Vail SnowDaze will present The Fray and Meese as just one of three big concerts that will happen during December 8-14. There is the ability to buy a Festival Concert Pass but there is a limited supply so make sure you get one right away.

Here is the concerts scheduled for that week:

• The Fray and Meese – Saturday, December 13
• Bighead Todd and the Monsters – Thursday, December 11
• Leftover Salmon – Friday, December 12

There will also be lots of entertainment, night life, Warren Miller Director’s Cut, rail jam and many other great activities to take part in not to mention a great place to ride. Check it out and take some time off to enjoy SnowDaze at Vail.

The latest winter storm that finally brought some snow to the front range also dumped a large amount on the slopes. There were reports of eight inches in Fort Collins which meant big, big snow in the mountain.

Here’s the totals for each resort’s snow accumulation for the past week:

• Vail – 21 inches
• Breckenridge – 21 inches
• Keystone – 13 inches
• A-basin – 24 inches
• Loveland – 25 inches
• Aspen – 13 inches
• Winter Park – 27 inches

Each resort is continuing to open more terrain and runs by continuing to create snow. There will be more posts to follow on snow accumulation and how much each resort has open.

Buying a pass enables a snowrider to ride as many times as he/she wishes for the entire season. While this is a great deal eating lunch at those mountain restaurants can get very expensive. Especially when a soda costs over three dollars…a soda. So, if you’re like most broke college students you have learned a trick to eating cheap.

You can get a great warm meal by buying a bag of ramen and adding it to a 25 cent cup of hot water at lunchtime. Add ramen and voila instant hot soup. If you add some granola bars, a candy bar, and maybe some granola mix or some other snack then you have a stomach filling lunch that will get you through the rest of your riding time.

It is always important to keep a few things in a bag in your travel vehicle or snowboard bag because you may never know when these things will come in handy. I found out first hand as I had to sleep in a Red Cross Shelter overnight due to I-70 being closed from adverse weather conditions. While this was not the most pleasant sleeping experience, gymnasium mats are not great padding, it was nice to have a warm place to sleep overnight.

Here’s a few tips:

If there is a large amount of traffic getting onto I-70 there is probably a problem, listen to the radio to find out if there is a road closure. If there is then make sure to try to book a hotel room right away, if you are out of luck then check with the Red Cross to find out where to go.

Always have the Colorado Department of Transportation number in your phone so you can check road updates before you leave. The number within the state is 511 or you can try calling 303-639-1111.

Try keeping these things in whatever you travel in or a bag:

• Kitty Litter
• Small Shovel
• Extra Windshield Washer Fluid
• Toothbrush/toothpaste
• Contact solution/glasses
• Water free soap
• Deck of cards/entertainment
• Small travel pillow
• Flashlight
• Sleeping bag
• Extra Warm Clothes
• Water
• Granola Bars/packaged food

You may never need these things, but if this ever does happen to you at least you can be prepared for it. Safe travels and riding.

Keystone Resort will hold another Friday Night Lights event tomorrow, Friday, November 28. Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah opened the event last Friday with an energetic, party starting set. The free concert series that was originally 36 Hours at Keystone is now spanning three Friday nights in the early season and consists of night skiing with lifts open until 8pm as well as a free concert series and a great party.

DeVotchKa will be hitting the stage tomorrow night at 8pm. DeVotchKa is a four-piece multi instrumental and vocal ensemble that fuses Romani, Greek, Slavic, Bolero and Mariachi music with American Punk and Folk roots.

Girl Talk will be taking the mainstage next Friday, December 5. Gregg Gillis has been creating music from samples for over eight years.

Friday Night Lights is the only pre-season free concert series and party that the resorts have to offer, so be sure to check it out. Also, it’s a great opportunity to catch some night riding while many resorts don’t offer this great experience.

Donek Snowboards are a Colorado based company that has been constructing quality snowboards since 1987. Donek Snowboards produces 300 snowboard shapes spanning the freestyle, freeride, carving and race disciplines. Along with a great quality of snowboards the company also offers custom design of snowboards to really create your own look on the mountain.

History

• Small company with shop in Colorado
• Handcrafted boards
• Began in 1987
• Offer Innovative designs
• Advanced Technology
• Family owned business by Sean and Jennifer Martin

If you are looking for a good weekend excursion hit the slopes in Vail for a great boarding weekend. However, before you head up the mountain get a little inspiration by visiting the Colorado Ski Museum on the third level of the Vail Village.

