johnstewart

I'll take it; emailing you now.

A composite I did of Brett. Whomever took these did an awesome job (Trent?)! This is 20% size. Full version here: http://johnstewart.com/pics/snowboard/MN-Carve-20060110/Brett1.jpg johnS

Aye, good to meet y'all. It was an excellent day for skiing. Sore as hell today; too many attempts to follow y'all in those steep carves, followed by me wussing out about the mach 10 speed, then me washing out because I couldn't keep the edge pressure. It was a ton of fun being the only people on some of those runs; all those beautiful tracks. I hope y'all got some good pictures. Brett and I will let you know when we've got video online (at least a couple of good shots).

I just brush inline with the length of the board. I use a roto-brush, so it's sort of necessary. For hard waxes, I use a medium and then a soft brush. For soft waxes, I'll just start with the soft brush. If I'm just waxing for a freeride, I tend to not worry as much about getting all the wax off, or brushing well... it'll get knocked off eventually. Now the snow at our local hill makes this all a moot point; there was so much goo on the bottom of my boards last night I had to use citrus cleaner to strip it.

I've been playing with this myself lately. Previously, I'd just been using the default holes, then adjust width from there... which ends up with, on most boards I've ridden, quite a bit of setback from the center of the effective edge. The last few times I've put on bindings (on both my Volant Excel 162 and my Donek Axis 177), I've found the true center of the effective edge and centered my bindings exactly around that. I like it a LOT better... previously, I would often feel like my tail is washing out. Now it seems much more solid. This means on both of those boards that the bindings are using the front, or nearly the front, insert holes. I guess board manufacturers assume you'll want a longer run in front than in the rear. Go figure.

I am far from an expert, but what I do for a race is pick the temp-specific wax appropriate for the weather report. Our first league race is tonight, and the weather report called for near-freezing temps. I think with old snow that worked out to LF8. I iron that on, then scrape as much as I can off; I don't leave any on at all. *Then* I brush it out.

Awesome; we were going to stay in Rochester, but with that being so close, and with the potential for me to play some poker until the wee hours, we're going to stay at the casino. It's $70 for the night (plus taxes I'm sure), or with two lift tickets it is $140... so $35 for the lift tickets. This way we can lose all of our money and still ski tomorrow. =) It looks like tix are normally $40, so I'm going to book the package... unless any of you locals know of a way to get lift tickets for under $35. thanks!

And anyone have a recommendation on a cheap motel as near as possible to the hill? Sounds like $trider (aka Brett) wants to drive up tonight. Is Rochester our best bet?

How's the snow up there? I've got crud all over the bottom of my boards from riding on the slush/tar mix here.

I'm going to hold onto it for now... at least until after my trip to Park City in a few weeks. I might want to sell afterwards, if I decide it's not for me.

Holy crap that's a long drive from Madison!

True; just my point of reference as the only big hill I skiied last season. Really? I do have size 30 mondo (12 US), which is a pain. I don't mind the angles, but they're necessary unless a very wide board. But isn't width an important factor in the ability of a board to plane over powder? Or is length more important? Or is it just plain surface area?!? No, just *riding* through the bumps. I don't do much carving up in the bumps. =) However, when you've got to do a bunch of jump turns on some nutso hill coming off the top of a mountain, the rotational momentum of that 177 Axis really proves to be significant.

But what is most important? Width? Length? Total surface area to weight ratio?

I will be out there as well 1/21 - 1/28. I've got a buddy just outside of Park City. Wondering: - What hills to hit if I want to carve (I'll go wherever there is snow if any). - Where is a good shop to get a base grind done? - Also, any good bootfitters out there that would carry the Head Stratus Pros? johnS

