Phil

Yeah, I was not thinking of that kind of guide. Good call. What kind of guide do you use Fleaman?

That it does not make a difference seems to go against the rules of geometry. If you use the guide for both tools at 3 inches from the edge, then they would be the same. I don't know what bevel that would give you though.

This thread sounds familiar - oh yeah, this was everyone's attitute about sidecut back in the eighties (and some skiers now). Let them try to innovate. We've got nothing to lose and better performance to gain. If they fail, then they are true innovators - all great ideas go through a few cycles before the bugs are worked out.

There was a thread like this a while ago. I want to know what the current stats are. How many of you are AASI certs? Since when? What level? Did you show them how it is done in hardboots? Any good cert stories? (particularly in hardboots)

No, that's cool. I don't want to highjack this thread, so I'll keep it short. I like the way that AASI has gone. I passed my 3 in 2002 on an F2 163 SL w/TD1's and UPS boots. The greatest thing about the exam for me was that they made the best freestyler teach gates on his pipe board, and they made me teach rails (switch) on my race board. I like that way of thinking (teach anything, anytime, anywhere, any conditions). Anyway, I think alpine rocks - you are not a dinosaur. In fact, everyone at my 3 seemed really stoked that I was on a race board. They even saved my pin 'til last and made a special presentation since nobody had done that in a while. Great to know there are others on this forum. I would love to know how many AASI's there are on here. Instead of hijacking this thread, I am going to start a new one.

Jerry, I see that you are a DCL and examiner. Is this for Alpine or Snowboard?

Since our thaw ended a few weeks ago, the (man-made) packed powder has been superb daily. If you are into that sort of thing. I am.

Sweet! It sounds like you are enjoying what we all enjoy so much. Most likely you have been doing it on somewhat favorable conditions. What is discussed here is technique that will make you a better carver in more (and hopefully all) conditions. When the slope gets steep, the game changes. When the slope gets icy, the game changes even more. Then you throw racing in and you are practically playing a whole new game. If you have read up, you have probably run into eurocarving which is kind of another way to play the same game. Anyway, carving is great fun and can be self taught to an extent. Don't ever let any of us ruin your fun by over ANALyzing the technique that makes you better. As long as conditions are favorable, you will be able to go out and experiment with your own technique and have a blast. When the conditions are not as favorable, and when progression becomes more fun than experimentation, then start working on angulation and using joints and muscle groups more effectively. When you have studied advanced technique more, you will be able to "get away with" more.

Jack, It is a Konica-Minolta Z3 it has " UHS (Ultra High Speed) continuous advance: Approximately 10 frames per second (1280 x 960)" So it is not full resolution, but you can go slower and get higher resolution. That is supposed to be actual pictures, not movie. In movie mode, it takes 30 fps. Again, I don't know anything about photography, I just saw that rate and thought that it would be great for snowboarding and DH/FR mountain biking. Now I have a resource to learn how to make sequences.

Great thread. I just ordered a camera that takes 10 fps. I am so excited, but I don't know jack about photography. This thread should really get me started. Thanks.

There is also Ski Roundtop in PA. That is where I ride.

I am a stay at home dad this year, so I am only working part time. T, R, and Sat - morning and early afternoon. Hopefully next year I will be full time again.

Wazzup Neil I know what you are saying, and I know what carvedog is saying - If you only shift your weight forward (toward the nose) but keep your ankles plantar flexed, the board will not turn downhill. I believe what you are implying Neil is that when you shift your weight forward, your body tends to automatically make your ankle dorsi flex in order to release the edge toward the front of the board therefore turning the board downhill. You are both right, in your own ways. I think that the problem is that (especially on bomber) people tend to talk about weight shifts and driving the knees, but leave the ankles out. Ankles, ankles ankles! Hardbooters' most neglected joint.

I think we should write to Chris Klug and encourage him to rewrite a second edition of his book to clear all of this up.

I don't have yours either. My hard drive recently crashed, and I had your message saved, but did not have you in my address book. Sorry. In any case, here is my email address. phillipleebowman@suscom.net I look forward to hearing from you.

That would be me. I will shoot you an email.

When were you guys thinking of coming up? Shoot me an email and we'll iron out some details.

Thanks for the shameless plug Mark! I'll take it. I have to give a lot of credit to you for being a fast learner, though. As far as conditions at WT - Moto probably hit a good day there. In that case it was probably great for carving. The biggest problem with WT is that they are south facing. Southern PA is a bad place to be south facing. Any given day can be 100 percent different than the day before. Here at RT, our conditions tend to be a little more stable due to our mountain's position. Right now the conditions could not be better. The corduroy today was perfect.

Moto, Did you email me recently? I still have not talked to Dan. He really doesn't ride anymore (once a year if I'm lucky). He and I used to put in 70+ days a year together. Unfortunately, he just lost the love. He was a great rider and instructor. He still has a Nidecker 184 GS. He will most likely be riding once in the next few weeks. He is now mainly playing hockey and biking. He owns a triathlon shop in MD. He actually got me my DH bike. Anywho - if that was you that emailed me, I will be responding soon.

If you decide to come up, let me know. Maybe we can take a few runs.

You said you were debating between a volkl and F2. It seems that not too many people want to talk about your specific choices. I am a big guy as well. Not quite 250. I have had volkls, and I now ride F2's. For my big frame the F2's have felt much more solid. If you like feedback from the snow, maybe you would like the volkls. I felt that they were flimsy - I don't like the amount of feedback that they gave me. F2's are by far my favorite boards of any I have ridden. Every couple of years, I try something else, but I keep coming back. They really hold up to abuse from this big guy. I just retired one of them after almost 400 days - I know that it is silly to bend a board for that long, but hey, it is still around, why not ride it. It finally pooped out for good now. Darn, gotta get another F2.

O.K., maybe we are not real carvers here in S. PA. If you come to Ski Roundtop, you will be very likely to see hardbooters on any given day. There are even quite a few instructors that teach on hardboots. We have a race team as well.

Solomon Pocket Rockets start at 165cm last I knew.

I have never had an issue with my intecs. (on bombers) I have however released on several occasions from traditional plate bindings. I also do not know anyone with bomber step ins that has had any problems. I have only seen complaints on this forum. My guess is that they are rare incidents and that we probably hear the stories behind most of them. I have also known others who have popped out of their traditional bails. Maybe Fin knows better the number of occurances?

Since I live in the "South" east, our seasons are pretty short. I average about 80+ days, but those are almost all morning - afternoon. Daily first tracks on groomers rock!