Airboarding Article

Airboarding

Bail Out Airstyle!
By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner

Bail out? I have heard of many companies asking for financial assistance but in the world of snow, it means something entirely different.
When you are on a moving ski lift and you are at the drop zone and someone shouts for you to bail, that means to jump off into the snow.
Well, I learned the hard way as I hesitated at the Mid-Station lift area at Canaan Valley Ski Resort to jump off after Airboarding specialist Alicia Monahan of Face Level Industries shouted for us to bail.
This was my official greeting to extreme jumping, which comes in useful knowing how far down and hard you can come off a whale.
A whale, at a snow resort you ask? Well, it is not the fish but rather a large mound of snow that skiers, snowboarders, and airboarders use to get mad air.
Airboarding, is like sledding but on an inflatable board that has runners and your body movement helps steer it down the slopes.
This new winter sport is offered at only six ski resorts in the United States.
Airboarding was created in Switzerland ten years ago by engineer Joe Steiner and is quite popular in Europe and Africa.
Canaan Valley is in its fourth season offering this unique experience according to resort spokeswoman Lisa Ratliffe.
“If you enjoyed sledding as a kid, airboarding will be a blast,” Canaan Valley Ski Area Manager Michael Chaney stated.
“Airboarding is exhilarating and fun. It is the easiest to learn, you’re able to go fast and not get frustrated,” Monahan said.
Face Level Industries, a web-based company that started in 2003 by Josh Galt was the main sponsor of the In Your Face! Airboarding Race at Canaan Valley on February 7th, 2009.
“We promote headfirst, forward motion sports including riverboarding, wingsuit flying and body boarding” Galt said.
Riverboarding athletes have done the cross-over into airboarding.
“Airboarding is similar to riverboarding because both are done at face level. One is on moving water and the other is on frozen water. You get more speed with airboarding but both are technical. Airboarding is exhilarating and fun. It is the easiest to learn, you’re able to go fast and not get frustrated,” Monahan stated.
Monahan, from Midlothian, VA, is in her first year as an airboarder but has been riverboarding for seven years.
Kevin Yount, fellow Face Level athlete, took his riverboarding skills and transformed them on the snow.
“I am more river focused but airboarding’s intensity downhill gives you more speed than on the river. On the river you are dealing with converging currents and hydraulics. I love the feeling of the wind on my face going 45 m.p.h. down the slopes. You have control of the board much like you do in the river,” Yount stated.
Yount hails from Asheville, NC where he is one of Face Level’s certified instructors.
The racing competition included three styles of races: Slalom, Boardercross and Adrenaline Team Chess.
“I like boardercross the most because you are on the edge of control, controlled chaos. If you fall off, you lose a ton of speed and could totally wipeout which all of us adrenaline junkies love. Everyone loves to see carnage, that is why NASCAR is so popular,” Gant said.
Gant, better known as Ice, is stoked about the adrenaline airboarding provides.
The rush going down the slopes is what Face Level athletes live for.
“Airboarding gives you an amazing feeling, like flying antigravity. It is like you are Superman flying down the slopes,” Ice remarked.
Airboarding can create intense velocity as proved by a French racer who broke 141 k.p.h.
Although, airboarding is for people of all ages the race on Saturday was for the adrenaline seekers.
The festivities began early as music was pumping and food was prepared on the grill at the bottom of the slopes.
Fourteen racers registered for the onslaught of the mountain at Canaan Valley as skiers and snowboarders were redirected for the main event.
The competition vied for the coveted electric green Airboard 130-X, a Switzerland product and the first in the United States, which was the grand prize for the overall winner
The snow was on the soft side to start the race with increased temperatures.
“You want more air in your board with softer snow. Your start helps you with your speed too,” Ice commented. “It was slushy in the beginning but got a lot better later on. Everyone enjoyed the race.”
Spectators gathered along the starting point and others admired the event from the ski lifts.
“The race was loads of fun. It was a fantastic day. It was nice to see the turnout. Airboarding has grown by leaps and bounds,” Washington, D.C. airboarding racer Paul Kanitra said.
Canaan Valley’s own, Sanford Zirkle competed along with his family.
His son Stephan joined him on the Boardercross race and daughters Christina and Ameras competed in the races as well.
“I love being on my airboard. There is nothing more rewarding than having my wife and three children spend time doing what we love together. There is no better place than Canaan Valley to take your family because there is something for everyone,” Zirkle said.
Zirkle, the original airboarding instructor at Canaan Valley, used the knowledge of the terrain to his advantage.
In the slalom, Zirkle had the fastest single run with 21 seconds.
Monahan won the overall slalom race with a combined speed time of 51 seconds, a second faster than Zirkle.
The competition elected to not use the whales early in the racing events due to the softness of the snow but once the sun set, more fun began.
“I love jumping, it’s the landing that is difficult,” Monahan said.
The Adrenaline Team Chess event had some racers using the whales while others opted for the consistency of the slope for speed.
Zirkle crashed through the finish line after catapulting down the whale during the race on the second heat.
“The racing was phenomenal. My favorite part was the last few races when we raced the tops. I got air on the backside of the first one. I would love to come back here to Canaan Valley,” Yount stated.
Zirkle’s intense speed was rewarded in the end as he was chosen as the overall winner.
The Zirkle family won numerous prizes including Numa sunglasses given to Christina for being the coolest and fastest young racer at the In Your Face! competition.
“Airboarding is finding a niche in winter sports and will grow exponentially,” Ice said.
“Overall it was a great time. We are already making plans for next year. This was a fun-filled day of terrific music, food and people,” Ratliffe concluded.
Rafting on snow, the new winter sport coming to a mountain near you!