Clif Bar - Snowboard UK review JAN 2008

Now I know how all you keenies like to leap out of bed at first light to ensure a full day’s riding ahead of you, whether it be hiking the pipe or riding powder laps, only stopping when the tab-smoking liftie throws you off his mountain. But what keeps you going when it’s too good to stop?

We’ve all been there: cramping in hunger, needing a bite to eat but knowing that you’re going to miss out a whole heap of fun if you slip from the mountain for just a few minutes. Some people (the uneducated amongst you) go and fill up on cheap sugary cereal bars from the local Crap-Choix supermarket in a vain, but valiant, attempt to stave off hunger, while others take the restaurant-express to spend quality riding time queuing for an overpriced sandwich with all the appeal of a drowned puffin.

Meanwhile, about the same time when you reach the till to pay far your limp lump of a sandwich those that can stave off the hunger a little longer are riding the fast of the untracked powder, laughing at you, right in your face like the loser you are. So what’s the solution? A decent snack that will keep you going that bit longer, won’t leave you with a blood-sugar slump and won’t ruin your appetite for when you do finally venture inside. Enter the world of Clif.

I’ve been trying Clif bars for a year or so now since their re-emergence on the UK scene, and I’ve slowly been developing a habit for them. Rest assured, they will do the job better than almost anything you con find at the Quikie-mart and one read of the wrapper means you know that every bite is going to be good for you. The guy who invented them years ago has kind of hippie leanings, meaning that while everyone else developed energy bars that were full of strangely altered chemicals he decided to make a product that did the job of supplying the energy and was good for you.

Now being choosier than a $1000 hooker about what I put in my mouth, the fact that Clif bars are made with mostly organic ingredients suits me down to the ground. I’ve been deep-throating these little numbers on extended bike rides all summer and will do so all winter out hiking. Unlike many purpose-made energy foods, these are admirably edible, in a chewy-but-not-jaw-breaking kind of way, and they taste good; like your grandma’s flapjacks but without the syrupy overtones. Mr Clif, or whoever he is, has ensured our addiction with flavours such as Peanut Butter, Carrot Cake and Chocolate Chip cookie. Yes - they’re a bit American sounding, but so’s George Clooney and success never passed him by, did it?

And now in an unabashed attempt to appeal to the snowboarder’s social habits, Senor Clif has introduced the Shot Blok in Pina-Colada and Marguerita flavours. The Shot Blok is an energy gel that has been shaped into little cubes (so it doesn’t get all over your fingers and on your new jacket) that don’t contain the melted down cow hooves and ears that you’d find in regular jelly. While the substantial Clif bar is something you might want to stock up on for hunger-prevention and general hauling-ass-around-the-mountain energy, the quick-acting Shot Blok is more for sustained energy fix while working out.

Mr Clif’s fine products will no doubt keep my little simian legs going all winter, but really who cares what they are for. They taste good so any excuse works for me. So if you’re heading slopeside this winter, pop a couple of these in your packet and carry on riding, while the mugs queue up to eat cold spag-bog.

Click a link to see the original review.