Westbound Boarder

Today is Saturday, and I’ve been sitting at home (alone) all day long. (Actually, that’s a lie; I did take a quick walk to Starbucks earlier this morning for my much-needed coffee fix of the day).  My phone, though, has been less than lonely, buzzing on the table all day long with calls and messages from friends and family (Danielle included) gloating about their first trip to Hood since the mountain opened last week.

If CA’s less than perfect snow conditions have you blue (like me) fear not because I do have a solution (one that doesn’t involve a 4+ hour trip to Big Bear; and that’s kind of a lie because from what I hear, the snow’s actually been pretty nice at Mt. High this past week; I just haven’t made it up yet ).  

I realize since we began this blog that we have been a bit biased toward snowboarding (largely because it’s the season that’s upon us) but for all you LA folks, surfing is still a good alternative.  Late Fall/early Winter sometimes brings the best waves, provided you can tough the cold for a few hours.  In fact, I hit the beach just a few weeks ago and didn’t even wear a wet suit!  (Well, I also overheard a group of guys next to me complaining about how “they wish they had booties” – come on dudes, toughen up). The ocean was full of surfers, more so than I’ve seen even in summer, and the surf was perfect!  A couple of my favorite local spots are Santa Monica, Venice and Zuma (they have good-sized waves for beginners like me and their waves have been nice this fall) but Carlsbad down south is also a sweet location.  

However, if surfing in 40 degree water is not your thing, and, like me, you are dying for real (good) snow to blanket the LA local mountains, below are a couple good (and interesting) snowboarding alternatives:

• Shaun White Snowboarding – Named, of course, after Olympic Gold medalist Shaun White, this video game is enough to get anyone hyped for the season!  Can’t say I’ve personally tried it out, though I have heard great things.
• Virtual Snow - Just discovered this today and it’s kind of a neat little concept.  The description is in the title – if you just cant’s wait to get to the mountain, why not practice… on land!  Founded by Bob Salerno, you can learn to ski or snowboard on a little treadmill looking thinggy (check out their YouTube video).  Hillarious… I’d be interested to try it out someday
• Ski Dazzle – An online social network for skiers and snowboarders.
• Dew Tour on NBC – I wrote about this earlier today; Dew Tour’s on again tomorrow so check it out! 

As for me, I’m counting down the minutes ’till my Mt. Hood trip next weekend!

For those of you who are sick of “rainin’ men,” don’t worry, ‘cause now it’s snowin’ ladies! OK, I realize that’s a pretty bad pun, but you get the point – it’s time to hear it for the women riders for a change.

Hold up; Let me take a step back. My name is Andrea and I’ve been an avid boarder for as long as I remember. My first time on a snowboard was at the age of 12 (well, I started skiing at age 2, but let’s not surface those horrid memories ) and since then I can’t imagine a life without it. I competed on my high school’s snowboard team for four years (where I met my best buddy and co-author of this fabulous blog) and went on to compete in several amateur competitions during college. After high school I took up wakeboarding, wakesurfing, waterskiing, and now that I live in Los Angeles, surfing.  Though I can’t claim to be an “expert” in any one category, I have fully embraced the boardsports lifestyle.

But back to high school for a moment – Dani and I were two of six ladies on the school’s snowboard team – a team of nearly 60. Sometimes singled out as two of the few girls in a traditionally male-dominated sport, we had our work cut out for us (and the fact that I painted the school with green and gold pom-poms four nights a week – yes, I was a cheerleader in my second life – didn’t help my image much, either). Let’s face it – sometimes it’s tough being a girl on the slopes. But then there are those times when you step up to the edge of the pipe, a group of 30+ people in line behind you, put on your goggles and leap in, hearing echos of the words, “Woah, that’s a girl?!” behind you. That’s what makes it all worthwhile.

As I mentioned above, we aren’t by any means “expert” riders, but we do know a thing or two about the sport and we’d love to share our knowledge about being a lady who loves to ride. This blog is for anyone who loves snowboarding, surfing, skating, etc. – or wants to learn – at all different levels. As the seasons continue to change from white to blue, we’ll discuss everything from snowboarding to surfing; what to wear, where to to go, and everything in between. (And we’d love to hear your content suggestions, too!) Our hope and vision for the future is to create an open blogging community for women who love to ride.  

Anyway, about the blog – Let us know what you think. If you have a question you’d like answered, an idea for a story, a photo or video to share – we want to hear from you! Shoot us an e-mail at WestboundBoarder@gmail.com. Also check out our Facebook Fan Page.  Happy reading (and riding!)

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