The blue-wheeled Complex is a lengthy board meant to replicate the feel of snowboarding, while the yellow-wheeled Spliff is more practical and compact--ideal for someone like Depp.

FORBES

And stars in under-the-radar sports like speed skating and snowboarding need the Olympic platform for national exposure.

FORBES: For Powers, Gold Won't Beget Gold

That 2008 survey showed the nation's most popular snowboarding region is the Pacific Northwest -- including Washington and Oregon -- where the proportion is 48.5 percent snowboarders, said spokesman Troy Hawks.

CNN: Gold-medal winners reveal snowboard faves

Especially when the upstart is someone like Kazuyoshi Nagashima, a windsurfing, snowboarding 32-year-old former TV reporter who campaigned for mayor of the Kanagawa prefecture city of Zushi on a populist platform to, among other things, cut the entertainment budget for the mayor's office to zero.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia

Whistler-Blackcomb is a snow enthusiast's dream, with some of the most sought-after powder in skiing and snowboarding, plus the highest vertical drop of any resort on the continent.

BBC: Daily deal: Two nights in Whistler��s mountains

There is also plenty of skiing, snowboarding and cross-country skiing to be done elsewhere in the country, where the mountains may not soar as high as the Alps, but assets include cheaper prices, smaller crowds and a less frenetic atmosphere.

BBC: Getting fresh in Germany: Cycling, hiking and skiing

The skiing and snowboarding season is well and truly under way in Europe - in fact if you do not get your skates on, you are going to miss it.

BBC: Powderroom.net website

He sat out the ESPN X-Games in Los Angeles in June, having won 24 medals in snowboarding and skateboarding, including 16 gold.

FORBES: Connect

With practice areas for figure skating, ice hockey, skiing, snowboarding and speed skating, among others, this network serves as the main East Coast training center for winter-sports Olympians.

WSJ: Defrost Your Inner Olympian