Bullwings

speak for yourself. I have never once used chains ever :p get the right vehicle and the right set of tires and you can drive through almost any conditions (as long as I turn on 4wd, hahaha, right Aaron :lol:?). I've driven on knee high fresh pow on the road that hadn't been plowed yet at Mammoth (convict lake actually - outside of Mammoth) w/o chains trouble free. Of course I always keep them in the truck just in case. And as i said before, nothing wrong with the mountain itself... Besides, I like twisty curvy roads, even if it's in my 12 year old truck, and if i wake up early enough I can zoom up at my own pace. The 38 mainly sucks due to the fact that the 330 exists... Same curvy style road, but less overall commute. Highland ave to running springs is actually super fun to drive too, but I almost always catch up with someone slower than me and there are no passing lanes/sections. In anycase, it's personal preference. We have three local mountains, so there's a choice where to go :D (I'm just hoping more and more people CHOOSE not to go up to Big Bear due to this... hehehe) If I had more time and money, I probably wouldn't be found at any of them and would probably be at Mammoth/June a lot more often - that however is not the case...

Versatility. With a VSR/NSR 23cm and a medium to large side cut radius (after averaging everything out), the boards are still EC capable (even capable on my 164 VSR 23cm width with tight-SCR), but more importantly can tackle all conditions throughout the day from ice, crud, chop, and varying levels of slush. Essentially, you get a carving board with all mountain and EC capabilities. EC boards depending on the design tend to be one trick ponies and generally are not very good on ice - I definitely know this is true of one of the Virus models made for EC (can't remember the name - carvingchef/arclite has the board), although i can't speak on experience for the Swoard or other EC specific boards.

Snow showers I can deal with and don't mind... RAIN on the slopes itself, however is a deal breaker for me.

Heh, are you kidding? Even if I didn't have a pass at either, I'd still go to Big Bear. The drive is worth it for me. All it means is that more people will go to Mt. High instead and those slopes will be more crowded and less people up at Summit/Bear... Nothing wrong with the mountain itself at Mt. High, it's more the people and the staff that gets to me... You can skip both of those and go to Baldy - no one is up there... They also don't make very much snow either, but it's a good place if they get a dump.

^^^ :lol::lol: Yeah, that works.

EPIC FAIL!!!!! :( Damn, I hate driving the MFing 38... *Sigh* - hopefully it'll cut back on crowds at least...

More info please!!! It seems to be the consensus that stopping/slowing down is harder/a re-learning experience. Riders (D.T., inkaholic, and GeoffV) have also reported more difficulty riding at slower speeds and/or in crowds. *** This was based on the Bomber Boiler Plate*** How is it for the Donek Plate? I'm thinking of ponying up the $400 bones for the plate but might reconsider since the local mountain tends to turn into a zoo at times...

As everyone said. Email. When I emailed him I asked about his prefered method of communication and he said email... In anycase, yeah, I had Bruce build me a 23cm VSR-tight that looks just like WEBSIGHT360's. I corresponded with Bruce at the end of the season around April and got the board in December - definitely worth the wait. There's a reason that everyone is willing to wait for one. If you don't want to wait, just give Sean a call. Donek can get you a customish board in around 2-4weeks.

FYI for anyone going up to Summit for the first time this season. The 330 is closed again. You either gotta take the 38 or the 18. You can also take Waterman which will dump you off right at Running springs if you really want to. This is a pretty fun drive when the road isn't all snowy and iced up - and if you don't get some slow ass in front of you.

I prefer wider boards as well. I had Bruce make me a board with all the new shapes, metal, tech etc. etc. at 23cm width. I can live without the extra 0.5cm... I believe the Donek Razor or is it the Blade (one of those two always get them confused) is also a 23.5cm board as well. It was designed by that Greek dude (G-Force guys i believe) to be the American counter part to the Swoard w/o having to pay the hefty fees to get one. Unfortunately, that I know of it was only in a glass construction, but I'm sure you can request Sean to make it for you in metal and tailor it a little bit more to your specific liking. That said, I think it'll come out to be cheaper than a Prior ATV would be if you request it to be constructed in metal... Also try checking out exoticboards.com. They still have some SG Cults and SG Souls available, if I recall correctly, I know one of those boards is also close to 23.5cm - they're only in glass construction though, and have been discontinued, so no getting them in metal.

Prior ATV (not 4wd - that's 21.5). ATV is 23.5 at all lengths (161, 167, and 171)

Why would I want to remove wax? That's wasting money. It'd be like filling your car up with gas and then syphoning out the top 1/5 of the tank to make the car lighter... hahaha j/k Eh, i'm just a kook, but i've gotten to the point where I apply just enough wax (in my head/mind) to not need scraping. The only wax removal I need is to clear the channels/structure in my base. I haven't had any problems with slow down or getting stuck on the slopes (even at Mammoth on heavy bottomless pow days). It could be that I just don't have a good frame of reference/comparison and don't know what I'm missing... I used to apply way too much wax to the board and have to scrape off a ton of it. I've gotten a little bit more efficient at it now for my purposes. On an unfamiliar board/base I might need to do a bit of scraping though if the base doesn't absorb as much wax as expected.

If you apply your wax just right, scraping is not necessary - brushing only... And as far as bailing, yeah, when I ride local i usually only ride until around 1-1:30. That gives me about 5 hours of riding since I'm in line when the lifts open at 8am. If I travel anywhere like June or Mammoth, then it's all day riding - gotta get my money's worth for driving, room, and tickets... heh

http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=32396

Yeah bottomless heavy wet snow... I know no other, i've only ridden in the Sierras and here at the local place - Big Bear and Mt. High. On another note, if the season keeps up like this, Mammoth will probably be open until July. All the good room and ride deals start around middle/end of March. They close off the East side over by Eagle though once that happens. As for waxing and maintenance - lots of brushing. I just use dominator all temp wax with graphite.

