2000-01 winter proves to be excellent for snowboarding

By Jakob Hosmer
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

Rob Leahy couldn't wait for winter. While most people were dreading the seasonal weather shift to that of below-freezing temperatures and seemingly endless snow, he did everything he could to make sure that when the first snowfall finally came, he would be ready.

Like many other snowboarders, Leahy was unaware of just how good the 2000-01 season would be. "The snow conditions were the best I've ever seen," said Leahy, 20, a psychology major from Reading, Mass., who has been snowboarding for about six years.

Vin Paitoon, 21, a business management major from Bangkok, Thailand, agreed that this season, which was his second year snowboarding, was much better than the previous, saying that along with the amount of snow, the weather was warmer and more enjoyable.

According to the website http://www.intellicast.com, the 2000-01 winter was a record-setter for many areas in the United States for snowfall amounts.

More snowfall has many advantages to snowboarding other than just prolonging the season. Many riders found the continually fresh snow to be more forgiving when trying to learn new things and test personal limits. "I tried a lot of new things this year; it was my first year trying freestyle," said Mike Hostetler, 21, an electrical engineering major from South Bay, Indiana. "Freestyle" refers to the part of snowboarding which concentrates more on tricks and maneuvers with the snowboard, as opposed to concentrating on speed and backcountry terrain. Paitoon also expressed feelings that this winter allowed him to try new aspects of snowboarding, saying that because the snow was softer, he "wasn't as scared of falling, so I tried new stuff."

Along with allowing riders to try new things, the larger snowfall amounts brought accessibility to more terrain. "With all the snow we had, I was trying new things, did stuff I had never done before. There was access to a lot more terrain this season, too," said Shane Tewksbury of Randolph, Vt., and manager of Alpine Options Snowboard Shop.

According to Tewksbury, the larger amounts of snowfall caused some smaller trees and other ground cover to be covered up, making some wooded areas easier to ride. The larger base also made it safer to drop off of cliffs found in backcountry areas.

Working at a snowboard shop gives Tewksbury the opportunity to really see the improvements made in the new equipment that comes out every season. According to Leahy, new equipment was another thing that made this season so enjoyable for him. For the past few years, Leahy had been using older equipment but bought new and top of the line gear last fall, which enhanced his riding experience.

"My equipment last year wasn't good at all. This year I got top of the line stuff, and it was a lot better."

Some of the improvements made annually in snowboarding equipment include using new materials which add to the responsiveness of boards and bindings, the comfort of boots, and reduced weight in all equipment.

As far as the equipment industry itself is concerned, this year was good for boosting consumer interest in the sport. "The good conditions definitely has a positive effect on business," said Tewksbury, "Everyone's really enthused."

Tewksbury said that one of the reasons that people buy more with better conditions is because the experience itself is more enjoyable with ideal conditions, and new equipment won't get beat on as much if there is more snow and less ice.

"People have been buying more new gear, but there's been less tuning," said Tewksbury. "Tuning" refers to the overall maintenance of snowboard or ski equipment, such as waxing the base and sharpening edges.

Will Hansen of Brooklyn, NY, is the Snowboard Instructor team leader at Sugarbush Mountain and said that, although the snow was great this past season, it didn't have a huge effect on the teaching and learning aspect of snowboarding compared to recent seasons.

"If anything, there were less new riders this season, because people who skied saw the great conditions and just stuck to skiing, instead of trying to do something new, because they were disappointed with the conditions," said Hansen.

He added, however, that the great conditions got a lot of people back into the sport. Another very positive thing about the increased snowfall this year was the prolonged season, which, according to Hansen, had a lot of people pumped about being able to be out there riding, even with the warm weather, well into the month of April.

Hansen is hoping for some more positive changes for the snowboard teaching staff at Sugarbush next year. "Next year, we're hoping to move the terrain park and half-pipe to where it would be more accessible to the instructor staff," said Hansen. The changes would include moving the more freestyle-oriented terrain to the southern mountain area of Sugarbush, where most of the teaching goes on, as well as putting snowboard instructors in charge of teaching more half pipe and park freestyle clinics. Overall, Hansen said that things are looking very "positive" for next year.

Other riders seemed to share the same feelings about next season. "I think we're in a cycle right now, as far as the weather goes," said Tewksbury, "I'm very optimistic about next season."

Rob Leahy is also excited about next season. With his only regret about this year having been the fact that he couldn't get out a lot because of schoolwork, Rob hopes to make the most of next winter. "I hope next year [will be] as good as this year. I'll try to get out more next season."

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