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

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.

Red Bull: New Years. No Limits, starring Travis Pastrana in LA this winter. This looks sick; keep an eye out for this one!  More info. here and here.

Memorial Day is a holiday that dates back to 1868.  Historically, this holiday, which falls on the last Monday in May, is a day to remember those who have died in war, fighting for our country. 

Memorial Day in our present day and age is simply a three word phrase - Three day weekend!  And it starts today (in fact, I don’t know about you but I’m just about to take off from work, go on a quick run, then hit the waves for the first time all season - needless to say, I’m stoked).  In case you haven’t thought past that press release you have to finish before your home free, here are a few things going on in LA this weekend.

• Paradise Cove: an awesome, enclosed beach near Malibu that’s known for one thing, and one thing only - it is the only beach in LA Country you can bring alcohol to.  And since Memorial Day and alcohol go hand in hand, this is the perfect weekend to check it out for the first time.
• Pool Parties: Ah, yes; LA is definitely well-known for having some of the best hotel pool parties on the West Coast.  Some to check out this Monday are The Standard, The Roosevelt, and the W.
• Fiesta Hermosa: Hermosa Beach is awesome… and its even cooler when a holiday rolls around.  There’s tons going on at Fiesta Hermosa this weekend (and it even sounds pretty family friendly, too). 

And for those of you who aren’t lucky enough to live in the best city God ever created, here are a few additional ideas of things to occupy your time:

• Go on a hike: Look up good hiking trails in your city.  With the weather up and down the West Coast being near perfect, you’re bound to have a good time anywhere you go.
• Hit the beach: There are plenty of nice beaches in oregon all the way up to Seattle - the perfect place to be this weekend!
• Backyard BBQ: Again, you can never go wrong with this option.

Have any other ideas?  We want to hear ‘em; leave a comment below!  Have fun, be safe, and have a “memorable” weekend (however you may interpret that closing statement…)

And just when you thought there was a month for everything…  I found out today that April is National Grilled Cheese Month (and apparently today is National PB&J Day. America loves their sandwiches!)  The last weekend of the month (April 25th), in case you’re really bored, you can attend the Grilled Cheese Invitational in LA (Location TBA).  Think you make the meanest sandwich in the city?  You can register to be a competitor!  Although competitive grilled cheese making isn’t quite my area of expertise (come on, how creative do you expect me to be with cheese and bread?!) I wonder if they need judges?

And what, exactally, do grilled cheese sandwiches have to do with snowboarding?  Absolutely nothing, other than to prove that when I’m not snowboarding or surfing you can find me doing extrordinary things… like writing about grilled cheese sandwiches (although I would much rather be eating them).  Oh, and they also make a tasty mountain snack.  Mmm…

With every massive sporting-goods chain, there is a great local shop hiding from the public eye, and Westbound Boarder’s got the 411.  In our quest to come up with relevant content that you all will want to read, we decided to launch a “Saturday Shop Reviews” series where we’ll go to and preview a different local shop in SoCal or Portland each Saturday in March.

We’ve already received several great reader recommendations, and we can’t wait to get started.  First up, this Saturday Danielle’s reviewing Exit Real World, thanks to recommendations by, not one, but two people!  Check back tomorrow to read her awesome post, where Danielle will tour the store and talk about some of highlights… and tell us why it’s a great shop for the ladies.

On that note, if you guys have a favorite shop that you want to see in here, let us know!  Send us an e-mail and tell us what makes your shop great, and if we like it, we’ll feature it!

And you know what that means - massive snow at the mountains!  Light snow flurries are expected to hit Mt. High and Bear all week through Saturday.

If you’re looking for an event to hit up this weekend, check out “A Snowboard Contest” presented by Active and Signal Sports Saturday at Mt. High; registration begins at 8am.  Additionally, Bear Mountain will be home to USASA’s boardercross competition on Sunday, March 8.  Great events + dank snow = awesome time at the mountain this weekend.

I’ve lived in LA for five months now… And I continually ask myself, why don’t I spend more time at Venice Beach?!  Well, this past week (in the 80 degree winter weather we’ve been having here in SoCal, mind you) I asked myself that question once again.

When you think about a winter weekend getaway to SoCal, you typically think of “Hollywood,” “Beverly Hills,” or “Graumen’s Chinese” - The somewhat cold and windy beach is probably the last thing on your mind.  However, winter is one of the best times to hit the sand!  Not only does the cooler weather make for smaller crowds, but the vibe is much more meloncholy and tranquil than in the hot summer sun.  And, if you’re tough enough to brave the cold ocean, winter is the best time to surf!  Venice is a great beach for beginners (I’ve surfed there a few times, myself, before I graduated to the .0025% bigger waves at Zuma )  

If you don’t want to surf, though, there are still plenty of things to do in Venice Beach: There are lots of great places to eat, both sit down restaurants and food to go (pizza, hot dogs, etc.); there are several vendors that line up along the boardwalk, similar to a small, quaint European town; and there are groups of fun street performers to watch and large drum circles.  And of course, plenty of hippies!  During my day in Venice the other day, there was this crazy (and hilarious) group of street performers doing flips, etc.; it was seriously nearly as good as Cirque du Soleil!  (And 100% free Though they will hassle you for a tip if you don’t give one).  

I would go on and on, but I saw this blog post in LAist that pretty much sums up winter on the LA coast for you. (And see some of our own pics below!)  Thinking about taking a vaca yet?  Venice Beach is about as close as you can get from the real Venice without even leaving the US!

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