Naked Burton Playboy Snowboards

Burton Snowboards, arguably the most well known snowboard brand in the world have come under some controversy over their recent range of saucy snowboards.

The company has been producing some of the world’s best snowboard gear since they were first established in 1977 by Jake Burton Carpenter, who was only 23 at the time. The company has always has a focus on research and development, a passion fuelled by Jake’s desire to constantly stay ahead of the game and produce pioneering board shapes and materials.

Burton however has also led the way in terms of style, a great deal of which has been replicated by other snowboard brands over the years. They bring out a new range of boards with various different graphics each year and they are always popular. However, a recent ‘Playboy’ range of boards was not so well received by the usually liberal state of Vermont, who took offence to the iconic images taken from 1970’s Playboy magazines that are displayed on the top and bottom of the boards.

Burlington in Vermont is where Burton first started and is a skiing and snowboarding Mecca for Americans. It is therefore a bit of a surprise that the locals and officials have taken a stand against the boards designs, and even gone as far as to ban the boards in a number of ski resorts. Stowe and Killington have prohibited their staff from using the boards and a number of other slopes are in the process of banning them all together.

We at Extreme Sports Trader love the liberalism that comes with snowboarding and extreme sports in general, and feel Vermont is being a little bit silly over this level or censorship.

Brownstock Music Festival 09

We at Extreme Sport Trader like fun. Whether it be taking part in extreme sports, going to cool gigs or just generally chilling out with a beer. It might not surprise you to learn then, that we absolutely love festivals! Their great atmosphere and liberal antics fit in just nicely with our ethos and we try to get along to as many of them as we can. We have found lately however that a number of the bigger festivals are becoming a little to commercial for our liking and seem to be more about making money these days than making people happy. When we got introduced to Brownstock though, we were mightily impressed with what they have set up on their farm in Essex.

Now in their 5th year, the festival has grown from a local band playing out of the back of a lorry to a 3-stage, 2-day event with national artists, that still maintains the same good vibes and laid back fun that is all important at festivals. This year really does promise to be the best yet, so check out the site and get you and your mates along for a weekend you will never forget, guaranteed! www.brownstock.co.uk

Powerbocking – How Crazy Is This New Extreme Sport?

Powerbocking is a sport that has been around for a lot longer than most people realise. The devises needed to perform this sport have been on sale in the UK close to 5 years now, but it is has only really begun to enter the limelight recently and started to get the attention it deserves.

It’s a bit of a crazy sport it must be said, but then haven’t all extreme sports been referred to as crazy at some point? It basically involves strapping two huge spring-loaded stilts to you feet using bindings not to dissimilar to those you might find on snowboards, and then letting yourself loose on all sorts of different terrain. They are mainly used in urban areas where the hard surfaces and varying angles make for the ideal place to pull somersaults and wall-plants, but they have been known to be used in a woodland environment also.

They are named after Alexander Boeck, the person who invented the stilts in Germany, but they have also become known as powerisers or pro-jumps. What ever the name, they are brilliant fun! You can pick a pair up for around £150 but we advise that you invest in some good protective gear as well. These babies can launch you as high as 3ft in the air and don’t promise to land you perfectly when you come back down.

Kiteival 09 - Kitesurfing Event In Swansea

Swansea in Wales will be playing host to one of the biggest kite surfing events in Europe next month, when the British Kite Surfing Association kicks off their championship tour known as Kiteival 09.

The event will be sponsored by Deadman, Buff, King of Watersports and the extreme sports powerhouse, Red Bull. All the sponsors were happy with this year’s location and the event organiser Steve Parrot has also praised the city saying “As soon as we came to Swansea, we knew it would be perfect for Kiteival - it has a great beach and equally good facilities in the city centre…we would love for it to become a regular thing”.

Kitesurfing has been increasing in popularity pretty rapidly over the last few years and is set to reach similar participation figures as surfing and snowboarding before too long. It has also spawned a whole new range of products and brands including Fusion, Airush and Flexifoil, which are all doing very well.

Here is how the event is set to play out:

Thursday-

Press Afternoon 2-5pm

Friday-

Pro Men Ladies Freestyle Kitesurf

Registration 8.30-9am sharp at Marquee

Riders Briefing 9.05 am

First Possible Start 10am

Evening - Red Bull BBQ

Saturday-

Am Men Ladies Seniors and Juniors

Disciplines - 8.30am - 9.30am sharp at Marquee

Riders Briefing 9.40 am

First Possible Start 10.30 am

Evening entertainment - TBC

Sunday

First Possible start TBC on Saturday

Prizgiving TBC (usally between 4 and 6pm)

We can’t wait!

