Review of the Raven Core snowboard: The best cheap snowboard?

Luke    snowboardingholidays     snowboard, snowboard gear, Snowboarding, snowboarding gear, snowboarding gear review, snowboarding holidays

The Raven Core snowboard is one of the cheapest snowboards on the market. At the time of writing you can pick one up with Raven bindings for £170. Even so, the low-end price tag comes with impressive sounding specs, such as a 3-stage rocker/camber profile, true twin-tip shape, tip-to-tail wood core, sandwich constructed sidewall and an IS4400 extruded base.

The Raven Core snowboard

My previous experience of buying snowboards is that you get what you pay for. So, does this model from Raven Snowboards live up to its specs or its price tag?

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Skiing and Snowboarding Holidays on a budget

Mark Pawlak    snowboardingholidays     Budget holidays, ski deals, Snowboarding, snowboarding holidays

As vacations go, you don’t generally think of skiing or snowboarding as a bargain holiday option. It’s not just the travel and accommodation that you have to fork out for but also the togs and accessories that you will need when you get there.

Snowboarding holidays, where fun comes cheap. Image: Flickr/boolve

However, there are always budget ways to enjoy any break and the snowboarding or ski trip is no exception, if you know where to look. There are still some great last minute ski deals online should you decide that you want to escape the rigmarole of a dull January; you can have a week on the slopes for a surprisingly small sum.

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Should I book a Package Snowboarding Holiday or Book Independently?

Luke    snowboardingholidays     Snowboarding, snowboarding deals, snowboarding gear, snowboarding holidays

Most people only get one snowboarding holiday a year. Any worries over work want to be forgotten and stress left behind to relax with friends, family and great snow. So you want to get it right.

But enthusiasts and novices alike are overloaded with options and choices, often making the process a daunting one. For many, a package snowboarding holiday is an easy answer to this problem, for others booking their holiday independently delivers the freedom they seek.

For those unsure as to which may suit them best, here is a quick look at both.

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This Winter’s Top 10 Snowboarding Destinations

Ana Sandoiu    snowboardingholidays     austria, California, Canada, Finland Japan, Italy, Skiing, Snowboarding, Snowboarding in Canada, snowboarding in France, Snowboarding resorts, Switzerland

If these were the seventies, by this time in November you’d be putting on your astrakhan hat and getting ready for snurfing.  But it’s 2011 and bell-bottomed trousers are no longer in fashion… Snowboarding still is though, even if we call it differently! Below you have this winter’s top 10 snowboarding resorts and destinations, as picked by a proper snowboard enthusiast who knows how to do her research. So put on your gear and head to the slopes – it’s time to surf some snow!

Mammoth views Image: Flickr/Perfect Zero

1. Mammoth Mountain, California

Mammoth Mountain is a large ski resort located in Eastern California, along the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. It’s known for two things: cheap accommodation and Shaun White. Its world-class parks are exceptionally well maintained, with superpipes, minipipes and one of the few Super-Duper pipes in the world! This is what makes Mammoth Number 1 among the top snowboarding resorts in the world, as well as an excellent location for freestyle riding. And it’s also why top snowboarders such as two-time Winter Olympics gold medalist Shaun White comes to practice here.

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Freerider Chris Southwell turns Iron Man

Mark Pawlak    snowboardingholidays     Diabetes, Downhill, halfpipe, Iron Man, off piste, Skiing, snowboard, Snowboarding

If you know your powder from your halfpipe, you’ve probably heard of Chris Southwell, professional freeride snowboarder. What you probably won’t know is that Chris is turning to the Iron Man challenge to help promote the work of Diabetes charity Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

Chris, ready to ride

Diagnosed with diabetes seven years ago, he’s proof that with determination and a positive outlook you can take on the greatest of physical challenges while managing the illness.

The Iron Man event will take place in November in Cozumel, Mexico. Between now and then, Chris will trade snow for swim and downhill for uphill as he pushes his body to the limit.

