John E

So - I'll ask again: The thought of battling I-70 on Sundays again this winter makes me cringe. I'm planning on buying a couple of 4-paks. Anyone up for regular mid-week riding this season? Pete?

Not sure why traffic on this thread has dropped to near zero. The regulars haven't posted in a long time. Also, it could be that newcomers don't realize that "Yo LCI" is a thread dedicated to Loveland. I suggested that we rename this thread (or start a new one) that has Loveland in the title. That went nowhere.

Thinking about the season ahead. The prospect of fighting I-70 traffic on the weekends makes me cringe. Any interest in setting up a default mid-week carving day at Loveland? Is any one day better than another for the regular crew? Kevin, Arnie, Pete, Juwan, etc? Also, are any of you guys planning on ATC 2017? I'll be considering getting another Classic Pass.

Thinking about the season ahead. The prospect of fighting I-70 traffic on the weekends makes me cringe. Any interest in setting up a default mid-week carving day at Loveland? Is any one day better than another for the regular crew? Kevin, Arnie, Pete, Juwan, etc? Also, are any of you guys planning on ATC 2017? I'll be considering getting another Classic Pass.

I may not agree with Johnson on many issues but I respect his ideological consistency.

I think my boards were out in the sun for about an hour at most.

Tried my procedure this weekend to wax my boards: I got out 6 of them, laid them out in the driveway in the sun (base up). I let them warm up & then rubbed on some wax. I let this sit a bit more & then moved them to the shade to cool. This works out very well. I uses little wax, creates a thin, uniform coating and seems to impregnate the wax into the base better than an iron. However, what I also found is that it works great for boards with a black base, pretty well for boards with other colored bases and almost not at all for boards with white bases. In fact, one board has a light blue base with white lettering. The wax melted well in the blue sections and clumped up in the white areas. Try it out. Let me know what you think.

"Steelies on a sports car" are just a cost effective way to achieve a function. The snowboard analog would just be a plain black board. Someone (?) at MADD worked on that graphic. I find it hard to believe that even they thought that it was attractive at the time. They put it out there on a board that by most accounts is a great board. The MADD cult adopted it and embraced the graphic in spite of (or because) it was so ugly. I've never understood this aspect of humanity. Like an attractive woman getting getting a big, ugly tattoo. However, when one realizes just how ugly the board is, you can just quit riding it. Not so with the tattoo. The only thing close to this ugly are some of the recent Icelantic ski graphics. They are hideous. I've often wondered if the MADD graphics guy migrated to Icelantic. An co-worked used to ride KTM motorcycles. In the early 90's they were pink. His explanation was that you could always pick out a KTM because no other manufacturer would paint their bikes this color.

I've often thought that the old MADDs must be great boards because they are the ugliest things on the mountain.

Besides - your Prime Minister is a snowboarder. He has superpowers.

We as your immediate southern neighbor should help. However, as politically divided as we are, it would be a near impossibility for our leaders to agree on helping. Putin can just decide & make it happen. Good on him.

How were conditions yesterday?

I think Arne & Pete often get up mid-week.

Well - they're skis.

Got to play with my favorite toy Sunday - my Burton Fish - first time this season. I say my favorite toy because almost by definition conditions are great when I get it out. Had a great time surfing under Ptarmigan, South Chutes and on #8. I love the silent, smooth and effortless way of surfing the hillside. It would be just wrong to mount plate bindings on a board like that. Like applying whipped cream with a hunting knife. However I think the "secret" of Lift #8 is out. I have never seen so many people at Loveland or so many people on #8. There were lift lines from about 9:30 until 11 or so. Not long lines but lines. ???????? I would bet that yesterday was a record attendance at Loveland. The little stashes of lightly tracked snow were pretty much gone by 11. Then it was getting beat up by baby moguls. We knocked off at 1 PM & headed home. Likely my last day this season.

I'm hoping for a non-carving day.

Looks like Sunday may be the pick day for new snow.

Debated going up (but didn't). Looked like storm clouds in the mountains most of Saturday & Sunday. Hearing that the snow was "REALLY FIRM" makes me feel better about not going. A .25 on the Mario Scale means that I'm staying home to pull weeds.

OddJob / Arne / Pete - any midweek update on snow conditions? Melt/Freeze?

When I'm carving I constantly scan upslope to look for others overtaking me. I also wear a spine protector. When I'm softbooting I usually just scan the slope at the beginning of the run & I skip the spine protector. People rarely overtake me (I'm not taking up most of the slope). This won't prevent a collision but hopefully reduce the likelihood & severity. I've been skiing & snowboarding for almost 50 years & I don't ever recall colliding with anyone. I've asked Ski Patrols at my local mountain & at Aspen if we carvers cause a problem for them. Both said "No".

I voted camber because I have never ridden anything else. Like saying you don't like a movie that you have never seen. I can see how a rocker board could be an advantage in soft snow (powder). It seems to me that a rockered board couldn't carve the way that I understand the physics of carving. I thought about trying a rockered board but often when I'm having a great time on my old-school board, I ask myself "what would I change about my board?"; "how could this be more fun?". Maybe I have struggled for a long time trying to get a cambered board to carve and now when I think that I'm finally starting to get it, I think rockered boards are cheating. Camber!

Thanks guys. I feel like I'm riding better. It is nice to have others confirm it. '60s? I barely remember the '60s.

Size 38? Really? Your foot is more than 15" long? I had no idea they made boots this big.

I've tried to get Gregory to try hardbooting but I think he is reluctant to take a step back from his competency in his soft boots so we wind up riding slopes that are a mix of carve friendly and not. Started with about 4 runs on Fire Bowl. Snow was firm but smooth and wide open. We then went to #4 & did a couple on the cat trial skier's right from the top of #4 (Apollo?). Then over to #8 with 6 - 8 or so runs on the groomer on #8. Gregory was hurting from a bike crash the day before. I was just a bit sore for no good reason. We then tumbled down Face and returned to the front side. Did about another 5 runs on Fire Bowl until we were both exhausted about 1 PM. Overall I thought the snow conditions were pretty great. I think I progressed significantly from my 4 days at ATC. We ran the same 3 runs at West Buttermilk over and over and over again. Near perfect conditions with very few variables. I think that I was somehow able to set up a "muscle memory" from these repeated runs. I think that I have been able to bring this over to Loveland and be able to carve much better in ideal conditions. Not exactly sure why things seem to be clicking for me but I'll take it. I think that I used to get on one edge & then when I tried to initiate the next turn, I would kind of work the board over onto the other edge but not set it. Now I'm finding that I come off one edge and aggressively set the other edge. I know that you guys have been pointing this out to me for a long time but I think that I'm finally starting to get it. Maybe this will all fall apart when the conditions get icier or the slopes get steeper. However, it is gratifying to feel that I'm getting better at something knowing that I just passed my 60th birthday. Hope to see you guys again weekends in April.

How's the snow? Where are you riding?