Extreme Sports from S2AS

The S2AS Team wish all of our customers and blog readers a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays.

we also want to thank all of our customers for their continued support for the last 12 months and hope to have many more years providing you with the best equipment and accessories in kite surfing, snowboarding and many other extreme sports.

We already have a huge range of 2010 products in stock and we're adding more and more all the time.

Catch you all in 2010.

All the best.

At a Glance
The Naish Thorn is the freestyle warrior of the Naish stable aimed at the rider looking for the ultimate in performance. Of course there are some riders out there who demand more, and this is where the FC comes in. FC stands for Full Carbon and that is the difference.

The Thorn FC has a full wood core with a top and bottom carbon laminate adding stiffness when you need it and enhanced pop. The board shares the same outline and shaping as the Thorn, it is just the construction that differs.

Fixtures and fittings as ever are top quality; full G10 fins and the Grav D footstrap system finish off the product. In the hand it is light too, obviously that carbon shaving a few grams off here and there!

On the Water
We rode the original standard version of the Thorn kiteboard at the tail end of last year and were impressed by its performance and pop; naturally we were excited to give this tuned up version a go.

You can see the carbon laminate on the board, which is a cool finish, yet the graphics are the same as the Thorn so to the naked eye it is hard to tell the difference from afar. Put it on your feet though and you don’t need your eyes to spot the difference.

This kite board feels lighter, faster and crisper underfoot. It is eager to get going early and turns at blistering top speed. Riding the boards back to back in a straight line spotting the difference isn’t that easy, but when you load up for the pop the FC really comes into its own. It has plenty of stiffness in the mid section to allow you to displace some serious buckets of water and then the reflex in the tips kicks in to boost you into the stratosphere.

For the ultimate freestyle machine this could be the perfect tool, with Kevin Langaree riding one at the top level you can see why. Upwind is great, helped by the 5cm fins on the underside of the board, riders out there looking for something a little looser for the pass tricks might want to put something smaller on.

Pros
The speed, pop and lively feel make this board a must for the serious freestyler out there.

Cons
You have to pay extra for the carbon performance, some will feel it well worth it though. The Thorn FC doesn’t have the most forgiving ride either, but then that isn’t what it is about.

Overall
This board is fast, light and crisp; it has insane pop and the levels of performance you would expect from a thoroughbred like this. If you simply have to have the best in class then look no further.

At a Glance
Xenon are a new company hailing from Poland, a country that has always been famous for its board manufacture.

Set up by a group of friends all mad on kitesurfing there are a few things that set Xenon apart from some of the other niche brands out there.

Firstly, the construction is up there with some of the best kiteboards on the market, wood cores and solid laminates should get you excited. Secondly, the team behind the designs all love to kite and all use the kite boards. Lastly, they have some real style about them. Quite often we see boards that frankly would make a baby cry. Not the case with Xenon. Classic styling will appeal to all comers and we think they have the “look” just about perfect. The fittings are also great, comfy straps and pads with solid G10 fins.

The Rayo is their intermediate level kite board aimed at the improving kiter. It has a classic outline and a fairly deep concave on the underside that washes out towards the tips. The deck shape is a no frills affair, but it looks clean and refined. There are some step caps around the fins, but aside from that it is a clean uncluttered affair.

On the Water
The Rayo is quite wide, 41cm to be precise. This extra width helps to get the board up and planing very early on. The ride is very smooth, the Rayo has quite a soft flex to it and this flex soaks up all the lumps and bumps while you cruise around enjoying a very smooth ride.

It is an easy board to ride and will happily fly upwind too, helped by the solid 5cm fins and the concave underside. It isn’t the fastest board on the planet, but when you are at that improving level you’ll find this board allows you the time to think about your tricks, rather than being a blistering hell ride that’s scaring the crap out of you!

Jumping is good, although the soft flex still reigns in the pop power. The Rayo is an easy board to jump with that is forgiving of any mistakes from the rider. Landing tricks on the super wide platform though is an absolute pleasure, the extra size also makes it very forgiving allowing for mistakes to be made with the kite during your landings.

Pros
Easy, smooth ride, awesome styling that will appeal to most, a real head turner down the beach. If you want a kiteboard to improve your kitesurfing, one that will forgive rather than punish this is it!

Cons
More advanced riders may want something a little stiffer, like the La Luz.

Overall
The Rayo is a great freeride board, it is really easy to ride and very forgiving. If you want something that will improve your riding style then this is worth a look.

History of Olympic Snowboarding

Snowboarding is a relatively recent addition to the list of official games in the Winter Olympics. Although it was already gaining popularity in the 1980s, it was only in the 1999 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan that it became a part of the quadrennial event.

