just give 'er

In Canada, CASI does provide liability insurance, however it's important to note that it is supplementary insurance, and that it kicks in after the snow school's insurance. If setting up a camp, clinic, lesson program etc. you'd need to secure your own liability insurance in addition to CASI's insurance. As far as breaking the law, I've known of people being charged with tresspassing for teaching on resort property. You wouldn't think of selling steak knives in a department stores kitchen section...

Thanks for the great day Chris and everyone else! In one of the weirder moments in life, at about 10:30, as I got to the top of the lift I saw a snowboarder at the top, standing oddly sideways and thought that it looked very strange. Took a second to realize that I was thinking a snowboarder on a freestyle/ freeride setup looked out of place. Shows how quickly perceptions can change! Each run, and each lift ride was a learning experience. Going up each time I'd see another amazing rider doing their thing and think to myself "How can I look that smooth on the next run?" Then get the chance to try to make it happen. Would be awesome if I could do that every day! Only problem is how deep the ruts were getting :rolleyes:

Didn't get the message until I was about to leave. Can't wait to lay down some trenches!

I'll be coming from Bracebridge and can pick anyone up along the way. Planning to arrive at Osler for 8:00 am. Will be staying for a little apres post ride.

Just make sure you're in the Burton Canada web store, not the Burton US store and they'll ship no problem. Probably a little late for this reply but there's always another season and another jacket!

I read of this accident in the Star, and had thought it would have been an out of control beginner, which would have been terrible, but how sad to hear that it was Jacquie. It's been quite a few years since I worked at BVSC, but I remember her fondly. She always charged, and rode hard. I'm not sure I believe in an afterlife, but if there is one Jacquie, the lift will drop you off at your choice of perfect corduroy, untracked pow, steep trees, a soft spring bump run, or maybe a boardercross course with a couple of good friends.

I've got a Burton Hero which I ride as my park and play board, with CO2s mounted. I ride it pretty hard, carving blacks, riding bumps aggressively, and hitting the park. Last season, and early this season the screws would loosen up a little and I would have to tighten them every few runs to stop any binding wiggle. Then half way through the season, my back binding started sliding down the track. It would be nice and tight and I'd get to the bottom of a run and I'd have a 3" wider stance then I started with. I called Burton and they suggested replacing the hardware. I did and it lasted about two weeks before it started all again. I think the underside of the channel has become stripped. I talked to another rider who has EST bindings, and has had one or both screws loosen enough for his binding to rotate on the board mid run. After the seasons over, it's warranty time. Until then, my screws get a little tighten at the bottom of every run!

Lucky the PGS wasn't at Whistler where the Gondola is affectionately known as the Ganga-la. Just the residual hotbox effect from years of use is enough to give you a buzz...

I've owned and been riding my own alpine setup for two weeks now and every day out brings a smile to my face. Not only carving some crazy high g's but also the great lift line experiences. One woman: "That's a parallel board" Her friend: "Hey is that a parallel board" Me confused for a second: "Umm, no... Oh... this is a GS board, PGS is when they race side by side." (The Olympic PGS was coming right up.) "Do your bindings rotate?" "No that would be a very bad idea" Fist bump from random jibber. "Dude I need to give this alpine rider props. Sick turns." Lifties at one lift: One runs over in the lift line and undoes my rear binding for me. Then both are asking how they can get into carving as I load the chair. Those are just the tip of the iceberg. But it reminds me a lot of when I started riding twenty years ago, only not as many nasty comments from skiers!

To add to the honours, JJ has just been selected as Canadian Male Athlete of the year. Way to go Jasey Jay. Well Deserved.

With Maelle and Dominique Maltais the Canadian women have been dominant this year. Certainly world class. While I'm not sure about up and comers, the present women's team has been far more consistent than the men.

This whole thing strikes me as pretty crazy. I have to agree with Rob that your angles should match those of your students for visual clarity, likewise I'd have to say that it is much easier to learn with low angles than high angles. That said, I'm thinking teaching beginners, you should have low angles to match those of your students. There is a lot of talk about teaching carving lessons, and other higher end lessons here. I'm surprised that Rob hasn't suggested that you head out and get your level two so that you have a clear understanding of the CASI model as it relates to carving, both on hard and soft gear. You'll also learn how to cater to higher end students using the skill based teaching model. At our hill we try to have level two and up riders teaching carving and other high end lessons.. Both because we know they are trained to do so, and because of the insurance protection that it brings. As to whether you can teach carving on soft-boots, I've taught eleven years worth of high end lessons, teaching carving and park on the same set up. I'd have to guess that the majority of CASI level 3 candidates do the entire course, carving, freeride and park on the same setup. CASI certainly supports alpine riding at the highest levels, it's only in the last year that there has been an option to take the level 4 without having to do the carving portion on an alpine set up. Now you have a choice between high performance carving on alpine gear or high performance freestyle on soft gear. While I own and train several days a week on my alpine gear (for my level 4), I ride my soft gear for almost all of my teaching. I regularly have requests for park lessons, but rarely does an alpine rider come in to request an alpine carving lesson, so as a matter of course, it's my soft gear that gets pulled out each teaching day. I also think there is a distinct discrimination here, on this board, against softboots. Softboots are the tool of choice for many types of riding, be it freestyle, many boarder cross courses, and big mountain freestyle. The carved turn is not the only high performance turn out there, just watch Jeremy Jones put a line down a big mountain Alaskan face and tell me that those slid turns aren't also at the highest end of snowboarding technique. Along with the carving or freestyle module, all CASI 4 candidates are required to put on their soft gear and do some high end freeriding. And for a real taste of softy goodness, watch "Yes to the No", or some of the other Noboarding footage that is out there to see some amazing riding with no binding support at all. My suggestions are to: match your stance as close as you can to your students; train for and achieve higher cert levels (apply for scholarships to make it more finacially doable); advertise through word of mouth, keeping business cards ready as you freecarve, on the bomber instructor boards, and any other means that are available to you, that you are ready and willing to teach on hardboots (if people are coming out asking for an instructor to teach them on hardboots then I bet you'll see an about face from your snowschool).

Definitely interested in the boots, but listing only has shipping in the States; will you ship to Canada?

When some of my instructor buddies and me go out to ride we usually spend the morning on plates and the afternoon on our freeride gear. While I freely admit that we carve steeper, and faster with greater g's on our plates, we carve all afternoon on our soft setups as well (in between park hits, riding bumps, steeps and trees). I have to say every one of us rides duck on our freeride set ups, most around 15, -5 or 10, -5. With a proper width board toe drag isn't that great of a problem. Throw on some Catek freeride pro's and give yourself some lift and it's all gone. With Duck or other mellow angles the body should be kept aligned with the mid line axis of the board, some anticipation is neccessary buitas with all high end riding the majority of the steering force should come from the lower body. No matter what your angles, keeping the upper body aligned with your stance is vital to successful riding. As for the heelside, think of flexing down to control the pressure within a tube that extends straight up from your board. Don't stick your bum out of the back of the tube or break at the waist. Thanks all, MCS

Second rider from the Toronto area interested in your boots. Let me know if they are still available!