Summer was very welcome after sophomore year. Usually i dread the heat and humidity of Pittsburgh, PA, and with no vacation planned as of june, I didn't know if i would have an escape.

But things quickly picked up. The daily routine of tennis or golf and plenty of evening hanging out were perfect to subdue the winter blues. Aces and birdies melted into pool basketball and hot-tub lovin'.

Playing Amped and watching old shred-vids kept me sane, while I was still wishing for snow.

I got a job at the local shop. I'm excited to interact with snowboarding in a different way, helping to inform consumers and sell them a good product.

do you like wax? do you like free wax?

Whacks Wax is having a summer blowout, to start of it's first consumer season the right way. For every item in the store, if you buy one, you'll get one free. Hell, if you buy two, you get two free. Wax, shirts, anything goes. Stock up now (example deal: 400g for $10) and you'll be set for the season!

Check out the store at www.whackswax.com . and if you don't have paypal, just send an email to any address and things will get worked out.

Only a few months before the flakes fall...

everyone,

pinewski, a shop in minnesota, is holding their annual rail jam this saturday, july 16. check their site, www.pinewski.com, for details.

show up. last year, there was a ton of sponsors. there's big cash prizes, next year's proddy, and lots of samples given away.

so... what's better than snowboarding in the summer? if you live in the midwest... get yourself to minnesota this saturday.

Many people think summer starts on June 21, or the beginning of June or May, whenever they have to hang up the board and change their lives from snow-oriented to... real-life. Lucky people living in colorado, cali, or the NW might not realize this until July, or maybe never, if the snow sticks around long enough.

But when you live in southwest pennsylvania, summer is 9, sometimes even 10 months of the year. This year, resorts opened late, in mid december, and then re-closed because of 60 and 70 degree weather. Luckily, I took a trip to tahoe with my family, so I got in 4 straight days of riding (though i missed both big dumps, so i was riding slush in a t-shirt). After that, resorts finally opened in the first week or two of january, leaving a solid 2 months of operation time left. I got to ride about once a week, which was pretty sweet, but big dumps stayed away from PA this winter, or came as rain. Resorts closed down once again in mid-late march, leaving another 9 months until winter.