Only a select few get themselves into good enough shape to last the gruelling course (3.86-kilometre swim, 180.2-kilometre cycle, followed by a full marathon of 42.2 kilometres).

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‘Riding the World’ – 5 Mountains, 5 Continents, all in 5 Days?

Neil Skilton    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts, snowboardingholidays     chamonix, Chile, off piste, piste, ski resort, ski resorts, Skiing, Snowboarding

Ok, I enjoy a challenge, but this time I think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.  What started off as an incoherent, passing thought is slowly rising up from the depths of my subconscious and beginning to take over any normal, rational thinking I may have once possessed.

Image: Flickr/ggvic

Snowboarding on five different mountains, on five different continents.  In five days?!  It certainly has a nice ring to it, and as far as challenging adventures go, it’s pretty high up there.  It sounds like a nice idea – get to travel to some interesting locations, visit new mountains and ski new resorts.  Ski in South Africa!  Who can honestly say they’ve done (or even thought about doing) that?  Definitely a story to tell the grandkids, and probably the first story you told to their grandmother!

Preliminary research however illuminated some stark facts and revealed more than a few logistical nightmares.  What time of year to go?  What countries to visit?  What order to visit them in?  The distance between continents is staggering in places, and flight times are disconcerting.

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Snowboarding Etiquette; the Unwritten Laws of the Chairlift

Toni Shaw    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts     austria, France, Italy, ski, Skiing, snowboard, Snowboarding, Switzerland

The chairlift is undoubtedly the most tedious part of any day on the piste. With that in mind, picture this all too familiar scene:

You’ve been waiting for what feels like hours, slowly shuffling your way to the front of the queue amongst the sea of fluorescent jackets. Finally, you’ve got one neat line of heads before it’s your turn to get on the chairlift, and you patiently queue behind one of the four Grand National-esque entrances. The gates open and 3 of the skiers scramble forward, poles clashing and bums rearranging on the seats.

But there’s still one head left.

“Why didn’t he get on?” you silently scream, settling instead for the most audible tuts you can make. He tricked you. He inconsiderately deceived you into thinking he was going to get on with the rest of them and then backed out at the last minute, leaving you and your perfectly-sized group of 4 with a conundrum; do you split up and grant him his solitary ride, or do you wait as another practically empty chairlift glides by?

If you’re guilty of occasionally being that single skier – next time, GET ON THE LIFT! Don’t try and hold out for a four-seater all to yourself, and by all means, fill in that little gap that’s currently occupied by someone’s imaginary friend. It’s simply the law of the lift…and whilst we’re at it, here are some other rules of etiquette that should be abided by…

Stick with your own – there’s nothing more uncomfortable for a snowboarder than having skiers sitting either side of you on the chairlift, pointing straight forward. You have to awkwardly contort your legs so as not to rest your board on the back of their skis and there’s always the risk of running over them as you all get off the lift. Just imagine how much more harmonious it is with 4 goofy snowboarders all hanging in coordination!

Concentrate! We all know its hard for poor beginners, barely being able to master standing up, demonstrating moves resembling the moonwalk, but if you fall off the lift, at any point (or cause the lift to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n to a crawl), you’re just creating a scene and making it more awkward for us to dodge you as we effortlessly disembark from the chair.

On the same note, don’t be the one that gives us a good giggle at the sight of a helpless ski pole or abandoned glove dropped from the lift into no-mans land….

Here’s a tricky one – do you talk to the stranger sitting next to you? Headphones = no. Good-looking and seemingly alone = yes.

Try and chill out. It’s always irritating being sat next to the person taking the opportunity of sitting down as an excuse to…’fuss’. Erratic wringing of hands, searching every pocket for the least snotty tissue, readjusting boot straps, finding your point on a piste map; all perhaps necessary tasks, but when this causes digging in our ribs and general fidgety behaviour, you’re depriving your fellow traveller of a relaxing ride.

If all this seems too much of a hassle, maybe its best to boycott a lift all to yourself – besides, if your fast enough, no-one will catch up with you anyway!