Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Feb. 2, 1995, edition 1 / Page 9
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DIVERSIONS WEEKLY ENTERTAINMENT SECTION • THE DAILY TAR HEEL • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2.1995 • Winttr Adventure y\ { V ■ v) c~j *— >s q It's a Long Time 'Til Summer; Warm up With Snowboarding BY ALISON MAXWELL ARTS/DIVERSIONS EDITOR ' Carvin’ down the mountain you catch a glimpse of the serene view. Kids litter the beginner slopes. The automatic lift propels winter lovers to the tip top of the mountain. Your journey has begun. You make a few nice turns and snow flies into your face. You take a deep breath, your eyes begin to water, you grace down the hill, hit a jump and catch air. You glance down to make sure everything’s in check. It’s not two skis you see, but instead one board —one snowboard. We’ve finally gotten a taste of winter weather here on the Hill, which has left many with the yearning to find an exciting and perhaps new way to spend the weekend. Fad or no fad, many say that snowboarding, which entails using ski slopes as a haven for “boards,” is the latest way to spend a day or even a weekend. “It’s up and coming ... It’s almost one of the fastest growing sports of all sports,” Rick Binger, a sales represen tative at Winter Sport in Raleigh said. The trend has hit all over the country in the past couple years, but Bill Riddick, a Ski and Snowboard Technician at the Alpine Ski Center, said that it is just catching on here in the south. “Really the younger generation wants to go boarding,” he said, noting that the activity includes males and females. Snowboarding vs. Skiing - What's ths Deal? Josh Kirschner, a board salesman at C+R Sports in Hillsborough, offered up one simple analogy: “Those that snowboard, skateboard ... those that ski, ride a mountain bike.” There’s a big difference between skiing and board ing, according to UNC sophomore and snowboarder Nick Thornhill. “Some people aren’t used to riding right or left foot forward, it’s a different kind of thing,” he admitted, although he learned to successfully snowboard on what he described as the “second try.” Jonah Mechanic, a freshman snowboarder who has been skiing all his life, said snowboarding is just simply I . . <i / ' PHOTO COURTESY OF JONAH MECHANIC PAGE 9 more fun, more of a thrill. "Snowboarding is the thing for people 8-29 years old to do,” he said. “You’re out there with nature just chillin’, it’s an escape.” Riddick, who claims snowboarding is a lot “easier than skiing,” attributes the popularity ofboarding to the alter native reputation. “It’s just something different, younger people have that rowdy reputation," he said. Binger agreed: “It’s popular because of the alternative image that it portrays, you know, skateboarding on snow. ” “It’s one of those things where you try it and never go back to skiing.... It’s an addictive thing.” fL. IW UmlrCßCv Sure, neither skiing nor snowboarding is 100 percent safe, but relatively how do they compare? Binger said it is safer than skiing because your “knees can’t twist.” “You get bruised butts and wrists, but that’s about it,” he said. Thornhill attests that board ing is like skiing, except the dif ference is that the bindings are sideby side. He also said that it is a simpler concept. “Iwouldrather have like one board. Skiing you have poles and withboardin’ you really don’t have to mess with it.” forth* SuMtste For some, boardin’ is the win tertime equivalent of surfing. Mechanic, from Miami, Fla., said it’s something to “hold you over when it’s (the ocean) flat. We want to do something to keep us stoked,” he said. “It tides me over until we can go surfing again ... the sensation is a lot like surfing,” he said. Thornhill said that it is always helpful for snowboarders to have a background in skateboarding or surfing. “It’s more like surfing, but some people disagree,” he ex plained. Yke Peeedoas “It’s a sport where there’s no rules, you can do whatever you want,” Thornhill said. Mechanic said it’s something to do on the weekends. “It gets you away from here, you know you normally go out Friday night, get ripped and sleep away Saturday. Before you know it, it’s Sunday, and you haven’t done anything,” he said. IkbiN Thornhill has a Morrow Revert snowboard that he bought at Gravity Snowboard Shop in Viiginia Beach. It’s a burgundy board with an emblem of a guy skating on the top of it. He bought it for SSOO. Jonah, on the other hand, See SNOW, Page 12 Movies Page 10 Mother Singer character pulls a film with a lame plot and predictable ending out of the hole it digs for itself. ■ jj. m iQfiSL JBR J rfgjH 111 ’ jTr ' Books hif>r / / Wirning: PC Bodtimi James Finn Gamer's latest release, 'Politically Correct Bedtime Stories,' reflects social consciousness. ■ “catch alr"-the boarder hits a jump and is propelled into the air ■ “lien“-the boarder grasps the board in the front by her front foot on her front side ■ "method"—the boarder pulls the board behind his back and grabs it with his front arm ■ “ollio"-the boarder uses the rails (if they have them) to jump up on them and slide down the rail with a board ■ “stall Ash'—the boarder grabs the tail of the board with his back arm and points the board's nose down ■ “stHfia"-Coming off a jump or a half pipe, the boarder straightens both knees and her legs are parallel to the ground. The boarder then grabs the board with her back arm and lands. ■ “360 air“-the boarder spins around 360 degrees in the air on the slope or in the air DTK Ph6t6S BY jdNATHAN RADCUFF IS /g ' ’
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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