Jonah dropped by the studio on his trip to Boston where he was premiering his newly released project "Who is Sim."
The Ski Monster crew traveled up to Burlington, Vermont to record a podcast with the one and only Jason Levinthal at his new J Skis Intergalactic HQ.
Introducing The Boston Ski Party, a new podcast presented by The Ski Monster from our studio in downtown Boston.
Mounting Ski Bindings.... It's pretty easy when you do it everyday and you have the proper tools to do so. Mounting your bindings properly is very important.
The Volkl One Skis were built, designed, engineered, created, formulated, conceived, forged or any other synonym you want to add in, as a ski that will be marketed to a market that Volkl claims to have created... You must be thinking, "Wow, this is a weird start to a ski review", but it's completely accurate.
Shipping skis is something we do on a daily basis. We've gotten quite a bit better at it as time has gone on and learned some tricks along the way to keep costs down and to ensure that gear arrives in perfect condition.
Adjusting ski bindings isn't difficult, but it does need to be done properly to ensure safety. To do so there are just a few things you need to know and you'll be swapping skis with your buddies on the hill in no time.
TheSkiMonster.com analyzes the mechanics of shin bang...
This week we have three DJ's in the post from our home base Boston. Always stoked to represent the hometown talent.
Miami Ski Team released this just in time, literally an hour ago and I just got done listening to it. This mix is hot off the press.
Boston's DJ Influence just put out another mix last night, Something Different Volume II. Something Different is an indie mix of all of his favorite songs. Driving Music.
Another Boston DJ, Jesse Jess, just released the 3rd edition of his Dirty 130's mixtape series. Interesting thing about this one is many of the tracks aren't in the 130s. hmmmmmmm
Clinton Sparks put out his Awesome Mixtape number three this week and it's dope, play it at your party tonight.
DJ The Chad put this out last month, and I'm just discovering it now. Click Play.
TGR, Teton Gravity Research is known for their epic movies that are released annually. Each year they manage to out due themselves. After watching the trailer for their upcoming release later this fall, I'm sure it won't have us disappointed, it's going to have us stoked and ready to rock.
The Dream Factory is about the dream of people making their way to America's last frontier, Alaska. People left for Alaska for Gold, then Oil, then King Crab, then in 1991 they started going there for a different reason. To shred Alaska's epic lines that we have grown accustom to seeing in ski and snowboard movies every year.
The cast or should I say skiers in the 2012-2013 TGR release include Sage, Dana, Seth, Benchetler, Roner, Cam Riley and Mr. Nick Martini to name a few.
Let the early summer stoke for Winter begin with TGR's The Dream Factory Trailer.
Liquid Force BBQ Bro Down is going down this Saturday July 14th at Wow Wakeplace in Minden, NV. Wow Wakeplace is located just east of Lake Tahoe and offers multiple cable parks for all riding abilities.
This Saturday Liquid Force along with other various sponsors will be providing free wakeboarding lessons on two cable set-ups. Liquid Force pro athletes will be in attendance, as well as a handful of 2012 demo boards and bindings for all to try! Whether it's your first time riding at a cable park or an experienced shredder looking to get in some solid practice runs, head to Wow Wakeplace this weekend for a seriously sick day on the water... You will at least walk away with some free schwag.
Last week we took a week off from Top Five Tuesday. This week we are back with tunes to make your ear drums smile and your head nod. Enough with the intro, let's get into the music.
Two of my favorite Electro House producers are in the title of this track; Porter Robinson and Dirtyloud. This track has some pretty killer vocals, bullets over basslines.
As my buddy Brian would say 'He gets it!' dBerrie gets it. Every single production sounds huge and always pays respect to the vocals on the track instead of creating an onslaught of bass.
This bootleg from 5 & A Dime of Dillon Francis Moombahton banger is overflowing with 112bpm energy. Crank it up!
This Trap remix of Coolio's Gangstas Paradise from Candyland is pretty dope. Give it a try.
When Lenno uploads a track and you get the notification on your soundcloud app, it's pretty sick sort of like Christmas. This is Lenno's most recent remix hot off the press for Above and Beyond.
Ken Block, the dude from DC Shoes, that has the Mountain Lab that every snowboarder or Park rat dreams of going to just put out the 5th episode of Gymkhana. If you are a San Francisco resident and heard a 650 horsepower Ford Fiesta going nuts racing around town, that was Mr. Ken Block. I wasn't super into car racing or rally cars until I started watching these Gymkhana videos. Give this 10 minute video a look, Ken Block proves once again that he is.... The Man.
