Photo: Iceland Tourism

Iceland is a bold country for bold people. It’s for travelers who want to dive directly into nature, party until the sun comes up (even when it never goes down), and dine on some of the sea’s most freaky creatures.

The Land of Fire and Ice is a place that continues to wow its visitors whether it’s their first visit or their fiftieth. However, these six insane things to do in Iceland are ones that most visitors, even the most seasoned Iceland travelers, have never done.

Surf Among Icebergs

Photo: dalli58 / Flickr

There are few places in the world where you can surf among icebergs, and only one where the waves are considered world-class. Iceland, which is home to just a handful of surfers, offers many of the perks most of the world’s surfers dream about — peeling point breaks and minimal crowds. Ten surfers in the water is considered a packed lineup. Even better, there’s no need for dawn patrol, because the sun never sets during the midsummer surf season.

The increasing popularity of surfing in Iceland and around the world has brought rise to coastal surfer-friendly resorts and companies offering guided surf adventures. Summer sea temperatures around 12-degree Celsius and improved wetsuit technologies make jumping into the chilly (but not frigid) waters much less of a concern.

Snowboard in the Winter Darkness

Photo: Iceland Tourism

Icelandic winters are synonymous with darkness, but that’s what makes snowboarding in the Nordic island nation so special. Mount Hlíðarfjall has been one of Iceland’s top ski and snowboard resorts for more than 40 years. Powdery snow and a location 5 kilometres outside of the town of Akureyri makes it a favorite among Icelandic locals and tourists. Floodlighting on the main trails means skiing in the pitch black evenings of winter is possible.

Although, you don’t have to leave the Reykjavik area to ride at one of the country’s top resorts. The Blafjoll Ski Resort is famous for its family-friendly atmosphere, off-piste trails for advanced riders, and glowing lights that keep the trails open in the darkest months. Even more adventurous snowboarders can venture into deep fjords and towering mountains with Arctic Surfers, a mountain guide company taking adrenaline junkies on Surf & Snow trips into the country’s most rugged terrain.

Cruise an Icelandic River at High Speeds

Photo: Iceland Riverjet

You don’t have to be an action sports enthusiast to get your thrills in the Land of Fire and Ice. Iceland Riverjet is Europe’s only whitewater jet boat company. Grip the handlebars with white knuckles as your professional jet boat driver flies through the whitewater rapids of the Hvita River while doing 360-degree spins, jumping waves, and squeezing through some of the country’s most scenic canyons. There’s only one whitewater jet boat company on the continent, and the high-speed thrills are a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

Snorkel Between Two Continents

Photo: Anosmia

Iceland’s temperatures aren’t as frigid as many travelers assume, averaging between 10- and 13-degrees Celsius in July and reaching 20- to 25-degrees Celsius on warmer days. While you probably won’t feel like diving into the sea the moment you set foot on Icelandic ground, you may change your mind when you hear about snorkeling in the Silfra rift.

The Silfra rift is part of the Thingvellir National Park UNESCO World Heritage Centre. It’s the only place in the world where travelers can dive or snorkel between two continental plates. The lesser-known natural wonder offers 100 metres of visibility, bright blue waters, and a rainbow of colors that make snorkeling the chilly glacial waters, from nearby Langjökull, unlike anywhere else in the world.

Stay Up All Night in Reykjavik

Photo: Dan Nguyen / Flickr

The nightlife never really stops in Reykjavik, and it can be difficult to know when night actually falls during summer evenings full of sunlight and winter days of darkness. Icelanders are known for heading to their favorite bars and pubs after midnight and staying until at least 5 a.m., on weekends. Many cafes morph into bars in the evening hours, then into clubs in the wee hours of the night. It’s essential to spend one night drinking Icelandic craft beer and local schnapps at the famous Kaffibarinn bar or the low-key artist hangout, Ölstofa Kormáks og Skjaldar.

See the Northern Lights from the Top of a Glacier

Photo: Iceland Tourism

Iceland isn’t the only place in the world to admire the northern lights, but it’s the only place where you can watch nature’s greatest light show from atop the fastly-fading Sólheimajökull glacier. This south Iceland glacier is accessible to all levels of hikers and serves as an ideal viewing point for the greens, purples, and blues of the northern lights.

Guide to Iceland offers a number of glacier tours in Iceland, including a jaw-dropping adventure to the Sólheimajökull glacier tongue, the Seljalandsfoss waterfall, and an unbeatable viewing point for the aurora borealis. Iceland’s wild and sparsely populated landscape coupled with the pitch darkness of winter makes it one of the best places on earth to see the dancing northern lights.

