"After 30 hours in the air and four connections, I found myself on a wild cab ride through the city of Santiago, Chile...."

I'd heard the US Alpine Snowboard Team was gathering in Government Camp, Oregon, for on-snow training, so I invited myself along.

As the old saying goes, "When God gives you lemons, make lemonade." This certainly was the motto for the Red Bull Rock-N-Air contest held this Saturday at Colorado's Red Rocks amphitheater outside of Denver.

British Columbia's Mike Michalchuk overcame unseasonable blizzard conditions and an all out assault from Terje Haakonsen (Norway) and Canadian Trevor Andrew to capture the first-ever Nike All Conditions Gear (ACG) Indoor.

"I'd spent a portion of the morning taking cruiser runs on the salted glacier of Mt. Hood, attempting to find the only amputee snowboard camp on the slopes. I figured they'd be easy to spot, but I was rubbing elbows with the camp coach, who is a below the knee amputee himself, and had no idea."

"The last time I checked, my piggy bank didn't contain the coin to purchase a plane ticket to the Southern Hemisphere, but I am in search of snow. While bikinis swarm the beaches and everyone in the Northern Hemisphere strives for that sexy tan, I'm strapping in. If you're stuck in summer but looking for that snowboarding fix, then head to Mt. Hood."

"I've always been a fair hand at aquatic pursuits, but this is no ordinary dip; I'm up to my eyes in a bubbling hot spring with a snowboard clamped to my ankles. It's all my own fault, but I'd like to survive to explain my shortcomings, if one of my prostrate buddies would just rescue me."

After Washington DC received a huge dump, one snow-starved citizen realized his snowboarding fantasy. "...I would wander past our nation's Capitol Building. My body may have been drenched with the warm sweat of summer, but my brain operated in a cooler climate — nearly always fixating on snowboarding."

Craig Kelly doesn't do much freestyle riding anymore, but he strapped on a short board recently to ride with some kids from Seattle, WA, who are learning to ride this season thanks to Chill. This non-profit program, sponsored by Burton, gives underprivileged youth a stab at snowboarding.