Europe 2024

The 2024/25 Para-Snowboard season has kicked off again, this northern hemisphere winter is set to see events in the Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Serbia(unconfirmed) and rounding out with World Championships in Big White Canada.

After missing last season due to injury, I started my comeback with Team Australia in Ruka Finland where we had our preseason training Camp. Ruka is 66 degrees north so at this time of year you only get around 5-6 hours of daylight so a lot of our time on the slopes was in the long evenings under floodlights.

It was early season so not much snow had fallen yet which made for some really variable and mostly icy conditions. This makes for some really good training conditions if you can snowboard on ice you can snowboard on snow. I recorded our training sessions via strava and in 3 weeks we clocked up over 300 runs and 38000 metres of vertical. To keep the body feeling fresh we did recovery sessions in the sauna followed by cold plunge in an ice cold frozen lake.

The camp passed quickly and pretty soon we were moving on to Snowworld in the Netherlands for the first competition of the season. Held indoors at a place affectionately known as “the freezer” we joined up with the rest of the team which included a few development athletes coming through.

After settling in at Snowworld we went and had a look at the banked slalom racecourse which had 14 banked turns over approx. 200metres from start to finish. On race day your allowed two runs with only your fastest time counting towards the end result.

I was happy to get back in the gates and make my return to international competition. After the training runs I decided to take the highline on the course as it felt the quickest. My two runs were within .1 of a second with my quickest time being 36.12s. Against some tough competition this was good enough to have me finish 7th out a field of 22.

My results were good enough to collect the required points to wild card into the world championships coming up in Big White Canada next March. So pretty happy with first leg of the season. Now it’s time for a short Christmas break at home before heading back to Finland for the next competition.

Thanks for reading!!

BURTON STEP ON : Review

*Check the video’s below to see how long it takes to clip in to step ons compared to normal bindings*

How do you strap into a snowboard with no hands? With patience young grasshopper.

Being on the Aussie team we are in and out of our snowboards a lot during an average days training. Using the split hook, I’m always the last to get strapped in, I’ve got the technique dialed these days but sometimes it still gives me the shits having people always waiting on me. This recent Australian season I thought I’d give the new Burton Step-on’s a go (massive thank you to Burton Australia for hooking me up).

First impressions were really good stepping on and clipping in was easy enough straight away but after a few tries you pick up a subtle little twist that gets it locking quickly with a satisfying click. It is a little weird looking down and not seeing your toe strap, mentally it takes bit to trust the mechanism especially when its windy on the lift. Right from the first run you notice how responsive the set-up feels going edge to edge. The heel is locked in and pressure is generated from the base of the boot rather than leaning in and relying on straps, this makes the connection with the board feel truer in a sense.

I rode them in all conditions this Aussie season, pow, ice, groomers, slush, wind, sunshine and rain and had no troubles at all. Before clipping in you have to make sure that the base of the binding is completely clear of snow otherwise you don’t hear that satisfying second click, with fresh snow it builds up a little more. But you don’t have to clear the base out any more than you do with normal bindings and if it’s not fully cleared out you can still ride with it sitting in the first click it just feel a little loose and less responsive.

One draw back I found was with the fit of the boot. I was riding the Burton Photon’s which felt fine but I found my foot getting squeezed width wise. There are two little metal tabs at the front of the boot that lock into the binding. In that part of the boot there was no give at all and often my back foot would go numb from my little toe and down the side of my foot. A boot fitter could probably help get a little more space in there and it only happened on my back foot so could have had something to do with how my foot was sitting in there but regardless it became a tad annoying.

Overall, I was super happy with the system. It saved me so much time, I was always first to lock in and ride away and I also saved a heap of energy not having to bend over or sit down to strap in. I really like the feeling of being more connected with the board and the responsiveness that brings. After the first few runs any doubt I had about not being strapped in went away. I can’t say too much on how they would go through the terrain park but that extra responsiveness could help. I definitely recommend getting a set if carving is your thing. Despite my foot getting squeezed I’m going to go with the Step on’s this NH season to see how they hold up in competition.

Japanese Musings

The light cascaded through the cloud capturing the tiny flakes as they made their way from the heavens. The wind yielded to the valley as they settle amongst the Sakura. The Canopy extends into the illuminated patchwork blue contrasting a framework of beauty out above.

The moment etched for eternity, held steadfast into the growth of inner and outer simplicity. A soul enriched from a moment in time when the lucidity of existence expressed itself through a confluence of the elements. Today was a good day.