Cove Stiffee Review

The Cove Stiffee is not one of those bikes that attempts to be something its not. The Stiffee is not thoughtful, it is not image conscious and it is certainly not forgiving. It is however dependable, functional and rock hard. It’s like a mate who you would ask to help you cut down the oak tree in your garden but not the kind you would want to go for a drink with afterwards.

The new Stiffee hasn’t changed a bit…and we like that. It’s maintained its root characteristics and yet still evolved with the modern rider. An oversized RAD tubeset from Easton provides the turgid core strength and the more distal components are practically all welded to it, providing a menacingly strong machine that is balanced to perfection. This machine rides on fat 2.3in tires that are very stable and reassuring to ride.

All this muscle and width comes at a cost however, the Stiffee is not fast and not great in the messy stuff. But that doesn’t matter because as we said, it’s not trying to be things. Despite its size the frame only weighs 4.5lb bare and it finds its home on the tough, technical trails where it won’t let you down and when you’ve finished riding the bike with be shaking with adrenaline wanting to go on.

Cove say that its “one of the best aluminium hardtail frames in the world” and we have to say “we agree”.

New Diamondback 2009 BMX Range

Diamondback have been around for longer than gravity.  In fact we seem to recall Isaac Newton had one, he used to grind up the steps at Cambridge with it.

After that Diamondback went from strength to strength, linking with top BMX names such as Doug Davis and Harry Leary. Now in 2009 Diamondback are still going strong, being represented by stars like Andrew Carpenter and Darin Read. They’ve also just released their new bikes…and they’re crackers! Their new range is stronger and more robust than ever. They have new cleaner lines and some cool new colours that seem a million miles away from the retro-chrome they sported back in the day.

They have a new bike for almost every discipline, but our favourite is the Accomplice (pictured above). This is Diamondback’s pro-level bmx and for the money, it’s a winner.

Here is the stock spec:

Colour: Gold

Frame: Full chromoly frame, double butted top tube / down tube, removable Oryg tabs, hiddenset head tube, mid BB

Fork: Full Chromoly, CNC 1 1/8″ 1-piece steerer, fluted 1 1/4″ OD legs, 6mm dropouts

Gear Set: DB 4-Banger, 28t CNC”d from 7075 aluminum with 10t cassette

Controls: Full chromoly 2-piece 25.5″ wide x 7.75″ rise

Finishing Set: The Shadow Conspiracy Belter front / Undertone rear 20×2.1 and The Shadow Conspiracy Interlock V2 1/2 link 1/2 x 1/8

Wheel Set:36h Alienation Deviant front / 440 rear with 10mm front 14mm rear axle hubs

Brake Set: Dia-Compe 996 U-brake w/ SST DC Amplifier, soft compound pads

Will Bournemouth Surf Reef Ever Produce Waves?

With knock back after knock back, the possibility of Bournemouth’s state of the art man-made reef actually giving us any surf is looking as uncertain as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sexuality.

The project has seen delays in almost all stages of its construction, from problems with financing to issues over contractors. The resulting loss of faith from local business, surfers, and the community in general has caused speculation over whether the reef with come to completion at all.

Despite further delays leading up to Christmas, when bad weather and poor light led to the New Zealand-based contractors packing their bags and heading home, organisers in Bournemouth remain positive. One spokesperson stated “In many ways, it’s been a very successful year with great progress having been made on the surf reef project.”

It is true that the base layer is now complete. However, we will have to wait until spring before Dr Kerry Black (designer of the Boscombe surf reef) returns to oversee the remaining work, including the deployment of a hectares worth of geotextile bags that will make up the wave-boosting top layer. Dr Black is also the Director of an Australian research institute and a top research scientist with the esteemed National Institute of Water and Atmosphere in New Zealand…which makes us think he really should have known what our winter working conditions would be like.

We have been promised by Black and his team that the new reef will produce grade 5 waves on a good day. This should attract many more visitors to the local area and is predicted to be a great boost for tourism and local businesses. For the time being however, everyone waits with bated breath for that first glorious swell on the horizon to come

Inflatable Canoes and Kayaks – Serious Stuff or Just a Bit of Fun?