The post 6 Insane Things You Can Only Do in Iceland appeared first on XpatMatt.

Because of my work, I have a lot of online friends — people I’ve only spoken to through chat and email and other written communications. They all know I’m Canadian. I’m fairly well-known online as one of those Canadian travel bloggers.

But when first meet people and start to talk eyes widen and jaws go slack. “You really are Canadian.” They’ll say after I let fly a monologue filled with ‘eh’s and ‘oh yeah’s.

Since I’m so well-known as a being a Canadian blogger, I think it’s about time I paid tribute to the Great White North as a travel destination. So, here are my favorite adventures from the land that of flannel, Tim Hortons, and John Candy.

My favorite so far, that is…

Maligne Canyon Icewalk

The Maligne Canyon is one of those rare geographic oddities that allows you to see nature at work in bizarre and spectacular ways that you’d never before conceived of, like Antelope Canyon in Utah or the Doorway to Hell in Turkmenistan.

Maligne Canyon sits on the seam between two tectonic plates. It’s very narrow, about 5-10 meters (15-30 feet) wide with sheer walls rising up to 45 meters (150 feet). During the summer the canyon filled with water. But in the winter, when everything is frozen, the river drops below ground, enabling visitors to walk along the canyon floor.

This is where the fun begins. Water constantly seeps into the sides of canyon through cracks and caves, so the canyon walls become covered in otherworldly ice formations from waterfalls, to inverted droplets, to long horizontal bars. There are several ice caves along the walk, including one enormous one at the end beneath a tall waterfall that’s popular with local ice climbers.

This is by far one of the most geographically interesting and visually mesmerizing hikes I’ve ever been on. I highly recommend it.

For more photos of the Maligne Canyon Icewalk and other winter adventures in Jasper, check out my post: #MyJasper: Adventurers Only

Canoeing the Manigotagan River

The Manigotagan is a long river that meanders through the wilderness of Manitoba. Several years ago, I was fortunate to have been invited on a week long canoe trip on the river.

On my arrival, I learned many things. First, I learned that there is an entire culture of paddlers who spent much of their leisure time canoe tripping around the rivers and lakes of the Canadian Shield.

I also learned canoeing is supremely hard. The paddling part is relatively easy, but when rapids make the river impassable, and you have to carry all your gear and the canoes through kilometers of bush over rocky terrain (this is called portaging), it becomes grueling.

I also learned that Manitoba mosquitoes swarm into the air the moment the sun dips beyond the horizon, which makes sunset the official bedtime. From these lessons, I concluded that paddlers — who save money and sick days all year long to blow them on these tiring, mosquito-clouded trips — are slightly insane.

I also learned that you can cook cinnamon buns using camping gear and that Manitoba has some of the most beautiful and desolate landscapes in Canada. You can see more photos of that trip here.

Climbing Fishers Peak

My hometown of Cranbrook, British Columbia sits in the valley between the Rocky Mountains and and a mountain range called the Purcells. The rockies tower over the western landscape, but among them one peak rises significantly above the others: Fishers Peak. The hike ubiquitously known in the region as one of the most challenging and rewarding.

I didn’t try the hike until I was 33-years-old. It lived up to the stories. It was a grueling steep hike, climbing 1400 meters over just 10 kilometers of trail. By the end of the 12-hour round-trip everyone’s legs were sore and tired.

But it was more than worth it. The peak offers an unobstructed view of the surrounding mountains that seem to continue endlessly into the distance for 360 degrees.

See all the pictures from that trip here.

Snowboarding Everywhere

If you read my blog you know that I love snowboarding a lot.

Like, A LOT.

That’s because I grew up on the ski hill. I had a season’s pass every winter from the time I was 3 until I was 18-years-old. Now, I’m the author of the About.com Snowboarding Guide and every winter I put my travels on hold and return to Canada to do ‘research’.

I’ve ridden in Montana, Washington, California, Colorado, and Utah. They’re all spectacular places, but I’ll always have a special reverence for the wild Canadian Rockies which have an expansiveness that creates — for me at least — a more personal and spiritual feeling.

Whether hiking the local hill in the preseason with my brother, drinking beer and ripping spring turns with friends at Lake Louise, or exploring the remote backcountry of Jasper National Park, the Canadian Rockies will always be my favorite playground.

