Newspaper Article - Intoxication Levels

Can you handle it?

Written by: Mike
North America

Men and female are both affected by each drink they consume. Alcohol is distributed carelessly around the world every day and what people don’t realize is how little it takes to become intoxicated. Alcohol affects your body based on your weight and gender before your drinking experience, as opposed to what most people have been led to believe.

One of the most dramatic things affected by our consumption of alcohol is our motor skills. Every drink we take slightly impairs our ability to make proper decisions. For some people it takes a lot less to get drunk and for this to happen, these people in urban terms are known as “light weights”.

The term light weight is actually as close a proper term as you could get when it comes to being drunk. Our weight plays the biggest factor in our intoxication tolerance levels. Did you know that if a man who weighs 100 pounds drinks 24 oz. of beer his alcohol level is already at 0.08% blood to alcohol, the legal limit! But if a man of 240 pounds were to drink the same amount he would only be at 0.03%.

Gender plays a huge factor in our tolerance levels as well. For example if that the man who drank 24 oz. of beer at 100 pounds was actually a woman of 100 pounds she would already be at 0.10%. For a woman to have 24 oz. of beer and not be past the legal limit she would need to be at least 140 pounds.

Now we always hear about people saying “Oh he drinks all the time, he doesn’t get drunk anymore!” But the truth is that though if you do drink more than casually you will become more tolerant of it, the difference is not nearly as drastic as a change in weight or the differences between genders.

A little fact that should be known is that for every 40 minutes of drinking you lose 0.01% of the alcohol in you blood system. So if you check up on the charts and realize you have had too much to drink and get behind the wheel try applying that rule and remember that the only real thing that can sober you up is time!

Statistics taken from:
http://www.ou.edu/oupd/bac.htm (this site is awesome, should definitely give it a read)

How NOT to do a 540!

Last winter I experienced something that I hope no one else will have to endure. I was out of the season for 2 and a half weeks in February. I missed some of the best day to ride of the season, thanks to a failed attempt at a front side 540. So I was at lakeridge ski resort in Uxbridge with my school and I was really feeling my front side 360's but my buddy convinced me to go for a 540. I prefer doing my spins backside because on 360 that allow you to spot your landing and I'm used spinning off my toe side. But I knew that to spot my landing I'd have to go front side. So I decided to just man up and go for it because my other friends wouldn't and I wanted to show them how it's done. Big mistake I took off, clipped an edge and ended up a bit diagonal once I passed 360 and ended up 450 my body was basically upside down and I came down right on my shoulder. I ended up almost needing surgery but got off with a month of physio therapy, a sling for 2 weeks, and one messed up shoulder.

Duck those feet!!!

Most new boarders tend to leave the board the way they get it set up at home or at a shop. This is a normal thing and not necessarily wrong to do. Most new boarders should not take this advice and stick to using only a positive angle on the front foot. A duck stance will cause beginners to remain too much on their heel edge instead of learning toe edge as well. For intermediate or advanced riders, in my opinion, as well as most CASI certified snowboarding instructors, your board will discover much better performance out of your board if you duck out your feet. Ducking your feet means that your bindings point outwards to your nose and tail. So in stead of your feet being straight like this (___|_____|___) or (___\_____|___) they look more like this (___\_____/___). This will allow for better edge control and balance when you're riding. More tips to come keep checking in!!

Snowboarding Video Games

Now we all know that video games never can compare to the real thing... But some of them have at least a bit of realistic elements to it. But with snowboarding games let's be serious, there has never been one that is worth really getting into. From the cool boarders series for play station 1 to the ssx series for xbox. Though they were all fun games, I think the only way you'll be collecting coins on the slopes in real life is if someone dropped a couple loonies. So I look forward to the day a realistic snowboarding game is available for the off season or when you're stuck with a separated shoulder after messing up an attempt at your 540's! (Stick around that will be what my next blog will be about pretty interesting story)

Buying a snowboard (beginners)

When it comes to picking your board what should you look for? Most people as beginner or intermediate snowboarders don't have the slightest clue about edges, cores, length, flex, pop etc... The advice that would be most suitable to beginners that I can give would be to pick a wide board that meets your eyes in height when stood up vertically. Don't be afraid to ask for some help!! Try and get to a nearby Snowboard shop where they can help you get set up. Don't try to get the nicest board around cause until you learn how to control all the things it offers there’s no point it paying for it!! Finally don't look for a board you aren't going to want to scratch up. If you're starting out it's going to happen, just deal with it. Companies who offer good beginner/intermediate boards are: Firefly, Lamar, Option, Nitro or Rossignol. I'd stick to those for beginners so check out their sites!!

Skyloft Dryslope. Will it ever open?

For those of you who live for snowboarding, like I do, will be disappointed to hear that Skyloft will not be opening the dryslope this year. They we're ready to be up and running July 16th to start, then moved it back to August 9th and finally to September 6th. The reason for this is that they could not receive the permits necessary to run the hill with this new material. For those of you who don't know, a dryslope is a fake material that resembles carpet and allows you to snowboard any time of the year!! These dryslopes are most popular in Europe and the one at Skyloft was to be the first ever in North America. The sad thing is that by the time they get all the permits they need it will be snowing!! So let’s keep waiting for the cold and look forward to Summer Boarding '09!

For more information on dryslopes try visiting http://www.snowflex.com/ for a look at the most popular dryslopes in the world!

Backside 360

This is going to be the first of many trick tips I post before and throughout the snowboarding season. A backside 360 is a pretty simple trick once you get the hang of it. Backside means you spin so that when you first start your spin your back is facing down the hill. So what you want to do is start off with a small kicker, get up to a moderate speed and pull off that sweet bs 360. But first!!! Try spotting the jump, make sure it's smooth and has no edges on the lip of the jump. Try doing a fs or bs 180 and make sure you are completely comfortable with the jump. Now for the fun part. Carry your speed up to the jump don't try to slow down too much. As you’re moving up to the jump start rotating your body in the opposite direction your going to spin but only slightly. Finally when you are coming off the jump start rotating in the direction you want to spin (backside), tuck your cheek to your shoulder and rotate your shoulders. Remember your upper body does the rotation, if you spin your upper body your lower body will follow it! Finally when you come around to a 270 spot your landing finish what's left of your rotation and stomp a clean 360, then the best part, go brag to all your friends. The biggest tip I can give you though, is go for it. Don't stop. Make a commitment and do it! You learn from practice so keep at it.