alexgforce

Greeks are coming for their 4th SES!!!

So what you are saying is that Parnassos (including fterolaka) and kaimak does not have steep slopes? Makes me think, have you even been to these places? According to you alpine snowboarding is only about EC? Someone who rides hard boots should only ride in steep slopes? Me and my "G-force buddies" have been several times to Aspen for the SES and the Carving-Masters in Soelden since it started. Have you ever been to any of these places???

speed is important. But if you try to "dive" into the turn if the slope is not steep you are going to lose all of it and you are not going to have enough speed to go into the next turn. The board is going to stall. Another important issue regarding the steepness is this. When you push yourself away from the board extending your body and dragging it on the snow it is much easier to get out of the turn when the slope is steep. In addition on a steep slope you ride totaly accross the slope and "dive" downwards. This way you don't lose speed and you are able to perform fully layed out, long EC turns. So in my opinion steep slopes are essential for EC turns.

Indeed EC is all about the technique. Upper body rotation and push pull movement are key factors. Another important element however is the transition timing. When a rider ECs during the transition of each turn he actually dives into the turn and the board just follows. In basic carving you gradually apply pressure on the edge breaking at the waist with your outside (towards the turn) hand going towards the edge of the board. In EC your body dives into the turn which is often described as a "leap of faith" or "dive and drive". Of course that can only work on steep runs.

The reason I did not respond to kingcrimson comment is that I don't think that he read my reply carefully and he still spoke of copies being made. You did however hit the nail right on the head. Thank you for that. My intention was never to compeet with Sean. It is almost imposible to obtain the same performance from boards being produced by different manufacturers even if there is an intention to make an exact copy. In order to protect Sean's reputation all boards made by Sean had a Donek logo on them. A customer has the choice of getting what he thinks works for him better at the same price.

If you look at the site there is a bunch of info concerning the construction of the boards. The production is done in Europe.

Thanks Alaskan Rover, I have been wakeboarding for many years before I started kiting so I know exactly what you are talking about. I even have a 1st place in a national championship in Greece. In addition I was also windsurfing since 1987. When I got on a kiteboard for the first time, I stopped everything else (except alpine snowboarding of course). There is absolutely no other sport that will get you flying in the air like this!!! kiteboarding vs wakeboarding??? Absolutely no comparison. When you start kiting you will understand what I mean. You will start feeling like an idiot that you haven't done it earlier. I know I did. That is why right now it is the fastest growing sport in the world. And the most important NO stress on the shoulders, back or knees. In terms of the board construction, it actually is a snowboard!!! without a base and an edge. Not to mention much simpler in terms of flex distribution. Wakeboards are completely different and require a much different production set up and materials. The bindings for kiteboarding are also different. Although some riders use boots especially for wakestyle tricks they tend to be more dangerous for the ancles so the majority uses the type of bindings that you see on the photo. But my recommendation is, get on a kiteboard as soon as you can. Trust me you will have the time of your life!!!!!!!!

You have to admire the level of IQ of some people!!! First of all the reason for not posting for a while and the reason for not coming to Aspen for the SES is the fact that my father past away and I had tons of things to take care of. And now lets look at some facts. I have contacted Sean a few years back with a wide alpine board concept (again many people have said that this was Swoard rip off). The year after that we decided to do a soft boot carver (thank god no accusations there). Sean has developed and produced these boards getting feedback from me and other riders. For these boards I supplied the graphics and the names. The deal was that Sean would sell these boards in the US and I would sell them in Europe. From the information that I had from him he was doing pretty well. In order however to have a viable business I had to find a way to cut down the increased costs (import duties, transportation, $$ exchange rate) and cover the demand of the European and the local market. This was the reason for manufacturing in Europe maintaing the same concepts for the boards but changing the design, the materials while keeping the same names (which I came up with) and brand. I still had an inventory of Seans boards to sell which clearly indicated that they were handcrafted by Donek so the customer can choose by himself (the price was the same). I have a lot of respect for Sean and his work and I had extensive talks with him about this issue. I provided graphics for Sean and offered my help designwise in several occasions and still do, free of charge. My european production did not affect Seans business in any way and NONE of my boards were sold in the US. There is a small quantity (1 of each) in Aspen which serve as demos for europeans that are coming over and want to test them. In a community as small as this I thought that the important thing was to promote the sport and bring people in instead of arguing about who copied who. Apparently this isn't so. P.S. for people that are ignorant and have no idea what their talking about the kiteboards are developed and produced localy.

I'd rather riiiiiide! I can't say that our market is affected by this.

We have been prototyping these for about a year. The first production just came out of the press/ For more info check out the website!!!

