Some of us may go through a day facing no tougher question than "Paper or plastic?" at the supermarket. But try asking one of the most famous X-athletes, Shaun White: Skateboarding or snowboarding?

Skateboarding, says Shaun, is more difficult, "I think it's so much harder to go big and do the tricks. They're so much faster and so much less under control. I'm used to doing airs and stuff in snowboarding, but I almost think you go bigger on a vert ramp."

Shaun White says this, even though he learned skateboarding years before snowboarding.

It seems difficult to believe, with all that he has accomplished, but Shaun White of Carlsbad, Calif., just turned 22 in September. He's been a pro in both sports since he was in his early teenage years. He learned skating first, of course, at just 7 years old, but he has had more competitive success on the snow.

Shaun White's entry into the X-sports came quite simply. He grew up near the Encinitas YMCA, one of the few "Y" facilities you will find with a vertical ramp. With his older brother, Jessie, he started skating. Then he discovered snowboarding when he was 13, and with his skating experience, he was such a quick study that he turned pro in the snow at 14.

The powder took priority for a while for Shaun White, but by the time he was 16, he went back to skating long enough to join Tony Hawk on tour. He was a veteran two-sport athlete at 16! Since then he's pretty much been a snowboarder who also excels on skateboards. In this sense, he is similar to Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders from the 1990s, who were football players who also excelled at baseball.

Shaun White is all the more amazing because he had two open-heart surgeries before he reached age 5 to cure a congenital defect. He also surfs. Pro surfers beware! His hobbies include playing the guitar.

Shaun White recently won the 2008 Laureus World Sports Award for the best Action Sportsperson of the Year. Get this, he has not one, but two, Wikipedia sites on the web. The one with just his name focuses mainly on his skateboarding, and the one that includes snowboarding, well, you can figure that out!

Despite good reason to have a big head, Shaun White remains modest and always expresses thanks for his family's support. If you happen to run into him and his veritable "shock of red hair," just think twice before saying, "Yo, Flying Tomato." He used to like the nickname, but now he's sick of it.

Sources:

shaunwhite.com

skateboard.about.com/od/proskaterbios/p/ProShaunWhite.htm

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_White

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_White_snowboarding

For this rendition of "Best Snowboarding on the Planet," just for a change of pace, we take you to an unreal place.

Jeffrey C. Brunskill and Christopher A. Badurek were teaching a course several years ago in GIS, Geographic Information Systems, at the University of Buffalo in New York. They could have chosen any topic for the case study that they assigned to students. They chose snowboarding. In effect, they challenged their pupils to create an imaginary model snowboarding resort.

"We chose snowboarding because it was a pretty hot topic," explains Brunskill, who invites readers of this blog to try their own hand at the fantasy.

Brunskill and Badurek created the character of Stone Barrington, a potential entrepreneur who figures there is big money in creating such a resort. However, Barrington must sell the idea to Wilfred Drake III, leader of an investment group.

Drake greets Barrington: "Stone, great to have you back in our boardroom this morning." (It did not occur to Brunskill or Badurek to make a play on words with "board" room, as in "snowboard.")

Barrington tells Drake that he had attended the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He liked the opening ceremonies and the speed skating and so forth. Still, he wasn't inspired until he watched Team USA 's Kelly Clark win the Women's Halfpipe Snowboarding Competition on her final run with a 720 air, backed by the wild cheers of the crowd.

Drake tells Barrington, "Stone, this is all very interesting, but is this really going to work? We're here to make money, not to hear the latest fads for these crazy kids."

Stone Barrington answers, "Western ski resorts have obvious advantages over those in the east, regarding the average length of ski runs, but the shorter runs in the east typically have fostered more refined technical abilities. The skiing/boarding mentality produced by the East Coast environment also lends itself to the technical aspects of snowboarding, particularly the half pipe competition. Although many of the nearly 50 ski resorts in the state of New York offer facilities for boarders, only a few cater directly to snowboarding as a sport."

Is Barrington on the right track? Do you want to try the assignment? What would you include in a snowboarding resort to make it qualify for "Best on the Planet?" This could lead to some fun chit-chat with your buddies. P.S. Wilfred Drake III says you still gotta make money.

