Erwin

Nice review!

Nice video and a great area to ride! Good to see someone thinking "out of the box" and wearing something cool instead of the helmet and sunglasses. ;) Next time, go look for a slightly steeper slope, as this one at the Magnetköpfl lifts is the flattest one you'll find in Kaprun. :p At 0m33s -> aaargh, just looks like a perfect day for a summit ride, too bad I wasn't there!

Anyway, I found some more information about the new rule: According to Marcel Looze (former FIS snowboard racing director): 'Still a lot of freedom exists. No minimum rules about how wide pants should be. The only restriction is that the material should differ from that used in speed-suits.'

@Seb: sorry, I don't believe that. One of the female athletes from Holland (Olympics gold medal winner) is not happy at all with this new rule. Source (in Dutch only): http://www.volkskrant.nl/sport/article1388940.ece/Sauerbreij_vierkant_tegen_verbod_op_de_snelpakken

@Seb: In my opinion it would be better to give the athletes the possibility to choose between a tight race-suit and a thicker suit. I chose to wear my zip-off pants and a thin jacket over my racesuit when weather was really bad at FIS races. In other cases I chose long thermal underwear to keep me warm under my racesuit, works fine for me. And I'd rather take a ski-doo than take a t-bar lift up to the start again, the latter being much colder. No, unfortunately I didn't have a coach waiting for me at the bottom with my warm clothes. Anyway, if it is due to the reason of racers cooling down too much, they should have communicated that. @MJB: could you please provide a source to that research? Furthermore, I still don't know how the new suit is defined. Can it be tight-fit, or should it be loose?

Similar arguments applied to the skiercross clothing issue, which is described in an article at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/sports/olympics/28suits.html. Just a quote about the rules that were needed to describe proper clothing: For ski cross, FIS rules require that outerwear be two pieces — pants and top — and not be made of rubber or similar materials. Pants must permit an eight-centimeter gap when pinched from the midthigh to the top of the boot — the same as the X Games — and shirts must allow for six centimeters of fabric around the elbow and biceps.

I really doubt this will make our sport more attractive. In my opinion, there is a lot more to it than just the racers wearing tight race-suits during competition. What about you? New clothing rule for PGS/PSL Jun. 8, 2010 RULE CHANGE: NEW CLOTHING RULES In terms of adopted rule changes, Canada also presented a motion with regards to clothing regulations for the Alpine events. As of this upcoming season, the disciplines of Alpine snowboarding (PGS, PSL) will move towards a two-piece suit instead of the ski racing one-piece skin-tight suit. The Alpine disciplines will now adhere to the same clothing regulations as the snowboardcross riders. The philosophy of the rule change revolves around respecting the culture of snowboarding, as well as making the sport more accessible to young riders at the provincial and club levels. Source: http://www.canadasnowboard.ca/en/about/news/?id=675

A detailed official description will not come from me. However, you can probably see the difference between left and right, right?! ;)

Just have a better look at the picture and read the post by BlueB dude. Probably you saw them, but did not have a good look at them...

In case you did not notice it already in the Happy Fun Plate thread, I put pictures of the two different models into one image, see attachment.

@Jack: Looks really nice, but please be careful...make sure your screws are long enough and that they not too long either and you put something underneath your bindings to equalize pressure at least a little. My 1st one showed ruptures in the titanal sheet around the insert holes. After a few weeks it broke and my board was gone. Just keep an eye on this. My brother is riding a 2nd hand Kessler where someone mounted his F2 bindings directly onto the board: titanal sheet delaminated... A quick review from me (slalom board): the ride is really awesome - smooth and like you're running on rails. So much time to focus on other things and the board will not run away with you. It gave me back the smile on my face, just like I had starting snowboarding! The nose is doing a really good job absorbing bumps and ruts and letting you decide where to choose the line. Slipping into the next turn is really easy due to the KST (Kessler Sidecut Technology and even better in the newer black models) and a much smoother transition exists between slipping and carving: ideal for racing. First you don't notice you're going fast, but if you just let it run it keeps on accelerating... Have fun!! Erwin

@NateW: completely wasted - the angle you see in the picture remained in the board. The metal boards are a great ride, however, they are really vulnerable...trust me, I can tell...

I am so with Jack on this! Too many times I see people whose only purpose is to touch the snow ASAP, with their entire body completely unbalanced and in such a position they cannot flex it properly anymore. But hey, if that is what they want - let them do it. If however, they would be on a somewhat less forgiving slope, this is not the technique to use IMO. Shifting the hips towards the snow and not necessarily touching the snow, although it might happen. Quite often I notice racers touching the snow, not for a specific purpose, but it happens... @Philfell: You're right, I would like to add one more thing: touching the snow means if you don't lift your hand you'll gonna hit the gate, too...It just sooo hurts... http://www.frozenlines.com/racing/20080127_EC_PGS_Sudelfeld/video-0081.mp4 At the first gate it shows what happens if you touch or don't touch a gate during a PGS race. (Schoch vs. unknown rider) Race was at Sudelfeld (D), January 2008, and I sucked.

Dude, that's not the point of showing that image. Of course he did not have his board parallel to the landing. If you read my post properly you could tell I'm concerned about localization of pressure. The image is just an illustration of what happens in an extreme case.

Regulars riders have way more fun... ;)