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jpenn

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Posts posted by jpenn

  1. I've gotta agree with you - the kids who are in the park, especially the regulars definitely have a great respect for the features, each other, and they feel like a part of the resort. Of course, the parks have been a boon to all the resorts 'cause just look at how many of these kids are coming in all the time. What cracks me up is this new gangsta look with the bandannas pulled over their mouths. Then they come up and say "Hey Mr. P" and you're supposed to know who they are!

    Even though we are all getting old, I feel as if the local kids at our resort are MUCH tamer and more respectful than some of us were in the 80s & 90s.

    I think alot has to do with the level or respect the kids have with their resort. Ever since our local resort (Mountain Creek) started catering towards the youth, instead of trying to "control" them, the kids have much more respect for the resort as a whole. There is much less 'chair bouncing', far less litter and just seems like there is mutual appreciation. By no means is this a "model" resort, but I feel that the overall attitude has greatly improved.

    Back in the 90's, the same resort was completely unruly. I remember situations where skiers, skiing under the chairlifts were pelted with ketchup, mustard, urine and even Feces! NO JOKE! There were daily fights in the lift lines, vandalism at the resort condos and just a general 'free-for-all, fvck this place" atmosphere. I'm amazed that the atmosphere at the resort is as chill at is now, even considering that the resort is rated at nearly 60% snowboard vs. 40% skier. Young snowboarders, or jibbers, get a bad wrap... while I don't agree with the latest jib fashion trends or the gangsta attitudes, they are just kids being kids.

  2. You could say kids will be kids, but does that mean that the stuff we witness nowadays is the same as when we were kids (in my case, about 30 years ago)? Not sure about that. I'm sure that almost all kids are great when you're with them one-on-one, but once they're in a group, the group mentality takes over. I recently was riding a chair at the local hill and two instructor/kids/skiers were rocking the lift so bad, my life almost flashed in front of my eyes. If you have ever worked at a hill on an afternoon when the school groups arrive, there is never a moment of calm or chance to catch your breath. If you're on the hill, they're doing crazy antics there. If you're in the lodge, they're doing things like "french fry races" (dipping french fries in cheese sauce, throwing them at the windows, and seeing how long it takes them to hit the windowsill). The funny thing is I think we all know some adults who have never grown out of this! I guess what sets the a$$holes apart from the decent kids is how they respond to being reprimanded - are they contrite or do they give you a hard time. That's usually how we decide whether or not to pull their passes. - JP

    Need some snow here in CT!

  3. Hi - thought I'd put in my two cents. If you go to your local hill enough, you get to know the patterns. Since I have regular hours at work, I can't get to the hill weekday mornings. But the weekend masses don't usually show up until 11:00 +/-, so that leaves us about three hours of carving time on Sat and Sunday mornings. Plus, all weekday nights are pretty nice, too, as the crowds thin after the buses leave, and Skisundown has an evening groom (oh oh, secret's out). Therefore, 7:30 till 10:00 is usually pretty sweet, too.

    Magic Mt was just shy of epic yesterday. Magician was open...need I say more? - jp

  4. So...just out of curiosity, what are the applications for a reverse camber board? What are the manufacturers saying about where to use them? I can't imagine using them here on the ice coast - or with any speed, either. Maybe these are like the old Olin ballet skis from the 70's...

  5. That Epic IPA looks mighty nice on that coaster. I hope I don't have a drinking problem, but I feel a need to have one and it's not even seven in the morning. Hopefully it's because of the cup-holders and coasters - very stylin' JP

  6. Hey Queequeg: Awesome place for freeriding - though I've never carved there before. The trails tend to be kinda tight, though there are some that are a bit more wide open (under the Jet triple is nice and steep and a bit wider). If you're comfortable riding hardshells in powder, bumps, and trees, you'll have a blast, cause it doesn't get any better than Jay anywhere - especially on the east coast. Grampa Grunts is supposed to be a great, cheap place to stay - I hear it's more like beds in a dorm. Jay's new website seems a bit confusing, so good luck getting info out of it.

