Word on the Vegas streets is Burton's coming to town.. Did someone say party?

Yes that's true and yes we did! Get off your couch and hold off on that hangover until Sunday so you can make it out to Burton's new movie premiere this weekend at the District. The Burton crew is packing up their RV with all the essentials: beer, a band, their new movie THE B, their team, and making the haul out to Sin City this weekend for a night of fun and fiasco to show Las Vegas what powdered dreams are made of.

The crew is rolling in on Saturday and will be holding an autograph session with their team riders from 6-8 at the District, followed by the premiere of their new move THE B. But wait, there's more..they're also bringing the band Really Addictive Sound with them to jam out, and holding an after party at Al's Garage (sorry kiddos, this is the only part of the night you have to have a real 21+ ID for) to keep the festivities and brews flowing.

Come meet the team and check it out Saturday night at the District (what else are you doing?).. and don't forget to check our Rideshop for Burton's latest and greatest sic winter steeze!

Skateboarder Omar Hassan, 35, is known as one of the best in the world and as one of the smoothest. You wouldn't think a skateboarder as smooth as Omar Hassan would take a bunch of spills, but as Omar describes some of his travails, you can't help but think of Wile E. Coyote chasing the Road Runner.

So, read forward here only if you have a high threshold for pain.

Omar Hassan says, "One of my first injuries came when I was doing a front-side air. I fell in a straight Pete Rose slider position with the board still in hand. I broke my thumb and ripped off the nail, which is insanely painful in itself."

Ow-ooo-ch! (By the way, younger folks, Pete Rose is an old-school baseball player known for sliding head first.)

When Omar Hassan was 17, he says he dislocated his ankle. Not broke, but dislocated. An ankle? That doesn't sound good, Omar. He says he broke BOTH the tibia and fibula bones in his leg, and the medical fix-up included six screws that will remain for life.

Now, consider this one: "In Japan, I fell and slapped my hand so hard on the ground that it blew out my palm. My palm literally burst open. I had to get surgery to close up the pad of my hand."

Does Omar Hassan love skateboarding or what? Consider his handsome mug.

"I was doing a Rocket air off a jump ramp and held on too long," Omar says. "I broke two teeth, and the force of the fall shoved my braces through my lip ... I've busted my chin open about seven times. There are too many different stories that I don't care to elaborate on. Landing chin-first in pools, on ramps, in the street. All the same outcome: a busted chin and a lot of blood."

Omar Hassan even uses his injuries to make impromptu product endorsements: "While jumping off the back of a Dumpster into a bank, my board bounced up and hit me on the back of my head. Because Black Label wood is so strong, my board gashed open the back of my dome, and I had to get 14 stitches."

So, if you ever happen to bump into Omar Hassan, try not to REALLY bump into him!

Sources:
http://skateboardermag.com/skateboarder-news-features/magazine/Skateanatomy/omar-hassan-anatomy/
http://www.grindtv.com/athlete/omar_hassan/1068/bio/
http://expn.go.com/skt/s/010416_omarhassan.html

Ask the best snowboarders, or those most-traveled, to name a world-famous ski resort that has done the most to accommodate snowboarders. A frequent answer will be Tignes in eastern France.

Tignes, at its peak, is more than two miles above sea level. The lift is at 3,350 meters, which translates to about 11,000 feet. This has led Tignes patrons to describe "the closest slopes to the sun. At this height, combined with the effect of the Grande Motte Glacier, the climate remains so cold that there is deep light powder available for virtually the entire year. Another statement that snowboarders use to describe Tignes is as follows: "When it snows elsewhere in the Alps, it dumps on Tignes."

Many top resorts are known to accommodate only the highest caliber snowboarders and skiers. Tignes prides itself on providing vacation opportunities and fun for snowboarders of any level, down to beginners. Lessons for beginners are offered in English.

Still, for the snowboarding maven, Tignes is it. There are more than 180 miles of pistes available at Tignes, and so many off-piste places that Tignes annually hosts the Free Ride World Tour.

The Tignes area is so vast and high that freestyle snowboarders may take a lift and ride straight to a chalet, to the Tignes resort center or to one of 20 mountain restaurants. Runs are as long as 9 miles.

For snowboarders who wish to stay closer together, Tignes offers a pair of pipes and a vast terrain park.

In fact, expect some company regardless. Tignes possesses 47 lifts that are able to handle 75,000 boarders and skiers per hour. Just to make sure the slopes remain lightly powered, more than 200 snow cannons are at work at Tignes.

Tignes is so popular, in fact, that there are daily 85-mile bus runs from Geneva International Airport in Switzerland.

Sources:
http://www.j2ski.com/ski_resorts/France/Tignes.html
http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/snowboarding-holidays/resort/tignes.html
http://www.snowboardingholidays.net/location.php?LocationID=1266
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/snowandski/4030838/Snowboarding-the-worlds-best-resorts.html