Boardistan

An unnamed British doctor, 40, died yesterday while snowboarding in the French Alps.

The unnamed man was snowboarding with a friend above the hamlet of Joseray, situated about 500 yards from the centre of Val d’Isere – and went off-piste a few yards from last weekend’s downhill skiing world cup route.

The man, who was on a four-day seminar held at Val d’Isere’s congress centre, organised by doctorsupdate.com, took a corridor never used by locals or off-piste guides and fell onto rocks, according to local radio reports.

He is believed to be the father of two children.

[Link: Telegraph]

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While watching the 2008 ESPN Winter X Games “X Course” or whatever they are calling boardercross this year, we found ourselves wishing for a new winner. It’s just that Nate Holland seems to be everything that snowboarding never was: he’s brash, jocky, and completely devoid of style. There really seems to be nothing cool about the guy.

Obviously he’s a great boardercross racer, winning three X Games in a row is not easy to do, but shouldn’t he just be a pro ski racer or something? We were looking at the logos on his board and seriously asking ourselves if he really is sponsored by Burton and Electric or if he just puts the stickers on there hoping he’s going to eventually get paid. Electric cared enough to put him on their homepage so he must be legit there. We don’t get it.

Click the link below for a short profile in his local paper.

[Link: Tahoe World]

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From the Daily Yomiuri Online:

HIROSHIMA–Seven snowboarders who had been missing in the mountains near a ski resort in Akiotacho, Hiroshima Prefecture, since Sunday, were rescued near National Highway Route 488 in Masuda, Shimane Prefecture, at 9:35 a.m. on Tuesday, the Akiotacho municipal government’s disaster countermeasures office said.

The snowboarders descended from the mountain, accompanied by members of the Ground Self-Defense Force, and were carried by helicopters to three hospitals in Hiroshima.

The seven are Takahiko Aoki, 34, self-employed, and Yasuo Matsubara, 34, a carpenter, both of Shunan, Yamaguchi Prefecture; Shigenori Hattori, 40, a carpenter of Hiraocho, Yamaguchi Prefecture; Akihiko Sugiyama, 36, self-employed of Nishi Ward, Hiroshima; Nobuyuki Nakamura, 30, a company employee of Higashi Ward, Hiroshima; Muneaki Kaneto, 33, and Shinichi Hatahashi, 31, both of whom are part-time workers at the Osorakan Ski Field resort.

According to the countermeasures office, a rescue team comprising 24 personnel from a local fire brigade and the GSDF found two of the missing seven snowboarding along a road connecting Mt. Kyurakan to Mt. Hiromi in Shimane Prefecture.

Acting on information from the two, the squad found the other five about 100 meters east on a forest road. The five were also descending from the mountain by snowboarding or walking.

[Link: Daily Yomiuri Online]

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Calling a snowboard with no bindings the latest “progression in the boardsports world” is a lot like saying the Pony Express is the latest progression in information transportation. Does every cool new thing have to be “progression?” What about fun? Riding a “noboard” has got to be one of the most freeing feelings in all of snowboarding, and we’re guessing that’s exactly why Burton has signed a deal with Noboard to release a Burton Fish that comes with the Noboard foot placement system on it. Congrats to everyone.
Follow the jump for the whole press release.

[click to continue…]

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According to Bloomberg News:

Seven snowboarders were missing in a snowstorm in Hiroshima, southwestern Japan, yesterday as search efforts were called off because of bad weather, the Asahi newspaper said in its English-language edition.

Two skiers also died in an avalanhe in the Nagano Prefecture.

[Link: Bloomberg.com]

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