But before that, its bid for inclusion in the Games became the center of controversy. Prior to the 1998 Games, many snowboarders became upset when the International Olympic Committee gave the jurisdiction of the event to the International Skiing Federation (FSI) instead of the International Snowboarding Federation (ISF). The IOC made the move in spite of the fact that the ISF was already sanctioning snowboard events way before the Nagano Games. That fact became the major source of disappointment among the supporters of the sport.

The snowboarders' disappointment was best exemplified by Terje Hakonsen of Norway. Hakonsen, regarded as one of the world's best snowboarders, declared that he would boycott the 1998 Games and the succeeding Games after that.

It was not the last controversy to hound the Games in Nagano. Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati won the gold medal and was stripped of it after only three days after testing positive for marijuana. However, Rebagliati's camp argued that it was second-hand smoke that he inhaled during the send-off party back in Canada. They further argued that it did not affect his performance in any way. The IOC eventually reversed the decision because marijuana is not a performance-enhancing drug. Rebagliati got his medal back.

Currently, there are six Olympic snowboard events: men's and women's halfpipe, men's and women's parallel giant slalom, and men's and women's snowboard cross. The halfpipe and parallel giant slalom events originally were the only snowboard events. Snowboard cross was a later addition when it was held in the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy.

Halfpipe Snowboarding traces its roots from skateboarding. It is basically an event where riders move from one side to the other of a u-shaped bowl or the halfpipe. They then make jumps and perform tricks while in mid-air.

Meanwhile, the parallel giant slalom is where the top 16 riders of the event battle it out in two-race face-off matches. It is in a bracket format which means rider 1 faces rider 16, rider 2 faces rider 15, and so on. Matches are held until the two top riders are left.

Finally, the snowboard cross event is where four riders race to the finish line. But the course is in no way easy since there is a series of different obstacles that they have to pass through. Aside from the obstacles, the course is also narrow making it difficult for riders to control their boards. Thus, crashes are not uncommon in this event.

Snowboarding, as mentioned earlier, is still a new sport in the Olympics. Therefore, it can be safe to say that some changes are still inevitable in the coming Winter Games. It may be new rules, or even new events, but what's sure is that the Snowboarding will only get more exciting in the years to come.

In the grand scheme of things, snowboarding is a very young sport. It draws inspiration from several preceding sports - notably surfing, skateboarding, and skiing and it is not surprising that the origin of snowboarding lies with those.

Although it is hard to pinpoint the pioneer of Snowboarding, the ‘History of Snowboarding’ tells us that it was initiated around the 1950s by a few surf and skate enthusiasts using self-made boards to convey their skills to a new terrain: the snow. At that time, due to the novelty of the snowboards, those contraptions often resulted in many broken boards and a lot of bruises.

The first real snowboard hit the market during the 1960's in the form of Sherman Poppen's Snurfer (see the photo at the top of this page). It appeared like a weird crossover between a plywood sled and a skateboard deck. The rope attached to the front tip of the Snurfer offered the rider some control, and the steel tacks poking through the upper deck held the rider's feet in place.

During that time, snowboarding appealed initially to a small group of surfers, skateboarders, and backcountry enthusiasts. Brave souls who rode their own snowboard contraptions were highly frowned upon by majority of skiers (something that to some degree continues today); they weren’t even allowed to ride the regular slopes used by the skiers. Consequently, and to snowboarding’s benefit, snowboarding started Off-Piste; not having to conform to the regulations of the Piste meant that the snowboarders cold experiments more freely, without interfering wit the skiers.

As snowboarding became more popular in the 70's and 80's, true snowboarding pioneers such as Dimitrije Milovich, an East Coast surfer, and Jake Burton Carpenter came up with new snowboard designs, materials and machineries that had slowly developed into the snowboards, snowboard bindings, and other snowboard equipment we know today.

In 1983, less than 10 percent of United States ski areas allowed snowboarding. But by 1997, few resorts excluded it. Today, Snowboarding is now as accepted as skiing in most ski resorts worldwide and its popularity and fan base is growing at such a pace that the number of skiers in the US has declined by 25%. In contrast the number of snowboarders has increased by 77%, making snowboarding the fastest growing winter sport in the United States.

Presently, more than 3.4 million people Snowboard. This number comprises about 20% of the visitors to US ski resorts. Also, the number of people who snowboard is predicted to overtake skiing by 2015.

It can be said that the sport has undergone a lot of changes and developments, making it a fun and enjoyable winter sport activity that millions of people enjoy doing every year.

If you fancy trying snowboarding to see what all the fuss is about, then visit S2As and we can hel you with all your snowboarding equipment needs. We stock snowboards, snowboard bindings, snowboarding gear and snowboarding clothing from top brand names at comeptetive prices.

What is Snowboarding? Well lets cover some basics about this awesome sport.

