Keeping the SOL family informed for awhile now

3 DAYS LATE AND A FEW BRICKS SHY
(if the above lines aren't centered between the lines it's because we can't figure out how to do it on all browsers. Aren't you proud of us!)

No, we didn't entirely forget about the SOL | Groove. We've just been on the road to and from Tahoe and back again. We're jet-setters of the frosty age, flowing the pow, and freezing the soul.

Speaking of freezing: we kept thinking it would snow here at the SOL | Shack located on the shores of lovely Lake Tahoe, California, and last night it started coming down. Just as it started piling up a wonderful guy with alcohol on his breath decided tonight would be a great night to drive really fast on snowy roads with his butt rock blasting. 11:00 PM to be exact.

To bad for us, because Ice Racer Andretti slid right off the road and slammed into the back of Tex Davenport's new Toyota 4x4, almost knocking it through the north wall of the Shack. We'll have more on this and other adventures in Tahoe once we get the SOL | Shack up and running (it should be soon). Life just keeps getting better here.

The resorts of the world have been going off. Utah saw three feet in a day, Washington State saw three in two days and it's still going. If you haven't already gotten out to the mountains, now's the time. The snow is good, the resorts are in good spirits, and snowsliders everywhere are stoked to be alive this month. Enough feel good banter. Here's the news:

NEWS

SOL WEATHER REPORTS
If you haven't checked out our all-new weather site you really should. We won't keep bugging you, but it really is a pretty slick interface that our programmers have put together. Check it out!

SOL OFFICIAL SITE OF THE AMERICAN SNOWBOARD TOUR 1997
This week SOL editor Lee Crane will begin his series of "as-live-as-we-can-be" reports from the American Snowboard Tour (formerly known as the American Pro Snowboard Tour). We're the Official Site of the AST, so we're going to be putting up all the info you can handle including profiles, results, party photos, inside competition logic, and Real Audio interviews with the winners. Lee will be at Hunter Mountain, New York for the AST Series kick off doing his TV gig for ESPN. Watch for the shows to begin airing sometime in January.

2ND ANNUAL MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN MOTO/BOARDER CROSS
Associate Editor Shanti Sosienski will be kicking it in Mammoth Mountain, CA for the second annual moto/boarder cross event; that is if Tex can get his smashed truck running in time. Boy, he's going to be bummed when he sees it. The event pits motocrossers and snowboarders in the dirt and on the snow for a combined competition. It should be fun. Check Live Remote for the goods.

FIS WORLD CUP RESULTS
We continue our coverage of world snowboard competition results with the Slalom and Giant Slalom from

DROPPING IN WITH SUSANNA HOWE
Take a New York night life writer put her in a truck for the winter and tell her to write a book about snowboarding and you've got "Dropping In" by Susanna Howe. Our newest columnist (a.k.a Alice in Shredder Land) delves into the heart of snowboarding and brings back the bloody blob still beating. Check for her new column on her visit Southern California's snowboard media outlets on Sunday December 15.

ONE NIGHT STAND WITH MIKE RANQUET
Snowboarding's punk of all punks hung out with Shanti Sos and this is what we got out of it: an inside look at a Northwest Style Ruler.

CARVING WITH YOUR KNEES APART
The days of riding with your knees together are over, espeically on hardboots and carving boards. SOL's Carving writer Jack Michaud spells it all out.

TV SUCKS
Shanti Sosienski wanted to be a TV host. Instead, she got a free trip to Mt. Norquay. Read all about it in "Mt. Norquay Rules, TV Sucks."

BRUSHIE LEAVES BURTON FOR RIDE
It's official, Brushie has left Burton and signed with Ride. Check out the PR from Ride on that under SCOOP.

CHATTING THE NIGHT AWAY
The chat guest request are beginning to roll in and we greatly appreciate that, but enough on the Terje thing already. Also, we're looking for IRC Internet chat hosts to get the SOL | Web Chat room going. If you're into it, send mail to [email protected].

THAT'S ALL BRO-BRAHS & BETTYS
Stay tuned for more wacky adventures for the SOL | Crew. If, in some bout of insanity, you decide you don't want the SOL | Groove anymore please point your browser to this URL: http://www.solsnowboarding.com/register/unsub.cfm