Dave ESPI

I demo rode the XV here on new england boilerplate, and flat out hated it. Yeah, I LOVE Rozi boards, but honestly, it is "big mountain" specific. THere is just too much "technology" going on with this board, and the magnetraction sucked ass IMHO. not enough camber to really make it effective on icy conditions. HTH :)

"Straight lineing" is considered "out of control" and negligent because there is no deviation or attempts to avoid traffic, or others on the hill.

I had a race today on pure ice and sugar sand. I had the third slowest time and the second fastest, but I completed the course without missing a gate or falling on both runs. There were a LOT of DQ's and DNF's. The key is much like dancing... "Quick quick slow, quick quick slow". *Quick centering of weight on the edge *Quick transition over the fall line, *Slow rotation thru the turn I relied heavily on the back leg also for edge establishment and re-engagement if the front was not able to bite. Not sure if this helps, but it was a frustrating day for me, and Boilerplate / berkshire blue ICE is indeed something very "unique" to the Northeast.

Absolutely agree with Seans advice about stance. I had a lot of issues with hip and shin bang and pains also. I'm a tall thin guy with "big bones", and my femur/ hip is very angular. I tried and tried and tried to get as low as a lot of the guys in the pictures and rotate the hips around on the heelside turn, but all our body's mechanics differ from person to person. You really need to just devlop your own comfortable ride style and stance using canting and plate alignment on the board. Here is where it gets funky, Every board is different. What works and is comfortable on one, isn't on another. I have seven boards. Everyone is set up uniquely to how it's feel and ride is. Play with your stance, angles, and set up. My personal rule of thumb; Heels and toes to the edge minus 3 degrees. Occasionaly that changes depending on the application and board's width. I'm also cursed with very big boots (mondo 32) so I have to often ride "moving sidewalks" for anything under 55 degree angles. I was at ECES and threw myself to the ground a lot trying out the eurocarve Pureboarding decks (SUPER FUN!) and took a lot of pain/learning from it. Boots make a big difference in how the legs were able to move and also the flex of them in particular bindings. The IBEX bindings were far more flexible and forgiving (albeit a tad sloppy) feeling, but worked better for range of motion versus the TD2's I have that I also tried. Dan was very helpfull with feedback and adjustments to where my posture and angulation was off causing the blowouts on heelside turns, but I was just unable to get to where I needed to be with the limitations of the HEAD boots. He was amazingly good and looked natural on the board and I tried to replicate his body motion with my gear and set up on the same board as him, but was unsuccessful in 3 hours of trying to get where I wanted on the heelside turn. So, I re-set the board to a stance and angles I previously tried that was more comfortable (with the back boot angle higher than the front) and then just rode it in a BX style it it absolutely ripped and I loved it. While I was not anywhere close to "heelside -Eurocarving it" It felt 100% better and more stable than before, and I was no longer "falling" by pushing too hard agains what my natural biomechanics would allow. In short for the TL ; DR version: try different stuff and there is a point where it clicks.... We all have a jump shot, but we can't be Michael Jordan "Air" from the free throw line no matter how hard we try ;)

Just saw this thread now. Hiiya ! Was nice riding with you and carvercutie for a brief few runs, lessons lessons lessons.... always in the way of fun, but thats what working on a mountian is .... work! haah. ECES was great on thursday! Hope to ride again soon with youin the spring melty carveaslushusness !

Good times ! Thanks to all who set this up and keep it alive year after (leap) year !

BRODIE in Lanesboro Mass. R.I.P.

You can pound nails with a wrench, but a hammer is better. Proper tool for the situation and enjoy the different boards / setups/ gear for where they are best suited :) Work smarter, not harder in the snow. Don't question your set up or techniques that work in the hardpack east. For something that is completely alien and different in big mountain back-country powder runs, you have to adapt and change to what works best. Embrace the softboots :) CARVING is still CARVING :)

Just to ask in a logical thread, will there be demo- boots available? I thought I read something about that, but perhaps it was just @ SES ? I have a friend who is a softboot carver and wants to try the HB gear before making the big $ investment. I believe he is a 10.5 shoe ( Mondo 27 maybe? ). We are comming up on thursday. thanks.

I was "informed" by the wife that we have a birthday party for her sons' baby on saturday and if I "miss it" She will put my boards thru a wood chipper. I stamped my feet and pouted with the lament of: (THE BABY IS ONE YEAR OLD ! not like it will remember or be a day of anything important*...!) That being said, it is Presidents Week (AASI Instructor HELL WEEK) and I'm booked solid and going in extra days already as it is @ Jiminy.... Legs are Shot! Have to save some for STRATTON next week. I wil do the NO-RAIN DANCE and pray for SNOW Friday ! Cheers, D- *I slept on the couch for half the night cause of that comment.... LOL.

