Absenteeism

To all our regular readers and the many new readers coming to SnowboardGo on a daily basis, let me apologize to you for the snail pace at which new content is being posted during this fine month of February. Mo and I have been resort hopping the past few weeks and have had very little time to post much. We will be back at the end of March and will resume our regular brainwashing activities.

Until then, enjoy this powder happy video:

2010 Winter Olympics Recap and Highlights

With women’s Alpine training runs again delayed by heavy rain and snow, American favorite Lindsey Vonn successfully tested her bruised right shin on her own rigorous slalom training session, and her husband declared her ready to race.After a weekend of Winter Olympics goodness and action, it’s time to put up a post to recap the weekend’s highlights. This might not include everything, but I’ll try my best.

Opening Ceremonies

• The opening ceremonies began with a pretty impressive shot of a snowboarder coming down a mountain while listing the previous 21 Winter Olympic games years.
• The snowboarder entered a Maple leaf (the Canadian national symbol) design made with torchbearers and ended with the snowboarder coming down a ramp into the stadium.
• The underlying theme was mostly related to the First Nations of Canada.
• This was followed by a 4-part celebration, with the first part showcased Aurora Borealis on circle screens which came down from the stadium’s ceiling. The most spectacular part was when the display of orcas moving across the floor and water spouts shooting out of the floor.
• The second part of the show was related to Quebec, featuring a fiddler in a canoe coming from the ceiling.
• The third part was about the prairies of Canada. It was a simple one man acrobatic show, with the the floor featuring the prairies as the acrobat performed.
• The final part of the show featured the Canadian Rockies, where skiers and snowboarders came down from the ceiling as to appear riding the awesome rockies.

Medals Overview

• USA now has 8 medals, followed by Germany with 5 and France with 4.
• Switzerland has 3 Golds, followed by USA with 2 and France with 2.

Snowboarding

• Kelly Clark who won a gold medal in the last Olympics can do a 900 degree spin which is basically spinning in the air and rotating more than 2 full times around. If she lands that, she will most likely receive the gold medal this year.
• Her counterpart on the men’s snowboarding team, Shaun White is no small contender either. He won gold in the last Olympics and is expected to medal again. U.S. snowboarding is quite dominant and it is a fun sport to watch.

Men’s

• Alexandre Bilodeau won the gold medal in men’s moguls, the first time a Canadian has won an Olympic event on home soil. Canadians failed to win a single gold at the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary. Congratulations Alexandre!
• Jason Lamy Chappuis who competes for France, edged Johnny Spillane of Steamboat Springs, Colo., to win the Nordic combined. Spillane’s silver was the first medal for the U.S. in 86 years of competing in the sport that combines ski jumping and a 10-kilometer cross-country ski race.
• Five-time Olympic champion Ole Einar Bjoerndalen struggled with his shooting in failing to win his sixth gold medal. He still has four more opportunities at these games.
• Jung-Su Lee from S. Korea, Apolo Anton Ohno from the USA, and J.R Celski from the USA win the Men’s 1500m Gold, Silver, and Bronze respectively.

Weomen’s

• With women’s Alpine training runs again delayed by heavy rain and snow, American favorite Lindsey Vonn successfully tested her bruised right shin on her own rigorous slalom training session, and her husband declared her ready to race.
• Martina Sablikova gave the Czech Republic its first speedskating medal by winning the women’s 3,000 meters.
• Jenny Potter scored three goals in the first 22 minutes as the U.S. opened the preliminary round of the women’s hockey tournament with a 12-1 romp over China.
• Hannah Kearney from the USA, Jennifer Heil from Canada, and Shannon Bahrke from the USA win the Ladies’ Moguls Gold, Silver, and Bronze respectively.

Misc

• The Chinese pair, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo won the gold for the the pairs free program figure skating competition.

Snowboarding Eye Candy #3

These pictures are so cool that I’m tempted to steal my buddy’s pro camera but I love snowboarding way too much not to ditch the camera the second I see the snow. If any of guys and girls are photo junkies please feel free to send your pictures in.

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Helmets Reduce the Risk of Head Injuries by 35%

Some suggest that helmets may increase the risk of neck injury in a crash or fall, particularly in children because of their greater head to body ratio.

Skiing and snowboarding are popular winter activities. Did you know that head injuries account for up to 19% and neck injuries up to 4% of all injuries reported by snow patrols and emergency departments? Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and serious injury among skiers and snowboarders. I know a lot of riders don’t like helmets because they’re uncomfortable or they don’t look cool, but trust me, hospital beds are pretty uncomfortable and very uncool!

An analysis of 12 studies conducted in Europe, Asia, and North America, found that helmet use in recreational activities is beneficial. However, the authors were unable to determine the effect of the design, quality, or fit of the helmets.

“The use of helmets significantly protects against head injuries among skiers and snowboarders,” write Brent Hagel, Alberta Children’s Hospital, and coauthors. “Risks of head injury can be reduced by 35%…and between 2 and 5 of every 10 head injuries among helmet users could be prevented.”

I don’t need a study to tell me something so logical, but for those in denial or are on the fence about buying a helmet, I hope this is a good wake up call. Here’s a link to the scientific study on helmets and head injuries.

Hannah Teter Uses Snowboarding for Charity

Ever since I posted the news on Hannah Teter’s Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream flavor announcement, the website has been getting a decent amount of traffic from Teter fans. So as to not disappoint the lack of news on her, here’s something worth sharing.

Teter appears to be quite the charitable rider where not only does she have a charity setup (Hannah’s Gold) and proceeds from her Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor go to her charity, Teter also donated the $10,000 she won last month in Utah to the victims of Haiti. For someone who has a lot going for her, she sure understands that give or take $10,000, it wont affect her life anywhere near how much it’ll affect those of the Haiti victims.

Read more on this here.