Snowboarding is a winter sport that evolved from skateboarding, skiing and surfing; combining elements of all three of these high adrenaline sports it's not really that surprising the snowboarding caught on pretty quickly, and has evolved into a major winter sport that is rapidly gaining more and more popularity as time goes by.

Developed in the 1960s, Snowboarding was believed to have originated in the United States, where several inventors explored the idea of surfing on the snow. The sport, however, quickly evolved, and the early, rudimentary snowboards gave way, and boy were the original snowboards bad!

It's highly unlikely that there's anyone who has never seen nor heard of Snowboarding. But if you really have no idea what Snowboarding is, just imagine it as surfing or skateboarding but only on snow, or skiing on one ski... and without the ski poles!

Snowboarding is a relatively new winter sport wherein you ride an epoxy-wood core board (resembling a large skateboard) with your feet strapped on it, and manipulate gravity to go down a ski slope. The principle of snowboarding is to maintain your balance as you surf down a ski slope with both feet securely attached to the snowboard via a high-back snowboard bindings.

In skiing, skiers shift their weight from one ski to the other. In snowboarding, riders shift their weight from heels (heelside) to toes as well as from one end of the board to the other. To stop the boards' motion, they push their heels or toes down hard to dig the edge of the snowboard into the snow. Although most people compare snowboarding to skiing, snowboarding techniques are far closer to skateboarding and surfing than to skiing.

One of the most iconic moments for snowboarding, back in its relatively unknown heyday, came in the 1985 movie 'A View to a Kill', where James Bond ended up on an improvised snowboard after losing a ski in a chase scene in the beginning of the movie, and to be fair it was a great way to give the sport a big boost.

Since those early days it has become a major winter sport, with three main styles of competition exist: Alpine, Freestyle, and Boardercross. Snowboarding has even joined the Winter Olympics, having been part of it since it was introduced in 1998 at Nagano in Japan. Originally in only covered 2 disciplines - Halfpipe and Giant Slalom, but since then it has evolved to now include 3 disciplines - Halfpipe, Parallel Giant Slalom and Boardercross.

We at Surface2Air Sports hope this helps your under standing of snowboarding and we will keep adding info here.

Thanks for reading.

The S2AS Team

Below are two press releases from the IKF (International Kiteboard Federation). the first gives information about the cooperation agreement between the IKF and the KPWT (Kiteboard Pro World Tour), the second is a press release containing information about the IKF themselves.

Press Release 1

The International Kiteboard Federation (IKF) and the Kiteboard ProWorld Tour (KPWT) announced that they have entered onto a long-term cooperation. All events of the KPWT tour will be sanctioned by the IKF.

This is a huge step forward for Kiteboarding and promises to further the sport into a hugely successful future.

Both organizations look to govern the sport with a unified system of rules and rankings, which will only benefit the riders and all involved.

IKF president Andrea Siqueira Silva says: “It is exciting for us to work with the KPWT, who started the first world tour back in 1998. We are looking forward to this collaboration and to develop the sport under one umbrella and successful system.”

“I have been working on and building the KPWT since 1998. I have seen the sport grow from year to year and will continue to do my best to take Kiteboarding into the future. This is a great step for the KPWT and I look forward to the 2010 season.” Frederic Gravoille tour promoter of the KPWT stated.

Both KPWT and IKF agree that all future endeavors are to unify the sport under one ranking and rule system and to develop Kiteboarding into a structured, well-governed sport.

Look out over the next few weeks for the ranking systems to be published as well as the schedule for the 2010 World Championship season.

IKF/KPWT

Press Release 2

About the IKF:
The IKF (International Kiteboard Federation) is the World Governing Body for kiteboarding. The IKF have been granted full World Championship Title rights for the sport

The IKF is an organisation that is working to develop the sport of Kiteboarding at all levels. This includes competitions, education within the sport, judging courses and stringent criteria for judges, kitesurfing activities for the young riders (junior competitions) and a unified blanket under which the sport will fall.

The IKF provides guidance and advice to its members around the world on matters such as competition, judging, education, anti doping and other areas of development of the sport.

The IKF creates added value for everybody involved in Kiteboarding on a national and international level and will offer manuals and other forms of feedback and advice.

Objectives:

• To work with the national associations
• To protect the interest of the Kiteboarding athletes
• To guarantee Kiteboarding continues to encourage the freedom of selfexpression
• and creativity.
• To promote and support the sport of kiteboarding in order to further it’s stand in
• the future.
• To establish and maintain an international association to promote the interests of
• kiteboarding in all its forms throughout all countries of the world.
• To promote the values of good sportsmanship, particularly amongst the younger
• generation.

