Lorne is a blading instructor (certified Level 1,2,3 /Masters, and Examiner) with the International Inline Skating Association. Ho also is a former director of the local Volunteer Skate Patrols. Lorne was the first IISA instructor to acquire 4 masters certifications (Racing, Fitness, Freestyle, and Skate-to Ski for teaching downhill skiing). In addition to general in-line and street skating skills, Lorne also specializes in hill skills, utilizing his background as a certified levels 1-3 ski instructor and level 1 and 2 snowboard instructor, all of which he teaches through the LM Blade, Board and Ski School. Lorne also writes articles on inline skating for various magazines, including Florida's Fitness and Speed Skating Times, New York's Blur, and Vancouver's Momentum Magazine, plus local newspapers. Lorne's Tips - a local expert at a myriad of things, Lorne can help you to enjoy your fitness activities more through improved skill and greater safety. As an internationally recognised Inline Skating instructor and Skate Patrol co-founder, Lorne Milne has the expertise to provide tips for better, safer inline skating. 'Blading Vancouver' - Lorne has provided us with further insight unto his broad array of abilities with a look at snow-based sport around the Vancouver area. 'Boarding Vancouver' - snowboarding tips - Look at great places to snowboard & blade in the Lower Mainland plus tips and info about courses available... 'Snowblading Vancouver'- snowblading introduced - It's new and it's cool! Lorne gives a history of this up-and-coming sport, plus tips on fitness and equipment. Route Map - This will help cyclists, pedestrians and bladers find their way around the areas network of paths on the famous 'seawall' and through Stanley Park. "BLADING VANCOUVER" Vancouver is one of the best (and most beautiful) places in North America to blade! Ranked #1 in Florida's Fitness and Speek Skating Times, with miles of seawalls, existing bike/skate paths (due to a history of friendliness to bicycles) and varied terrain (due to mountainous hillsides and winding trails around ocean bays and harbours) there is lots of variety for the skating and the views! There is a great range of places to skate that are suitable for beginners to experts, so keep an eye on future installments as we update you with info on events and other places to skate. For more information on blading in this region, see a couple great websites: SkateNW and International Inline Skating Association. Beginner Areas First things first...you need to start in a safe flat area (yes, you should take some lessons and should wear all your safety gear including wrist pads, elbow pads, knee pads, helmet and at least one brake). There are several popular areas to learn: Sunset Beach Roller Rink, West End: Sunset Beach is nestled between the Aquatic Centre (under the Burrard St Bridge) and the lifeguard shack to the North-West of the Aquatic Centre. This parking lot has been a premiere location for blading in Vancouver since 1994. Many people learn here, there is a roller-hockey rink on the South-East side of the lot, and there's an adjoining roller-rink for beginning skaters and freestylers. Drop by to ride through slalom cones, watch the local stunt bladers do their tricks on their grind rails, or see local roller-dancers show off their chops! UBC Parking Lot B: This is one of the larger and most open areas to learn in the lower mainland. It is situated to the South-West of UBC Health Sciences Hospital and on the weekends there are very few cars parked there! UBC Rose Garden Parkade: (Bottom floor-2 floors down). UBC has been extremely gracious by not objecting to people blading down on the bottom floor on rainy days. The bottom floor is virtually car-free, clean a constant temperature, large and well-lit. Indy Track: Adjoining Science World (along the seawall path at the end of False Creek), the flat, smooth acres of asphalt provide probably the best place to learn to blade in North America — the indy track itself is the largest such track within city limits on the continent. If you're on the Sky Train, get off at Science World or if you're driving, park your car at 1st Avenue and Ontario Streets. The space is available all year long except for a couple weeks in July, when it is converted back to a racing track. Remember Wherever you blade, you do so under your own liability and it is your responsibility to avoid accidents and to skate safely. It is vital that we avoid the American mentality of scatter-gun lawsuits to anyone who had the remotest connection to an accident, so that some bozo can try to make a windfall due to their own irresponsibility!! Even though it is unlikely that they could win, the hassle and legal costs are enough for a location to ban blading (which we never want to see!). Presently there are bans on the seawall in West Vancouver andthe Boardwalk and Marine Drive in White Rock. Locally the