For more of my best skiing and snowboarding photos from over the years, check out this page.

The post My 4 Favorite Canadian Adventures (So Far) appeared first on XpatMatt.

It was an awful year for snow. Well, at least it was in the west, and the results for some hills were pretty dramatic. Most resorts across western North America received significantly less snow than usual. Many closed early, like Sierra-at-Tahoe which was forced to close in mid-March, six weeks earlier than last year. Most resorts expected to close earlier than usual.

I’m not the kind of person who likes to say that something is “perfect” or “the best” because those are very subjective terms. That said, one ski area this year found itself on the winning end of a few unique circumstances that make it particularly awesome for spring skiing — maybe the best. The area was spared from the snow drought that plagued the nearly the entire western half of the continent. Jasper, Alberta actually received more snow than normal, and it’s still snowing.

The great snow conditions combined with the strong american dollar make Jasper a very good contender for the best spring skiing destination right now.

Here’s why.

The Ski Area: Marmot Basin

Marmot Basin is a mid-sized resort in Alberta, about 150 miles northwest of Lake Louise and Sunshine Village in the middle of the sprawling mountainous Jasper National Park. The resort isn’t as well known as it’s neighbors not because it’s any less pristine, but because it’s more remote.

But this year Marmot Basin’s location has worked to its advantage. It’s one of the few places in on the western half of the continent that received more snow than usual this winter. The hill has already surpassed its annual average of 158 inches by more than a foot, and at the time I wrote this had just received another three inches in the last 48 hours.

Epic Backcountry

Jasper National Park is 4200 square miles of sprawling mountains and the area around the town of Jasper sits at around 3500 feet. That means it gets cold early and stays cold cold all winter, resulting fine, light snow.

The opportunities for backcountry excursions around Jasper are endless. Utah and Colorado have large populations of backcountry skiers and snowboarders who scour the road accessible slopes around the cities and there’s some competition for the most coveted slopes.

Jasper only has about 4000 residents, the closest cities are hours away, and the backcountry options are so numerous (the town is literally surrounded 360 degrees with miles and miles of mountains) that you’re almost certain to find an untouched pitch if you’ve got a knowledgeable guide and are willing to go the extra mile.

The ability to find fresh tracks here relies only on the seekers determination.

The peaks in the area are also dotted with backcountry cabins available for rent for multi-day tours.

**Backcountry travel is dangerous and should only be done with experienced supervision.

The Other Reasons

There are also more practical reasons that Jasper is a good destination right now. First, Jasper is busiest in the summer. The town is built to handle a huge influx of tourists during peak season, but right now is a slow time of year, which means off-season hotel room prices and Marmot Basin’s spring special lift ticket price of $64 (which starts on April 13th)

And there’s a bonus for Americans. Right now the US dollar is was very strong. One greenback buys around $1.20 CAD, meaning the $64 CAD lift ticket costs about $50 USD.

You can’t argue with that.

Disclosure: This post was created in partnership with Tourism Jasper, but the opinions expressed are my own.

The post The Most Epic Place for Spring Skiing Right Now appeared first on XpatMatt.

Then, after that, I’ll be snowboarding across the Western USA. I’ll talk more about that later.

First, the X-Games.

One of the perks of being a blogger is that every once in a while you receive an email with a random opportunity that makes your day.

Two weeks ago I sat down at my computer with a cup of coffee first thing in the morning, opened my inbox, and found an email from Skype offering to send me to the X-Games in Aspen as part of their Skype Moments campaign.

Made. My. Day.

All I had to do, they said, would be to post on social media about the trip as I normally would, and use their hashtag: #SkypeXGames. They would take care of my airfare, hotel, and meals, and would also arrange for some behind-the-scenes access to interviews with some of the athletes.

I agreed, of course.

I leave tomorrow, and the fun starts on Thursday, January 22nd.

The Crew

I’m not the only one one the #SkypeXGames crew. Three of us are attending.

My fellow X-Games attendees will be:

Jen Hudak

A photo posted by Jen Hudak (@jenhudak) on Sep 5, 2014 at 9:05am PDT

Jen is a pro skier and 5-time X-Games medalist from Salt Lake City, UT, which is awesome because I used to live in SLC and ride the hills around there, so we’ll have plenty to talk about. You can learn more about Jen on her website and follow her updates on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Jesse Csincsak

A photo posted by Jesse Csincsak (@jessecsincsak) on Jan 18, 2015 at 3:37pm PST

Jesse is a former pro snowboarder, the founder of the non-profit JSAK Snowboarding, and was the winner of The Bachelorette’s 4th season. Both being snowboarders, and former reality TV stars, I’m sure we’ll have plenty on common too.

