redriver

... working on plane reservations now and hope to come, with vid camera. Should be a good day to wrap up my season (son's baseball season starts soon). Larry

Based on what I hear here, the east coasters are going with short boards due to narrower and more crowded trails. The guys out west shoot for days and resorts with low crowds, wide trails so they can pull out the big guns, sustain the g-forces over longer arcs, thus bump up the adrenaline and fun factors.

.. flying United and Frontier recently with multiple boards in a bag (and boots), as long as I didn't exceed the 50 lb limit- they never checked and just charged the standard $15 for the first checked bag. Flying to/from Denver, they get enough board bags that it's no big deal. I'll crap on AirTran while I'm at it for charging my son and I $80 each for wakeboard bags this summer. Could have shipped them for half that.

I plan to be on the gondola at opening, then sounds like we need to be over on stagecoach on the Nevada side, based on postings on TC. Looks like a good choice of intermediate runs over there, and I remember some nice bluish ones from a trip 3 years ago. I'm an intermediate carver.

Also- I shaved the base 1 degree and the side 2 degrees for some extra hold, but can't say I've ridden it much on ice.

Got a good deal on the Roadster 166 myself a couple of years ago and it's been fun. I'm 185, and I like it for later-in-the-day conditions, or shallow snow. Early, I really like the new Prior 175 WCR I bought last year and can really tell the difference in control. I've raced with the Roadster some but find my times to be just about as good on softies. I'd say a good starter board for a good price for all-round riding. BTW- think the conshox are built in on this board.

I'll be carving at Heavenly from Jan. 31 to Feb 2.

I know we're all seeking endless cord, but does anyone move bindings back for powder days and / or up for icy conditions (East Coasters?)? How about the racers among us, any binding adjustments depending on conditions?

How was your first day back?

Not to beat this one to death, but I still have some trouble wrapping my mind around a couple of the responses: From Nate and Jack: Unless I'm tetering on a single axis on the center line of the board, or set up at 0 degrees across the board, or just rolling pressure from one side of the boots to the other, it seems that it does matter where the heel/toe pressure points are. And seems like my navel has to be constantly moving forward (on the heel side) and back (on toe side) on each turn to get my mass centered on the sidecut radius. And JoeK: Not buying that. I don't follow the circuit, but vendors mention that F2s are the choice of many World Cuppers, and my Race Titaniums aren't dinosaurs in the carving marketplace. Maybe this is less of an issue with TDs, but as David G. suggests above, it may still be an issue. I don't doubt that there are setup and technique compensators, and that's what I'm trying to get at... And thanks DavidG, I'll go back and read those posts. Here's an update on the diagram (I know I should just get out and ride):

Thanks for the correction- yes, 1" = 2.5 cm setback, not 2.5". Knew that didn't seem right.

Chris- Yes- my couple-of-years-old Prior WCR looks like 1" setback, tho a recent post mentions a 2.5 and Prior's current WCR specs list 2.5. Also, my slalom board (163) measures a 1" setback (taper not considered, if they have any). Still, if I set up centered on the inserts, looks like I'm actually back of true center of the radius by about 3.5" on the heel side (the center of my F2 bindings to the center of the heel base is 2.5" back at 55- 60 degrees angle).

Nate- here's a quote from Sean McCarron's tech article on stance and chatter: And assuming that using both legs equally through most of the turn is most efficient, then I'm going to say that my mass is evenly centered over the balls of my feet on toeside, and between the heels on heelside turns, which still seems to put me about 4 inches back of true center on the heelside. I can shift mass forward to compensate, but I'm wondering if it can be handled with stance/ setback adjustments.

Brad- Yes, looks like that would artificially put more weight forward (like when I pushed hard on my front heel to stop chatter), but seems like it would also move weight forward for toe side turns.

and I'm not argueing at all for asyms (never had one), but trying to get my setup right on my syms

Ok- I'll buy that arguement for the TD baseplates, but my F2s have a significantly longer "footprint" that takes the toe and heel pressure (I think) well away from the center- again about 2 inches each way.

From a couple of last year’s threads on heelside chatter and recent ones on stance width and setbacks, and now setting up my boards for this year, I hope you’ll help me with the following question from a relative carving novice: With a standard setback at 2 inches plus (corrected to 1"- see below) on a symmetrical board, if I mount my bindings centered on the inserts, with average hardboot angles, that puts my toes at about 2 inches ahead of the “setback center,” or basically centered on the sidecut radius of the board, which makes sense. Then if I apply pressure evenly to both cuffs, I’m pressuring the true center of the toeside radius, right? My heels, on the other hand, are now a total of 4+ inches behind center, and that’s before we consider the significant anchor that’s already hanging behind center (my butt). So now it seems I would be riding way in the back seat full time, or fighting always to stay up front. When I applied most pressure to my front foot’s heel last year, my problems with heelside chatter ended and every time they came back, I emphasized front heel pressure. Seems like I’d be better off moving everything forward an inch or so to balance the equation. Am I onto something, or is it fuzzy flatlander math? See diagram below-

no separate comp. for boots in my bag, and I tend to agree with PhilW that packing boots with boards overloads the bag. Thinking next time I'll shift more soft stuff to the board bag, and get a semi-hard-side, carry on wheeled bag for boots. I'm trying to avoid the outrageous 2nd bag charges on trips. United and Frontier want $15 for the first checked bag, and I can live with that since it's mildly oversized anyway.

bindings and all weighs right at 50 lbs

I bought this wheeled and padded one for trips this year. My 175 and another board with bindings fit fine, with all my clothes and hard boots in between. Seems durable so far. This one checked bag then, plus my stuff in the carry on and I'm there. http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/4746,1380G_High-Sierra-Wheeled-Double-Snowboard-Bag.html

I remember a discussion like this last year, then on a day at Squaw V riding icy runouts to the lift at high speed (fast for me)... the tail was occasionally trying to catch edge like it had a mind of its own. Unnerving and was thinking I might want to feather that last couple of inches.

so sounds like I need another full set of risers (big wedge and small one) to make a toe pedal. Any idea where I can get spares for F2s?

On the "heels" of the very informative posts on cants and lifts, please post your stance width(s) and be sure to list the associated board, its length, your height and ...inseam. I'll start with: 19.5" on a Prior 175 WCR, I'm 6-1 and a 33" inseam On soft gear I ride wider, and I tried a wider stance on a freecarve board, but it was painful. Adjusted it to mimic the above and it rode much better.

...that would be 3.5 degrees or so of heel lift, since I'm wearing 29 mondos.

So that makes me 3.5 inward on both front and back leg, which feels comfortable on the carpet. And 5.5 degrees of back heel lift and maybe 3.5 degrees for the front toe (I put two opposing cant discs together to make a riser). If I remove the back leg cants, my bad back knee feels torqued-- feels more natural when "knock-kneed" and I think it needs the support of my stronger front leg. We'll see how it all rides in a couple of weeks. I knew the basics, but great continuing education for me on this subject.