Future:
The IKF creates added value for all parties involved within the sport of Kiteboarding on an international and national level. The future will depend on cooperation with all parties, including pro-riders, national association , eventorganizers and the sponsors to further the growth and development of kiteboarding worldwide.

The IKF is taking the steps towards positive development of this sport. It is supporting the riders by implementing strong criteria within each IKF event and encouraging the brands and sponsors within the sport.

It has now become possible to compete under consistent rules within each sanctioned IKF event. Thereby the sport becomes more attractive and evident to athletes, spectators and the media.

Members:
The management is located in Brazil - Ceara, financed by membership-fees. The board members consist of delegates from Czeck Republic, Canada, Spain, France, Brazil, England, USA, Australia, South Africa, Italy.

IKF
International Kiteboarding Federation
World Governing Body for Kiteboarding

Best regards,
ANDREA SIQUEIRA SILVA
IKF/PRESIDENT

Extreme sports are ‘snow’ joke for one man, as he embarks on a snowboarding tour of England.

Dan Jesse, 23, from Gretna, will set out on Thursday, November 19 to conquer as many of the country’s 43 indoor ski slopes as possible in three days. He will be joined by hundreds of fellow skiers and snowboarders, taking part in a charity Snowball Rally.

The event has been organised to raise money for Snow-Camp, a group that offers skiing and snowboarding lessons to underprivileged teenagers.

Dan, of Africanda Road, said: “Snowboarding changes your perspective, and it basically gave me all the friends that I have now. I like the freedom and the culture involved – if you meet other snowboarders you know you’ll be able to have a good craic with them.”

Giving the lessons to youngsters is a great way of teaching them life skills like perseverance, he added.

The graphic designer will face the challenge with friends Tom Napper, Andrew Gray and Nic Claypole, all former students at the Cumbria Institute of the Arts. They will set out by car from Milton Keynes at 11am on Thursday and aim to return by 7pm on Saturday.

He added: “I saw the event a couple of months ago and I didn’t think it was possible -but then Nic emailed about it and I thought we might as well give it a go. I think it’s around 1,800 miles in total, so it’s going to be a challenge.”

The team will be awarded points for each slope based on their location, with cups and trophies for the winning groups.

“It should be fun, and it’s for a good cause,” said Dan. We were aiming to raise about £250 each, but I’ve already passed that and the others have met their targets as well.”

Also a keen mountain biker, Dan organises outdoor activities around Cumbria through his website, www.jackrabbitt.net or follow him on twitter at twitter.com/jackrabbittuk

Pretty awesome story on BBC News today!

'Two kite surfers from West Sussex took advantage of strong winds on the south coast to realise an ambition to jump over Worthing pier.

Jake Scrace, 25, and Lewis Crathern, 24, had been planning Monday morning's jump for three years but had to wait for perfect weather conditions.

They took off from Goring to the west of Worthing in gusts of wind that were more than 40mph.

Mr Scrace described the build up to the jump as "terrifying".

Carpenter Mr Scrace, who makes kite boards, and professional kite surfer Mr Crathern are both from Worthing.

Between them they have 16 years' experience in the sport.

The pair said the jump was quite hazardous and should not be attempted by amateurs.

"It was probably the most terrifying thing I've ever built up to," said Mr Scrace.

"We were practising down the road and we were pretty confident we were going to do it but as soon as we got nearer the pier it was quite hard."

Mr Crathern said the jump was "epic".

"It was everything I've lived for - amazing," he said.'

Source BBC News - To read the original post and view the video click here.

At a Glance
Wow, when you look at this kiteboard you can’t help be captivated. We saw some images of this on the web a while back, but these were just mock ups and we were eager to see the board in the flesh. The graphics and colours are so bright and vivid that it just jumps out at you.

The F-One Acid is a dedicated freestyle board from F-One, aimed at the younger more radical rider out there looking for a weapon to do battle with. The board has a short wide outline, the biggest size being just 2cm longer than the 130 we had on test. The width is carried all the way to the tips and there is a small concave on the underside of the board. The top deck is simple and flat, giving the Acid a clean business like look.

The new footstraps on the Acid are really easy to put on the board, and for once you can adjust both sides of the strap giving you a really locked in feel.

On the Water
Quite often these days freestyle kiteboards are pretty stiff, allowing the rider to load up and get lots of pop. The Acid however isn’t super stiff like some of its rivals; it has a softer flex, which feels a lot smoother over the water. It isn’t a total sponge and certainly isn’t as smooth as the Trax 4 but it does make for a more enjoyable ride in choppy conditions than some of the other freestyle beasts we have tested. The wide profile and wide tips allow the rider to really drive off the back foot when edging for a trick, this ensures the board has plenty of pop for freestyle tricks whilst also allowing landings to be secure and easy.