You can learn more about Jesse on his website and follow his updates on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Me

A photo posted by Matt Gibson (@xpatmattt) on Oct 25, 2014 at 6:41am PDT

And, of course, if you haven’t yet you should make sure you’ve followed me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook as well, so you don’t miss out on any of my updates. I’m brining my DSLR with a long lens and WIFI kit so I can shoot my best and post directly to social media.

What Do You Want to See?

Skype didn’t invite me to the X-Games to cover it for myself. They want me to cover it for you.

To follow us, all you need to do is follow the hashtag #SkypeXGames on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

We want to know, what would you like to see showing up in your social media feeds during the X-Games?

There are a few ways you can tell us.

1) Comment below

2) Tweet to me (@xpatmatt) using the hashtag #SkypeXGames

3) Message me on Skype’s new video messaging app, Skype Qik. Just get the app, add me on Skype (my username is XpatMatt), and then message me and I’ll send you private, one-of-a-kind photos and video of whatever event you want.

4) Follow me on Snapchat. My username is, you guessed it, XpatMatt. I’ll be posting a Snapchat Story every day about my experience.

Then What?

After Aspen I’ve decided to take a little snowboarding trip around the Western US. I’m going to try and visit every Vail Resort in Colorado, Utah, and California.

If you’re near one of those resorts and want to meet up, let me know! You can find a calendar of my travels here.

The post I’m Going to the X-Games in Aspen with Skype appeared first on XpatMatt.

This is my brother Ben. We grew up snowboarding together and now he teaches it for a living. He’s way better than I am.

These photos are from 2012 when we hiked our hometown ski hill in March. It was closed. It was the first time we rode together in more than a decade.

We built a jump and he did a backflip, which made me feel like I suck. Compared to most people I don’t. But compared to him, I do.

So I answered with a mute stiffy while simultaneously reinventing snowboarding fashion. How do you like that beige fleece vest?

He is so natural and graceful when he rides. It make me jealous — and pushes me to improve my riding.

This was taken the following year at Sierra at Tahoe during a snowboard tour. The hill has a serious park and some very ambitious local pros. I was humbled.

Sierra at Tahoe isn’t known for its terrain parks, but it also has some wicked sidecountry.

On that same trip we also got to visit Heavenly, famous for its views of Lake Tahoe.

There wasn’t much natural snow at the time, but there was a lot of man-made snow, which created some unique shots.

Heavenly is a good hill, but the view is the reason most people visit.

Sierra at Tahoe also has a pretty decent view of the lake.

When I visited Crested Butte I discovered possibly the most extreme ski area I’ve visited. The locals were awesome too.

Telluride, however, is another story.

Telluride is the place ski fantasies come from. It’s beautiful, historic, and the locals are some of the most passionate snow riders I’ve ever met.

Hiking the sidecountry is standard there.

The reason why is obvious.

The reason why is obvious.

Jackson Hole is another out-of-the-way place that attracts snow maniacs.

Wolf Creek Colorado is lesser-known area, but gets the most snow in Colorado.

When we visited 50 inches (or some ridiculous amount) of snow fell in a matter of a couple of days.

It was glorious.

Insane actually.

I can’t recall a time I’d ever seen that much fresh snow.

My guide, Steve, like all of the locals, was incredibly friendly and had moved there for his one love: powder.

It’s not hard to understand why he chose Wolf Creek.

Snowbird, the resort I visit the most in Utah, is often ranked among the best in the world.

Coming from Canada, I didn’t think that ski hills so far south could get more snow than ours. I was wrong.

Snowbird, statistically, is among the snowiest resorts in the world.

A rare capture of the seldom performed beer-slide on a spring day.

But really, Snowbird has big mountain terrain unlike any I’ve ever seen.

It’s epic.

A glorious playground.

Then I discovered Canyons. With 12 amazing hills within a 1-hour drive, it’s hard to get to all the hills near Salt Lake Ciity.

Canyons is enormous, but lesser-known, which means the trees are excellent for poaching.

It’s wonderful for families.

The longer I ride the more I realize that the turns you earn are the best ones.

The post My Favorite Skiing and Snowboarding Photos appeared first on XpatMatt.

I love both skiing and snowboarding. During my many years riding in the Northwest, mainly British Columbia, Alberta, and Montana, I never had any problems with others because of my choice of ride.