With the numerous amount of tow rope options on the market today, choosing the correct one for your specific needs can be confusing. I have had the opportunity to use a variety of different brands for all of my water sport applications. Some seem to stand out more than others, and for wakesurfing the best tow rope is the Liquid Force Surf Rope with a 9" handle.
Liquid Force made this rope extremely user friendly for both beginners and expert surfers. It is designed with a 9 inch fully padded handle that makes it very easy on the hands. The handle is super easy to grip and ideal for long laps around the lake or a quick toss back into the boat. Also, the handle's full pads allow for a safe return throw to the surfer's awaiting spotter. The rope is knotted in three different locations all accompanied by an oversized grip that makes pulling into the wave a breeze. Each knot position allows the beginner/intermediate surfer to gradually make their way into the sweet spot of the wave. The grips are extremely durable and will with-stand a beginner's aggressive pull when attempting to locate the push of the wave.
The rope itself is designed on a durable a 5/8 inch line. The line is built to make getting up on a wakesurf board a cinch! With multiple loops for adjusting length, the rope is easy to attach to the pylon making riders of different styles and comfort levels feel confident when launching out of the water. For the summer 2012, Liquid Force made the line bright green so it's extremely easy to spot in the water.
I currently use two of these surf ropes, one blue and one bright green. Having multiple ropes allows for two riders to surf different sides of the wake at the same time. I don't recommend surfing with multiple surfers until your crew of riders becomes experienced enough to properly handle themselves on the wave.
Liquid Force really did a fantastic job with this particular product. Whether it's a first time surfer or an experienced veteran, something as simple as a tow rope can enhance your overall experience on the wave.
Texas Ski Ranch, TSR, located in New Braunfels, Texas just put out this edit 'Texas Toast'. This edit is full of wakeboarding, wakeskating and skateboarding all of which you can do at the Texas Ski Ranch. An all day pass at their cable park is only $36 so if you're in the area it's definitely something you need to check out. Texas Ski Ranch has more to offer than just a cable park and lessons, they also sell our favorite towboats, MasterCraft. If you're able to stop by this awesome spot, do it!
This wakeboarding/wakeskating edit was put together Ryan Jones. Cick the Vimeo link in the bottom right corner of the video to see more of his work.
Hope everyone had an awesome 4th of July. A bunch of us were on the boat for America's Birthday, wakeboarding in the morning then food and partying the rest of the day. All in all it was a successful 4th of July, now let's get into the music.
Vice was just in town playing at Ocean Club last Sunday July 1st in Quincy, MA just south of the city. His sets never disappoint and his podcasts don't either. In the 23rd episode Vice brings the noise.
Richard Fraioli just dropped the 4th edition of his House Music mixtape series. Fraioli is one of Boston's heavy weights if you're in the area check out one of his shows.
New York's Eli Escobar recorded one of his sets in Dallas Texas. If you're looking for a fun bouncey mix that'll make you wiggle, click play.
Cassian... The mix starts out with an Elmo sample from Sesame Street then goes striaght into some Disco/Nu-Disco. Perfection
The Miami Ski Team. Love that name, no idea why.. ;) Just click play or download on this one, it's a great mix.
The 4th of July is a celebration of freedom, independence and all things that are great about the USA. In honor of our country's birthday, this blog is dedicated to Americans doing American things. Lets all celebrate Americas birthday with red-white-and-blue attire, grilled meats, domestic beers and random outbursts of yelling the word, America!
Happy 4th of July and God Bless America!
Boston's DJ Influence posted up his June mix earlier this week. No Top 40 in this mix, Enjoy!
DJ Enferno has been featured on the blog before and will continue to be. Why? Because he is really good at what he does.
Sander Van Doorn is killing it right now, his singles 'Chasin' and his most recent production 'Nothing Inside' are nothing short of awesome. His weekly mixes are just as awesome, check it out.
A lot of the mixes in this weekly blog are Electro and House mixes. Changing it up a little bit with DJ Drew Pierce's Reggae mix. Chill.
Hitting a little bit harder, Diplo's Moombahton mix is fire. If your into this newer genre that is starting to take over iPods everywhere, check this out.
Getting up on a Wakesurf board is easy learn. In my opinion and many others it is easier to get up on than waterskis, wakeboard and even a kneeboard. Wakesurfing is a low impact, fun and social watersport. Wakesurfing is much easier to learn because of how slow the boat is moving, usually not more than 12mph, and because the rider is so close to the boat when they are learning. Wakesurfers are coachable while they are riding instead of just after a fall or in between sets.