The Colorado Ski Musuem is full of the history of skiing and how the pioneers blazed a trail to the great recreation Colorado now encompasses. Here is a quick recap of how Colorado became one of the greatest ski and snowboard states:

It has been estimated by some historians that the State of Colorado would have taken another decade to settle had it not been for skis. The long runners provided a dependable way for the mail to get through when trains were stalled, when telegraph lines were down, and when drifts and avalanches prohibited travel on the primitive roads and trails.

The first documented use of skis in Colorado, as reported in Frank Hall’s History of Colorado, occurred during the winter of 1859-60 in a snow-locked mining camp along the Blue River near present-day Breckenridge.

The 10 men remaining in camp made themselves skis and traveled down-valley where they built a cabin and claimed a town site called Eldorado West.

The same history source reveals that the following winter all provisions were being carried over the range from South Park to Georgia Gulch by men on skis.

In 1880 there were over 50 skiing mail carriers in the state. They traveled fifty miles at a stretch over the mountains on skis with only a simple toe strap and heel block to keep the foot in place.

For the next 25 years Coloradans would ski to school; to work; to mend fences; but they would remain largely unaware of the improvements in equipment and technique being made in the Scandinavian countries and in the Alps.

None of these pioneers were aware of how their necessary form of transportation would become a recreational sport loved and modified by people across the globe.

Representatives of Keystone Resort have just announced that the 36 Hours at Keystone event has been  changed to Friday Night Lights. While the resort states that 36 Hours has been a quality, well-run event for the past four years, it is time for something bigger. Friday Night Lights will involve three consecutive late night concerts starting at 8 p.m. on November 21st. with late night riding until 8:30 p.m.

The resort hopes that Friday Night Lights will showcase the new gondola run that opened this season as well as prevent the overcrowding of the mountain on one specific weekend. It will also give riders who can’t leave for a whole weekend the opportunity to experience the “36 Hours” experience without taking a whole weekend away.

Keystone is in the contracting phase with the bands that will be playing the concerts and should have the information finalized next week.

The 17th annual Ski and Snowboard Expo came to the Convention Center in Denver this past weekend. In addition to over 20,000 square feet of an enormous sale on ski and snowboard gear it also brought together all of Colorado Ski Resorts to showcase their collective $200 million in capital improvements while providing the last chance to purchase lift tickets and lodging specials at early season prices. 

The expo also brought in entertainment as it witnessed a vast array of riders competing on rails, a slope for the kiddos to see how it feels to ski and an area where people could unload their used equipment that could be made into decking by Colorado Ski and Golf. 

If you missed this great opportunity to buy early season pricing, don’t be discouraged! This is the last week to make sure you get those prices. Miss out on the deals, may cause you to miss out on the moutain, so get a pass and get into the snow.

The three main areas that are important to consider when constructing a well-made boards including: torsional stiffness, weight, and vibration damping. According to the University of Toronto board building team there are also aspects to decide when constucting a snowboard.

Basic Structure
Snowboards are composed of several layers of different materials that are molded together. Some of the most basic layers starting from the bottom of the board include:

• Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene or plastic. This material provides the slippery surface that allows the snowboard to glide on snow. Throughout its use it is preferably waxed to keep it running fast.
• The base material is then surrounded by steel edges so the board will dig into the snow while turning.
• Fiberglass is a layer that provides stiffness and strength to the board.
• Wood or foam is the core of the board and makes up most of the thickness. It also includes sets of metal inserts needed to mount bindings.
• Another layer of fiberglass lies on top of the core.
• Lastly, a top sheet – which is a protective plastic layer – is added to provide a good surface for graphics.

Molding the Layers Together

Each layer of a snowboard is placed into a snowboard mold or press. A snowboard mold is similar to a large waffle iron with the exception of a shape of a snowboard. The following steps are conducted to mold the layers of the snowboard together.

• One by one, each layer of a snowboard goes into the mold along with an adhesive or glue that holds the layers together.
• The mold is then closed and heated for approximately 30 minutes. This causes the liquid-like glue to harden.
• The mold is then opened and the snowboard is removed. Any excess glue and material is trimmed off.