Source:

Sciencecases.org/snowboard/snowboard.asp

Snowboarding in Ohio? Aw, c'mon. And Best on the Planet? Puh-leeze.

Give us a chance here. On one hand, you may perceive Best on the Planet as somewhere in Canada or Switzerland or France. But if you are not there at the particular moment, Best on the Planet doesn't do much good. Really, ultimately, and yes, selfishly, Best on the Planet should be wherever YOU happen to be on any given day. It's a state of mind.

Besides, the State of Ohio seems to decide most of our U.S. presidential elections, and therefore proper respect is due ...

Ohio's Alpine Valley, near Akron, tries so hard, advertising itself like this: "The 9 slopes at this ski hill are brilliant. The ski resort gets blanketed by so much beautiful snow, 10 feet per year, and that is an incredibly splendid coverage."

Then comes an admission: "A 230-foot vertical drop is, of course, not that much, but Alpine Valley makes up for it with other things ... Good exercise and just hanging out with our skiing palls surpasses anything."

They have a point. To go a step farther, let's say you are a really fly snowboarder and you come upon a place like Ohio's Alpine Valley. There are hundreds of Alpine Valleys across the country, of course. So are you too good for Alpine Valley? Baseball and football and basketball players, even golfers and tennis stars, play at clinics in disadvantages places. Why not you?

Alpine Valley does indeed have Xtreme areas and a permanent half-pipe with rails. Stop by, show off some of your best tricks, and then greet the locals as they come a-runnin'. Offer a few pointers. You'll feel good about yourself.

Ohio offers more than just Alpine Valley.

There's the Big Creek Ski Area (they have snowboarding too), a half hour from Cleveland, in which the members actually own their own mountain, buy their own snowmaking equipment and so forth. This may sound more like Russia than Ohio, but it's true, fellow traveler.

At Boston Mills Brandywine they're getting ready for the snowboard and ski season already, prepping for the 2nd Annual OktoberSTEEZ Rail Jam, followed by a Level One Productions video premier on the Big Screen Outside.

Then there's Mad River Mountain. Can you imagine a greater name for a snowboarding place? Alas, Wikipedia reports that "because the natural snowfall averages only 36 inches, snow is not always naturally available."

Scoff all of you Best on the Planet snowboarders, but ask yourself this: If Mad River Mountain were the only place remaining on earth to ride your board, wouldn't you go there?

Sources:

skicentral.com/ohio.html
alpinevalleyohio.com
bigcreeksi.org/trails.htm
bmbw.com
gottagoitsnows.com/skiareas/1253.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_River_Mountain

If you aren't among those who remain angry with the French for failing to support U.S. foreign policy, they you can easily discover some of the planet's best snowboarding.

Consider Chamonix, which features Mont Blanc, which is Europe's highest mountain. More than 90 percent of the slopes are higher than 2,000 meters, and if you wish to convert from meters to feet, you will have to remember some of your school math. (Okay, we came up with 6,561 feet and a few inches. How? See below.)

Chamonix also advertises "superb culture and nightlife," but of course we're in France, so everyone is going to say that. But it's true! Chamonix also has a reputation of being more "snowboarder-oriented." Publicists for the resort emphasize that beginners and intermediates need fear not, because Chamonix is not just for experts.

Among the offerings at Meribel, meanwhile, are "645 kms of pisted trails." Seems like they could have worded that a little differently. But indeed the trails are well-packed. And a cool thing about Meribel, like Chamonix and some other French resorts, is that they offer special vacations just for snowboarders. Many snowboarding super-enthusiasts feel they get more respect in Europe than in North America.

If you really want to make a snowboarding vacation out of it, Meribel is a neighbor of Courchevel and Val Thorens, located in the Trois Vallees. That's three valleys, of course, and the Meribel folks proclaim that theirs is the prettiest.

These three valleys, which in the United States would be called "tri-valleys" or "tri-cities," reach a peak of 3,200 meters. That's 10,495 feet and a few inches, by the way.

Other spots in France to consider: Alpe D'Huez Resort, Les Arcs 2000, Let Gets, Morzine, Sainte Foy, Tignes and Val D'Isere.

And now (drum roll), time for the math explanation: A meter is 39.37 inches or 1.0936 yards, give or take. Go from there. And if you don't remember that from high school or junior high, well, we won't speculate . . .