Volunteer Skate Patrol and the International Inline Skating Association have done a huge amount of work to promote safe skating and avoid bans in places like Stanley Park, Seymour Demonstration Forest and UBC. Intermediate Areas There are more and more pathways being built to take advantage of your blades. Make sure you have the skills to venture forward (so take lessons that will prepare you for different terrain). The path under the Skytrain to New Westminster The blade trail in Port Moody from Rocky Point to Ioco The road on the North side of the Richmond Airport heading to Iona Island Tug Boat Landing (in South-East Vancouver on the Fraser River) Sunset Beach to Science World Science World to Granville Island (on the south side of False Creek) Stanley Park (see route map) The bike/skate path on the North side of the Burnaby Golf Course The pathway on the south side of the Grandview Cut (from Victoria St. to Van Tech High School) The bike/skate path around the perimeter of UBC The creek path from Lions Park in Pt. Coquitlam The pathway around Lafarge Lake in Coquitlam Day trips to the Galloping Goose Trail in Victoria Day trips to intermediate skate routes in Seattle (such as Green Lake and Alki Beach) Advanced Areas Make sure you've learned hills skills for stopping, turning, and hill climbing before you try these routes: Whistler: Although most of the skate paths at Whistler are only intermediate, due to the narrowness and occasional black diamond steepness on a few hills this has to be considered a potentially advanced area. Seattle's two blading marathons (Solstice Skate every July and the Superskate for MS in early August) Seymour Demonstration Forest: The Demonstration Forest is definitely advanced intermediate to expert with blue square difficulty to black diamond to double and triple black diamond hills! The first route at Seymour Forest has been ranked as one of North America's top 6 fitness blade paths by New York's Conde Nastmagazine. In 2002 a new $3 million path was completed that exceedes anything anywhere and has become a travel destination for bladers. Contact Lorne: For more information about anything you see in these articles or about instruction in inline skating, snow-blading, boarding, skiing or racing, contact Lorne at 604-708-1055 or fax at 604-708-1062. The Autumn Skating Scene When November and December are upon us - the skies have opened up on us and the rains have been falling, not to mention that the sun has been going down earlier...a lot of folks are putting their blades away. Wait! Hold onto those skates and don't take them down to the storage just yet!! There are still plenty of places to ride! Oh how we miss those Vancouver blue-sky days... There's heaps of spots to get out to, even on iffy days. On those 'Less-sun-than-we'd-like' kind of days plus those more frequent 'Silvery-gray-but-dry-asphalt' days, get on out!! Seymour Demonstration Forest still has some good skating if it's been sunny and dry all morning....so some afternoon striding can be fun. **Remember: this is an intermediate to advanced blading area in the best of weather, and some wet surfaces only add another level or two of difficulty!!** Stanley Park often gets wet and stays wet (and muddy on the west side from Lion's Gate Bridge to 2nd Beach), so pick your entry from Coal Harbour through to Lumberman's Arch. You'll probably want to wisely cut from The Arch through the Zoo and over the concrete 'overpass' bridge (near the Rowing Club) and then back to Coal Harbour. **Watch out for wet leaves!! They can be like ball bearings (you don't want to pull a groin muscle from slipping out on a leaf!) Also, the Skate Patrol are not out (after October 15 th) to help you if you get into trouble.** Leaf-free False Creek (north shore side) is one of your best bets on a dry day. This area drains and dries fastest after a rain. This is where you're more likely to see the regulars and die-hards!! Blading under the Burrard Street Bridge (north end). This is a great hill to practice your slalom and hill skills. If it does start to sprinkle outside, this spot will stay dry long enough for you to get a good skate in.Make sure you always have a spotter and give pedestrians the right-of-way, to keep the sport safe for everyone! Before you try anything fancy on this short but steep hill, be sure to take a lesson on general skills and stopping/turning techniques. The Rose Garden Parkade at UBC gets 10-toes-up for it's superb blading possibilities!! Drive your car in and go 2 floors down. This is the very best place to blade on a rainy day. It's dry, warm and bright with a beautifully smooth surface. It's bigger than any roller-rink and UBC security are excellent towards in-line skaters. Very few cars park down there, so there are no oil spots, muddy car tracks or dripping water!! **Remember: when you're in someone's parkade, be extremely gracious and appreciating to the security people. There are too many in town who have banned bladers, so it is very important that we maintain our relationship with these supportive people!