Smaller riders will definitely enjoy the 130, the wide shape means that larger riders can get something out of it too, but if you’re over 6 foot tall you might find it a little small underfoot. The board drives well upwind and even gets going fairly early for such a small craft.

Pros
Stunning graphics, solid wood core construction, great fixtures, the Acid is a freestyle kite board that offers a little bit more to the regular rider too, excelling in choppy conditions.

Cons
We’d love to see a bigger version for those of us who are a little on the larger side!

Overall
A great freestyle board that offers lots of top end performance, whilst retaining a smooth comfortable ride. You don’t need to be a freestyle guru to enjoy the Acid, but if you are, you’ll love it!

Ever wondered how much Shaun White costs? Well you may well find out as he is up for auction on eBay! Well ok, he’s not up for sale per se, but the opportunity to hit the slopes and snowboard with the Olympic gold medallist is up for grabs to the lucky winning bidder.

The bidding will run through until Friday 13th November and will close at 7pm PST, which is 8 hours behind the UK. Also (rather annoyingly) the bidding is restricted to pre-approved buyers only, and those interested must email the seller beforehand to gain approval.

So what does the winner get? Well a snowboarding session with Shaun White himself, which many would consider impressive on its own, and then there is lunch with the man himself, to allow you time to have a chat with Shaun.

But wait there is more! Also included are two one-day VIP passes (so you can bring a friend) to the Burton U.S. Open Snowboarding Championship on March 16th to the 21st which is held at Stratton Mountain in Vermont.

If you need some snowboarding gear for your session don’t worry as that is included too, as a matter of fact there will be a complete set-up from Burtons ‘The White Collection’. This will include a snowboard, snowboard bindings and full outerwear. Oh and you get one nights accommodation in a four star hotel on March 20th.

So what’s the downside? Unfortunately travel to and from Stratton Mountain will be the winning bidder (and/or guests) responsibility.

All benefits from the auction will go to Right to Play, a great organisation that uses sports and play programs to improve health and develop life skills in children and communities in some of the globes most disadvantaged and underprivileged areas. Check out the video below of Shaun in Rwanda spending time with the children there and teaching them how to skateboard.

Ever fancied having your own pro snowboard? We don’t mean owning a board, as you probably already do; no we mean having your OWN pro snowboard, designed by you with your unique stamp and style on it. Well now could be your chance!

The UK’s premiere snowboarding and snow sports centre – The Snow Centre –and HEAD snowboards have come together to launch this competition for aspiring designers to create a truly unique snowboard design of their own and have it made into a one of a kind HEAD Transit snowboard. To sweeten the deal there will be a bunch of freestyle passes or lessons to give you the chance to put it to the test in one of the UK’s best snowboarding venues!

Judges will be looking for individuality, originality and flair; go wild with shapes and text and be vibrant with colours, let your imagination get a full grip and go for it! Speaking of judges it’s won’t be a bunch or corporate rank amateurs deciding who is the winner, for a start they have half-pipe specialist Dan Wakeham, the UK’s highest ranked snowboarder and the first British male snowboarders to compete in the Olympics (back in 2006). Along with Dan are the designers at free publication, Don’t Panic, The DWA (The Snow Centres park shapers and Diggers With Attitude) and Pete Gillespe, The Snow Centres director of snow sports.

So if you think you have what it takes to come up with a snowboard design this good, then just follow this link and best of luck to you! Full rules and all that can be found there along with the closing date (which is 24th November, in case you want to know if you still have time!).

For those who are looking for something slick, stylish but perhaps tad less individual, then check out www.s2as.com for our great range of snowboards, including names such as Ride, Rapture, Forum and K2

"Well the London Freeze '09 has been and gone, and it was awesome! Hard to sum up what it is like, but the undertaking itself is amazing. I mean, come on! It had a 30 metre high slope (Actually it was bigger but i forget the exact dimensions) of real snow! In the middle of London's Battersea Power Station! This isn't some European or American skiing resort, this is an urban jungle that's lucky to get a few days of snow a year, which makes it so much more impressive. Glad to see the things we can pull together and achieve in the UK when we want too! Go GB!

Speaking of which Ben Kilner, one of our Winter Olympic hopefuls did pretty well against some very stiff competition, finishing a respectable 14th out of over 50 competitors, though he'll have to push harder next year in Vancouver, but then again this wasn't exactly a massive competition, but more of an exhibition, but that isn't to say the guys out there took it easy and there spectacle and competition was intense!

I freely admit I watched less of the skiing events, but those I did see were very good, I guess I'm just a one board guy.

So that left the music, and it was hella good! I most of the boarding, little of the skiing and every little bit of the partying and music! That alone was worth the price of admission, the atmosphere was amazing, the music baning and the crowd so up for it. Oh and as it fell on Halloween there were plenty of peeps dressed like freaks, though it wasn't as embraced as much as perhaps it could have been, but a bit more pushing of the fact might have helped.

