadian Rockies. This one was going to be different. I spent the last 6 months working crazy long days to save as much as I could. I was doing a ski bum season! This was the dream. Halfway through my second flight, Auckland to Vancouver the long haul, I started to feel quezie in my stomach. “It’s ok I thought” “I’ve never had food poisoning” oh wasn’t I wrong. I’ve never had food posing that I can remember and definitely in my adult life. Never had I grasped the full scale of what people meant when the say “it was coming out of both holes” but yep that’s where I was in the cramped aeroplane cubicle with it coming out of both ends. Not the nicest clean up. Geez I smelt. But what did I eat? I’ve heard that it can take 6-12 hours to kick in, so I can only put it down to three meals. You know what it’s like when you fly- you get bored so you eat. 1st meal At the Brisbane airport with mum

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Why your riding playlist is the most important thing to pack.

Hank Williams Jr., Slayer, MGMT, Steel Panther. Besides being good old fashioned legends these artists are a few of many that make up my Snowboarding playlist. That’s right! I spend hours over the summer months compiling a 200+ song playlist that will be my companion every day of the season. It never asks for anything either, just a little power and and this little guy keeps me singing on every chair and tree run from November right through till May. Feeling nervous on top of a jump run in the park? Or had the perfect song come on floating through the trees? That’s the difference a song can make! The purists out there who say “I need to hear my carve bro” have never had deaudmau5 aural psynapse  while hammering tree lines or Midnight Oils ‘Beds are Burning’ blaring at the top of a freshly blanketed groomer run. Take it from me friends, it’s hard to top! Combined with this must have essential you must also be aware of the risks. 1.    During your rigorous check list of pockets before heading up you take one step off the gondola and realise that your faithful but shoddy apple headphones that are holding together

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Powder and Ramen in Japan

Quiet possibly my two favourite things in this world, and not necessarily in that order. In another life I was a Chef. And food has been a passion that has never left even after I left the kitchen, so coming to Japan I had a list in my mind of food conquests I was going to consume shortly after landing. The list didn’t consist of the extreme or exotic like Fugu or Horse sashimi. But on top of that list was Ramen! Without a doubt the king of all foods in Japan is the mighty bowl of “Ramen”. It sits on the throne ruling over all the other dishes. Being such a regional dish there is no end to the variety of different interpretations of Ramen as we made our way through the country chasing legendary snow. Imagine this; being up before the sun and stretching out your not so fresh legs for the day ahead to ride another textbook tree run in Japan’s famous snorkel deep snow with your buddies and coming in cold and wet after being outside in wind and snow for 6 hours to the smell of a life giving, restorative and decadently delicious bowl of Ramen.

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Why I Love Travel Insurance

I’m lying here in a Canadian Hospital in what is without a doubt the most pain I have ever been in. After being rushed to hospital while on our snowboard trip between Japan and The Canadian Rockies I am admitted in to hospital not for a torn ACL not for a broken collarbone that would be more fitting for someone that has been on hill everyday without any regard for his personal safety. But I’m in hospital praying to whatever higher power there is to take mercy on me and for that all to relaxed nurse to give me some Morphine. After X-rays and and ultrasound around my abdomen its conclusive… Bloody…kidney….stones. I’m feeling every one of my 31 years and cursing everything that might have done this to me (mostly myself for too many drink yourself sober nights from my youth.) The one thing that I’m not regretting is the assuring memory of my sweetheart having all our travel insurance details on hand and calling the emergency phone line to start what I thought was going to be the not so pleasant process of dealing with an insurance company on the other side of the world! It’s one of

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Getting fit for the POW!

Getting fit for the POW! The ultimate at home program designed to reduce injury and have you shred ready! Unfortunately some of us can’t be hitting the snow year round meaning snow trips are limited to a couple weeks of the year and the body isn’t conditioned to Snowboard… I’m going to keep this simple, to the point and easy to apply in a 2 x a week program to get you ready for your kick ass snow trip What needs to be strong? It starts with the feet! Your whole body’s structure begins with the feet, effecting everything form the knees, pelvis, shoulders and even your breathing! We have weak feet due to wearing shoes from a young age which can cause knee pain and bad posture in some cases… I’ve got 2 awesome exercises that will help you 1. Build the connective tissue surrounding the joints and reduce your likelihood for injury 2. Develop stronger feet, ankles and knees to have even better control of your board… What else do I need to do? Well your CORE is super important when it comes to boarding… 1. The lower back needs to be strong 2. The bodies ability to

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