** Lower Mainland hot spots The Stardust Roller-Rink in Surrey: Most people have forgotten about the existence of the last roller-rink in the Lower Mainland. About 50% of the skaters there are on blades while the rest are on 'roller-skates' (now called 'Quads' in the California skate scene where rollerskating never did die off!!). A bonus feature about the Stardust is that it's on the Skytrain route and is literally across the street from the station (so you can jump on downtown and have a relaxing ride out to skate under the glitter ball, the quasi-psychedelic nite club lites and to 'get-down' to contemporary tunes). You definitely want to learn to blade outside on asphalt with better grip, to adapt to undulations and gente hills. But the Stardust is fun to check out! Blading Ladner: There are days when the roads have not quite dried up in Vancouver yet, but it's been sunny for a few hours in Ladner already (they get almost half as much rain in Ladner, Tsawassen and White Rock as they do on the North Shore and Deep Cove). Take a look up to the sky and see where the clouds lie!! A trip south to these locations may be a good call for some outside skating.Ladner has not developed pathways, but they do have calm streets with smooth pavement. Please take a lesson on street blading before you tackle the roads! Blading South - way south to San Francisco I've often taken blading parties of devoted skate patrollers and blade instructors down to the hottest skate scene in North America's west coast. I've been there 9 times and plan to do more! David Miles (a fellow International Inline Skating Association certified instructor) has organised the famous 'Midnight Roll' through the streets of San Fran...Every Friday night of the year, 400 to 700 bladers meet on the Embarcadero Drive at the Ferry Building (near Fisherman's Wharf) and skate through the wharf area, down through the Marina district, Chinatown, the Business district, the Niteclub area and finally back to the parking lot for a dance on blades. The first half of this midnight marathon is definitely 'do-able' for intermediates, so give it a go! Be sure to wear your flashing lights and buy some night-light-sticks from the organisers so everyone can see you coming. The Volunteer Skate Patrol are out directing traffic and doing a great job on the midnight skate. It may be a good idea to take a night-skating' lesson before you go... The Sunday Skate in Golden Gate Park attracts thousands of bladers every weekend, all year long. You've got to check this out and especially the roller-dancers at the 6 th Street skate-dance area, as they do some truly amazing moves and tricks to a variety of hip-hop and dance music. This can be hot skating — especially if you're used to cooler Vancouver — but San Francisco can also get chilly in the afternoon, so plan for all kinds of weather. David Miles also organises this event and the California Outdoor Rollerskating Association (CORA). He's on the web (www.cora.org), and can be reached by email (CAblader@ix.netcom.com) or by phone at (415) 752-1967. Folks, David Miles is an impressive skater and is the charismatic guru of skating on the West Coast of North America...I guarantee that you'll be impressed by what he has organised...he even won an Ace cable TV award for his weekly show"Skatin' Place". Dry-Land Ski Training on Blades After September, I give heaps of blading lessons to skaters who also want to improve their skiing skills. An in-line skate instructor who is also certified in ski instruction can get you out there with your ski poles (with duct tape over the spiked tips), working on your body position, pole planting, edging skills and general finesse. We use different grades (depending on your skill levels or what areas you are working on) and set the cones up for slalom courses or mogul-styled turns. These skills directly transfer over and there simply is no other dry-land training ski-fitness preparation that so closely benefits your skiing! It feels natural and easy to learn to ski if you're used to blades, and from then you can move to snow-blades and then super-short/super-shape skiis, and finally you can master snowboarding (read more about the new kinds of "snow-blade" skiis). Personally, I cross-train this way all through the winter season while also keeping busy teaching and snow-blading and snowboarding!! Our future Autumn & Winter plans Vancouver is geographically one of the best - if not THE best- place to skate on the West Coast of North America in terms of long seawalls, varied flat and steep terrain and interesting views. Of some of the other 'hot spots' I've skated in North America - Washington, Oregon, California, Mexico, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Ft. Lauderdale, and Miami - Vancouver outranks