Terminology
Before we get to the different grabs, it’s important to know some of the terminology these instructions will refer to.

Front/Back Hand/Foot: When approaching a jump, the leading, or downhill, hand and foot is your front hand and foot; the trailing, or uphill, hand and foot is your back hand or foot. For example, if you are a regular rider your left hand is your front hand, and your right foot is your back foot; while a goofy rider is opposite with the right hand as the front hand, and the left foot as the back foot.

For purposes of tricks, the definition of front hand and foot is determined by the direction you are facing when you leave a jump. For example, if a regular rider approaches the jump switch (or right hand pointed down hill), all tricks are defined based on the goofy stance, not their regular stance. To re-state this, what matters is not your normal stance for snowboarding, but in the moment you’re leaving the jump, which side of your body is down the hill.

Nose and Tail: The board’s nose is the tip of the board that is pointing in the direction of travel. The board’s tail is the trailing tip.

Toe and Heel Edge: Snowboards have two edges, the toe edge is the edge underneath the rider’s toes; the heel edge is below the rider’s heels.

The Six Primary Grabs
These grabs will make up the bulk of your grabbing, especially when you are first learning. Get to know them well, Nose:, Mute, Indy, Tail, Stalefish, and Lien.

Grabs with the front hand:

Nose: As you leave the launch, flex your front knee and pull the nose of the board up towards your front hand. Reach with your front hand and grab the board’s nose. Straighten your back leg to help push the board into your hand.

Lien: As you leave the launch, pull the board up, flexing your front knee slightly more than your back knee. Reach around the outside of your front foot with your front hand, and grab the heel edge of your board between your feet or on the heel edge of your front binding.

Mute: As you leave the jump, pull the board up, flexing your front knee slightly more than your back knee. With your front hand, grab the toe edge between your feet or on the toe edge of your front binding.

Grabs with the back hand:
Tail: As you leave the launch, flex your back knee and pull the tail of the board up towards your back hand. Reach with your back hand and grab the board’s tail. Straighten your front leg to help push the board into your hand.

Indy: As you leave the jump, pull the board up, flexing your back knee slightly more than your front knee. With your back hand, grab the toe edge between your feet or on the toe edge of your back binding.

Stalefish: As you leave the launch, pull the board up, flexing your back knee slightly more than your front knee. Reach around the outside of your back foot with your back hand, and grab the heel edge of your board between your feet or on the heel edge of your back binding.

Start Grabbing
Get a feel for these grabs on the ground before you take them to the air. Find a flat area, and strap both feet into the bindings. Crouch down and try a couple of the grabs. You’ll find that bending your knees makes a huge difference in reaching different areas on the board. At first, you can look at the board as you reach for the grab, but once you have a basic idea of where the board is beneath you, start trying to touch the zones of your board for the different grabs while looking towards the imaginary landing of a jump. (When you get to the point that you try these grabs going off jumps, when you are in the air you will need to be able to grab without looking at the board.)

Another way that you can practice grabs before hitting a jump is to strap in both feet and lie down on the ground with your back on the ground and your feet in the air. You’ll look like a flipped over beetle, but if you can suck up the pride-factor, this is one of the better ways to feel the grabs off-snow.

When ready, head to your favorite jump and do a safety run. When you’re comfortable with the feature and are ready to try a grab, approach it like you normally do. As you leave the lip of the jump, start pulling your knees up towards your upper body, and reach down with your arm to the grab; Indy and Mute are usually the easiest to start with. For your first couple of tries, just tap the edge of your board with your fingers, don’t actually grab it. This will make for a more comfortable attempt because it lets you feel the movement and timing, without needing as much air. After you’ve tapped the edge a few times, try grabbing the edge briefly. Once you’re styling with the Indy and Mute grab, move on to try grabbing Nose, Tail, Melon, or Stalefish.

Your progress and the size of jumps you go off of is up to you. This article will not explain the learning process for extremely advanced freestyle. However, some of the terminology is discussed in the next section.

Safety
When riding in the park and working on freestyle progression you put yourself at a higher risk for injury than when you’re just cruising around the mountain. Here are some tips to help you stay safe while learning these moves.

