Last season, Parkstar™ took Rookie of the Year honors, winning over camp kids, seasoned pros and magazine testers straight off the rack. This year the Parkstar flexes a little more muscle, emerging as a fun, press-ready ride with screaming base swaps, a chaos topsheet and the forgiving JIB ROCKER feel that made it famous. Unmatched maneuverability and something loosely defined as `buttery goodness’ back the Parkstar’s game.

CONSTRUCTION: Hybritaper™
SHAPE: Twin Tip, Hyper Progressive
STANCE: Centered
CORE: W2™
GLASS: Triax Top / Biax Base
TORSION FORKS: Carbon Matrix I
BASE: 4000 Sintered
BASE BEVEL: 1°
BASELINE: Jib Rocker™

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A new perspective on the play-anywhere vibe. The NEW Lunatique™ represents a true `paradigm nouveau’ – created in response to one central idea: easy to ride = good times! By blending diverse riding styles and incorporating ALL TERRAIN ROCKER, this K2 Alliance™ collaboration creates effortless turns through all types of snow. Playful, light and always maneuverable, Lunatique will take you anywhere the snow flies.

CONSTRUCTION: Hybritech™
SHAPE: Dual Progressive
STANCE: 3/4″ Back
CORE: Rhythm™
GLASS: Biax Top / Base, Kevlar
BASE: 2000 Extruded
BASE BEVEL: 1°
BASELINE: All Terrain Rocker™

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Features:
+ High fidelity speakers that KICK
+ Built-in amplifier
+ Lithium-ion battery
+ Ruggedized housing
+ Belt clip
+ Extreme sex appeal

Tech:
+ Power: 3W rated/5W Max
+ Dimensions: 96mm(W)x92mm(H)x56mm(D)
+ Indicator: RGB LED
+ Battery: Lithium Ion 900 mAh
+ Run time: 4 hours at full volume
+ Charge Time: < 1 hour
+ Charging input: Mini USB (cable included)
+ Input: 1/8″ Headphone jack (female)
+ Audio Cable: 3 foot retract male-to-male

***Eye style and eye color vary. Please call if you want a specific eye color or style and we can let you know what our current stock is. Otherwise we will ship what we have and you can be pleasantly surprised.

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Gossip will…

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So with exams over, along with the classic photo shoot with 5 very happy qualified ski instructors, it was time to get on with our goals for the next two weeks. The main call was more ski tuition evolved around off piste, the club fields along with some carving to keep eurostar Alice happy. We first had a nice Tai dinner in the city to say farewell to our Viking star Sophia, as she dashed to the sun before returning to her busy life of study and work (that involves just 4 hours sleep a night, fuelled by a diet of hearty soup and a few apples). Credit to you girl, I hope you get the rewards at the end. Bon voyage.

We did manage to sneak in one last powder day for Sophia in NZ. The truth be have it, we could have been in any place on earth as we couldn’t see our hands in front of us. The trusty Andrew and Jason followed me as I loitered around ski patrollers with intent. Before long I had us on an undercover mission to bluff face. After traversing over and falling into 1 metre high wind drifts I managed to guide us smoothly along the endless track to bluff face. Well there were a few times I came off the edge of the track dropping onto the 37 degree slope bellow. Once there we used the trust rock lanterns to guide us down the beast. The snow was that awesome, we had to repeat the task again. The focus of the day was to trust your leader and feel with your feet.

Tuesday was a bluebird with more fresh powder. The departure was slightly delayed as the weary bodies slowly pilled in and the farewell hugs to Sophia concluded. The consequence of our lateness became an important lesson, that even in small town NZ there are still powder hounds out there (at least 10 of them, mostly ski school). The 5 minute late departure cost us dearly. As we rode the T bar the virgin powder slopes of Big Mama where being scarred with skis and boards. I scanned right as the valley was filled with echoes of joy as 1,2,3,4 people slashed their way down bluff face in just a few turns. Even Uli, the mountain manager, was out for first turns, which I haven’t seen in my 15 years on the mountain. I locked into damage control mode looking for hidden spots to get the crew freshies.

