Phil

It is true - that is why WT, Lib, and RT don't get snow - Snowshoe steals it and we stay dry.

Of course, I could have told you this tomorrow, but I know you are probably wondering about RT. We are closing because we built it, but they won't come. Spring sports have started. Usually spring temps are here by now. People just stop coming. RT is waiting until this weekend to monitor traffic. If we have a good turnout this weekend, they will close on the weekdays next week and reopen on Easter weekend.

"I probably make my best turns in 3" of slush over hardpack." The forecast indicates that we will have these conditions the rest of our season. (two weeks:( )

No, actually Snowbird has great steeps, I have just gotten stuck there on the flats on several occasions. Being an out of towner, I did not know the areas to avoid in powder. I paid the price several times.

"It's powdery flats that suck!" Can anyone say Snowbird? "You need some tilt or you get bogged down. Do the east coast people have trouble adjusting to the steepness of the western resorts? I think (I have no proof) that what is called steep in the west vs the east has the same relation to what is called icy in east vs west." When we do have steeps, they tend to be shorter (for the most part) Maybe someone else could chime in who knows better, but in the west, steeper stuff doesn't seem to "ride" as steep. It looks worse because it is so much longer though. In the east, the steeps don't seem as long, but they seem sketchier (is that a word?). We also don't tend to have vertical drop ins. That is what rocks out west - cornices and vertical drop ins. Vertical is definitely steeper :D

Dude, settle down - no reason for all that.

Five feet tall and 100kg is one fat chick!!!! Again, unless you saw them, you can't understand. As far as the censorship, we will just have to agree to disagree.

"Does anyone really consider riding ice/boiler plate fun?" We don't get a lot of that, but I like hard conditions. Powder is too slow. Whenever I go out west, I still look forward to coming back and going fast. Not that you can't go fast in the west - some days are better than others. I just am not that turned on by deep powder (is that sacrilegious for a snowboarder to say?). gdboytyler - I did not think that this thread had an east vs. west vibe until your post. The idea that if you can ride our stuff then you can ride anything is mostly true. Powdery steeps are easy - icy steeps are not. When we say that if you can ride here you can ride anywhere, that does not mean that we can all ride well here. Come and see. There are plenty of right coasters that are not good at riding the right coast.

Yeah Rugger, unless you had seen them, you would not understand - they were so stupid and so many. The one about the hundred pounder was the same person that did the rest, but he put a false identity on all of them. Even then, there was no substance - just a false personality with "it broke" being the only thing in the review. Trust those who read these reviews, they were bogus and should have been removed. I am a huge F2 fan, so there is no bias here - this guys gave 10's for all of the F2's (again, with no substance).

Yeah Jack, but then they would look different than the other people's boards. Isn't that what it is all about?:D

Yeah, screw extractors - that is what my Craftsman set is. (Mike T and I were apparently posting at the same time)

If the above replies do not work, go to a hardware store and purchase some E-Z outs or equivalent. Craftsman also makes a stripped screw remover set, but mine do not have a name on them, so I don't know what they are called. The stripped screw removers have a set of sharp blades that engage when you turn the screw out. If that does not work, I use the E-Z outs - you drill the appropriate size hole down the middle of the bolt - insert the E-Z out - then turn the bolt right out. If you have both of these sets of tools, one is sure to work. If you only want to get one set, get the E-Z outs. The Craftsman set doesn't always work, but you don't have to drill with it, so I do that first (to save drill bits). Good luck.

Yeah, 100 pounds and broke a 186. So lame.

I feel that I need to point something out to all of you about this matter...... There is still snow on the ground! (can't this wait until summer?):D

There are exceptions to every rule, so every kid will be somewhat different. Above it was talked about kids not being big and/or heavy enough to edge. More importantly, the younger the child, the more they lack the distal development to perform the movements needed to make the board work. 8-10 seems to be the age range that ski areas have come up with. There are kids that are a lot younger than 8 who have the needed development and there are kids that are older that do not. I have always been an advocate for using ski boots like in Randy's picture above. This is not because I am a hardbooter. For children who lack the needed development, this allows for them to be able to work the board through gross body movements (leaning and rotating). My children will most likely be skiing for as long as possible up until the time when I can see that they are developing the needed musculature and coordination. For those who want to take kids out earlier - it is a patient parenting thing. Make sure that you are ready to commit to them - not to your own snow addiction. And for those parents who are convinced that your child will be the next national champion so they need to start as young as possible - you are a hopeless parent and I am not going to even waste my time talking to you.

