VSR-Alex

Yesterday, I got to the lift line for the first chair. The main lifty said "Yes, the red rocket is back!" (My outfit is red) I don't know how I should take this comment.

If anyone asks, I'm practicing my "setup turns".

I don't have nearly as much experience as you do, but I will throw in my 2 cents. Binding flex affects edge-to-edge response and your ability to flex the board fore and aft, not necessarily edge-hold when you are in the middle of a turn. If you really liked the Catek, the Bomber TD3 standard is the most similar. TD3 sidewinder with step-in and stiff elastomer pads might feel similar to TD3 standard. I would recommend trying to ride F2 bindings (a lot more flexible than TD3), and see if you like it or not.

What I imagine WinterGold's camera setup to be: The thing gotta survive explosions to be in his videos.

If you have the extra cash, the TD3 Sidewinders are softer than TD3 standard, and can be configured with softer durometer elastomer pads to get a much softer feeling flex. The lateral flex can be changed individually on each binding and be made asymmetric by using different pads right to left.

Hey RJ, The plate got banana'd, but kept integrity to still hold the bindings. No cracks but the binding plate yielded and is a bit bent so it's done. The plate made the board extremely damp and you don't really feel any uneven snow under you. Feels like ice skating a bit; a very smooth feeling. It is difficult to feel how fast you are going though. The plate deck has some flex to it. Slow speed maneuvering is terrible because it is so torsionally rigid along with the longitudinal deck flex. It's also very heavy. I prefer my Allflex soft plate just to have better low speed handling for free riding around resorts. It is really designed to work with F2 style bindings. The aluminum mounting plate and outer channels are raised above the black plastic plate, so if you use Bombers then only the center disk will be in contact with the board. PM me if you want to know specific details of the plate or want more info or pictures on binding clearance. Read Daveo's review for another opinion.

If you don't find a seller on here... I got one here, board included: Just kidding; it's toast. Here are some Ebay listings for one new and one original version plate. I bought mine from the same seller: New version: https://www.ebay.com/itm/234908592725?hash=item36b1a4aa55:g:Zk8AAOSw9T9iSfFB Original version: https://www.ebay.com/itm/234908605265?hash=item36b1a4db51:g:708AAOSwujNj9oSm

These two are absolute gems: Also, Peakpoint YouTube channel is my go-to.

Sent you a DM.

Drills, Drills, Drills. It saves time to develop the muscle memory to have good technique from drills than spending half the season wondering why your riding is good one run and sucks the next.

I'm assuming you tried orienting the binding disk width-wise? If yes, then your binding size might be too big. I sized down the binding on purpose for my Burton Cartels due to this problem. It's hard to do that with step-ons as the toe receiver needs to be aligned with the boot Burton bindings are just...weird. Other option is to find some Donek BX plates and then you have full customization of the lateral stance position. Hard to find those though, as they are not made anymore. Still, an ordinary riser plate will allow higher edge angles without needing to shift the binding.

It'll work but you lose a feature: When you flip the toe block around, you don't get to use the feature of the front bail stop. On standard bails, this isn't a problem since you are manipulating the bail to clip in anyway. On step-in, you will need to manipulate the front bail to lock-in your boot first, which means you need to reach down to flip the front bail up. As you can imagine, this somewhat ruins the experience of the "step-in" feature. You could add a PTFE washer to go in-between the gap between the bail end-links and the toe block to increase friction to keep the bail up when you are trying to step-in. These will need to be replaced every season. I did that for my standard bails to prevent them from slamming into my board. Give it a try.

Hey Justin, I don't have MS .951 boots, but I believe you need to move the lower and upper nuts higher on the threaded rod to increase forward lean without changing preload. Anyone else can help with .951 adjustment?

Hey Justin, I experienced this early this season and did some corrections mid-January that worked for me: If you're flexing into the front of your boots to lower your body and don't have enough static forward lean, you will most likely flex the board forward and dig in. Now not necessarily a bad thing, but you can get too much of it. You can feel this by just standing on your board on the flat, and feel the boot tongue pressure as you bend your legs. If the pressure is excessive and limiting your motion then you might be tipping the board forward as you get aggressive without realizing it, especially with a stiff setup. 2 quick suggestions to try: Increase your boot forward lean on both boots, or try a heel lift on your rear binding to see how that feels. If that doesn't work, then increase stance width by 1 inch. I'm the same height as you and my stance sits at 21 in. Bigger stance = more toe and heel lift required, so try the boot cuff first.

I'll hear it at least 5 times this weekend for sure.