• Pre-ride, re-ride, free-ride: Always do a run past whatever feature (be it natural or man-made) that you hope to jump off of. This is an opportunity to look at the launch and landing (which you may not be able to see clearly from your starting area). You can assess many things in a quick run past, including how icy the landing is. On your second run you can carefully hit the feature to get a feel for the jump. Once you’re comfortable riding the feature you can freeride it comfortably.
• When you’re in the park always be on the lookout for others. Assume that your safety is in your own hands, you cannot trust that someone you see going off a jump is aware of who and what is around them, or that they will be able to land the jump properly. Keeping clear of features that you are scouting is critical.
• Once you have done a safety scout run, hit the jump without trying anything fancy- especially if it is one you have never gone off of. Take your time to get the feel of that particular feature before you try to work on new stuff.

No Grab Zones
Certain areas of your board are “no grab zones.” A vital piece of grab-education is knowing where not to grab, to avoid looking like a gaper. Here are the areas you don’t want to grab.

Naming differences for the halfpipe
The naming convention for grabs is different in the pipe. Any air performed on the backside wall of the halfpipe can be called a backside air, and any air on the frontside wall can be called a frontside air. You never call it a Frontside Indy- it is just called a Frontside Air.

Variations
There are a few variations of these grabs that style them out and make them “steezy.” Some of the variation grabs have names of their own.

Backside Shifty Method Shifty

Shifty: Before you attempt any tweaked grabs, start with shifties. A shifty is a trick where you move the board out of alignment from your body, without grabbing. You can do all sorts of shifties, get creative and see how you can tweak the board without grabbing.

Tweak: To “tweak” a grab is to really emphasize the grab and push all movements to the max, styling out the trick. The grab should contort the body to some extent, ankles, knees, and other joints should appear fully bent or extended.

Bone: To “bone” a grab is to fully straighten either leg during a grab. If you boned your front leg while grabbing Indy, you would call it an Indy Nose Bone.

Stiffy: Variation of any grab where you bone both legs.

Double Grab: Name given to a jump that includes two separate grabs. Grab your board one way, release and grab another way. Some combinations look better than others, try varying front hand grab to back hand grab.

Meloncholy: Grab Lien, but straighten (or bone) your front leg.

Method: Grab Lien, but pull the board up behind your back.

Crossbone Method: A Method combined with a backside shifty.

Meadows received over 18 inches of snow over the weekend and competitors killed time between runs with some late season pow turns.

The rail jam was set up in front of the bar patio and had kids from Nor Cal to Northern Washington throwing down. The double kink rail was the feature to tame as rider after rider tried to tame the beast. Jarad Hadi was one of a handful of riders that committed to the full length of the rail. His unassuming style and tech tricks put him in third place. Seth Kitske came in second and NW local Parker Duke’s consistency throughout the event put him in first.

Vegetate is an annual event at Mt. Hood Meadows that raises money for the mountain’s native wildflower rehabilitation program. It began in the mid-nineties when Washington locals Jamie Lynn, Jason Maguire and Peter Line were in regular attendance. Salomon Snowboards teamed up with Meadows for this year’s event to help support the local northwest shred scene and to continue to contribute to snowboarding in the backyard of the brand’s global marketing offices in Portland, Oregon.

For more info on Salomon team riders check out www.salomonsnowboards.com

“We are passionate about the snowsports industry and the quality of life it provides to our families, team members and guests,” said Brent Giles, director of environmental affairs for Powdr Corp. “Our commitment to offset 100 percent of our resorts’ power from renewable energy sources is another step in the right direction to sustain our mountain lifestyle for years to come.”

Powdr Corp will work with Boulder, Colorado-based Renewable Choice Energy as its renewable energy provider. Renewable Choice Energy is an award-winning renewable energy and carbon offset provider of Green-e certified sources such as wind, biomass and small hydro. The EPA estimates that Powdr Corp’s purchase of RECs will avoid over 85 million pounds of C02 emissions annually, which is equal to removing 8,539 passenger vehicles from the road or powering 6,175 average American homes for a year.

“Powdr Corp’s extraordinary commitment will inspire other resorts to follow its lead,” said Quayle Hodek, chief executive officer of Renewable Choice Energy. “Supporting renewable energy is a powerful way to fight climate change and make the air cleaner for everyone.”

