Phil

agreed

Follow this link to the def. of a Rocket Air: http://www.transworldsnowboarding.com/snow/instruction/lexicon/1,14020,,00.html?search=Search&by_letter=R&by_term=&last_result=9&this_page=2 you may be thinking of a cross-rocket. Rockets, cross-rockets and most other types of grabs I have found are doable in hardboots. I have yet to find a type of grab that cannot be done on both setups, but I would like to hear a challenge to that. They are not always as stylish or tweaked out, and they sometimes take more airtime, but they are doable.

So that is a Rocket, right?

Is that a mute or a rocket?

I don't know - I think that a tindy is a lame trick. A tailfish, on the other hand can be pretty stylish - especially if you tweak it waaaay out. The problem with a tindy is that there is very little body movement and very little skill required. A tailfish (though not as good as a stalefish) is still a decent trick IMO.

There does not seem to be much to worry about for your base on the rails. I have been riding rails for years without base damage. The only exception is on rails with sharp kinks. I usually try to avoid the sharp kinks. You have to worry more about your edges. You really should not be riding your edges on rails, but if you ride rails, you will eventually find that your edges inadvertently touch them and pay the price. Steel on steel wears fast. Look at someone's base who rides a lot of flat rails or rails with smooth arcs (roller coaster, rainbow, etc.) and you will find that it does minimal base wear. As far as edge wear, that is a different story and a good excuse to stick to 50-50's. I figure that as long as I boardslide at the same place on the board, I will only be wearing a small part of the edge away. There is still plenty of edge to work with for the carves. If you don't believe that, read the saying below.

Stage victories probably do not mean nearly as much to Lance as the other guy either. If Lance doesn't win the battle, he still will most likely win the war. The other guy would be on cloud nine just to win a battle. It is not like other sports where giving up a win means that you are the first loser. Lance gave up a win and (we hope) he will still be the winner.

That internet forward has been going around for many months (I believe I first received it last fall) Of course, the date tends to change, but the body of the email stays the same. Some people just have too much time on their hands. Oh wait... so do I!

I am the snowboard trainer at Ski Roundtop, PA in the winter, and a stay at home dad the rest of the year. I have been working on some graduate courses in between. I could not think of better jobs!

Isn't it bad enough that you have no control over the danger? It also sounds like riding in really - I mean REALLY - poor snow conditions. Let's see - no control over the fact that a lava bomb could hit you any second + crappy conditions. Hey, this guy really knows how to have fun!

2004 Toyota Sienna Minivan - 2 weeks old - 600 miles. I know you are thinking "Soccer Mom - I mean - Dad". Not quite. I just had my first child last week. (Most exciting time of my life!) This is a family vehicle, but I wanted it because I can fit 8 bikes and 8 passengers - it's April, and off to the MTB race we go...

Has anyone ever seen people really going off on a scooter? At the skatepark I go to, there is a guy who does everything that the bmx'ers do and many of the things that the skaters do. And yes, he rides fakie - even on the ramps! He rides a scooter like the one above, but I don't know anything about scooters, so I don't know if it's the same.

Let the ball-swinging contest begin!

I was just going to stay out of this since my first two posts did not go over well. (disclaimer: they were on April fool's day) One thing about pictures is that they are a frozen moment in time where you only get a small glimpse of what someone is doing. For example, if you had a picture of someone doing a laid out backflip, it is possible to get the picture to look like they are diving onto their head. Anywho, my point is that this is a cool picture, and I have no doubt that Chris Karol is the stomper, but to say that there are problems with his riding, or with this turn because of the picture is somewhat silly. Of course, that would mean that the converse is true as well: to say that he is a great rider, or that this was a great turn would not be an obvious conclusion. We don't know what he was doing or what he was responding to. A picture can be used as an illustration for techniques, but you would not want to go much further than that. You need video to go further. Jack, My suggestion to you would be to post this or any picture followed by a statement of what you see the rider doing right, or doing well for certain techniques. That way, no one can argue using different styles as their foundation for argument. After all, at this point in his turn, he does not seem to be Eurocarving, but that most likely was not his intent. Then again, maybe he laid it out a half second later. We don't know, because it is only a picture.

Seriously, I know that they seem trick, but if I were you, I would stay away from these death traps. I love trick gear, but it is not worth the agony of injury.

Unlike the Burton 2X2 post (which was really not a joke Jack!), I was trying to be funny here by bringing up past arguments. I was not trying to offend anyone, and I am sorry if I did. -Phil-

I guess so, if you're a "face the nose", and "power triangle" (knees together) kind of guy!:D :D

http://www.burton.com/community/forum/default.asp http://www.backbowl.co.jp/item/burton_hard/UPDIARY/141.jpeg Sorry, that is the best I can do. When you go to the Burton forum, do a search on the Custom 2x - I believe the pattern is either 2x or 2x2. Better yet, go to your local Burton shop and ask to see next year's catalog.

Jack - I kid you not! I got this from Burton's site. Earlier this year, one of my instructors said that they had been at a Burton Demo and had seen this, so I looked for it on their site - there are a lot of people on their forum that have said negative things about this. Now here is a dumb quote found on their forum: "i think the 2x hole system will work great because if it did not, burton would not of made it." In any case, you can go to their forum and find out for yourself, but unfortunately to find anything good, you have to wade through a lot of "transworld kids" posts.

Supposedly, this is for next year's line. There are a lot of people who are very displeased!

Nils, It sounded like you were joking about the 2D pattern, but I am guessing that you know that they have gone that way. And no, as a 3D owner, I am not extremely pleased. Here is a picture of the new 2D system. Are we to believe that this is truly an innovation?

Steve, Have you ridden the board?

First of all, I want to say that I have little first hand knowledge. However, I do know that Piezo-electric technology has been around for a few years. It has been used in mountain bike suspension, tennis racquets, and skis as well. (all sports that I avidly take part in) I have always questioned users of all of the above equipment when I have seen them. The response has ALWAYS been that they loved the equipment and could definitely tell the difference. I have tried only the mountain bike suspension. It did what it claimed, but I still did not see that it was necessary on account of the extra expense (disclaimer: I am probably not a good enough mountain biker to notice a difference). People seem to like the stuff though, so I cannot argue with them. If you like it, great, go for it. Unfortunately for me, Head does not make a board big enough for my feet, so I will not be riding their boards anytime soon.

Kind of OT. I am the trainer at Ski Roundtop. I would love to have you down for some trenches next season. I am guessing that it is a one and a half hour drive for you. Today was our last day this season. Look me up early next season and we can ride. I am available every day but Sunday. You can email me at phillipleebowman@hotmail.com now or then to keep in touch.

It doesn't hurt anything but.... There may be a lot of people who know quite a bit about snowboarding on this forum, but there are few if any who know anything about what is REALLY going on in politics. The reality is that most of us know only rhetoric. (myself included) We have only bought into the entertainment aspect of politics. If we ever actually had a candidate that would make a huge difference, we would not vote for them. They would have too much integrity to play the game. If they did not play the game, we would not think that they were worth voting for. We don't want a good politician, we want someone who can act like a good politician and use the rhetoric that we think is befitting of a "good politician". Oh, wait, did I just say "good politician?" Silly me.