Winter is defined by its ice, snow, sleet and cold.

If you think everyone hates the four elements of winter, think again. Many love the outdoors in the wintertime and revel in the sport activities designed with winter elements in mind. Nonetheless, businesses that provide the facilities that offer the winter sport-goodies do face high risk exposure – something that the broad insurance industry is prepared for with associated commercial liability coverage.

Below find three of the most general venues of winter fun – and corresponding necessary insurance protection.

1. Skating Center Coverage

Whether it is an ice or roller skating rink, the exposure to risks is quite high. The reason for this, of course, is that the likelihood of injury to sport participants and spectators is on an increased level – and so is the property hazards that come together with large open space and related upkeep of the equipment.

Relevant business insurance coverage can be obtained from many big-name carriers.

2. Ski Business Insurance

From all the colder month sports, it is probably the activity pertaining to skiing that presents the most danger. While every person that skis is predominantly responsible for his or her personal safety, the courts have consistently issued decisions against the commercial establishments that provide the sport opportunity. This is especially pertinent to the incline and trail management – and the slopes’ upward lift safety.

There is also the ski operations’ liability when it comes to the following:

• Premises liability for lodges, retail shops and restaurants owned and managed by the ski business

• Workers compensation liability for ski patrols and trainers

• Property liability for restaurant cooking and ski repair operations within the premises

3. Commercial, Rental Snowmobile Coverage

Those who engage in recreational snowmobile renting have been known to benefit from the financial gains. These include winter resort owner and snowmobile dealers, as well as trail operators located in the colder states of the US. Associated policies cover the correlated liability and physical damage. The majority of insurers require these businesses to subscribe to a hold, harmless agreement that ensures the lessee agrees to liability for any passengers or snowmobile operators.

Today’s popularity in snowmobile races, derbies, safaris and rallies are the reason for snowmobile clubs to sponsor the events. Associated plans cover the club’s liability for the sports observers and participants.

This insurance can also be acquired by:

• Commercial entities using snowmobiles

• Government agents using snowmobiles

• Snowmobile taxiing services

As you skate across town, your board probably touches the pavement. Whenever this happens, pieces of the wood are removed from the board. Bit by bit, your skateboard deck is sanded away thanks to the rough concrete and asphalt that the board rides on.

After a while, the nose and tail of the deck will be ground down to a sharp edge. This edge can be a hazard for your legs. It’s also dangerous for other skateboarders. Since you can’t prevent the ground from touching your board, you’ll have to do something about the ground damaging it.

The easiest thing you can do to keep the ground from wrecking your deck is to buy some urethane tail/nose guards. These guards were quite popular in the late seventies and early eighties, and they’re making a comeback in modern day skating.

The urethane nose and tail guards come at a cost. They add a little bit of weight to the board, and also change the angle of pop. To many people, this isn’t such a big deal. If you’re a professional skater, you may want to think twice before installing these guards, as even the slightest imperfection may inhibit the skills you’ve built up over the years.

Installing the tail and nose guards is as easy as screwing them in to the deck. Sometimes, they need to be cut with a pair of scissors so that they fit properly, but the often fit just fine the first time.

If you want to protect the bottom of your board, you’ll want to buy some urethane rail guards. Just like the tail and nose guards, these rail guards were popular in the late seventies and early eighties. They’re just like the nose and tail guards, but are attached to the rails of the deck instead of the tail or nose.

These guards also help protect the graphic. Since the board never actually touches whatever you’re sliding on, the graphic stays in tact for a longer period of time. The rail protectors do add a tiny amount of weight to the board, but it’s usually insignificant.

One awesome thing about the protectors is that they come in many different colors. You have a choice of some awesome 80s neon colors or some more modern day colors, like black and white.

If you don’t like the thought of adding some protectors to your board, then you’ll need to avoid skating in areas that will hurt your board. If you skate on the hard asphalt for an extended period of time, your board will wear out very quickly.

Try to skate on smooth concrete. Since it’s not as rough as asphalt, your board doesn’t get destroyed as quickly. Smooth concrete also hurts less when you bail! If you can’t find any smooth spots to skate, then your best bet is to not do as many tricks involving ollies.

