The publisher of GraysOnTrays, on a fine day in Colorado. About this site and its publisher Who started this site and what's its history? PROFESSIONAL AND SNOWBOARDING LIFE Grays on Trays.com is published by a team lead by John LaPlante, a freelance writer. He is a member of the National American Snowsports Journalists Association (NASJA), and a snowboard instructor. EVERYBODY'S GOING SNURFING, SNURFING U.S.A. John grew up in western Michigan, one of the homes of snowboarding. He even had a third-generation Snurfer, the primitive version of the snowboard. (Click to enlarge photo) But he never spent much time on the snurfer. It was too hard to control. Try taking a ride on this, he says: (The white dots you see were raised bumps that served as the "bindings" of the day.) FAST FORWARD TO ADULTHOOD In 1993, his father-in-law invited him to a ski trip to Colorado. Rather than accept this generous offer, John decided to stay home and attend the new term in graduate school. Looking back, he asks, "Misplaced priorities, what can I say?" When another invitation came up a few years later, he grabbed it. After taking some ski lessons, he was skiing a green run from mountain top to base at the end of the third day. Snowboarding was so foreign to the family that he did not even think about trying it. On return trips to Colorado, John progressed to taking on some black diamond runs. WINTER HAPPENS. WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT? A job change and a move later, took him to Minnesota, a land of much cold and long winters. Fortunately, his new house was close to a popular, but tiny day area, which made snow sports a natural. But as you can imagine, skiing in a small space quickly lost its excitement. Snowboarding then came to the rescue, spicing up the winter scene. THE GRAYS ON TRAYS WEBSITE John started looking, in libraries and on the web, for information that would help him understand the equipment, biomechanics, and other key features of snowboarding: How does it work? What are the basic concepts? What kind of equipment is out there? Is there more than one way to ride a snowboard? Most of what he found, however, was either juvenile, written for 8 year olds, or adolescent, appealing to 17-year olds, whose interests, language, and approach to life is in most cases quite different from those of adults. If you have teenagers, or have been one, you'll understand. Figuring that he was not the only person in this situation, John decided that it was time to create a site geared for grown-ups. To serve the needs of the Grays on Trays population, he created the Grays on Trays web site in 2003. He added the Grays on Trays blog in October 2004, and the Grays on Trays discussion board in November 2004. The response to www.graysontrays.com since then has demonstrated that there is a role for web sites dedicated to introducing adults to snowboarding and bringing grown-up snowboarders together in this exhilarating sport. FROM STUDENT TO TEACHER You can read about John's early experiences in snowboarding here. In time he became a snowboard instructor and a member of the American Association of Snowboard Instructors. DISCUSSION Share your own snowboarding history with us on our discussion board, where adult snowboarders exchange ideas about what it's like to be a member of Grays on Trays. To send a private e-mail to the host, please use this form. Return to the home page.