James Ong

Your not that far away from having a split board :) OR SKIS

Thanks for the kind words Kip :) Finally got new boots with the bts springs. BIG improvement. You wanna see thrashed you oughta get a good look at Rob's burtons.

Don't feed the troll.

A racer explained to me that metal boards have a very linear flex right from the get go so it seems are built softer to begin with. Maybe race boards are softer in general anyway. Why do you suppose a board that has this characteristic rides better? Why should joe carver care? We need the people who alredy have metal boards to keep us updated as they get 50+ days on it. Longevity and how the camber holds up are foremost in my mind.

If race boards have taper to make it easier to release the turn (?), how do you suppose a board that flares out at the tail a centimeter or two would ride?

what's the cafeteria fare like? Kimchee nachos?

It wouldn't be the same without the yearly EC fracas

I'll have to concede that one to you Bordy, the EC boys did come off too strong and maybe a little bit arrogant on that point. Professional opinions are always appreciated,but when a person uses works like mediocre , sucks and worthless to review a board it sounds well... unprofessional . I realise that this is how a person might truly feel about a product and is entitled to his/ her opinion. In return you will have to accept that people who do not agree with you night not be polite either and use the same words to describe the review ;)

O.K how about this: Perhaps the perceived attitude, intended or not stems from the fact that the swoard is not part of the racing clique

Hah, you just made my point for me. I don't have any first hand knowlege of any of this stuff, but it does not stop me from saying ( or posting somewhere) that i heard it. I should'nt be surprised then if someone calls me on it. Your opinion of the swoard is just that, your opinion. What you look for in a board is likely not what the majority of carvers is interested in ( or maybe just me) Would you explain why you think the nose shape is less than optimal? I agree that getting a custom deck from Donek or Coiler is a better value, i have in fact done exactly that from both and am very happy.

List of things i have "heard" Al Gore invented the internet GW lied about the war Men are from Mars Jessice Simpson is pregnant Ashley Simpson can really sing

Agreed, there might be more than one way to skin a cat though. Driving the board with your lower body usually means pressuring the boot forward with your shins ( i think ). Would it not be possible to get the same, if not as powerful an effect with rotation and pushing? Maybe the difference in opinion stems from differing goals. What might work pretty good for laid out carves is likely idiotic from a racers perspective.

I'm not arguing that push-pull ( and lots of rotation) is the better way to go, but there is no denying that it works. When i do turns with less rotation it dosen't work worth a damn so i have to believe that something good is going on. Before someone brings it up , maybe it only works in hero snow eh? :o In that case i am the luckiest guy in the world because 99% of the conditions i ride in MUST be hero snow. Again i'm not saying that the commonly accepted way of turning is not the better way . Be open minded though, it wasn't that long ago that people thought Bode Miller was nuts to try to ski the way he did. Here is an exerpt from shapeski.com analyzing bode's technique. CONCLUSION Because his slalom skiing sometimes looks awkward and unbalanced, I expected in my analysis to find many aspects of Bode's technique inefficient and risky, and not for general consumption. Indeed there are some moves involving excessive rotations and counter-rotations to question. Also, in weighting his tails to to keep his skis tracking cleanly coming out of turns he will sometimes wait too long to get forward for the next turn. I suspect that this is not so much an ingrained technical flaw as it is a lack of slalom training due to multi-discipline time constraints. Still, much of the unconventional in Bode's technique, like: Tilting in at the top of open-gate turns, Putting down the inside hand when necessary to help find balance at big lean angles,Coming back on his skis at turns' end to get out of the turns cleanly, and limiting extension, Running many vertical combinations with feet less than two feet apart. are part of what makes him fast. Each of these moves runs counter to some widely accepted coaching dogma and it's tempting to suggest that we should be teaching every kid or Masters racer to ski slalom like Bode. But few have Bode's strength and agility, and it's probably best to first learn a somewhat more balanced and reliable technique before experimenting with some Bode-like moves. Keep your mind open. Coaches seldom, if ever, discover something new that's fast, and we've set back U.S. racing before by squashing funny looking technique and/or equipment that we should have analyzed and used intelligently, in order to stay ahead of the competition. Remember. You don't win the World Cup with a lot that's wrong. We should be finding and using the best from Bode. Any of the above comments sound familiar?

I'm not arguing that push-pull ( and lots of rotation)is the better way to go, but there is no denying that it works. When i do turns with less rotation it dosen't work worth a damn so i have to believe that something good is going on. Before someone brings it up , maybe it only works in hero snow eh? :o In that case i am the luckiest guy in the world because 99% of the conditions i ride in MUST be hero snow. Again i don't argue that the commonly accepted way of turning is not the better way . Be open minded though, it wasn't that long ago that people thought Bode Miller was nuts to try to ski the way he did. Here is an exerpt of an analysis of Bode's style. CONCLUSION Because his slalom skiing sometimes looks awkward and unbalanced, I expected in my analysis to find many aspects of Bode's technique inefficient and risky, and not for general consumption. Indeed there are some moves involving excessive rotations and counter-rotations to question. Also, in weighting his tails to to keep his skis tracking cleanly coming out of turns he will sometimes wait too long to get forward for the next turn. I suspect that this is not so much an ingrained technical flaw as it is a lack of slalom training due to multi-discipline time constraints. Still, much of the unconventional in Bode's technique, like: Tilting in at the top of open-gate turns, Putting down the inside hand when necessary to help find balance at big lean angles, Coming back on his skis at turns' end to get out of the turns cleanly, and limiting extension, Running many vertical combinations with feet less than two feet apart. are part of what makes him fast. Each of these moves runs counter to some widely accepted coaching dogma and it's tempting to suggest that we should be teaching every kid or Masters racer to ski slalom like Bode. But few have Bode's strength and agility, and it's probably best to first learn a somewhat more balanced and reliable technique before experimenting with some Bode-like moves. Keep your mind open. Coaches seldom, if ever, discover something new that's fast, and we've set back U.S. racing before by squashing funny looking technique and/or equipment that we should have analyzed and used intelligently, in order to stay ahead of the competition. Remember. You don't win the World Cup with a lot that's wrong. We should be finding and using the best from Bode.