More than seventy percent of the United States’ electricity comes from fossil fuels like burning coal and gas. Burning fossil fuels to generate electricity creates harmful greenhouse gasses that are emitted into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. Wind-power generated electricity is renewable, sustainable, and does not produce environmental pollution.

“EPA applauds our partners for protecting the environment by purchasing green power,” said Stephen L. Johnson, administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency. “By voluntarily shifting to renewable energy, Powdr Corporation is proving you don’t need to wait for a signal in order to go green.”

The purchase of renewable energy credits helps to put more clean power on line. Every renewable energy developer considers REC sales when deciding whether or not to build new facilities. Most importantly, RECs allow the government and consumers to place a positive value on renewable energy, making its production more financially competitive with electricity generated from fossil fuels. In turn, the purchase of RECs will make it easier for small businesses and individuals to take part in renewable energy for their own use.

Powdr Corp is committed to being an industry leader in environmental stewardship. In addition to the purchase of 100 percent renewable energy, Powdr Corp resorts are actively involved in environmental initiatives including energy reduction, the use of alternative fuels and recycling. These initiatives have offset Powdr Corp’s carbon footprint by 92 percent.

About Powdr Corp
Powdr Corp is one of the leading mountain resort owners and operators in the United States. Headquartered in Park City, Utah, Powdr Corp currently owns and operates seven ski and snowboard resorts including Park City Mountain Resort in Park City, Utah, Killington Resort and Pico Resort in Killington, Vermont, Mt. Bachelor in Bend, Oregon, Boreal Resort and Soda Springs Resort, both in Donner Summit, California, and Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. Powdr Corp also operates Gorgoza Park, a lift-served tubing park, in Park City, Utah.

About Renewable Choice Energy
Boulder, Colorado-based Renewable Choice Energy (www.renewablechoice.com) is the award-winning, full-service provider of renewable energy and carbon offsets. Founded in 2001, Renewable Choice’s clients include Whole Foods Market, Vail Resorts, hundreds of businesses and organizations, and thousands of individuals across the country. In 2006, Renewable Choice shared the Beacon Prize with Whole Foods Market for its campaign to educate customers about wind power. Renewable Choice is the leading renewable energy supplier to green building projects nationwide.

About U.S. EPA’s Green Power Partnership
EPA’s Green Power Partnership works with more than 850 partner organizations to buy green power voluntarily as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use and to support the development of new, renewable generated resources nationwide. Overall, EPA Green Power Partners are buying more than 13 billion kWh of green power annually. For more information visit www.epa.gov/greenpower.

The new snow guns will bring Coronet Peak’s total to 203 fully automated snow guns.

As part of Coronet Peak’s $30 million redevelopment, the snow guns will deliver snow across all trails and help produce a system believed to be one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated.

NZSki Ltd CEO James Coddington says that once complete, snowmaking at Coronet Peak will be the “closest thing you can get to guaranteeing the Snowsports season.”

“The result will be more skiable terrain from opening day and vastly improved skiing and riding surfaces throughout the season. This is a massive snowmaking system which allows for every possible snowmaking window to be maximised. It will drastically increase our current snowmaking capacity.

We believe the scale of the project, along with the redevelopment of the resort’s base area, will position Coronet Peak amongst the world’s top mountain resorts.

Mr Coddington says that visitors to Coronet Peak will be offered an exponentially improved experience this year from their arrival at the magnificent new base building through a customer-friendly traffic management system and onto the blanket of ‘Armani’ snow across all main trails.

“The snowmaking project is part of the most significant development package undertaken by the ski area since its inception in 1947,” he says.

The snow guns have been ordered from TechnoAlpin and the Italian company says it is the biggest order it has ever had - possibly the largest in the world.

The project provides for two new reservoirs and pump houses as well as the installation of the snow guns. The reservoirs will more than double the water storage capacity from 80 million litres to 175 million, with a total of 380,000 million litres of water available over the season – 95% recycled through the catchment scheme.

“The system is designed so that the central core of the mountain – the M1, Big Easy and beginner areas – can be opened within three days of continuous snowmaking conditions. Under optimum conditions, all trails including those on Rocky Gully and Greengates could be opened within 10 days.”

