www.snowboard-women.com

One of the fun things about blogging about something you love doing is that you will meet other people who love the same thing!  Recently, through this blog and Twitter, I’ve gotten to know Sara, a local snowboarding instructor from Mt. High.   She also pens her own snowboarding blog at Gurlryder.com.  Although we’ve yet to ride together, I thought it would be interesting to have her answer a few questions about snowboarding, her experiences as a female instructor, and life on the hill in general.  Take it away Sara!

Name: Sara C.
Hometown: Orange County
Current Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Alter Ego: Office Manager
Home Resort: Mountain High
Years Riding: 4-5 seasons
Years Instructing: 2 seasons
Certifications: PSIA-AASI Level 1 Snowboard Instructor Certification, Level 1 Children’s Specialist, currently working on Level 2 Certification
Current Ride: Forum Craft 146cm, Ride Sigma Bindings
Other Gear: I’m a total gear whore, i have at LEAST two of everything, what girl rider doesnt, right? I just got a new Bern Muse Priscilla Levac helmet that I absolutely LOVE!
Where I see myself in 5 years: Have an impact in the snow sports industry as an Instructor having earned the highest certification available and spreading my wings into different aspects of snowboarding.

QUESTIONS:

What’s your own personal style of riding? (or what’s your favorite terrain- freeriding, parks, halfpipe…)
my personal style is the fun style! i enjoy them all =)

What do you like most about snowboarding?
it’s a sport. a sport that takes you from place to place and meeting new people. it takes you away from the stresses of the real world. its my zen.

What skill level of students do you teach?
i teach mostly beginner to intermediate riders. i’m just learning tricks myself but i do have my lil’ bag of tricks i like to use that keeps the learning experience fun for my students

How are your classes set up - do you do private lessons or groups?
i teach both group lessons and private lessons.

Who usually attends your classes - girls or guys?
i get a pretty good mix of both girls and guys

Have you ever had a situation where someone was intimidated or gave you attitude because you’re a female instructor?
surprisingly, i have not had any issues with that! i think most of the students respect you regardless of gender because they know that there’s a reason why you’re the instructor and they’re the student. even the teenage boys show me respect.

How are your coworkers’ attitudes when it comes to being a female instructor - I assume you work with instructors of both genders, do you notice any differences in how people interact w/ you?
honestly, i work with an awesome group of instructors. when i started working as an instructor, i was the one who had the misperception that you had to be in your early to mid 20’s and riding for 10+ years and doing tricks off features to be an instructor. but i was soooo wrong! good instructors come in all ages, sizes, ethnicity, levels, and lots of different personalities!

What is the #1 pointer you give your students who are brand new learners?
BEND YOUR KNEES!

What’s the biggest mistake you have to correct?
back leg steering. a lot of people don’t know that the most efficient and correct way to turn is to pivot with their front foot.

I usually tell people give themselves at least 2 days of getting beat up on the hill when they’re learning before they will feel really confident and ready to venture off the bunny hills. In your experience, what’s the average learning curve of new riders to get to that level and how can they accelerate that time if at all?
there’s really no “time frame” that you can give to any beginning rider for them to be able to ride down any level of terrain because some students are quick learners, and there are those who take much longer. as an instructor, we are trained to identify what and how we deliver the lessons but we can’t control how they use the information we give them. i always tell my students snowboarding is not easy but its also not hard if you just apply what you learn in the lessons in how you ride. there are riders who have been snowboarding for years who are still learning. i remind them of my three P’s: Practice, Patience, and Play! Practice what you learn, have Patience and never give up, and lastly….Play and have fun!

I also suggest new riders absolutely take a lesson first to get the basics.   Do you agree or do you think some people can just “pick it up” without any initial tips? Why or why not?
absolutely, there are people out there who are just naturally athletic and can pick up a sport quickly without lessons.  but even instructors take educational clinics to get better season after season. do you think shaun white goes out there and trains by himself with no one’s help because he’s a multiple gold medalist? athletes of all levels need some type of direction.

What are some of the perks you get from being employed at a resort?
season pass (of course) and super discount for dependent passes too.

What are some insider tips you’d give to Mt High visitors?
parking - get there early, it gets packed early! lift tix - get the 6 pack or point passes for best value. check out the east resort for wide open runs and big jumps (when we get tons of snow). your lift tickets are good at both east and west resorts, use the free shuttle. we have one of the BEST Winter Sports School, so take lessons! =)

Which of the other SoCal “local” mountains do you go to?
bear mountain

What’s your favorite part of the job?
i get paid to snowboard!

What’s the process for becoming a snowboard instructor? What tips do you have for anyone who wants to do this job?
apply early and don’t just expect a free pass for the season, it’s still a job and you still have responsibilities!

And just for fun, what would be your Jersey Shore nickname?
S-Pow

Thanks Sara!

Check out Sara’s snowboarding blog at www.Gurlryder.com, where she blogs about women’s snowboarding news, reviews and everything in between!  You can also follow her tweets at @Gurlryder. 

Here are 2 real cool female Hotties on the Hill - Amy and Rebecca.  We met them at McCoy station at lunchtime this past Saturday as they waited for their friends to meet them.  I actually was eavesdropping a little bit because they were sitting right next to us and talking about the McCoy Web Cam so it was they who told me about it! And so I had to start talking to them. They were 2 cool chicks from the Long Beach area.  Both were snowboarding regular foot, and have been at it for 10 years.  And of course, relaxing at midday with a cold beer… ladies after my own heart.  Great meeting you two!