^^^ DAMN!!! I was looking forward to possibly getting to ride with you this season No major loss to me though. Major bummer for you though :( Hope it doesn't kill all the fun for the Hawaii trip too. Anyway, good luck with that. Heal up and dare I say "Don't over do it?"

I should be there, bar rain on the mountain shutting the damn place down, or rain the night before... +2 I think a friend and his wife will likely come along too.

I think there should be a number of us (or at least a few of us) on Jan 2 (Sunday). Season pass is good again, for those of us that have one, and I believe non-holiday rate (can't confirm this one though). I'm probably a no go for the later January dates unfortunately. I should probably have doctor's clearance to go back on the slopes by the end of Jan i'm hopping.

Hey Greg, It was good riding with you today. I wished my legs were in better shape, I could have gotten a lot more runs with the minimal crowds. That and the conditions were the perfect pack for carving - not hero, a little bit harder, but nice anyway.

Cancel on that for me... Major cluster f***. that and i couldn't book a room for less than $450 a night... hahaha All for the better, went local today and realized that my legs are no up to speed. Would probably have been a wash... I'll be up at Summit the 2nd instead, and plan for late Jan/Feb

Both of you missed the point i was making. I didn't say carving was easy, and I didn't say anything about pushing yourself. Metal just makes it that much easier. If you push yourself to your limits on a glass board of equal specs etc. etc. vs. the same board in metal - it's likely that your performance and limits tend to be higher/greater on the metal board. As for the metal 186 GS analogy, well try the same thing with the same exact board in glass... Chances are that you'll probably say it was easier to do on the metal board. With the exception of a few things (things that i cannot think of - maybe tail end hop/jump transition carving) metal makes whatever it is that you're doing a lot easier than if you were on glass. Carving is easier (it's not easy, but less difficult when compared to a comparable glass board), skidding is easier and more controlled, varying the radius of the turn is easier, riding longer hours and until resort closing is easier, riding and gripping in ice is easier - all when compared to glass. It's not EASY, but it's easier when compared to riding a glass board. Hence, metal = cheating. And, if you're not cheating, then you're not trying hard enough ;) As far as being more enjoyable, well, that's rider preference. It's all about feel and what puts a smile on your face. Me, I like metal, it puts a huge smile on my face because it lets me push harder on so many different conditions and allows me to do it with confidence. Edit: I should also say that when I say Metal it is synonymous with incorporating the new shapes with decambered tail/nose and all that VSR goodness. On that front, I can't make a direct comparison with a glass board since I haven't ridden a glass board with the new shape technology. So i should change it to "New technology (metal and shapes) = cheater sticks :biggthump"

Anyone going up there? Seeing as how our local mountains got the total shaft, I think i'm going to ditch the annual new year gathering and head up to Mammoth/June next weekend with a buddy.

Isn't that what everything is about? At the end of the day most things boil down to money (whether snowboarding or not). That said, I finally got on a custom metal Coiler last year that Bruce made just for me. My way of justifying it. Well, I suck as a rider, and tend to be some what abusive of my gear, and it does the same to me. If I don't break the board, then it'll break me... I'd have a decent quiver of glass boards right now, If i didn't break them all, except for 2 of them. So, I finally just sucked it up and had Bruce make a metal board tailor made to my half-assed riding skills. WOW!!! While i'm still a mediocre rider, that board made such a big difference in my riding. Confidence and comfort level through the roof, as a result the riding improves too. I knew I was a so so rider and i was shelling out big bucks for a board might have been beyond my skill level, but it has been worth every single penny. Instead of the board being out of my league, it has pull my skill level up and makes me look even better than I really am. I get a lot of compliments now from the uninitiated... heh Metal boards truly are cheater sticks. If I see a good rider on a glass board and see a good rider on a metal board, my respect goes to the guy on the glass board... Metal with all the nice VSR, decambered nose, and decambered tail is like the car equivalent of having ABS, traction control, sequential double clutch transmission, etc. etc. Glass is like pure raw car, no aids or nannies to help you out and mask your flaws and errors - you screw up on glass, and you pay for it. You'll know you're doing something wrong when you're on glass... I think it's good to start off on glass, but eventually what'll get you to progress faster once you hit that plateau on glass is metal with all the new school shapes and technology. Now i just gotta save up for a donek or bomber plate. Do i need it and will i utilize it to the fullest? No. is it gonna be cool? hell yes!!! It's just like 90% of the people with Corvettes, Ferraris, Lamborginis, Porches etc. etc. How many of them actually take their cars to the track and flog them and drive them to the limits to see what the car can really do? Hardly any, but it's still cool as hell to have one.

+1 on that one. Been there done that too, and surprisingly, I came back a much better rider. I was too confident, and down right reckless at times. Broken leg - some hardware - and 7 months of re-learning how to walk will put the ego in check. Luckily I went straight into the OR after my break - no waiting for me (good thing too, they almost cut my leg off from the compartment syndrome) Anway, what Buell said. Good luck, heal up quick, and stick with your PT, and not just during your sessions, but on your own time too at home.

Yeah, hopefully we get some snow by then... Snow Summit is closed until further notice... Too much rain and warm weather. SOL, FUBAR, EPIC FAIL!!! And the season had such a promising start too... truly sad. Mammoth and June are getting pounded though. I'm very tempted to do a quick 2-3 day trip up there and just sleep in my truck since I'm sort of being a cheap ass this season... hahaha I wonder if I'll die. i have a really nice 15F rated sleeping bag... :lol::lol: I guess the worst that could happen is needing to take a massive dump in the middle of the night...