When I moved to Utah and started riding there, in Colorado, and California, everything changed. I started getting a lot of attitude from skiers (not all of them of course, but more than ever before). I was randomly insulted for no reason and often subject to the assumption that I couldn’t ride anything technical and all I could do was slide around in the park and hit jumps.

I don’t want to sound like I think I’m an amazing snowboarder. I’m not. But I had a season’s pass every year since I could fit into ski boots, and that kind of experience goes a long way. And it feels pretty great when I red passed those same big-talking weekend-warrior skiers in a mogul field or drop without hesitation into a chute while they stand at the mustering their courage.

As a writer and photographer, I’ve ridden with a fair number of pros. I’ve rarely — if ever — heard this skiing vs. snowboarding snobbery from them. I think it’s because they’ve reached a high level of performance and don’t feel that they have anything to prove. They simply see their fellow snow rides as athletes with a passion for flying down mountains at insane velocities.

There’s a kinship in that.

It seems to me that the people who do take part in this argument feel like they have something to prove and, I suppose if they could prove it on the mountain, they wouldn’t feel the need to do it in the gondola and apres bar.

But, that’s just a guess.

Speculation aside, I’d like to make a couple of things clear.

1. I think this is a ridiculous argument.
2. I don’t care what anybody riders. I’m cool with anybody who likes to spend a day on the mountain (snowjock douchebags excepted).
3. Having spent so much of my life oblivious to this argument, and then suddenly encountering it so harshly, has made me curious about it. This article is an attempt to articulate my thoughts about it, and to learn what other think.

Please let me know your opinion in the comments.

With that in mind, lets start with a simple poll.

Skiing vs Snowboarding: Click the Pic to Vote

Now, let’s start with the biggest examples of snowboarder-hate.

Three ski resorts in the United States ban snowboarders. Some snowboarders take that personally.

I don’t.

Two of those resorts, Alta and Deer Valley, are right in my backyard. Last year I even went skiing at Alta.

I skied from the time I was three until I was fourteen. I raced. I rode big mountain terrain. I was really good. I can count on one hand the number of times I came across a rideable slope that I was too timid to tackle.

Then, in my teens, I switched to snowboarding and never looked back. I enjoyed it more. I later became certified to teach snowboarding and now write the About.com Snowboarding Guide.

So, I’m fairly well-experienced in both sports.

I don’t care that some ski resorts choose to ban snowboarders. I’m not a fan of exclusionary business practices, but, if those ski hills could capitalize on the feelings of camaraderie, nostalgia, and sense purity that exists among long-time skiers, then more power to ‘em. There’s more than enough other terrain out there for me.

There is something that does upset me though.

Some skiers are very biased against snowboarders.

If you don’t believe me, watch this video, taken by snowboarders petitioning to be allowed on Alta.

Last year during my Best in the West Ski and Snowboard Tour I was often guided around ski areas by former (and current) competitive skiers. Most of the time my hosts were gracious and thought nothing of the plank strapped to my feet.  We only needed to ride for a few minutes together before they realized that I could go basically anywhere that they could.

Some of my guides, however, weren’t so open-minded. They’d sneer when they saw that the journalist they were asked to show around had one board, rather than two, strapped to his feet. They’d condescendingly say things like, “That’s a great spot, but we don’t want to go there. The traverse is too long.” or “No, we can’t go there. There are too many moguls.”

I found myself having to defend my choice of ride. These skiers wrongly assumed that I couldn’t traverse, that I couldn’t carve properly, and that I’d scrape all the snow off of the runs.

I had to assure these skiers that I would traverse anywhere they wanted to, that I could hold an edge across an icy slope, that I could keep up with them on a cat track, and that they could indeed hop off of the chair and just start skiing right away, because I would be able to catch up after stopping for five seconds to strap in my rear foot.

By the end of our time together most of these skiers would say things like, “I’ve never ridden with a snowboarder like you,” or “You’re not like other snowboarders. You can actually ride.”

There are a lot of snowboarders, like me, who can navigate a mountain just as easily as a skier. 

We can go pretty much anywhere and do pretty much anything that a skier can do just as easily as a skier.

I’ll admit, in some situations I have to put in more effort to keep up on traverses and cat tracks.

I can, however, keep up just fine and I don’t mind the work.

It aggravates me when skiers condescendingly assume that my ability to maneuver on the mountain is somehow hindered by the board on my feet.

