Only three months to go before the snow starts… somewhere.

People think I’m nuts for already looking forward to the winter season, but I am.

According to the New York Times, domestic airline capacity in the United States will shrink by 10 percent by the end of the year. The net result? If you don’t book your ski vacation soon (the article specifically references a ski vacation as a good example), you just might not be able to get a flight by the time you’re ready. The article also includes sound advice for anyone planning a trip.

Here in Canada, we have two major national carriers, so our options sucked in the first place. I don’t think they’re going to get any better by the end of the year.

On the planning front, I usually get the ball rolling in August or September for our January trip; waiting much longer results in less availability both on a flight and lodging level. Maybe I’ll start a wee bit earlier this year.

“Alberta is a big province, so whereas there is hardly any snow in the south in the winter, there is plenty of opportunity in the north for skiing, snowboarding and skating,” said Hector Goudrea, Alberta’s employment minister.

Alberta is of course home to some of our more famous ski resorts, including Sunshine Village, which is not too far from Calgary at all.

The downside to living in Alberta if you’re from, say, London? Well, the population of the entire province is much smaller than all of London. But the bars stay open longer and the scenery is to die for.

I myself will continue to swelter in the Toronto heat.

The Canyons’ YouTube Channel

Utah’s largest ski and snowboard resort harnesses the power of YouTube quite well with this in-depth channel, which is created and maintained by the resort.

Highly Obsessed says: Big ups to a big resort who ‘gets it’.

Whistler Blackcomb Snowcast

Oh, Whistler. We had such high hopes for you, being one of North America’s largest ski resorts and all. Instead you give us highly monotonous, scripted episodes that view like a promotional video. Boo-urns. P.S. Hire a social media/web expert.

Highly Obsessed says: Just watch the Resort TV channel when you get there. It’s basically the same thing.

Mont Tremblant’s Resort TV

Despite both being Intrawest properties, Tremblant’s marketing team clearly has a leg up on Whistler’s. Tremblant’s Resort TV covers resort happenings in a straight-up, off-the-cuff fashion. Come on, Whistler. Get with it.

Highly Obsessed says: C’est bon!

Killington’s Kcast

This popular Vermont resort allows visitors to watch and upload their own videos.

Highly Obsessed says: Professional and user-submitted content makes for a compelling content mix. Also, Whistler Blackcomb should poach their director of marketing.

Got any you watch on a regular basis? We’d love to hear from you.

I tried golfing three weeks after having my ACL reconstructed, with painful results. But 10 weeks after the surgery, it was all good.

On his site, Woods said “it is clear the right thing to do is listen to my doctors, follow through with this surgery, and focus my attention on rehabilitating my knee.”

According to the study, detailed here, almost 26 percent of the nearly 213,000 people that visited emergency rooms due to outdoor recreational injuries between 2004 and 2005 were snowboarders. That’s about 54,000 visits by shredders alone.

The second and third-most dangerous activities? Sledding (10.8 percent) and hiking (6.3 percent).

Hiking?

Among the other statistics highlighted:

• Half the visits were by kids and young adults aged 10-24.
• Common injuries were fractures (27.4 percent) and sprains (23.9 percent).
• Of these, most injuries were to the arms or legs (52 percent) or to the head or neck (23.3 percent).
• 6.5 percent of  injuries treated were diagnosed as “traumatic brain injury”. Geeez.

Anyway, it’s no surprise the CDC recommends helmets. “By wearing the appropriate helmet for snowboarding, snowmobiling, sledding and rock climbing, you can reduce your risk of having a head injury, which could become a traumatic brain injury,” said Arlene Greenspan, Dr. PH and co-author of the study, in a press release. “Helmets are one piece of equipment that can have a critical, positive impact.”

Wise words indeed.

In situations like these, I like to shop. And because today’s gear companies can’t take a profitability break during the summer, there’s always something new and summer-y to buy from the major brands. But is what they’re hawking cool? Let’s take a trip around the ‘net to find out.

The Burton Sleeper Hoodie

I gotta hand it to Emily at Pitch Control PR, which I can only assume is Burton’s PR agency. Although she never sends us any free sweet gear to review, she does send press releases to us that are relatively entertaining. Case in point: the Burton Sleeper Hoodie, which we learned about courtesy of a pretty amusing email from Emily:

“This hoodie’s got a removable inflatable neck pillow, eye mask, snap-out light shield, interior pockets for that passport and even a toothbrush! This is a dream hoodie for the regular traveler. Especially when the AC is cranked up and you don’t want to go anywhere near that gnarly complementary blanket. Grossssss.”

Probably a little warm for the summer, but what the hell. I can’t sleep on airplanes for the life of me, and this would probably help.

DC Badge New Era Cap

When I was a kid, the DUMBEST POSSIBLE THING YOU COULD DO and the EASIEST WAY TO LOOK STUPID was to leave the brim of your new hat flat. Instead, what you really wanted to do was bend it until it curved upward slightly.

Today, the DUMBEST POSSIBLE THING YOU CAN DO and the EASIEST WAY TO LOOK STUPID is to BEND THE BRIM OF YOUR NEW HAT. Kids today!

Anyway, if you want to look cool and feel summery, a DC Hat should do the trick.

And if you don’t believe my fashion observation, just ask Jesse Litch, pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. He knows what’s up.

Anything From Dogfunk.com

An unabashed promotion, I know. But when I Googled “skater shorts” an AdWords Ad for Dogfunk.com came up. When I clicked on the ad, a big picture encouraging visitors to “smoke their diploma” and “save for unemployment” came up. Coooool. Site of the day.

The “Aint ‘Fraid” Snowboarder T-Shirt

I have no idea what this is about.

I think it’s time I got out of the sun!

Once temperatures reach this area I start to to realize just how far away I am from snowboarding again; five months or so, really. And that sucks.

So, what to do in the meantime?

If you’re me, your summer will look like this:

• Running: After my ACL surgery I packed on a good 10 pounds I never lost. I hit 170 pounds and I’m only 5″8; not ideal.This summer, I vowed to lose this weight. Because I didn’t want to compromise my regular regiment of weekend beer drinking and eating food not cooked at home, though, I had to finally admit I needed to exercise like hell if I was to lose any weight. Net result: getting up at 5:45 every morning to run 6k. But it’s working: I’m down five pounds the past couple of weeks.
• Roller hockey and ultimate frisbee: Mondays and Sundays, respectively. Hockey is surprisingly easy on the knee; ultimate is a little harder.
• Softball: The least competitive kind, though, so it’s not much of a workout. But it helps pass the summer.
• Golf: Did you know Toronto has more golf courses per capita than any other city in North America? I didn’t, but it makes getting a tee time somewhere easy.

If you’re not me, I’d highly recommend doing a few of these things to pass the time:

• Snowboarding: That’s right. Keep riding! Hit the Blackcomb Glacier, which opens this month, or visit South America.
• Wakeboarding: What all the cool rich kids do all summer.
• Windsurfing: I actually wouldn’t mind trying this, but it seems like getting up for the first time is a royal pain in the ass.
• Yearn for winter: I’m sure we’ll all be doing this sooner than later. In the meantime, enjoy the sun.