Emdee406

What have I learned? Yes you have to trust that those around you will do the right thing, but there is always a twat out there, waiting for his chance to ruin your day. I too join the ebb and flow, however there is an unfortunately common situation, as I’m leading slower students down the mountain in my bright blue uniform, of people trying to pass an instructor, wanting to show us how good (in their eyes - fast) they are. Unfortunately most of these ‘show offs’ are not as good as they think, and in looking at us as they get close, inadvertently get ‘missile lock’ and end up hitting us. I had one of these bozos run into me from behind. My client, who was riding a little further behind me, making the same predictable short radius turns, said “He was about to pass you when he suddenly veered into you!” I was out for a week with concussion and bruising.

Finally got some turns in on my Nidecker Donuts, an old but unridden board that I bought on this site. I loved the 2021 Nidecker Smoke, then discovered it was the same as the older Donuts, with cosmetic differences and a less dodgy name (and almost $400 cheaper!) It’s an excellent soft boot carver, super fast base, grippy...and damn nice looking! Photo needs a little explanation to give you some idea of the grip this board gives you. I’m on a bank and am actually being photographed by someone standing on a 30 degree slope, looking downwards towards me. The slope behind me is level ground, so my hips are actually BELOW the edge, and the board is gripping like to a blanket

Is this still available?

Technique-wise, with stances that wide, you pretty much eliminate the possibility of any flexion/extension (up/down) going into turns, so there doesn’t seem to much ability to pressure your turns that way... This stance pretty much forces you into a full-commitment type of carving, where you rely on rolling immediately across to the new edge into a carve. I tried it a little this winter, and that’s what I observed. You can see this whenever you see them starting a run, or trying to start the board rolling, that there is virtually no slow speed maneuverability, they have to shuffle and hop about awkwardly, until they get up enough speed to lay it straight over, in a fully committed carve. Just my 2 cents... ps. I do LOVE these videos! Keep them coming, it’s going to be a looooong summer!

The courses at Park City can be interesting... it’s a dogleg so you can’t see the last half of the course, and the ‘inside’ course is very different to the outside. The guys who set it seem to love to put more offset on the last 4 too, so you really have to crank them...always fun while trying not to twat yourself on the skier gates! Consequently I haven’t ridden it in hard boots, or anything over 160cm, in about 10 yrs, but Platinums are still very achievable. (Below on a 152cm powder board in softs) Somewhere like Steamboat, where the hill is straight though, you’d definitely be faster on a GS set up I rode that one on an SG 170 and there was no comparison

People were hit by board corners, and people getting suddenly thrown switch were catching their tails and going down hard. People were using their GS boards, which of course had square tails. The early courses had no design consistency, so one week it would be super flowing and mellow, and the GS guys would crush it, the next course was like a park run, and the freestylers would get the top 10 spots.

The courses changed over the years which definitely put hardbooters at a disadvantage. I recently competed in an SBX race, and there were 2 pretty fast guys on roundtail F2 alpine boards, but the didn't make it past the quarter finals. @Jack M is right, the FIS banned square tail boards for safety reasons after a couple of bad injuries, that's the point that many alpine boards mysteriously started having more rounded back ends.

I managed to ride all my boards except my alpine boards! I rode my Yes Optimistic when we had powder, it's super agile in trees with a sub 6m sidecut, loads of float, and super fun for tight carves on groomers. It's my "I don't know what to expect' board. My Sims Terry Kidwell was great for blasting around all-mountain with clients who want what we call a 'Peak-to-Peak' lesson i.e. they want to cover one end of Park City to the other side of the Canyons and back, with more coaching than an actual lesson, thrown in. It was perfect for that, especially with some of the cat tracks and flatter sections in the canyons part. And just at the end, I got in 5 days on my new (to me) Nidecker Donuts 158...great fun! This board could easily replace both of the above, and with it's super fast base, would give my Coiler BXFR a run for its money! I did ride my BXFR a lot in January and February in preparation for the Airline World Championships boarder cross event. A great board, super stable and perfect for the job. Ironically I had just waxed my SG175 ready to use the following week, when my mountain, Park City/Canyons, shut without warning.I was looking forward to getting back in hard boots...I'll just have to wait until next season.

Another vote for the Yes Optimistic...agile, grippy, stable and dances through trees as well as it leaves scalpel lines in the snow. But adding to my list is the Nidecker 'The Donuts'. I got to try the Nidecker Smoke 2021model, and loved it. Very similar to the Yes in terms of performance, but stiffer both torsionally and flex wise. I then discovered that it was almost identical to the Smoke, with only cosmetic changes to the tip and tail. Thanks to a killer deal from a member of this forum, @Poloturbo, I got the 2017 Donuts for a fraction of the price of a new one. I only got in 5 days on it before the pandemic shut my resort, but they were the most enjoyable 4 days of riding I had this winter. Being stiffer than the Yes, it's grip at high speed and acceleration out of turns were like an alpine board. Nidecker claim that the base is the fastest one used on a production board, and I have to say, I don't doubt it. I think it's easily as fast as my Kesslers were, possibly faster. I can't wait to ride it next winter!

It was everything I'd hoped for...super fast base, carves like an alpine board, nimble through the trees, wicked in bumps! Luckily I got to ride it 5 days before all my local resorts closed their doors. Eternally grateful to you for the great deal...heal well, ready for next season mon ami!

Thanks. There was fresh snow on the course, so it was soft and slow sadly...it resulted in bunching especially on the first bend.

Thanks @Poloturbo! Just got back from BC to find this beauty... I rode the 2021 Nidecker Smoke, loved it, then found out that other than cosmetic changes, it’s the same as the 2017 sexier-looking, but badly named Nidecker ‘The Donuts’...which was a lot cheaper! I was badly disappointed when I got the Korua Café Racer untried, THIS is how it should have ridden! Cant wait to ride it. ps. A little Jean Nerva tribute too

You can see at the awards, dude was a freaking giant! Even standing on the number 2 step, he was STILL taller than the winner

I just got back from the 61st World Airline Ski & Snowboard Championships. Riding my BXFR 160, I was2nd fastest qualifier. Unfortunately I got squeezed out on the first turn of the final. Well I’m guessing he was trying to slow down, pushed his tail out to the side, and sadly my line got redirected as a byproduct. So I ended up 4th in the final, not bad considering they were all 30 years my junior. I had great support which I really appreciated. A great week full of laughs and happy memories. @parkcityss_sbx thanks for the advice! @airlineskiwasc @deltaskiclub @delta #deltaproud #sbx #coilersnowboards

You have a BASI background? Cool! I was one of the gang of 6 who wrote the original BASI snowboard manual. I was a trainer for 20yrs before I moved to Utah.