There are differences between skiing and snowboarding. Many peoples ideas about what the real differences are, however, are ridiculous and insulting.

I’ve put a lot of thought into this. As both a skier and snowboarder I’m in a unique position to tackle this issue. So, on this post I’m going to address the differences between skiing and snowboarding once and for all.

I’m going to tell you what the real differences are, show you that they are in fact really quite small, and then frankly put to bed a lot of the bullshit stereotypes about snowboarders.

The root of the problem is that cultural differences between skiers and snowboarders have been overblown and that most snowboarders are stained with an image that comes from a very small — but extremely visible — minority of snowboarders.

The Real Differences Between Skiing Vs. Snowboarding

There are three types of differences between skiing and snowboarding: technical, emotional, and cultural.

Technical differences are the things that are made possible, impossible, easy, and difficult, by the nature of the technology. For example, a skier can (theoretically) carve a shaper turn than a snowboarder because he has two edges in the snow rather than one.  Emotional differences have to do with the way the ride feels; the smoothness, flow, and enjoyment. Then we have cultural differences, which is the source of most of the bad blood between skiers and riders.

Below, I will talk about all three.

Technical Ability

There are two important technical differences between skiing and snowboarding: the number of edges in the snow and the ability to move your legs as a biped.

I will say this now. Skiers, please try to contain your delight.

Skis are more technically functional than snowboards. 

It’s true. With skis you have four edges on the snow. You can turn more sharply. You can skate and push yourself with poles.

Skiers are often quick to point these things out.

I would also like to point out, however, that in 99.9% of circumstances, a snowboarder can overcome the technical differences between the two using effort and skill.

Some skiers assume that snowboarders are unable to follow long traverses. In most cases this is not true. It all depends on the ability of the snowboarder.

Having done a great deal of research last winter, I can tell you from experience that skiers are generally sloppy and lazy traversers.

They rightly should be. It’s easy to traverse on skis, so there is no reason to be attentive. So, most skiers cruise along mindlessly, unconcerned about carrying momentum because if they lose speed they can simply push with a pole.

A good snowboarder, on the other hand, is a master of maximizing momentum. He chooses his path carefully and pumps the grooves and bumps in the trail for speed.  If he loses his speed he always has the option of frog-hopping a few steps up the hill so that the can ride down to the trail to build more speed.

This is sufficient to reach 99.9 percent of in-bounds terrain in most ski areas. If a snowboarder wants to tackle that last .01 percent, that snowboarder would need a splitboard.

So, although skis are technically more proficient, a good snowboarder can access effectively all of the same in-bounds terrain as skiers if they’re skilled and willing to put in a bit of extra effort.

The same holds true when it comes to flats. Unstrapping and pushing a snowboard is not fun, but, given the way that most ski hills are built (to prevent skiers from having to skate) a good snowboarder can unstrap and keep up to a skier of comparable ability most of the time

In all but the most extreme cases, snowboards are able to achieve the same results as skis. It is true that the snowboarder may have to put in some extra physical effort — but there is a payoff for that, which is what I’m going to discuss next.

Feeling and Enjoyment

This is highly subjective and there’s no right answer for everyone  — so I won’t dwell on it too long — but this is the main reason that I prefer snowboarding to skiing.

The qualities that make snowboards less technically functional than skis — the lack of biped motion and extra edges — are the same qualities that make snowboarding feel so damned good.

Snowboarding feels smoother than skiing does.

Yes, a skier’s four edges have an advantage in technically challenging situations. However, when it comes to those glorious times — the ones that make you want to get up at six in the morning and drive to the hill —  those times that you’re ploughing through snorkel-deep powder, screaming over beautifully-groomed corduroy, or plummeting down a sudden drop-off with your stomach in your mouth — managing two edges feels more fluid, natural, and enjoyable than managing four.

I’ve heard even the most hardcore skiers admit the appeal of a big fat snowboard on a powder day. The enjoyment of a rider sluffing floaty s-turns down a steep pitch of untouched pow is obvious.

So, although, skis are more technically proficient, snowboarding offers a better experience.

The difference is slight — the experiential advantage of snowboarding is about as big as the technical advantage of skiing — but it is worth mentioning.

It’s the reason that I choose to snowboard.

Cultural Characteristics

This is where things get hairy.

Before I start talking about the cultural differences between skiers and snowboarders — which basically means talking about stereotypes — I have to point out that I hate stereotypes and believe that every person deserves to be judged on their individual character.

