Westbound Boarder

Allright folks, get ready for some sick conditions coming to the SoCal mountains this week.  It’s finally snowing!  And with rain in LA expected to continue throughout the week, this should be the El Nino storm we all have been hoping for.  Mt. High has already seen 3 inches of fresh pow at the peak, with the base receiving a mixture of snow and rain.  The snow level is expected to drop to 5,500 feet tonight, making for tons of fresh pow tomorrow and throughout the rest of the week.  Bear, on the other hand, (while the temperature is 38F at the moment) is expecting 8 – 16 inches tomorrow.

I’m not going to pretend to love the rain (because I really don’t) but nonetheless, it has been raining in LA the pase couple of days.  But one great thing about rain in the city means snow at the local mountains!  Big Bear/Snow Summit saw more than 14 inches of new snow this week, so if you’re thinking of heading up to the mountain, now would be a good time to do it.  And if the below photo doesn’t entice you, I don’t know what will!

Photo courtesy of Big Bear Mountain Resorts

Back in late July, one of the largest surfing events of the year flooded the beaches of Huntington Beach – The Hurley US Open of Surfing.  In case you weren’t around to check out the event live in SoCal, FUEL TV’s bringing it to your living room this week, with a highlight reel of the best moments of the week.  It will air this Thursday (yes geniuses, that’s tonight) at 8:00pm and 11:00pm ET (5:00pm and 8:00pm PT) on FUEL TV.

And in case you’re not quite sure what the Hurley US Open of Surfing even is, well, it was a nine-day event where some of the best surfers in the world came together to compete for the $100,000 first place prize purse… and it was awesome.  The comp. included big names such as Kelly Slater (ever heard of him?), Andy Irons, Mick Fanning, and CJ Hobgood, and up-in-comers Brett Simpson, Adriano de Souza, and Michel Bourez, to name a few.  Music and a fashion show also played a key role in event turnout, which will also be highlighted on the show.

If you can’t catch the event tonight (and don’t have DVR or TiVo), here’s a full schedule of when it will air on FUEL:

“Best Of The Hurley US Open of Surfing 2009” Air Dates:

• Thursday, 11/12/2009                                    8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT in SurfSpot
• Thursday, 11/12/2009                                    11:00 PM ET/8:00 PM PT
• Saturday, 11/14/2009                                     10:00 AM ET/7:00 AM PT
• Sunday, 11/15/2009                                       11:30 AM ET/8:30 AM PT
• Sunday, 11/29/2009                                       10:00 AM ET/7:00 AM PT
• Monday, 11/30/2009                                     8:00 AM ET/5:00 AM PT

That’s right – tomorrow, Mt. High will officially be the first mountain to open in Southern California.  It will be open to season pass holders only, so either get a season pass or head up the next day.

Operating hours this week and weekend: 9am to 5pm on Thursday, 8:30am to 10pm on Friday, 8am to 10pm on Saturday, and 8am to 4pm on Sunday.

Thanks El Nino for bringing us some early season snow!  Who’s up for a little “haunted” Halloween shred sesh?

Last week, Mt. High ski resort (and my local mountain) announced that it will be launching an iPhone application with a release date of November 15.  Before you read any further, I’d like to preface this post with a “disclaimer” – I don’t own an iPhone.  I’ve never even used one less a few quick app tutorials. (Yes, for me the free company blackberry is a little more enticing at the moment, but that’s not to say I’ll never make the switch).  Regardless, I am more impressed each day by the technology and capabilities that modern smart phones bring to the table.

After reading up on Mt. High’s application (without actually having the opportunity to test it, first), I think it sounds pretty cool.  Some of the features include:

• Current mountain information such as snow conditions and trail openings
• Ticket price information and the ability to purchase tickets right from your phone
• Vacation planning resources, such as information on lodging, lessons, and upcoming weather
• An optional Powder Alert, where you can sign up to receive e-mail or text message notifications on new snow, ticket deals, and upcoming events
• Access to GPS guided directions, automatic dialing features, Google maps, and more

The App is $1.99 and can be purchased via iTunes or mthigh.com.