Sources:

http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/snowboarding-holidays/resort/chamonix.html

http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/snowboarding-holidays/resort/meribel.html

http://www.worldreviewer.com/experiences/snowboard/

During our nice warm summer north of the equator, Jamie Anderson has been making her mark on women's pro snowboarding during the winter and south of the demarcation line.

She turned 18 years old on September 13. En route, she had a clean sweep at the New Zealand Open in the slope-style and half-pipe competitions. This allowed her to emerge No. 1 in the Burton Global Open Series and the Swatch Ticket to Ride World Snowboard Tour.

One newspaper headline simply stated, "Beware, women's half pipe riders." This was because Jamie had been best known as a teen phenomenon in slope style.

Former Olympic half-pipe gold medalist Kelly Clark was first in half-pipe qualifying in New Zealand, and Anderson barely squeaked into the finals in eighth place out of 36 participants. Anderson was the first of eight half-pipe finalists to ride for the judges. She caught their eyes by executing an inverted backside 540. The maneuver won best trick and helped her score 84.25, a total the other riders couldn't top, despite four attempts. Clark placed third.

In slope style, Anderson was so dominant that her 90 points strongly surpassed runner up Cheryl Maas of the Netherlands, who scored 66 point.

Anderson then went on to sweep the Swatch TTR Billabong Big Air Event. At only 18, she was a veteran repeat winner.

The web site Go211.com responded to the New Zealand accomplishments, describing Jamie Anderson as "a female Shaun White." Indeed, three years ago Jamie became the youngest Winter X medalist at age 15, edging out Shaun by a few days. She already has three X-Games medals to her credit, most recently winning the 2008 Gold in slope style for the second year in a row.

Jamie plans to continue her surge by competing in the Australian Open in October. After all, it still is winter Down Under.

She is one of eight siblings, with five sisters and two brothers. Her sister, Joanie Anderson, won the 2007 X-Games in snowboard cross.

Blonde-haired Jamie Anderson is 5-foot-2, 120 pounds, and will complete her senior year at California's South Lake Tahoe High School by taking work-study courses. She netted $10,000 for her New Zealand Open victories.

Sources:

www.stanton-company.com/2008/08/14/Jamie-anderson-shows-her-diversity

www.stanton-company.com/2008/08/08/double-honours-for-us-snowboarder

www.go211.com/u/jamieanderson

expn.go.com/expn/athletes/bio?id=26003

Travelers visit Hawaii each winter to snowboard and ski - yes, you heard us right - on the Big Island. Even so, the Hawaii Ski Club recommends against it. Perhaps this is a case in which familiarity breeds contempt.

The destination is Mauna Kea, Hawaii for "White Mountain," because indeed the Big Island's biggest volcano often draws snow. After all, it is nearly 14,000 feet above sea level, or 2.7 miles.

Authors on trailsource.com are positive. They report that south of Waimea and northwest of Hilo, Mauna Kea Park offers "amazing backcountry snowboarding." No lifts are in place, but an access road is plowed a few days after each storm, "so you can drive or hitch to the summit" and ride down. Snow is most likely during the traditional winter months, but "can have 6-foot dumps" as well. In fact, prominent pro-snowboarding competitions have taken place at Mauna Kea.

A counterpoint is worded clearly: "Due to safety and environmental impact issues and health concerns, the Hawaii Ski Club no longer sponsors group ski trips to the Mauna Kea volcano, nor will we endorse or recommend travel agencies which may offer such trips."

The Ski Club formed to plan trips elsewhere, but leaders have found themselves subject to inquiry when outsiders discover that such a tropical place as Hawaii actually has a place where snow falls, and where people get out their snowboards and skis.

Club leaders note that winter sports activities are "iffy." They assert that snow often comes in the form of a shallow dusting. Even with deeper drifts, boarders and skiers may suddenly find themselves negotiating with lava rock and "being MEDEVACed to a hospital with massive injuries!"

As for driving up the access road or hitching a ride, members of the Hawaii Ski Club are skeptical. If you drive, then you have to walk back up a 14,000-foot mountain. And who would have room to give you a hitch, given that they already are loaded down with their own equipment? In the most common scenario, snowboarders or skiers rent a Jeep or a 4-wheel drive, and then members of the party have to take turns as the designated driver.

