Bullwings

Who's up? I'm a 98% show for Sunday.

Hope the temps stay low and the humidity dry. It's looking like a 98% chance that i'll be up this Sunday.

Yeah, heal up quick. I'm looking at my first day of the season possibly next Sunday (Dec. 11). I'm gonna be out of shape, so you being slightly injured might give me a shot at keeping up... heh I'll post up on the boards as soon as I'm sure i can make it. 330 is open now?

Yeah, I'm aiming for December 11 for my first day this season. More rain coming this weekend. Hopefully the temps stay down low to preserve what's there and keep the snow blowers on.

Opening day is officially this Thursday. I'm out for now though. I'll be up in mid December. My season finale race is on Dec 3. I don't want to risk beating myself up before that... I'm still working on getting into boarding condition - I kind of slacked off in the summer. Mid December will hopefully give the weather gods more time to make snow and/or drop snow as well as me getting into a half way decent condition.

Yeah, i'm definitely going to have to up my game. That and my stamina. Summit is such a small mountain that you don't really work on that much. I didn't even make it out to Mammoth/June once this year or anywhere away from Summit. heh

So you just need me to post a bunch of filler posts to get it to the next page?

I'll likely be going up to Summit this Friday - I don't think there'll be much carving, but I'll get to try the O'sin 3800 on plates and put that whole thing to rest... :lol: Sunday is an 80% go for me right now. I'll know more on Friday/Sat what's happening there. I'm assuming most will be up at June/Mammoth this weekend.

I ride the $hittiest conditions... I ride local at Big Bear :lol::lol: Anyway, even here, local, Summit is gonna get 20"+ of the fresh stuff (that's a lot for us, down here). I'll probably get a day off of work on Thursday. Unfortunately, I won't be making SNES :( I wanted to go up to Summit for freshies tomorrow and try out the 3800 with hardboots and put to rest some "butt hurt" issues i brought up in some other thread. But, I won't get a shot at it, unfortunately...

I was going to go up, but then the weather got all SUPER SUPER SUPER warm. Ice i'm cool with, and actually, really like. i'd rather it be icy the entire day than do that whole business where it's hard in the morning and gradually softens up until it's finally slush by 11-11:30. I'll still, usually ride it, but not tomorrow. Temps tonight will only dip down to 34F (not even freezing), and the high is up in the +50s... Normally, i'd go, but it's not worth the gas for that. Get me some 25F temps over night so I can at least enjoy the morning ice... Next week should be good. Day light saving - get an earlier start to the morning

I went from a Suzuka to the newer track 325T. I found that the combination of both the liner and the shape of the shell kept my heel planted down more securely. I went to a Surefoot to get the Suzukas to work, and they weren't much help. The 325Ts, i did on my own, and it was much better. I still have the skinny calf problem though, so I had to pack a ton of foam padding around the liner to make up for the volume...

Yeah, the snow was too soft for racing/carving after the first 2 hours of the day. I imagine the course got pretty deep and moguled up. Still, it was good practice. Yeah, my last run (if you're talking about around 1pm, since I thought I heard someone call my name), my leg (front left) was toast. It was on fire and twitching. The snow was tough on the legs, and the pointers you gave me got me deeper in the carves and more stable at speed - thus, more Gs and even tougher on the legs. As for everyone else up there, where'd you all go? Mike, Celine, Mary, Jenny? I took two runs with Theo on Miracle, and after that headed over to chair 7 and 10 (mainly 7).

Thanks for all the pointers today. They really helped out, especially once the snow got all chopped up. I was able to bust and cut through all of it. Normally, I'd have a pretty tough time with that kind of chop. Both toe and heel sides felt better today. Took off at 1:30pm, to beat the traffic down. Damn, that was a bad drive. How'd the races go?