Obviously, this application is targeted toward the younger demographic – also Mt. High’s largest group of visitors – but is designed to improve everyone’s on mountain experience.  With an increasing number of people using the iPhone and associated applications these days, launching this app was a very smart move on Mt. High’s part, and I hope to see more resorts follow suit down the road (not for my crackberry-obsessed sake, but for everyone else out there).

Photo taken on Mammoth on Wednesday morning, 10.14

To those of you who are busy prepping for the upcoming snowboard season… Well, it’s coming just a little bit sooner than you might think.  Though a few Colorado resorts saw opening day last weekend, such as Loveland and A-Basin (last I heard it was 17 degrees in Denver!), California will have its first with Mammoth Mountain opening this Friday.  If you live anywhere in Cali., you’ve probably been experiencing the massive rain storm (yes, I do now consider light showers a ‘massive storm’) but the upside is the two feet of snow that dumped on Mammoth this past week.

This is the second earliest opening in Mammoth resort history (the first being on Oct. 8, 1994) and to celebrate, Mammoth is offering all guests FREE SKIING this Friday! (Yes, you read that right, I said ‘free’).  The base of Broadway Express currently has 16 – 24 inches of snow, which isn’t much, but hey, we’ll take it!  Currently, Broadway Express is the only chair lift that is confirmed open on Friday, but resort officials hope to add more lifts to the list soon since there is more snow at higher elevations.  The resort will be open 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Personally, I won’t be there this Friday (dang job…) but I hope to make it there at least once this season.  If you go, let us know what you think!

I’m new to this whole surfing thing.  I’ve lived in LA for more than a year now, and the deal I made with myself before I moved here was that I was going to learn to surf (to make up for the fact I couldn’t snowboard as often).  But countless surf sessions and YouTube videos later, I wasn’t getting much further.  Yes, it was time for a lesson.

Last weekend I hooked up with Bill Sharp at the Huntington Beach Surf School for a little “Surfing 101.”  As much as I love LA, I always enjoy the opportunity to leave my little Santa Monica bubble every now and again.  And if you’ve ever been to Huntington Beach, you’d know why.

I arrived to my lesson a few minutes after 10am (normally I pride myself on being timely, but I had a little incident with a flat tire on my way down.  Luckily, I a guy I met on the side of the road knew a thing or two about fixing flats, and I was well on my way to surfdom in no time).  When I arrived, I walked down to the pier and the little surf shack behind Duke’s, and there was Bill waiting, a surf board in each arm, ready to get the day started.

Now Bill’s a pretty sharp surfer (yes, pun intended, thank you).  He spent his childhood years learning to surf in Durban, South Africa and began competing at age 14.  In Bill’s words, us California’s don’t even know big waves (what?! You mean the wicked 3 foot white waters I mastered last weekend are considered… small?!)  Bill turned pro at age 25, but before long he was back coaching in Durban, both aspiring pros (he coached the South Africa national surf team for years) and African kids who were part of development programs.  The African kids he taught didn’t know how to swim, which caused Bill to come up with an alternate method of teaching – a method that he still uses with beginners quite often today.

It’s called the “push-in technique,” which is where you start in waist-deep water and literally push off the sand and onto your board when a broken wave comes your direction.  Bill believes it is important to take baby steps when learning to surf, so learning on small, broken waves first before you progress to more advanced waves is absolutely key.

Bill began the lesson in a small room with a simple white board.  He went over the push-in technique before he took me out to try it first hand.  He also went over several other topics every surfer should know, such as understanding tides, where to stand on the board, and safety and etiquette.  Over the next week or two, I’ll share some of his top tips for success in the surf.

