IndyGrab
The most basic of myriad snowboard-
ing grabs; involves grasping the edge of
one’s board, midair, in an effort to elicit
gasps from onlookers.
So you’ve finally figured out how
to execute a turn without doing
a face-plant or sliding down the
mountain on your back.
Congratulations. Your sense
of accomplishment, how-
ever, will rapidly falter
when you find yourself
surrounded by a swirl
of 720s and flying
tail-grabs on the trails.
Don’t fret—help is at
hand. From the
company
that
helped define the sport comes
Burton Snowboards’ Learn
to Ride
,
covering everything
from how to avoid ge ing
snow up your nose to
all manner of freestyle
shenanigans. Company
founder Jake Burton
launched the program
back in 1998 with three
locations; today there
are more than 200,
with each indi-
vidual ski resort
gearing the LTR
curriculum for
its clientele
and terrain. So
it is that we have
people in various
parts of the world
shouting things like “
Bon
shi y, Pierre!” and
“
Gut
indy, Hans!”
Heli-skiing
An activity for those skiers
whose prowess is so off-the-
charts that they can only find
suitably challenging terrain via
the skies (a.k.a. off-off-off-piste).
Skiing “the Roof of the
World” may not be to
everyone’s taste, but if
your idea of a good day out
calls for remote, rugged,
ridiculously elevated terrain
with sublime scenery and
scads of virgin snow, then
heli-skiing the Indian
Himalayas will not disap-
point. One company to fly
with out here is
Himalayan
Heli Adventures
,
which
promises to transport you
to trails some 16,000 feet
up, with vertical drops
exceeding 4,000 feet. And
the thrills don’t end at back-
of-beyond hurtling: HHA’s
après offerings include
hot springs, temples,
Tibetan monasteries, the
Manali Bazaar and “snow
leopards preying on flocks
of goats.” That last bit isn’t
such a good thing for the
goats, admi edly, but it’ll
make for an interesting
anecdote to tell when you
get back home.
Jibbing
The act of disengaging
oneself from the snow to
either jump or ride over
an alien object, such as a
log or stone.
No matter
how proficient
they are,
chances are
there will
come a time
in every
slope slicker’s
career when
the cranium
encounters an
immovable
object. Such a
moment is, as
a rule, made
considerably
more agree-
able if a
helmet is involved.
For one thing,
there’s less physi-
cal pain. There’s
also the possibility
that the right
helmet will help
diminish psychic
pain—that is, your
mortifying fail will
be mitigated by
the fact that you
look good doing it.
POC Sports’ Recep-
tor Bug
(
starting
at around $120),
which comes in 10
colors, is big with
tricksters because
it’s a handsome
helmet, yes, but
also one that
makes jibbing-
related mishaps
easier to bear. Plus,
as a spokesman
puts it, the Bug
finally brings to an
end “the constant
conflict between
ventilation and
protection,” which
will have impor-
tant ramifications
on your post-ski
socializations,
scent-wise.
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
•
NOVEMBER 2012
97
