Austin on ski resorts

1, When did you start snowboarding and what was it that inspired you?

I used to ski a little on dry-slope, my friend Dan was learning to snowboard and it looked cool. I had a go on his board in his garden when it snowed at Christmas 1995 and I was hooked from  then on.

2, Which ski resorts have you visited and which is the best?

I’ve been to resorts all over the place, France, Switzerland, Austria,
Sweden, Canada, America, Italy, Andorra, Bulgaria. If you’ve got good snow
then I don’t think it really matters too much where you are. You just
have to pick based on price, language, and your preference of terrain.
For me my favourite place to stay has to be Morzine only because I know it so well. But not to ride, Avoriaz and the Portes du Soleil is my favourite place to ride.

3, Which is the one ski resort you want to visit before you get too old and arthritic to snowboard any more?

Japan! Or South America maybe.

4, Where are you going to be riding next season?

I have no idea, I don’t plan that far ahead.

Austin on riding

5, What have you achieved in snowboarding so far, and what are your aims for the future?

Have a look and see - http://www.soulsports.co.uk/profile.html?mikeaustin

6, Who is currently sponsoring you and who would be your all time dream sponsor?

Currently - Endeavor Snowboards, Ignite Beanies, Thirtytwo Outerwear & Boots, Demon accessories, Airhole face masks, SP bindings, Ortovox avalanche gear, Hoven Goggles, TG Ski Chalets in Morzine.

All time dream sponsor? Um, Microsoft could be a good one. They can contact me any time after 6pm.

7, Were you competing last season, if so how did you get on?

Yes, I finished 8th in British Champs. I was also captain of the British
team who beat France in the ‘Battle of Waterloo’ (2009).

8, What are the 3 most important things to remember whilst snowboarding?

Remember that you could be at work, you could not have any legs and
its only cold for a few months of the year.

9, How do you make the transition from going off the odd jump, to hitting big kickers, rails and pipe riding?

Exactly as you would imagine, start on the small jumps and work your way up, start on the short, low rails and try a small pipe or only ride a small
part of the transition. And don’t go straight for 900 spins, try a 180,
then a 360 etc. Push too hard and you’ll miss the fun.

10, Have you ever injured yourself snowboarding?

Yes, many times but lets not think about the negatives.

11, What’s your best snowboarding memory?

Thats hard, there’s too many to pick one out.

12, What’s on your ipod while you’re riding at the moment?

I’ve been downloading and listening to a lot of rights-free music because
i’m putting together some podcasts and need something that sounds good but is rights free.

13, Who is the best person you have ridden with and why?

Thats hard to say too. I’ve always considered Mark Kent as someone who
never fails to impress me. Just the other day my friend Nate Kern did
a backside double corked 1260. I think you’ll agree thats pretty impressive.

14, What’s your favourite trick that you can do on a snowboard?

I just enjoy jumping off kickers no matter what trick i’m doing. One of my best tricks is a Frontside rodeo 900’s, I would like to turn them into
double rodeo 900’s.

15, What trick will you be trying to master next season?

I will hopefully be doing the double rodeo’s, also cab 1080 and rodeo 1080.

Austin on life

16, What do you do over the horrible, hot, hayfever ridden summer months?

Sneeze, Work, Wakeboard, Snowboard at the Tamworth Snowdome.

17, What are you going to do to find your thrills when you can no longer snowboard?

I hope that I will be so old that I don’t care. So to answer that, probably something like crosswords, chess or watching TV.

18, Who is your all time hero and why?

Again, I find that hard to answer. Someone might be really good at something or has done amazing things, but there’s always a few others who
must have done similar but don’t get as much praise. If I said Superman, Spiderman might feel inferior but he shouldn’t should he, because he’s amazing too.

19, What is the most important thing to you in the world right now?

Oxygen? The world is a huge and very complicated place, lets just go for the
easy answer and say ‘Happiness’.

20, Do you have a saying, motto or philosophy that you try to live by?

Not really no. I’m not doing very well with these questions am i? Hows about don’t worry, be happy & live life for the moment. That’ll do.

There has been little fresh snowfall in the alps in recent days, and in some cases some unwanted warm temperatures and even rain. However in most cases the accumulated snow to date has led to pleasant ski conditions in Europe.  To the north of the continent heavy snow has continued to fall over Scotland and Scandinavia, while in the East it has been unseasonably warm, leading to difficult conditions for skiers in Bulgaria.  
 
Across the Atlantic there have been big snowfalls on both the East and west sides of North America.
 
Although things have been quiet for the past three or four days, It snowed a lot last week in the French mountains with 13 powder alarms in the French Alps on Friday.
 
Le Grand Bornand was one of the big winners with 75cm (2.5 feet) of fresh snow accumulated over seven days.
  
