The most important ski and snowboarding trip of the season is this weekend, right here in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Ski Snow & Snowboard Expo, better known as Ski Dazzle, hits the Los Angeles Convention Center. The event features “A world of skiing and snowboarding under one roof.”
Winter sports enthusiast can find bargains up to 70 percent off of equipment and apparel. The show offers free entertainment, ski lessons for kids and adults, and rock climbing. There will also be great deals on lift tickets and ski vacations.
Two African American ski and snowboarding clubs are on hand for this event each year. 4 Seasons West and Bad Boardez will be in attendance to promote their organizations, and to mingle with others who have a love for hitting the slopes.
4 Seasons West has been around for 48 years. The club has a heritage and tradition of promoting the sport of skiing and snowboarding within the Black community, and it has become a world-class ski club by hosting numerous events throughout the year.
Jane Gutierrez, the president of 4 Seasons West, sees a number of benefits to joining a ski and snowboarding club. From a social standpoint, it is a great way to enjoy the passion of winter sports with others.
“You meet a lot of different people who you form lifetime friendships with,” Gutierrez said. “The other value is the amount of travel that you are able to do all over the world that you may not have to done alone. You experience a lot of wonderful travel opportunities.”
Gutierrez also points out that joining a club can lead to savings on the slopes. 4 Seasons Wests gets special deals on lift tickets and ski trips buy purchasing as a group. They have four trips planned over the next four months, with trips to Mammoth, Mountain High, Snow Valley, and Big Bear.
Bad Boarderz is a similar organization, but they specialize in various action sports that involves a board to propel people at a fast rate of speed. Whether it is snowboarding, skateboarding, or surfing, they are adrenaline junkies.
Bad Boarderz also takes multiple trips per winter to the various ski resorts in Southern California. They are a group that likes to have fun, and they take their snowboarding and partying seriously.
Members from both organizations will have booths at Ski Dazzle, and they will both be able to give people advice on what deals that they should look for at the expo. While many people rent equipment, there are a number of good reasons to buy your own.
“It’s cost efficient,” said Lemarr Childs, a member of Bad Boardez. “If you go three or four times, and you’re renting, that’s about the cost of owning your equipment. If you go to Ski Dazzle, where they have 50-70 percent off of snowboards and boots and apparel, you’re better off coming out that way because you’ll exceed the price of a snowboard.”
Many people will piece together their equipment. Gutierrez recommends one piece of equipment over everything else.
“We always encourage our new members to purchase boots, because if you do not have proper fitting boots, than you’re going to be miserable the entire time,” Gutierrez said.
Whether a person is going to hang out or take advantage of some great deals, Ski Dazzle is the place to be for the winter enthusiast. For more information, visit http://www.skidazzle.com/losangeles.htm, http://4sw.com/, and http://www.badboarderz.com/.