This sounds easy but in NZ you need to consider the snow underneath plus what effect the sun,temperature change and wind have had (this of course starts days before, watching weather cycles analysing ski area reports etc, to just make the decision of what mountain to hit up). We made it to the top and, to the crew’s surprise, I hand signal in the opposite direction to the chosen big muma to bluff face. Subtle signals must be used to avoid other powder hounds following those of us in the know and  who have the trained eye. Confused, my well trained crew follow me like sheep. We lost the punters and arrived at bluff face with still only 4 tracks. I point out big muma now tracked out ( at least 30 tracks ). Bluff face was like soft butter, you could just relax and slarve out your turns with speeds near 60mph. One would have to revert back in time to say it was Primo! This wasn’t enough, we enjoyed the 2 mile long powder run of dome ridge, which ended in scree running to finish, as the approaching spring had left the snow line 50 metres above the road. This is another classic kiwi art form where one must dig his heals in and run down the hill and if things start to turn to custard you just have to run faster in the fine rock dust that is rolling with you like a mini avalanche. I was down in seconds to hitch a ride back up the hill to retrieve our trusty van to return all to the slopes. On my return I was met by a group all dressed in brown (they all were covered in rock dust/mud as they hadn’t sussed out the art of scree running as yet). Of course Nick was the muddiest, so he had to strip down to his undies before entering the van. Up the top it was time for some snow angels to wash the clothes before returning to the conventional slopes where we became Gorillas in the mist as the fog rolled in and we had about 3 metres vis. Did I mention that when I say “follow me if you like”, but I’m on a mission and conventional slopes have nothing in common. With this in mind I lead us to some great chutes which lit the way like street lamps on a foggy night down the slopes. Once out of the chutes, it was up to the sheep to trust that my turns would lead them back to the lifts and I was now the mobile lantern for reference.

On Wednesday it was time for a rest, some uni sorting for Alice and some work at Porters for Jase. ( He is now employed part time in the ski school at Porters.) Well done Jase, not bad for an Aussie. Meanwhile the boyz hit up the burn. We were sorted out by the snow gods again, with some great freshies on classic NZ big face wind buff.

We slayed a couple of runs down Hamilton face, before a lesson on chute skiing. A few melt downs, sweat, ice cream heads from tumbles and some sluff riding ( mini avalanches), the boys were starting to get the hang of the variable/challenging/character building conditions, while confined to a narrow few metres between the cliff bands. Well done lads.

On Thursday we took the chance to go the the wildlife park and see some kiwis in full swing, if you know what I mean…. This was followed by a trip to the city centre historic buildings where Sir Rutherford discovered the process of radiation. Funny enough the kiwis to this day are nuclear free and surfed him out to the USA where he became an all-time legend. This was not the purpose of the visit, it was to get fresh fudge.

The next day we braved the 100km/hr winds and snow for a couple of hours of piste skiing training, before returning home to make some of the worlds biggest sushi rolls for Dig’s birthday the next day. This would set us up with the time for another powder day. We had yet another dump…

4:34am the world and life as we know it changed by an act of nature that hits the area on a regular basis (once every 1000 years). A grade 7.1 earthquake. It lasted about 45 seconds. In respect to all concerned I will conclude this without detail other than everyone is safe and not one death in the entire area that was effected. I have done my upmost to protect all students and my family for the future after shock. I am confident that all students are safe and that there is no need for any concern or change of travel plans. Please feel free to call me on 006433184812 for any concerns.

The skiing plans halted and Jase had a birthday of a lifetime with homemade sushi lamb chops, home grown from my ranch (2 acre hobby farm), and my wild venison, pork and lamb sausages. To top it off they bet the South Africans at rugby and kiwis in netball.

We had a chill day on Sunday as the winds where reaching over 100mph on the mountains and enjoyed the life of Aftershocks and pool.

That’s it from me – time to get this to the pigeon, as the power is flickering, the wind howling, the rain pouring down and the Aftershocks jingling. Life sure does feel real and NONSTOP at the moment!

Jase

Ski instructor courses in New Zealand – Ski instructor courses in Canada –Snowboard instructor courses in Canada

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Week 8 mainly involved some pretty intense preparation for the following week’s exams, working on personal skiing, demo turns and doing mock lessons etc. We still managed to find time for a few other activities, such as real live teaching with real live kids. Jason decided it would be fun to walk halfway down the steepest run on the mountain, Bluff Face, after his ski had had enough and abandoned him. They set their merry ways, with the ski sliding down to the bottom of the mountain and Jason walking down the mountain. Jason B that was.