The stereotypes I’m talking about are not my own personal beliefs, but views that I’ve noticed that others tend to hold; views which are at the root of much of the conflict between skiers and snowboarders.

The Bad Snowboarder Stereotype

The most extreme stereotype of snowboarders is one of punk skateboarders who figured out how to ride on snow and enjoy ruining the on-mountain experience for everyone else. This stereotype asserts that snowboarders are disrespectful, technically sloppy, aggressive, and unaware of others on the hill.

There are plenty snowboarders that fit this stereotype. I’ve met them and you’ve met them. (Then again, there are some skiers that fit it too.) They are, however, an overwhelming minority. The vast majority of snowboarders I know are kind and respectful.

A lot of the qualities reflected in this stereotype arise from a focus on a very small, but highly-visible, part of the snowboarding community.

Bullshit Snowboarder Stereotypes

A lot of the stereotypes about snowboarders arise from a small group of very visible snowboarders: park riders.

Park riders are the most visible snowboarders on the mountain. They spend their time on the busiest runs near the busiest lifts, so they are the snowboarders the average encounters most often.

Park snowboarders, however, probably make up less than half of the snowboarding community. The rest of us are off cruising down groomed runs or searching for pow.

It often happens in subcultures that a small minority of aggressive loudmouths get all of the attention from parents and the press. This is true of snowboarding.

There are lots of super douchebag snowboarders out there. They cut you off on the hill, nearly run you over, ride way too fast in slow areas, and flip the bird to anyone who gets in their way.

But there are lots of super douchebag skiers for that matter. And soccer players. And bakers and doctors and policemen.

Douchebaggery is not limited to snowboarding.

The snowboarding community includes a proportion of douchebags approximately equal to that of any other social group. For the sake of statistics, let’s say that that one out of ten people in the general population are douchebags.

So, if park riders make up, say, 40 percent of snowboarders, and 10 percent of those are super douchebags, we have a situation where all snowboarders are being judged based on the actions of around four percent of douchebag park riders, who come into contact with a very large number of people on the hill because they spend their time in the busiest places.

The following snowboarder stereotypes are based on this tiny minority of douchbag park riders and are dead wrong:

Bullshit Stereotype #1: Snowboarders Can’t Carve

A lot of skiers feel that snowboarders are technically crappy at turning and stopping, making them a danger to others around them.

There is a sliver of truth to this argument (two edges can turn and stop better than one) but it has been blown way out of proportion.

Snowboarders (and skiers) who hang out in the terrain park ride gear that’s customized for aerial maneuvers and rails. Their boards (or skis) are shorter for spinning, and their edges are dulled so that they won’t catch on rails.
Short boards (or skis) with dull edges are not able to turn sharply.

So, yes, some very visible douchebag snowboarders (and skiers) ride equipment that is not technically capable of making sharp turns. They do it at high speeds in crowded areas, and I’m sorry about that.

But that doesn’t mean that we all do it.

Bullshit Stereotype #2: Snowboarders Scrape the Powder Off the Mountain

This stereotype is based on an understandable misperception.

People see novice snowboarders sideslipping on the hill where novice skiers are snowplowing. So, on beginner (and some intermediate) terrain you’ll often see snowboarders sideslipping while skiers do not, because they have the option of snowplowing.

This creates the perception that snowboarders sideslip more than skiers.

When you get into the steeps, however, this ceases to be true. In the steeps, snowboarders and skiers both sideslip equally and for the same reason.

Sideslipping is for people who are riding terrain beyond their ability.

If a snowboarder sideslips down a slope, she will scrape away most of the powder on it.

If a skier sideslips down a slope, he will also scrape away most of the powder on it.

If a skier or snowboarder carves down the same slope, they will both displace approximately the same amount of pow.

The truth is that when you take either a skier or snowboarder down a pitch that they can’t handle, they will sideslip the snow off of it equally well.

Bullshit Stereotype #3: Snowboarders Ruin Moguls

This is basically the same as the above complaint. A good snowboarder will weave between moguls in the same way as a good skier.

A bad snowboarder will ride over them, in the same way that a bad skier will.

Bullshit Stereotype #4: Most Snowboarders Are Aggressive Teenagers

Snowboarding has been around since the mid 1960s. This means that the 5.1 million snowboarders on the mountain range from young children to senior citizens.

My father, at 68, loves snowboarding. A study by the Leisure Trends Group in 2004, found that 1.1 million snowboarders were over the age of 35.