many of these places in terms of challenging skates. We do need to continue to expand our events and types of blading, however, as we have limited roller-dance scenes or in-line skate parks for example. I have met with some local government officials, in-line skate shops and hot skaters to discuss the need for an in-line skate park under cover. Bladers need an area with a snake bowl like Griffin Skateboard Park (near Westwood Plaza in North Vancouver) that lends itself to the beginner blade rider and the advanced rider. A new blade park also needs: beginner routes (a low rise and a long run) to allow learning; a wave bank for learning to do 180 degree turns on different grades; a 2ft halfpipe for learning bladers, a 4ft for intermediate and 6ft for advanced bladers, like New Westminster's skate park. We'd love to also see a lengthy slope for cones and a perimeter loop for mileage skating. The International In-Line skate Association (IISA) provides plans and support information for blade parks. Contact Lorne: For more information about anything you see in these articles or about instruction in inline skating, snow-blading, boarding, skiing or racing, contact Lorne at 604-708-1055 or fax at 604-708-1062. SNOWBOARDING "SNOWBOARDING VANCOUVER" WINTER/SPRING 1998 Boarding at: Cypress Bowl - Grouse Mountain - Mt. Seymour Mt. Baker - Hemlock Valley - Quick Tips Smells like good boardin'... The Vancouver area is a 'smokin' place to board...and I don't mean the kind of smoking Olympic gold medal winner Ross Rebagliatti got a side-stream whiff of!! We've got some of the best areas in the world to snowboard with mountains like Whistler/Blackcomb, Cypress Bowl, Grouse Mountain, Mt. Seymour, Hemlock Valley and Mt. Baker nearby. In addition, some of the best technical riders in the world reside here (as evidenced by Vancouver-raised, Whistler-riding Ross Rebgliatti), plus some of the best snowboard coaches/instructors in the world (through C.A.S.I - the Canadian Association of Snowboard Instructors). It's not a fluke that the Canadian National Team are world-class players in the snowboard game as well. Clearly Whistler/Blackcomb are the 'long run' mountain specialists where you can get 6-7 miles of top-to-bottom rides and the benefit of high quality half-pipes cut with a 'state-of-the-art' pipe dragon machine. However, for great technical riding and pure fun (as well as accessibility), the North Shore mountains are great snowboarding scenes: Cypress Bowl Cypress has super learning terrain, 2 snow adventure parks (one off of Panorama and one off of Fork) that are now open to Snowboarders, snowbladers and skiers. Cypress offers the longest vertical drop of the North Shore mountains, the highest altitude (with the most snow up there at the top) and some of the steepest pitches (on 'Trumpeter' under the Eagle Chair, on 'Top Gun' and under Skychair on the peak). Yes, snowboarders are not just side-slipping down green runs anymore. Skilled riders are now riding the steep (and moguls) along side of high-end skiers...all you have to do is take a few lessons from a board instructor trained in these skills. C.A.S.I. has certified, fully-trained Level 1 and Level 2 instructors on the North Shore** (the same certification level as you'll find up those very expensive mountains of Whistler and Blackcomb). A bit of advice....if you are planning to do some riding up on the 'W & B' mountains, invest your cash in some lessons here on the North Shore and then free-ride up at Whistler when you're paying the premium price for your lift ticket!! Cypress is definitely one of my favorite places... Grouse Mountain Another fun place to buckle into the board. Riding through the moguls under Inferno chair is a great challenge and a nice 6-foot park in their Adventure Park! Mt. Seymour Seymour doesn't have the steeper grades and complex terrain of Cypress but it has really good beginner slopes and they've done a nice job of putting in a varied adventure park. Mt. Baker There's a great deal to be said about shorter-run mountains like the North Shore hills and Baker. First of all, snowboard boots (well, soft ones anyways!) are not as supportive as ski boots and your feet fatigue faster (if you work on turning your board and not riding straight...in 'hack' style). It's nice on a board as you can cruise over the 'roley-poley' runs like a surfer cresting over a wave. I get a real kick out of the pretty drive to Baker, riding on the quad chair area, hanging at their new lodge (with the animal carvings and animal footprints in the tile) not to mention capping off the day with a yankee beer looking up at Mt. baker and Mt. Shuksan... Hemlock Valley Why is this place such a secret??? Tons of powder!! Acres of ungroomed blue square and black diamond runs that snowboards can float through (there's vast tree-free fields of snow) and majorly friendly hospitality (including live music at the bar). I gave a Level 1 