Xtreme Winter

Have you ever been flipping through TV channels only to be caught in mid flip by a guy several feet in the air coming off a half-pipe, twisting around, grabbing the heel edge of his snowboard, and writing a small novel before landing? Okay, we were exaggerating about the novel, but anyone who sees the athletic prowess of Xtreme sports athletes can't help but be in awe. It's come to our attention that many folks who ski and snowboard start pretty young. (That way they can go for the gold by their 16th birthday). Some of those kids might be in your class, not paying attention, but dreaming about performing some insane acrobatic feat on the side of Mt. Everest. We feel your pain, but more important, we've got you covered. This is the song for those kids!

Complete with snowy slide-by sound effects and a wall of electric guitars, we present "Xtreme Winter." The bridge pretty much says it all: "...this winter playground is home to those who know how to fly without wings." The vocals on this song are fairly simple, and where there is syncopation, it's consistent with the phrasing. At measure 33 the melody is optional divisi in octaves, which stacks the sound nicely.

The full performance version on the recording features some of our own singers screaming and woohoo-ing in key spots. You can use your own performers to do what we did, and even add more in places we didn't.

In performance, singers can wear snow pants, hoodies, parkas, goggles - anything you might see on the ski slopes. You might even have a snowboard or two and some skis for props. A snowy backdrop would be a nice touch.

Special thanks to 15-year-old Jacob Strom whose enthusiasm for snowboarding was part of John's inspiration for this tune. Jacob has been into Xtreme sports since he was 7 years old.