All in all it was a blast and anyone who missed it - missed out, I know several people who have now decided they might grab themselves a snowboard and see what it's all about themselves.

If your curious about it all, then pop over to the website www.londonfreeze.com for a whole slew of vids and pics of the events and a run down of the results."

Jay

For the fourth year running, the World Snowboard Day returns on the 20th December 2009. The day itself is a celebration of snowboarding across the globe, currently with 39 events planned across 19 countries including obvious places such as Canada, USA, China, France, Sweden, Austria and Italy as well as more surprising but just as exciting places such as Serbia, Bosnia, Ukraine, Moldavia, Georgia and Russia. The number of events and countries may change over the next month or so as more join up, so it’s best to visit the website for more information.

What is World Snowboard Day then? Well as stated before it is a celebration of snowboarding, with professional snowboarders and novices alike coming together across the world to revel in their favourite pastime, hitting the snow! It also a great promotional tool, allowing the uninitiated to get a feel and look at what snowboarding is about and what it can offer you.

It’s also a place for the pros to showcase their stuff, and there will be plenty of competitions and shows put on for the fans, along with plenty of amateur events so everyone can have a go. There will be places to get some lessons for true beginners and expect some wild atmosphere and great music wherever you are as well.

It’s also a good place for manufacturers to show what new snowboarding gear they have to offer, such as their latest snowboards, or snowboarding clothing, protective snowboarding equipment and more. So expect to see names such as Forum Snowboards, K2 Snowboards, Ride and much more at least at some of the events, if not all of them.

Unfortunately the UK doesn’t have any events planned at the moment (though this may change as more venues are added), but there are plenty of places offering holiday packages to most of the destinations events are being held at, and as World Snowboard Day falls on a Sunday, why not make a weekend break of it, there are bound to be plenty of build up parties and events to the day itself and will make for a hell of a time.

Wold Snowboard Day is on the Sunday 20th December and is going to be an amazing day, for full information and to keep up to date visit www.world-snowboard-day.com.

Need some good snowboarding gear before the big day? Visit www.s2as.com for a great range of snowboards, snowboarding equipment and snowboarding clothing.

We reviewed the 2009 Naish Helix way back at the beginning of the year and we have to say we loved it. For the more advanced rider out there it was easily one of the most exciting kites to come from the Naish Sigma Series. We loved the build quality and it had all the usual Naish features like one pump; we loved the way this kite was all about power and lots of it!

Well the 2010 Naish Helix is here and we have included a video of just what this baby can do. We hope to have a review up soon, weather permitting, but if you want to let us know your thoughts on Naish's new monster, just drop us a line at info@s2as.com and if we like the review we will publish it on our blog (and our site).



If you want to get your hands on a 2010 Naish Helix, visit our site, www.s2as.com where we have the Helix and a huge range of new 2010 kite surfing kites, or pick yourself up a bargain from our 2009 kite range.

At a Glance
The Slingshot Fuel is arguably the kite with the oldest heritage on the market today. There isn’t another kite out there that has held the same name, or the same fundamental design concept. Sure the Rhino is still called the Rhino, but the actual design of the kite is so far removed from the original C shape beast that you can’t really argue the heritage case.

Over the years the Fuel has become synonymous with high performance and power. It has set the benchmark in the past as a kite surfing kite that needs to be tamed and only certain riders are up to the job. It has never been for the feint hearted.

Back in the day guys like Ben Wilson and Jeff Tobias were pushing the limits of this kite around the globe. But as ever the old makes way for the new and now it is the turn of Ruben Lenten to fly the Slingshot torch. He has been riding the Fuel for a few years now but 2009 sees for the first time the kite being designed around the rider. It is his signature pro model kite that you will be getting your hands on. Rest assured the build quality is up to its usual Slingshot standard, and we doubt Ruben would settle for anything but the best!

The Bar
The kite comes with three options for the bar, you can opt for the Lenten Pro Model, which comes with 4 lines and just the O’Shit handles for safety. Or there is a 5th line version, which gives you all the advantages of a 5th line set up. Lastly is the 4 line Profire Control Bar. Which was the set up we used.

The Profire bar uses a Centre Safety System, which allows the kite to flag out on one of the front lines when it is engaged. This assures complete depower and also is designed so that the kite won’t twist when it is deployed allowing you to reengage the system and carry on your session. The bar itself oozes quality and there are some great graphic detailing on it. We know it isn’t all about the colours, but it does make it very easy on the eye!
In the Air
We had had a few warnings about the Fuel before we rode it, tales of pro riders getting spanked by it when they weren’t paying enough attention. So we treated the kite with all due care and caution. What we found was a super stable canopy that pulls like a train. It actually isn’t all that scary once it is in the sky either, just as long as you leave it their tracking through the window. The real fear gets switched on when you start to engage it in a loop, but more about that later.