I am in for that!!! Hope we can get such ads to enrich the contents

That's a nice way to get rid of vampires. All you have to do after is chop the head off :eek:

Maybe it is my fault that I wasn't clear enough. The 2 page spread that is offered it will not be written as a feature by the magazine stuff. It will be submited by each manufacturer.

I don't agree with you on this. First of all it is a common practice for every magazine to give out pages for related articles in exchange for ads. A company for example that buys an ad space is offered the possibility to submit an article that promotes its products. What we do is similar and we offer a package from the beggining that includes a full page ad plus a 2 page spread that each advertee can use in the way that he wants. We simply suggest that it should be in the form of a company profile that will promote whatever the manufacturer wants and at the same time provides information for the readers. And thats why the price of buying 1 page for an ad is not relative to the 1st package (420 USD vs 700 USD)

If we'll manage to exceed the percentage of the production expences that we are aiming for we will then invest in placing ads of the carvmag in major snowboard or ski magazines. We are also trying to establish a presence of the magazine in trade shows like ISPO and SIA. This is the cover with the final logo that we developed.

Since this is a new magazine and we do want manufacturers to support it we tried to maintain the advertising at a reasonable cost. Each manufacturer is offered 2 initial packages. Package 1 2 page spread with the company profile, development and manufacturing processes (similar to the Donek spread in the beginning of this thread) and.. 1 full page ad The cost of this package is 500 Euros (approx. 700 USD) Package 2 1 full page ad Tha cost of this package is 300 Euro (approx. 420 USD)

Don't be too concerned about getting your hands on one of the first issues Adiel. Trust me we are more concerned for being able to sell the magazine rather than have it sold out. Ideally we are planning to get 60% of the production expences covered by the ads so right now we are very anxious to sell spaces to manufacturers which is the most difficult thing. If we don't get support by the industry we will have to find alternative ways of financing the mag. So let's all keep our fingers crossed!!!!!

Dear guesswho, Thanks for the support and the encouragement!! I think your idea about a guide for begginers is excellent. Not brand wise as you said but rather as a what equipment to look for and where to get it for people that are just starting. The main reason that I would not want to include equipment reviews is the fact that I am also a manufacturer and I wouldn't like to use this magazine in any way to promote my own brand. In that respect I can understand if people would be sceptical reading board reviews in this magazine. My intention is to be fair to everyone and most important to represent the sport in the best possible way. The magazine will be covering different riding styles which is an oportunity for the riders to talk about what equipment suits their riding style better which I think is more valid.

Thanks for the support guys!!! The objective of the magazine is to show the extent of alpine riding with all different riding styles that exist and what goes on in different coutries around the world. In terms of the manufacturers we want to include anything that each manufacturer is willing to disclose in terms of development process, manufacturing methods etc. The most important thing is to produce something that will contain information usefull for people that are have been part of the community for a while and for people that are just joining so they can get a good idea of what the sport is. Let's hope we will be able to fulfill everyones expectations.

Excelent. Thanks. Any ideas that you may have just email me directly.

:D:D:DGood one!!!

Thanks for the feedback Hans. Most of the stuff you mentioned above in terms of contents are under consideration and will be included. The quality of the publication is our first priority even if it means spending more and we definitely want to produce something that people will keep. We are just trying to find an acceptable balance between ads and end user price. I think that most of the community understands that we are not looking at this as a way to make money but an oportunity to create something that will express our community. There would be ways to make something profitable in the form of a journal or newspaper but this is not our intention.

I would also like to post this poll in order to get feedback from people regarding to what they would expect from a magazine in terms of content ads and price.

Thanks everyone for their support!!! There is going to be a lot of work involved so it's good to know that there are people who beleive in this project. A lot of interesting ideas and we will definitely include some of them. I will be posting the progress and the contents as they develop. When we first discussed this idea one of the first issues was how open it should be in terms of including other aspects like skiing or other sports. Although opening the scope would mean more sales we decided to keep it strictly for snowboard carving, alpine and racing. By opening the scope there is a danger to loose the magazine's identity and the whole purpose of the project. Equipment reviews. A very sensitive matter. Who will be testing? What will the conditions be? How valid is their opinion? We would rather avoid this and be fair to everyone instead of promoting certain products for personal gain. The most important thing is to let everyone tell their story. Show different styles of riding, how to's and provide information related to the sport. In general a carving mAnnual covering the 3 basic questions: Where you ride. How you ride and what you ride.

Tom, I tried sending you a mesaage but there are no details on your profile. If you can get in touch. alexis@gforcecarving.com Thanks