Christmas shopping is always a somewhat chaotic experience.
The masses of people, checkout lines and the pressure to find "the perfect gift" at a price you can afford tend to diminish the cheer and festivity of the holiday season.
Malls, outlet centers and superstores like Target and Walmart may be appealing for their large selection and sometimes lower prices, but to me they always epitomize the chaos of the season.
That's why I prefer to shop in Old Town.
During the day the area is bustling with patrons, but the spread out pedestrian mall and ability to wander the decorated streets and "window shop" offers a bit more ambiance than the average shopping center.
The tree-lined streets are also quite a sight to behold at night when the lights sparkle amongst their bare branches.
Aside from the quaint gift shops and relaxed holiday atmosphere there are several festive activities being offered by the Downtown Business Association that shouldn't be overlooked:
- Old Town Skating Rink: Open weeknights and weekends, the rink is great affordable holiday entertainment. Skating costs $2 and skate rentals are only $1.
- Horse and Carriage Rides: Starting this weekend horse drawn carriages will roam the downtown streets available to hire for romantic after dinner rides or scenic tours Wednesdays thru Sundays and the Tuesday of New Years Eve.
- Santa Claus & his workshop: Wednesdays thru Sundays from now until the 24th Santa and his helpers can be found in his hut in Old Town Square. Special events like storytime and skating with Santa will be offered throughout the week and a professional photographer will always be on hand to take pictures.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Tools, skill essential for backcountry safety
This season I plan to venture into the backcountry to experience a different type of snowboarding that the resorts can't quite offer. But before I do I know I will need to learn a lot about how to navigate possibly unstable snow.
If you're like me and also thinking of exploring this season, taking an avalanche course is the best way to educate yourself. But to give you an idea of where to start, I've compiled some basic information.
Mountainzone.com stresses the importance of understanding the fundamentals. Avalanche conditions form as a result of the interaction of terrain, weather, and snowpack. All of the information needed to predict snow stability can be obtained from these three.
Storms are the source of most of the world's avalanches. The combination of new snowfall and wind creates the unstable layering that result in slab avalanches because the rate at which stress is added to the snowpack exceeds the rate at which these new layers can gain strength.
Also, a prolonged period of cold and clear weather can substantially weaken the snowpack and create a hair trigger situation.
Of course, there is a lot of other knowledge that is essential to backcountry safety. Testing your knowledge and skills in controlled practice sessions is important, but also requires some essential tools:
• Avalanche Beacon - A portable transceiver that reflects a signal from an aboveground transceiver, making known the exact location of the device in case the carrier is buried in an avalanche.
• Snow Shovel- A small, portable shovel with a detachable handle that can be easily carried in a pack while in the backcountry.
• Probe - long skinny pole used to measure horizons in snow layering and locate avalanche victims
• Survival Blanket - waterproof, lightweight blanket that retains a maximum amount of body height to keep you warm
All of this equipment can be purchased at backcountry.com and discount sites like steep and cheap.
If you're like me and also thinking of exploring this season, taking an avalanche course is the best way to educate yourself. But to give you an idea of where to start, I've compiled some basic information.
Mountainzone.com stresses the importance of understanding the fundamentals. Avalanche conditions form as a result of the interaction of terrain, weather, and snowpack. All of the information needed to predict snow stability can be obtained from these three.
Storms are the source of most of the world's avalanches. The combination of new snowfall and wind creates the unstable layering that result in slab avalanches because the rate at which stress is added to the snowpack exceeds the rate at which these new layers can gain strength.
Also, a prolonged period of cold and clear weather can substantially weaken the snowpack and create a hair trigger situation.
Of course, there is a lot of other knowledge that is essential to backcountry safety. Testing your knowledge and skills in controlled practice sessions is important, but also requires some essential tools:
• Avalanche Beacon - A portable transceiver that reflects a signal from an aboveground transceiver, making known the exact location of the device in case the carrier is buried in an avalanche.
• Snow Shovel- A small, portable shovel with a detachable handle that can be easily carried in a pack while in the backcountry.
• Probe - long skinny pole used to measure horizons in snow layering and locate avalanche victims
• Survival Blanket - waterproof, lightweight blanket that retains a maximum amount of body height to keep you warm
All of this equipment can be purchased at backcountry.com and discount sites like steep and cheap.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Optimistic?
Last night I attended an event that left me feeling pumped and inspired.
At 8 p.m. CSU hosted Sphere of Influence, Absinthe Film company and pro rider Mark Frank Montoya and his crew to show their new film, Optimistic?. The film not only showcased the impressive talent of the pro riders, but also focused on raising awareness of global warming.
The group's Sphere of Influence tour is making its way across the country, stopping only at small art house theaters where the atmosphere is very personal and admission is only $5. Absinthe Films has partnered with the Energy Action Coalition and stopglobalwarming.org among other environmentally conscious groups, and the tour uses only environmentally safe products.