Obviously designing a kite for Ruben it is going to have certain characteristics and we would say that unless you are at the top of your freestyle game and looking for the tools to match the skills then look away now. As a free ride kite you will find it fairly slow and sluggish in the turns, this isn’t a kite that turns on a sixpence. But if you want to smash out handle passes all day long and need a kite that will sit in the window exactly where you left it at take off then this is what it does exceptionally well. It really hardly moves and takes a fair bit of rider input into the bar to get the kite to turn with any real pace.

Jumping is good and the kite really launches the rider off the water and gives some impressive float for what is essentially still a c-shape design. And of course while you are up there it would seem a shame to not engage the true nature of the beast and chuck it into a loop or two. Of course being an 11m it doesn’t lend itself to Rubens trademark Mega Loop too well, but you can kite loop it and discover the ridiculous power it generates in the turns. It is bordering on the very scary to insane, the smaller kitesurfing kites in the range are of course faster and the really small kites are designed with high wind big tricks in mind. The 11m though does what you’d expect it too, pull like a truck and keep on pulling without moving too much in the window throughout your move.

Pros
If you want to ride top-level freestyle and demand the qualities you would expect from a kite designed for those duties then the Fuel fits the bill very well. You also have the exceptional attention to detail and build quality too.

Cons
A lot of riders used to ride Fuels and they weren’t so specific in their nature, this year if you aren’t dedicated to freestyle then consider the Slingshot Rev or the Slingshot RPM; the Fuel is definitely a dedicated machine.

Overall
Rubens first Pro Model kite and it does exactly what you would expect it to do, don’t be fooled if your skills aren’t up to it. The Rev delivers far more bang for your buck in terms of the free ride stable.

Following on from last year’s huge success, The London Freeze festival returns again this year and aims to make last year pale in comparison. Quite a tall order especially as organisers are predicting around 10, 000 visitors each day over the festival weekend, but based on last year we’re sure these figures are about right.

The extreme winter sports festival, based at Battersea Power Station, is an amazing undertaking, utilising around 500 tonnes of real snow for its competitions and events. This snow will be the building blocks for the 32 metre high slope where the pro skiers and snowboarders will be battling it out to show who it the best for the delight of the crowd. It’s not just about the slope though as the whole site will be turned into a winter village.

A few of the familiar faces competing will include British snowboarders Ben Kilner and Dom Harrington, along with famous ski and snowboarding names from around the globe.

Of course a festival isn’t a festival without music and there are some big names there to keep the energy going on and off piste. Pendulum and Example will be taking the Friday night slot with headliners Orbital. Other names include Friendly Fires, Eagles of Death Metal and Chase & Status amongst many more. Oh and remember that Saturday is the 31stOctober, so if you fancy dressing up there is a retro-themed Halloween party to throw something different into the mix.

Snow if you are mad on snowboards, snowboarding, skiiing, winter sports, music or just having a goof time, then there is something for you there.

Interested? Then visit www.londonfreeze.com for further ticket information.

Tickets are priced at £35 for a day pass, £85 for a season pass (3 days), with a child’s day ticket at £15 and a child’s season ticket at £35.

The London Freeze festival at Battersea Power Station runs from 30th Oct - 1st Nov

Ben Kilner, Britain's top male snowboarder, is finally set to swap his pipe dreams for a real taste of Winter Olympic action.

The 21-year-old is on the brink of qualification for the half-pipe at the 2010 Games in Vancouver after a blistering year.

Not that he has done it the easy way. After turning down a place at university in an attempt to qualify for Turin in 2006 he agonisingly missed out before dislocating and fracturing his knee in 2007.

But speaking from the top of a glacier in the Austrian resort of Hintertux, where he is in the middle of a two-week training stint, Kilner insists all the hard work has been worthwhile.

'I've always had the Olympics as the dream,' said the boarder from Banchory, Scotland.

'It was always a bit of a dream that seemed miles away but now it's here. I've got two more qualifying events to go.

You have to be in the world top 40 to qualify for Vancouver and at the moment I'm 23rd so I'm in a good, secure position and one more qualifying event should do it. A medal is my top, top goal but top 15 is more realistic.

I'm looking to pick up as much experience as I can before the 2014 Games.'

Kilner, who started the year as an outsider for qualification before a string of impressive World Cup results, including a ninth-place finish in Italy, admits at times it has been a difficult path.
'Yeah, it was a tough choice to become a pro boarder.

Ever since I got my first sponsor I had to make the decision that I would have no time for education. I was very wary.

I had just finished my exams but decided to sacrifice university and aim for the 2006 Olympics. But my parents have been more than supportive and given me plenty of guidance.'