A lot of boards get destroyed when the run into a wall. If you want to protect your deck, then make sure that it doesn’t get away from you and smash into a curb or fence or other hard object. When your deck hits a wall, the glue that holds the veneer comes undone. After this happens a lot, the board splinters, and eventually falls apart.

If you are sure to follow these steps, your deck should last you for a good amount of time. You will also be a safer skater, because there won’t be sharp edges that could hurt you or another skater. The most important thing though is that your deck won’t be as dangerous to yourself.

Learning how to do a pop shove it on a skateboard can be a very, very difficult task, however if you have learned a few tricks on the board first, then you should have no problem doing different variations including how to 360 shove it skateboard trick. A shove it is when the skater stands on the board, jumps up a little bit and pushes the tail down to its side. The skateboarder may make their board spin 180 degrees or more right underneath their feet. Like I said above, there are many variations, but they all basically cover the same principles.

Now a pop shove skateboard trick it is a bit different than just a shove it. Learning how to do a pop shove it on a skateboard generally comes after learning how to do just a shove it. The pop shove it is the same concept however, the skater will shove the board so it spins clockwise or counter clockwise. It gives you a bit more air therefore is used to jump over objects often.

Learning how to 360 shove it can be done quickly as long as you follow some simple tactics. First off, you will need to start off doing an Ollie. Then shove the board to the back, then back to the front again to allow it to spin fully around. Make sure you bend your knees enough to get higher air therefore you have a better chance of landing the shove it skateboard trick.

Confidence is what your outfit adds to you. Like any other sport, the attire you wear should complement your performance as well as make you comfortable. Ice skating dresses thus play a vital role in the act. While choosing the most unique garment you need to take care about the following points:

• Girls should take care that as the ice skating involves lot of flips, twirls and turns. There fore, you must choose the dress such that the garment permits those movements.

• Never choose dresses with long attachments.

• Do not go for delicate outfits.

• See that the dress matches the color of the event you are going in. If it is a holiday skating event, a festive yellow is a big no-no.

• The temperature of indoor ice skating rinks is around fifty to sixty degrees Fahrenheit, thus choose a dress which keeps you warm.

• Girls with long hair should tie them so that they do not hinder in the vision. Also the dress should be such that it does not obstruct the vision.

• Never include scarves in the ice skating dress. Scarf is much likely to get caught in the ice skate resulting in vision blocking.

• Girls are fond of jewelry but they should not carry it to the ice skating rink. Dresses which come along with some jewelry should never be chosen as the jewelry can cause some mishap in the event.

• For practice, girls must go for wearing beige color tights and skating dresses. Discuss with your coach what kind of clothing will suit you if you are a beginner. Some girls also prefer leggings and leotards for practicing.

Ice skating dresses must be chosen by giving priority to comfort as compared to style. Though the girls would naturally wish to wear something attractive but by considering the above mentioned facts, you will definitely benefit.

Rollerblading and roller skating can be a very leisure and fun activity. It is also a great form of exercising, a mode of transport and a competitive sport as well. Once you are successful in learning an appropriate stance and how to stop and glide, you will be able to spend a lot of time just by roller skating. Some useful steps have been briefly explained below.

1. Learn the basics

In today’s world, almost everything we do requires us to learn the basics of it first. The same goes with roller skating. You need a pair of skates to skate and it is typically the only equipment required. You can also buy a pair from a sporting goods shop or simply rent out a pair from any rink for roller skating. Also get a helmet for the safety of your head because skating can always be prone to accidents.

2. Glide learning

Learning how to glide is the first step that one should take because without gliding you cannot stop. You need to push off with a foot and glide with another until you actually lose your momentum. Then you can easily switch your gliding foot. You need to practice gliding almost daily for at least 2 hours until you master it. It will give you an immense level of satisfaction once you reach there.

3. Learn how to stop or rather practice

Practice makes a man perfect and the same goes with skating. Trying to stop is not an easy task at all. It has a lot of complications. You need to equip your right roller skate with a proper brake that is located on the toe of your skate. In order to do this, you need to glide with all your skates parallel to each other.