"Maybe it can be done, but I have yet to see a softbooter carve anything with a pitch and enjoy it." I would love to disagree with you, but if I came to BC, your mountains would kick my butt, so I'll keep quiet.

"The problem with riding plates on hard decks is that they are only made for turning. They are not as versatile as a harder soft deck with soft bindings." I have to agree with Philfell that having different boards for different situations is probably the way to go. However, the idea that hard setups are just made for turning is way off. The only thing that I have found that I don't like to do on my hard setup is switch moguls. I really don't like riding moguls switch on my softies though either. If I am going to spend the day in the park, I will not take out my hard gear, but if I am on my hard gear, I won't think twice about going anywhere on the mountain. As far as switch is concerned, I believe that race boards excel at switch carving every bit as much as they excel at forward carving. They are stiff and stable at speed. The square tail thing is all mental. The only times that I ever dug the tail in was switch moguls (see above) and when I was teaching riding switch in the pipe when the pipe was waaaaay kinked out. That was a bad idea - and I paid for it. (deep snow is bad for switch too, but we never get any of that) What does this mean for you? That is not for me to say. If you are diggin' your softies go for it. Just don't give up on the versatility of hardboots and alpine/race boards.

Neil, What I was saying was that they would do well in there, not that they would be throwing huge spins. I believe that an accomplished racer can go big in the park - albeit maybe a straight air. The same goes with the pipe. 50/50's on rails should also be easy for experienced racers.

I would bet that serious park competitors can cross over as well. Your average park and pipe rat - probably not. Tanner Hall has talked too much smack, but he could probably take a course faster than most. He is still a pro, and he still has amazing control and understanding of how skis work. I believe that ability level has everything to do with diversity. If you can truly stomp in the park and pipe, you can probably stomp the gates as well. If you can truly stomp the gates, you can probably stomp P & P. Now whether or not people have a desire to cross over is another story. I have heard a lot of hardbooters say they have no interest in P & P, but I'll bet that they could ride it well if they tried. The problem with a lot of kids riding P&P is that they don't see the reward in learning how to make good turns. Yesterday, as our lift passed a double black, I asked one of my advanced freestyle students if he wanted to go over there. He declined saying that he does not really enjoy the steeps. I asked him if that was because he would have to skid and sideslip too much. He affirmed my suspicion. I explained that if he ever learned to ride the doubles better, his P&P riding would be dramatically better. It is amazing how overlooked cross training can be.

I think that most of the spandex-clad can shred everywhere. If they are good enough to race seriously, then they usually are good enough to take that riding wherever they want.

You are from CT, right? I would say the F2 as well. If you ride the small CT mts., the F2 will make much smaller turns and make them at lower speeds for someone who has not been carving long. The Volkl is a good board, but would most likely be harder to learn on. F2 all the way.

Allee, You live in Calgary - I have no sympathy for you!

It is kind of funny. I am hoping that schools and businesses stay open tomorrow. Then I will have the slopes all to myself! Selfish! Selfish! Selfish!

People out west must think that we are silly - putting up a thread in anticipation of 12". Yes, we right coast kids are all giddy.

"ANd when I mean steeps this one had multiple 10-15 foot cliffs iced over." Now I know which one you are talking about. I remember that well. I had a lot of fun there, but the bumps were very icy and had poor shape. And, yes, I remember the big icy drop offs. This can be done in even stiff ski boots. I have really large feet and used to wear stiff ski boots because I could not find hardboots in my size. Even though it can be done (and can be done well), it is a lot more work than if you were on snowboard hardboots.