If you haven't done any board sports before you need to establish whether or not you're Regular (left foot in front) or Goofy (right foot in front). Once you have figured that out you'll know which side of the wake to surf on. Regular footed surfers on the port side and Goofy footed surfers on the starboard side.
Step 1: Setting the Wakesurfer up behind the boat.
It's best to set the wakesurfer up at a 45 degree angle off the stern of the boat instead of directly behind the boat. By setting up at an angle it is easier for someone to continue going after they stand up on the board because the wake builds up behind them. If the wakesurfer starts directly behind the boat they can end up on top of the wake and have to surf down (that's tough for a beginner).
Step 2: Position you feet on the wakesurf board.
Now that you're in the water at a 45 degree angle off the boat, get you feet on top of the board. You want your feet to be at a comfortable width, a little more than shoulder width is what I do. Notice in the picture how my heels are on the board, toes pointing to the sky, that is crucial. Let the board float in the water and just rest your heels on the edge of the board. The closer your heels are to the edge of the board the easier it will be to flip on to your feet.
Step 2A: Proper body position
Notice in the picture, my heels are on the edge of the board, toes pointing to the sky, rope inbetween my my feet shoulders squared up with the board pointing at the corner of the boat. What you can't see is that I'm in a cannon ball position, sort of like what you would do if you were doing a cannon ball off a diving board.
(Step 2 and 2A should be done with slack in the rope, boat in neutral)
Step 3: Boat in gear, Line tight, Heels down.
In order for the wakesurfer to get up the driver needs to know what to do. In the first picture the rider is in the water getting set up with the rope slacked, once the rider is set up on the board and feeling good put the boat in gear, make sure the rider is still off the corner of the boat, not directly behind. Once the line gets tight the wakesurfer needs to push their heels straight down, keeping the toes pointing to the sky. Once the driver sees the board flip on to the bottoms of the feet it is up to the driver to hit the throttle. Wakesurf boards have a lot of surface area it doesn't require much power to get someone up. Throttle the boat slowly up to surf speed.
Step 4: Getting into the wave.
Your up!! That's awesome you did it, now the fun begins. Like any other board sport you want to make sure you are balanced on the board, have your weight close 50/50 on each foot and try to stay at the bottom of the wave while you get your bearings.
Step 5: Gas and Brake.
Once you feel comfortable on the board, hold on to the rope with one hand. Hang on to the rope with whatever foot you have in front, in my case surfing Regular on the port side, I'm holding on to the rope with just my left hand.
Your front foot is the gas and your back foot is the brake. If you want to speed up pressure your front foot, to slow down pressure your back foot. The amount of pressure you apply doesn't have to be a lot, just make small movements. As you speed up you'll notice the line will get slack, if you hit the brakes too hard the line will get tight.
Step 6: Finding the sweet spot on the wake.
Now that you have the feeling of 'Gas and Brake' figured out you can try to find the sweet spot on the wake. Every boat is different, on our boat the sweet spot is very large, so it's pretty easy. Keep the rope in your lead hand and try to keep slack in the rope for as long as you can. This will help you find the boundries of the wake without falling constantly.
Step 7: Throwing the rope in.
Once you have found the sweet spot on the wake and you can stay in it for an extended period of time keeping slack in the rope, it's time to throw in the rope. Make sure the rope gets pulled all the way into the boat so it doesn't get caught on the wakesurfer if they were to fall.
Getting up a wakesurf board isn't hard, but it's not up to just the surfer in the water. As you can tell from reading this it also requires a good driver and coach talking to the beginner wakesurfer off the back of the boat.
Once we have the surfer set up on the board off the corner of the boat, with slack in the line. The driver puts the boat in gear taking the slack out of the line, coach tells wakesurfer 'Heels Down' once the line gets tight, Driver sees the board flip up to the bottom of the feet then hits the throttle, and they're up.
Shredding on skis isn't as new as many Newschoolers may think. Watching this video of skiing in 1931 before 'Hotdogging' was even a part of skiing vocabulary is pretty epic. These skiers don't have bindings with release settings on their skis designed for safety, Plastic boots designed for precision and control, or skis designed to float in powder. The equipment they are using would freak most if not all of us out today, yet they are still ripping up the hill, dropping cliffs, slashing lines, getting air and having fun. This is what skiing or should I say shredding looked like 80 years ago, when skiers wore leather boots not much different from a pair of modern day dress shoes.
