2010 Romp to Stomp

In an effort to 1. Make more of an effort to combat the beer belly and 2. Do something positive and contribute to the community, I signed up for the Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series®. It’s being held this Saturday, January 23rd, at Mountain Creek in Vernon, NJ. I was initially invited to a group through a co-worker and since I have never strapped on snowshoes, I thought why the hell not.

I feel kind of like when I told my aunt I’d run a 5K: good about the exercise and cause, but bad about waking up early and running a 5K. I somehow got conned into a half marathon, kinda, we’ll see how that plays out. I also am going to be riding at Windham on Sunday for a group I volunteered for, so I’m sure I’ll be sore for that.

I’ve never done any of these benefit events, so I’m looking forward to it and the fact that I’m trying something new. Breast cancer really hasn’t affected my family too much. My mom’s mom had it, and beat it, twice before age 60, so I think I’ve got a decent chance in a battle with cancer.

It’s not just genes though. These events raise money and awareness. I absolutely hate going to the doctor and wasting precious time I could be snowboarding…or sleeping. Or when I have to wait 45 minutes for something that takes 2 minutes. What I have to try and remember is that one of those visits may be the one that saves me. Early detection is best.

Those yearly exams, I try not to skip them, but emergency room visits are over-rated. Most cuts and gashes can be solved with crazy glue and some band-aids, gauze or even duct tape. Most everything else requires OTC pain relievers and Jack.

You can view my personal page for the event here. If you would like to donate it is greatly appreciated and if you are near Mountain Creek why not join a team?

Opening Day At Mount Peter

It was opening day, my opening day at least since I didn’t get to the mountain on Saturday during the limited hours. Mount Peter opened up on Saturday from 12p – 4p with, from what I heard, were awesome conditions. Saturday had some great weather, but Sunday was a different story. The morning was nice, it was cloudy, kinda cool and the snow was nicely packed. Great for an easy first day.

Gray opening day

I did some laps and checked out the new instructor training groups and just took it easy. I threw in a few little 180s and realized how rusty I am. I became lazy over the past few months so I need to get my legs back and get in shape again. Although I shouldn’t use my snowboarding season to get in shape, I should be already, he-he. I didn’t really get pictures from that day, but just a few shots of the mountain.

Dreary base view

I also don’t want to put anybody up here who doesn’t want to be either. I will get better at this photo thing for the blog, promise.

20% Off Sale And Sweetness

As good as this is, I can not take advantage of this awesome AltrecOutlet.com sale because I cut myself off from buying anything until tax time. This is for myself of course and Christmas gifts are perfectly valid, but there really nothing on my list that I could get from Altrec, so I figured I’d pass it on. You can actually head right to Altrec.com itself and the coupon HOHOHO is valid on All Sale Items. They also have the lowest (regular and most consistent) Free Shipping threshold of all the online stores. The regular vs. outlet domains are really just an easy way to separate sale products and it gets the user in through a different method. BackcountryOutlet.com is also Backcountry.com (or used to be, they may have changed the way you can switch from store to store) and Evogear.com does and in-site switch as well. Look below to find some left over Cyber Monday deals going on.

Omatic Sweet 160 09'

Be wary of how busy and backed up online shops still are, especially the smaller core shops. I placed an order on the night of Monday, November 30th and it has yet to ship. A small place with limited resources and hands can only do so much, but they were honest and up front about, so no biggie.

And since I am waiting on some stuff, I’ll post when I get it. Actually my boyfriend just got his Omatic Sweet (pic above) snowboard yesterday, and it is pretty sweet. Even better, since he was torn about whether to get the Omatic Sweet or the Omatic Awesome, he got stickers that say “Awesome.” I know it is a great board and I did a lot of research, but I really think his final decision was because the boards were called “Awesome” and “Sweet.”

I looked over the board a bit. Nice flex – not too soft and not too stiff. It will be a perfect board for just about anything. We spent some time looking at widths, but ended up not going with the Omatic Awesome wide. The waist is only 25.6cm wide, but with new bindings and boots he has, we hope this board will eliminate most toe drag he had. He loves the risers on his skis and was considering them for snowboarding too.

As Hampus Mosesson’s pro model and meant for big mountain freestyle riding it’s a twin directional. Definitely going to suit his all around riding style. The sidewall angle kind of falls in the middle so it will allow for some margin of error, also good for a skier.

As promised above, here are some of the good left over deals available around the interweb:
Holiday Sale Coupon – 20% off. Coupon Code: HOHOHO

Find Atomic, Arbor, Burton, GNU, RIDE and more of your favorites at Berg’s Ski and Snowboard Shop! FREE Domestic Ground Shipping on orders over $39!

Buy a Burton Snowboard and get a Lift Ticket Free

Free Shipping on everything – limited time only

Evogear.com is holding DailyDeal sales. Today’s deal got you 25% off ALL Outlet Jackets so I suggest checking those out or bookmark the Gear Deals page to get updates quick. That’s all for now, but I will update on the new stuff when it comes in. There is a mash of stuff from park setups to snow pants!

How Many Snowboards Do You Own?

I have 2 decks right now that I will be riding this season, granted they are the same, Rome Blue, but from 2006 and 2009. My old Blue is beat up and will remain my teaching board, so I’m not as careful with that one. My new one will be broken in this year and be ridden at Hunter Mountain, Mount Snow and a few resorts in Colorado (yay!). I feel that the Blue is a nice deck for all-mountain riding, but I want something I can really throw around in the park. If I can find one before my trip I will possibly be bringing 2 decks to Colorado, though the Blue can handle anything. One more is not excessive in my opinion, but to some of the more recreational riders I know, 1 is enough. So do I go with 3? How many boards do you own and consistently ride? Do you have one for different types of riding (jib, groomers, powder, teaching, summer)? Or one for jibbing and one for everything else? Enlighten me. Maybe it won’t make me feel that bad for spending the money.

I am avidly looking for a park board now (and a snowboard attachment for my Subi), especially with all the deals floating around out there for the Holiday Season Shopping Kickoff. I think evogear.com, SierraSnowboard.com and Altrec.com have put up some great sales, but I’m waiting for Cyber Monday to see if anything better will come along. Be sure to check the Gear Deals page for any new offers.

Evogear.com Sale

I use Gmail for personal stuff, and have all my email accounts go there. I’m a little controlling and have folders and filters for everything, so when I see my “Shopping Promos” folder get bold, I know something good is in there. I especially like seeing email from my favorite online gear vendors, evogear.com and Altrec.com.

Today I found another evogear.com email advertising a 20% Coupon for any gear in their Outlet section. I’m currently the personal shopper for a few people for snowboards and clothing, so this helps. Even ski stuff, but I mostly find good deals and they decide if the gear is good or not.

evogear.com Snovember Sale

Enjoy it while it lasts, but hurry. Evo has not said when it will end, just that it ends soon. Hopefully for a few days so I can spend time shopping!