Today's selections are a mixture of fun and instruction. Two are chock-full of snow games to be played on your computer screen, and the remaining three will help you prepare for actually hitting the slopes with advice on improving your skills on the hill.
For snow bunnies surfing the Internet, Bonus.com offers twenty-three games and assorted snow links rated by visitors on a scale from one to five. Five stars is "can't stop playing" and a single star signals "a dud." Click the star rating to cast your own vote. My three favorite game clicks are the Alpine Ski Classic (choose your course, then maneuver down the hill), Break the Ice (point and shoot to break the ice flakes) and Ski Slalom (use your arrow keys to steer through the trees.)
This excellent introduction to snowboarding explains concepts such as fall line and linked turns with illustrations and a few audio interviews. Click on Show Me for a nine-step tutorial on getting down the hill for the first time. The snowboarding feature is just one of seventeen sports covered by this Canadian Broadcasting Company site. Follow the link near the very bottom of the page for articles on getting started with gymnastics, table tennis, a yo-yo, figure skating or ice hockey.
The very first snowboard was made in 1965 by an eighth grader in shop class. This doesn't surprise me at all. What does amaze me is that this great Web site was created by fourth graders. It is my pick of the day and it was a second place winner in the 1998 ThinkQuest Jr. competition. Visit for the History of Snowboarding, Snowboarding Dictionary, Geometry of Snowboarding and a simple way to figure out if you are regular or goofy footed.
Kids Domain is a just-for-the-fun-of-it site for snow games, coloring, puzzles and downloadable games to be played off line. There are so many amusements here, it's hard to choose favorites. I like the online games because they are so easy to access and play; and I like the free downloadable games because you can play them when you're not on the Internet. Also noteworthy are the snow sport software and video game reviews.
Now back to the serious business of improving your skiing and snowboarding skills. Snowlink has dozens of articles on choosing equipment, dressing for the winter sport of your choice, rules of safety and responsibility, and a beginner's Frequently Asked Questions. The quality of the information makes Snowlink.com a must-visit site for anyone bringing beginners (of any age) to the snow. This season I want to try cross country skiing and snow-shoeing, and I learned a lot from these informative pages.
The following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!
GORP Family Snow SportsHow to Buy a Snowboard | Ski Resort Guide |
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