Phil

Riding pocket rockets without release bindings would be a sure way to limit your ability to continue walking the rest of your life. :D O.K. seriously - do you really want to ski non-release bindings? Sounds crazy to me.

You are a brave man Kent. Will there be any troll wars on this?

4 (and ditto what the other Phil said)

Sorry to hear that. My wife was going in to the hospital to have cancer surgery in Nov. 2003. I parked the car out front because we had to leave early in the morning - I could just put her right in the car. Came out in the AM to put her in - it was gone. The kid that stole the car passed it off to a guy who wrecked it in a police chase. The kid who stole it was charged with a felony for stealing it, but.... HE ONLY GOT 25 HRS. COMMUNITY SERVICE!!!!! My friends all said that if they knew it was that easy, they would have been stealing cars as teens. Again, sorry for your loss. After we got the car back, (after it was fixed up) it felt weird for a while, but we still have it, and do not feel violated anymore.

That's funny.:D

I am not very knowledgeable about cants and lifts. From what I have read here, not too many people are. I stopped using them and have reverted to using my natural split. If you are 20 degrees natural, then it makes sense to use cants to eliminate some of that split. That is too complicated for me, and for most of my students. Has there been any research done on the subject? I would love to be more knowledgeable about it.

All of our bodies are made differently. When we talk about preference, we really mean (or should mean) whatever is most effective for YOUR body. A lot of times I have students strap out and jump up in the air (without their board). When they land, I note where their feet are pointed. When you jump like this, you land in a position that is most neutral for your own body. This is one good way to determine the split between your bindings.

Nice Demo 9. I am still on a Big Hit DH - can't afford the '9. You guys can check out my website - it is old and has not been updated for a long time. I am part of a club called YAFRO - York Area FreeRide Organization here in York, PA. Most of the guys race DH, DS, and MtnX. I just freeride. I used to race, but I did not find it as fun as FR. Anyway, I am glad to see there are crossovers on this site. www.philsthrills.com

As of 6:00 New Year's Eve, the picture has been changed, but it is still a hardbooter. That is why I love working at the 'top.

No problem - I understand. I had to cut my hours at RT way back b/c I have a new addition to my family. Next year, she will be old enough for the children's learning center so I will be there all of the six days/week again. The board room is on S. Queen St. in York. It is part of Ed's Ski shop. I don't get away from RT much, because I figure if I am going to be on snow, I might as well make $$. You should come back once our superpipe is open. It is one of the biggest on the E. coast - 17' high x 600' long. It is super nice. It is always good to see hardbooters in it - so practice up.

I am with Mike T - economy of motion is your answer.

Tanner Hall rips. I enjoy watching him. I would love to be able to do what he does. His attitude is pretty normal among young cocky skiers and boarders. They can't turn to save their lives (although Tanner Hall can) but they can ride rails, so they are experts. That is why a lot of these skiers and riders stay in the park/pipe. They will tell you the rest of the mtn. is boring, but what that really means is that they don't know how to ride the rest.

Sweet! Congrats. Let me know when you want to hit the 'top. They really want to be open T-giving weekend, but we will see.

NateW is right, unless, like me, you need mucho fore/aft adjustment. If not, you can use your base plate adjustment to go from side to side, that would solve the problem.

If they are truly offset, I would say that it is a mistake. Since the board is not an asym., then it should be centered (I never knew asyms not to be centered, though, either). It may be toward your toeside, but it would be toward someone else's heelside - so it is most likely a mistake. I would contact Prior to get the whole scoop.