That support would have been tested to the full after a heavy fall while warming up for a World Cup event in Calgary, fracturing and dislocating his knee.

'It was just a heavy impact fall but I was out in the backwater and had to be airlifted into hospital,' he recalls.

'It was absolutely agonising, excruciating. But I recovered and was actually boarding again, before having an MRI scan on the knee as it still just didn't feel right. It was then I was told I had a bit of bone which had dislodged and lodged itself between the joint.'

But I was able to walk out of hospital two weeks after surgery and have forgotten about it since really. Snowboarding is such a high-risk sport, you're going to fall to learn. You suffer so much aches and pains you just forget about it. Just get on with it.'

Ben Kilner will be competing at London Freeze from October 30 until November 1 at Battersea Power Station. Tickets available at www.londonfreeze.com

Click here to visit the original article at www.metro.co.uk

It seems summer is definitely over as the cold weather creeps in and the dark nights draw in. Autumn is well underway and winter is round the corner and only the bravest are going to hit the waves for some action is the cold climates of dear old Blighty (A salute to those that do; you are hardcore, but quite insane as well!).

With this in mind we will start looking at snowboarding with our blogs and articles, though we will still try to post a few kite surfing kite and board reviews to help you make choices for the 2010 season (as well as a look at the 2009 kit out now).

We’ll take a look at the latest snowboards, safety gear, snowboard clothing and equipment.

We also want to hear from you, our customers and readers. If you have any reviews you want us to post, about products we stock or products we don’t (many of our kite reviews are of products we have tried and tested, but we don’t stock ourselves, but we believe in being informative, not bias) then please send the through to us and we will endeavour to post them an give a thanks an credit to the author (so please include your name and if you have a site or blog include that too by all means).

We will keep posting as long as you keep reading.

The S2AS Team

At a Glance
The Starkites SBow 09 is now in its fourth generation, being the initial kite surfing kite that put Starkites on the map as a manufacturer back in 2006.

Originally it was developed as an entry-level kite, Starkites having close relations with the IKO looked at developing the perfect kite for getting started in kite surfing. Since then the SBow has evolved over 4 years into its current incarnation.

The kit is now much more of a freeride design, still perfect for learning on, but also being very adept at turning its hand to waves, jumps and even freestyle. Jan Marcos Riveras used the SBow solely for his challenge to take the KPWT wave tour crown.

This year Starkites have really stepped up their game in terms of construction, the kite features one pump, plenty of reinforcements and extra panels and stitching in all the right places. The kite itself is a very flat design using fairly extensive bridling to help the leading edge keep its flat arc.

The Bar
At first glance the bar looks very well made and it is certainly well designed. There is an excellent spinning safety system that can either be used as it is supplied, or you can adjust it to a handle pass leash style set up. The de-power is an above bar pull webbing system, but it is easy to reach and works well. The chicken loop is moulded so it fits into the bar, which makes hooking in and out easy and the whole set up looks very clean and well thought out.

The bar itself, in the hands, feels comfy and the grip is tack enough to ensure it won’t slip when you are pulling kiteloops in high winds.

In the Air
The 8m SBow has a surprising amount of power for such a small kite. At the bottom end of its wind range it delivers plenty of grunt to get you up and riding earlier than you would expect. With the pulley 2:1 bridle system the kite also delivers a lot of depower. More importantly this depower is from a very short “throw” of the bar. You don’t have to move the bar very far away from you to achieve a loss of power. This takes a little getting used to at first, but will be a confidence building safety feature for the more tentative rider out there. You really can switch the kite off with minimum input from the bar.

The downside of this is that you can get caught out doing kiteloops, if you sheet out a little too much mid loop the kite looses power and steering and leaves you heading for a splash. If you are going to kite loop this kite then make sure you keep the bar pulled in the whole way round. If you do this you’ll find it loops with a smooth turn and develops an impressive tug.

For a freeride kite it also delivers some blistering jump performance. When at the top end of its wind range the hangtime is immense and we enjoyed quite a few over-powered sessions on the 8m. Upwind is excellent too, the thin leading edge profile allowing the kite to attack the edge of the window and drag you upwind at speed.

Pros
Well built, impressive bar set up and excellent freeride characteristics, good jumps, great upwind, quick efficient depower.

Cons
While that depower is great for learning and safety its on/off nature will take a little getting used to. Once you have the kite dialled in though, the performance will surprise you.

Overall
The SBow is a great freeride kite that will be happy in a lot of different situations. Beginners, intermediates and people who want something safe in a big wind will appreciate the SBow

For more information go to your local dealer or visit www.starkites.com. For more information on kite sufing, kite surfing equipment or kite sufing lessons visit www.s2as.com