Snowboard or ski at Mauna Kea? Decide for yourself.

Sources:

www.hawaiiskiclub.com/ski_Hawaii.htm

www.trailcourse.com/scripts/four.asp?ID=18537&type=board

Amber Stackhouse and Fabia Grueebler were among female pro snowboarders who saw a problem. They wanted more publicity and they saw a lot of movie making going on, but these snowboard flicks were doing little for the chicks. Gals would only get scant 30-second segments, and their tricks looked feeble compared to the guys.

Solution? Amber and Fabia created Mischief Filmsand have produced a pair of all-girl films, "As If" and "Ro Sham Bo."

"We just wanted women to get more attention in the sport," Fabia says. "We wanted to make movies with riding, not just all talking or girly-ness. We didn't put the movies out to be feminists."

Amber is a Roxy Girl who has taken the lead as the producer and director, at the expense of her own time on the slopes. Snowboarding is combined with freestyle skiing.

"I just dove in, and it was sink or swim," Amber says. "I took some cues from the guys' companies that we were friends with."

Fabia explains that filming opens new opportunities for the women to take some risks. Many play it safe during competitions, as they concentrate on solid landings. Film gives them a chance to do it over.

"It's just a fact: The landing percentage is a little bit smaller than for the guys," Fabia says with a laugh. "A lot of the filmers we hired came from men's movie productions, so they had to learn different angles because women ride with a different style. They couldn't be that far away because, you know, the girls aren't going to be as big as Travis Rice."

Amber says the men predicted that the ladies would engage in catfights while gathered en mass for filming, but that the guys have it wrong.

"They're great girls," she says. "I'm friends with all of them, and they're incredibly talented. I figure it's about time to bring the two together."

Names of those featured, along with Amber and Fabia, include: Natasza Zurek, Laura Hadar, Victoria Jealouse, Erin Comstock, Hana Beaman, Annie Boulanger, Anne-Flore Marxer, Izumi Amaike, Stacy Thomas, Marie-France Roy, Leanne Pelosi, Tara Dakides, Silvia Mittermuller, Spencer O'Brien, Jacqui Berg, Priscilla Lewis, Maribeth Swetkoff, Alexis Waite, Kelly Clark, Gretchen Bleiler, Torah Bright, and Jamie Anderson.

Sources:

www.lat34.com/snowboard/girl_on_amber_stackhouse_2

snowboardermag.com/features/online-exclusives/interview-fabia-06

You wouldn't think one of the planet's best places for snowboarding would want to include the word "prairie" in its title, being that prairies are flat, but North Dakota's Bottineau Winter Park is "The Jewel Above the Prairie." This makes Bottineau and other N.D. locations all the more reachable by motor vehicle, which makes a nice amenity.

Images of the name given the Turtle Mountains also do not exude flashy speed and excitement, but do not blame the Bottineau folks. Those mountains were named long, long before snowboarding came along, and they are steep enough to also include a tubing hill and Xtreme areas. Bottineau offers everything from a beginning's area to un-groomed, expert glade runs and race courses. Five lifts support nine trails. The number is (701) 263-4556, or e-mail skibwp@srt.com.

North Dakota also offers the more excitingly titled Frost Fire Day Lodge, at the community of Walhalla, carved within the Pembina River Gorge. Frost Fire provides evidence that you need not have giant mountains to enjoy some great boarding. Geologists say this region in the state's northeast area once was beneath ice a mile thick, and then was flooded by a lake that flowed with such force that deep gorges were created. Among the most impressive of those gorges is the Pembina. Frost Fire offers a terrain park and a half pipe. Call (701) 549-3600, or send a missive to info@frostfireskiarea.com.

If not a gorge, then will the slope of the Missouri River suffice? This is the setting for Hull Hills Ski Area, 16 miles from Bismarck, which is North Dakota's largest facility with 16 runs. Rattlesnake and Antelope have narrow twists, as you might expect, but you also will find plenty of wonderful glades and some wide open areas for cruising. Contact (701) 663-6421 or info@huffhills.com.