The snowmaking project, together with a multi-million dollar base building redevelopment will be completed in time for the 2008 winter snow season.

Diamond Peak General Manager Ed Youmans said, “After reviewing the attendance figures up to and including today, as well as the outlook for the next two weeks, I have decided that Diamond Peak will remain open until our budgeted closing date of April 13, 2008.

Although I recognize that most, if not all of the incline schools begin spring break on April 14, neither the snow pack on our slopes, daily business levels, nor the proposed demolition schedule for the Lodge Renovation project will allow the ski area to operate through April 20th. “

Diamond Peak would like to thank everyone for an excellent season and would like to invite everyone to participate in the Dummy Downhill on April 5th, the Community Appreciation Day on April 13th, and a free BBQ on April 13th for Diamond Peak season passholders. Anyone within a 50-mile radius will be eligible to purchase a Diamond Peak lift ticket for only $15 on April 13th. Please visit www.diamondpeak.com or call 775-832-1177 for more information on events and current snow conditions.

Photo: Panoramic view of Snow Park NZ / Tyler Meade

Expansion of the terrain park, a redeveloped area for novice freestylers, new and upgraded features have all been established at Snow Park NZ.

A new Slopestyle lane featuring skillfully crafted intermediate jumps and jibs has been created on the eastside of the resort and opens up 14,000 m/sq of previously unused hill space. The relocated and redeveloped Half Pint Park, a dedicated area for beginners, has also expanded, to offer novice riders a relaxed environment to learn in, on less steep terrain and smaller scale features.

Across the terrain park new and upgraded boxes, rails, jumps and jibs can be found with an emphasis on novice and intermediate level features. Introduced this year are competition specific rails to ensure on-hill features remain open to the public when major events are held at the resort.

Off-field facilities available for the visitor include luxury apartments and backpacker bunkrooms with the capability of hosting 76 overnight guests.

Snow Park NZ will again host top international freestyle ski and snowboard events this season, including the Burton New Zealand Open, Billabong Snowstock and New Zealand Freeski Open, as well as smaller local events to cater for riders of all abilities and ages.

Snow Park NZ is scheduled to open mid June, for further information visit www.snowparknz.com

PARTICIPANT FEES:
$25 per family or business / $15 per individual entry / *free for spectators

WHEN: Saturday April 5th, 2008
11 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Participant Registration)
2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Soap Box Derby
5 p.m. Award Ceremony

WHERE: Wolf Mountain
3567 Nordic Valley Way
Eden, UT 84310

www.wolfmountaineden.com

About Wolf Creek Utah:
Located in Eden just an hour from Salt Lake City’s International Airport, Wolf Creek Utah is a 2,500-acre master planned community offering incredible views, incomparable recreation and fine dining. Wolf Creek offers year-round activities for friends and families, and the surrounding area provides boundless recreational opportunities. Located just minutes from Snowbasin, Powder Mountain and Wolf Mountain, there are endless skiing and snowboarding opportunities. The recreation doesn’t end when the snow melts off; Wolf Creek Utah also has a championship 18-hole course, a newly remodeled clubhouse as well hiking, biking and jogging trails and a lake for canoeing or fishing. It’s a place where a family can gather to focus on what’s really important, or individuals can simply focus on themselves. For more information, please visit www.wolfcreekresort.com.

The Vail Spring Back week presents headlining concerts from Ben Harper and Gov’t Mule. Gov’t Mule will appear at the Dobson Arena on Thursday, April 10, 2008 and Ben Harper will play an outdoor concert in Ford Park on Saturday, April 12, 2008. With more snow on the mountain than ever before in Vail’s history, Spring Back to Vail 2008 is poised to be the best yet.

“The concert lineup this year is amazing,” said James Deighan, Senior Vice President of Highline Sports & Entertainment, the event’s producers. “Both Ben Harper and Gov’t Mule are known for their spectacular live shows. Having artists like these for Spring Back to Vail is what makes this the best spring bash in the country.”

With 11 albums and two Grammy awards to his name, Ben Harper is the caliber of musician that has become a rarity in a world full of teen-pop sensations. Harper, backed by his band The Innocent Criminals, specializes in a socially conscious blend of blues, funk, reggae, R&B and folk that has earned him a legion of die-hard fans.