After Mark Frank Montoya and Nicolas Mueller signed posters and handed out information on global warming the film kicked off with one of MFM's crew presenting an original rhyme about the state of our environment.
By the time the film was over I was not only pumped for the season and inspired to ride better than I ever have before, but also to get involved with protecting the environment.
Even if you miss the event, I challenge you to take the initiative and find out what you could be doing to reduce your negative impact on our world.
At 8 p.m. CSU hosted Sphere of Influence, Absinthe Film company and pro rider Mark Frank Montoya and his crew to show their new film, Optimistic?. The film not only showcased the impressive talent of the pro riders, but also focused on raising awareness of global warming.
The group's Sphere of Influence tour is making its way across the country, stopping only at small art house theaters where the atmosphere is very personal and admission is only $5. Absinthe Films has partnered with the Energy Action Coalition and stopglobalwarming.org among other environmentally conscious groups, and the tour uses only environmentally safe products.
After Mark Frank Montoya and Nicolas Mueller signed posters and handed out information on global warming the film kicked off with one of MFM's crew presenting an original rhyme about the state of our environment.
By the time the film was over I was not only pumped for the season and inspired to ride better than I ever have before, but also to get involved with protecting the environment.
Even if you miss the event, I challenge you to take the initiative and find out what you could be doing to reduce your negative impact on our world.
Monday, November 12, 2007
This season I'm doin the 'splits'
After seasons and seasons of resort riding I've decided to get serious about backcountry boarding this season. While doing some research (aka google searching) on the best backcountry spots in Colorado and what tools you need to be safe and do it right, I came across a great invention: the split board.
As Backcountry magazine puts it, "Today's split boards bridge the schism between Polynesian surfers and Scandinavian skiers by combining the natural ease of skinning up a mountain with the fluid rush of surfing down the crystalline waves."
Their description may be a little dramatic, but the split board really is the best of two worlds. Basically it is a snowboard with a split down the middle fit with movable bindings that allow the rider to separate the pieces and ski or lock them together and snowboard.
The first models of split boards were released by Viole for the 1995-1996 season. Since then many modifications have been made to improve the binding system, and companies like Burton and Never Summer have joined Viole in the production of the boards.
The improved binding system on today's models help the split board's riding performance fall only steps behind traditional snowboards. High performance combined with the convenience of being able to leave your snow shoes at home and not having to carry your board on your back make split boards the tool of choice for backcountry enthusiasts.
As Backcountry magazine puts it, "Today's split boards bridge the schism between Polynesian surfers and Scandinavian skiers by combining the natural ease of skinning up a mountain with the fluid rush of surfing down the crystalline waves."
Their description may be a little dramatic, but the split board really is the best of two worlds. Basically it is a snowboard with a split down the middle fit with movable bindings that allow the rider to separate the pieces and ski or lock them together and snowboard.
The first models of split boards were released by Viole for the 1995-1996 season. Since then many modifications have been made to improve the binding system, and companies like Burton and Never Summer have joined Viole in the production of the boards.
The improved binding system on today's models help the split board's riding performance fall only steps behind traditional snowboards. High performance combined with the convenience of being able to leave your snow shoes at home and not having to carry your board on your back make split boards the tool of choice for backcountry enthusiasts.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Icer Air beats the heat in San Francisco
This past weekend an unlikely city hosted the season's first big-air ski and snowboard competition.
33,000 fans packed into San Francisco's AT&T Park (the baseball stadium) to watch as some of the greatest pros stomp amazing tricks on the only big-air stadium jump in the U.S. The 110 foot jump was covered with over 200 tons of snow to make sure it withstood the unseasonably warm temperatures.
Among the competitors were several Olympic and X Games champions, as well as some local talent. Pro Jon Olsson won the ski title with a double kangaroo flip, and Travis Rice took the snowboard title for the second year in a row with a double cork 1080.
The event was a huge success, impressing both sports and traditional media. Transworld Snowboarding loved how many pros showed up and stuck crazy new tricks, like Chas Guldemond's 1260. CNN, on the other hand, praised the event's coordinators and sponsors for a well-organized, entertaining show.
33,000 fans packed into San Francisco's AT&T Park (the baseball stadium) to watch as some of the greatest pros stomp amazing tricks on the only big-air stadium jump in the U.S. The 110 foot jump was covered with over 200 tons of snow to make sure it withstood the unseasonably warm temperatures.
Among the competitors were several Olympic and X Games champions, as well as some local talent. Pro Jon Olsson won the ski title with a double kangaroo flip, and Travis Rice took the snowboard title for the second year in a row with a double cork 1080.
The event was a huge success, impressing both sports and traditional media. Transworld Snowboarding loved how many pros showed up and stuck crazy new tricks, like Chas Guldemond's 1260. CNN, on the other hand, praised the event's coordinators and sponsors for a well-organized, entertaining show.
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