Tempted.... Board is from 13/14 season based on Sigi's board history page.

2022 seemed to be the year of "Is that a split-board?". 2023 has stooped to a new low; split-board has been replaced with "Uni-Ski".

Ivan hooked me up after my SG broke. Kessler Alpine 185 stock model. @LadiaSorry to hear as well. My father is going through much of the same.

When I was a beginner learning how to carve higher edge angles on my Donek Incline, I used to rely on catching the edge on purpose to help transition between turns...

This. I tend to try to get as close to 0 degree base as possible with either an 87 or 86 degree edge bevel. My only purpose for adding a base bevel is to only bevel as much as the base grind technician is comfortable with so they don't ruin their structuring stone, so the base is not edge-high, and so the base edge doesn't end up with the structure in it. Again, this is all personal preference; I am usually never flat base anyway. I just hate the slippery-slidey feeling of a big base bevel at low edge angles. I suppose it also depends on the snow texture too, soft vs hard snow.

I can't have a session without getting "is that a split-board" at least twice. I have no idea why as nobody is split-boarding in Appalachia. "Look, ski boots on a snowboard" is another popular one, but they get 50% of that statement correct so I just agree with them. Every instructor I've come across also has no idea what it is. Ski patrol seem to know what's up though.

Hey carvers, My old 2011 SG full race 180 blew up and need something new. I have an opportunity to acquire an SG Full Race 185, a Kessler Alpine 185, or an Oxess RG185/19 at reasonable prices. All of these can be had with Allflex inserts. Anyone here ridden these 3 boards or any of them, and can you comment on the differences between them? How do they compare to the SG, since I know how that rides? I liked the locked-in feeling of the tail on the SG; the nose could be stiffer. I like to push my equipment, and if I can put in the energy to the board I am expecting it to give it back without skidding. Any recommendations? Thanks, -Alex

https://www.amazon.com/Prevention-Bloating-Relief-Tablets-Packaging/dp/B00ANL4WMI They are not designed to work well for après ski; great for everything else. Some of the newer jacket and pant combinations from other companies (Volcom, etc.) zip together. If only they were constructed as strongly as the Tobe mono-suit.

Pants designed for skiing are more durable in the pant cuff area and sometimes the knee. I always look for pants with the cuff area reinforced. They tend to be slightly shorter than snowboard pants so they don't drop too low on the boot. For myself, I went with the Tobe mono-suit and never looked back.

Hey Hann17! I transitioned to alpine snowboarding recently in 2018, and I had the same questions as you do. Do not feel like you need to change your own style, or that your current style is somehow not proper. I just want to provide you some resources in case you discover another style that feels better to you. Alpine does not feel the same as regular snowboarding; and I do not think it will unless you are riding a very wide board with low binding angles. Though it will not feel the same, the physics of snowboarding still apply. Pressure the edge evenly, and keep your center of mass inside the turn. The important point about alpine snowboarding, no matter what style you use, is to first re-learn how to position your center of mass inside of the turn since your feet are now positioned differently. You can accomplish this with many different techniques, and these can apply to regular snowboarding as well. The style you use for regular snowboarding may or may not be the same as what you use for Alpine snowboarding; It is to some extent a preference and what feels better for you. I can classify the most popular styles into 3 categories: 1. Hips and shoulders facing the same direction as the binding angles (Race, or neutral). 2. Hips and shoulders positioned across the long axis of the board (facing the nose). 3. Hips and shoulders rotating into the turn (extreme carve and push-pull) It took me a few years to realize that I actually prefer the neutral technique (shoulders and hips mainly facing binding direction), but that is the preference that I developed over time. I faced the nose of the board at first, and my snowboarding style changed over time. Just the process of finding my own style was a really rewarding and sort of a soul-searching experience. Check out these videos to see if you want to keep your own style, or change it up. I tried all of these styles to find the one I like. Take a look and see which one is closest to your current style and try it first. Notice the styles are very different, but they all put the center of mass inside of the turn: Extreme Carving and push-pull: No better learning tool than one of the original sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1T8I0inVfA Petr Lorenz has a good extreme carving series: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc8k9ipkO30jF8WGAm6MWxA Facing the nose: OES Snowboards posts a lot of freecarving videos with an exaggerated version of this style. This video has diagrams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me96_f-_3WM Race Technique: Great race technique video series called "Midweighting" by Marc Cirigliano: https://www.youtube.com/user/mcirigliano52/videos "ride with me": by Sigi Grabner is one of my favorites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC7HWs3kPjs I still do these drills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOJ3u64cvgU