4. Enhance your skills

You need to be skillful as far as roller skating is concerned in order to enjoy it more. Practicing at a rink can help you a lot in this regard. The best way to get better at this is to practice a lot and try practicing daily. Practice stopping, gliding and skating backward and also skating as quickly as possible. It is one of the important things to remember.

5. Join a skating team

There are many roller skating teams that one can join to enjoy this activity. Enquire and join a team that you feel is the most suitable to you.

Synchronized Skating Disclaimer:

I in no way bear any malice towards synchronized skating or those who love it. I don’t have any grudges nor was I ever in any way mistreated by any individual or organization affiliated with synchronized skating.

It’s just that you people scare the %$#&!!! out of me!

You are all so close together and you all move in one huge high speed mass. I feel like Captain Picard under attack from the Borg Cube. No one hears you scream in space.

Lone Wolf Me

With the exception of a few skaters, mostly senior national team members, I don’t like it when people get too close to me on the ice; it seldom ends well, more often than not in a tangle of bodies. Many years ago, I ended up underneath a screaming 7-year old whose skate blade made a substantial gash in my right quadriceps when she unexpectedly changed directions and stepped into my path. She got a bad scare and I couldn’t walk for a week. Worse still was the verbal abuse I got from the child’s father when I carried her over to him. If I hadn’t held onto her as we went down, she would have hit her head on the ice and been seriously injured.

Even back in the days when I did only ice dance, I really didn’t mind practicing by myself and besides, with most of the compulsory dances, you are not moving all that quickly, so if something happens you just let go of each other.

But in synchronized skating… if I was in the middle, there would be no escape! From my perspective, it would be like being caught in the Matrix with no telephone in sight! There’s a reason why I do individual sports: too many people confuse me. I also tend to be a non-conformist. Whenever everyone looks to the right, I always seem to be looking to the left… if everybody is wearing the same dress, then that unreasonable small voice in my head cries out in alarm, “Beware the clone troopers”…. I realize I am also wearing the same dress and have become one of them/you/the collective… resistance was futile… I have been assimilated.

My All-too-Brief Career in Synchronized Skating

To be fair, I actually did try it once as part of my Level One coaching course. We all started out by doing the choreography on our own, not holding on to anyone. You could tell who the single skaters, were we were the ones that were out on the periphery, away from the main peloton. We repeated tho whole sequence of steps, this time with speed.

When it finally came time to do the whole thing holding hands and/or shoulders, it was probably the most terrifying thing I have ever done on skates. I managed to position myself on the corner of the trailing edge and for the most part kept up with the group until almost the very end on a high speed series of mohawks.

Somehow, relative to the pack, I zigged when I should have zagged and before I knew it, found myself parallel to the ice and three feet up in the air. I had a bad feeling about this. And it did not end well. Fortunately, I already had an osteopath appointment scheduled for a few days later and François was able to move my coccyx back down to where it was supposed to be.

Riding the wave

But fortunately for the growing numbers of adult synchronized skaters, you have all quite nicely avoided my emotional baggage and adult synchro is growing more popular every year. I love watching you, from a distance. No, not because I am afraid of you, but because the beauty of all the formations and patterns is only ever appreciated when you can see the whole thing created on the canvas of the ice.

I like that, when someone does stumble, there always seems to be a helping hand from somewhere to get them back on their feet as quickly as possible. Plus you get to travel on buses together, your team manager worries about travel plans, you make an awful lot of noise cheering for each other and in general just seem to have tons of fun together… and I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ugly synchronized skating dress.

Have I missed anything? Adult synchronized skating lovers, what is it you love about it? How many references to science fiction movies can I make in one article?

Recently it would appear that Supra had just magically exploded onto the sneaker scene and almost single-handedly taken the shoe industry by storm creating a footwear revolution in the process.

For long time skater, Streetwear manufacturer and sneaker buff Angel Cabada, the founder of Supra, the journey has been a long and eventful one with plenty of twists and turns rather than a quick, direct blast to the top of the sneaker game.

Angel started his first company, known as TSA, with some fellow skaters who were mainly into making clothes that they could wear when skating. That was 1991 and it lasted for around ten years until Angel decided to leave so he could do his own thing. The company he founded in 2002 was KR3W, his current apparel brand that he manages along with Supra under the distribution umbrella for the two projects known quite simply and aptly as One Distribution; initially built to cut out the middleman in the European distribution process.