I'm headed to the Salt Lake area in a few weeks, and what I'm considering taking: - Freestyle board. Sims 165, very wide (not sure offhand how wide, but by far the widest I own). I figure this is a must have unless I find something that can take its place. It would be awesome to find something that will work on pow and also carve better than this. - Race board. I want to do some NASTAR. I'm most comfortable on my Volant Excel 162. Short and very turny. Perhaps, actually, not ideal for race courses out west (maybe not as turny as in WI?). - Donek Axis 177. This is really too big to be useful in bumps; I tried riding it one day at Jackson Hole last season and it was a total joke. If I'm in icy moguls at the top of the hill, I want a shorter board to be jump-turning on. A reasonable board to do NASTAR on, however - Something else? A buddy (hi Tim) is trying to sell me his Burton Ultra Prime. It's a fun board and easy to handle. I'll bet I could reasonably ride it in bumps, but I'm less confident in its ability in powder (assuming I get any). These seem to be my main choices. Four boards, plus the wife's, would be a bitch and a half to travel with, though. Last year I went to Jackson Hole and took the freestyle and the Axis. The Axis came out on the first day, and promptly went back. Just oo frickin' long for me to handle it well in bumps... and I just didn't have enough energy in my midwest-sized thighs to ride it right. I could carve a turn or two, but just couldn't keep it up for any length of time. Suggestions?

So I'm trying to find a board which will work well on powder (and bumps where necessary), yet still carve well. When going out west, I'd like to be able to replace my freestyle board with this in my quiver... I'm finding it hard to pare down my boards since all of my carve boards are really not appropriate (I don't think) for powder, bumps, and all-mountain riding. Even though I never ride it here in WI, when I go out west I usually end up on my freestyle board for the entire trip (most recently at Jackson Hole). I weigh 215-220 lbs. What is important for a board to be big enough to plane on powder reasonably well? Obviously width is going to matter, but is length? What dimensions should I be looking at when deciding if something is going to work well on powder? Since I never get any here, I don't have any way to test it out! =)

Is it an Axis?? I definitely want something with a wider waist. I'm headed out west soon, and it would be nice if I could pare down to 2 boards, but it's looking like 3. Would be nice if I could find a good all mountain board which would be able to handle the pow as nicely as my humungo wide freestyle board.

Sorry, never been to either one of those. It's a couple of hundered foot elevation, with a couple of good runs for carving. No mecca, but it's only 15 minutes awar fromwork for me. =)

Definitely mulling it over. Looking here, though: http://tyrolbasin.com/events/calendar.html 1/14 Boardercross 1/21 Halfpipe 1/22 Slopestyle + S/GS 1/28 Halfpipe 1/29 Slopestyle + S/GS 2/11 Boardercross 2/18 Halfpipe 2/19 Slopestyle + S/GS So it's really only the G/GS races I'm interested in. I'll perhaps try the boardercross, but I have a definite aversion to airtime, so I'm sure I won't win anything there unless everyone else crashes and I skate through the mayhem. It's $60 for USASA, plus $15 per event. I dunno... really seems pretty steep compared to NASTAR, where I can (and have) qualify for nationals with a $7 entry fee.

I and a fair number of hardbooters (more than I've seen anywhere else) ride at Tyrol Basin. Here's the google maps version. You can see some flecks of white where the ski runs are: Tyrol Basin

Does anyone have a source for this? I'd like to find some very-sticky, somewhat thin, foam tape, so I can build up layers in certain spots on my liners. I'm doing it now with foam from an old camp pad and lots of duct tape. Works well, but ugly and getting torn up. =)

I'm 6'2" and pushing 220 with my winter fat on me. I do really love the Axis. I loved it the first run I took on it. I had my fastest time last year on it: Big (4MB) version It's just that when I bought it, I was looking for an all-mountain board... something I could ride out west and hit the bumps and crud, and then carve whatever I could. I just didn't realize how huge 177 actually is, however. This thing wants to go fast, and go fast in big arcs. Not ideal for my 200 foot elevation hill, nor is it ideal for moguls and bumps (although it does blow through small bumps and crud as well as anything). Part of my realization is how much fun I'm having getting back on my Volant, which is a 162 and a very agressive slalom sidecut.

I don't know what you were doing with it, but those edges look like the rusty saw I found in my garage when I bought my house. =)

Well, I'm actually trying to maintain as wide a waist as possible. I've got big gorilla sized feet. =)

I've got a Donek Axis 177, new last season, blue topsheet. Excellent condition; new base grind (the only it's had). One ding on the topsheet. I've decided this board is a bit too big for me, especially on the puny little hill I ride on (I've been having a lot more fun on my slalom board lately). I'm wondering if anyone out there has an Axis which they think is too short, and would like to trade up to a bigger one.