First of all, I want to say that alpinegirl (6 posts - must be new) seems to really know her shiz. It is refreshing to see a well thought out post that uses logic and not just "I do it this way and it feels good, so it must be right." - that seems to make it onto a lot of forums. Thanks alpinegirl. (Of course there are other posts that are very well articulated, (Bob) but I am pointing this one out) Philfell - (your posts have been good, too) What you said is good - but I disagree that a short board with a wide stance does not carve well. I am guessing that you mean that because your feet are not closer to the center you cannot decamber the board. Is that what you were referring to? (Assuming yes) Then the board does not carve well (as in the board's own performance) but the rider can make the board carve well - specifically with hard boots. This however forces the rider to bend the board with their own feet/legs/hips. That is why I was so glad that F2 came out with a longer SL board - my 63 was not long enough - my bindings were as wide as they would go. (I am 5' 18" ;) 225lb.) My point is, I think that we agree, but maybe a better way to say it would be "a short board with a wide stance takes more rider input for carving" ---? RCrobar - I know that you do not want to start anything - and honestly, I do not either. The face the nose thing has been argued to death. The fact that your back foot tips off the board when you face the nose does not seem to be a reason to add a cant, it seems like a reason to find a "neutral" stance, or as Philfell put it, a natural stance and not face the nose. When you say "like a racer" I don't know if you mean a ski racer or what, but most SB racers are not really facing the nose anymore.(bad habit from the old ski days) You are right, though - some TECHNIQUES (specifically slalom) will look more like a face the nose stance.

Ski Roundtop does have more alpine riders than usual. That is where I work. The Board room is only about twenty five minutes from there.

I've been working with these guys for years. As a matter of fact, I got my first board there back in the 80's. They know their stuff pretty well and have a lot of satisfied customers. I refer a lot of my students to them. What else would you like to know?

I have a pair of size 32.5 ski boots (size 16) that I only used once because they were a little too big for me. I have to dig them out to see what they are. Let me know if you are interested.

For those in the mid-atlantic region, Ski Roundtop in Lewisberry, (south central) PA has several alpine snowboarding instructors - alpine, freecarving, and racing. We also have the Ski Roundtop Race Club if you are looking more for the lifestyle than just instruction. We have instructors who represent all three levels of AASI certification. Ski Rountop, PA - 717-432-9631 - ask for the ski school. When you call, alpine or race lessons must be specified.

If you ride a bike, get to a BMX track during the summer. I have found that this is great cross training for BX. If your local track has a scheduled practice time, go then and eavesdrop on the coaches to hear what they are telling their team. There is a lot to be learned there. (I would imagine that moto-x would also be helpful) Skateparks that have continuous lines or courses are also really good practice during the summer.

Personally, I enjoy dirt jumping and riding skateparks/halfpipes on a bike. 20 inchers are too small for me, so I use a mt. bike. My favorite trick in the X-games was the bike flip. It was kind of like a kick flip on a skateboard, only on a bike. That was truly amazing. He did it off of a table top ramp in the park. I also enjoyed Jeremy McGrath taking it to the freestyle guys on the step up. If you think about it, that is like a hardbooter going into the park and showing up the freestylers.

his 175 had the stance set waaaay back (as did most boards of the day) and the stances of the day had your feet really close together. So you had less power and so the spin was not as balanced either. The guy was incredible! He also used to land switch in the pow and crud which is amazing when you hardly have any tail on your board. On a side note: all this talk of Indies and Iguanas - on the cover of SB'ers in Exile, the backflip he is pulling is a stalefish. I am enough of a loser that I usually get this tape out and watch it around late September when I start to get the "bug".

I hear you D-sub. If I was out on the hill I would not care what people were pulling. I am always happy to see someone go big and go clean. (unless I was with a student, at which point we may analyze the jump) So I agree with you. On this forum in August, though, I haven't ridden in months and I have nothing better to do than discuss specifics of airs. Sorry if that bothers you. By the way, I should have mentioned earlier. That is a great pic of a seatbelt.

D-sub- That is great, have your fun. Obviously you have never judged a competition, in which case, it is rather important that you know these things. I find it important as an instructor to know these things too. Number one, if I didn't, I would lose credibility in some of my students' eyes. Number two, when training someone for a competition, it would not work well to say "Do that one where you bone this leg out and grab here and flip the board this way, then over that hip try..." For people who just want to go out and have a blast, it doesn't matter, but for those who have made this their livelihood, it probably matters more. Furthermore, for those who like to push the limits, having names for tricks helps you to know what you can and cannot do. After all, without language, there is no understanding or comprehension of what you are doing. It is like music. You must know what chords you can and cannot play (and so much more) in order to master music. No one is trying to rain on YOUR parade. Go catch air and have fun. I will continue to learn snowboarding by the book so that I can pass that info on to those who care. Oh, and the rebellion part - that has been lost since snowboarding went mainstream. The only rebellion now is .... us! The hardbooters now are the rebellion. Of course, maybe we just know the truth.