So what did Angel take with him from his TSA experience, well just that…’Experience’. He has described his first project as his ‘Education’ in the business and I’ve heard other entrepreneurs/founders in street and sneaker culture say similar things; such as the lead designer and co-founder of Creative Recreation, the other hot brand in the up market sneaker niche, who commented in a recent video interview that his training ground in the sneaker industry was as a snowboard boot design technician and later sneaker designer for Vans.

After all of his years of learning on the job at Team Santa Ana (TSA) he openly admits he made a million mistakes as a young, creative businessperson attempting to build his first brand. And in fact one thing he insisted he would do when KR3W opened its doors was take all of that experience and apply it effectively so he wouldn’t make the same mistakes all over again.

Since 2002 Angel has been gradually building KR3W based on a solid formula of making simple, effective clothing for skaters, made by skaters; similar to the Team Santa Ana philosophy yet with a more effective company infrastructure and an efficient, productive team of specialists running their particular areas of expertise. KR3W has gradually built a loyal following within the skate community due in part to its durable, stylish designs while the other part of its recipe for success is the development of a team of respected, charismatic, fashion forward and culture and marketing savvy professional skateboarders who are admired by this generation of young skater consumers. The up and coming crop of new boarders admire the pro riders they look up to and learn their skills from yet they themselves are actually the ones who wear the hoodies, jeans and skate shoes every day to really get a feel for their authenticity and how they stand up to daily wear and tear.

Most of this team of professional riders/endorsers are friends of Angel that he’s grown up with in the Orange County skate scene so the people he’s giving product away to are just friends (from the worlds of music and skating) who represent the brand well and enjoy the gear for its comfort, style and functionality as in look, feel and performance. The young people who buy the clothing recognize when the apparel and sneakers are designed by people who know their way around a skatepark and skateboard and can smell a phoney a mile away and in this sense the genuine skate roots of Angel, his associates and their endorsers ring true with consumers; Cabada claims to have a personal bond with every member of his skater endorsement crew and judges each one on the merits of both their character and personality as well as their ability on the board.

So where did Angel get the inspiration for creating the Supra shoe company? I guess you could say that Cabada wanted to go ‘above and beyond’ (the loose translation of ‘Supra’ from Latin) what already existed in the sneaker marketplace at that time when he came up with both the name and concept behind his new shoe line. His motivation was to create some kicks that would be a nice complement to the KR3W clothing line and he wanted to take the sneaker game up a level since in his words most of shoes were a bit ‘chunky’ for his tastes.

Angel has been in the business for 17 years and riding a board for even longer than that so as the skaters grow up why shouldn’t their brand follow suit. This is the vision behind Supra, a brand grounded in skating that also maintains a higher overall sense of fashion awareness and sophistication. You can skate in the Skytop yet also wear it out on the town without hesitation regardless of the occasion. As for what some might say are radical design concepts for their refreshingly innovative models, especially in high cuts, Cabada credits his inspiration to his continuous daydreaming, “I’m a thinker. I think a lot, I daydream a lot, think of ideas, constantly talking to my designers”; like the old acronym goes… All Day I Dream About Supra.

What was the first reaction to the concept for his new line of kicks that combined skate culture with more refined, up market, stylistic sensibilities? At first upon hearing he had dropped $100,000US into research and development of the shoes even his partners thought he was a little crazy and as for the general public a lot of people thought he was completely insane when they took a look at the Skytop prototypes and some even laughed; now Angel claims he’s the one laughing, all the way to the bank.

As for the more fashion forward designs of the NS (Non Skate) line, the creators of the brand had to think outside of the sneaker box in their marketing approach like they had been innovative in designing the product. It was necessary to branch out to the more fashion driven tradeshows at that time and to veer away from traditional athletic/sports-based promotional events because Skytops hadn’t even been embraced by the skate community yet.

