Zen's Canadian Snowmobile Blog

Zen's Canadian Snowmobile Blog

California Snowmobiling in the Sierra Mountains

Snowmobiling Photos

We've been experiencing a 'Heat Wave' the last couple of days here in Oceanside, so to keep ourselves cool, we've been checking out some awesome snowmobiling photos and winter scenes from last season up in Canada!

Lets go North to Mavericks!

Mavericks breaks over an ocean reef that is one-half mile off the coast of Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay, California. The reef is located just outside of Sail Rock, a navigational hazard for boats that appears on every nautical chart covering the northern California coast. Until Jeff Clark took on the challenge of riding the wave, it was known only as a stretch of ocean to be avoided.
There is a deep water canyon to the west of Mavericks. The large ocean swells come from the north or west depending on the particulars of each storm, and move unobstructed through the deep water canyon west of Mavericks before being funneled towards the main bowl. The shelf of the main bowl is 18 feet deep and drops to depths that exceed 70 feet in less than one-quarter of a mile.
When a significantly sized swell slams into the reef at Mavericks, it stops in its tracks and all that power gets launched out of the ocean like a volcano blowing its top. All the power and speed that has pushed this swell for many thousands of miles rises and heaves towards the shore with the strength of an avalanche and forms Mavericks, the wave that many believe to be the most challenging on the planet.



THE BEAUTY OF MAVERICKS
Once you get past the stark setting, the rocks, the sharks, the chill and the peak, you realize why Mavericks is widely considered the best big wave in the world. On good days, it seems to go on forever.
Mavericks and Todos Santos are world-class waves mostly for the drop, the seemingly endless descent into the trough and the precise bottom turn required to get around a fearsome explosion of whitewater. After that, life is good. Maintain your composure and you'll be gliding safely into a channel. Makaha (on the west side of Oahu) is a long, exciting wave at 18-20 feet and beyond, but those days are so rare, the place is quite nearly a myth (the Makaha Point Challenge, a contest for surfers ready to challenge the spot's epic point surf, has yet to take place in the dozen-odd years of its existence).
Mavericks is not only huge, steep and terrifying, it acts like a point break on the best days, constantly jacking up in a down-the-line pattern as it hits a succession of shallow spots in the reef. "The inside can be unbelievably challenging," says Santa Cruz standout Peter Mel. "I mean, it's got everything you want in a good wave -- speed, tube rides, the chance to maneuver -- with the added element of size."
To top it off, Mavericks also has a left. Only a few surfers have even attempted to go left, because the peak is even steeper and less negotiable in that direction, but it can be done. In fact, when Jeff Clark pioneered the spot, he went left almost exclusively, switching stance (so his body would face the wave) and getting some radical photographs from the early days. When Mavericks surfers talk about the future, they talk about someone pulling into that left tube and making it out on a legitimately big day. It hasn't happened yet.

Surfing in Carlsbad, California

Although the 35-mile drive from San Diego to Carlsbad may seem a little more than daunting on a summer weekend, a few gems await at the other end, including world-class La Costa Resort and Spa, to entice visitors and families. Carlsbad beaches offer a variety of activities such as swimming, surfing, body boarding, windsurfing, camping, bird watching, hiking, and kayaking. Carlsbad State Beach, about 5 miles in length, has picnic areas on the beach and above on the bluff. Walk along the coast or the nearly mile-long seawall / walkway adjoining the beach, beginning one block south of Carlsbad Village Drive. In between beach junkets, take the kids to Legoland, California — 128 acres of Legos, rides, and restaurants. Also, carve out a couple of hours and visit the boutiques, cafes, and antique stores of Carlsbad Village.

Swami's Beach-Encinitas

Swami's Beach in Encinitas is a popular surfing beach with fantastic waves located below Seacliff Roadside Park, a region that includes a parking lot, public restrooms, set of scenic, wooden steps perched on a hill high above the Pacific Ocean and sand beach that are part of Swami's.

Named for the Self-Realization Fellowship Retreat, Gardens and Hermitage located a few hundred yards north on Highway 101, this beach is a local favorite for surfing. On most mornings and evenings, you can stand on the steps and watch the surfers walk by in a steady stream. Young surfers who mount their bicycles and old surfers who hop into their cars and drive appear to own the finest boards and body suits. They take their surfing seriously and Swami's holds a reputation for providing some of the best waves on the San Diego coastline.

Airboarding-Adrenaline Rush!

From tubing to Airboards to snow bikes, mountain resorts and guides have been looking for new excuses to get people outdoors and new diversions to keep them entertained. Reviews are mixed on whether the Airboard can bolster ski visits the way snowboarding has, but supporters talk it up as a niche snow sport that doesn't stress the knees.
Some say riding an Airboard is like ultimate sledding. People who ride the six-pound Swiss invention slide down snowy mountain slopes face first on polyurethane air cushions that look like blowup rafts with handles and a ridged bottom. Riders have been known to reach speeds of more than 80 mph.
Hoodoo Ski Area in Oregon started allowing snow bodyboards three seasons ago as something new. Of the 869 season passes the ski area had sold by mid-December, two were for people who only do snow bodyboarding.
Still, it's a fun pastime for families with one person who doesn't ski or snowboard, or for people with weak knees, he said. In Aspen, more than half of winter visitors don't ski or ride, making Airboards a more inclusive activity.
It's like snowboarding. Twenty years ago, everybody thought snowboarders were the devil. Now everybody's saying hallelujah for snowboarding.
No resorts in Colorado or Utah allow Airboards, although Keystone in Colorado tried it for a season. Interest is growing though.
Emo Gear, the only licensed distributor of the Airboard in North America, started with five U.S. retailers in its first season in 2003. This year it has 90 in the U.S. and Canada, and this is the first profitable year for the Berkeley, California-based company as Airboards earn their own competitions.
It's new, exciting, anybody from 6 to 66 can do it. Unlike skiing or snowboarding, the learning curve is not as steep.
Kids models run $149, with the Airboard Classic running at $269.
Go to http://www.airboard.com and check out all the events that they have going on worldwide!!