Those of you who kayak or canoe regularly will be well aware of the difficulties of transporting your boat around if you don’t have a van, trailer or proper fixtures for attaching it to your car. The smaller boats are not so much of a problem, but when it comes to the bigger boys, you’re better off paddling to your desired location rather that trying to attach the damn thing to your vehicle.

Well this may well be about to change with the introduction of some ‘proper’ inflatable canoes and kayaks to the market. We say ‘proper’ as previous attempts at inflatable boats conjures up images of bailing out water from something that seems to be made of balloon material, patched up by puncture repair kit patches. Not these new dogs however, these have been functionally designed with reinforced panels and with actual usability in mind. We got the chance to take a Sea Eagle 330 out on the water and I have to say it was great fun. The moveable seats allow you to paddle solo or with a companion and the quality was a vast improvement to its inflatable predecessors. The material is strong (”tough enough to withstand dog paws” they claim) and bonded together using high frequency welds to form one solid structure.

The boats also seem to have other important additions such as skegs, inflatable spray skirts and self-bailing drain valves. All of which are needed if your going to be adventuring any further than your local pond. The best bit though is that they rarely way much more than 30lbs and can be taken almost anywhere.

Our verdict is that they are a very versatile addition and great for getting into the sport, but sadly have no change of competing with the solid hull boats which will out-perform again and again. We doubt inflatables will ever be a serious option for competition sports but we’ve been surprised before so we never say never.

Look out for second hand inflatable kayaks on our listings section

Extreme Sports Athletes Don’t Like Taking Risks

Research undertaken last year by sports science graduates, based at the St Lukes Campus of the University of Exeter, found that rather than being big risk-takers, most top performers in extreme sports are risk-averse.

The stereotypical representation of many extreme sports athletes is one of long hair, liberal views and daring personalities, take Shaun White for example. Many outside the industry believe that only those who are willing to push themselves that bit further or attempt new, more daring stunts can be at the forefront of their sports and win the respect of their fans and piers. This new research however, suggests that the best athletes do not consider themselves risk-takes, but instead calculate the risks involved very carefully and take action to reduce them as best they can.

Among those interviewed where a number of Downhill Mountain Bike riders who regularly face dangerous situations as they hurtle over treacherous terrain in pursuit of the fastest time. One rider remarked, “Sure this sport can be more dangerous than other sports but we never take unnecessary risk. We will look at all the options before doing something new and if it’s not worth it, then we won’t do it. There is no sense in risking injury for us as then we wouldn’t be able to ride”

The main conclusion drawn from the research is that although most extreme sports enthusiasts have lower fear levels than your average person and require more courageous feats to get their adrenaline kick, they also spend more time preparing for their actions and planning what to do if something goes wrong. It is not fearlessness that allows them to perform incredible feats but instead immense skill and tireless preperation and practice.

James Gallop who headed up the research stated that evidence of the cautiousness of extreme sports athletes has always been there (protective gear, tireless checking of equipment and environment, first-aid crews at events etc), only no one really asked the athletes and assumed they did these crazy new tricks because they weren’t quite sane.

As extreme sports continue to move further into the public domain, it is likely that safety-consciousness will increase and more regulations brought in to protect athletes and amateurs alike. Will this destroy the freedom that made extreme sports what they are, or improve their profile and promote greater participation? We hope the latter.

Kitesurfing Speed Demons Break Velocity Record

Sebastien Cattelan of France broke the kitesurfing world speed record, and the magic 50kts barrier, by achieving a velocity of 50.26 knots (93kph) at the Lüderitz Speed Challenge in Namibia last month.

Cattelan was well placed to break the previous record of 49.84 kts, set by Robert Douglas of the USA, as he was one of the founders of speed kitesurfing and actually helped establish the speed strip at Lüderitz. Such speeds can be achieved at this unique location due to strong area winds being funnelled and accelerated down a shallow valley onto the lagoon’s smooth stretch of water.

Cattlean’s celebrations where however somewhat short-lived as his record was beaten a day later by fellow countryman Alexandre Caizergues, who reached a top speed of 50.57 knots (93.65kph).

The WSSRC is yet to ratify these new records as official sailing records due the fact there is some contention over the total speed of the kite and kitesurfer over the 500m distance. It is possible for the kitesurfer to pick up speed as he or she tracks the board away from the kite and so the kitesurfer can temporarily reach speeds higher than that of the kite. It is an issue that has caused problems previously but we will wait to hear the outcome from the WSSRC.

For the latest information visit www.sailspeedrecords.com