Initially Cabada wanted to ensure that although the designs were fresh and innovative that the color schemes were not too over the top to drive away his loyal, hardcore following from KR3W, so he insisted that the Skytops were introduced in classic, simple white and black colorways. In time, however, Supra got edgier with its initial success ensuring cash flow and confidence, and took some chances on bolder, brighter colorways (although still mostly in one or two uniform simple yet classic combinations). Taking some chances paid off in spades especially with the release of the Gold Chad Muska limited edition signature series which originally scared people with its choice of experimental materials and sneaker color scheme. However when it hit shelves it wasn’t long before the buying public snapped them up along with subsequent releases of the Skytop, Vaider and Suprano Hi; thanks in part to the innovative colors, materials and designs and also due to the respect in street culture community for the renowned skater endorsers who represented the brand.

Supra footwear has come a long way in a short time from the designs that people initially laughed at to the models that everyone is copying (and copping) these days; hoping to cash in on proven success rather than focus on innovation like Angel, his lead designer Josh and their creative design team have chosen to do. On the eve of the release of the Terry Kennedy signature shoe as well as the development of the Skytop II and other exciting new design concepts in the works, Cabada is more flattered than angry that competitors both small and large are choosing to copy Supra’s signature lines. The Supra Footwear Founder expects the consumer to have the Skate and Shoe IQ and good sense to know the difference between the imitator and the innovator.

The backbone of ice hockey – skating, is definitely the most important skill any player can focus on mastering. You’ll watch pros on television and you’ll hear them classified in different ways; power forwards, play makers, natural scorers, defensive-defensemen and more. One thing that all of the most elite players have in common, is that they’re all at the top when it comes to skating ability.

Skating is the fundamental skill of hockey, the base of the pyramid. Without a strong foundation, the rest of the skills can’t be effective. Skating is often the difference maker between a good player and a great player, and there are many players with great shots, perfect passes or crushing hits that will never make it because their skating doesn’t make the grade.

When you practice, it’s important to balance your time and work on all of the skills necessary to be a great hockey player. If there is one area that you should actively put extra focus on though, it is without a doubt skating. You might not be the best shooter, the best passer or the best checker, but if you’re the best skater, you’ll always be a dominant force on the ice. This is something that far too many players ignore right from their youth hockey days. There isn’t enough focus put on pure skating ability, and if more players would dedicate themselves to mastering the fundamental movement that drives their sport, they’d see huge improvements in their overall game.

Remember, you might have a booming shot or a laser accurate pass, but if you can’t skate as well as the competition, you can’t be effective. Dominate at skating and you’ll dominate at hockey.

There is no denying it: Ottawa is known is one of the coldest capitals in the world (only as far as temperatures are concerned though). But does that mean you stay at home during the winter and mope? Absolutely not! Ottawa has turned a potential liability into a key asset and really shows us how to celebrate winter.

First there is Winterlude, Ottawa’s winter festival, which is being held this year from February 3 to 19, 2006. Winterlude is apparently attended by more than 650,000 winter revellers and encompasses a myriad of events: concerts, special events, culinary demonstrations, restaurant festivals and the list goes on. Skating on the Rideau Skateway, at almost 8 km the world’s largest icerink., was our main reason for coming to Ottawa. Indeed we had travelled to Ottawa about 3 years ago and due to warm weather Winterlude was a total washout for us that year (I guess the appropriate term for that event would be “Waterlude”).

But our earlier experience didn’t deter us, so this year Theresa and I decided to come back and pray for better weather so we would indeed be able to check out this phenomenal skating and entertainment venue for ourselves.

Incidentally, the Rideau Canal Skateway has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest naturally frozen ice rink. The skateway is 7.8 kilometers long and takes you from the Rideau Bridge all the way to Dow’s Lake.

We got going early just around 10 am on an absolutely perfect winter day, but even at that time, the skateway was packed, and the walkthrough over the frozen ice from Confederation Park to the skateway entrance on the other side of the river was chock full with people in a long lineup.

We laced up our skates and put our boots in our backbacks which would give us the flexibility to get off the ice at any time and continue our explorations on foot. Or if we got too tired, we could even hop on the “Sno-Bus” which connects Dow’s Lake with Confederation Park during the entire Winterlude Festival for the low fee of $2.50 (more information on the OC Transpo site) .

But, apparently we didn’t need a Sno-Bus, we skated our way down on this wonderful natural ice surface all the way to the lake and didn’t even need to rest. On this gorgeous day with crystal blue skies and perfect winter weather and amazingly no winds, skating on the Rideau was a phenomenal experience. We could indeed not have picked a better day to explore the Rideau Canal on skates.