Snowboard Instructor Course there before X-mas and was amazed at how good it was (definitely worth many return visits...but beware: they are only open weekends!) In my opinion, I prefer to snowboard on the shorter mountains, do lots of turns there and hunt for the knobs, bumps, knolls and rolls....and then leave the long runs of Whistler/Blackcomb for the days when I throw my skis on! Quick Tips Here's some Quick Tips to improve your snowboard riding: --> Bend your knees! Bend your knees! Bend your knees!!! --> Lose the low-backs. Hi-backs are more supportive for every kind of riding --> Max out your forward lean on your hi-backs. Your heelside carving will improve and you'll switch edges faster --> Learn to turn. Don't just ride large radius turns. Pull off some medium size, some small radius and some mini-turns. It'll increase your maneuverability and you'll develop the skills to eventually ride moguls!! (Anything that can be done on skis can be done on a snowboard). --> Lessons! Mileage! Lessons! Mileage! Lessons! Mileage! Lessons! Mileage! You can learn to be an expert within a year if you get focused...and know what's best to focus on!!) Contact Lorne: For more information about anything you see in these articles or about instruction in inline skating, snow-blading, boarding, skiing or racing, contact Lorne at 604-708-1055 or fax at 604-708-1062. SNOWBLADING "SNOWBLADING VANCOUVER" '...watch out Skis and Snowboards! You've got a new baby brother coming to town and he's going to take over some of your territory!'  Snow-Blades, Ski-Boards or Mini-Skis They go by a variety of names (you'll find 'carving toys' and 'Big Feet' in there too!). Generally these new gadgets are 80-100cm long (less than half as long as traditional skis) and you can choose to use ski poles or not. They are great on groomed runs, in snow adventure parks (at Cypress Bowl, Grouse Mountain, Mt.Seymour and Whistler/Blackcomb), in moguls, on steeps and up to 6 inches of powder. Because of their limited floating surface they start to nose-dive or submarine with a lot of powder! Riding them is a blend of in line skating and downhill skiing. A Mini-History of Mini-Skis Mini-Skis are not something all that new. For the past decade plus, you've seen the odd eccentric rider show up on the hill with gadgets that were short on the tail and a little longer in the shovel ('Big Feet' being on of them). They were fun to goof around on, but they had little control, didn't carve and riders spent a lot of time on their butt!! Then there were the old 'Head-way' short way learning skis (90cm - 130cm) that many Vancouverites learned to ski on (up at Grouse Mtn.). They had no side-cut, were great for pivoting and skidding turns but couldn't carve worth a *?!*. Those of us who were taught skiing on those shorties were glad to see them go (as we had spent so much time repairing our own skiing technique when we stepped back into our own long carving skis). The most recent and 'soon-to-be-ill-fated' product on the market were Sled-Dogs (this company repeatedly came up in the red in each of their fiscal quarters and bankruptcy lurked around the corner). These gadgets were basically a ski boot with a ski (boot length only) built into them, designed to go after the inline skate market. Sled-Dog finally realized they should build in metal edges and they did decide to make the running surface a tad longer on their 'K-9' model but there was very limited snow conditions (perfectly groomed and packed and 'not-too soft') that allowed them to function well. The only rider in town who really had them wired is my team-mate Mark Fogel. Wearing his helmet, flashing night lights on his wrists and pulling off his fantastic continuous 360 degree spins down Cypress Bowl's night runs, 'Mr. Spin' is definitely some-one to watch! So much for the historic devices. What makes these things work- the new snow-blades ('Snow-Blade' is actually a copyrighted name for Salomon's product) and ski-boards (the generic name the overall industry is trying to use...especially since Salomon grabbed the 'Snow-Blades' term), is 'shaped-ski technology'. Yes these are mini 'shaped', 'parabolic' or 'hour-glass' skis. The wide shovels and tails with a narrow waist and mono-cap construction gives them 'tip-to-tail' flexibility and torsional rigidity! Put that all together and you get carving ability!! The most recent version is the product put out by Head that has releasable bindings, which are very easy to get on and off. How To Ride These Puppies --> Get snow and stay low!   Flex your ankles forward and bend your knees until you just go past the point where you can't see your boot toes any longer. Get your butt cheeks lowered (like on a heel-side carving turn on your snowboard). --> Get wide and glide!   