Please rate these hotties:  (4 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5)

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Meet Steve - we saw him down at the Canyon Lodge gondola this weekend at the beginning of the day.  I noticed his cute kitten board - one of the Burton Un.Inc series a few seasons back.  I squealed when I saw the board (what can I say, I love little kitties and doggies, and on a snowboard no less!) and that was how we started talking.  He is from Solana Beach and has been riding 7 years.  What a great sport, he let me take a picture of him and his board even though his friends were laughing at us. Nice to meet you Steve!

Rate him!  (5 votes, average: 4.6 out of 5)

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This weekend’s Mammoth trip was another fun one.  I went with a completely different group of folks than I usually do.  We had 2 condos and 14 people!  For 2 straight days, I was snowboarding with a group of guys, all of whom were better and a lot faster than me so I really had to step up my game to keep up with them and to “represent” for us women.  I don’t have a lot of pictures from the slopes because it was all-business, no-nonsense riding for the most part and I was so exhausted!

They took me through some deep powder tree runs; with all the recent snow there was still a few stashes to be found.  They also knew the mountain really well and so we went on some hidden little trails and secret spots..

Roger’s, runs under Chair 21, tree stashes way off the far side of Chair 5, the high side of China Bowl… lots of fun hidden and empty trails that I hope I remember how to get to another time.

The trip was also fun because I broke out of my usual routine and we checked out some new places for apres ski, dinner, and nightlife:  Hyde Lounge, Lakanuki, Gomez’s… I’ll be posting details on those separately.

The weather was great (except for some clouds on Fri and then snow showers on Saturday afternoon)… we had almost NO wind, and mostly blue skies.

It was also cold enough that the show stayed fresh feeling and there was not a lot of ice or crust on the runs.  Except for Chair 23 going down to Scotty’s.  Joana and I played a little human bowling with one another on that one.

But the weekend highlight for me - we ran in to Woolly, the Mammoth Mountain Mascot, TWICE this weekend!  Great photo ops at the top of Gold Rush and at McCoy Station.

At Canyon Lodge on Friday 1/29/10… this guy was wearing “destroyed” style ripped jeans, exposing black lycra or leggings underneath. Oh boy… jeans on the hill is always a no-no but he really took it to another level!

Introducing a new feature on the blog - we will be doing reviews of apres-ski happy hours.  First up, Lakanuki in the Mammoth Village.

We know Lakanuki as one of the best places to go dancing in the Village on Saturday evenings.  We never considered it for happy hour because we usually go to Whiskey Creek when we get off the hill.  However, this weekend I got the chance to try Lakanuki out.

We got there at about 4pm and it was pretty empty cuz it was so early.  Part of our crew had already secured a large table area AND met some fun folks to socialize with.  Lakanuki offers plenty of tables and the bar has a friendly, fun vibe.   The staff is really friendly and efficient (ask for Amy’s section, she was the best!)

The Lakanuki happy hour goes from 3-6pm. Their menu is a great deal - $3.50 for local Mammoth Brewing Co. beers AND for their killer Mai Tai’s and Margaritas!  A lot of our people got the Mai Tais but, that is a little too much for me…  They’re full of rum and served in tall pint glasses.  As for me, I tried the Hefeweizen beer - tastes almost as good as Blue Moon and they even serve it with an orange slice.

Lakanuki has some decent bar food appetizers for $5 apiece, including buffalo wings, calamari, french fries, chicken tenders, a quarter-rack of ribs, nachos… some good stuff.  (Secret tip - ask for chicken tenders with buffalo wing sauce and bleu cheese - voila, non-messy wings!) George thought the wings were pretty spicy, but I loved them.

By the time we left, about 5:45pm, the bar had filled in and there were plenty of folks enjoying the last few minutes of happy hour.  The music was a little louder and the crowd a little more festive, having indulged in a few of those happy hour priced cocktails

We got our bill and all agreed it was a great bargain for all the food and drinks we had.  Perfect capper to a good day of riding.  I recommend the Lakanuki happy hour!

Lakanuki is in the Mammoth Village, across from the Starbucks.  Contact them by phone at 760 934 7447 or check out their website at www.lakanuki.com. As they say, Mahalo!

How cool is this guy’s jacket?  It’s graphics from the 80s Atari console video game called Asteroids!

When you ride, do you wear a helmet?  And why or why not?

I know people who don’t wear helmets because they “look dorky.”  I’d rather look a little dorky than break my head open, thanks.  Personally I will not ride without one because I ride in a lot of trees and as I’ve mentioned before, I also wear a helmet to protect myself from other people losing control!  (and I quote a past post, “You just never know when  some dumbass will run into you.“)

Today Boardistan.com posted a  link to a story on ConsumerAffairs.com which highlighted a proposed state Assembly bill which would require all California resort employees and riders under age 18 to wear a helmet.   The proposed bill, AB 1652, would also require resorts to adhere to more uniform standards of hazard & out-of-bounds signage, put standardized safety padding on lift towers & other obstacles, and provide more accessible information about the how and why of each ski or snowboard accident.

I agree with the proposed mandatory helmets law.  After all, isn’t it the law for kids to wear helmets biking?  Seems only reasonable to require for snowboarding too, given the inherent risks in the sport.   I for one am going to keep wearing my helmet!

Since I lagged on getting any primo Hotties on the Hill this weekend in Mammoth (I’ll make it up next weekend I hope!)  I wanted to point your attention to the “SuperBabes of Snow” highlighted on TheSkiChannel.com.  Click the pic and enjoy!

Rate the hotties… (1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Spotted at the outdoor bar at Canyon Lodge on Saturday… when your pants fit this tight, it’s a sign to buy NEW ones!

Then he bent over… I’m surprised these suckers didn’t rip! Yikes!