And if you gotten curious, yes, North Dakota has just that one telephone area code for the whole state. No worries! They'll provide the snow, and you can provide the cool.
Sources:

www.skibwp.com

www.frostfireskiarea.com/about.htm

www.huffhills.com/?id=14&page=Amenities

Snowboarding retains the feel of a fairly new sport, but still it is growing old enough to build some history. In the role of Babe Ruth, we bring you... Craig Kelly.

He is a legend in one respect because of a life lived too short, among seven members of a ski touring group who died five years ago in an avalanche near Revelstoke, British Columbia. He was only 36, but he left his mark in so many ways. Norway's Terje Haakonsen, he of the world record 32 feet for highest air, is regarded by many as the greatest snowboarder to date, but Kaakonsen insists Kelly is "The One."

The peak of the Craig Kelly era took place during the same time of snowboarding's first huge growth, during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Yeah, he was a four-time world champ and a three-time U.S. Open kingpin, and so on and so forth, but all of those numbers don't tell it. What was so cool was his persona, his reserved sort of charisma.

Somehow, almost any peer who speaks of Kelly cannot help but use the word "fluid" to describe his riding style. He did a huge bunch of video and photo shoots, which were viewed by hundreds of thousands of folks who were seeing snowboard aeriel maneuvers for the first time. And he had this uncanny knack of looking straight into the danged camera!

At the same time, he was not a self-promoter. He was into designing and developing various signature models of boards, but then he had industry people dropping their jaws when he turned down millions of dollars worth of endorsement deals. This was because he was more and more into freeriding. One time he took more than a year off for travel from Alaska to Chile.

Craig Kelly was his own man. Other boarders from more recent eras may have more fame, but to those on the inside, Kelly is the equivalent of the so-called "musicians' musician."

SOURCES

http://expn.go.com/story?pageName=malebestever
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Kelly_(snowboarder)

To ride a snowboard is to embark on one of the most physically demanding sports on the planet. You need a lot of energy. Where do you get energy? From carbs. What kind of food has a lot of carbs? Pasta. So ciao, baby, you should be on your way to Italy!

No, not Rome or Venice. (You could make a stopover, of course.) You have to head for the mountains.

Our planet's best, the Alps, are in Switzerland, but northern Italy has its share of killer slopes. There is world-famous Torino, for example. Was it just two years ago they had the Olympics? Seems like longer. Regardless, the best Italian snowboarding getaway possibly might instead focus on cozy little towns without a bunch of pretentious ritz and glitz. You could find a place like this by skiing the web. (Can't we ski the web, or even snowboard the web?) One example is Prato Nevoso, which is advertised as having "plenty of trails, a superpipe, a world-class terrain park, a friendly local vibe and excellent Italian coffee." And nary a Starbucks.

Italian resorts, in general, tend to be cheaper and less crowded than their European counterparts. Does this mean worse? Well, several snowboarding mags say Italy is becoming more popular. Freestyle facilities still have some catching up to do, but freeriding is up to par with neighbors to the north. Lift systems are extensive, but at some sites they have not been upgraded in a while. This does not mean that you would fall, only that they have not been upgraded in a while. But bottom line, "cheaper and less crowded" are valid selling points. So is a fantastic dinner of pasta primavera, with anchovy of course.

When you are on the road, keep in mind that Italians indeed are the planet's fastest drivers. After all, this is the home of the Ferrari.

Sexy Charlotte Dutton of London, with bleach-blonde bangs to her eyebrows and maximum red lipstick, has never been a big winner in pro snowboarding. She knows that her main meal tickets will be something else: modeling and fashion design.

How can primping and riding be connected? We shall let Charlotte explain: "Modeling and snowboarding did conflict at times because I'd come back from skiing with tan lines, or sometimes even a broken arm, and the agency would have to wait until I got rid of my goggle marks or out of the cast."

The young lady nicknamed "Sugar Charlie" (mmmm!) still enters a few half-pipe competitions. She also makes some snowboard cash as a coach, both with celebrities and with the common clay.

