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Fastskiguy

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Posts posted by Fastskiguy

  1. FSG:

    Those lines were made by one carver? You? Good on ya! Nice black and white. Your making me think about getting some TD3's now. Fifteen below? Wow, that's colder than my mother-in-laws' smile.

    Mark

    Sorry to hear about your mother-in-law ;) but yeah, I was the only guy on the run for about 3 hours. It was freakishly amazing!

  2. Now that's my kind of slope! Tell me it's NOT a black slope! I could carve a slope like that all day too. :p

    Scott

    Well, it's a "midwest" black so yes, it's called a black but no, compared to east or west it's a blue. It's one of the best pitches around....but compared to the other pictures in this thread it's, well, let's just say it's the best around these parts ;)

  3. OK guys, got my TD3's, got some tips on the setup, got out today in some brilliantly sunny weather on some spectacular snow and as a super bonus, no crowds due to the arctic blast here in the midwest! Heck, even school was cancelled today (-15F but warmed to -7!) so I knew it was time to go :)

    So these binders are pretty nice. I'm coming off of a redneck setup-snowpro front, TD2 SI with the medium cushion on the rear. Oh yeah, plus fintechs :) So I'd say more positive engagement, a lot easier to catch the toe bail, and maybe a really smooth ride with the yellow cushions...or maybe it was just the snow but it was SWEET!

    Today was so neat, got in 30 runs on this hill, only a couple of other guys went down blurring my lines. So by the end it looked pretty cut up :) Sometimes extreme weather is just really really great :)

    post-3210-141842271049_thumb.jpg

  4. The small pins are supposed to be the primary downward load-bearers. The large spring-loaded pins are only supposed to hold your boot down in the binding.

    OK, that was my understanding too. It's funny that the bottom of the heel doesn't touch the binding and that the small pin bears most of the load. But hey, seems to work great!

    Got out today in the -15F weather (great sun, great snow, no crowds!) and curiously the right (front) boot developed some play, moved the heel piece forward one notch and it was perfect (again). Rear left foot started and finished perfect.

    Thanks guys :)

  5. Perfect technique on the blues=perfect on blacks but less margin for error. Testing your technique is a reason to ride blacks, are you precise enough? You can run blues all day in search of the "perfect run" but it gets old after awhile....for most. It's the dedicated flatlander who really understands!

  6. Could you guys check my setup? I think it's just right but I'd love to hear some opinions. Out here in the sticks I don't have anybody to check with....haven't seen any TD3's on the local slopes (LOL)...just want to be as sure as I can that I'm set up right.

    The funny thing.....the heel of the boot doesn't touch the binding, it's all on the pins...is that right?

    Here are some shots....this page is the left boot...medial/caudal/lateral

    post-3210-141842270962_thumb.jpg

    post-3210-141842270965_thumb.jpg

    post-3210-141842270967_thumb.jpg

  7. Good advice so far -- anyone have any specific heelside drills that can be practiced on greens and easy blues? Drills that one could practice without having to do full linked turns so one can focus just on the heelside?

    Many thanks for any thoughts!

    A garland would be great! But it's impossible to describe in words.

    OK, I'll try....

    1 find a wide run

    2 start a traverse on your heel side

    3 engage your toeside edge and carve towards the fall line

    4 before you reach it move back to the heelside and crank a turn back to a traverse

    5 then repeat

    as you get better, make the toeside turn longer so you get more into the fall line....then past it....then gradually blend it into a regular "turn"

    this way you can practice the easiest part of the heelside first....a lot.....and gradually make it more difficult and "like real snowboarding" over time

    Just don't forget all of those heelside tips everybody threw out there :)

    LOL, proof you can't describe it. Help me out guys :)

  8. Maybe I'm not skilled enough with the step-ins yet, having only used them about 4 days, but they dont' seem much faster or more convenient to me. Clipping in is a bit easier and faster, but not much. I still need to stop to step into them. The only advantage is that I don't have to bend down, but that's not a big deal.

    Unclipping actually seems easier with standard bindings. Just bend down and flip up the toe lever. With the step-ins I need to push my boot down to get them to smoothly release, and there really isn't any difference between bending down to grab the intec handle or bending down to undo the toe lever.

    You will get to where you can clip in while gliding off of the lift.....usually. As far as getting out.....I totally agree :) (but it's 6" less bending down so that's something, right?)

  9. Staying totally hooked up on an honest "Blue" run isn't exactly a gimmie for 99.9% of skiers and snowboarders so the bar is pretty high to begin with.

    I'm sure you know this but a "turn" is 180 degrees, gotta get every turn completed before diving into the next one or in a turn or two it's "****, I'm bookin' now!"

