I noticed that the other day someone came to this site via a Google search for the words number 1 snowboard blog (no quote marks). This site came up #15, which I suppose isn’t bad.
By the way, you can always use our list of blog sites (see the right-hand column) if you’re looking for other blogs about snowboarding.
Periodically I get an e-mail from someone who wants my take on the “write your own ticket” approach to travel, apparently in the belief that I have some connection with it. Sometimes the e-mail mentions either Tom White or Carl Meadows.
One challenge in being a middle-aged snowboarder is finding reading materials that are written more like the New Yorker–or even USA Today–and less like … well, I’m not going to go there. A few years ago I wrote a review of snowboarding magazines, and didn’t much like what I saw.
In particular, I had harsh words for TransWorld Snowboarding. One reason is that it is the industry standard and has (I believe) the largest circulation of snowboarding magazines. Another is that it takes the unsatisfactory qualities of the genre–vulgar language, an unreadable graphic design, and an attitude that plays to the stereotype of snowboarders–to a higher level.
Sometime after writing those reviews I received an e-mail from one of the editors of TWS, saying that the magazine was changing. (Unfortunately it got lost in my e-mail box and I didn’t see it for quite a while.) I haven’t had much contact with the publication since.
Thanks to Twitter, I found out today that TWS gives GraysOnTrays.com, and older riders, some recognition in the November, 2009 edition, which contains a letter from KJ Riley, entitled “Old Dog”:
Since your mag is the only widely distributed snowboarding periodical I can find, I get it regularly and enjoy the pics of snow-covered hills, dreaming of that time I will be retired with enough money to ride all those places. But, being 59 and a crazy ol’ man boarder, I sure would like to see some other seniors represented once in a while (maybe I’m one of the very few around … who knows!). Even if we see a lot of good snow riding pics (I don’t do rails or pipes, and I’m waiting until I slim down by 50 pounds to do any jumps) especially on double blacks like Kirkwood’s Wall, Sugar Bowl’s Palisades, or Mammoth’s runs from the top of the gondola, I could get down with that …. otherwise, keep up the good pics and articles like you’ve had last year about resort areas.
The editors responded:
Hey, KJ, We’ll keep stoking you out with epic shots and resort features, but we don’t want you to feel like you’re alone out there, so we’re hooking you up with a Web site to check out: graysontrays.com. It’s for “grown-up” riders. The site itself is whatever (yeah, we read that review of TransWorld … dis!), but they’ve got active discussion boards that are broken down into regions and even one for the ladies. Everyone knows it’s more fun to shred with a crew.
Thanks, TWS, for helping out a rider by referring him to a site that he might find helpful, even if it did give you a “dis” review. Now that’s customer service. Thanks also for the kind words about the discussion boards. I have found them helpful and I know that others have, too.
By the way, another letter in the same issue comes from “a mom of three boys that all snowboard.” She asks “is there any hope of learning to snowboard at 40?”
Absolutely! The TWS staff gave a good reply: “Hey, you can and you will learn this winter–just take some lessons, use the right equipment, and try not to fall on your wrists.”
Grays on Trays.com has entered Myspace.com. Yes, the web site that makes it safe for the parents of young snowboarders to take up snowboarding themselves has entered the web site dominated by youngsters.
Why?
I’m still working on that one.
Actually, there are several reasons. Not everyone on MySpace is 16 years old; at least if the profiles are to believed. In addition, even those who are a mere 16 might know people over 30–their parents, perhaps–who could be interested in snowboarding.
MySpace has an odd assortment of pages. Some are from individuals–the typical 17-year old wanting to talk about her favorite movies or bands. Others are tribute pages to individuals clearly dead. A few weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal noted that several candidates for Congress made use of the web site. And I’ve noticed some organizations as well.
MySpace is all about collecting “friends,” or members linking to each other. We’re not all about all that; it smells a lot like a high school popularity contest. That being said, if you are over 30, have a MySpace profile, and are a shredder, feel free to send a friend request to the Grays on Trays profile. You never know how these networking things play out, but it might mean that a solitary “old” snowboarder finds a lift buddy.
By the way, some ski areas have MySpace profiles. These include Afton Alps (Minnesota); Aspen Snowmass (Colorado); Sunday River (Maine) Swiss Valley (Michigan), and Mountain Creek (New York).
Some ski areas have not created a profile, so they have fallen victim to “black” profiles. These putative profiles are meant to disparage the ski area in question. One example is Spring Mountain (Pennsylvania). Its profile reads, in part, “I have no potential. my snow will put black tar on the bottom of your board.”
(Bumped to the top and updated with a new URL.)
The story of snowboarding adults has made its way to Competitor magazine. A story that I wrote about adult snowboarders appears in the November issue (now online).
Competitor bills itself as “the trusted monthly guide for active, affluent sports participants across the country.”
According to the magazine’s media kit (PDF), Competitor has a circulation of 100,000 and a readership of 285,000. Distribution is through Rubios, a chain of upmarket fast-food Mexican restaurants, sporting goods stores, and LA Fitness (with 160 locations, including some far from California), 24 Hour Fitness, Jamba Juice, some sporting goods stores, and other locations.
The average household income of the magazine’s readers is $74,000, and over one-third claim an income of over $100,000.
The mountains, equipment, and gear sellers who want to follow the money would do well to look into this publication–and the market of adults who ride snowboards.
Update: Apparently this publishing company is bigger than I thought. The article has made it over to Florida Sports Magazine. It’s the same magazine, repackaged and with some editorial modifications. Stated circulation is 75,000 with readership of 225,000. According to the media kit (PDF), 14 percent of readers are downhill skiers, but only 7 percent are snowboarders. Still, with an average age of 41, the number of Floridians who are grays on trays could exceed 15,000.
Update: The word is spreading! See Texas City Sports. Circulation: 80,000; Readership, 240,000.
A blog reader and Grays on Trays bulletin board participant sent me a private message. It seems that this little blog has been included on a link of other snowboard blogs, on a list compiled by the snowboarding guide on About.com.
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