On the fashion front, she has designed snowboarding gear for Topshop, "Moto SNO by Charlotte Dutton." Once she was asked why such a high-street name as Topshop would be interested in mere snowboarders, rather than the real fashionable people. Sort of like, "Take that, all of you raggedy-butt snowboarders." She now is preparing designs for her new venture, Misticom. She aims to accommodate her two lifestyles, such as designing a jacket "that looks casual enough for the gym but also nice enough to wear to a casting," such as when she must speedily traverse "from a snowboarding competition in Austria to a casting in Paris." Ah, yes, a dilemma to which all the ladies can relate.

Sugar Charlie has competed a few times in Europe, but mostly in the United States and Canada. She says she has found her second home at Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia, a popular spot for youth camps. "It's great for kids whose parents are going away somewhere and don't want to take their kids," she says. Seriously.

Charlotte also explains, in a politically correct manner, why she has extra affection for summer snowboarders: "I like it when it's hot and sunny. Don't get me wrong, I love skiing in powder, but the people who go in summer are those who are really into snowboarding, as the rest of the world seems to head off on summer holidays to relax on beaches rather than get the adrenaline pumping up a mountain."

Wait. Sugar Charlie isn't finished. Back to the modeling mode: "And, it's hot so you get the best tan, which is great for me who is really pale." You go, girl!

SOURCES

charlottedutton.com
coolermag.com/blogs/charlotte_dutton/
femalefirst.co.uk//travel/Professional+snowboarder+gives+her+top+tips+for+summer+snow-668.html

In southern Switzerland, Saas-Fee is the "Pearl of the Alps" and snowboarders can join the tradition.

What's a good way to enjoy the finest dry snowboarding powder without spending all of your time in frigid conditions?

Try finding a spot next to some glaciers

Saas-Fee is "Die Perle der Alpen," or "The Pearl of the Alps." It is found in the southern portion of Switzerland near the border with Italy, so this is not exactly a Nordic locale, evidenced by an unusually high tree line. But the highest Swiss Alps runs have elevations of more than 11,500 feet, and chill air comes from the glaciers of the Dom and the Allalinhorn. So, you can have your snow and sweat a little, too!

The main village of Saas-Fee has a population of 1,700, plus maybe three times as many ski visitors and tourists. You will have to stop at a car park outside of town, because motor vehicles are not allowed inside the limits, but an electric bus or cable car will greet you post-haste.

There's a halfpipe and a park for snowboarding, and the top European pros like to congregate here, especially during summer. Other stuff to try? There's snowshoe trekking, tobogganing, canyon climbing, ice climbing, paragliding and hang gliding.

An especially cool feature is the world's highest underground railway, which climbs to the top of the ski and snowboard area. Also at the top is a restaurant that revolves; therefore, this is the world's highest revolving restaurant as well. Only goes to figure! After your meal, you can head inside a glacier, witnessing natural crevasses amidst changing colors of the ice formation.

On a clear day, you have a spectacular view toward some of the Alps' other most fantastic peaks. And most days are clear, an average of about 300 days per year. Saas-Fee advertises that the village "enjoys a dry climate with few allergens, which is of benefit to people who suffer from allergies and asthma."

Hotel rooms are available, of course, but many visitors opt for village apartments. Homes are required to be constructed of at least 40 percent wood, maintaining Swiss tradition and character.

In the category of "gastronomy" (???) Saas-Fee advertises more than 100 restaurants in the region. Regional Valais cuisine makes generous use of mountain herbs. And if you need ask about the wine and cheese, you shouldn't be heading for Switzerland!

SOURCES:

saas-fee.ch<p>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saas-Fee<p>saas.fee.ski.com

Young Shayne Pospisil is a rising snowboard star who earned his way across the Atlantic for Norway's Oakley Arctic Challenge.

Shayne Pospisil says he does not know why Japan is the only nation on the face of the earth to have a snowboarding trick in its name. The 23-year-old emerging star only knows that it works for him, such as to the tune of a $5,000 first prize during the recent Paul Mitchell Progression Sessions at Breckenridge, Colo.

"I did a lot of Japans, and especially on one I went as high as I could," he told an interviewer.

Nearly eight meters, in fact, in his most explosive Japan Air launch.

"You do a grab between your legs around your knees, fully tweaked," he explained. "You want the board to hit you in the back of your head."

If this sounds as though Shayne Pospisil is in a world of his own up there, well, he really is. Other boarders describe him as the best athlete, the highest flyer.