Prez'dntz Week.... ARGH..... HELL WEEK.... if my legs and mind are not fried, I will try to come out SAT. :) Cail, Where ya been ? haven't seen any hardbooters other than myself there on any sundays :(

This is great news ! I for once actualy am free from any required time in the kitchen, and will be able to play all week! lets hope for great conditions and fun for all !

Sweet !

Rollerskating, and racing Jetskis in the summer. Its a brutal workout! :)

I have thin legs and the Head boots were notoriously stiff when I first get them and are not broken in yet. I had bad shinbang also when I first rode. Longer socks, slight adjustments to canting, and a bit more forward lean on the boot cuff adjustment helped mine go away. Also odd, but if you have hairy shins/legs, you might want to shave them so as to not irritate the folicles and risk yanking hair out of your skin :)

161#s and box stock, but soft tongue and I keep the rear boot top strap a bit loose and in Walk mode.

Going thru withdrawl, so I went to the local Ice skating rink, went out back where the 'boni dumps the shaved ice, zipped up my coat and threw myself into the fresh pile..... Consider it a job well done if you squirm enough to get it in yer pants and dont realize it till you are back in the car 10 minutes later :)

I rode the Coiler VSR softboot carver. I liked its feel, but unfortunately the conditions I rode it in for trials was soft lumpy packed powder, so I can't say for sure if it would be a good fit for you. If you want something retail off the rack, Id suggest http://k2snowboarding.com/snowboards/protohype if U are in a lot of freshie or this : http://k2snowboarding.com/snowboards/lifelike-wide Which I have Demoed on the East coast and really liked. Personaly I still love my 2009 K2 Podium for my GO-TO board for softboot ripping, but they are hard to find now. If you come across one, snatch it up! HTH.

I did the numbers thismorning actualy..... after realizing I was not going to get "just 1 more day".... For the first time in nearly a decade I have less than 50 days on snow :( . Actual #: a lowly 18. However, the good part of that was on super nice condition days, and 9 of them were on the carver which I did not ride at all until ECES @ stratton. Only had on the softies for 1 day after that (EPIC POW DUMP DAY during ECES). Had too many other things going on this winter to really get out to enjoy it. Did finaly talk to my graphics guy and finalizing the topsheet for the Coilier VSR from Bruce, so this season was indeed Good :)

Its nice to finaly have something ... F U B U ! I got my copy just a week after ECES.. WOW. so awesome. Cool to see people we all know and can actualy say " I've ridden with that guy/gal" in a magazine who are not just olympic medalist or superstars on a pro level. Maybe someday we can hope to see our kind of gear back in a "HOUSE" catalog or godwilling... "TRANSWORLD SNOWBOARDING BUYERS GUIDE".... lol.

bomber soft boot system? I think a few eyes are rolling and groans from a few as that will mean the "purity of bootin" people will need to openly accept mushbooters on the forum and not a separate softy section.... Either way, I'd be down for a set of those plates also if available

I didn't realise I needed to push the envlope and throw down "hardkore Olympic Steez"be a "bigshot" @ SES or anywhere else for that matter. I was focused on returning UNBROKEN from a trip when I didnt feel 100% at ease in completely new surroundings, unfamiliar with the trails, conditions, demos or didnt have a board under me that I was completely comfortable on. Yeah, I do ride cautious, but I also will rip when I find conditions to my approval. There was a few days and times I was out and had no problems laying down stiff lines and railing turns but I will be sure to adjust that next year as apparently a few people are quick to run their fingers on a keyboard rather than say it in person with smack talk..... :rolleyes: Sorry, I know how to snowboard, I have to work on the being an eletist prick a bit harder next season. Oh and as to how to adjust the radius.............. try leaning forward with your head and arms in a SUPERMAN flight mode... apparently its the latest rage in style.

Purely based upon the wording of the poll: I saw 7+ every day. Lots of people can carve turns, rarely a few do in hardboots.

Snowman (mark) not sure if you have ever ridden a SWOARD, but it is a board that demands a vastly different input as to rotation and muscles than most "carve" boards on the market. I rode two of them for about 10 runs in aspen, and they handed me my ass a few times when I gave bad input to them trying to ride them as I would other boards. When I emulated the movements as shown for how the board works (and adjusted my angles of stance) to the specs from the company (after a quick retreat to my hotel room for liquid courage and internet technique advice of mental refreshment) I went back out and rode it the way it was supposed to be, and it performed nicely. Infact, I found they ride nicer than a few other MFR's boards on the some trails, but then conversely performed worse in other less agressive steeps. It is purely a case for proper tool for the job. In terms of this threads quandry, I'd say try fore/aft movement over the leading and trailing leg into and out of the turn. If you chest hits your front knee, you went too far for the speed U are traveling, (but have a really wicked up-hill slice though) adjust accordingly from that point.