    You mentioned knees close together. I widened my stance this year and I feel like I am really in an aggressive "attack" position, knees apart, ready for action. Wider stance maybe?

    Carvedog gave me the best tip so far....on heelsides it's OK to touch the snow with your right hand as long as you touch it with your left hand first (I'm goofy) and on the toesides it's OK to touch the snow with your left hand as long as you touch it first with your right hand. I love the EC style and it was fostering all kinds of bad habits LOL.

    Nothing wrong with a soft board but the comment about it not holding as well as your SL skis....I've been on plenty of SL skis and the alpine boards I have been on (donek fcII 171, blade 180 med, axess 182, axes 172, custom GS (can't remember specs)) have all held as well as any SL board. Can you take some runs on the boards of the guys who are cutting up the black diamonds?

    And finally, philosophically, if you can rail it in good conditions and have trouble only in "ball bearings over refreeze" then embrace it, look forward to it, and work towards mastering it. The best riders can rip it in those conditions, riding in those conditions gives you the opportunity to learn to rip it as well. Tough conditions are tough, but that's when you have the most to learn.

  10. A high-speed quad on a 330' hill? I'm envious. Seriously, I have a 7 minute lift ride on a 350' hill, then about 45 seconds to 1 minute down. http://www.frostfireskiarea.com/images/frostfire_trailmap.pdf

    or

    http://www.holidaymountain.com/libraries/misc/Trails.jpg

    I probably get a few extra runs a day with step-ins. [on-topic]FinTecs make every step-in a pleasure. ;) :biggthump

    Yeah, it used to take 5 or 6 minutes or something now it's like...not sure but maybe 2 minutes? I wish we had a big mountain to ride around here but I'm grateful for what we've got :)

    http://alpinevalleyresort.com/index2.php

  11. 4 minutes for a run and a lift?! How do you manage that? Either your name is completely fitting, or you have a small mountain.

    It's a high speed quad on a 330 foot hill. On the weekdays I can glide up to the line and step out of the binding, sit down, zip to the top, do a quick 180, click in, and head down again. 11-14 short round arcs later it's back on the line and up again. Running this way you can do a lap in 3 minutes, sometimes 2:55, skiing with somebody else or once a few other people show up it will slow you to about 17 or 18 per hour, on a busy day it's a whole different story. 1 hour there, 1 hour back, 35$ ticket, 3:45 on-snow, 20K feet, it's the best deal I can get.

    Heading to the land of big lifts, Sun Valley, next week, for me it's like heaven! 3000 feet in one shot, I usually have to stop 10 times LOL!

  12. I liked the idea of a light or a beep when you're fully engaged. Especially after seeing Intecs in person. seemed like more trouble than it's worth, when I can click standards on while standing up, although admittedly I end up 10 feet down the trail sometimes!

    Clicking in with standards must be tough...never occurred to me to even try! But on our short lifts where we can log 60 runs in a 4 hour session.....(f)intecs speed up the lap time

  13. Does everyone on here agree with the base bevel then?

    I've generally always run at flat base and 89 edge, but that's been more because I never trusted the tech guys closest to wherever I was living. :D Now I'm back out East with the ice and I wonder if I should just keep on truckin' with my setup, or put the base bevel in. Thoughts?

    (Unfortunately yes, I'll get someone else to do it....)

    greg

    I'd like to say "no", or rather something like "base bevel is for pussies" but I'm going with "yes, you've got to have it"

  14. All I can say is that it's crossed my mind to tune skis that way but then we went from 205's to 180's or whatever and it seemed like....well gee, they're only 180's so I kinda forgot about it. Do you notice any decrease in edge grip? Or just an easier-to-handle board?

  15. If he's not already rich, that guy's gonna be set for life. How the hell does the lifty forget to make sure the seat is down before letting skiers sit on the chair? It's not like the skier has much opportunity to inspect the chair as it comes up behind him. Vail is going to pay for that one. Ka-ching!

    It's happened to me. LOL, well not the falling thru part but on a double chair the seat was flipped up. Made for a mighty uncomfortable ride up, that's for sure.

  16. with my trusty MRR rotomats...granted racing springs and din to 18 so if I hit a bus going 60, I'd be dead but boots and binding would be firmly attached--the Dukes and Barons have much improved the maligned Marker name

    I had some MRR's too, just thought they were the coolest thing. Not even step-in's, you had to reach down to latch the heel, had the sliding AFD too. Ran'em on my K2 VO Slaloms, just totally the rockin' setup back in the day. I ran mine at about 12 and would blow out now and again. I have Tyrolia binders now at only 9 and it's been no problemo.....but the way you stand on the ski makes a difference (honest!) and I'm standing on them better now. The greatest bindings in the world were the old Look turntables-they were totally reliable, just a fantastic binding!

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