The Paul Mitchell triumph is only one on his list. He also captured the top prize at the inaugural King of Quarters on Aspen Mountain, netting him not only a cool nine grand, but also a free air lift across the Atlantic to the Oakley Arctic Challenge in Norway.

With his curly blonde locks, Pospisil has the look of a California surfer who never or rarely tasted snow as a little kid. Indeed, he didn't start riding until he was 14 and he now calls Mammoth Mountain home. But actually he is among the East Coast's Jersey products who learned to cope with what one writer described as "the savage icy pipes of Vermont." He honed his all-around skills at Okemo Mountain Resort's school under Coach Ian Kirk.

When not out on the circuit, he hangs out at Mammoth with Cody Rosenthal, Scuba, Alex Serokin, Joe Eddy and Nate Ferrell. This is all cool, although he may want to consider whether he really wants the closing portion of that live interview with Nate to be floating all across the 'Net.

Pospisil has been sponsored for five years and he opts for a Venue Remove 156 board. He describes his stance as "regular" with a width of 22.5 inches.

Shayne Pospisil's nickname reportedly is "Pizzle." If this is true, he would stand fully within his rights if he simply prefers plain old Shayne. Regardless, his thrilling style is anything but plain.

SOURCES:

snowboardermag.com/magazine/departments/od-shayne

oakley.com/sports/ski/posts/617<p>radio.weblogs.com/0108026/2007/12/22.html

Many may view Wyoming's Jackson Hole as an Old West community, but it also provides a hot spot for snowboarding.

When time comes to choose from among "best on the planet" snowboarding destinations, Wyoming's Jackson Hole starts with a disadvantage.

The name is not the most ritzy or compelling, but this only sparks even more civic pride.

A website, alljacksonhole.com, describes a unique synergy: "Jackson Hole's culture is a unique blend of its western heritage with that of a destination resort. On the board sidewalks of Jackson, cowboys with hats and spurs are often juxtaposed against snowboarders with dreadlocks and nose rings."

The local area has three main snowboarding destinations:

JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT

"Don't hit the snowboarding jumps with too much speed, or you'll miss the landings and ruin your trip," advises writer Melissa Larsen in Jackson Hole Skier magazine.

Snowboarding lessons are offered, with a youth element at Little Britches Mini Park. This provides an opportunity to practice tricks for the bigger features in the Rodeo Grounds.

For the social scene, Larsen advises visits to "the unassuming little white building right of the Tram loading dock." The Village Cafe; is on the first floor, and videos of snowboarding and other resort activities are produced on the second floor. Music hot spots are the Mangy Moose Saloon, the Wort, the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, the Shady Lady and the Stagecoach.

Contact: 1-888-DEEPSNO (1-888-333-7669), www.jacksonhole.com.

SNOW KING RESORT

This in-town venue "has traditionally held the reputation of a small, friendly ski area, popular among local residents and tourists searching for a less-intimidating alternative to nearby behemoth Jackson Hole Mountain Resort," writes local freelancer Ed Bushness.

Other features include a small terrain park, the area's only snow tube park, and lighting for evening activities.

Snow King proprietors assert that because their territory faces north, snow remains dry and chalky for a longer time that at other facilities.

Contact: 1-800-522-KING (1-800-522-5464), www.snowking.com

GRAND TARGHEE RESORT
Average snowfall is reported at more than 500 inches, earning Ski magazine recognition in its "Greatest Snow on Earth" category.

Also, voters in the Family Travel Forum several years ago among "Top 10 Getaways for Tiny Travelers for 1999." The Kid's Club for up to age 5 offers activities that range from sledding and sleigh rides to scouting for animal tracks. Powder Scouts introduces snowboarding exposure for youngsters ages 6 to 14.

Cardboard snowboarding? The annual Cardboard Box Derby requires participants build vehicles using only cardboard, paper, glue, tape and string. Victory is simply making it to the bottom.

Contact: 1-800-TARGHEE (1-800-827-4433), wwwgrandtarghee.com.

OTHER SOURCES

www.jacksonholenet.com/jhskier/bd_ski_schools.htm

www.jacksonholewy.net/area_info/history_of_jackson_hole.php