On Thursday, I had my first ever white birthday. Normally when my birthday comes around, I would be sitting outside basking in the glorious sunshine (well, as sunny as England ever gets in August) so it felt quite surreal to be heading out skiing. Somebody up there must like me, as we were blessed with an awesome powder day. Sophia even decided to join in the festivities by creating another divot in Bluff Face. Between the five of us, we have terrorised the poor run with all of our head butts into the mountain. After bluff, we ventured down an amazing run of Dome Ridge, a gem off the side of the mountain. Even an idiotic case of vertigo on my behalf could not ruin what turned out to be an amazing run in perfect conditions.

The evening saw a triple celebration of joy: a house-warming party for some of the staff at Porters, my birthday and another member of staff’s birthday. Some visitors from Franz Josef – the guides for our glacier trip during the first week– introduced us to an evil drinking game, guaranteed to get anyone foolish enough to take part well into the party spirit!

Suddenly that was it. The preparation was over and the nerves started to set in (for me at least). The exams were upon us! They started off gently with an introduction on Sunday evening in Methven.  Most of the candidates seemed to be still at school – even Alice felt old, and as for Andrew….

Monday and Tuesday involved further guidance from the examiners on our personal skiing, plus a full recap of the lesson progressions. We managed to do all of this while trying not to be killed by errant, out of control riders that frequent Mount Hutt.  Sophia decided that if you can’t fight them; join them, so she decided to fall over in front of all the examiners and the entire delegation. When I say fall, what I actually mean is that she simply stopped and plonked herself on top of some poor unsuspecting member of her group.

Fortunately, the weather was holding up quite nicely and as Wednesday approached, things started to get serious as we were assessed on personal skiing and wedge demo turns.  And then on Thursday it was the main event – the teaching assessment.  The restaurant was the scene for some bizarre rituals as people were nervously going over their lessons, making sure nothing had been missed out. Mount Hutt decided to have the last laugh and we had to teach in howling winds and heavy snow.

As the morning progressed, the weather took a turn for the worse and the later classes were held in near blizzard conditions.  Just to add to that, Jason had a few minutes of mild panic when his skis went missing.  They were eventually located in the ski rental shop where some kid had “returned” them.

By 2 pm, everyone had finished and we adjourned to Methven for a few beers while we awaited thepresentation of results in the evening.. We all passed and there was even top marks in the teaching for Sophia and Alice; testament to them and Jase’s fantastic guidance, as these were the only tens in the entire exam. We were joined by a few of the staff from Porters and so we had a few more beers to celebrate!

All this time, with Beth due to give birth at any moment, Jase was never far from the phone, receiving regular updates.  During the evening, he was told to stay away but, at about 11 pm, things changed and so we all piled into the bus for a rapid drive back home.  Rumours that this scuppered Andrew’s plans for the evening may be slightly exaggerated.

Back in the Springfield Hotel, Jason decided that he should uphold the tradition of the new instructors’ nude run.  Fortunately, the pub was closed and none of us were awake to see this (he probably wasn’t fully cognisant either) but his clothes were found abandoned in the hallway – and we won’t mention what he did for an encore.

Friday, and indeed most of the weekend, was spent recovering and waiting for news from Jase.  After a long labour, Jack Porter Collins was born at 6 pm.  Congratulations to Jase and Beth – and to all of us.  What an awesome week!

Stay tuned for the next blog, coming soon…

Ski instructor courses in New Zealand – Ski instructor courses in Canada – Snowboard instructor courses in Canada

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Timy Dutton had a great line down the 500 metre, “Pentes de l’Hôtel” face at the Brévent ski area in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, taking third on the Chamonix stop of the Freeride World Tour. Tim was riding next years Lib Tech Pow NAS

Freeride World Tour Footage of Tim Dutton from Chamonix-Mont-Blanc from Lib Tech on Vimeo.

American rising star and newcomer Tim Dutton impressed the judges as he chose an original line down the face; creative, exposed and searching the good snow.

Against the beautiful backdrop of the Mont-Blanc the Freeride World Tour 2010 kicked off in perfect weather conditions on the 500 metre “Pentes de l’Hôtel” face at the Brévent ski area in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. The 50 best freeriders on the planet put on an amazing performance, showing the 3000 cheering spectators the top of their game on the committing face and challenging snow conditions

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