Other big accumulations of 45- 52cm (18-21 inches) were re4ported by La Clusaz, Val Thorens  and Alpe d’Huez.  Chamonix Mont-Blanc  has the deepest snow in France with 4.2m (14 feet).
 
Italy is reporting less favorable conditions with bad weather, especially in the north and the centre of the country with warm temperatures bringing some unwanted rainfall this afternoon and more expected tomorrow.  Unusually, conditions are better for skiing in Italy’s southern areas.
 
There have been healthy snow accumulations over the past seven days at some resorts however, Courmayeur has had 75cm (2.5 feet) of new snow, Arabba Marmolada 70cm – it continues to claim the deepest snow in Europe, with five metres (nearly 27 feet) accumulated, La Thuile has had 55cm (22 inches) and Bardonecchia  40cm (16 inches).
 
Austria got some new snow with Sölden, Obertauern and the Ski Welt with Brixental, Söll and  Ellmau getting 5cm (2 inches) each. Some snow had already been falling in St. Anton, Hochfügen (both 5cm) and Saalbach Hinterglemm (10cm). In mountainous areas more new snow is expected in the coming days.
 
The biggest snow accumulations in the country in the past week has been at Zauchensee (30 cm/a foot) and Sölden (29 cm/11.5 inches). The snow depth in the latter has “climbed” up to 202cm (6.6 feet), with some new snow falling almost every day (Skiinfo’s Snowfinder expects 13 cm of new snow in Sölden for tomorrow). Flachau had 25cm (10 inches) of new snow in a week.
 
In Switzerland the latest powder alarms were issued last weekend with 30cm (a foot) in Nax as well as Champoussin. There’s been less new snow in the German speaking parts of the country but Engelberg and Lötschental are still on top of the list of biggest snow depths with 285 and 272cm (9-10 feet)of snow on their mountains.
 
In Germany up to 10cm (four inches) of new snow was reported in Bavaria this morning. Oberstdorf has already had 10 cm yesterday at the mountains Fellhorn and Nebelhorn.
 
Sierra Nevada continues to have the greatest snow depth in Spain with five metres on their upper slopes, equalling Arabba in Italy for the deepest in the world. There has been much less snow in Spain this week than last but new snow is expected over the next few days.

The Pyrenees are still looking very nice with more than 1.5m of snow on the top of the slopes. Baqueira Beret has 175cm (six feet) of snow on top and 93km of  runs open, Formigal up to 240cm (eight feet) of snow and 136 km of runs open.  Andorra has also not seen fresh snow for nearly two weeks, but conditions remain relatively good thanks to a healthy base build up, with most areas reporting 1.2 – 1.8m (4-6 feet) on upper slopes.

In Scandinavia it seems there’s nothing holding back the snow right now. It continues to accumulate from last week causing problems for traffic and transport like buses and railways and leading to some roof collapses in the south of Sweden while at the same time adding to the great snow depths at ski resorts across the whole country.
This means there are really great conditions from the north to south of the region, right in time for the second week of Sweden’s current winter holiday period.

During the last week ski resorts further up north have had some serious amounts of snow fall as well. The small resort of Nalovardo got the most with 33cm (13 inches) followed by Branäs 27cm (11 inches), Tandådalen 17cm (7 inches) and Åre 10cm (4 inches). The forecast for the rest of the week looks really promising, especially in the north. Riksgränsen, which recently re-opened for its 2010 ski season through to June up in the Arctic Circle is expecting massive snow falls starting on Thursday.

In Scotland the weather service recently confirmed it has been the coldest winter since 1962-3, nearly 50 years ago.  Still more heavy snow has left all five centres fully open, with Cairngorm needing to blast terrain above the ski area for the first time to minimise avalanche danger. It’s the opposite conditions in parts of eastern Europe where mild weather has brought early spring to ski areas in Bulgaria, which are struggling to battle a rapid thaw and sticky snow as temperatures have almost reached double figures in the past week.

Across the Atlantic there have been more serious snowfalls on both East and West sides of the continent.
On the East Coast the “snowicane” that paralyzed the region for nearly a week has set many ski areas up to be skiing well into Spriong 2010. After ending February with nearly 2.4m (eight feet) of natural snowfall over five days Belleayre in New York state is primed for a monumental March. To the north Le Massif, an hour outside Quebec City in Quebec, Canada, reported 72cm (28 inches) of fresh snow too. On the western side of the continent nearly three feet (90cm) of snow has fallen at Beaver Creek and Vail, while Breckenridge received 28 inches (71cm); Heavenly, 25 inches (64cm), and Keystone was walloped with 20 inches (51cm). The heavens opened with 10 straight days of relentless snow in  Colorado resorts and Pacific storms in the west.