Along with top caliber concerts, is a not to miss or skip, the annual Spring Skimmer events, sponsored by Bacardi. Skimmers across the nation are testing their bouncing buoyancy while training in hopes to become the 2008 Bacardi World Pond Skimming Champion. The much anticipated World Champs are slated for Saturday, April 12, from 2-4 p.m., at Golden Peak. A field of 100 floatable (and sometimes sinkable) athletes will vie for fame and glory in a showing that defies the laws of physics and perhaps even common sense. All eyes are on the grand prize: cold hard cash, skis and the elusive,
“Golden Skimmer.”

Concert tickets go on sale online at www.springbacktovail.com. General Admission tickets will be priced as follows:
- Gov’t Mule: Tickets $26 in advance, $36 after March 31
- Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals: Tickets $35 in advance, $45 after March 31

General admission tickets will also be available locally in the Vail Valley at the Marketplace on Meadow Drive in Vail and the Bottle & Cork in Edwards. Please visit the Spring Back to Vail Web site for more information.

www.springbacktovail.com/
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To learn more about Chaos Headwear, our products and programs, log on to www.chaoshats.com

Chaos’ competitive edge is quality, responsiveness and a vast array of headgear possibilities. Chaos is family owned and—operated by Do-Gree Fashions in Montreal, Canada— we are able to respond quickly to both customer requests, as well as fast-paced market trends, both of which translate to unparalleled service. Designs from both CHAOS and sister brand MOON SHADOW vary from winter to four-season, urban to alpine, casual to high-end silk-cashmere, all of which supply the men’s, women’s and youth markets. Materials include: merino wool, mohair, acrylic blends, cottons, angora, fleece, and technical fabrics from the New CTR-Chaos Thermal Regulation, Fits ALL 4X®, Polartech®, Windbloc®, Thermolite® and Outlast®.

Over fourteen feet of natural snowfall this year, coupled with the vast amounts of snow produced by over 100 brand new fan guns, has amassed a healthy base layer on the mountain. Mountain Manager Elia Hamilton expects that base to last well into the Spring. Trails like Deer Run, Long John, Canyon and Standard, which have seen consistent snowmaking from state-of-the-art fan guns throughout the season, will be carefully maintained to maximize longevity.

Hamilton reports that, as of today, every single trail on the mountain is completely covered in snow, top to bottom, edge to edge. Even on notoriously fickle trails, like double black diamond Ripcord on the North Face, “not a single rock or bare spot is showing.”

On November 10, 2007, Mount Snow was the first resort to open in Vermont for the 2007-08 season, and the first resort to open in New England with top to bottom skiing and riding.

Although this season’s record amounts of snowfall are playing a crucial role, Pawlak noted that a big reason for such healthy base depths is Mount Snow’s fleet of fan guns. Peak Resorts, which purchased Mount Snow in April, 2007, spent $3.5 million upgrading its snowmaking system last summer, including 101 fan guns installed all over the mountain. The modern guns are capable of producing much more snow than their air-and-water predecessors, using less energy at the same time. Pawlak estimated that an average of four to six feet of snow is piled up on trails equipped with fan guns.

Discounted late season lift ticket pricing will take effect beginning Monday, March 31, 2008. Skiers and riders will also receive a $10 voucher good for next season, valid from opening day through December 24th, with the purchase of every full price lift ticket.

For further information on Mount Snow, visit www.mountsnow.com.

The slopestyle competition was fierce, but it was Anderson’s silky smooth back-to-back combinations including cab 3s, cab 540s, and rail work that sealed her the win.

Anderson’s victory at the recent Roxy Chicken Jam echoed her consistent slopestyle performance all year long. The 17-year-old Anderson showed consistent power and adaptability in all slope style events along the tour and showed an improving performance in the halfpipe—securing strong finishes in many halfpipe events along the tour including a sixth place finish at the 4-Star Garnier Fructis Australian Open.

Jamie has definitely raised the bar for women’s snowboarding,” says DVS Snow Team Manager Ricky Melnik. “DVS is proud to have Jamie as part of the family.”