Men's Journal

Kayak surfers take on 15-foot waves in Santa Cruz this weekend. Photo credit: Courtesy Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Festival

Ring in the spring with kayak surfing in Santa Cruz; Rock Climbing in Nevada; and art, music and pre-season baseball in Scottsdale. If you still can’t quite say your goodbyes to winter, head to Vermont for one of the last snowboarding competitions of the season.

By Nate Storey

Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Festival, March 19-22
Santa Cruz, California

The globe’s best kayak surfers will challenge the Steamer Lane point break this weekend at the 23rd Annual Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Festival. The waves at Steamer Lane are massive, reaching 10 to 15 feet at last year’s competition, and the stakes are huge: The SCKSF determines the next US West Team to compete in the 2010 World Championships in Peniche, Portugal. The fest’s Opening Celebrations at Adventures Sports kicks off Thursday evening with live music and barbecue. Spectators, photographers, and judges will rise early Friday morning to take their spots at the cliff top park on West Cliff Drive for the 7 am start. During downtime, peruse the the SCKSF’s booths for the newest kayaks and gear technology. As the sun sets, make your way to Olitas on the Warf to grub on some fish tacos and watch highlight footage from the day. Saturday begins at dawn with the second-day heats. Extreme Stand-up paddlers (surfers on longboards paddling with oars) will show off their prowess as part of the day’s festivities, and spectators who want in on the action should visit nearby Cowell’s Beach for clinics and demos on calmer 3-to 5-foot waves. The Sunday’s final heat starts at 8 am and a champion will be crowned at the 4 pm Awards Ceremony (asudoit.com/kayak_fest).

Travel and Accommodations: Fly into the Mineta San Jose Airport and take the Super Express Shuttle to the event ($65; supershuttle.com). The Dream Inn is located right on Cowell Beach and has a winter promotional rate for $192 a night (dreaminnsantacruz.com).

Red Rock Rendezvous, March 19-22
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada

Novices and experts alike will take to the ridged, magenta-hued rocks of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in Nevada for the Sixth Annual Red Rock Rendezvous, the biggest climbing festival in the country. Internationally-renowned climbers such as Tommy Caldwell, Sean Isaac, and Margo Talbot will lead clinics for advanced, intermediate and beginning climbers on Saturday and Sunday (from $89). Clinics and expeditions will cover special topics such as avalanche awareness, gear cleaning, footwork, easy trad, big wall climbing, and redpointing. Register for the festival and set up camp at Bonnie Springs by Thursday to be ready for the UClimb on Friday. The shuttle bus will leave for Spring Mountain Ranch State Park at 7:30 am the following morning and UClimb will begin at Red Rock Canyon at 8 am. Be sure to hit the the Festival Kick-Off party on Friday night. On Saturday, after a breakfast at Spring Mountain Ranch, enjoy a full day of clinics and test your knot-tying skills at the Alpine Contest before falling into a Massage Chair at the prAna booth at 4:30. Sunday begins bright and early with the Road Bike Ride at 6 am, followed by a pancake eating contest. Final-day events include service projects to assist in the environmental conservation of Red Rock Canyon and Spring Mountain at 10 am and crash-pad sumo wrestling at 2:30 pm.

Travel and Accommodations: Fly into Las Vegas and make the 15 mile trip west to Spring Mountain Ranch State Park. Shuttles can be arranged through the Bonnie Springs office for groups of six or more ($90 roundtrip; Bonnie Springs). If you’re not up for camping at Bonnie Springs, stay minutes away at the Bonnie Springs Motel ($63 a night) or the Holiday Inn Express ($129) 14 miles away. In either case, mention you’re there for the festival for a discount.

Burton US Open 2009 Snowboarding Championships, March 20-22
Stratton Mountain, Vermont

Those in denial about winter’s imminent demise should spend the weekend at snowboarding Mecca Stratton Mountain, for the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships. Snowboarding royalty such as Shaun White, Kelly Clark and Hannah Teter (all Olympic gold medal winners) will be facing-off against Olympic hopefuls Kevin Pearce, Ellery Hollingsworth, Charles Reid and a slew of other top riders in front of a 40,000-person crowd. Competitions slated for the event are the quarterpipe, halfpipe, slopestyle, and junior jam. The action begins Friday night at 6:15 pm with the invitational quarterpipe. At 8 pm, RJD2 will bring the funk to the USO Sponsor Village.

The finals of the Men’s and Women’s halfpipe starts at 2 pm on Saturday and the party continues into the evening with an autograph session and live performance from breakout-star Santigold at 4:30 pm. Sunday begins with the junior jam halfpipe competition followed by the men’s and women’s slopestyle finals. The day will finish with a trio of major titles: the $100,000 Burton Global Open Series men’s and women’s title, the Volvo Most Valuable Rider Award (the men’s and women’s winners will takes home a brand new Volvo XC-60s) and the Men’s Swatch TTR World Tour Champion award ($50,000 to the winner). The best part about the world’s longest running snowboard competition? It’s free.

Travel and Accommodation: Fly into the Albany International Airport, rent a car and make the 90-mile-drive to Stratton Mountain. The Inn-Clusive package (starting at $99 per night) includes lodging, lift ticket, continental breakfast, lunch and rentals.

Scottsdale Arts Festival, March 20-22
Scottsdale, Arizona

Eighty-five-degree weather, an award-winning arts festival, and spring-training baseball are all reasons to head southwest to the desert this weekend. The 39th Annual Scottsdale Art Festival in Arizona has an expansive repertoire of events, featuring the works of 200 jury-selected artists, live bands, and a massive wine and beer tasting garden. On Saturday, divert from the festival to Scottsdale Stadium and watch the Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants prepare for the regular season in the Cactus League at 1 pm. If you’re wanting to play two, stay and watch the Giants split squad take on the San Diego Padres at 3 pm. Commence Sunday’s activities with a visit to the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, where all arts festival attendees get free admission.

Travel and Accommodations: Fly into Phoenix and drive or take a taxi 20 miles northeast to Scottsdale. There are many hotels in Scottsdale to choose from, but the Hyatt Summerfield Suites is showing the least expensive rate ($150 per night).

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