The benefit to over rotating i believe is that it gets the hips turned towards the direction of the turn. This seems counter intuitive since it would appear that you are tourqueing the nose of the board into the snow. I don't think so though since considering the position of the bindings on the board this effect should be minimal. Maybe this adds enough twist to improve edge hold. I think the hips do more work than is commonly thought , otherwise we wouldn't tell freestylers to turn thier hips towards the front of the board? The push part of the equation also seems screwy, but i think the trick here is that the edge is alredy set and rotation pretty much done before any pushing is performed. Sorry if my description is bit lacking , maybe someone else can put into better words what has to be felt to be believed. I think your right , nice footage. Lots of STYLE

D-sub, I think you'r confusing personality with technique. A lot of the Asian players are just not comfortable in front of the camera and are very stoic and businesslike in their play. Annika sorenstam has often been accused of being boring, but it is always commented that she hits the ball straighter than anybody. Maybe you prefer golfers to perform end zone like celebrations after every shot made? Tiger is another one always accused by the media of being a robot and not willing to say anything other than all the worn out sport cliches. He's boring but stays out of trouble by keeping his mouth shut. I'm no golfer but i figure a swing is a swing, it's either right or wrong, playing with "joy" is not necessary and can often look like grandstanding. I think you'r missing the main point of the EC technique, the rotation is done to provide more edge pressure. This might seem like an extra and unnecessary movement but is important because of the "EXTREME" inclination involved. The upper body rotation which also rotates the hips toward the turn and the pushing action of the legs is what allows the rider to hold the edge.

Picture this, you are the unfortunate air marshall confronting a crazy who claims to have a bomb. Quickly, what goes through your head as he reaches into his pack ? Do you get to go home today? Will your co workers get to go home in one piece? What if you do the wrong thing either by action or inaction? Btw, you don't have a lot or time to decide. I guess you could set your phaser on stun though

It's always sad when someone dies needlessly. However, he claimed to have a bomb and when ordered to lay on the ground, he reached into his pack. Put yourselves in the shoes of the officers doing their job, not an easy situation. Lets remember that prior to 9/11 the items allegedly used to take over the planes were perfectly legal to carry-on. I have carried on pretty big knives in the past myself. Even knowing this , a lot of people complain that we "should" have seen this coming and that the administration neglected airline security . So in this case it is understandable that they would err on the side of caution and not allow any sharp tools on the plane. It's not as if the list of banned items hadn't been available to the public all this time.

Nils, It could be that the nature of resort riding is MOSTLY different in the States. Powder gets tracked out quickly because of the crowds so you usually do not get the chance to make extra fat turns. The runs also tend to be shorter. Of course if your lucky enough to go heli-boarding the big board is entirelly appropriate Now about the longer carving boards, can't explain. Why do you think europeans tend to ride boards in the 170 range?

I think we have some control of our destiny. The way we conduct ourselves on the slopes and our willingness to talk the sport up and help the curious will eventually pay off. When i get asked about my board i find the easiest way to explain is that it's similar to race gear. My feelings on racing are very ambivelent . As in any other sport, only a very small number of people are driven enough to devote the time, work and money to excel. Obviously there is a difference between what a racer is trying to accomplish compared to the typical recreational carver trying to lay it down ( or not :o ) The goals diverge but i don't think it matters overly much. One happy family right? . Maybe for ses a clinic might be in order, just something to familiarize the masses with racing . maybe learn a few things in the process:biggthump

This got me thinking, we have seen numerous manufacturers dropping their alpine line in the past 8 or so years. Olympic racing is now down to 1 event where as i used to see 3 on tv (correct me if i'm wrong). If racing were to disappear altogether, would the remaining alpine providers survive ? Does recreational carving by itself provide enough customers ? If deeluxe and head were to stop producing boots, would we be up sh-t creek? I would hate to make do with ski boots.

When wrestling for possesion of a fantastically dangerous weapon (gun or knife), the guy holding the handle usually wins. :D More guns than i can count, into serious ipsc pistol competition and carry a glock or kel-tec Glock 17,21,22,29 Browning hi power colt 1911 .45 caliber amt .30 carbine colt delta elite 10 mm para ordnance p12, p14 Sti competition .38 super, .40 caliber (rifles) Ruger 10-22 H-K 91 pwa ar-15 Marlin 30-30 lever action Norinko legend AK-47 mossberg 12 gauge mac-11 machine pistol with threaded on suppresor ( silencer)

Bordy, I think there is a BIG difference between protecting your gloves and carrying a couple of sliding devices. Although to be fair i haven't tried them , if you have them made and market it yourself it might be a revolution akin to EC eh?:D I might even order one myself. Lookin forward to seein the videos

Angulation is king right? This seems to be the crux of all the disputes about EC. To angulate is certainly the most technically correct way to generate edge pressure, for an alpine board or skis. I remember watching the snowboard races on the tube when they were still running SG and downhill, in the heydays of Melhuse and Masterpool. This was ( and probably still is) the way everyone did it and since there was no other instruction, this is what i pattered my riding after. In EC there is much INCLINATION performed which is understandably viewed as bad technique. Here is the Crux, since it is in bad form to inclinate so much does this method bear studying just because they accomplish so much with so called "bad technique"? Every time you say touching the snow the or being leaned over that much is bad, you might be making their argument for them.