    JP

  7. though i probably wouldn't leave an exotic deck lying about unsecured for extended periods, i'm guessing the likelihood of a thief nabbing anything skinny with plates is probably pretty low to nonexistent. they'd have no idea what it is or what to do with it. i've never locked an alpine board (at lunch, etc), though i have used the dakine retractable w/ my soft gear.

    I have to agree with xy9 - these thieves generally steal new, turn-overable stuff. I don't think our type of gear has the market that they are aware of or that has the same kind of market demand as the softboot equipment. Still, it's not a good idea to take any chances with this stuff - the police will tell you that it is rarely - if ever - recovered. We've tried setting up sting operations at our local mountain, but these guys always seem to be a step ahead of us.

    JP

  8. I can't get over that. I was on the edge of my seat the whole way watchin those vids. I bought my first skateboard (pin tail long board) ever this last September and love it. I don't have anything like that ditch around here though but I'm looking.

    Thanks for the ride.

    Hey chippermon - not sure what the area is like around you, but I hear there are some wild parking garages somewhere north of us. Our's is near perfect - down in Waterbury CT, there's a garage that's 6 stories complete with elevator, and is seldomly used except for event parking. Hope you can find something similar in your area. JP

  9. Yup, this is common when starting out. You'll need to get back to basics in order to fix this. Check out our Technique Articles here, start with The Norm:

    http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/tech_articles.cfm

    A couple points for you to keep in mind next time you ride - keep both your hands out in front of you where you can see them, and keep your leading hand (left hand) on the heel side of the board. Don't let it cross the board. Lean into the turn first, bend knees second. Look where you want to go, not just down the hill.

    Hey: Thanks for all the great insights as this is something I've been working on as well. I tried something this morning that seemed to help me a bit and I wanted to share it and get thoughts on it. It seems pretty small, but seemed to help me. On my leading hand (regular set up, left hand, heelside turn), I simply put my palm down and imagined that I was pulling myself through the turn with that hand. What it seemed to do was to help keep my shoulders where I wanted them as I initiated the turn - facing the fall line instead of parallel with the board. Hope it helps. JP

  10. I just did a bunch of pruning - deleting spammers (over 4000! :eek: ) and members with 0 posts who also haven't logged-in in 90 days, and members with less than 10 posts who haven't logged-in in over 2 years.

    As of right now we have 2320 registered users.

    132 have 0 posts.

    692 haven't logged-in in over a year.

    There are some interesting users out there... like some who registered over a year ago, last activity was this month, 0 posts. Some big-time lurkers out there!

    As a BOL-BTL, I've often wondered how many of us (BTL's) there are. I've been lurking around enough to recognize most of the user's, and it's great to read what's going on, but I usually don't have much to add. Like this thread, though. Any other BTL's out there who want to come forward? JP

  11. If you're looking for numbers, in the state of Ohio I saw 3 last season, including myself.

    I think there are at least that many in CT, though they don't come out much at Sundown (Tuesday and Thursday race nights bring out one or two hb'ers).

    JP

  12. Just another argument for man-made stuff - it's so durable! Jeez, we just had four inches of rain this week, then Friday night, the guns were going full-tilt, and this morning (Sunday) was incredible! In Connecticut even. Lets not forget the cats that groom this stuff to perfection, too. It's amazing what this technology can do for riding. Now if they could only extend the season a few months - well, i guess we have longboards that help us through the long summer months...:D

  13. Hey: thanks for this great discussion - I'm going back out today after a lousy day yesterday (we only had four inches of rain this week), so a lot of my miserable trenches were a result of the conditions i was riding in. But even on the grom, I felt some heelside wash, so I appreciate the insights - Going to work on keeping those shoulders more level, especially.

    JP

  14. Hey: Isn't it funny how stuff you need eventually materializes somehow? A couple years ago, a friend (ski racer) let me borrow his alpine set up to get the feel for it - then let me buy it while i was frantically looking around for gear. Now I still can't wait to try other boards (currently riding a 158 Throttle which is definitely feeding my addiction), but stuff does come along even if it's not in your local ski shop.

    Happy carving! Any CT riders out there?

    - JP

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