We are not all young punks. I’m thirty-five and have a job, a salary…you know, a normal life.

Bullshit Stereotype #5: Learning to Snowboard is Easy

“It took me two days to become an intermediate snowboarder,” Chris G., a writer for Yahoo Voices, said, “By the end of the second day I could take the board down any intermediate run and could even jump fairly well.”

You have to attain a certain level of skill at any task before it becomes fun, whether it be playing guitar, figure skating, or baking cookies.

Generally speaking, it is easier to learn how to manage two edges on the snow than it is to learn how to manage four — at least in the beginning. So, it is probably easier for most people to go from zero to fun on a snowboard than on skis.

This should hardly be considered a shortcoming, though.

And, once you start looking at advanced technical maneuvers, the learning curve is pretty much equally steep for both skiers and snowboarders. When it comes to hucking backflips and charging 40 degree chutes, it simply comes down to the ability of the individual, not the plank strapped to their feet.

Bullshit Stereotype #6: Snowboarding is Loud

Many skiers claim that snowboarders make a horrible scraping noise when riding downhill or coming to a stop.

I’m no physicist, but I doubt that. A snowboard, because it’s broader, makes a low-pitched sound when it vibrates. Low sounds carry farther.

Skis, on the other hand, make a high-pitched sound when they scrape over ice. This sound is in all likelihood equally loud. It just doesn’t carry as far.

The sound of snowboards on ice may carry farther, but, in my opinion, the sound of skis on ice is more unpleasant.

Can We Be Friends?

Most skiers are totally cool with snowboarders.

However, some skiers make accusations about snowboarders that are are downright ignorant.

I have met you. You assumed the worst of me before we even got on the chairlift. You roll your eyes because of all the time you expect to waste, waiting for me to strap in. You preach about how we can’t traverse to all the places that you can, and how we ruin your favorite runs.

You are full of shit.

Despite that, I’d like to shake hands and call it water under the bridge.

Here’s what I propose.

You let go of your preconceptions and wait until you see me ride before you judge me.

I’ll forget about all the ignorant things you said about me.

Do we have a deal? 

The post Skiing vs. Snowboarding: The Hard Truth About a Ridiculous Argument appeared first on XpatMatt.

I was fortunate enough to visit Snowbird a few times this year and shoot some of their sponsored riders. It was epic. I rode chutes like the ones I’d only previously seen in movies. Hucked sme pretty big cliffs as well. The conditions weren’t always great for photos, but we still got some pretty spectacular shots.

 Is Snowbird the best ski resort in the United States?

Make your voice heard.

VOTE FOR SNOWBIRD HERE!

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Statistically Wolf Creek appears to be a fairly average ski area. It’s 1600 acres, which places it solidly in the middle of the pack for rideable terrain. It has seven lifts to serve that terrain and a vertical of just over 1,600 feet. There’s no terrain park at all.

There is one statistic, however, that sets Wolf Creek apart from other resorts: an average annual snowfall of 465 inches, which gives it more snow than any other ski area in Colorado.

Although that doesn’t top some other hills, like Jackson Hole or Snowbird, it’s still quite impressive.

Wolf Creek also has some qualities that set it apart from other ski areas. There’s the hill’s dedication environmental stewardship, which has resulted in a very low proportion of cut runs and a very natural-feeling on-hill experience.  Wolf Creek is also quite community-oriented, and that is reflected in the friendly atmosphere.

Then there are the proposed Wolf Creek expansion plans, which would open up 1000 acres of new, powder-covered terrain — and 700 of those acres would be all-natural black and double-black diamond chutes, gullies, and cliffs.

What do you think? Could Wolf Creek be the Best Ski Resort in the USA?

Would the proposed expansion affect your opinion?

Vote now! 

The post Is Wolf Creek the Best Ski Area in the United States? appeared first on XpatMatt.

We left Salt Lake City to visit Wolf Creek in February, excited to see how Colorado’s best snow stacks up against Utah’s self-proclaimed “best snow on Earth”.

It was impressive.

While there we got to ask the locals and visitors what they liked about Wolf Creek. Some people mentioned the super-chill small town atmosphere. Mentions of the hot springs in nearby Pagosa Springs were unavoidable. But, one thing was universal: Wolf Creek’s 465 annual inches of snow, which is the largest annual snowfal of any hill in Colorado.

Who wouldn’t love that?

The post Sh*t People Say About Wolf Creek appeared first on XpatMatt.

This is how it was: legendary.

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