At different intervals along the way there were a variety of rest areas, food concessions and special entertainment or information areas. Well represented of course is a famous Ottawa trademark: the Beavertails concession booths which sell freshly made warm pastry, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. The perfect snack and energy source on a cold winter’s day.

At the Via Rail Concord Station Rest Area an exhibit shed light on Ottawa’s railroad history. Apparently many years ago, trains would arrive in downtown Ottawa right next to the Rideau Canal. At Fifth Avenue, young sports fans were enjoying the Canadian Tire JUMPStart Activity Centre where they were jumping through the air on a trampoline system and putting their hockey skills to the test.

At Pig Island a special area with teepees was set up to get a taste of Aboriginal traditions, culture and cuisine. In addition the area featured a loggers’ exhibit, a snowshoe-making workshop and aboriginal songs and drumming.

Once arrived at Dow’s Lake I went on to explore the 26th Annual Bed Race, a fundraising event which proved to be an absolutely hilarious experience, for a good cause no less. The Bed Race is organized by the Ottawa Kiwanis Club and the proceeds, close to $50,000 will go towards the Children’s Read-A-Thon.

But I had more to cover, so I started skating back towards the downtown and by this time the skateway had filled up quite a bit. It seemed like young and old, the whole family was out. Parents were pulling their children on little sleds, or even pushing them in all-terrain baby carriages. Everybody was having a ton of fun.

On the way back one person struck my attention: a young lady on red skates with red gloves and a red scarf was skating down the canal, juggling, apparently just having a ball of a time. I approached her to find out a bit about her. She introduced herself as Sylvie, and shared with me that she is part of a juggling family and that juggling is in her blood. She said that juggling is her life, and although she doesn’t drive the fanciest car, she is happy because she gets to do what she loves.

After all this skating I got really hungry, so I took off my skates and simply headed up to the Rideau Centre, one of Ottawa’s biggest shopping centres. It is located right next to the Canal and was positively packed on this day. The Rideau Centre offered a welcome opportunity to warm up and catch a nice lunch in its food court.

Obviously I love outdoor activities as well as urban exploring, and skating on the Rideau Canal through downtown Ottawa combines both activities perfectly. I got a brief taste of this special winter activity, and one thing is for sure: I’ll be back!!!

Ice skating is definitely an amazing sport. It can be taken by anyone from the toddlers to retirees and the housewives. Irrespective of the age and the sex there are many health benefits to the person that has gone skating. Lets us know the benefits one by one.

Cardiovascular Benefit

Just like other forms of exercise like running, swimming and walking it has positive health effects. The most important fact is that as it is a low impact exercise, skating does not have a harsh impact on the joints. Unless you are jumping the pressure on the joints are quite low. Another good factor is that it helps in strengthening the heart muscles. This gives protection from the coronary artery diseases and also heart attacks.

Weight Loss

Skating helps one to lose weight. There have been reports several times that the ones who had been suffering from increasing weight issues have been able to manage their weight after joining skating sessions. The major cause of weight loss is the burn of high amounts of calories. In one hour of skating a person is equal to running five miles in an hour.

Improves One’s Endurance

The endurance of one is said to increase with skating. This helps one to maintain the same pace over a longer period of time. In the initial stages, it will be better to start off with smaller distances. Gradually, the endurance power increases with time.

Building Muscle Tone

The muscle tone generally increases with skating as the hamstrings and quadriceps do most of the work. Other body muscles such as the abdominal and back muscles also contract and relax in order to maintain the balance and upright posture.

Mental Fitness

With skating the mind of a person gets healthier. During skating one needs to be alert and aware and stay distressed. This sport is a kind of relaxation for many people and helps them to stay off their stress factors. Moreover, the intake of the fresh air helps in refreshing the mind. This can also increase the level of confidence in the person.

Facing challenges at every moment to maintain the right balance teaches one the ability to face challenging situations. Nowadays, it is good to find that more and more people are becoming aware of the increasing number of healthy benefits with skating. So, if you are still not engaged with the sport you can choose it to gain a better health for yourself and your family.