Around the turn of the century a young Salt Lake City snowboarder made an explosive impression on the world snowboarding scene. Nate Bozung was this freakish kid who was slammin Salt Lake City rails with his friends Mikey LeBlanc, Jorden Mendenhall, J2, and Matty Ryan. He blew up and his riding become documented in awesome video parts of films such as The Revival, Little Bastards, Resistance, True Life, Pulse, Video Gangs and Love Hate. The snowboarding career of Nate Boznuts was marching full steam ahead but then something happened - he kinda disappeared. Or did he?
Dingo caught up with Nate Bozung recently and here's what was said…..
Since the first US Open Snowboarding Championships
took place 22 years ago, the Open has evolved from a homegrown Vermont event
featuring Snurfers and the first Burton boards to a world-class competition,
spanning three continents and drawing top riders from around the globe.
With the snowboarding season about to begin around the world, the dates for
the 2004 Open Snowboarding Championships events are now final.
Burton European Open at Livigno, Italy January 10-17, 2004
Nissan X-Trail Nippon Open at Ishiuchi, Japan February 25-29, 2004
US Open Snowboarding Championships at Stratton, VT, USA March 16-21, 2004
Because the events are created and driven by and for snowboarders, top
riders like Romain De Marchi, Danny Kass, JJ Thomas and Hannah Teter flock
to the Opens year after year. Each of the Opens has its own unique flavor,
formats and special events, drawing huge crowds and a large field of riders
vying for coveted Open titles.
There are hundreds of snowboarding events around the world. Only the Opens
have 36 years of combined history on three continents and attract the
largest number of the world's best riders.
Look for more information on the Open events at www.opensnowboarding.com New
information will be provided on the site as the dates draw nearer.
The Open Snowboarding Championships are the pinnacle snowboarding events of
the season. Founded by Jake Burton, the Opens have grown from grassroots
events to global spectacles attracting tens of thousands of spectators and
riders from around the world. Since the beginning, the Opens have been
driven by riders, for riders evolving with snowboarding and riders' needs
over the years. The Opens welcome all riders to compete, giving locals,
amateurs and pros an equal shot at a world-class title. With events held in
Europe, Japan and the United States, the Opens set the standard for
snowboarding events around the globe.
These snowboard events schedules will keep you up to the minute on Snowboard Events like: races, rail jams, half-pipe competitions, snowboard camps and clinics, snowboard parties, snowboard expos and demo days, tv coverage of snowboarding events, and more.
In a time when the number of skiers has declined 25%, the number of snowboarders has increased 77%, making snowboarding the fastest growing winter sport in the US. Today, more than 3.4 million people snowboard. They now comprise about 20% of the visitors to US ski resorts.
Snowboarding typically involves riding an epoxy-fiberglass board (resembling a large skateboard) down a ski slope or specially constructed pipe. The standard snowboarding stance is much like that of a surfer with toes pointed to the side of the board. Snowboarders ride with both feet affixed to the board by non-releasable bindings. They do not typically use ski poles. Safety equipment, which is usually used by racers but only sometimes by recreational snowboarders, includes helmets, goggles, face guards, wrist guards and forearm guards.
There are three styles of boots worn by snowboarders: soft, hard and hybrid. Most recreational snowboarders use soft boots, which allow moderate stability and moderate flexibility. Hard boots, primarily worn by racers, provide greater ankle support and increased control. Hybrid boots balance the increased stability of hard boots with the increased comfort and maneuvering ability of soft boots. Each type of boot places the body under different stresses. Hard boots, for example, place the snowboarder at approximately twice the risk of a knee injury compared with soft boots, while soft boots give the snowboarder about twice the risk of ankle injury compared to hard boots. Hiking boots or "moon boots" should never be worn for snowboarding as they significantly increase the risk for serious injury.
Compared to skiing, snowboarding injuries are more likely to involve the upper extremities and the ankle. From 4% to 8% of snowboarding injuries occur while the individual is waiting in a ski-lift line or entering or existing ski lifts. These are often knee injuries. Serious, potentially life-threatening injuries are rare; these most often occur from collision with trees. Equipment failure rarely causes injury.
Today, fewer than one-third of snowboarding injuries are to the lower extremities; the lead leg accounts for almost 75% of such injuries. On average, wrist injuries account for 23% of snowboarding injuries while ankle injuries account for 16.7% and knee injuries account for 16.3%. Head injuries comprise 9.2% of injuries, while shoulder injuries represent 8.3%, trunk injuries account for 7.8% and elbow injuries account for 4.4%. Wrist fractures account for half of all fractures resulting from snowboarding. About 50% of ankle injuries are fractures, and some, known as "snowboarder's ankle," are difficult to diagnose as they appear to be severe ankle sprains that don't respond to treatment.