Ehhh, I'm coming from Walnut (Diamond Bar/Pomona area), Mt. High is closer, but it's like this for me. There's the Nevada/California border with Prim, Buffalo Bills, and Wiskey Pete's, or you can suck it up and drive another 45 minutes and be in Vegas... In any case, with the 330 being closed and the commute longer, further, and harder, it actually works out to my advantage. I figure most people are lazy and would rather go to Mt. High with the cheaper lift tickets, and easier commute. It just means that Summit will be less crowded, which, for what i've been seeing this season, is true. Ticket prices are a moot point since I have a season pass, which is only $50 more expensive than the season pass at Mt. High (granted, my Summit pass isn't good on Saturday's and there are holiday blackouts). BTW, I had a season pass at Mt. High for the 2006/2007 season. I never went back there after that season. And, another thing, so long as I don't get suck behind some slow poke - the mt. drive up to Big Bear and down is super fun for me. Edit: one last thing, the only runs I made it to at Mt. High were on the West side - Conquest rules. I never got out to the East side because they didn't have the water capacity to keep making snow. Summit uses 7800 gallons of water per minute when operating at full snow making capacity, and they have the lake to support that. When the natural snow is lacking as it was in 06/07, I find the Big bear resorts had more realistic snow bases with fewer rocks and twigs coming up out of the snow. One thing I will definitely conceed to Mt. High is that their night sessions rule. They have what seems to be better lighting, more runs open, more lifts operating, and everyday night sessions (not just Friday/Sat).

I'm gonna setup my 3800 with the raceplates for Sunday (just to try HBs one more time in pow, possibly) and bring both a powder and carving board just in case. Looks like a decent storm brewing for the weekend again.

+1 I'll be there. I randomly went up on Wednesday. HERO conditions. I could do no wrong. Hands down, the best carving conditions at Summit for the season (at least on the days I've been up).

+2 on that , which is where I was trying to get with this. For me on untracked, the hardboots were fine. Once everything got tracked out moguled up and torn apart, every bump felt like survival mode of "Don't break your leg again..." Softboots just always felt better for ME in powder. It's like when I find my little s2000 out on the crappiest roads with massive potholes that would cause flat tires (kind of like a broken leg) if gone over at speed. I'd much rather have my 4x4 gmc sierra, throw in the lack of any sort of paved road at all, and it swings even more heavily in that favor. Subaru STI? only on a rallyish type of dirt road, but not in sand dunes or mud pits... (enough car analogies from me) I've never had the opportunity to go heliboarding or on cat trips, so resort powder is what i deal with, and at Mammoth after a weekend of a 4' dump, it sure feels bottomless when I sink in to my chest after getting first tracks and screwing up and crashing (thus having to dig myself out). After the first 3-4 runs, it turns into survival mode if i'm on HBs.

Heh, my bad, I guess a little too much pot stirring... But yes, after all my time experimenting and trying out the different pow setups with HBs, it really did feel that way for me. FYI - it might also be because i'm a lighter rider at 5'9" and 140 lbs. In anycase, i found what works for me. I will give the burton raceplates and the 3800 a shot, though the next tiem i see powder.

Stir the pot a little? Yeah, I figured, responses would be what they are. Still, after all my years here (not that many - only 5 seasons), and all the reading and videos i've watched (Hard attack - and Joerg from Pure boarding tearing up moguls), I've really tried making HBs work for me on powder. At the end of the day, on the same board, back to back, I still prefer softboots over hardboots when it comes powder. After watching "hard attack" over and over, I tried really hard to do the hardboot powder thing (even after I broke my leg). I just haven't tried a softer boot interface (i'm on track 325Ts). Also, if a Tanker 192 doesn't qualify as a worthy powder board, i don't know what does... APO, 4807, Undertaker 195, Winterstick? It's not worth shelling out for conditions that i only see around 3-5 days a year (if i'm lucky). And, an ATV in 8"-12" on hardboots, why not? Prior markets it as "a popular choice for advanced alpine riders looking for a high-performance powder board." http://www.priorsnowboards.com/boards_atv.php#profile As far as riding fast, it seems that that's all I could do when I was in HBs in powder, riding slow just sucked. In SBs I can ride, fast, slow, chop, bumps, and tight trees. It's probably rider error (or lack of skill), but instead of forcing (which is what it felt like to me) myself to ride HBs in powder, it just turns out it's more enjoyable to be in softies when it's soft out (that includes 65F weather with slush). Btw, I know a certain hardboot carver that ditches snowboards altogether and hops on skis when it's powder out there :lol::lol: Anyway, if the conditions present itself again, I'll try out some Burton raceplates on the 3800 with my Track 325s (I already have the gear). I figure it'll be the final comparison until I pick up another board.