For lateral stability have your feet wider apart than you would for downhill skiing or in-line skating. Generally you check out the width of your shoulders and hips and match your foot stance width with the wider of the 2 (in traditional skiing you match your foot stance with the narrower of the 2). --> Get your hands out front and you won't dump!   Due to the short length you have to adjust your fore and aft balance. Bring your centre of balance farther back to your heels than you would in downhill skis. Also keep your tips up so you don't hook them in snow clumps and fall on your face. With your tips up and your weight back you need to counter-balance by having your hands out front more (OK...you might look a bit like a zombie or Frankenstein, but it's better than 'crashing and burning'!). --> Scissor your Snow-Blades and slice up the slopes!   In regular snow-skis you might have your lead ski (your ski on the inside of your turn or your uphill ski) about half boot length of the other. On your ski-boards you need to exaggerate this scissoring action and have the inside ski father ahead to provide you with a longer running length for high speed riding. --> Take a lesson and spend less time on your butt!   If you thought learning to snow-board was quick wait until you try this sport. I recently gave a lesson to a friend of mine, Randy Dahlquist. He had only skied once in his life and inline skated twice. Admittedly he had been a skate boarder back in the 70's and generally had some good balance skills...but snow knowledge was something new to him! In a 2 hour snow-blading lesson he learned 'stance and balance', how to snow-plow, how to do 'yo-yo' snow-plows, how to ride-a-frame, how to swizzle and how to ride parallel, how to pivot his snow-blades for parallel turns, how to ride green circle and blue square difficulty runs, how to carve turns and how to ride backwards on gentle grades. I've found my other students have done just as successfully! As the sport is new this season there is a shortage of qualified instructors (instructor qualification requires both down-hill skiing and inline skating instructor certification as both techniques are utilised). I recently wrote an instructor's manual for the International Inline Skating Association, so hopefully we will be running some instructor programs for inline instructors to convert in the future. P.S. You'll see articles in magazines like Snow-Country or Snow-Blading Tips written by dual certified instructors (Down-Hill Skiing and International Inline Skating Association). Who is a Candidate to Become a Snow-Blader? People who don't have the time or patience to acquire mastery. (like the years required in down-hill skiing). Instead become a novice in a day, an intermediate within a week, advanced within a month and an expert within a season! (P.S. Riding them will improve your downhill skiing huge!) Inline Skaters. Missing the opportunity to get out on your roller-blades during the winter? Transfer your skills over and keep your skating muscles happening. You can actually skate up-hill in these babies. If there's snow on top of your Burnaby Mountain or on a hill in your neighbourhood park, you don't need a chairlift! Just grab your ski boards and go! Downhill skiers who ski less than 15 times a year. Tired of starting over each year? Improve each time you get up with less hassle. The typical Vancouverite with a storage room full of wind-surfers, skis, skates, mountain skies, golf clubs, tennis rackets etc!!! Snow blades are small, don't take up much storage room, don't need a roof rack (just throw them in your back-pack) and you only need one pair for the family. They come with adjustable bindings and one size fits all! Those looking for a good deal! (Isn't that all of us?). They're only half the length of down-hill skis and the bindings come with them, so they are only half the price. Any ski boots will work with them and because they are shorter with less resistance from the edges running length, lower tech, less expensive ski boots work great! Folks who also want to transition to the new "super-shaped" slalom skiis. Snow-blades will help you refine your fore-aft balance before you take on these high-performance units. Where to Pick Up Some Ski-Boards There are only a few ski shops now carrying them, but the availability is increasing. I did a photo shoot for the Vancouver Province newspaper's adventure section just before Christmas 2002, and within two weeks the purchase of ski-boards increased dramatically. My Prediction Eventually 30% of the riders on the hill will be on some version of these mini-skis. They are not a fad or just a toy anymore. So folks be the first on your block to get out and snow-blade/ski-board! Scope out your small radius turn tracks on the snow, they look like elves have left them! Blade on, dudes and dudettes!       - Lorne Contact Lorne: For more information about anything you see in these articles or about instruction in inline skating, snow-blading, boarding, skiing or racing, contact Lorne at 604-708-1055 or fax at 604-708-1062.