Now that I knew the ins and outs of surfing in theory, it was time to try it in the water.  Bill likes to work his lessons around the tides and shoot to head out on tides that are better for learning (typically lower tides because you have a higher chance of having nice, long, rolling waves).  So we paddled out to waist-deep water and he got me up and surfing in no time (and of course, he made sure to put instruction in terms of “snowboarding” – just to make sure I completely understood.)  By the end of the lesson I was exhausted, but happy to say that I have now mastered Surfing 101!  Bring on the 15 footers.

Overall, I learned that the key to learning to surf is comprised of three components – you have to have the right board, the right conditions, and the right instruction.  And while my conditions were a little less than ideal, I had a great board and perfect instruction to round out the package.  Now let’s see how I surf…

Tomorrow night at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, the surfing community and influential personalities alike will come together in support of people who have suffered spinal chord injuries.

The 6th Annual Night by the Ocean Gala (we first wrote about it here) is aimed at honoring those who have made extraordinary contributions to the spinal cord injury community.  It will feature a live performance by musical guests Fiction Family, featuring Switchfoot front man, Jon Foreman, and guitarist Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek, Wolfgang Puck-catered cuisine, a hosted bar, live and silent auctions and touching stories of courage and hope from extraordinary honorees.

At the event, the host foundation Life Rolls On will present a number of awards to influential people who have made contributions to the spinal chord injury community, including Jenna Wolfe and the Today Show with the Visionary Award for positive portrayal in the media of people with spinal chord injuries.  Additionally, actress Brooke Burke will be honored with the first ever Life Rolls On Inspiration Award the courage she showed after incurring a spinal chord injury.

This event and organization is really cool because it offers hope to people who have suffered spinal chord injuries.  For example, they have a “They Will Surf Again” program, where people with spinal chord injuries gather for a day of surfing.

Tickets are already sold out for the event, but if you want to contribute now or in the future head to the organization’s Web page for more information.  And stay tuned for our recap!

LA is known for being home to some of the worst traffic in the nation… but this weekend all that traffic might not be such a bad thing.  On Saturday (that’s tomorrow, for those of you who might not be counting down the hours already), Red Bull Soapbox is coming to Los Angeles, where forty-two teams will race (and crash) through Downtown LA.  But this isn’t your typical NASCAR-style racing…

This year, a banana slug, a pinata, a beaver (crush the Beaver!!!), and a taco are all expected to make their way to the race.  More than 200 teams entered their craziest, off-the-wall ideas for go-karts, and Sat. will feature the 42 who made the cut.  All teams will be competing to win a trip to the NASCARs, complete with the Red Bull royal treatment (and lots of free Red Bull, I’m sure).

Here are details for Saturday’s event: The pits open at 1am for Soapbox viewing, while the Opening ceremony begins at 12:30pm and the race stars at 1pm.  Due to several street closures and large crowds, Red Bull recommends taking public transportation or carpooling.  For complete event details or to check out team bios, visit the Red Bull Soapbox home page.

If you’ve never been to a Red Bull event, I guarantee you they’re always a good time.  But if you’re on the fence about attending this event and need some added persuasion, check out some of the best (and by best I mean worst) crashes below, courtesy of our friends at Red Bull.  See ya there!

This past Saturday, the city of Los Angeles gathered at 70+ locations to clean the SoCal waterways.  Deemed “Coastal Cleanup Day,” the monumental event gathered more than 14,000 LA County volunteers and removed over 150 tons of trash from regional areas.  Volunteers unearthed some pretty unusual debris, including a dead sea lion, a severed goat’s head, a restroom urinal, a dilapidated 10-foot skiff, and a fake mustache (I don’t know about you, but surfing in a sea of fake mustaches is a little less-than-appealing; kind of gross to think about).

Great work to all the volunteers involved in the initiative, and I know I’ll personally take it upon myself to keep the beaches around me clean as can be; I invite you to join me!  For a look at some of the photos from the event, check out the Coastal Cleanup Day Flickr gallery.

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