So, I had an epic pow day (or night I should say) just now on an O'sin 3800 in softboots on Catek FR2s. All I can say for everyone that swears by hardboots in pow, well, it's like trying to force the square block through the round hole... Or running a Ferrari on a rally course... Or using a downhill mt. bike for a triathalon... Why? Sure, it can be done, but it's not ideal. I can understand if you have only one board, and one setup, but if you have numerous boards, I can no longer understand HBs in powder. So my experience in powder as far as setups since riding hardboots has been this (in no particular order): Donek FCI 171 in HBs = uhhh I'm stupid?!?! ATV 161 in HBs = broken leg ATV 161 on FR2s = better but still lots of leg burn Tanker 192 in HBs = doable and somewhat enjoyable Coiler 164 VSR (23cm waist) in HBs = survivable, but not fun Tanker 192 on Burton Cartels w/riser plates = More fun than all of the above, but too narrow for size 12US softboots O'sin 3800 on Catek FR2s = better than any of the above, by far. Handles the chop and trees better than the Tanker 192 and no boot out either Plates have their place, but powder is definitely not it. As far as lack of response - it's powder, it's not gonna be instantaneous anyway... One of the things I always did with my softy setup was ratchet down the straps so tight that they would hurt my feet about half way to 3/4ths of the wait down the run. Well, tonight, I decided to try to back off on that after a few runs and left a tiny bit more play in the bindings and boot interface. The result = awesomeness. I didn't notice any less response vs. super tight ratchet down (i'm sure I would have on hardpack groom, but then I'd be on hardboots if that was the case), and my feet stop hurting. Powder just doesn't need the precision and power that you get from an HB interface; it prefers the slop and give of a softy setup. Your legs and shins will prefer it too. It's been said so many times before, but use the right tool for the job (especially if it's an economically viable option). In short: If you have the money, and you're riding powder, get a powder board (used works, the 3800 was bought used - like 3 times... hehe, thanks Andrea). Don't force your carving board or all-mountain board into powder if it gets deeper than 6". Get some softboots, and even a cheapo set of $150 bindings works (Cateks are admittedly, too stiff for powder) - get regular straps, none of that toe cap strap stuff (it's junk IMO). I'm sure many of you will disagree with me and say you prefer HBs in pow. That's fine, this is just my opinion after all. I used to think HBs were the end all setup for me (since I no longer ride park) - nope. I guess I could try my HBs on the 3800, but so far, in every situation on the same board, softboots in powder has always been better than HBs for me. In the end, it's 85-90% of my time on hardboots, and 10-15% of the time on softies for those special pow occasions.

Well, that was fun and insane. The drive up was tough, but the drive down was on a whole different level - they closed the 38 to redlands, had to go through Lucerne valley. I couldn't even see the road or where I was supposed to go. It's a good thing I just got my bro's hand me down Droid last week, which has GPS NAV on it, saved my ass. I was pretty much staring down at the thing to figure out when the turns were coming up. hahaha. anyway, enough driving. Oh yeah, and Aaron, if you're reading this - YES, i turned on the 4wd this time ;) Conditions were awesome and so worth it - I just wish I had gotten there a bit sooner. Still, half-night session, with voucher - cost me $14 bucks to ride tonight, cool deal. Endless pow, no lift lines. 3800 was a dream :1luvu:. I prefer it to my last Tanker 192 in pow (the 182 never got to see pow before my breaking it) - final verdict on the Tanker 192 in pow is that it's too narrow and a bit unweildy in the chop. The 3800 is so smooth and just floats. It's super fast and stable in the pow with fresh wax (brushing only, no scraping). I was riding faster than everyone out there and just surfing on top of the stuff. It's extremely agile too and pulled through when for sure I thought I'd eat snow. Awesome session, i could go on and on, but I won't.

Going up to Summit right now :lol::lol::lol: I'm packing my gear as we speak. Soft boots only tonight. Gonna try out my new-to-me 3800. hehehe I got work tomorrow, and i want some pow, so tonight it is

Pass is only good for Sundays... besides, recovery day is Monday, at work. You can get paid to recover. And do a little bit of "cubicle carving" too.

Heh, no, at least not if you're looking at 2010... I meant 2/6...

I'll be up there. Conditions should be good (to some of us anyway) - temps are nice and cool, and they've been making quite a decent amount of snow.